Robo 2019: Importing FM book by reference and TOC issues

[rombanks]

Hello Fellows,

I've just started looking into Robohelp 2019. The interface change is not an issue.

The first problem I encountered is inability to import an FM book by reference, to dynamically catch changes in the content authored in FM. I don't intend to author directly in Robohelp. There is an option to create a link to an FM book but brigning the book into Robohelp doesn't bring the book chapters. Trying to generate HTML5 output from the linked FM book fails miserably.

Another issue is that when importing an FM book, Robohelp lists the book chapters in an order that is completely different from the original one.  

Trying to generate HTML5 from the imported book results in an index page that contains nothing.

Any ideas how to resolve the issues above?

The application behavior is more than weird (all updates are installed).

Thanks! 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I'm not 100% sure if linking FM content to a RH project is still supported - I'm an "import" guy & I recall that at one point in the new UI development "linking" wasn't working. Regarding your blank output, you must have a TOC for any output to show anything.

[rombanks]

Hi Jeff,

I appreciate your prompt response!

As far as I remember, linking FM projects was one of the biggest perks in previous RH versions. Not sure why this was dropped. What happens when new content is added to the book chapters. Do you need to re-import the book?

As always, the RH help/user manual are quite uninformative. I only liked the word "upgradation" used in the user manual. 🙂

Regarding the blank output, I did create a TOC and let RH generate it automatically, prior to trying to generate HTML.

Best Regards,

Roman

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I haven't played with "linking" at all, so don't hold me to that - there may still be a way it happens. As an "import" guy, I always start with a brand new RH project that I suck FM content into; generate & then toss. I can recycle settings from project to project so that I'm not reinventing the wheel each time.

You may have better luck trying out "linking" with RH2019 Classic.

As to what's going on with the HTML5 output, I'm not sure. I know conditional build tags changed & that you have to use expressions now (think that came in RH2015 or 2017, I'm not sure).

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Ok, just confirmed that linking is supposed to be working, but it may depend on the version of FM2019 you use as the source.

[rombanks]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for checking! I am using the latest and greatest versions of RH and FM. Linking the book to the RH project doesn't allow me to generate the HTML5 output.

So far, so bad. 🙂

Will continue digging deaper.

Regards,

Roman

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Hang on, let's take things one step at a time - were you able to link a RH project with FM content? Did the link bring in that FM content into RH in discreet topics according to how you wanted them split up? Were you then able to make a change in FM and refresh the linked RM project to see those changes in the RH project?