Contents and Index tabs showing garbage characters in Asian languages (RoboHelp 10)

[Tami Settergren]

The Japanese and Chinese CHM files I received from my translator show the correct Asian characters in the Contents and Index tabs. I need to make a change to the help, but when I open the project or compile it, words for those tabs show as garbage characters. I have Japanese and Simplified Chinese language packs installed, and tried switching my PC language to those language, but still get the garbage characters.

One thing I notice is that in the !Language! folders for all languages, there's a !Language!.fpj file and a en_US folder with a en_US.fpj file in it. Both .fpj files include the text "<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>". Should there be a different .fpj file for the Asian languages?

Any other ideas?

Edit: Also, I switched the language in the Project Settings dialog to Simplified Chinese while my PC language was set to Chinese, but that didn't change anything.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Have you tested on an actual Japanese or Chinese operating system?

I ask because I believe that is necessary in order to fully present as intended. I'm doubtful it's sufficient to use an English version of Windows configured with language packs and the like.

Cheers... Rick

[Tami Settergren]

Yes, our validation group tested on Japanese and Chinese OSs and see the same problem.

So what do I have to do, install RH on a PC with an Asian OS, then compile the help on that machine? If so, aaarghh...

[Tami Settergren · Accepted solution]

Here's the full solution.

Note: This is for HTML help files.

On your PC:

1. Make sure the appropriate language pack is installed on your PC.
2. Select Start > Control Panel > Region and Language.
3. On the Format and Administrative tabs, set the Format and system locale to the appropriate language/country.
4. Restart the PC.

Note: PC display language does not have to be set to the target language.

In RoboHelp:

1. Open the Asian help project.
2. Select File > Project Settings, then select the appropriate language.
3. Select File > Generate > Primary Layout.
4. In the HTML Help Options dialog, select the appropriate language, then click Save and Generate.

Thanks to the helpful folks at my translation agency, SDL, for showing me all the necessary settings.

[Tami Settergren]

An update to this: When you upgrade to the next version of RoboHelp, do the language setup on your PC before you open the RoboHelp project in the new version. I upgraded a project to RoboHelp 11, then tried the above procedure, and it didn't fix the garbage characters. Deleted the upgraded project, opened my version 10 backup, completed the steps required in RobobHelp, then the Asian characters were ok.