Generated Help won't show topics.

[RHGrace]

I generate the Help, open the TOC, click a topic, and get the message: "The topic does not exist. Contact your application vendor for an updated Help file." I'm using RoboHELP for Word v. 7. I've made minimal changes since inheriting this Help project, and my predecessors could generate it. Any ideas?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there RHGrace

What is your output? Where is your output?

What you are describing might imply you are creating compiled .CHM output and placing the result on a network server. If that's the case, click here and read on.

Cheers... Rick

[RHGrace]

Thanks for the reply. My predecessor had worked on files off a server, but I copied all those files onto my hard drive. Could RoboHelp still be pointing to the server location when generating the layout? Now, here's another twist: Every once in a while, it works fine; topics in the generated Help open just fine!

Interesting news about the Microsoft safety patch affecting chm files on a server. I would much rather work in webhelp rather than Word Help, as I'm more comfortable with webhelp and want to avoid Word's quirky behaviors. However, I don't know the differences between the two well enough to explain them (I'm not a techie); I'd need to give my manager sufficient reasons for going to webhelp.

Cheers.

[Captiv8r]

Hi again RHGrace

You asked about the differences between "Word help and WebHelp". I don't know that I'm seeing in the thread where that had been addressed. Hence my post.

RoboHelp Office installs as two different applications.
* RoboHelp for Word
* RoboHelp HTML

With RoboHelp for Word, you use Microsoft Word as your authoring environment. With RoboHelp HTML, you use the RoboHelp editor.

If you are creating HTML based output, you will work more efficiently if you use an editor designed to work directly with HTML content! If you continue a path of using Microsoft Word (which was originally intended to work with print, then kludged to convert print to HTML) you will likely find yourself facing many issues that you either would not face if using RoboHelp HTML, or you wouldn't encounter altogether.

Hopefully this was helpful... Rick

[RHGrace]

Thanks, Rick. I guess I need to define my question more. I've worked in both RoboHelp for Word and RoboHelp HTML. The latter is so much easier. However, I want to prepare my "case" for my manager, to prove that it's worth going from the first to the second. I need to list lots of advantages and to know about any disadvantages as well.

So, I think I need to understand how the two Help applications work in a more technical sense. I'm maintaining the Help for a software application that customers with either download from the Internet or from a CD. Would it be possible to download the RoboHelp HTML Help files separately from the software application (so that they could be updated at any time rather than just software releases) or do they need to be together? If the application and Help files need to be together, would they fit onto a CD? I might need to sit down with engineers here to get answers to those questions, but they don't understand how RoboHelp HTML works and therefore might not know the answers.

[RoboColum_n_]

If you right click on the single source layout being used and select Properties, you'll see an output folder and file name field. This will tell you where your output is being placed. Typically CHM files are created where the output is being installed on a local PC (e.g. installed via the application). Webhelp is designed to run on a website or server. Your application can still access it there but you don't deleiver it with the application. Webhelp has the advantage that you can republish the help at anytime whilst CHMs mean having to wait for another build.

[RHGrace]

Thanks. I should have known to check the Single Source Layout Properties. Yes, the .chm files are being compiled on my hard drive. I have no idea why I can't see topics in the generated Help most of the time but I can sometimes. If anyone has ideas why this would happen, please let me know.

[RoboColum_n_ · Accepted solution]

Just checking that the output isn't being generated to your My Documents folder or your desktop which mayin fact be on a network?

[RHGrace]

Well, duh! I had them on my Desktop. I didn't even think about that. I've moved them to my C: drive and have no more problems generating. Thanks!