Participating Frequently

Question

FM/RoboHelp Integration

Forum|Forum|16 years ago
March 8, 2010
4 replies
2061 views

We have FM 9 and we're looking to buy RoboHelp 8. From what I'm reading here, it doesn't sound they are integrated. I

am expecting what I saw in the RoboHelp for FrameMaker demo at the Baltimore STC conference, where

my changes in FrameMaker are automatically picked up in RoboHelp.

Is this the case or do you need to import FM into RoboHelp every time there is a change? FYI, the sales person couldn't answer this question.

Thanks.

FrameMaker integration

This topic has been closed for replies.

P

pinu2Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks, RJ. I'll take this offline and send you an e-mail today.

Ted

P

pinu2Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the information. What I saw was actually "RoboHelp for FrameMaker" at the 2004 Baltimore STC conference. It was a Macromedia offering before the Adobe takeover, and long before the Tech Comm Suite. We tried to order it about eight months later and it was already discontinued.

I still have the trial CD and it worked very well - much like using RoboHelp with Word.

We were hoping to come back to RoboHelp from Flare, but we won't do it if RoboHelp still isn't integrated with FrameMaker almost six years later. We already have FrameMaker 9, Acrobat 9 Pro, and CS3 (Photoshop, etc.), so we really don't want to overpay for RoboHelp just to get the Suite.

This is very disappointing, to say the least.

Matt-Tech Comm Tools

Community Expert

Yes, RFM was a neat product. RJ did a great job of bringing it to market.

But what is it that you feel is not integrated? I train folks on the integration regularly and use it myself.

-Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant

Burtin

Inspiring

Hi, all.

I continued to use RHF to publish my on-line help (WebHelp, WebHelp (508), and HTML Help) until last March (actually, I was a "very early" adopter and one of the "RHF Mutineers" who petitioned Macromedia to rethink its decision to EOL RHF" (re: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?rhfn14us&151). It was not easy keeping RHF "alive" on the CPU where it's been installed for 5 years past EOL. Some of us like to think that our constant nagging of Macromedia and then Adobe helped show that there is need and a lucrative market for tools such as TCS.

For me, I think TCS is now ready for use in production, albeit with some post-processing still required on the back end--but I can deal with that. This evolution has not come without pain, but anything worth doing takes time, patience, and a will to"make it happen." Like all other companies, Adobe addresses customer needs in relation to their profit-weight. TCS will only get better, given continued backing, but that will only happen if adopters are also willing to accept some risk and get it (whether by trial or outright purchase), use it, and then tell Adobe in clear, unambiguous terms what needs to be fixed. I am willing to fix some things on the back end now (keeping Adobe informed of my experiences), trusting that Adobe won't "cut and run" like Macromedia did with the EOL of RHF.

Having watched the grace with which RJ Jacquez has navigated this functionality through shark-infested waters, and how willing to listen the engineering team behind him is, I am willing to bet heavily that the next version of TCS will knock some socks off (I hope it knocks some blocks off).

Burtin Hart

Matt-Tech Comm Tools

Community Expert

To follow on the 2 previous correct entries, you can download the

entire TCS2 suite to demo, but you'd better plan on doing it overnight or

over a weekend. (13Gb, if I remember correctly)

-Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant

A

Art Campbell

Inspiring

I suspect what you saw was TCS2, which has some additional integration code.

However, most of the time, for most people in most situations, things work pretty well.

What you usually see in the forums are the corner cases and problems.

May want to ask in the TCS User's Group... http://groups.google.com/group/TCS-Users?hl=en.

Burtin

Inspiring

Hello, Art.

The independent (or "point") versions of FM and RH are not integrated. In order to get the functionality you saw in the demo you mentioned, you will need to upgrade to the full Adobe Technical Communication Suite, currently at version 2 (FM 9.0p250 and RH 8.0.2.208).

Best regards,

Burtin Hart

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