RoboHelp 7 TOC

[Guest]

I have about 100 topics and 12 TOC Chapters... when I compile, the TOC only shows 4 chapters and the topics compiled are only 17. PLEASE HELP!

Using Word 2003 and Robo Help 7 build 7.02

Thanks,
Heather

P.S. I called tech support yesterday and they said to delete the TOC and re-do it... I did, that didn't help.

[RoboWizard]

Welcome to our community, Heather

You might wish to investigate whether you are using a Build Expression with Build Tags.

Try this. Click View > Pods > Single Source Layouts
Double-click the layout you are using and look at the Conditional Build Expression area. Is anything listed there? If so, click the drop-down and choose "None".

Cheers... Rick

[Guest]

Hi Rick! Thanks for the welcome. Well, I checked and it says "None" so, what now? I have 133 "pages" of stuff and would hate to have to start over from scratch.

[RoboWizard]

Sorry, but I'm in fairly uncharted waters, as I abandoned RoboHelp for Word many many moons ago. I had hopes it might be as simple as a rogue build expression.

I'll have to defer to someone with more recent RoboHelp for Word knowledge to assist further.

I do wish you the best of luck in sorting it! Rick

[Guest]

It's something rogue alright. 🙂 I have tried importing it into a new help project and still the same problem. Thanks anyhow, Rick!

[Guest]

Alright, I've narrowed down the problem a little further. I just compiled a WinHelp 2000 and it works fine. WebHelp doesn't, FlashHelp doesn't. With Microsoft HTML Help, it compiles 22 topics out of many. I've got to download the latest version of Java to see what that does on the JavaHelp. Does that information help anyone?

[RoboWizard]

Hi again

Is your primary output type going to be HTML based? If so, why not give RoboHelp HTML a spin? The interface is very "Word like".

Just a thought... Rick

[Guest]

Rick,

It is going to be Word based. Is it possible to "import" what I already have with ease?

[Guest]

Ok, make that HTML based. I cannot think well today. Planning a birthday party for a one year old at the same time. 🙂

[Peter Grainge]

There's quite a bit more involved in settting up JavaHelp plus all the calls to the help would be different so your developers might not be too keen. There's an article on my site about it but I think the common view of JavaHelp is don't unless forced.

Have you you tried generating the output to a new folder?

What is the output you are wanting to create? You have mentioned ones that do and do not work but not what it is you want. I think it is compiled HTML in CHM format but not sure.

If you want to zip up the project and send it to me via http://transferbigfiles.com I will take a look but, like Rick, RH for Word is not what I normally work with.

[Guest]

I'm trying to get the WebHelp to work. Thank you both for taking a look at this problem. I have sent it in a zipped file to you, Peter.

Again, I appreciate your help.

[Peter Grainge]

It's late here so I will look again in the morning. I am suspicious that having the topics in a table with a heading and graphic above where the page would normally start is a factor.

Have you previously generated this OK, or something similar?

[Guest]

It works on the first 17 topics and then that's it. I had wondered about that too, and, I only have tables for look and feel (excerpts called smart ideas and quick tips) that the client wanted. I haven't tried anything like this similar.

I do appreciate your help!

[Peter Grainge]

My inclination would be to create a copy of the project and trash all but say 30 topics and then get the content out of the tables before trying to compile again.

Also you have pasted the images in. How images are inserted into RoboHelp for Word is important. You must not paste images in. It is essential the images are added via the RoboHelp menu in Word.

Before compiling, it is also essential that the True Code view is selected so that you see {bmc <file name>.bmp} rather than the image itself.

If you have pasted images in, selecting True Code will not change the images to code and the compile will fail. There is a point up to which that is not true and I am guessing that because it is one image, you have got away with it. To avoid problems in the future, do insert your images the correct way.

Let us know how you get on.