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RoboHelp 8 - backwards compatibility?

Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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If I upgrade a RoboHelp 7 project to RoboHelp 8, can another co-worker open this project in RoboHelp 7? In other words, is RoboHelp 8 backwards compatible with RoboHelp 7?

- Jill

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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nope, sorry. once a project has been opened in RH8, it can't be opened and used in RH7. Make sure you have a backup on hand of any project before you open in it in RH8.

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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oh - and welcome to the forum! sorry not to give you better news your first time in the pool...

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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Thank you for the information and the quick response! I wish you had better news too!

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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just curious - if there are more than one of you working on the same project, why haven't you both stayed at the same version - either both remaining in 7, or both going to 8?

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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That was the original plan, though for some reason, when they bought the new license for me, they got the new version.

Our IT admin called Adobe and spoke to a sales rep. He said that both applications are completely compatible (forward and backward). They also offered free support for this issue if needed. That seems odd! I should have the new license tomorrow and will see what happens...

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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uh, ok. I'm always a little wary of what sales people will say to make a deal, but if they say it works both ways, cool. just have never seen success with it in this forum. Keep us posted.

AND MAKE BACKUPS!!!!

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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Backups are already made! I'll keep you posted...

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Community Expert ,
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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I would like to check that with someone first.

Meantime be very careful.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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You can check this too. I don't have RH8 but I believe when you try to open the RH7 project in RH8 it will give you a warning that you will not be able to open it in an earlier version.

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Guest
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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I remember seeing that too, Peter.

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Participant ,
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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Let me clarify that RH8 project is not backward compatible and will not open in RH7 or in any other earlier versions of RH. However you can have both RH7 and RH8 installed together on your machine and they can co-exist.

Vivek.
Engineering Manager - Adobe RoboHelp
Adobe Systems.

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Valorous Hero ,
Mar 10, 2009 Mar 10, 2009

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Hi Vivek

So what would happen if the user performed the following action?

* Compile a CHM file using RoboHelp 8.
* Copy RoboHelp 8 project from PC A to PC B.
* Open RoboHelp 7 and attempt to open project using HHP file.

Would that work or would ill effects be observed?

Cheers... Rick

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Participant ,
Mar 13, 2009 Mar 13, 2009

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Hi Rick,

My apology for delayed response.
In RH8 we converted all the project files to XML format. E.g. .glo file is in XML format now which RH7 will not understand. You must have guessed it by now that my answer would be NO. Even using HHP route RH8 projects will not open in RH7.

Vivek.

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Guest
Mar 13, 2009 Mar 13, 2009

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Thanks Vivek and everyone for your responses. It turns out, to no surprise, that the sales rep didn't know what he was talking about. We installed RH8 and, with a dummy project, opened it in RH8 and then tried to open it in RH7. Guess what!? It didn't work.

When opening a RH7 project in RH8, you do receive a warning message: "After upgrading, it will not be compatible with previous versions of RoboHelp".

Also, when trying to open the RH8 project in RH7, you receive the message: "This project is from a newer version of the program. This project is no longer compatible with this version. Please make sure you have the newest version installed."

So, it looks like we need to upgrade the other tech writer to RH8, which means upgrading the Technical Communication Suite to version 2. (BTW, originally we weren't able to buy the TCS version 1...)

It would be nice if Adobe would mention that RH8 isn't backwards compatible with RH7. This would save everyone a lot of time and effort. They should also train their sales reps, but that's another issue :-)

The good news is that RH8 looks like a great product and I'm glad we need to upgrade!

- Jill

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LEGEND ,
Mar 13, 2009 Mar 13, 2009

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Hi Jill

Hence the value of backups, no?

I'm still not 100% convinced that you can't achieve a certain amount of ability to work with both versions. What I mean by this is that your co-worker should be able to edit topics using 7 and have you operate as the "Master Control". Meaning all the co-worker would ever do is work with topic content. You would be the keeper of the TOC, Index and compiling/generating.

Just a thought... Rick

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New Here ,
May 05, 2009 May 05, 2009

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Hi Vivek,

We are using RoboHelp6 till now. We use WebHelp layout for help generation. I just downloaded and installed RoboHelp8. I tried to open my RoboHelp6 project using 'Open' option on RoboHelp8 UI, it allowed to open the project using .hpj file but it shows old references/images. Then I tried to import my RoboHelp6 project using 'Import' option on RoboHelp8 UI. Here option for importing 'WebHelp' project is not present. May I know that whether I can open RoboHelp6 project in RoboHelp8?

Please reply.

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LEGEND ,
May 05, 2009 May 05, 2009

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You can upgrade a RH6 project to RH8. You just open the RH6 project in RH8 and don't need to import anything. If you have images and references to old files I bet they are also there in RH6. If they are not, can you be more specific about the problems you are facing.

BTW you need make a backup of your RH6 projects before opening in RH8 as there is no going back.


Read the RoboColum(n) for mutterings on RoboHelp, Technical Communication Suite and technical communication.

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New Here ,
May 07, 2009 May 07, 2009

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Hi,

Ok. I am able to upgrade the RoboHelp6 project to RoboHelp8. Thanks for the support. One more query I have: If I decide to use ADOBE AIR as my primary layout then How should I implement context sensitive help using AIR? Is it possible to launch context sensitive help without using browser/pop-ups?

Regards,

Jitin.

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Community Expert ,
May 07, 2009 May 07, 2009

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I stand to be corrected but I believe that is possible via the CSH API. That is something your developers would have to figure out.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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New Here ,
May 12, 2009 May 12, 2009

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Thank you for kind support.

Regards,

Jitin.

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Guest
Mar 13, 2009 Mar 13, 2009

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Rick, one complication there is the difference in the ways that 7 and 8 write topic code. If the second writer were always feeding topics up to Jill and never the other way around, perhaps it could work, but 8 would probably have to rewrite the code every time.

Another thread went on recently about the differences between how the two versions handle styles, and that would probably be a concern when trying to work between 7 and 8. The style handling directly affects the topic code.

So while you may be able to make a process for working with both versions within a team, my bet is it wouldn't be pretty. Just two cents (or less).

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New Here ,
Mar 18, 2009 Mar 18, 2009

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Thank you Ben.

TomTom

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New Here ,
Mar 30, 2010 Mar 30, 2010

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First time in forum...... My question is, I have Robohelp 8 coming...... I have books on Robohelp 7. Will these books be good enough or do I need to get books on 8? In other words is the difference between 7 and 8 drastic enough to where I wont be able to figure it out with the RH7 books?

Thanks,

Joe

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LEGEND ,
Mar 30, 2010 Mar 30, 2010

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Hi Joe. Welcome to the RH forums.

As with any new version of a product, there are differences. To get an idea of what has changed, I'd start with Peter Grainge's excellent tour around the new features. You can find it here and once you've seen it you'll be able to judge. The answer from where I sit is "it depends" 🙂


  • Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
  • Follow the RoboColum(n) on Twitter

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