RH 2019 Node.js Error Question

[seang35269865]

My name is Sean Gallagher, and I have been a (Macromedia) Adobe RoboHelp Certified Instructor since 2006.    Typically, teaching RoboHelp has been one of many Adobe courses that I’ve taught, and the product had been built on the same code base up until version 2019 (non-classic).    Now I’m seeing more demand for RoboHelp, but lately new issues are, well, TOTALLY new. 

I’ve wrangled with Node.js before.   Often a command line directive would be used for such issues for other applications of Node.js.    In the past, I would have advised that students convert a PDF to an HTML topic for integration into RH.   Is RH2019 somehow reading and indexing the PDFs that are added to the RH2019 project?     This would actually be fantastic...but I need to know where to go to try to resolve such issues.  

I want to tell Sue that once RoboHelp sends such JavaScript errors….you will HAVE to kill the program using the Task Manager.    Node.js does NOT degrade gracefully.  Once it is broken….it is BRO-KEN.

The idea of Sue deleting and then re-creating her Knowledge Library topic is would my initial advice would have been.   I’d also like toi know if you think it would be better for their PDFs to be hosted on a SharePoint or other intranet site and just LINKED to the RH2019 topic.   

Sean Gallagher

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Hi Sean,

Thanks for looking in to this for me!

I’d like to get a handle on this problem, but I don’t have any urgency anymore, because I took my (metaphorical) sledge hammer to the problem and now have a work around. I was successfully able to delete the entire topic, and am now re-creating it.

Of course, without having been able to identify or fix the root of the problem, who knows if/when it will come back.

But here’s all the gory details of the problem.

Yes, I’m running RoboHelp 2019 – not Classic.

My project has a topic called “Library.” It has a little bit of explanatory type, and a bunch of links to pdfs. I had not added anything to this Topic for quite a while, and suddenly, when I tried to Generate Output, (after adding some content to a completely different Topic) I got this error.

Some of the pdfs were added by Importing the file into the docs folder. Some had been just dragged onto the page from File Explorer. I don’t know which method had been used on the file that blew up.

When that error appeared, there was no way to get out of it. Hitting Ok did nothing. The X in the upper right-hand corner did nothing. In order to get out of that page, I had to go to the Task Manager and kill RoboHelp.

I tried to delete just the file in question, and was given this message:

I couldn’t find any other project files where the offending file was referenced. So that’s when I brought out the sledge hammer. I deleted the entire Topic. There was no problem in doing so. (I’d been concerned that if the file really was being used somewhere else I wouldn’t be allowed to delete the Topic, but no issue showed up). Now I’m re-creating the Topic Library.

When I started recreating the Library, I started by making sure that the specific pdf that has been listed in the Java script error message was in the docs file, then dragged it out to the page to link to it. I then generated output. Everything worked fine.

For pdfs that aren’t already in the docs file, I’ve been adding pdfs them in. Then I drag the pdfs onto the page to link to them. I Generate Output after every couple of pdfs that I add. So far it’s worked.

Here is the info on the version # I’ve got:

I am not able to get updates, this is what I get when I hit Update:

No other installer should be running, nothing is going on other than the project that I’m working on. So maybe not being all current on updates could be the source of all the junk that happened?

I really appreciate your taking the time to help me.

Thanks,

Sue

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Moderator - Personal details removed.

[Peter Grainge]

I have been a RoboHelp user since 1996 and I suspect that like me you have never seen anything like this before!

I think a couple of images are missing from the end of Sue's email but let me respond as best I can.

To link a PDF to a topic in 2019 new UI you can:

1. Import the PDF into the Contents panel.
2. Copy it there using File Explorer.
3. Link to it. (I haven't actually tried that method but see no reason not to use it if the PDF is likely to be updated.)

Thus Sue's methods of getting the PDFs are valid provided method 2 was only used in the new UI.

As I understand it Node.js is effectively a local server to publish to. Sue was only generating at the point the error occurred. The only connection I can follow in that error is the use of the word "node" in the dialog. Have I missed something.

The updater process can only be triggered by going to Help > Check for Updates or by downloading the installer and running it. There is no way I can see that deleting a topic could initiate it.

The javascript error message is unlike anything I have seen. 

None of the above though helps us solve the problem so here's what I would suggest to troubleshoot.

1. Reboot the machine if not already done.
2. Open 2019 and click the Help menu. About should read 2019.0.14. If it doesn't note the version that is applied before applying Update 14.
3. Open the RoboHelp Reimagined sample project. It should be on the starter page but if it has been removed it can be found in Documents > My RoboHelp Projects.
4. Import a PDF file into it and create a link from an existing topic.
5. Generate that to a local folder.

That will either work as it should or show there is some general problem on Sue's machine.

If the above does work then try generating Sue's project again. I am assuming her project is on a local drive and she is generating to a local folder. If that is not the case, that should be tried.

Let us know how that goes.

BTW. I removed your contact details from your post. Forum rules.

[Amebr]

@Peter Grainge I think Robohelp New UI is now written in javascript, which is how I managed to drag the Robohelp user interface into my topic in an early version of 2019 New UI and completely corrupt my topic (luckily I was testing, not using my real project, and Adobe fixed it real quick). 😄

@seang35269865 As you said, RH2019 New UI is new, so if the project has been updated through a number of versions of RH, then there might have been some odd html/css somewhere that cause New UI to get its knickers in a twist. Deleting the topic and starting again would probably have removed the offending code. I've seen all sorts of weird codes and invalid css and proprietary xml in the html code of RH topics over the years, so that's where I'm laying my bets. 

Peter's advice and troubleshooting steps are, as always, great. 🙂

[Peter Grainge]

It may use javascript but that's not what it is written in. Whatever it is written in, I simply cannot see how deleting a topic would cause an installer to run.

[seang35269865]

I'm sorry Peter.    The updater is something tha I wanted my student to run because I ready on the "Fixed Issues" board  that RH2019 Release 8 (?)  had addresssed an issue where a JavaScript error would prevent the Generate Output from finishing.

What you read in that messsage thread was her answer to my suggestion that she run the updater to get to that release level.

I was waiting until they are all back at work after the weekend today to ask them to review this thread and discuss.    I'll reply here with updates (they are in Central Time Zone) by the end of today, Monday.

Sean

[Peter Grainge]

Did you get this resolved?