Using RoboHelp 8 and RoboHelp 10 on same computer

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
August 1, 2013
2 replies
955 views

I have RoboHelp 8 (up to date) on a somewhat older machine (running XP). I bought TCS 4.0 a few months ago, but have yet to install it. Can I install TCS, with RoboHelp 10, while leaving RoboHelp 8 intact and functioning? If so, are there any tips and tricks I should know in advance of the installation? Finally, am I correct in assuming that merely opening a, R8 project in R10 will convert it into a format that can no longer be accesse by R8?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Blessings,

Yehoshua Kahan

This topic has been closed for replies.

Jeff_Coatsworth

Community Expert

Yes multiple versions of RH can live on the same machine; however Acrobat can’t – you’ll need to uninstall all instances of earlier versions first before loading TCS4. And yes, opening an RH8 project in RH10 will upgrade it – always make sure you have a backup copy of your RH8 projects before trying the upgrade.

R

ravyehoshuaAuthor

Participant

thanks for the warning about Acrobat! I'm not at all sure it would have crossed my mind to uninstall in advance, I always assume that newer program version installers "know" how to handle earlier versions, uninstalling automatically in advance, if necessary.

RoboColum_n_

Legend

You open a RH project by specifying an XPJ file. At the point where you do this RH does not know what version was used to create it. So yes when you open RH it displays both RH8 and RH10 project XPJ files. When you open a project, the first thing it does is check that it was created in that version. If it wasn't, for example you open an XPJ file created in RH8 in RH10, you get the upgrade message. If you respond "No" to this message, the project does not open but RH10 remains open. It just means you have to close RH10, open RH8 and open the XPJ file there.

RoboColum_n_

Legend

Yes you can have the two versions on the same PC but there are some drawbacks. Most of these come down to how you open your projects. You are correct in that when you open a RH8 project in RH10 it prompts you to upgrade it. For this reason it is always best to take a copy before doing so. It is also the case that once the project is upgraded to RH10 you can no longer open it in RH8.

As for opening the project, if you do so from the RH interface itslef, you won't have any issues. If you open directly from the project's XPJ file in Windows, from memory it will always use the most up to date version. Therefore be very careful opening a RH8 project this way. OK you have a prompt to upgrade that you can say No to. In this case you are safe. I would always recommend opening a project via the RH UI if you have multiple versions installed.

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ravyehoshuaAuthor

Participant

thanks. Am I understanding properly that after installing TCS 4, when I open RoboHelp I get a "generic" UI that will show me both RH8 and RH10 projects, and the only indication will be the update prompts. And if I respond "no" to the update prompt, is RH8 used, or is a RH8 function within RH10 used?

And finally, again, any tips or tricks for best success with installing TCS4 in an environment like mine?

Thanks again.

Jeff_Coatsworth

Community Expert

You’ll end up with 2 sets of RH shortcuts. When you start up RH10 you’ll get a start page allowing you to open projects; same as you do if you started RH8. If you say no to the upgrading of an old project, it won’t load it & you’ll be back to the starter page – it doesn’t know that it could launch RH8.

As far as installation tips – make sure you have local admin access to your machine & that it’s connected to the internet for activation purposes.

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