"AND " tag doesn't work and checking the checkbox in the tag dialog box is extremely slow

jekaq wrote:

After installing the patches, it is almost impossible to check the checkboxes for tags in the Conditional Build Tags dialog box. sometimes it takes more than 20 seconds just to select one of them...

[snip]

anyone had the same probs?

I promised more feedback, here it is.

Over the course of time, many complaints have been posted in this forum about the poor performance of RoboHelp. The usual response to these complaints has been "make sure that the HTML source files are on the local disk, and not a network share," and "be sure your program has been patched to 8.0.2.208." When these conditions have been satisfied, and the slow performance persists, no one can seem to offer any further advice.

I, too, have been subjected to the slow performance of RoboHelp, to the degree that at one point I recommended that the company abandon RoboHelp and seek another, perhaps homegrown, alternative.

The project I have been working on contains 63 topics (about 3.5 MB) and 62 snippets (631 KB). Not too large as policy manuals go. It also involves 9 different Condition Build Tags and 10 different WebHelp layouts, 8 of which generate output for a single CBT, one which combines two of them, and one which builds a version that has no conditions.

When it came time to document my project (which includes a user's guide on how to use RoboHelp in our particular context, as well as documentation on a couple of scripts and programs I wrote to fill in gaps in the publication process) I decided to use RoboHelp as my editor.

What I discovered was that as my project documentation increased in size, I never ran into any of the performance issues I was seeing in the policy manual.

Acting on a hunch, I created a new project and imported all the files from the old project. As RoboHelp imported the files it detected the CBTs, and added them to the CBT pod. At this point, RoboHelp performed adequately (RoboHelp has never seemed "snappy" to me; I sometimes suspect that it was written in a scripting language and is executed in a script engine rather than as a compiled program).

I then started adding WebHelp layouts to the project, each tied to a CBT, and recorded performance timings for each addition. I won't bore you with all the pages of timings I generated but here are some highlights:

After adding the second SSL (three now, counting the default WebHelp) the program started feeling sluggish. At this point I selected one of the layouts and instructed RoboHelp to 'Generate' it. From the time I selected 'Generate' to the time a confirmation dialog appeared 7 seconds elapsed. By way of comparison, now that I have all 10 layouts defined 40 seconds elapses between the time 'Generate' is selected and the confirmation dialog appears.

When I added the fourth layout I timed the interval between the moment the "New Layout" command was executed and the properties dialog appeared; 32 seconds elapsed. When adding the tenth layout to my configuration 95 seconds elapsed between the command and the dialog appearing.

As part of my evaluation, I launched the Windows Task Manager and opened the "Processes" tab, and watched for what percentage of the CPU RoboHelp was using during these periods. This is useful information, because if RoboHelp is not responding but CPU usage is low, that means RoboHelp is blocked waiting for some resource to become available (e.g. a network file). OTOH, if CPU usage is high, the poor performance is not due to infrastucture issues, but is internal to RoboHelp.

When I switched from Task Manager back to RoboHelp (mouse clicking on the title bar) I noticed that RoboHelp pegged (some would say "hogged") the CPU for a period of time during which RoboHelp would not respond to user input. When CPU usage dropped, RoboHelp again became responsive. I saw the same sort of behavior when I attempted to create a new layout but clicked 'Cancel' on the confirmation dialog. After four new layouts were added it took 20 seconds for RoboHelp to respond; now it takes 40 seconds for RoboHelp to become responsive after hitting 'Cancel'. Interestingly, it takes the same amount of time to respond after pressing 'Cancel' as it is when you simply move focus to a different window and then return to RoboHelp.

I theorize that RoboHelp is doing some sort of background validation or processing when multiple WebHelp layouts are defined, and this background process is triggered whenever the SSL "pod" receives a Windows 'OnFocus' message. To validate this theory I simply closed the SSL "pod." Lo and behold, when I closed the "pod" RoboHelp became it's usual sluggish-but-usable self.

Simply closing the SSL "pod" won't solve all the performance issues when using multiple layouts. For example, in it's current state when I select "Batch Generate" it takes over 10 minutes (yes you read that right, minutes) for the batch generation confirmation dialog to appear (all the while consuming about 95% of the available CPU). And I can offer no suggestions when you absolutely have to edit the properties of individual layouts.

My recommendations are:

1. Minimize the number of layouts RoboHelp has to track. Remove every layout from the pod you are not using, and combine them when possible.

2. Keep the SSL pod closed whenever possible.

3. Hope that Adobe programmers look more closely at the whole SSL/CBT interactions and improve the design and implementation of that particular feature.

I've entered a defect report on this issue on the defect tracking area of this site, but that form does not allow enough input to adequately explain the problem. Hopefully this post will attract their attention at some point.

HTH

Cheers,

Lee

jekaq wrote:

I have 2 issues with Robohelp at this moment. After installing the  patches, it is almost impossible to check the checkboxes for tags in the  Conditional Build Tags dialog box. sometimes it takes more than 20  seconds just to select one of them...

When you say "the Conditional Build Tags dialog box," I assume you are talking about the dialog that appears when you highlight a section of text and select "Format->Apply Conditional Build Tag->New/Multiple" or right-click and select "Apply Conditional Build Tag->etc." correct? If not, could you attach a screen shot of the dialog you're talking about?

I'll explain more later, but when dealing with Conditional Build Tags it is generally a good idea to keep the "Single Source Layouts" and "Conditional Build Tags" pods closed as much as possible.

It is normal for the tags to exclude not include text. Therefore if you have set-up your CHM single source layout with AND in the conditional build tag expression it will be excluded from there. If your WebHelp is set up differently, they may explain why it appears there.

As for the slow response, is your source on a local drive. It should be. Also have you applied all the patches. Perhaps you could tell us your full RoboHelp version to start with.

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Colum McAndrew