Legacy project vs new browsers

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Hi all, I have one client project for whom we still use TCS1, for updates about twice a year. This is the only client we use it for, so we have never upgraded. We do have a copy of RH10 standalone, but otherwise we have been increasingly using Flare (I am the lone hold-out, I like RH).

So the client has just observed that the webhelp cannot be viewed in Chrome, and I confirmed that that was a known issue. I suggested that HTML5 might be a better output for newer browsers/versions, so the options would be to upgrade to the current TCS ($1200 the boss is not anxious to absorb for one client), or convert the project to Flare (which might be a better solution to use Lingo for translation). The client is reluctant to switch to HTML5 because some clients still use older browsers, e.g. IE8, that don't fully support HTML5.

I also just discovered that the current help files don't work in IE10 (topic pane is blank). I know RH10 and 11 have a fix for this. So I had the brainwave to upgrade the RH project, after conversion into RH8 via TCS, to RH10, so that the webhelp *should* work in all browsers/versions.

Unfortunately, RH10 would not comply. First I got the message "Error in reading RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file", followed by "Open project was cancelled or the application was unable to load database for <cpd filename>". I deleted the cpd file, and then the apj file, but got the same messages.

Do you see any way to get Webhelp that works in older and newer browsers, using the tools I currently have?

I appreciate any input,

Laurie

[Captiv8r]

Hi Laurie

Try creating a new blank project, then copy that RHFrameStyleMappings.apj from it to your existing project and see if things go better.

Cheers... Rick

[argus08-7xWR1K]

When I create a new project in RH10, there is no RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file (presumably only created in the TCS version of RH?).

[Captiv8r]

Okay, what about just creating an empty file in Windows Notepad and save it using that file name? That's the next step I'd try.

Cheers... Rick

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Nope.

Right now I'm importing the RH project into Flare so that I can at least get some help output, but we need to come up with a strategy going forward. I think we'll have to make the client decide once and for all if they are going to stop talking about translation and get moving on it. That will likely determine if we bite the bullet and upgrade to the new TCS, or migrate the project to Flare. I don't think we can continue to dance with TCS1. 

[Willam_van_Weelden]

For the upgrade hickup, try this:

• Create a blank RH8 project.

• Copy the RHFrameStyleMappings.apj from the new project into your old

project.

• Open in RH to upgrade correctly.

The upgrade will work as long as the RHFrameStyleMappings.apj is

available. It's added in RH8 or so but older projects starting on X5 or

before may not have it.

Kind regards,

Willam

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Thanks, Willam, I'll try that. The immediate concern has been alleviated, as the developer has confirmed that they are able to open the existing help files, as created with TCS1, in IE10 without any problem. They didn't work for me on the test site I had access to, but confirmed they worked on a different site. He told me he had to make the following change to the webserver:

"What happens is helpfiles uses xml files that were blocked by the application’s web.config file via this line…

<add name="xml" verb="*" path="*.xml" type="System.Web.HttpForbiddenHandler" />

I had to change it to…

<add name="xml" verb="*" path="model.xml" type="System.Web.HttpForbiddenHandler" />"

So we are ok for now, but I think a tool change is inevitable. Based on internal discussions, the consensus is that if the client is determined to continue requiring a PDF, we should upgrade to TCS, because it was felt that Word would choke on an almost 500-page output en route to generating the PDF. However, if they are willing to drop the PDF, and are serious about getting into translation, Flare/Lingo might be the better route.

[Peter Grainge]

I am generating 1000 page documents to Word from Rh.

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Really? Word isn't choking? I thought Word would self-destruct trying to digest 500 pages with lots of images, that's why we felt it would be best to stay with Framemaker for the PDF output.

[Peter Grainge]

It's a whole combination of things that can include the ram on your machine. I would give it a try rather than assume.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Hi again

I'm back to wanting to try upgrading my TCS1-RH7 project into my standalone RH10 so the webhelp might work in Chrome (using Peter Grainge's updated whver.js file (http://www.grainge.org/pages/snippets/snippets.htm#browsers) fixed the TOC displaying issue, but the TOC does not sync when the help is called via csh).

I have created a new RH project in both RH9 and RH10, with the hopes of grabbing the RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file from the new project and copying it over the one in the RH7 project, so that I can upgrade it to RH10. But my RH9 and RH10 are standalone and do not create this file.

I then wondered if the problem was that the standalone RH10 does not know what to do with the RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file from the TCS1-RH7 project, since it's not a file that normally exists in a standalone RH10 project, so I deleted it and tried to open the project in RH10, but got the same errors.

The RH7 project is created from scratch each time I update the client project (I re-link the Frame files rather than force upate them), so the RHFrameStyleMappings.apj is recreated each time.

Maybe someone who has an RH8 or later version of TCS-RH could send me the RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file from a blank project? I don't know what else to try, other than just telling the client to decide once and for all if we're updating to the current TCS or converting to Flare!

Any other ideas? Time to wave the white flag?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Shoot me a PM with your e-mail and I can send you a blank project one – I’m running TCS4

[argus08-7xWR1K]

Thanks Jeff, but that didn't work either. But after much other wading through various forum threads, I stumbled upon a post by Peter Grainge that worked:

- Double click the HHP file. When prompted about using the existing XPJ, select No. The project opens.

- Close the project, reopen it with the XPJ.

So I am able to at least open it in RH10, and now have a few other things to work through, but at least I'm on my way.

Thanks everyone for responding here and in many other forum postings that helped me to get here!

[argus08-7xWR1K]

For posterity, I'm making slow progress getting output that works in Chrome from the RH10 project. But I tagged onto another thread (Issue displaying frames in Chrome) earlier when the problem looked a little different. Now that they've morphed, the other thread looks like the better place to continue this, just in case anyone else is (unlikely) in the same boat.