Skip to main content
M
MeWrite
Known Participant
August 11, 2010
Question

Single Source Layouts Slowing RoboHelp

  • August 11, 2010
  • 3 replies
  • 8336 views

So I created a Project last week that I wanted to be used as a Project Template. However, I noticed that after I created a few standardized components that RH went from fast to exceedingly slow.  I did some research and found an article on Peter Grainge's site(http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/rh8/using_rh8.htm) that discussed a missing DLL file. We followed the steps and added the DLL in the correct place, however that did nothing to correct the speed issue.

I started a project template again, from scratch. I started adding in the Master Pages, link to the images in the Resource Manager Pod, created Conditionalized tags, setup indivdual TOCs based on departments, and eveything was working just fine. UNTIL! I started adding the FlashHelp Pro layout. After I added a 3rd FHP layout in the single source pod, RH went from fast to slow. The more I added the slower it got.  We started deleting the layouts one by one until the speed came back up. The break point: 4 or more FHP layouts impact the speed of RoboHelp 8.

It takes 2-4 minutes to open RoboHelp (and this is without Topics or images in the project) and 1-3 minutes importing or creating a new topic. In the end we are publishing FlashHelp Pro to a total of 15 different departments.

I couldn't find any information in the forums addressing this issue. Is anyone else having this problem? Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix this?

Regards,

CJ

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    M
    MeWriteAuthor
    Known Participant
    October 18, 2010

    Sorry for the lag time in updating this post. Been quite busy testing versus writing.

    JC is experiencing the same problem I am. This has nothing to do with local versus network near as I can tell.

    We are using RoboSource to store the projects because we are remote and working on the same project. There are no issues adding projects and checking them in or out.

    We are publishing to RoboServer 8 because we are publishing a WebHelp Pro format.

    The issue is/seems to be that when we add in the publishing box more than 3 URLs. I have no problems in RH until there is more than one Server URL in the SSL Publishing box. They are all the same server, just the areas are different.  In RH7 I had 9 Pro formats with 9 URLs pointing to the same server, just different folders (i.e., Areas in RH8) and experienced no issues with the slowness that I am with RH8.

    I have an open ticket to Adobe who is escalating to tier 2. I will update after I talk with them.

    JC -- thanks for letting me know about RH9, I got an email the other day, just haven't had time to go check that out, I guess that will be tonight's home work :-D

    Regards,

    CJ

    M
    MeWriteAuthor
    Known Participant
    February 14, 2011

    Update -- this issue is still unresolved and with RH9 out I have no doubt that this issue will go unresolved for RH8. 

    We have found that having 25 SSLs makes publishing a nightmare.  It takes more than 10 minutes to generate the WebHelp Pro OR FlashHelp Pro.  Batch generation is impossible.  Single publishing takes 20-30 minutes and that is after 10 minutes to generate the project.

    Our workaround was to delete all the URLs, not the layouts, just the server path so that there is only 1.  Since we cannot batch generate anyway, we simply go into the layout we want to publish and change the area.  Irratating at worse, but at least RH has stopped freezing up, crashing and becoming non-responsive.

    Regards,

    CJ

    A
    Anonymous
    September 21, 2010

    I am having this same issue. I am using the RoboHelp Server 8, RoboHelp 8. I only have a few single source layouts in the POD.  The defaults plus around 3 more.  RoboHelp slows down so much that selecting a different SSL at times takes 45 seconds or more.  RH Projects with the SSLs take a very long time to open. Not sure what the resolution is here, but thought I would chime in and say I have the same problem. Not certain if it is the connection to the RHS or not.

    JC

    M
    MeWriteAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 21, 2010

    Jeff -- that's an interesting idea. We do output each layout to a different folder so it might work. I prefer not to do that as it could be confusing to the 2 new writers I have, but more importantly trying to communicate that to a hand off team or to a future writer that has little to no experience with RH would be tricky at best. I will give it a go and then let you know what happens.

    JC -- Once I played with the URLs in the SSL pod it seems that 3 is the magic number. Anything over 2 seem to slow. 3 or more and the lag time reutrns. You might try Jeff's suggestion and see if that works. If it does let me know.  I'm going to talk with my IT department first to see if it is a RH to RHS connection or security issue and if not I'll submit this as a bug to Adobe because this has not been an issue in previous versions.

    I will update this post if IT comes back with a solution or if I hear back from Adobe.

    M
    MeWriteAuthor
    Known Participant
    September 23, 2010

    UPDATE: One author had issues typing again. After some quick verification that the project did not have too many URLs, we figured out that the Resource Manager pod was looking for Images on a Shared Drive on the network. Which, as far as I can tell, is the purpose of the Resource Manager.  We remapped that pod to a local drive and that fixed the lag time when typing.

    Later we remapped it back to the network drive and everything was fine. Our conclusion is that mapping to a central repository of images and multimedia may create a problem with using resources and spinning all the time. In this case, we think something may have been occuring on the server where the images reside causing the tempory conflict and slow down.

    I submitted a bug request for the URL issues in the SSL Pod. Click here RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form and feel free to submit a bug too.

    Captiv8r
    Captiv8r
    Brainiac
    August 11, 2010

    Hi there

    Quick question here. You *ARE* using the RoboHelp Server? Because if you aren't, FlashHelp Pro will do you about as much good as a diesel engine does for a go-kart.

    Cheers... Rick

    Helpful and Handy Links

    RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form

    Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 moments from now - $24.95!

    Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training

    SorcererStone Blog

    RoboHelp eBooks

    M
    MeWriteAuthor
    Known Participant
    August 11, 2010

    Rick -- yes we are using RoboServer 8.

    CJ

    Peter Grainge
    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    August 20, 2010

    Peter -- ok, I have recreated the error in a sample project. It started getting slow at the 5th FlashHelp Pro and with each one after it got slower and slower. We have 14 positions here so I need an output per role (position). Now this is not as non-functional as our Project, but with topics, layout files, and glossary that may account for "white out conditions" we see too.


    Regards,

    CJ


    This part is not an answer but a question re why you are doing this. Each author is going to be working on one project, unless source control is involved and there has been no mention of that. So the template needs only one layout. That layout may need different paths but surely the authors can set that given instructions?

    Turning back to doing this the way you want, given it is a template project, can you send it to me? See my contact page on my site.

    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

    @petergrainge

    Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices