Merged RH7 project - global search not working

[psk_rh]

I have created a merged project using RH7. The output is in chm format. When I use the search tab in chm file, only the parent chm file topics are searched. The child projects' topics are not searched.

When I open any of the child projects separately, I can use the search tab to find a word and get the matching results.

Is there a way to get the search tab to search throughout the merged chm files while in the parent chm?

[RoboColum_n_]

Are your TOC and Index working OK with the merged CHMs? I ask as it is unusual to just have one aspect of merged CHMs not working as it should.

[psk_rh]

The TOC is ok - it displays the parent and child project TOCs as it should. But the index and search is restricted only to the parent chm.

[RoboColum_n_]

Have you got the "TOC & Index" and "Search" tabs selected in your window properties? Even though you are using the window in your master project, without these options selected in the slaves, it will not build the necessary index keyword and search term lists.

[psk_rh]

quote:

---

Originally posted by: Colum McAndrew
Have you got the "TOC & Index" and "Search" tabs selected in your window properties? Even though you are using the window in your master project, without these options selected in the slaves, it will not build the necessary index keyword and search term lists.

---

Yes, i've got these settings for all slave projects too. For some reason I can't see the index or search results for slave projects from the master chm file.

[NL_Derek-GsBV5a]

I have had a similar problem; in my case I solved it by editing the HHP and XPJ files.

Open these files using Notepad (close RoboHelp first) and look for the merged files entries (usually near the end). In the HHP file (projectname.hhp) you should find an entry like:

[MERGE FILES]
FirstSlaveFile.chm
SecondSlaveFile.chm

In the XPJ file (projectname.xpj) you should find:

<mergedhelpfiles>
<file>
<name>FirstSlaveFile.chm</name>
<comments></comments>
</file>
<file>
<name>SecondSlaveFile.chm</name>
<comments></comments>
</file>
</mergedhelpfiles>

In my case these entries contained absolute path names like:

C:\RoboHelp\MyProject\FirstSlaveFile.chm

and this was messing up the search. I edited both files and deleted the CPD; that solved the problem.

--- Derek

[psk_rh]

quote:

---

Originally posted by: NL_Derek
I have had a similar problem; in my case I solved it by editing the HHP and XPJ files.

Open these files using Notepad (close RoboHelp first) and look for the merged files entries (usually near the end). In the HHP file (projectname.hhp) you should find an entry like:

[MERGE FILES]
FirstSlaveFile.chm
SecondSlaveFile.chm

In the XPJ file (projectname.xpj) you should find:

<mergedhelpfiles>
<file>
<name>FirstSlaveFile.chm</name>
<comments></comments>
</file>
<file>
<name>SecondSlaveFile.chm</name>
<comments></comments>
</file>
</mergedhelpfiles>

In my case these entries contained absolute path names like:

C:\RoboHelp\MyProject\FirstSlaveFile.chm

and this was messing up the search. I edited both files and deleted the CPD; that solved the problem.

--- Derek

---

The xpj seemed okay.
The hhp showed absolute paths, so renamed it to relative paths.
Deleted the CPDs.

But the problem still persists.

[NL_Derek-GsBV5a]

Did you recompile? The HHP is a file used during compiling the CHM.

[psk_rh]

I have made the suggested changes. Then, generated the CHM for the parent project again. When I open the chm file the problem persists. When I look back at the hhp file, it's contents again change to absolute paths. Should I just make it read-only. Also, this file isn't a part of TFS unlike rest of project files. Should it be?

One possibly related note: When I view the merged chm file on my own PC (which has Robohelp installed), the index and search works fine. Also, an extra master.chw is created.

But, if I copy these chm files over to a test machine which does not have RH or HTML Help installed, it does not display the global index of global search. Also, there's no master.chw file created.

[NL_Derek-GsBV5a]

I can't say anything about TFS, I have no experience with it.

Try editing the HHP at the last moment; that is, save all files in RoboHelp, edit the HHP, compile in RoboHelp. It should be safe to edit the HHP with Robohelp open (editing the XPJ could be risky).

If that works you have a workaround, but I too am looking for a solid way to stop Robohelp from putting absolute pathnames into the HHP file. Anybody else?

--- Derek

[RoboColum_n_]

Does the test PC have all that is required installed? CHM files created using RH use the HTML Help Viewer.

BTW the chw file is a red herring. It is a source safe file and need not be copied to the test PC. I'm also not clear what you mean by "TFS".

[psk_rh]

TFS (Team Foundation server) is a source control software like Visual source safe. It's an add-on with Visual Studio 2005/2008.

The CHW file is apprently created when I open merged CHM file. This happens in my case too with RH installed.

http://www.helpware.net/htmlhelp/how_to_merge.htm (Others say section, 2nd email about read-only media)

I copied the chw files also along with the chms to the test machine. That did not work in my case - it still wasn't doing a global search.

The test machine is supposed to a simulation of the client's machine with just basic software installed. My test machine is Windows XP with the usual basic stuff installed.

[RoboColum_n_]

Like Derek I have never used TFS but this can not be the cause of the problem if it works on your PC. This goes back to the question I asked about the test PC. If it doesn't have the required s/w components installed, it won't work!

to prove this copy one of the child CHMs across and search on a term that you know exists. Does this work?

[psk_rh]

quote:

---

Originally posted by: Colum McAndrew
Like Derek I have never used TFS but this can not be the cause of the problem if it works on your PC. This goes back to the question I asked about the test PC. If it doesn't have the required s/w components installed, it won't work!

to prove this copy one of the child CHMs across and search on a term that you know exists. Does this work?

---

As I said in my first post,when I open any of the child projects separately on the test PC, I can use the search tab to find a word and get the matching results. It's only the merged chm file that I can't get to work in terms of search and index tabs.

Sorry, can you explain what you mean by required software components on test machine? Do you mean, the client needs to have HTML Help Workshop or something similar to view merged help?

[Guest]

Sorry, I don't have a solution for the problem.

However, I had almost the exact same problem, but instead of search results not showing up for the merged project, it was search results not showing up for the master project. Oddly, the problem did not exist when the .chm was compiled through the command line. In any case, the problem was evenentually resolved, but without my knowing exactly what fixed it. That was a few months ago...so my recollection is poor.

As to the question about the required components on the test machine, I am not certain what is meant but I can offer a tidbid that, while not likely, may somehow be related to your issue: If your client does not have an active version of HHActiveX.dll, then glossary tabs of the chm will appear grayed-out. The HHActiveX.dll file is installed by Windows, but for some reason is not registered by default. Installing applications like Robohelp ensures that this .dll is properly registered. So, if the problem is applicable only to machines without a .chm generating application, my guess is that they are missing a .dll. I don't think HHActiveX is related to the search option, but it can't hurt to ensure that it is on your system and is registered.

Incidentally, I have a new problem that may somehow be related. I'll start a new thread for it.

[RoboWizard]

Hi all

This post is simply to ensure we don't have possible misinformation.

TWRob posted and said:
If your client does not have an active version of HHActiveX.dll, then glossary tabs of the chm will appear grayed-out.

True, as the Glossary tab is a RoboHelp specific function and is supplied by HHActiveX.DLL.

The HHActiveX.dll file is installed by Windows, but for some reason is not registered by default.

This would be false. Windows knows nothing whatsoever of the existence of this file. It is a special file supplied by RoboHelp authors when they ship a project that uses the features provided by the DLL.

Installing applications like Robohelp ensures that this .dll is properly registered.

True, RoboHelp ensures the DLL is properly registered because it doesn't exist until you install RoboHelp!

To recap, HHActiveX.DLL is a file now owned and maintained by Adobe. There is no charge or restriction on redistributing this file. If you create a Microsoft Windows HTML Help (CHM) file and use the following features, you need to ensure you ship and properly register the HHActiveX.DLL file on all user machines that are using your CHM.

The features supplied by HHActiveX.DLL are:
* Browse Sequences
* Glossary Tab
* Funky "WebSearch" icon (in older versions of RoboHelp HTML)

Cheers... Rick