Graphics are missing from CHM output in TCS 2017 (old Frame12 project)

Report · Feb 20, 2017

Hi all,

I am currently working on some updates to a project I originally did in Frame12.

It was just an ordinary bunch of Frame files, with a fair few screenshots (PNG format), that were output as HTML Help (CHM files) using the Publish command.

I still have all the original source files (and the .sts settings fill and .htt template file).

I tried opening one of the chapters today in Frame 2017, where it looks fine, nothing wrong... until I do File > Publish... the CHM output has every single graphic missing! Replaced by a blank line.

There's no error message that I can see. If I view the Log file, each of the PNG files I was expecting in my output is mentioned by name.

I then tried going back to Frame 2015 and doing File > Publish there. ... there result is not as bad, but still basically awful: all the PNG screenshots have been resized, so look fuzzy. One graphic (where a PNG is in an anchored frame with some text annotations added) comes through with the anchored frame blank and empty.

So basically, it seems Frame 2015 broke things a bit, and Frame 2017 breaks them totally!

Report · Feb 20, 2017

Here's the Publish settings I'm using (from my old Frame12 project).
Basically, the "Preferred Dimensions" were/are set to 0pt and the "Advanced > Default Format" was set to "(As Is)". This was what worked before to make the Publish process "don't modify or resample any of the graphics, just leave them as is" -
do I need different settings to make it work in 2015 and 2017?! Reading the Help, the only change for those versions of Frame seems to be a checkbox to allow the inclusion of graphics from a Reference page.

Report · Feb 20, 2017

Hi ,

Please try publishing without the preferred dimensions set in your sts to 0 pt , If that works for you, try .Earlier it was an workaround , try reverting that and then publish your output .

Report · Feb 21, 2017

OK, I'll give it a go - but that instruction about 0pt is still there in the Help (Print and Publish > Multichannel publishing > Configure publish settings > Style Mapping > Image Settings > Preferred dimensions ... )

note: To convert the images in FrameMaker documents to the actual dimensions of the images, specify the height and width as 0pt. The <img> tag for such images in the generated HTML does not have the height and width values. This conversion is irrespective of the dimensions of the anchored frames that contained the images.

if that is no longer the way to do it, why hasn't the Help been changed? And what are we supposed to do instead to avoid graphics being resized?

Report · Feb 21, 2017

The first thing I have done is reinstalled Frame12, and confirmed that my CHM output is absolutely fine from the same source files. And it is. So at least that's something I can keep doing my work.

Now all I have to do is find out why it's progressively more broken in Frame 2015 and Frame 2017...

Report · Feb 21, 2017

OK, some progress:

In Frame 2015, I un-ticked "Width: 0pt" and "Height: 0pt" in my Style Mapping > Image Settings.

This problem:

One graphic (where a PNG is in an anchored frame with some text annotations added) comes through with the anchored frame blank and empty

...is now fixed.

I was also wrong about it "resampling" all my PNG screenshots: looking more closely, I see that's not what it's doing: it's kept the same bitmaps, pixel for pixel, it's just that the HTML Help viewer is displaying them at a larger zoom level than they were originally captured at (and than that they appear at in the CHM output from Frame12).

I can get the same effect in the output from Frame12 if I press CTRL+ a couple of times on the HTML Help viewer, to zoom in (although that zooms the text too, obviously).

Any idea why that is happening?

Report · Feb 21, 2017

If I tick "Scale" and put any value (including "100%") it resamples the image, so even if it ends up the same size, the text looks awful.

Report · Feb 21, 2017

Moving on to Frame 2017 with the same source files:

if I uncheck the Width and Height 0pt settings, as per the suggestion by @anukritib39921705 , I get the same behaviour as 2015: my images display again, but they are still displaying in the HTML Help browser at a larger zoom level than the output from Frame 12.

And the 'Scale' value has the same effect of resampling, so doesn't help.

Report · Feb 24, 2017

I am not making much progress trying to troubleshoot this!

Indeed, my project manager has asked me to reinstall Frame 12 and work in that, so that my CHM output "looks the same as the old one did".

I'm running on Windows 7, I tried fiddling with the "Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Display > Make it easier to

read what's on your screen" settings.

If I change those between "Smaller - 100%" and "Medium - 125%", I see a corresponding change in the size of my screenshots in CHM files created from Frame 2017 (they are also getting resampled and their pixels munged about too) ... this makes me think Frame 2017 is interacting in a different way with the "Windows GDI" than Frame 12, and the underlying (Robohelp?) Publish engine is using the GDI to resample/re-rasterize my screenshots?

However, my memory tells me that Frame 12 did this too, and it was only by using the Image "Width: 0pt" and "Height: 0pt" setting that I could effectively bypass this and getting it to just pass the screenshots through into the CHM un-tinkered with.

I'm really blundering about in the dark here, I'm afraid - clearly Adobe have changed the way the Publish command works in this respect between Frame 12, Frame 2015 and Frame 2017, and not documented the consequences

Report · Feb 24, 2017

Although, the existing docs seem to imply that the underlying HTML that the Publish command is creating is specifying attributes for an <IMG> tag? That are affecting how it is rendered in the Help viewer relative to the size of the help text? Does this mean some default CSS attribute has changed somewhere?

Report · Feb 24, 2017

Hi ,

Can you please share any sample document and an sts so that I can properly investigate your issue.Thanks!

Regards,

Anukriti Bajpai

Report · Feb 24, 2017

Do you work for Adobe, Anukriti? Your login isn't displaying with one of the official red Adobe tags...

Report · Feb 24, 2017

He's an Adobe employee, but a staff badge hasn't been applied to his account. I'm having this rectified.

Report · Feb 27, 2017

OK! Sorry, just being cybersecurity-conscious

I'd be happy to send you a sample doc to illustrate the problem, Anukriti - have private-messaged you, let me know the best way to send it.

Report · Feb 27, 2017

Hi ,

If the size of file isnt too large please share it on my email id - anbajpai@adobe.com .Thanks!

Report · Mar 20, 2017

Hi, I sent an example of a problem file back on 27 Feb 2017, haven't heard anything further. Has there been any progress with this?

Report · Mar 30, 2017

I never heard anything further back from Anukriti on this (I don't even know if they got the files I sent).

I raised FRMAKER-2369 on the bug Tracker system about this. No response to that yet either.

Report · Mar 30, 2017

Hi ,

I did not receive the fileset earlier .Please send it to anbajpai@adobe.com so that i can look into it .Thanks!

Report · Mar 30, 2017

Oh dear! Sorry about that. I didn't receive any bounce message.

I have resent the email now.

Have you received it this time?

Report · Mar 30, 2017

Yes I have