Index doesn't auto select

Report · Oct 14, 2008

We just updated to RoboHelp for Word to generate WebHelp. When I compile the help and run the results (in a browser) typing in the index field jumps to the first match in the index list. However, when the same files are put in the application, typing in the list doesn't jump to the first match. We got a number of complaints from customers, so I was hoping it would be fixed in 7. No such luck. Is it something I'm doing?

Phil

Report · Oct 14, 2008

Hi Phil

Firstly I'm more than a bit confused. You said: We just updated to RoboHelp for Word to generate WebHelp.

Ummm, what does RoboHelp for Word have to do with WebHelp? Actually, if you were to tell me you were wanting WebHelp, I'd be advising you to avoid RoboHelp for Word. But that's just an observation.

Since you are reporting that the help behaves just dandy when opened all by itself, but is broken when called from the application, I'd have to assume there is something amiss in the call your developer is making to open the WebHelp.

Out of curiosity, have you tried porting the project to RoboHelp HTML and generating WebHelp from there? If not, it may be worth trying to see if things behave differently.

Cheers... Rick

Report · Oct 15, 2008

Oops. Let me clarify. We just updated from RoboHelp 6 to RoboHelp 7 and we use RoboHelp for Word to generate WebHelp.

We don't use WebHelp by choice - it's all that's left. WinHelp can't be use on Windows Vista and HTMLHelp can't be used over a network. I hate WebHelp but we have no choice.

Our software has been in use by customers for over 20 years. We started writing this help LONG before RoboHelp existed. We started out with our own DOS based help system and converted to HelpBreeze when Windows came around. We outgrew it however and RoboHelp was a good migration path since both HelpBreeze and RoboHelp are Word-based. I tried using RoboHelp's Word to HTML project conversion, but it didn't transfer any build tags. A.K.A. - completely useless. I haven't tried it with RH7 yet. Maybe it's better.

How does one call WebHelp from an application that will have any effect at all on the way the index works? Even more fundamentally - how does one affect the way the index works at all? I'm just calling RH_ShowHelp(). There isn't a whole lot more I can or can't do.

Phil

Report · Oct 15, 2008

Hi Phil

Nothing against you here, but I have to smile every time I hear someone say what you said.

It was: WinHelp can't be use on Windows Vista

Nothing is farther from the truth. Granted, Microsoft has been working for a long time to coax folks into weaning off of WinHelp. But work in Vista it still does. If your WinHelp is 16 bit, it works straight away. If it's 32 bit, it requires a download of the 32 bit WinHelp viewer from Microsoft. So it's technically incorrect to say WinHelp doesn't work on Vista. So I think we have to hand it to Microsoft for the job they did in convincing folks to switch.

Also, technically speaking, .CHM format can be made to work on a network if you absolutely need it to.

Cheers... Rick