Missing .xpj file - can I still edit the project?

[Andrew Stivelman]

Hi, I'm new to RoboHelp, coming from another HTML/Web help software product.  A third-party vendor for my company that had written a Help module for us has given us all the source files that they created in RH.  I am being asked to update some of the files.  However, I do not see any RoboHelp project files (*.xpj, *.mpj, *.hhp, *.hlp or *.hpj) that would allow me to open the entire project.

So is it ok to open each HTML file individually and modify them in RH (ver 8) and give them back to our developers for incorporation into our product's code?  Or do I need one of the file formats above in order to work on the project?

If this is a dumb question, please forgive me, but as I have very cursory knowledge of RH, I'm not sure where to begin.

Thanks for any and all help.

[Peter Grainge]

Are you sure they are source files? Are there folder names starting "wh"?

RoboHelp 8 does not allow the editing of single files so you are going to need the missing files or you will have to create a new project and import all the files, create a new TOC and so on.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Andrew Stivelman]

Thanks, Peter, for the quick reply.

Yes there are wh* directories with HTML, JS, CSS and other files but no .xpj, etc.

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

It sounds like you have been given the output files rather than the source. You need the latter but whether you are entitled to it will depend on the contract you have with the third party who produced it before. There are ways of recreating a project from the output but that too might breach the contract. See Reverse Engineering on my site.

If at all possible, you want to get the source project.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Andrew Stivelman]

Thanks again, Peter.  I have gone ahead and requested all the source files.

Appreciate the help very much.