RoboHelp 11 search stopped working

[jgjc62]

Hello,  I have RoboHelp 11 and have been publishing for years without issues.  The last time I published the search stopped working completely.  I found a discussion from several years ago that suggested I delete the .CHD file and republish. I deleted the .CHD file and that didn't do anything but break all my links.  Any other suggestions?  Thank you,

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Are you sure that you're not just running into browser security issues? There have been a number of tweaks needed to keep up with changes in browsers that break help produced by RH.

[Keith_dk]

I have just run in to exactly the same problem.

All my outputs have a working search function until now. I can see the following status message in the Output View window

"Finished processing full-text search data in 0 sec(s)"

So I guess some process isn't running properly. But which process? Do I need to update one or more *.js scripts?

And in answer to your question about it being a browser setting - no it is not because my previous output still works as before.

[Peter Grainge]

Sorry but I don't still have 11 on any machine.

See this link and look at Item 5. Snippets It details a number of issues with RoboHelp 11 and browsers and a has a link to a fix.

If that doesn't help I'm not sure what to suggest. I don't still have 11 installed but I just tested an output created in 2017 with just the standard updates applied, then opened it in IE11 where the only change was to the security settings to allow the help to run locally. All working correctly.

There's a merged help demo on my site. Try generating with that and see if that works OK. It was created in an old version but opening each project in any later version will upgrade it.

Merged WebHelp and HTML5 Help

---

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[Amebr]

With RH11 Multiscreen HTML5, my users intermittently report a "Searching 0%" error message using IE11. I unfortunately have no solution beyond clear the browser cache, close the browser, wait 15min and try again. I have a permanent message suggesting my users try Chrome if they encounter the problem and haven't had any *confirmed* reports of the issue in that browser (but several unconfirmed rumours, so...)

I logged a ticket with Adobe and it's been marked as fixed, but I have no information about when or where it was fixed (certainly not in RH11). RH-361

[Keith_dk]

Thanks for the input guys, but unfortunately this hasn't solved the issue.

I have compared the outputs between an earlier HTML5 output version (which works) and the latest one, where the Search function has stopped working.

In the whxdata directory, the version that works contains a large number of  package_<n>_xml.js and topictable_<n>_xml.js files.

But in the latest output all these files are missing.

Can anyone tell me why they are not there, how to create them again, and will this help resolve my problem?

[Amebr]

Try generating to a different folder. It could be that *something* has the folder open, therefore nothing can be written to it. For example, if your antivirus is scanning the folder, it might lock it. If generating to a different folder works, that could indicate you need to investigate your antivirus or other applications. (I think there are applications that can tell you what is locking files or folders, but I haven't used any of them.)

[Keith_dk]

Hi Amebr,

Tried your suggestion (no antivirus and new folder), but to no avail - still no search function available.

Can anyone tell me if the search function is a file in the Robohelp source or is a file created when generating the output. And, if one is generated, what is it called? Can it be edited manually?

Any new suggestions to what the cause of this problem could be?

Thanks.

[Peter Grainge]

To the best of my knowledge the search data is spread across a number of the wh files and in a format not for editing.

Have you tried this in more than one browser?

---

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[Keith_dk]

OK, thanks.

Yes, I normally use Chrome, but have experienced the same problem with both Firefox and Edge.

[Amebr]

Keith_dk  wrote

But in the latest output all these files are missing.

The files being missing when you generate is not normal.

Can you confirm whether the files were missing when you generated Peter's demo project?

[Keith_dk]

I didn't generate Peter's project. I used one that I know created a working search option earlier. But it doesn't provide the search options anymore.

I will try to generate Peter's project and then publish my findings here.

[Peter Grainge]

You only need to generate one of the child projects. I pointed to the merge as it was created in a version to which you can upgrade.

---

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[Amebr]

I've found another post mentioning the generated search files being missing. Post 14 here says the issue started because MSXML4 was uninstalled from their computer.

RoboHelp 10 WebHelp search feature not working?

I have Windows 7 and in Programs and Features I can see an entry for MSXML 4.0. If you don't have it, you could try to install it. (The post also mentions that at least for RH9, MSXML4.0 was definitely needed; 3 and 6 did not work).

[Keith_dk]

Thanks for all your help.

The problem is solved. Using the input provided by Amebr (see previous comment) + input from the following issue

Search not Working in Webhelp or Webhelp Pro ,

I solved the problem by installing msxml 4.0 SP3.

The search function in my HTML 5 output returned immediately.

Once again, thank you all for the time and effort you have put in to trying to solve this problem.

[TechWriterKat2]

Keith, what version of Windows were you running when you installed MSXML 4.0 SP3 and it fixed your problem?