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A
Anonymous
August 12, 2008
Answered

.chm file size almost doubled

  • August 12, 2008
  • 2 replies
  • 924 views
Have been using RoboHelp 7 HTML for quite some time now without issue or any changes to hardware or software. Compile a new .chm every week or so. Today, without adding more than a document or two, the .chm file size jumped from 38139 KB to 75953 KB. I've checked the new pages and there is no basic size difference. I've recompiled, made sure that I've checked the "optimize .chm size" box, and tried renaming the XPJ/CPD files and recreating the project. All three result in the same 75953 KB size .chm file. Any ideas on what I can do to troubleshoot my issue?
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    Correct answer johnmccallum
    Hi,

    The fact that this almost doubled reminded of a time the same happened to me. The compiler has a knack for adding files from your project directory that are not in your project file. This is seen by some as a feature to prevent you from forgetting a file, but to me it is one of the great annoyances of the help compiler.

    Once, after changing the name of the .chm file it included the previous .chm in the next compilation. It took a while to figure out what was going on. I don't really remember what I did but it may have involved decompiling the bloated .chm.

    Good luck,

    John

    2 replies

    A
    Anonymous
    January 29, 2009
    Files double again. Called support line. Here are the three sets of steps I took to fix the problem. The third is what worked for me, but the first two may also do the trick. FIX NUMBER 1
    1. Go to the folder where your project lives (C:\HelpSolution\Help.chm)
    2. Rename .XPJ as ...OLD.xpj
    3. Rename .CPD as ...OLD.cpd
    4. Double-click on .HHP to open RoboHelp
    5. Go to Single Source Layouts pod.
    6. Double-click HTML Help layout.
    7. Confirm Default Topic is correct
    8. Confirm Table of Contents is corret
    9. Confirm Default Window is NewWindow
    10. Confirm Optimize CHM File Size is checked.
    11. Click Finish.
    FIX NUMBER2
    1. Go to Single Source Layouts pod.
    2. Select “New Layout” icon on far left of toolbar
    3. Create new Layout Name
    4. Click OK
    5. Create new folder and designate in Output Folder and File Name
    6. Confirm Default Topic is correct
    7. Confirm Table of Contents is (Default)
    8. Confirm Default Window is NewWindow
    9. Confirm Optimize CHM File Size is checked.
    10. Click Save.
    11. Double-click HTML Help layout.
    12. Confirm settings again and click Finish.
    FIX NUMBER3
    1. Go to Single Source Layouts pod.
    2. Select “New Layout” icon on far left of toolbar
    3. Create new Layout Name
    4. Click OK
    5. Go to Table of Contents pod
    6. Click Create New TOC
    7. Click New button
    8. Enter Name
    9. Do not check Copy Existing TOC
    10. Click OK
    11. Go back to Single Source Layouts pod
    12. Use all the same settings EXCEPT… Set Table of Contents to the newly created/named TOC
    13. Click Finish.
    14. View the new HTML Help chm
    12. Go to the path indicated in the layout “Output Folders and File Name”
    15. Double-click the .chm file.

    Hope this helped. I used the tool located on http://www.keyworks.net/keytools.htm to view my project and found that all documents in my project folders had been saved in the root folder as well, but viewing the Project pod did not show any issues. The viewer at keyworks was the only thing that showed the problem. The viewer doesn't allow the extra files in the root to be deleted, so the third fix listed above was what was needed to clear up the TOC corruption problem.
    P
    Pete_Lees
    Participating Frequently
    August 13, 2008
    Hi, sstahl1212,

    I'd suggest that you use a tool like KeyTools or FAR to look inside the .chm file. You may find that there are duplicate topic files in there, or perhaps some of the graphics files have ballooned in size.

    KeyTools (freeware): http://www.keyworks.net/keytools.htm
    FAR (shareware, but free to use for two months): http://helpware.net/FAR/index.html

    If the issue is duplicate topic files, these recent threads may provide you with a solution:

    "Multiple/broken/repeated listings in Search results"
    "Double-entry Search results!"

    Pete
    J
    johnmccallumCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    August 14, 2008
    Hi,

    The fact that this almost doubled reminded of a time the same happened to me. The compiler has a knack for adding files from your project directory that are not in your project file. This is seen by some as a feature to prevent you from forgetting a file, but to me it is one of the great annoyances of the help compiler.

    Once, after changing the name of the .chm file it included the previous .chm in the next compilation. It took a while to figure out what was going on. I don't really remember what I did but it may have involved decompiling the bloated .chm.

    Good luck,

    John
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