Adobe Community: Message List - WinHelp

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Signing .hlp files

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:49:09 GMT

Is it possible to digitally sign a .hlp file? We would like to avoid getting an “Unknown Publisher” message when we open a .hlp file from a network share.

Thanks!

Re: Winhelp 4, problem compiling

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:45:15 GMT

Hi,

Thank you for your answer. We tried to restore the file the days it started to not compiled, but it makes no change. But I did not try to recover one a couple of days before the incident.

Finally, the user found a workaround. She just started a new project, create her heading and she was able to copy the content of her old file into the new one. She saved it and the compilation worked perfectly!

So for now, i'll just hope it will not happen again

Thanks you for your help!

Jimmy

Re: Winhelp 4, problem compiling

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:46:03 GMT

Hi Jimmy.

I'd be tempted to find a backup of the help file before any of the recent changes were made (i.e. after the last successful compile) and see if that compiles correctly. If it does, you know that something in the project is at fault. What I'd then do is gradually add content compiling as you go until you hit the problem. I doubt whether text would be the cause. Much more likely would be an image or some other interactive element (e.g. image map).

The RoboColum(n)

@robocolumn

Colum McAndrew

Winhelp 4, problem compiling

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:42:23 GMT

Hy everyone,

I try to investigate on a problem that one of our user have with Robohelp 8. I don't know if i'm giving the right information about my problem, so let me know if you need any other information. The computer is a Windows XP SP3 with 2 Gb of RAM.

Robohelp 8

Winhelp 4

Language: FR

Message:

Sorry but i can only have the message in french. Here is the traduction:

Result: Winhelp generation failed

Layout: WinHelp 4

Launching of the compilation

Preprocessor winhelp 8.0.0.203

Compilation of.....

Preparation of creation Winhelp...

Clearing the output folder...

Conditional text filtering...

Treatment of RSIPA V.rtf...

I got this message when I try to "compile" my .doc file. The long line starting with W:\02 - Biens..... is only the emplacement of the file in the network. I tried locally on the computer (i copy the folder completely, then open it as usual. The only difference is that it's faster to open this way). I also climbed the memory of the computer to 2 GB just in case. I also tried to delete the .rtf files, and remake it, but its the same. Another interesting thing, is that the user have sucessfully compile the file in the past (like 6-7 days ago). But he probably did a bad manipulation, and now it doesn't work anymore... I also made a new blank project, create 2-3 things on it, save it and compile it, and it worked (so i assume the software is correctly installed).

My question are:

Is there any log files that can bring me more information of why the compilation didn't work?

Is the reinstallation of the software can resolve (for this time) the problem?

Is there anyway to restart, if i can say this, the project, but keeping only the doc file? (the project is about 150 pages, so if its possible to not restart it all over...)

Thanks if anyone can bring me some tips/help, and if i'm not clear, say it (i'm just a poor french guy ^^ )

Jimmy

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:53:21 GMT

Hi Jon,

Well, I'm sorry not to have been of more help - and now it looks like we're

having the same problem. I posted a new thread on this

(http://forums.adobe.com/thread/684762), because I'm not sure if the experts

on the forum see all these exchanges once they get down to this level. If

they do, sorry to everyone for double-posting. - Sandy

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:23:09 GMT

Thank you for all your help.

Sorry, I should have been more clear about what I did. I was asked to convert a help system from ForeHelp to RoboHelp. When I converted the files the conversion process dumped all of the images into the same folder as the .hpj file, and I guess it did not set up a BMROOT folder. So that is what I meant when I said I moved all the images into a folder, because RH gives a warning if the BMROOT folder is the same location as the folder that contains the project.

I moved all the images into their own folder, and moved the entire project to my local drive, but this did not solve the problem.

Jon

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:54:12 GMT

Sorry, I left an important word out of this message. I meant to say: I'm

assuming you're NOT compiling over a network. Compiling over a network can

cause problems. You should keep all your project files on your local drive.

Hi Jon,

I am not sure what you mean by saying you are not using your BMROOT folder.

The BMROOT "folder" (in RoboHelp Explorer) is just a way to identify the

place where you have your graphics. The name of the actual folder where you

have the graphics stored will almost certainly not be BMROOT. It sounds like

you might be confusing RoboHelp Explorer and Windows Explorer.

BMROOT is not an actual location. It is just a pointer that points to a

location in your Windows file structure, so that RoboHelp can "see" where

your graphics are.

You shouldn't have had to move anything. You can leave your graphics wherever

you want (as long as it's on your local drive - I'm assuming you're compiling

over a network, which can cause problems). It doesn't matter where the

graphics are, as long as the place where they are is defined as one of your

BMROOT paths. You can have one BMROOT path, or more than one, it doesn't

matter.

I'm sorry if I confused you. Here's what I would try:

1) Determine where your graphics are, using Windows Explorer (not RoboHelp

Explorer)

2) Put the path to that folder in a BMROOT line in the .hpj

Then try compiling. Good luck - Sandy

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:49:11 GMT

Hi Jon,

I am not sure what you mean by saying you are not using your BMROOT folder.

The BMROOT "folder" (in RoboHelp Explorer) is just a way to identify the

place where you have your graphics. The name of the actual folder where you

have the graphics stored will almost certainly not be BMROOT. It sounds like

you might be confusing RoboHelp Explorer and Windows Explorer.

BMROOT is not an actual location. It is just a pointer that points to a

location in your Windows file structure, so that RoboHelp can "see" where

your graphics are.

You shouldn't have had to move anything. You can leave your graphics wherever

you want (as long as it's on your local drive - I'm assuming you're compiling

over a network, which can cause problems). It doesn't matter where the

graphics are, as long as the place where they are is defined as one of your

BMROOT paths. You can have one BMROOT path, or more than one, it doesn't

matter.

I'm sorry if I confused you. Here's what I would try:

1) Determine where your graphics are, using Windows Explorer (not RoboHelp

Explorer)

2) Put the path to that folder in a BMROOT line in the .hpj

Then try compiling. Good luck - Sandy

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:30:07 GMT

I was not using my BMROOT folder. I put all my images into that folder and compiled the project, but I had the same result. I could see the graphic only if there were no hotspots on the graphic.

Jon

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:06:47 GMT

Jon,

Yes, it is in the .hpj file. I have attached some sample text from an .hpj

file for you, only I moved it into Word so I could highlight the BMROOT

section.

Don't worry about the message at the top of the .hpj that says "do not modify

this file." It's OK to modify it. (Notice that underneath, it also says "You

may edit this file.")

The only reason I included the other sections from the .hpj was so that you

would see where the BMROOT information is located in relation to the other

parts of the .hpj. You will not necessarily have all the same sections in

your .hpj. But if you have graphics, you definitely have to have a BMROOT

section.

I hope this helps. - Sandy

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:42:36 GMT

The .bmp files and the .shg files are in the same place as well.

Also, it does not matter which version of WinHelp it is compiled in.

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:30:10 GMT

Sandy,

I could not find the BMROOT to any of my graphics in the .hpj file. All I can see are the alias of my topics. Are you sure it is the .hpj file? Thank you for your help.

Jon

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:27:12 GMT

Hi Jon,

Did you check the BMROOT path to your graphics directory and make sure it was

an absolute path, not a relative path? Also, are the .bmp and the .shg both

in your graphics directory, since you need both of them? Those are the only

things that I know to check.

I was using a WinHelp 2000 output. I don't know if that makes a difference or

not. But after I updated the BMROOT path as described in my previous post, I

did not have any more problems with graphics not displaying. Hope it helps -

Sandy

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:56:07 GMT

The graphic will display without hotspots, but will not display if I add a hotspot to the graphic. I have a graphic that I am trying to add multiple hotspots to different regions of the graphic. The graphic will show if there are no hotspots on the graphic, but as soon as I add a hotspot to a region on the graphic it will not display in the compiled view. The graphic shows up in RH. I am using a WinHelp 4 output. Should I change this?

Re: Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:54:17 GMT

Hi Jon,

Are you saying that the graphic *will* display if you insert it without hotspots, but that it *won't* display if it has hotspots?

If that's the problem, then I'm not sure what to do - although you might try the fix below anyway and see if it helps.

If the graphic just isn't displaying in compiled help, whether it has hotspots or not, then I may know how to help. The last problem we had with our recent nightmare conversion to RoboHelp 8 was that a graphic which had been showing up fine for ages suddenly started not displaying. (It was the only graphic in that particular .hlp in our multi-.hlp project.)

Go into your .hpj file in Notepad and check your BMROOT path for the graphic that is not appearing. In RoboHelp Explorer, it probably shows up as a relative path (for example: BMROOT=images). You can't fix it in RoboHelp Explorer, because I believe it sets the path up as a relative path automatically. You need to find the BMROOT path in the .hpj file and change it to the exact location of your image file (for example: BMROOT=C:\help\images).

Off and on, over different versions of RoboHelp, I had occasionally encountered this problem with BMROOT. But, as I said, this graphic had been working fine with a relative path for ages. I never thought to connect the problem of our disappearing graphic with the new ImageAPI.dll, but given the time frame for when we updated the .dll, that would make sense. So let me know if this works - I'm curious.

(Also, did you make sure you have both the .shg and the .bmp it is based on in your images directory? You probably did, but just in case, I thought I'd mention it.)

Good luck - Sandy

Unable to display graphic

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:08:35 GMT

I am using Robohelp for Word v8, and after I compile the project the image will not display. I generated a .shg image, and this displays when I compile the projuect, but if I add a hot spot to the image I get an error message saying "Unable to display graphic" where the image is supposed to be. I have the updated ImageAPI.dll file so the hotspot would remember the link, but the image would display with multiple hotspots before the update it would not remember the topic linked to the hotspot. When I updated the .dll file and add a hotspot to the graphic, it will not show up. Did I miss a setting that I needed to update with the new ImageAPI.dll file? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Re: Context Sensitive Help in Combined Help Files

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 19:08:51 GMT

This has been solved here:

Workaround

Re: "access unnamed file" error; search tab not working on Citrix

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:40:19 GMT

Hi Colm,

We were leaning toward the conclusion that it was an unresolvable Citrix

issue, so in this case it's just a relief to have that confirmed by an

outside source. Thanks for getting back to me - Sandy

Re: "access unnamed file" error; search tab not working on Citrix

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:56:38 GMT

Hi Sandy.

I'm not sure I can help with your specifc error but I can offer some observations. WinHelp was never designed to be viewed over a Citrix (or any other) server. It is really only supposed to be run locally. Also as WinHelp is a dying art form these days it is unlikely many people on this forum will be able to help, not least because of the way you are using the help.

Personally I'd advise you against using WinHelp except when it is locally based. I appreciate that this causes you untold difficulty if you are about to release, but that is the way it is.

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"access unnamed file" error; search tab not working on Citrix

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:33:34 GMT

Hi folks,

We have a WebHelp project and a WinHelp version of the same project, generated in RoboHelp 8 and we're having some weird problems with it.

Problem 1: When the WinHelp project is viewed via a Citrix server, the full text search tab comes up blank gray. When the project is run locally it works fine. Anyone had experience with this or have any idea what it would take to solve it?

Problem 2: When you select one particular menu item from the app (others work), it does not launch the help. Instead you get the following error:

Release of product is imminent. Gloom abounds. Has anyone seen this before? Can you help? Thanks.-Sandy

Re: Will WinHelp run on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 24 May 2010 22:50:31 GMT

Thanks Rick - that's a big help.

Something else must be going on with the client....

David Hurlston

ViaData LP

tel: 281 242-6394

fax: 281 242-6498

Re: Will WinHelp run on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 24 May 2010 22:24:02 GMT

Hi there

I just tested a WinHelp file and it popped right open on my Windows 7 64 bit PC. Now it may have been an older 16 bit WinHelp file, but it worked. I think a 32 bit WinHelp file would be treated the same way Vista treated them. It would prompt for a download of the 32 bit WinHelp engine.

Cheers... Rick

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Will WinHelp run on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:42:06 GMT

We have a client who cannot run our WinHelp products on a 64-bit Windows 7 system. The Microsoft Knowledgebase article provides the WinHlp32 engine download but there no mention of whether this same engine will work on a 64-bit W7 system.

Does anyone have any experience of this?

As a footnote, we have another client who successfully runs the winhelp engine on a 64-bit XP system

TOC flashes inconsistenly

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Wed, 05 May 2010 07:48:18 GMT

I am building a WinHelp help files for an application. I am using RoboHelp for Word version 7.

When the user click the Browse Sequence button (Next and Previous) to toggle between topcis. The TOC at the left pane flashes. I reckon that this happens because it is highlighting the topic title accordingly. But, it seems very inconsistent because sometimes the highlight will just go down the topics smoothly and at other times, the TOC seems to flash (dissapear and appear quickly) to refresh itself.

I am posting here hoping that someone may have a solution to this.

Thank you.

Help Jumps and Bullet Colours

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:14:42 GMT

I have two problems that may or may not be related to each other. The first is that I have several topics with bullet lists. The bullets are supposed to be blue, but after being compiled, there are some that are blue, and some that are black. In general, the bullets that are black have a jump inserted (I have tried taking out the jump, and the bullet goes back to blue). Any suggestions on what caused this and what I can do to keep all bullets blue?

Also, when I select text to insert a jump, and right-click, I no longer get the option to insert a jump, and the RoboHelp tab in Word does not give me this option. Any insight into this?

Thanks

Re: Winhelp Problem - RoboHelp received Word error 24 message.

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:48:49 GMT

This is still not working for me. I need other suggestions.

Thanks

Re: Hide Search Tab

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:40:08 GMT

Thanks, Andrew. It appears to me that macro and its companions, CreateButton, EnableButton, etc., apply to Help buttons only, not tabs:

DisableButton WinHelp macro

DisableButton("button-id")

The DisableButton macro grays out a button added with the CreateButton macro if the EnableButton macro has not yet been executed.

Parameter Description

button-id The identifier assigned to the button by the CreateButton macro. The button identifier must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Also, the RoboHelpExShowNavPane macro looked promising, but it hides the entire navigation pane, not an individual tab, and takes no parameters:

RoboHelpExShowNavPane WinHelp macro

RoboHelpExShowNavPane()

This macro provides the functionality for the WinHelp 4 Explorer view – including the show/hide feature for the navigation pane.

RoboHelp automatically places this macro in the Startup Macros section (Project tab, Project folder Startup Macros folder) of your help project whenever you select this feature.

Parameters

None.

WinHelp viewer for Windows 7

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:39:34 GMT

Just in case anyone may need it, Microsoft have released a viewer for WinHelp files under Windows 7. Click here to download it.

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Re: Hide Search Tab

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:55:43 GMT

Hi Richard.

It has been awhile since I did any WinHelp work but I think you should be able to do this via the DisableButton startup macro. Take a look at this macro under the Button category.

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Hide Search Tab

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:32:16 GMT

Is there a way to suppress the display of the Search tab in a WinHelp 2000 project? I'm using RH 7.0 for Word.

Re: Winhelp Problem - RoboHelp received Word error 24 message.

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:50:06 GMT

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

Winhelp Problem - RoboHelp received Word error 24 message.

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:36:47 GMT

I am working with a Winhelp project in Robohelp 8. I am not sure what version was used to create it. I need to fix some help jumps but I keep getting the following message: RoboHelp received Word error 24. If you continue to get this error, contact Adobe Systems for technical support." I also get the same message if I double-click on any topic.

Thanks.

Re: What controls the index and search panes in RoboHelp 5?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:34:32 GMT

Unfortunately it is Winhelp, which we are actually moving away from using. In the interim we are using RoboHelp as a browser to display another type of help so the index and search tabs are not needed. I already removed the cnt and all it removed from the output was the table of contents. The Index and Search are still there, but empty.

Re: What controls the index and search panes in RoboHelp 5?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:32:35 GMT

Hi again

Thanks for the additional information. But that unfortunately spawns a new question. What is your output?

If it's WinHelp (the only reason I can fathom anyone would be using RoboHelp for Word) I believe you simply omit the CNT file, but it's been eons since I've used RH for Word and done that, so I am likely wrong.

If it's WebHelp, you have options that govern whether the tabs are present. You get to these using the Single Source Layout dialog. (Well, you do in RoboHelp HTML anyway so I guess RH for Word may be different)

Hopefully this helps. If I'm wrong about some of this stuff (which I could be) hopefully someone that is more familiar with RH for Word will chime in and offer more help.

Cheers... Rick

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Re: What controls the index and search panes in RoboHelp 5?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:22:10 GMT

Sorry about that I meant RoboHelp X5. I am using RoboHelp for Word and I am wanting to delete the index and search tabs from the output.

Re: What controls the index and search panes in RoboHelp 5?

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:20:03 GMT

Hi there

So many unanswered questions.

What are you using? RoboHelp for Word or RoboHelp HTML?

Where are you wanting to control things? In the RoboHelp editor or in the output?

Is this really version 5 or did you mean X5?

Cheers... Rick

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