Just need a Robohelp Reader to access a technical manual

[Guest]

Hi, I am an electronics tech and I have a job to repair some irrigation monitoring equipment.

I have the technical manual file  ...  but they tell me it can only be accessed by a Robohelp Reader.

I know Google is my friend ... but I have spent hours trying to find something just to open the manual!!!  ...  and finally decided to download the free trial just to get access  ...  until I find it is nearly 1Gb in size.

Can anyone please point me to a program which will open just this one manual I need please. 

Thank you very much.

[Peter Grainge]

It's not RoboHelp Reader you need (no such thing) but Acrobat Reader.

Different program and smaller.

[Guest]

Thanks for the prompt response Peter.

The file I downloaded was an .exe file  ...  so I emailed the company to ask why it was an .exe and not a pdf  ...

My email  ...

I have downloaded the manual for the AgriFlo II Series units but was just a little nervous seeing that it is an .exe file and not a pdf.

Can you reassure me that the file is ok please.  

and they responded  ... 

"The Series II manual is a RoboHelp file. You’ll need to find a RH reader on Google somewhere in order for it to work. The S2’s have been out of production for 10 years!"

I must be missing something here.

The place I downloaded the manual from is here  ...  Flowmeters | Flow Metering Technology  ...  half way down the page  ...  "Series 2 user guide"

[Peter Grainge]

RoboHelp does not generate any exe outputs and there has never been such a thing as a RoboHelp Reader.

It may be that they have created an exe that installs the manual you want but there is no way of knowing what an exe is going to install.

You need to go back to them and ask for a better explanation and point out there is no such thing as a RoboHelp Reader. Whether you trust them depends on your knowledge of the company concerned.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring information

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

It could be that their exe installs a RoboHelp output onto your PC. The possible outputs would be:

WebHelp - That would install and you would need to open what is known as the Start Page in your browser. Only they can confirm that and tell you its name and the path to it.

A CHM file - That will be installed wherever they tell you and double clicking it would open the file on your PC. CHMs are single files that Windows supports.

A PDF file - That will be installed wherever they tell you and double clicking it would open the file on your PC provided you have something like Acrobat Reader. When you double click it, your PC will either open the file or tell you there is no program on the PC to support that file type. Depends on your operating system.

That is information they have to give you and you have to decide whether you trust them.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring information

@petergrainge

[Guest]

Amazing  ...  no wonder I wasn't getting anywhere.

Thank you very much for your input Peter  ...  sounds like the 'technical' people who are supposed to be helping me over at Mace  ...  either have no clue  ...  or are trying hard to not help.

The quote in my second post above is a direct cut and paste from their email to me.

I was pretty confident the files are safe  ...  it's just that Mace don't seem to understand what's needed to access them!

When you mentioned WebHelp Peter, it rang a bell in something I had read.

I went and found an old laptop running Windows XP and downloaded the .exe file  ...  double clicked it  ...  and it unpacked itself  ...  and now I have a user manual. The program will not work on Windows10.

Thanks very much for your help Peter, it is very much appreciated  ...  now I just have to go out and troubleshoot the farm irrigation system.

[Peter Grainge]

I assume what is not working on Windows 10 is their software.

Talking of farm irrigation, I went to an agricultural show and saw a tanker with the following on the side. Had to chuckle.

Sh** **ifters

You can work out the gaps.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring information

@petergrainge

[Guest]

Yes, you are correct  ...  though their misleading advice has wasted hours of my time.

And yep  ...  I can fill in the gaps. At least I can smile now  ...  may not have a hour ago. 

[Amebr]

My current work calls their manual "Robohelp". e.g "Robohelp has been updated with the Awesome Widget(tm)". 0_o

[Captiv8r]

Funny how that works, isn't it?