RH 2019 does not synch from source Word file to the Project file

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I have confirmed that the Word Documents > Update All option (when clicking on folder in content tree) indeed performs the appropriate HTML updates and syncs (red to green) all copied word documents. Thank you!

Pending Adobe confirming what I have said before, I can only reiterate that the Sync options are not applicable to Word linking. Assuming Adobe do confirm what they told me before, I have suggested that the Sync options are disabled for Word documents to avoid this confusion.

To access Create/Update you have to click on a Word document and it is only that document that will create or update the topics, "all" refers to all topics from that single document. You will have to repeat that for all the documents at the moment.

To change the workflow to update all Word documents in the project you will need to submit a feature request but please hold off until I hear back from Adobe.

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See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

Okay - I have now created two test files outside of the project directory (in a desktop "Test" folder), and used the Contents pane right-click Link > Folder to copy them into the project contents, then used right click on copy file Create/Update topics. Noticed that a duplicate folder was created in the Project folder, and in that folder were the two "copy" word documents, along with the HTML for the created topics. After editing the docs in the original location, the "sync" indicator turned red next to each "copy" word document, and a Create/Update did the appropriate content updates and reverted the indicator to Green. All good... 

At this point - after making changes to both documents in the Source folder, is there a way to update ALL topics simultaneously? I see multiple options that look like potential solutions.

• Right-click on "Copy" folder in Contents pane, and Link > Folder (implies that an update is possible to all folder contents?)
• Right-click on "Copy" folder in Contents pane, and Word Documents > Update All (implies all "copy" documents in folder will be synched?)
• Sync Folder > From Source to Project (implies that sync will be made from original directory to project copy folder?)
• Sync Folder > From Project to Source (implies that sync will be made from copy directory to original directory)?

Then there are similar options for inddividual files (right click on "copy" DOCX and then either Create/Update Topics, or Sync > Project to Source or Sync > Source to Project).

The goal is to have a "development" directory where test engineers can freely edit development documents, and the single Robohelp user will be able to suck in the changes into the overall project. Ideally, this SHOULD be performed in a "multi" file operation (i.e., on the Folder). If files must be updated singly, that is also fine - although slightly less convenient - but would like to know the BEST method for performing the above.

Thank you both for pursuing this. As I said, I just tried out the feature yesterday, and results were not as expected on several occasions (was also working with the user who is going to be using the feature, and we became equally baffled). I'll investigate more using your suggestions - because, as you surmised, I was working with a document that was within the test project folder (assuming all files should be bundled together). So - in all likelihood a case of user error. Once again, I find it very ironic that a target aimed at the technical writing audience has such atrocious supporting documentation (this feature is entirely glossed over and minimally explained in the help system). Thank you both again; I'll be sure to chirp up if I have further questions...

@Amebr I agree "In which case the Sync  > From Project to Source right-click menu would make sense to push the "copy" changes back to the source Word doc" appears to make sense but the steps I have set out earlier were verified by Adobe. Specifically that Sync is not to be used when linking Word documents. The routine is to Link > Create/Update Topics and not use Sync.

I will get that confirmed by Adobe.

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See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

Another thought.

I assume the yellow arrow indicates that the "copy" Word doc has changed from the source.

In which case the Sync  > From Project to Source right-click menu would make sense to push the "copy" changes back to the source Word doc.

I noticed you did "Show in Explorer", which will show the "copy" word doc that's inside the project. But doing a Create/Update will use the original source document, which is typically located on a network server.

If you right-click and select Edit Settings, you can see where the original is. If you then modify that file, you should see your changes come through.

(Interestingly, using 2019 Update 12, I tried linking a word doc located inside the project, but doing a Create/Update resulted in an error that the Word doc was open and the update couldn't proceed. So I presume your original source is on a network drive, or a different C drive location, outside your project folder.)

Importing is a totally different process. After importing a document a document topics are created but there is no link with the source document.

To start linking right click in the Contents panel and select Link > File. When you see the DOCX in the contents panel, then right click on it to see Create/Update.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information