Expanded air files

[Ioanb22]

Hello,

We're using RoboHelp software to create our help files. The output is generated as .air file.

For deployment we're using InstallShield Basic MSI projects.

In order to include the help files we have 2 options:

1. Include the .air file in the IS MSI and run the AdobeAir installer (silent, eventually) to install the air files.

2. Include the expanded (installed somewhere and copied) help files / folders in the IS MSI and just copy them on the target machine. The expanded air files/folder do not require any other registration, etc, in order ru be used.

The first option would be the correct one, but I have 2 problems:

- I cannot (simply) fully identify the airinstaller.exe location (Versions/1.0/Ressources) considering that the '1.0' could be different on client's machine;

- A proper AdobeAir install will record the help package in the installed programs which will look weird as a distinct piece of software from our installed product.

So, I want to try the second option. This implies that the RoboHelp output .air file has to be first deployed (expanded) in order to get the list of files and folders.

Is it possible to set up RoboHelp so it generates all these files directly?

We are working exclusively under / for Windows OS.

Thanks,

Ioan

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I suppose you could install it first on your machine, then zip up all the expanded files and package that - but I've never done it like that.

[Ioanb22]

That's exactly my option now (not zipped, just including all files), but I'm looking for a better solution.

Actually, the whole product package is automatically built getting the files from a Source Safe depository. I would like that when the technical writter makes a change in the help files to check them in Source Safe and the automatic build to pick them up.

Your suggested solution implies an extra step - installing the air package and them upload them in Source Safe depository.

So, would be possible that the RoboHelp project outputs instead of the .air file, its 'installed' files?

Thanks for the suggestion,

Ioan

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

You can throw it on the wishlist, but I highly doubt it would ever get built that way...

[Ioanb22]

OK, so I understand that is not possible right now.

(sorry, I'm not the technical writter, but the software developer which has to prepare the build and the install package, I don't use RoboHelp).

Thanks,

Ioan

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

Sorry but I wouldn't like to expand the files on one PC and then copy them to another. I suspect your app requires a proper install with registry keys and so on, so does the AIR file.  The .AIR file is an installer, not just a zip file.

Also the end users PC has to have the AIR runtime and either the end user has to install that or you have to get a licence from Adobe. That is not difficult and there is no cost.

The help gets installed as a program so try copying the program from one PC where they have been installed properly to another PC doing it the way you are planning. However, even if it does work, there could be later problems with updates and so on.

I suggest you take a look at the pages on my site about AIR help. I think you will find it is all more complex than just copying some files.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Ioanb22]

I completely agree and I understand your point.

But in our case, at least for now, nothing else is required in order to use the help. Probably we don't use more complex features. (BTW, for updates any updated file will be updated by the IS project).

As a developer I don't like the solution I plan to implement, but as I specified in the original post I cannot use the 'correct' solution because of 2 main issues:

- I cannot (simply) fully identify the airappinstaller.exe location (Versions/1.0/Ressources) considering that the '1.0' could be different on client's machine; The Adobe Air product registration gives me references to Adobe Air folder, but not to the exact airappinstaller.exe location.

- A proper AdobeAir install will record the help package in the installed programs list which will look weird as a distinct piece of software from our installed product. Why would a Help be a standalone installed application?!?

So, unless I found (with your help?) a solution of the above 2 issues, I cannot use the proper Adobe Air application install.

Thanks for your reply,

Ioan

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Your first point is overcome (I think) by the inclusion of the AIR runtime files (as licensed from Adobe for free) - in silent mode it checks to see if the workstation already has the AIR runtime installed & skips it if it already is there - I'm not sure what you're talking about with that "airappinstaller.exe" thing.

The second is valid - it does install the help as a second listed application - so it does look a bit weird - but I think you can control it to only have the help listed in Add/Remove Programs and not place icons or shortcuts on the desktop, so hardly anybody is going to notice that. If your tech writer has labeled it correctly, then it should cozy right up to your app in the list of installed programs and make perfect sense to anybody looking at the list that it belongs with your app.

[Ioanb22]

For the first issue I may do something wrong. Please follow my explanation and correct if I'm wrong:

The Adobe Air runtime (at least what I found on Adobe download page) get installed (by default) under "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe AIR" folder.

I search the Registry for HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe AIR\InstallLocation  key to find out if Adobe Air is installed.

In order to deploy an .air file I have to run something like:

>airappinstaller.exe -silent -location "My selected location" "Full path Help.air"

The problem is I cannot identify where this airappinstaller.exe application is located.

For what I've seen searching on internet, the 1.0 subfolder could be different (1.01 ?), so the InstallLocation is not good enough.

Can I do something better?

Thanks,

Ioan

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Not sure, I give my developer the AdobeAIRInstaller.exe that I get from Adobe under license and they use that. I think it does all the heavy lifting in determining if AIR is already installed. Then they run my .air file to install it within their app in a sub-folder.

[Ioanb22]

Jeff_Coatsworth wrote:

Then they run my .air file to install it within their app in a sub-folder.

That's exactly my problem!

If I just run the .air file I shows up with it's own dialog, so I cannot pass -silent or -location  parameters.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I'm pretty sure my users don't see anything about where the help is going when the app is installed.

[Peter Grainge]

- I cannot (simply) fully identify the airappinstaller.exe location (Versions/1.0/Ressources) considering that the '1.0' could be different on client's machine; The Adobe Air product registration gives me references to Adobe Air folder, but not to the exact airappinstaller.exe location.

airappinstaller.exe? If you mean you cannot control where the AIR help is installed, wrong. Your author can create the .AIR file so that it installs the help to a specific location.

- A proper AdobeAir install will record the help package in the installed programs list which will look weird as a distinct piece of software from our installed product. Why would a Help be a standalone installed application?!?

I may be telling you something you already know but AIR is a technology used to create apps and you may be surprised just widely it is used and who by. The eBay Desktop app is one example. What the RoboHelp team did was create help as such an app.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Ioanb22]

Peter Grainge wrote:

airappinstaller.exe? If you mean you cannot control where the AIR help is installed, wrong. Your author can create the .AIR file so that it installs the help to a specific location.

That location cannot be defined by my author, it's user defined: In my installation the user selects the product installation folder, where the Help should also go.

So I have to pass this path to the .air installation and the way I found it's possible is by using the airappinstaller.exe command.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I'm pretty sure that my developer passes in the location where the client has chosen (in his app installer interface) to control where my .air file gets installed - I don't specify a "Program Menu Folder" to install into within my project.

[Peter Grainge]

This hasn't been a problem for us either. The install path for the app can be set by users and then somehow our developers install the AIR help somewhere that makes it work. Sorry I don't know quite how but it can be done.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Ioanb22]

You convinced me that this is the correct way to go (properly install the .air file).

The only problem is that I'm not able to implement it in our context. Yet!

Thanks for your assistance,

Ioan