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Rick -- yes we are using RoboServer 8.

CJ

Peter -- yes, I have a test project and have tested it in there, and I created a new Master Template Project from scratch and entered components in piece by piece. Meaning, I created a CSS, then Master Pages, then setup the resource manager, then windows, then conditional tags. There were no issues until I started adding FlashHelp Pro layouts. After the 4th one is added there is a huge impact on the system. The more we add the slower it gets to the point that the whole computer becomes non-responsive for up to 7-8 minutes or longer in some cases.

This is frustrating my new RH authors and though I'm used to RH being slow, this is way abnormal. Never seen this before at previous clients. Nor come to think of it, in previous versions. I was using RH7 and RH Server 7 at my last client with 6 Pro outputs and don't remember this being an issue.

Any suggestions would be extremely helpful, I think our last nerve is being tested here.

Regards,

Cindy

Egads! Yes, I'm coming at it from the other direction. When I get into the office tomorrow I will try it from your direction and see if the same thing occurs. After some other issues that we've had in install RoboServer 8 and RoboSource Control, I've got a funny funny feeling this is a security issue somewhere.  This bank's computer security is locked down tighter than Fort Knox.

Also, I have determined in the last few days that we do not have access to write to certain parts on our laptops. Most notably is the Program Files. I learned this when I tried to create a Master Project Template, and then when I tried that "workaround" that Julian (I think) mentioned on your site for slowness. You know the one to copy the missing DLL file to the RoboHelp folder. That gave me a big "Access Denied error."

I will test tomorrow and report back, cause now it's just the point of the thing.

Regards,

CJ

Leon -- wow. I had to read that a few times. I think I get what you're saying. We are still trying to troubleshoot it at this point, but if isn't resolved shortly I'll test the workaround. My biggest issue with that is I have authors who've never used RH and this, I think, would overwhelm them. But I'm up for less stress and working versus more troubleshooting.

CJ

Well, this has been a long hard road to resolving the issue, but I believe we have the issue defined, but not a solution per se.

There were actually 3 issues that I originally though all stemmed from too many WebHelp Pro or FlashHelp Pro layouts in the SSL Pod.

1)  Moving around RoboHelp and SSL pod was slow and/or caused white screens.

2)  Opening the Project was slow which I originally thought was due to issue #1.

3)  Typing content had a delayed effect on the screen of up to 15 seconds.

Preliminary findings indicate that too many URLs (3 or more) in the SSL Pod cause a lag time and white screens in the SSL pod, as well as a huge lag time in the project, to include occasional lag time in typing. Opening the project may take up to 15 minutes (more computer had a remote connection).  These are 3 separate issues, not one as originally believed. 

NOTE: We are using RoboSource Control, however, that does not seem to be a factor in any of the issues. The issue and solutions were tested outside of RSOC and again after being added to RSOC. Results were the same as described below.

1)       SSL Pod Lag time is caused by having too many URLs in the SSL Pod (NOTE: Linking from the Topic to internal and external sites does not cause any lag time, nor does linking to the RH Server from the topic). The number of layouts did not have an impact on the system rather slowness appears only when there are 3 or more URLs identified with the layouts (SSL Pod). This also impacts the rest of the project causing a lag time:

a.       in opening topics

b.       creating new topics

c.       moving topics

d.       adding folders

e.       deleting folders

Removing the URLs removes the lag time and white screen issue. 
Outstanding Questions:

a.       Why is the URL causing the lag time in the SSL Pod?

b.       Why is the URL causing a slow down in the rest of the project?

c.       Why is the same URL in the SSL Pod causing a lag time, but not when entered into a topic? This may be answered due to the fact that the links are coming from an HTM file versus the plbsrvs.sss file. The plbsrvs.sss file tells RoboHelp where to publish, as well as what to include in the end user view and how it should look.

Solution

Temporary workaround: Have only 1 URL in the SSL pod. Publishing Online Help requires manual intervention as each layout will need to be published one by one and the area changed per role. This has some inherent risk as it is easy to over look the second publishing screen where you must change the area tp publish to the correct role. If the area is not changed to match the audience you run the risk of overwriting one role with that of another role.

Permanent Solution:  We need a long term solution so that each layout is set up with its own URL so that it will publish to the correct area and allow for batch publishing. It is unclear whether the lag time is caused by RoboHelp or because of the connection / permissions / security settings from RoboHelp to the RoboServer.

2)       Opening the project may take up to 15 minutes. Even after the URLs were deleting as described in #1 above, the project was still slow to open. After initial testing with an off-site connection using VPN it was determined that the CPD file (cache file) being cleared every time the project was opened and the Resource Manager (central repository of images) being mapped to a share network drive were causing the slowness.

Troubleshooting

a.       Deleting the CPD file every time a project is opened slows RH because it has to delete the contents of the file then rebuild the project index so that RH knows what topics, images, etc… are in the project. The CPD file should not be cleared every time a project is opened. This file should only be deleted when needed.

b.       After clearing this option, the project opened faster, but still took up to 5 minutes to open. It was determined that the Resource Manager looking for images on the Share Drive was slowing RH. When remapped to a local drive, the project opened as expected in less that 2 minutes.

Solution

a.       Uncheck the option to rebuild the CPD file every time a project is opened.

b.       Map the Resource Manager to a local drive.

3)       Lag time in typing is intermittent. However, during testing I could create the issue on several occasions. On one instance I noticed that a message was being generated in the lower left footer of the screen in RH. When I duplicated the issue I managed to take a camera shot of the statement as it flashed by. It said Repagination… 

Outstanding Question: why is it repaginating? The issue is present if the project is not in source control and being accessed off-site via VPN. The issue went away if the project is:

a.       out of source control with no internet connection

b.       out of source control with internet connection

c.       in source control being accessed off-site via VPN

d.       in source control on site

Solution

I cannot consistently duplicate this issue. Since it is intermittent, we will continue to monitor the issue and do research about repagination in RoboHelp to see if something has been identified on the Adobe site that is not related to FrameMaker. We do not have FrameMaker. As long as this issue does not become consistent this is probably not worth troubleshooting at this time.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to add URLs the the SSL pod and not slow the project down while working in it, please let me know. We have 15 roles for this project and it would be nice to batch generate when necessary. This cannot be done unless I can add a URL to every WebHelp Pro layout. NOTE: I have not had this issue in previous versions, so near as I can tell this is a RH8 issue.

Peter -- thank you for your help and suggestions in troubleshooting this (these) issues.

Regards,

CJ

UPDATE: One author had issues typing again. After some quick verification that the project did not have too many URLs, we figured out that the Resource Manager pod was looking for Images on a Shared Drive on the network. Which, as far as I can tell, is the purpose of the Resource Manager.  We remapped that pod to a local drive and that fixed the lag time when typing.

Later we remapped it back to the network drive and everything was fine. Our conclusion is that mapping to a central repository of images and multimedia may create a problem with using resources and spinning all the time. In this case, we think something may have been occuring on the server where the images reside causing the tempory conflict and slow down.

I submitted a bug request for the URL issues in the SSL Pod. Click here RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form and feel free to submit a bug too.

Update -- this issue is still unresolved and with RH9 out I have no doubt that this issue will go unresolved for RH8. 

We have found that having 25 SSLs makes publishing a nightmare.  It takes more than 10 minutes to generate the WebHelp Pro OR FlashHelp Pro.  Batch generation is impossible.  Single publishing takes 20-30 minutes and that is after 10 minutes to generate the project.

Our workaround was to delete all the URLs, not the layouts, just the server path so that there is only 1.  Since we cannot batch generate anyway, we simply go into the layout we want to publish and change the area.  Irratating at worse, but at least RH has stopped freezing up, crashing and becoming non-responsive.

Regards,

CJ