RH2020 Publish to File System

[RoboFan]

Running RoboHelp 2020.1

BACKGROUND

We currently update HTML5 output by generating the output and then manually copying/pasting it to the internal webserver where it lives.

We'd like to start using the publish feature in RoboHelp - using File System type publishing profiles for the relevant projects.

QUESTION

If the Republish All option isn't selected, will the publishing process still update/replace ONLY those files/topics that are different (or non-existent) - even though this is my first time publishing? My uncertainty stems from not knowing how the process determines/tracks changed topics/files. Does RoboHelp create/store a record of changes, or is it similar to how Windows handles identical files during a copy/paste process (e.g., compare the two files' sizes and (maybe?) timestamps)? Bottom line, the first time I run the publish process, do I need to select Republish All, or am I safe leaving it unselected? 

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

Without Republish All selected RoboHelp looks at what is on the server and then uploads what has changed between what is in generate folder and the target folder. First time therefore it will see nothing is there and that is effectively everything has changed.

After you have published if you look in the folders on the target there will be a rhlog.txt in every folder. That's how RoboHelp knows what has changed.

In case you are not aware, you must generate before publishing.

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[RoboFan]

Outstanding. Thank you, sir!

[LMardenTyler]

I'm finding that RH2020 doesn't respect whatever you do with the Republish All feature and just republishes all. It's fun - my (admittedly huge) project has been publishing for hours after making a change to a single topic.

[Peter Grainge]

It is a long outstanding bug. See RH-6897 | Tracker (adobe.com).

Please add a vote.

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