Where is the Roboapi.asp in RHS8?

[shootathought]

We upgraded our workstations and server all to robohelp 8. There is nothing in the documentation ANYWHERE about the roboapi.asp being removed, but our server admin is saying it doesn't exist in RHServer 8, and now our developers are going to have to re-code all of the context-sensitive links if we can't find it.

Here are my questions:
Why would Adobe remove something so integral to the way people link to help files without mentioning it somewhere?
Is it really gone, or is there some trick to get it there?

Please help, we really need an answer to this before we start the developers coding. Right now, context-sensitive help isn't working. It's not a good scene!

[tuls_garg]

To get your earlier context sensitive links working, you need to configure your RoboHelp Server 8 with Tomcat and apache and then add rewrite rule in apache configuration files to redirect requests for roboapi.asp to RoboHelp Server 8. RoboHelp Server 8 documentation contains detailed instructions on configuring apache with Tomcat for RoboHelp Server8.
Once you have done that, you need to add rewrite rules to "<Apache install directory>/conf/httpd.conf" file. Backup this file before making any changes to it and then open it in notepad and add the lines in the end of the file

[shootathought]

See, that's not really what I'm looking for in this answer. I really want to hear, from Adobe, why they decided to remove the api without documenting it anywhere.

We are going to switch to the .js method that is outlined in the documentation, because if we don't do something that is documented and we call for help they will refuse to help us.

But, by not having the api file be part of the server installation this time and not documenting it in a change log or a pre-upgrade checklist, they've really cost us a lot of time and money, not to mention the money that we spent on the upgrade.

[shootathought]

I'm still looking for an answer to this question!

[RoboWizard]

Hi there

Unless I'm mistaken, your question was answered with the first reply.

I saw you wanted "someone from Adobe" to reply. Although I could be mistaken here, I don't believe I am. I believe the reply you received was directly from one of the Adobe engineers.

Good luck in hearing why something was done. There are many reasons things are done. We don't always know why.

Sincerely... Rick

Click here for Adobe Authorized Captivate and RoboHelp HTML Training Click here for the SorcerStone Blog Click here for RoboHelp and Captivate eBooks

[shootathought]

The problem with the answer is that All of the reporting documents say point to the roboapi.asp and don't say to do all of that renaming stuff.

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/RoboHelp/8.0/RoboHTML/robohtml_8_help.pdf still refers to the asp file.

The server documentation doesn't have these instructions in it, and if we use something that isn't documented in the supporting documents from adobe, support tells us they can't help us until we have a supported configuration. So, we will only use supported configurations.

Aditionally, the admin did try it and it didn't work and the rewrite rules were incorrect.

So, what's the official supported configuration? Where's the documentation? Why would a product designed for tech writers be so poorly documented?

[Guest]

Shootathought,

Has your RH8 context-sensitive issue been resolved?  I'm in the process of upgrading from RH7 to RH8, and experiencing similar roadblock.  A gentleman responded to my posting below with yours as the reference, so just wanna check with you.  Any input is welcome (and I'm in the frustrated mode with this whole RH8 rewrite as you would imagine).

http://forums.adobe.com/message/2033099#2033099

Thanks.

Izabella

[RobertDelPrete]

Does anybody have an answer to this question if im running RHS8 with Tomcat and IIS 7? (using jakarta)

[Guest]

I'm running RH8 with Tomcat & IIS 6.  The Tomcat running with IIS is surely another issue to me.  But at this point, a key unknown to me is this ... what's the RH8 API for interfacing with the context-sensitive input parameters now that roboapi.asp and robo.dll (used to be in RH7) are gone?

All inputs are appreciated.

Robert, I'll let you know if i find something.  Please do the same if you figure out the way to go at your end.

Thanks.

Izabella

[johndaigle]

Hi, Izabella, Robert, et.al.

I don't have any magic answer yet, but I am working with an Adobe person on this and some other Server issues. I was wondering if you could post what programming platforms your developers are using. In other words, .NET (C#,) Java, C++, Javascript, etc. This may help in solving various issues you have brought up.

Since it's the weekend, we may not get an answer right away, but perhaps we can get this cleared up soon.

Thanks,
John

[shootathought]

OK, well, I figured no one really cared about this... my bad!

Anyway, adobe never really helped us with this one, we had to figure it all out on our own.

The answer is that the roboapi.asp file no longer exists, but you can still use your variables.

               /robohelp/server?window=sampleyyyy&project=xxxxxyyyyy&context=133

Our developer is using the .js file and we are still in testing with the new links with our external help still running on the RHS7 platform. Testing is going ok so far, but I wish Adobe had more clearly fleshed this out in their documentation for RH8 and in an upgrade guide. This flailing around and trying to figure out ourselves what the developers made a conscious decision to do is ridiculous and cost our company a lot of money. If madcap comes out with a valid, better, competitive server option, we're going to take it, simply because every RoboHelp upgrade has been touted to be better, only to leave us miserably angry, with help servers that need rebooting every 2 days just so we can publish (although that problem seems to have gone away when we upgraded to RHS8).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, software designed for the technical documentation field (read: people who know how to read manuals and write them) should be well-documented--if only for the principle of it!--and Adobe has failed in that measure since taking over RoboHelp.

[tuls_garg]

Hi shootathought,

RoboHelp Server 8 does document all the URLs that are available for accessing context sensitive help from RHS 8. Details are available at

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/RoboHelp/8.0/RoboHelpServer/WS9DE2BAEA-1C51-4a90-8252-039D750230C0.html under "Access Context-Sensitive Help" section.

Snippet from RHS 8 documentation:

Using context-sensitive Help, you can associate context IDs with topics. Using CSH API, you can retrieve topics associated with a given context ID from the server. You can use the CSH API of the server to call a context-sensitive Help topic from WebHelp Pro or FlashHelp Pro projects in RoboHelp HTML. You can access CSH for WebHelp Pro and FlashHelp Pro projects from the CSH tool and the browser window.

Using the CSH tool, specify a URL and Map Number as follows:

• For WebHelp Pro, specify http://<server-name>/robohelp/server?project=<project name>&area=<area-name> in the Help URL and context ID in the map number.

• For FlashHelp Pro, specify the Help URL as http://<server-name>/robohelp/server?project=<projectname>&type=flashhelp&area=<area-name> and context ID in the map number.

To access context-sensitive Help using the browser window:

• Specify the URL as http://<server-name>/robohelp/server?project=<project name>&ctxid=<ctx id>&area=<area-name> for WebHelp Pro projects.

• Specify the URL as http://<server-name>/robohelp/server?project=<project name>&ctxid=<ctx id>&type=flashhelp&area=<area-name> for FlashHelp Pro projects.

You can use CSH API to access Help using a topic name. Enter the URL http://<server-name>/<context-name>/server?project=<project name>&tpc=<relative topic path>&area=<area-name>[&type=flashhelp]

Regards

Tulika.

[Guest]

Thank you so much for all your inputs.

Shootathought,

The info about that link (/robohelp/server?window=sampleyyyy&project=xxxxxyyyyy&context=133) is very helpful.  As the first try, I skipped "windows" & "project" (not sure what to input for those parameters), and passed in just a context ID --- seemed to be working.  BTW, what exactly do you pass in for "windows" and "project"?

Now I'll have to figure out the interface between the app and rh8 via that link.

John,

The platform is .NET 2.0 C# web app running on IIS6.0 and Windows 2003.

Guys,

A tricky part is that there'll be a lot of trouble to request for a code change on the application part.  So my current thought is modifying roboapi.asp to pass in the essential parameters into "/robohelp/server?..." instead of robo.dll (rh7).  How does that sound to you guys?

Also, at this point, I can see that rh8 is running on Tomcat completely indepdent from my app running on IIS.  I saw some writings about setting up Tomcat to run with IIS, is that needed?

Shootathought, is your app on IIS or Apache?

All inputs are appreciated.

Thanks.

Izabella

[tuls_garg]

Hi Izabella,

You can refer to my previous post on how to continue using your old CSH call with RHS 8. But as I mentioned in my previous mail, you need to configure tomcat with either IIS or Apache. With RHS 8 running standalone on Tomcat, you won't be able to get your old CSH calls working.

Tulika.

[RobertDelPrete]

We are still having this problem, does anyone have a procedure for setting up rewrite rules for IIS?? all the info people have provided seems to only be for an apache webserver -> tomcat configuration and even then it isnt very thorough

Tulika - Although what you posted is helpful if you are using the new RH8 calls, the problem that I am having and everyone else is having is that we are all upgrading from RH7. Although I can only speak for myself, the issue that I have is that all of our applications call RH using the RH7 api. As others have mentioned it will be close to impossible to have devs go back and rewrite all these calls, we just dont have the resources for it. Complaining about adobe wont get us anywhere but this is getting a little ridicules (I spent 2 hours on hold with adobe and never spoke to anyone). So we need a solution to be able to use the Robohelp 7 context sensitive calls with Robohelp 8.

If anybody needs me to clarify what im asking let me know!

once again using:

RHS8

Windows Server 2008

IIS 7 -> Jakarta -> Tomcat

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[tuls_garg]

Hi Rob,

Yes you are right that the method outlined by me is helpful in case you are willing to upgrade your code to use new RHS 8 calls.

But there is another method by which you can continue using your old code and your CSH will still work. This method requires that your RHS 8 is installed with either Tomcat + Apache combination or with Tomcat + IIS combination.

1) Tomcat + IIS

In case you are using Tomcat and IIS, you have to install RoboHelpFilter.dll as a filter in your IIS to handle CSH requests from your old code. Link to this RoboHelpFilter.dll and details on how to do this is given in this tech note: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/408/kb408740.html

2) Tomcat + Apache

In case you are using Tomcat and Apache, you need to add rewrite rules in apache's httpd.conf file placed in "<Apache Install Dir>/conf" folder. You need to append the following lines to the file:

<Directory "C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs">

RewriteEngine on

RewriteRule       roboapi.asp        robohelp/server

RewriteRule       Robo/BIN/Robo.dll         robohelp/server

RewriteRule       robo/bin/robo.dll            robohelp/server

</Directory>

Then restart your apache and tomcat.

Tulika.

[RobertDelPrete]

Thank you for your response! This sounds promising!

The difference for us is we are using the 8 client. but according to your information this probably wont matter.

We just tried to implement but got stuck on where to find this robohelpfilter.dll

Also I can be of help to anyone that needs help getting thier Robohelp server 8 set up with IIS

Regards,

     Rob

[tuls_garg]

Hi Rob,

You can download RoboHelpFilter.dll from http://www.adobe.com/support/robohelp/ts/documents/kb408740/RobohelpFilter.dll

Regards

Tulika.

[RobertDelPrete]

We tried to impliment this witht the directions provided and we have not gotten it to work yet. We are using IIS 7, could we possibly be missing a setting? I know the configuration for IIS 7 is a little diffirent than 6

[tuls_garg]

Hi Rob,

Are you having trouble configuring IIS with Apache or configuring Robohelp filter dll in IIS?

Tulika.

[RobertDelPrete]

configuring the Robohelpfilter.dll in IIS 7

I installed the rewrite rule module for IIS 7 and am having some success with that... but I could get the dll working that would be great!

[tuls_garg]

Hi Rob,

Can you verify the error code you code when trying to deploy RoboHelpFilter.dll in your event viewer log? You can access that using Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer.

If there is some issue while restarting IIS after deploying RoboHelpFilter.dll then an error log should be created which can be viewed using event viewer.

But since you have rewrite rule module working, you can use that instead of RoboHelpFilter.dll and configure it to redirect requests for "Robo/BIN/Robo.dll" , "robo/bin/robo.dll" and "roboapi.asp" to "robohelp/server" and that should work as good as RoboHelpFilter.dll

Regards

Tulika.