Printed Documentation won't generate

[Guest]

I am working with RoboHelp 7 and Word 2003 on an XP machine.  I started a new RoboHelp for Word project from scratch, including a tutorial with a lot of screen captures.  The RTF file was about 72 MB in size, and the HLP would not compile; the error message simply said "Failed to generate", and the error wizard was empty.  Adobe Technical Support has had the case for 4 weeks, and has not helped.  I asked if the size of the file mattered, and was told "no", but when I removed some JPGs from the file, the HLP finally compiled.  This small success encouraged me to try tagging the rest of the images as excluded from the HLP.  The HLP now compiles (although it takes a very long time), but printed still gives the "Failed to generate" error mesasge with nothing in the error wizard.  Although it's possible to manually format the printed document, this isn't satisfactory over the long run as I anticipate several rounds of edits in the near future.  Has anyone run into this apparent "size matters" issue before?

[Peter Grainge]

When you compile you must first use the "Convert images to true code" option on the RH menu in Word. If images are visible when you compile, it will work when there are only a few images showing, after that, it will fail.

It's not size that mattters, it's technique.

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[Guest]

Thanks for your suggestion.  I guess I have yet another  problem - there is no RoboHelp menu showing in Word when I have a project open.   Is there any other way to get at the "Convert images to true code" option?

[Peter Grainge]

Not sure if there is an icon but you definitely need to fix the missing menu problem. I have seen this but not sure how to fix it. Long time since I have used RH for Word. Maybe working on another project such as one of the samples.

Any RH for Word users with an answer.

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[Peter Grainge]

Peculiar. I opened RH for Word and found no menu. I went to Tools > Templates and Add Ins and noticed the Automatically Update Styles was on, a setting I normally keep turned off. So I turned it off and OK'd my way out. Menu was showing. Try that. It may not need you to change anything, just OK'ing your way out may do it.

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[Guest]

Darn!  There must still be something amiss.  When I unchecked Automatically update styles, an AdobePDF menu appeared but no RoboHelp menu.  I tried opening one of the sample projects, and there was no RoboHelp menu there AND no RoboHelp menu options in any of the Word menus.  When I went into the Tools menu and unchecked Automatically update styles, all of the RoboHelp menu options and toolbars appeared, but still no RoboHelp menu.  What templates and addins should be loaded?  Perhaps something is missing there in my configuration?  I have attached a JPG showing what I have loaded.  Many thanks for your help - at least I now know what the problem is, and that's a lot more than I knew before your input!

[Peter Grainge]

Try clearing the second RoboHook, then try unticking the Pc5wd8 templates. I don't recognise them and maybe there is a clash.

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[Guest]

No joy yet, I'm afraid.  Many thanks for your help so far.  Any further suggestions you might have down the road will be much appreciated!

[Peter Grainge]

I just opened RH for Word again. No RH menu. Went to Tools > Templates and Add ins and then clicked OK. RH menu appears.

The only other thing I can suggest is Help > About > Disabled Items. There shouldn't be anything there unless you have deliberately disabled something.

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[Guest]

Thanks.  This is very odd - there is no About > Disabled Items under the Help menu in either Word or RH; there is only About > RoboHelp for Word (see attached image), and that doesn't provide any information about disabled items.  If it's not there, does that mean there are no disabled items?

[Peter Grainge]

Click the About Microsoft Word option and then you will see a button Disabled Items. You have to click that button.

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[Guest]

Ah - thank you.  There were 4 disabled items in the list.  I re-enabled them all, and then closed/re-opened the help project.  Unfortunately, there is still no RH menu, even after unchecking Automatically update styles.  At this point, I am ready to abandon RH for Word, and import my project into RH HTML.  Many thanks for all your help!

[Peter Grainge]

I think you are going to need to speak to Adobe Support. I wouldn't mind betting the first thing they will ask you to do is reinstall.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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