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A
Anonymous
March 5, 2009
Answered

Importing Captivate files into Robohelp

  • March 5, 2009
  • 1 reply
  • 888 views
I am working on a large robohelp project that include approximately 20 captivate files. I was originally saving my work on my hard drive, but had to move them to a server. The problem I have run into is that I can't seem to find a way to change the path that is in Robohelp so that I can edit a file that has been imported. What I started doing is to go back to captivate and re-publish the file and reimport it into Robohelp, This is a time buster. Is there a better way to change the path that is stored in Robohelp so that I don't have to re-import all these files?

Thanks in advance for your help.
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Correct answer Captiv8r
Hi again

Yours would not be the first time I've heard the IT folks help you grab the shotgun barrel and helpfully assist you with pointing it squarely at your knee.

I jest. They are well meaning folk but fail to understand the way RoboHelp and Captivate don't like the network drives.

The best approach here is to always work off your local C drive and copy your project files from there to the network at the end of each workday. That way you work locally and you have a backup handy. Personally I used to zip my projects at the end of each workday and copy them to CD-ROM until the CD reached capacity. At that point I'd start a new CD.

Of course you are free to ignore any of this advice. But my own preference is to use each application separately. Then combine their outputs. I never edit Captivate from inside RoboHelp. For one thing it starts Captivate in some odd funky mode that doesn't allow you to do certain functions as RoboHelp is driving. I hate that. I want all the functions and let me steer please!

I've also seen it where if I have a Captivate project in a RoboHelp folder the Captivate project file got trashed and deleted. Not sure how and it may be voodoo on my behalf, but it left a sour taste in my mouth and now I keep things totally separate in their own project folders.

So there you have it... Rick

1 reply

Captiv8r
Captiv8r
Legend
March 5, 2009
Welcome to our community, efrankweb

First off, it's a horrible practice and asking for trouble to move Captivate OR RoboHelp source content to a server. Can you tell us more about why you felt you had to do this?

You normally don't edit Captivate content from RoboHelp. Usually you create the Captivate content separately in Captivate and import that content into RoboHelp after it has been created. At least that's how I'd do it.

The bottom line here is that we need more information.

Cheers... Rick
A
Anonymous
March 5, 2009
Thanks for responding. In our organization, the servers are automatically backed up everyday, our individual hard drives are not. I was told by our IT person that I should save my project on the server to make sure I have a copy. Originally, I was doing "save as" and saving a copy to the server, but changed giving the advice I received. As far as editing in Robohelp, when I imported my first file, and had to go back and edit, some how I corrupted my files by editing in captivate and then importing back into Robohelp. I found I could go to the topic page in robohelp where the captivate file was located and right click and edit. This is how I have been editing. Do you have a better solution.
Captiv8r
Captiv8rCorrect answer
Legend
March 5, 2009
Hi again

Yours would not be the first time I've heard the IT folks help you grab the shotgun barrel and helpfully assist you with pointing it squarely at your knee.

I jest. They are well meaning folk but fail to understand the way RoboHelp and Captivate don't like the network drives.

The best approach here is to always work off your local C drive and copy your project files from there to the network at the end of each workday. That way you work locally and you have a backup handy. Personally I used to zip my projects at the end of each workday and copy them to CD-ROM until the CD reached capacity. At that point I'd start a new CD.

Of course you are free to ignore any of this advice. But my own preference is to use each application separately. Then combine their outputs. I never edit Captivate from inside RoboHelp. For one thing it starts Captivate in some odd funky mode that doesn't allow you to do certain functions as RoboHelp is driving. I hate that. I want all the functions and let me steer please!

I've also seen it where if I have a Captivate project in a RoboHelp folder the Captivate project file got trashed and deleted. Not sure how and it may be voodoo on my behalf, but it left a sour taste in my mouth and now I keep things totally separate in their own project folders.

So there you have it... Rick
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