ToC books not opening in Chrome

[ae1992]

Hi all,

I am using RoboHelp 11 and RoboHelp Server 9.

Some of my ToC books are not opening, but the rest are working just fine. I have these same books on a different project, and they're opening fine. Both projects are published on the same server but in different areas. They have been working just fine up until this point.

Thank you!

[isabelleLY]

I'm so sorry: corporate policy won't let me share a project

They have all been regenerated several times since the problem started, and tested with each new build of Chrome - to no avail.

I haven't created a new project yet, but I'll keep you posted

[Peter Grainge]

The classic "my car's broken but we won't let the mechanic see it, tell us how to fix it but we don't know what's wrong". Not to worry we've seen it many times but obviously it makes it difficult to assist. Maybe someone else will be willing to share a broken project.

Would you be willing to share it direct with Adobe? Like me, they have no interest in the content but maybe their name will be more acceptable to your company.

---

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

@petergrainge

[isabelleLY]

I've just created a new project from scratch, using all the RH 2015 default settings with the Clean Tangerine skin, and it's still not working: the books open and close just fine, until I put the focus on the topic pane. Then, the books that are open won't close, and those that are closed won't open - until they do again, after I navigate back and forth for a while (clicking topics from the TOC, and links in the topics). But then after another while, the books stop working again - and so on.

That's the behavior we've had with all our corporate projects since the problem started with Chrome Version 63.0.3239.84. 

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Hi Peter, I’ve just received permission from my client to share his project with you – but it’s a RH10 project, is that ok? I understand the problem has presented in multiple versions, so that was not an impetus for us to upgrade, but if the eventual resolution will only be with the latest, then that’s what we’ll do.

Laurie

[Peter Grainge]

@Jeff - They have different skins and each book only has one topic. I'll try swapping the skins and see what that does.

@Jeanne - I was just looking for books to expand and contract. I see the additional step of selecting a topic breaks it at that point. Good catch that I will feed back.

@ Isabelle - Your post is the same issue as Jeanne has added.

@argus - Thanks but hold off for now as it might be with a bit more testing we can make some progress. I appreciate you having contacted your client and their willingness to assist if needs be.

Watch this space.

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

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

I applied the Aquamarine skin used in Chrome 2 to Chrome 1. No change in behaviour I then added a whole bunch of topics from Chrome 1 to Chrome 2 wondering if more topics would break it. No change.

So now we have one project that can be reliably broken and one that cannot. That's actually useful as hopefully Adobe can find a difference.

I have put the Chrome 2 project in www.grainge.org/demos/chromezip/rh2017_test_SR2.zip if anyone wants to test that. It was built in RoboHelp 2017 but will also work in RoboHelp 2015. Can anyone do something to break that one?

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

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

I just upgraded a RoboHelp 11 project to RoboHelp 2017 and that will not expand the books at all. I am beginning to suspect the issue is the version of RoboHelp the project was created in.

It would help if someone with RoboHelp 2017 who is having trouble could create a new project and then import the content of a couple of folders of topics from the old project into the new project. You can select all the files in a folder when importing. With say two books in your new project, does it then behave?

---

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

@petergrainge

[rosalindn85268332]

I am working in RoboHelp 11 and am having the problem.

[Peter Grainge]

@Rosalind - Are the books opening at all. Exactly how is it breaking in your RoboHelp 11 projects?

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

@petergrainge

[rosalindn85268332]

If I click several times on several different books, sooner or later one of them will open. Then for a few minutes it will work like normal. If I leave the help open for a while, the books usually will not open when I try again. A couple Mac users in my department are saying that they don't experience the problem, so they are wondering if it is pc-specific.

Also, Chrome3 does work for me.

[Peter Grainge]

@Rosalind -  That's useful as it is reinforcing the theory that the issue is with the version of RoboHelp that created the project.

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

@petergrainge

[IR-PROGNOSIS]

Thanks for looking into this problem Peter. Just to add to what the others have said, I have found that your Chrome 1 example exhibits the problem while Chrome 2 and Chrome 3 are ok. My own help systems which have the issue are 'Merged' projects, if that adds anything to it.

Cheers,

Chris

[Peter Grainge]

I have just spoken with Adobe to go through what does and does not work. The problem is being worked on urgently. I will update this thread as soon as I hear more.

---

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

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

Quick update. I have tested a fix that worked. I can't make it public yet as Adobe will need to check for unintended results but hopefully this means a fix will be issued very soon.

---

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

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

It's going to be a few days at least before Adobe can issue a formal fix but meantime they have said I can post the fix that worked for me on the understanding that it is not fully tested and at your own risk. If you want to make the change on that basis, here's what to do.

1.     Open the following folder <install dir>\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock
2.     Create a backup copy for the following file whthost.js
3.     Copy the original to a folder outside of Program Files.
4.     Open the file whthost.js in a text editor with line numbering such as Notepad++.
5.     In line 872 (RoboHelp 2015 and 2017) or line 868 (RoboHelp 10 and 11) change the following line from
       sText = sText.replace("\n", "");
       to
       sText = sText.replace(/\n/g, "");
6.     Save the edited file and copy it back to <install dir>\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock overwriting the original

Also please note I have only tested in RoboHelp 2017. Provided you make the backup as instructed, it can be reversed.

If you do go ahead, please post how it has worked for you.

---

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

@petergrainge

[isabelleLY]

First trial on one of my corp projects: it works

Of course, I'll have to do more testing but still: great news!

[isabelleLY]

And also: Thanks so much Peter, for being so helpful

[WriterJeanne]

Confirmed that it now works properly in Chrome. Also checked output in FF and IE and saw no unintended effects.

Thanks Peter.

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Seems to work in RH10 as well. Thanks for your determination to get this resolved Peter!

[rosalindn85268332]

Thank you Peter for being so persistent with this. 

I will have to wait until I can get a support person to sign on as Admin to make a change in the installation directory and my instinct is to wait for the fix to be official. Once it becomes a formal fix, will it be an updated RoboHelp version or will it remain a line edit to whthost.js?

[Peter Grainge]

It could be the same as above, it could be a download of a replacement file or it could be an update. It will be one of those.

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

@petergrainge

[rosalindn85268332]

Thank you again.

[johndaigle]

Tip of the hat to my friend and colleague, Peter, for indefatigable tenacity and patience and also to Adobe engineering for sensing the urgency and coming up with a fix. With so many browsers and releases of new versions, it's a constant chase and this peer to peer forum is the perfect improvement feedback loop.

John Daigle

Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor

Evergreen, Colorado

www.showmethedemo.com

[Peter Grainge]

Thanks John.

Once it was realised that the problem was more than just something Google had changed, Adobe were quick to investigate and come up with the fix above.

As an update, it is anticipated that Adobe will be issuing this fix direct in early February for RoboHelp 2015 and 2017 users, either via a tech note or a patch. RoboHelp 10 and 11 are out of support.

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

@petergrainge

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Luckily, that whthost.js file is exactly the same in both RH10 & 11 - to massage my RH10-created output to even work with Chrome/FF/Edge/IE these days, I have to jury-rig copying in modified versions of whform.js, whibody.htm, whphost.js, whproxy.js, and whutils.js into my output just to even get it to launch properly ;>)
Soon, it's going to be time for an upgrade I think...