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ScottNRK
Participating Frequently
February 12, 2007
Question

Failer to create PDF

  • February 12, 2007
  • 23 replies
  • 5059 views
RobotHelp is failing to create the PDF document from my project. It is able to produce the HTMLHelp and other forms. When attempting to create the pdf document it process for 3 minutes then reports "Internal error encountered, Failed to generate Printed Documentation." I need more specifics ... please send additional suggestions on how to identify/solve this problem.

I can forward screenshot or other details ... apparently need to do that via email... please provide an address.

Scott Sandwith
This topic has been closed for replies.

23 replies

Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 17, 2007
OK. Keep the post I prepared this morning until things are quieter. The thing I would try first is installing it on a non company PC. I think that will work and assuming it does you will be more inclined to trust the install and try the other steps.

Another thing to bear in mind is that more than once we have seen people blame RoboHelp for everything from poverty in Africa to Global Warming and then come back a while later saying it was a bad install of some other application that caused the problem.

Finally, if you activated the copy you put on a second machine, make sure you deactivate it or you will not be able to put RH on any other machine and the licence does permit you to have it on a desktop and a laptop or an office and a home PC.

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ScottNRKAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 17, 2007
Understood ... this is an issue that Adobe RoboHelp needs to address.

The output from RoboHelp shows that it is processing the pdf's yet not able to save them. There was another entry in this thread where they were not able to produce printed documentation from RoboHelp. So I believe this is not an isolated incident.

Thank you ... I'll post when it gets resolved.
S
ScottNRKAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 17, 2007
Sorry ... thank you for your efforts. My frustration is not with you ... it is will this problem. I have missed deadlines as a result. Courtesy is important. My bad for not acknowledging your efforts.
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 17, 2007
It occurs to me that perhaps seeing the Adobe Community Expert logo you think I work for Adobe. Actually I am author taking time out of my work to assist others and I do not work for Adobe.

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Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 17, 2007
Well thank you Peter for everything you have tried to do to assist me.

It is so nice to see basic courtesy when someone has spent a couple of hours or more trying to assist.

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Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 16, 2007
I did think you would try it on a machine without Acrobat. The installer is working for everyone else so there has to be something about your environment. I am not saying there is anything wrong with it, just something that is different.

Glancing back, I don't think that we have checked that you are installing RH with your logon and with admin rights attached. Is that the case?

Also is there anything in this article that might be relevant?

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/robohelp/articles/get_started.html

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ScottNRKAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 17, 2007
What ... you typically install RoboHel[p on machines without Acrobat?

I am logged in as an admin.

After wiping Adobe installs other than Reader from my machine are the only installing RobotHelp ... i get the same thing. I then tryed using Acrobat 7.0 Elements to make a pdf ... it starts to make the pdf ... then tells me it: "Missing PDFMaker Files", "Do you want to run the installer in repair mode?" I select Yes ... it process for about 1 minute ... I try it again ... guess what ... same behavior.

What do I have to do to get an new installation download?
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 17, 2007
If everyone had Acrobat on their machines, there wouldn't be much point in including Acrobat Elements would there?

Also could you please be a little fuller in your replies? I asked if you had installed RH with admin rights, you just say you are logged in as an admin. That is not the answer to my question. You might not have had admin rights at the time RoboHelp was installed and it might not have been installed using your logon, often someone from IT comes along and installs it using their logon.

I also asked you to look at the Getting Started article. That point has been ignored, or at least you have not indicated that you have done that.

I am trying to help you solve this but I need you to work with me please. It is 06.30 in the morning here as I type this and it is frustrating to have to keep going over things to get the bits of information that will hopefully lead to a solution. So often your replies cover just part of what I have asked.

OK let's go through a number of things that I have been mulling over. Please answer fully and clearly or I'm out of here. Some of the points might not seem relevant but I have been hanging around these forums for quite a while and sometimes seemingly obscure points do lead to a solution.

1] CLEAN MACHINE

Do you have access to a PC that does not have and has not had Acrobat installed? Uninstalling Acrobat is not the same as using a machine that has never had Acrobat. Have you ever looked at a PC that has had Microsoft Office uninstalled? You will find the application still there!!

2] PROJECT NAME

Does it have any spaces in it? Look at the CPD file. If it does, go to File | Rename Project in RoboHelp and correct that.

3] NEW DOWNLOAD

Go the Help About. You should have Build 99. Is that what you see?

4] ACROBAT SETTINGS

On the first page of the print wizard there is a button marked PDF Settings (or similar, not at the RH6 PC right now). Click that and turn off the option for Tagged PDF. Also change the setting to Standard if something else is selected.

5] YOUR LAST POST

You say, "After wiping Adobe installs other than Reader from my machine are the only installing RobotHelp...". What?

6] TRUSTED MACROS

In Word go to Tools | Options and look for the security settings. Is the Trust All Installed Macros ticked and is Adobe listed? If Adobe is not listed, go to Program Files \ Adobe \ RoboHelp \ RoboHTML | PrintDocExt and double click the PrintDoc template. That will most likely ask to whether you trust the publisher so answer Yes.

7] MACRO SECURITY LEVEL

In Word that must be no higher than Medium. Try Low as well.

8] USE THE CONTEXT MENU

Create a Word document only and close RoboHelp. Locate the document and right click. Use the context menu to create the PDF. Does that also fail?

9] OPERATING SYSTEM

Are you using XP with SP2 installed?

10] WORD DISABLED ITEMS

Click Help | About and click the Disabled Items button. Anything showing there?

11] WORD NORMAL TEMPLATE

Is that installed on your hard disk? Please also check that it is not set to Read Only.

12] GENERATE FOLDER

Try generating the output to a folder directly off the root of your hard disk, for example C:\PDF_Test.

13] VIRUS CHECKER

What are you using? Can you disable it while you install and test?

14] SPY SWEEPING

Do you use WebRoot? Great program, I use it myself, but I have seen one person report an issue it caused.

15] PREVIOUS VERSIONS

Did you uninstall X5 before installing RH6?

16] NETWORK LOGON

Get IT to give you a fictitious logon and try everything with that. It could be something in your profile but you don't want to start with a new one unless you know that is the cause.

17] GETTING STARTED

Please read through that. I think we have covered the important stuff but it might just trigger something in your mind.

18] FINALLY

Do you have access to a PC other than a company PC that you can install on? It could just be something about the way your IT guys build the machines.

****************************************

Please work through all that methodically and post back responding to each point, at least as far as the one that hopefully fixes this once and for all.

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ScottNRKAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 15, 2007
No ... I'll try that.
S
ScottNRKAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 16, 2007
Tried RoboHelp on another machine ... no joy. Same issues ... not able to produce pdf's. When I attempt to install the Elemnets 7.0 it tells me a more capabile product was detected. Then it exits the install. When I tried RobotHelp HTML and load a sample project it will not let me select the pdf output. This is amazing ... this installer is crap.
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 15, 2007
Scott

I haven't read back through the thread but have you tried installing RH on a second machine using Elements to see if it runs OK there?

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HKabaker
Inspiring
February 15, 2007
There are some settings in Adobe related to "optimizing" the size of the document and, of course, whether you want a new TOC and Index to be built. (Probably you're getting them from RH, then duplicated in Adobe.)

Read the fine print on using the Adobe optimizer. It can take a long time to accomplish very little.

Harvey


Harvey

Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 15, 2007
Scott

I have found out a few more things in my dealings with Adobe on the problem I had (or have, not sure yet).

If I generate a Word document only, then I have no trouble. When I right clicked the Word document and clicked the Create Adobe PDF if also appeared to fail. At that point I was advised that what RH does is use the same functionality to create the PDF as on that context menu. It follows therefore that if that fails, then the problem is with Adobe PDF rather than RoboHelp.

I then created a fresh Word document and clicked the Adobe icon in Word and was convinced it had failed. However I then went into a long meeting (2 hours) and when I came back, there was a PDF file. I don't know how long it actually took.

I have now left the office but only after setting off the creation of a PDF from the context menu. We will see what has happened in the morning. I will be doing some more testing then.

Now the big difference between our issues is you get a failure message whereas I am having issues with one project and I seem to be making some progress.

Please watch this space for an update but meantime it might just be worth going back to elements and trying some more tests. It sounds as if perhaps you gave it one try? If I am wrong on that, my apologies. However, if you feel inclined to try some tests that you haven't already, what I would do is uninstall Acrobat and reboot. Then reinstall Elements and test with a new one topic project.

It could prove to be a waste of time but at least you can say you have tried all avenues.

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ScottNRKAuthor
Participating Frequently
February 15, 2007
I've tried a number of times ... this has to be a bug with RoboHelp.
A
Anonymous
February 15, 2007
Hello ScottNRK,

To submit bugs or feature requests, please use this web form:

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform
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