WebHelp Output

I have a question regarding WebHelp. All of the RoboHelp systems I've developed have been for stand-alone applications. I create the topics, assign map IDs, compile and send the singular .CHM file to the developers. We are developing a web-based app and they need the help to be WebHelp. My question is that there doesn't seem to be a singular file (i.e., a .CHM file) to send them. What would a developer need, from me, to be able to implement a WebHelp system? Thank you in advance.

Adding to Jeff's comments, here are some key links to "all things context sensitive" that might be helpful.
Since your original question regards "what to send the developer" I would strongly suggest this online help topic which is aimed specificially to the developer. There are many flavors of context sensitive APIs (C#, JavaScript, etc.) so they will be interested in this.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WSFE586D66-E937-45bd-9F7B-3425A0D02B42.html
The APIs themselves can be found on your author hard drive under this path (or where your RoboHelp was installed)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\CSH API
Depending on the CSH technique that is used, your developer will need one of these API files to include in their project.
Peter Grainge has a very nice wrapup of many ways to call WebHelp and you will find them here:
http://grainge.org/pages/authoring/calling_webhelp/calling_webhelp.htm
Willam Van Weelden has made a nice contribution that includes a CSH tester.
http://www.wvanweelden.eu/robohelp/context_sensitivity_in_webhelp
Finally, I wrote an article for Adobe Dev Net which is a little old, but the principles have not changed at all and some find this helpful
http://www.adobe.com/devnet-archive/robohelp/articles/context_help.html
John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com

Similar Messages

Symbol font not displayed correctly in WebHelp output

I have TCS 2. I have a character format that uses the Symbol font. It displays correctly in FM and in the RH Design Editor. But in the WebHelp output, the Symbol font displays as Arial. What did I do wrong?

Hi,
What browser are you using? Most probably, your browser does not support the symbol font out of the box and therefore defaults back to Arial. My guess is that it will work on IE, but not on other browsers. This is because Symbol isn't a default web font.
To overcome this, you must use the @font-face rule in your css and provide the font file as a baggage file in your project. For more info on @font-face, see: http://www.font-face.com/.
Greet,
Willam

Is it OK for Spanish characters not to be entities in RH8 webhelp output?

We are using RoboHelp 8. We have some Spanish words in our English-language help; these Spanish words use some of the accented characters that aren't present in English. My coworker tried using HTML entity codes to enter these characters in the code view, but she noticed that RoboHelp changed these to the actual Spanish character as soon as she switched back to Design view, and this is how they are in the generated webhelp HTML files as well.
I think this is not a problem. The UTF8 declaration appears in the webhelp output, and the characters seem to appear correctly in the browsers I've tested. Am I correct? Should the output work in older browsers as well?
Thanks,
Tammy

RoboHelp supports 35 languages so the fact that the Design Editor supports those entities does not surprise me.
The following is from the RoboHelp Tour that can be accessed from my site.
RoboHelp 7 introduced the ability to work with 35 languages. In RoboHelp 8, you can now define a language for the project, a language for a topic and a language for a paragraph.
The search works with all the supported languages you use in the project.
There is a lot more information in the help topic "Authoring content in multiple languages".
It sounds like you are just including the odd word so the above may not be relevant, I just wanted to make sure you are aware of this.
I can't help you on how older browsers will handle this but my thinking is they should, they are just HTML entities after all.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Alt text not appearing in WebHelp output

We are using FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9 to output as WebHelp. In the FM files, I have added alternate text to anchored frames containing images. When I update the linked FM files in my RH project, the screen tip is empty for these images, but when I look at the HTML source for the topic, it shows that the alt text is there:
<p class="widegraphic"><img alt="Coach completes form and can either submit now or save it as a draft, edit it, and submit it later. After submit, employee receives task or alert notification, and coach receives task notification. Coach can still edit form at this point. Employee acknolwedges form and completes tasks, and employee task changes to complete. Coach completes task, and task status changes to complete. Lastly, coach receives alert or message notification. "
id="image2" src="using_bpl_form00003.jpg"
style="margin-bottom: 6pt;" border="0" /> </p>
When I preview the topic in RH and hover my mouse over the image, the alt text appears in the preview window as expected, both in the default window and when I choose to preview in Firefox and IE. However, when I generate the WebHelp and hover my mouse over the images, nothing shows up at all, and the alt text is replaced by the file name:
<p class="widegraphic"></p>
<div align="left"><img alt="using_bpl_form00003.jpg" style="margin-bottom : 6pt; " id="image2" src="using_bpl_form00003.jpg" />
</div>
If, however, I manually copy and paste the alt text into the screen tip field of the image in the RH topic, the alt text does appear in the WebHelp output:
<p class="widegraphic"><img alt="Coach completes form and can either submit now or save it as a draft, edit it, and submit it later. After submit, employee receives task or alert notification, and coach receives task notification. Coach can still edit form at this point. Employee acknolwedges form and completes tasks, and employee task changes to complete. Coach completes task, and task status changes to complete. Lastly, coach receives alert or message notification. "
id="image2" src="using_bpl_form00003.jpg"
title="Coach completes form and can either submit now or save it as a draft, edit it, and submit it later. After submit, employee receives task or alert notification, and coach receives task notification. Coach can still edit form at this point. Employee acknolwedges form and completes tasks, and employee task changes to complete. Coach completes task, and task status changes to complete. Lastly, coach receives alert or message notification."
style="margin-bottom: 6pt;" border="0" /> </p>
This seems like a pretty major bug to me. I know there have been scripts developed to delete the alt text so that graphic filename won't show up as the alt text, but is there anything that will take the existing alt text and populate the screen tip/title property with it, which seems to be the key to getting this to work in the output? There's no way I can manually copy and paste all the alt text into the images in RH, especially because I'll just end up having to redo it every time I update the linked FM files.
Thanks,
Jackie

Hi Jackie,
Offhand, your ALT string seems long. A quick search yielded info at http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/images/images_famsupp_85.html
If a lengthy description is needed to describe the image, use the LONGDESC attribute to point to the URL of another page which has the lengthy description. Because LONGDESC is not yet sufficiently supported, also follow the image with a "D-link". A D-link is a standard anchor link with contents consisting of the capital letter "D", like this:
Do you experience the same behavior with short alt strings as well?
-Matt
@mattrsullivan

Unwanted Snippets appear in Webhelp output

When producing Webhelp output, I've been having an out-of-date snippet appear in my document. I use a common snippet in several projects, and in some of the projects, the snippet appears twice in the output when it's not supposed to. I've modified said snippet, but when I produce the output, the old version of the snippet appears. Not only that, but I haven't even inserted the snippet into the topic and it still appears in the output. When I re-import the new version of the snippet and insert it, the output contains both the old version and the new version. I'm running RH9.01 on Windows 7 64-bit.

Have you tried deleting all files from your output directory or generating to a new directory?
The RoboColum(n)
@robocolumn
Colum McAndrew

Assistance with Search Feature used in WebHelp output

Hi Friends,
I have a specific requirement. I am trying to copy and paste a few HTML files in the WebHelp output folder from an external source and display these topic in the final WebHelp output. I was successful in updating the TOC ; merged index entries and glosarry terms and definitions. The external topics appear in the WebHelp output. However, I am not able to understand how my topics can be included in the Search feature. As of now the Search option only searches for key words within the default project topics. How can I extend this search to HTML pages that I have manually copied within the WebHelp output folder?

Welcome to our community
I'm more than a bit confused here. Why are you manually copying the pages? It seems that you don't mind the pages living amongst the other WebHelp pages. So why not simply copy them into the project? That way they would be included in the search.
If for some reason that's undesirable, you might look into configuring ZoomSearch. Look at the link below for that.
Click here to view
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!
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TOC and Index entries sometimes blank in WebHelp output

I'm running RoboHelp 10, generating Help files using the WebHelp target.
Sometimes, in the WebHelp output, clicking a Table of Contents or Index entry restults with a bank topic. This issue is resolved my either maximizing/minimizing the screen or by refreshing the browser.
The issue does not happen consistently in the output. As well, it seems to only happen in Internet Explorer 10.
Is there a work-around for this issue?

Just installing the patches is not enough. Adobe release some smaller
fixes for WebHelp on IE10/11 and Chrome. (4 in total) For an overview of
all RH fixes, see
http://www.wvanweelden.eu/articles/robohelp-patches-and-updates
Kind regards,
Willam

Robohelp 8 Webhelp Output cannot be viewed in IE 10

Hi,
I have used Robohelp 8 to create help file. The webhelp output can be perfectly seen in IE 7 OR 8. However, in IE 10, when the start page in the webhelp folder is cliked, the TOC is opening but the topics are not getting displayed in the right pane. When we click a topic from the TOC pane, no topic gets displayed. Please suggest a solution ASAP, as we have sent the help to a client. They are are facing an issue with the help. We have to fast fix this problem to avoid an escalation. Please respond with a fix to this problem. Please note we have used Robohelp 8 and viewing the webhelp output in IE 10.

I have come acoss issues being reported in adobe forums that webhelp output cannot be viewed in IE 10. Fixes are provided for Robohelp 10 @http://forums.adobe.com/community/robohelp/robohelp_webhelp?view=discussions where we are given a link with the fixes @.http://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp/kb/help-visible-using-win-8-ie.html but no fixes are available for robohelp 8. Please provide a similar fix for robohelp 8
Request the adobe development team to get back ASAP as we do not have the timeframe to upgrade to robohelp 10.

!screenlayout! folder in WebHelp Output

When I publish a webhelp, it includes a folder called !screenlayout!
My understanding is that this folder is related to HTML5 publishing; however, the folder does not seem to be included in HTML5 output.
The problem with this folder being in the output is that it causes the installation process of our SharePoint application to fail.
The below message is displayed.
add-spsolution failed to extract the cab file in the solution
A little bit of Google on the subject gives a list of banned characters:
~ ! @ # $% ^ & *
http://iwillsharemypoint.blogspot.ie/2012/11/add-spsolution-failed-to-extract-cab.html
Does anyone know if this is a bug or if it is by design?
Also, any suggestions as to how to stop this folder from being included in the Webhelp output.
Thanks,
Donal

Hi,
Yes, this is a bug. You can remove the folder.
A quick peek tells me that RoboHelp is treating the CSS files of the HTML5 screen layouts as CSS files that need to be provided in the output. Please take the time to submit your bug at https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform.
The more people report a bug, the more likely it is to be fixed.
Greet,
Willam

Rebuild source files from Webhelp output?

Today I deleted an unwanted *.css file from my RH9 project with the result that 300 images files were suddenly deleted. Subsequently, I reimported the source Word files to create a new image folder. The result of this, even though I cleared the selection boxes on the "Do you want to over-write" prompt, was that RH9 proceded to overwrite the topics anyway. So I have now lost 20 reformatted topics.
Why these things happened is not my main concern right now, though clearly it indicates that RH has some serious issues in file handling. (It has happened before).
Before RH9 deleted and over-wrote all my topic files, I generated webhelp output, and I want to know if I can recreate those topics to my project somehow using the latest Webhelp output files.

Hi Michael
I think what you are seeing is typical behavior when you have a linked Word document. And therein lies a bit of an issue. Certainly RoboHelp allows you to link a Word document, but Word and HTML are a bit like mixing oil and water. Word creates things you intend to print. HTML is intended for screen display. Mixing the two results in a bit of a kludge.
So first, let's try and understand how RoboHelp deals with Word this way. When you link a Word document, you will get a real honest to goodness file folder that is named identically to the document. In the RoboHelp project manager, the icon doesn't look like a folder. It looks like a Word logo with some arrows superimposed that will indicate the status.
Inside this folder should be your topics that were created based on the Word document.
I know you said you didn't want the CSS, but the process of bringing Word in will *ALWAYS* create a .CSS file. You may as well learn to simply accept it. The thing is, you don't have to use it. Just ignore it is there. You are free to associate a single CSS of your choice with your files either before or during the generation/compilation process.
The folder with the name matching the document and ending in _files is normally created when you convert Word to HTML. That's normally where Word will store and reference any images that were found in the document. That's a common Microsoft Word behavior. If you wish to confirm this, just close everything and open Word only. Create a document with some images then choose to save the Word document as HTML and look at what you end up with.
It's surprising to me that simply deleting a .CSS would blow any images away. Perhaps your Word document was created in a manner where the images are somehow referenced using CSS?
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
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Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!
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RoboHelp eBooks

Search tab malfunction in RoboHelp 8 (WebHelp output)

I am trying to create a WebHelp output after importing a Word doc into RobobHelp HTML 8. Once I generate WebHelp as the primary layout, the TOC and Index tabs work fine. However, the Search tab isn't working: Regardless of the key word I use in my search, the only result I get is a link to the imported doc (which imports as a single topic). This isn't a helpful Search function at all. What am I missing?
Thanks,
E. Johns
edjohns_dfw

I have come acoss issues being reported in adobe forums that webhelp output cannot be viewed in IE 10. Fixes are provided for Robohelp 10 @http://forums.adobe.com/community/robohelp/robohelp_webhelp?view=discussions where we are given a link with the fixes @.http://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp/kb/help-visible-using-win-8-ie.html but no fixes are available for robohelp 8. Please provide a similar fix for robohelp 8
Request the adobe development team to get back ASAP as we do not have the timeframe to upgrade to robohelp 10.

Captivate demo hiding in WebHelp output

RH10, WebHelp output
I imported a captivate demo (SWF) and it appears in the project design view and runs properly when I preview the topic in Design view. However when I publish output, the topic comes up blank. What am I missing?
Mike in Oz

Hi Mike
Seems odd. It wouldn't hur, however, to ensure you add the Captivate files (.SWF, .JS, .HTM and any others) to your list of Baggage Files for the project.
Sounds like the Captivate cannot find its files.
Cheers... Rick

Not able to view the webhelp output in Robohelp 9

Hello,
I am in a project where we have to create webhelp output from Robohelp 9. Whenever I generate the webhelp ouput I am not able to view the the contents. Although, the webhelp is opening in a browser window but there are no topics present in the contents. The other ouputs like .chm and .dox are fine, but there is some problem with the webhelp which I am unable to figure out.
Regards,
Ruso

What browser are you using?
If Chrome, try something else. Chrome works fine with help on the server but not locally. There is more in Snippets on my site about the Chrome issue.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Problem in viewing the webhelp output in a RoboHelp-DocumentX project

Hi, I am working with Robohelp X5. The project is generated together with DocumentX and hence contains more than 15,000 files. Secondly, the proper webhelp output is extremely essential for this project as it concerns the links which are also in thousands.
A problem has occured where the webhelp is getting generated, but I cannot view the output. The generated file occurs in the webhelp folder, but displays only a single page with no navigation pane or even the content/search tabs.
The project had been successful in April. While updating it, I copied the Robohelp project folder and things started. Initially the prosource folder was showing an error while opening the project. When I copied it again to a different location, the project file opened and functioned fine, but the output problem is still there.
What I have now id - The original folder with the crashed project, 2 new copies of this folder where the project works fine and the webhelp is generated with no output.
Please help me, because starting from scratch with DocX files is a nightmare!

By DocumentX do you mean the Microsoft Word format .docx?
If so I am not surprised you have had trouble. Quite simply, X5 is not Word 2007 compatible.
I don't follow "hence contains more than 15,000 files". What's the connection with using Word that causes a high number of files that would not occur otherwise?
15,000 topics in one project is high anyway and at the level I would expect problems.
Are you using RoboHelp for Word or RoboHelp HTML?
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Using Multiple Conditional Tags with Multiple WebHelp Outputs

I have a project that I have created for a web application. Within the web application, there are 3 types of customers (Commercial Accts, National Accts, and Tier 1 Customers).
I have tagged each help topic that is associated with the help topics I have created.
Then, I created 3 webhelp outputs and 3 TOCs for each customer type.
My goal is to publish the project, where each customer type has their own generated output. Doing it this way, what is listed in the TOC help topics for each customer type is not displaying correctly.
Example: National Accounts TOC
What is generated:
I have tagged the help topics within the TOC to the appropriate conditional tag. Please help. Any advice? I can also be reached at [email protected]

I have a project that I have created for a web application. Within the web application, there are 3 types of customers (Commercial Accts, National Accts, and Tier 1 Customers).
I have tagged each help topic that is associated with the help topics I have created.
Then, I created 3 webhelp outputs and 3 TOCs for each customer type.
My goal is to publish the project, where each customer type has their own generated output. Doing it this way, what is listed in the TOC help topics for each customer type is not displaying correctly.
Example: National Accounts TOC
What is generated:
Please help. Any advice? I can also be reached at [email protected]

Problems generating WebHelp output using RoboHelp X5

Hello,
I have been using RoboHelp X5, build 606 since last 2 weeks. I am facing problems with the generation of WebHelp output, when I generate and publish the project, it does not give me the Index and TOC. I have taken over the project from another author and when I compare the new Published Help folder with the previous author's work, I see some missing files. Could anyone from the group please help me resolve this issue?
Thanks!

Two possibilities from that information.
1] Is the D drive a partition on your hard disk or a network drive? RoboHelp projects must be run from your hard disk.
2] The more likely is that RH is not properly installed. When the previous author left, was RH uninstalled and reinstalled using your login? For X5 it must be installed using your login? Also you need local admin rights both to install and use it.
My guess is this is all to do with X5 not having been installed with your login and with you having local admin rights.
This will lead to another problem. X5 can no longer be activated. The solution to that is on my site. See Snippet 100.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
Follow me @petergrainge

WebHelp Output

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