RH8 for Word not displaying images in WebHelp

[Guest]

Greetings.

We recently upgraded from RH7 for Word to RH8 for Word.  Images (bitmaps) that displayed perfectly when RH7 compiled the WebHelp do not display at all when RH8 compiles the WebHelp.  All we get is an extra blank line -- not even a broken image link.

Images are in the correct folder; nothing has changed, except for the upgrade.

The images were placed in the files using the New Help Image icon.

This is an urgent and high-priority issue for us.  Adobe Tech Support is unable to assist.

Thank you!

Jerry

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Have you examined the WebHelp output folder to see if the images are there?

Are you certain you are using RoboHelp for Word? 99% of the folks creating WebHelp have moved from the crank  start Model T to the Jetliner.

Cheers... Rick

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[Guest]

Hey, thanks for the super-swift reply!

Trust me -- we are using RH8 for Word. It's a long and exceptionally ugly story, but I hope it at least will have a happy ending -- over the next four weeks we're converting to RH8 HTML.

That said, we've got a release of our SaaS application tomorrow, and, while I don't entirely agree, the current tech writer (and keeper of RH for Word) won't push the revised Help system until the image problem is resolved.

Offhand I don't know where I might find the WebHelp output folder. I'll go look -- but would you mind assisting?

Thanks very, very much.

Regards,

Jerry

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Well, one might assume that you knew where the WebHelp output folder was because you are reporting the images aren't showing when you view WebHelp. So the question now becomes: How exactly are you viewing the WebHelp? Are you clicking the "View Result" button after you generate? Are you viewing after you publish it to the Web Server? (That doesn't sound right as you are saying the "keeper" won't push it until the image issue is resolved. This would seem to infer that you aren't involved other than to post and act as an intermediary?

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[Guest]

Hi, Rick.

Yes -- I'm using the "View Result" button.

There is a keeper, and I'm not it -- again, a long story, but suffice it to say the keeper has been here nine years, and I've been here a couple of months. The other writer doesn't know the source of the problem, either, but he's experiencing it, too. Plus, it's persistent -- several different installs on several different machines, always with the same result -- images are present and accounted for in the default images folder, they display in the Word file, they displayed in the WebHelp when RH7 compiled, and they do not display when RH8 compiles.

I even tried two different browsers -- no luck.

Regards,

Jerry

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Are you remotely familiar with HTML? If so, I would begin by inspecting the WebHelp folder where the output exists. See what is being called for the images. Then see if the actual images survived the WebHelp generation process.

You should be able to determine where that location is by right-clicking a topic and examining properties.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[Guest]

Hi, Rick.

I am remotely familiar with HTML, though that's as far as I'd go. There's no clue in topic properties. I'm using the path spelled out when I compile (a help sub-folder of the main help project). This sub-folder does have an images sub-sub-folder, and that folder is empty. However, I copied one of the "missing" images into this folder and re-compiled -- still no luck. FWIW, when I click image properties in the Word file, RH seems to know perfectly well where the image is located and what its name is.

Regards,

Jerry

[Peter Grainge]

Create a new project with just one or two topics and see if you have the same issue with that. Maybe then we could look at that project to see if we can figure out what is happening.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Expounding on Peter's suggestion, I would say to create the project using RoboHelp 7 first. Then copy it and use 8 to upgrade it. (That way you have two versions to compare against one another).

I'd have tested this for you last night, but since I never use RoboHelp for Word, I elected not to install it for version 8.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[Peter Grainge]

They will not be able to have two versions installed. Also I meant for Jerry to set it up in RH8 mostly to check out that working whatever way he does, works, or does not, in RH8 with a project created there.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Guest]

Thanks so much for your efforts.

FWIW, we did a clean install on a virtual machine. Still no luck. However, graphics I inserted thereafter, on the clean install, did display. So the issue involves some 400 graphics inserted into the project prior to our RH8 upgrade.

Ancillary question: As RH is not backwards compatible, is there any way we can revert back to RH7 and push our Help system?

Regards,

Jerry

[Peter Grainge]

Only via a backup from RH7. Are you willing to share the project? How big is it zipped?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[Guest]

Wow -- that's very generous of you. Really.

It is, alas, enormous -- about 1650 topics. The image issue affects about 400 bitmaps; in addition the project has about 1200 .gif files which function as designed; these are NOT the images in question -- only the 400 or so bitmaps.

It is possible I could get dispensation to release a portion of the Help content; I will check. How little do you think you might need to get a reasonable look at it? All 1650 topics are contained in about 15 massive Word files.

Also, while in theory we could revert to 7 -- we have the discs -- it's my understanding we'd have to use older files (i.e., Word files that have not been opened using 8). Is this in fact the case? If it is, we'd lose some work, but that's a separate issue we could decide internally whether it's worth pursuing.

Regards,

Jerry

[Peter Grainge]

It just occurred to me that maybe RH8 for Word is backward compatible, it's certainly worth a try. RH HTML is not but that's because it rewrites code that you don't have. However, there could be some other changes, not sure.

Make a copy and try to open that in RH. I would install RH7 on a machine that has NOT had RH8 for Word on it. Might work but not worth the hassle if it does not.

What I need is something that exhibits the same problem.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

Message was edited by: Peter Grainge. NOT added.