Upgrade Classic Robohelp Project - Robohelp 2020

[Rhonda5ECD]

I tried upgrading a project in Robohelp 2020 from version 10 - and there are many (likely over a hundred) links throughout the project in the TOC/Index and other pages that point to some places with a bookmark within a single topic, rather than an individual topic.

Every single one of these links are broken when I do the upgrade.

Are there options I should select that may make the upgrade work better? I simply don't have the time to attempt to wade back through a project to fix all broken links...

[Amebr]

We used to recommend upgrading to RH2019 Classic first, then to RH2019 New UI as they usually gave a better upgrade experience. However there's no such thing as Classic for RH2020.

You could try taking a copy of you RH10 project, deleting the cpd file and opening it *in RH10, just to make sure no broken links show up there. I don't know why this can sometimes show broken links when everything was working fine, but I've found that it can, sometimes. I typically do this before a major version upgrade, just to make sure nothing is hinky before I try upgrading. Also manually check a few of the places to confirm they link correctly. Then try the upgrade again, once you've confirmed that there are no obvious broken links or any other weird things.

*Edited to clarify which version to open the project in

[Peter Grainge]

If Amber's suggestion doesn't help, try creating a copy of your project and open that in 2020. Delete all the presets and then see if the broken links report looks better.

If not, look in the supplied About RoboHelp sample project. Fixing the links might be easier than you think. I can't guarantee that as it will depend on why they broke. 

Post back how deleting the presets helps first.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Did you apply the newest patch for RH2020 before upgrading? That may give a better outcome (or it may not)...

[Rhonda5ECD]

I wanted to try and obtain as much specific detail as I could before I replied again.

I was unaware that there was a broken link report inside the software, that will be helpful moving forward.

However, I think I neglected to share some specifics about where the broken links are - they are only in the index that I have found that has become a problem with the "upgrade project" feature.

I have extracted samples from RH10 and RH2020 for comparison. What it appears to be doing during the upgrade is it is mis-forming links in sub-topics in the index. It is taking part of the keyword, and the subkeyword, and replacing the actual anchor in the link with that.

Example (viewing link properties of compiled CHM while navigating in html help ui):

Correct link in RH2010 (keyword COL, Subkeyword CON.VIRTUAL.COL):

CONSOLE_pseudo-object.htm#CON_VIRTUAL_GET

Incorrect link in RH2020:

console_pseudo-object.htm#COL:CON.VIRTUAL.COL

However, what's really strange - if I double click the main keyword, that has subkeyword references, where it will bring up that indented list in a popup window, if I click the particular one down in the list I'm trying to go straight to in the Index listbox, it works from the secondary popup (though all of the subkeywords display as the main keyword only).

[Peter Grainge]

Two things here.

I'm not seeing the issue clearly in my mind. Could you add some screenshots please? Use the Picture icon above rather than attaching the files.

You are generating a CHM. Generate a responsive or frameless output to see if things work OK there.

[Rhonda5ECD]

I have not been able to find where I can generate a responsive or frameless output. I believe the issue lies in the upgrade project process. Here is a sample of the same index entry in RH10, and RH2020, and the result when clicked in the 2020 file:

(Note: the bookmark and topic both exist in the 2020 project - and work when referenced anywhere else - it's almost like the upgrade project process does not correctly create the index entry)

[Peter Grainge]

This has rung a bell that recently there was a thread about index terms giving problems. Please have a look for that. I will try but won't be able to do so until much later today.

[Amebr]

To generate a frameless output, you need to configure a Frameless output preset. Change to the Output tab and click on Output Presets. This will show a list of all the output presets that have been added to your project. Click the + icon at the top of the panel, select Frameless and give the output a name. Then configure the settings as needed.

I can confirm the behaviour you're seeing. I don't think it copes with subkeywords

I set up a topic with H1 and topic title as "Console pseudo-object" and a bookmark "CON_CELL_GET".

Then I set up a keyword and subkeyword (dashes to simulate the indenting):

CELL

--CON.CELL <GET>

CELL2

--CON_CELL_GET

CELL3

Then I selected the subkeyword CON.CELL <GET> and dragged the bookmark from the project manager into the "Topics for" section of the index.

I repeated for CON_CELL_GET (to test if the problem was special characters and spaces) and CELL3 (to test if it was subkeywords).

On import, I found the following:

1. Angle brackets in the index were changed to curly brackets. (If I manually create a new subkeyword in RH2019 New UI, the angle brackets remain.)

2. There is a new index key icon in the topic, and the text in the html code matches the "bookmark text" displayed in the index. (It describes the keyword and subkeyword structure. It reminds me very much of the index coding we used to have to do in Word in the WinHelp days). 

3. The keyword CELL3 was the only index item to upgrade correctly and link to the topic. It does get a "new" bookmark because of the way the "id" property works (no duplicate ids allowed in a web page).

Do note that in RH2019 New UI and RH2020, linking to a bookmark results in the topic displaying in the index as "filename.htm#bookmark_text". There's an item in the tracker requesting the topic title display and the ability to edit the title displayed in the index. https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/RH-8071

[Peter Grainge]

This is the other thread.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/robohelp/character-limit-to-subtopic-bookmarks/td-p/11377520