Webhelp Index - Selected entry pop-up list does not display in Chrome

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
July 11, 2012
2 replies
2573 views

Windows XP / RH 8 / RSC3.1

Using a compiled Webhelp in FIrefox, when you click an Index entry that has more than one related topic a list pops-up displaying the related topics. Then you can click a pop-up entry to open the topic.

In the Chrome browser the pop-up does not display.

Is this a bug, or are there limitations to RH8 compiled Helps in Chrome?

If so, is this the only limitation?

Does RH9 create webhelps that are completely compatible with Chrome?

Any information you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Joe

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HTML

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A

Anonymous

We just recognized this problem as well. Configuration details are as follows:

- RoboHelp 8 output

- Webhelp output is stored and accessed on a server, so the locally installed problem is avoided.

- Using latest Google Chrome update, which is 21.0.1180.89 m

A couple of things are happening:

- As mentioned in the original post, pop-ups are not being displayed for Index entries with multiple selections.

- Some odd formatting behavior can be seen if multiple index entries are clicked in succession. This odd formatting includes having the text of the index ovelap itself, the Index search field is covered in text or completely hidden, and other odd anomalies that make the Index hard to read or use. It should be noted that this behavior is a bit random in that if you click an Index entry and then another Index entry, this odd formatting might not occur and in other cases it does occur. Switching to another tab and coming back to Index seems to clear the odd formatting.

- This same strange formatting can be seen on the Search page as well if multiple clicks are done, although it seems to be less common as compared to the Index.

Has anyone heard any updates on this type of issue, either the Index pop-ups or the odd formatting when clicking Index entries.

Jeff_Coatsworth

Community Expert

Is it behaving well if you use IE or FF?

A

Anonymous

Yes, I should have mentioned that. We also test and support IE and Firefox and we have not seen any of these issues on these browsers, only on Chrome does it happen.

Just to be sure, I tested this again this morning on IE (version 9.0) and Firefox (version 15) and there are no issues with the functionality or display of the Index or Search tabs. By this I mean there is no odd overlapping of text, no loss of the text field for Index or Search, and the pop-up options for Index entries work as expected.

I will note that even in IE and Firefox, when making multiple, quick selections in the Index or scrolling quickly, I can see that the text of the Index "flashes" a bit. So it disappears for a split second and then re-appears as it should. The problem seems to be with Chrome it may have these same flashes but then it does not refresh itself accurately as IE and Firefox appear to be able to do. And then of course also the additional problem of the pop-ups in the Index not working.

And again just to be clear and have all the information in this post, our webhelp output is on a server (to avoid the other Chrome local help issue) and we're currently using RoboHelp 8.

Jeff_Coatsworth

Community Expert

Chrome closed up a perceived security threat a few years ago with locally installed WebHelp systems. See Peter Grainge's site (www.grainge.org<http://www.grainge.org>) for info on this (look for browsers or just site google "chrome") and a couple of workarounds. RH9 does not address this limitation of Chrome yet (it has to do with frames in your html) but other HATs like Flare have changed their WebHelp to get around this, so I would expect that Adobe will get to it too sometime.

A

Anonymous

Jeff, Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately I cannot find anything related to this specific issue with the Index pop-ups on Peter's site. I site searched for "chrome" and "browsers" and looked thru each result. Very possible it is there and I'm not finding it, but if there is indeed a workaround I would be very interested in that information.

Peter Grainge

Community Expert

Jeff, I'm sorry, I didn't present the context. I'm accessing the app on a server, and clicking the Help link. The help opens and displays as expected. I click the Index tab, and select an entry on the list that has multiple related topics. The pop-up displaying those topics does not open.

After reading the snippet, which I had seen before but discounted due to the "local" aspect., I though perhaps the pop-up would work if the help was on my local machine? If it would. that might be a workaround for our users who employ Chrome.

So I made Chrome my default browser, compiled the help and clicked the View Result button. The Help opened in Chrome but there was no content displayed at all. Just the TOC tabs and the Webhelp frame around the page. Which completely confuses me.

The problem of related topics with Chrome is ringing a bell with me but a quick search is not finding anything. I will see what I can find but do search these forums. I'm pretty sure there is a thread about this problem.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips