What should I give my end user, Air help or Publish?

[lovejoyp]

We are using RH8 and Windows 7

I know the differences between WebHelp, Air Help and Publish.

When you actually put your files out for the end user, what should you give them? Some of us seem to think you produce Air help then publish and put the published files out for the end users. I am beginning to think you don’t need to publish if you product Air help. Just put the air files out for the end user. The same would be true for Webhelp, just put the Webhelp files out for the end user. So, what’s the purpose of publish? What should I give my end user?

[Peter Grainge]

I think you are not understanding the difference.

WebHelp is designed to be published to a server and users access the help from there using their browser.

AIR help has two formats. What I refer to as Desktop AIR help and Browser AIR help.

Desktop AIR help is delivered in the form of a .AIR file and that is not what the user sees, the .AIR file is not like a CHM. The .AIR file is more like an exe in that it installs an application on the users PC and that must have the AIR runtime installed.

Browser AIR help by contrast is installed on a server just like WebHelp.

There is more about this on my site.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Guest]

In addition to what Peter said, the Publish option is only applicable to the Browser AIR Help, not the Desktop version (.air).

Becky

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

On Aug 4, 2010 8:43 AM, Peter Grainge <forums@adobe.com> wrote:

I think you are not understanding the difference.

WebHelp is designed to be published to a server and users access the help from there using their browser.

AIR help has two formats. What I refer to as Desktop AIR help and Browser AIR help.

Desktop AIR help is delivered in the form of a .AIR file and that is not what the user sees, the .AIR file is not like a CHM. The .AIR file is more like an exe in that it installs an application on the users PC and that must have the AIR runtime installed.

Browser AIR help by contrast is installed on a server just like WebHelp.

There is more about this on my site.

-

---

See http://www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

http://www.grainge.org/twitter.jpg http://twitter.com/petergrainge

[Captiv8r]

Hi folks

So here's YAW (Yet Another Wrinkle) to think about...

One may create locally installed AIRHelp. Check

One may create web based AIR Help Check

Publish only applies to web based AIR Help (or does it?)

I thought locally installed AIRHelp (the .AIR package) could be automagickally updated? No? And when this occurs the update package is deployed to a server, no? If so, shouldn't there be some publishing function for the locally installed .AIR package to transport it to the central distribution location?

Cheers... (Toss in the monkey wrench and run Rick)

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[lovejoyp]

Don't know if this applies, but when I had problems and called Adobe they said I couldn't publish in Air (even though it looks like I can). I had to do it from WebHelp. I know that works.

[lovejoyp]

Another wrinkle.

I generated Air help, Browser Based, and it works fine on my pc, but not on other pcs. Could it be that I shouldn't use Browser based help for a setting and should use something else? I'm going to test and see.

[Guest]

I'm not sure we have enough details here yet to answer this one. When you say it worked fine on your PC, were you viewing it from within RoboHelp, or were you using your browser to view the file? On the other PCs, are they also generating the Browser AIR Help, or are they trying to access the output that you've created on your PC?

[Peter Grainge]

Becky

Once you have a certificate, I am not following why you cannot use it in any desktop AIR help that you create. You said earlier that you have to have a separate certificate for each one.

I cannot see why you cannot use that certificate for multiple .AIR files, assuming they are all from the same company.

The certificate is created using files supplied by Verisign and then added to the project. At the time I create the certificate, it has no knowledge of what AIR file it is going to be used in. I have used it in three different .AIR files.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Guest]

My mistake, Peter. I have not worked with a real certificate yet, and I thought you needed one per Help system.

Message was edited by: Captiv8r - SPAM bait removed.

[Captiv8r]

LOL, I'm sure the certificate sellers would love for folks to hold that belief!

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[lovejoyp]

Ok, I think I can give you some more information here.

I generate browser based air and all the files go to a folder on my C drive called 91AirHelp. To access the help I click on the SSWelcome.htm file, which is the opening file in the 91AirHelp folder. Everything opens just fine and works great.

I put the folder on another drive and clicked the same SSWelcome.htm file and nothing happened. I sent the folder to a coworker. He put it on his C drive and tried to access the SSWelcome.htm file and nothing happened.

When I say nothing happened I mean we got a gray screen.

My coworker is a web guy and took a look at my files (he doesn't know RH though) and suggested that maybe I need to install an air application on the drives that receive the help. Could that be the problem.

Thank you.

Pat

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

Please put your browser based AIR help output on a server that would run webhelp and it should all be OK.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Guest]

I believe you also need to install FlashPlayer on any PC that accesses the file.

Once you have installed it on a web server in the appropriate folder for the web application (IIS, Tomcat, etc.), browse the start file instead of double-clicking it.

Becky

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

On Aug 5, 2010 8:40 AM, Peter Grainge <forums@adobe.com> wrote:

Please put your browser based AIR help output on a server that would run webhelp and it should all be OK.

-

---

See http://www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

http://www.grainge.org/twitter.jpg http://twitter.com/petergrainge

[lovejoyp]

Thank you so much. Our IT guys turned my pc into a server and it works.

I wish there was more information (for rock bottom beginners like me) about servers and files and things like that.

You have all been a big help. I'm grateful every day for this forum.

Pat

[lovejoyp]

The reason we use Browser Based help is because we don't have a digital certificate. So, that won't work.

[Guest]

Regarding the digital certificate...

You can purchase a digital certificate (roughly $150-$400, I think), and you must have a separate certificate for each Help project. Or, you can create your own digital certificate that is not authenticated and let your clients know that the Publisher will show Unknown as the source of the file. It's not the best option, but this will work in some cases...especially if you are running a trial of the .AIR output with a few clients and are not sure that you want to invest in the certificate until the trial is completed.

Note: If you choose to go with the Browser AIR Help, you will not have the Commenting or Favorites options as these are only available in the Desktop (.AIR) output.

Another question you need to ask yourself when deciding whether to use Browser or Desktop AIR is whether the application that the Help is for is a desktop or web application. Implementing the .AIR output with a web application is a bit complicated, although it can be done.

Becky

[Guest]

Nice, Rick. Nice!

Publish only copies the Browser AIR Help files to the server (just like the Publish option for WebHelp or FlashHelp).

You're right that the .AIR file is connected to a server location for automatic updates. In my experience with this, the .AIR file and accompanying files, have to be copied to the server when the updates are available . You can't use the Publish option for this, although it would be nice. Herein lies more of the complications between the Browser and Desktop versions of AIR output.

Becky

[lovejoyp]

Ok, I understand this. But where does Publish come in?

It sounds like I don't need to publish anything. All I need to do is generate Air help or Webhelp and put it out for my users. Is that correct?

Pat

[Guest]

Which AIR Help are you generating? Browser or Desktop (.air)?

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

On Aug 4, 2010 8:49 AM, lovejoyp <forums@adobe.com> wrote:

Ok, I understand this. But where does Publish come in?

It sounds like I don't need to publish anything. All I need to do is generate Air help or Webhelp and put it out for my users. Is that correct?

Pat

[lovejoyp]

Browser.