RoboHelp 8 - very slow response to opening topics, etc.

[pjv]

I just installed RoboHelp 8 on my PC.  Had to do from the download of the files to the local drive because what appears to be firewall issues when trying to do the install from the CD.  Everything seems fine except, opening of RoboHelp 8 is very slow.

When I finally get the project to open, it takes about a minute or so for a topic to open.  Even trying to close a pod (e.g., Resources pod) takes about a minute. Converted a RoboHelp7 FlashHelp project with only 145 topics, it took about 45 minutes. Stalled around the extract style sheets and then after appearing as "not responding", went on to complete the conversion.  I can't imagine how long it will take to convert my 2000+ topic project besides the fact that everything takes so long when I do get into the project.

Saw workaround posted on Peter Grainge's site from previous forum conversation about WYSIWYG mode running slow. For me everything is slow, opening a pod from the menu, closing a pod, opening a topic, etc.

FYI - I've tested the speed issue on my machine and another user's PC with the same results.  Have support ticket Case #0181136052 today. Was told to re-install the application.

Want to know if it would be better to try the fix on Peter's site before I go through the re-install process.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Indeed I would recommend trying what is on Peter's site.

Go for it! Don't pass Go, Don't collect $200. Just be like Nike and do it!

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[Peter Grainge]

What is on my site is more about the speed of opening topics, which has been an issue with RoboHelp 8. As long as you don't open too many at a time, it is workable.

By all means try the method on my site but I doubt that is the issue here. Have you tried the old trick of closing RH, renaming the CPD and reopening the project? If it works or has not made things worse, then delete the CPD.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[pjv]

Peter

My only problem with deleting the cpd is that it always deletes the templates that I've associated with my topics. We use the footer in the template to identify the last update (weekly basis). Unless RoboHelp 8 is different, I'll lose most of my templates although in the past I've been able to import some of them back into the project. Unfortunately, I can't tell which ones will import and we're talking about 4+ years of templates in my largest project (2000+ topics).

One of my associates also mentioned that having Liquid Machines, which is a tool that GS uses, on my PC might also affect the speed. But Domingo says it would affect everything not just RoboHelp.

I'll try the delete cpd on the small project that I just converted to RH8 to see if it makes a difference.

If it does work --- How should I proceed with my other projects? Convert 1st and then delete the cpd or do the delete before I convert?

Reason I'm asking is because I've converted 2 projects so far and during the process the GUI becomes non-responsive and sometimes even vanishes so there's no way for me to track the conversion process. Just have to keep toggling back to RH8 to see if the project manager is activated. Since it has take 45+ minutes to convert small projects of less than 500 topics, I'm concerned about the length of time it will take to convert my large projects.

Paula Valentine, Consultant

Controllers Technology Project Office

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Tel: (800) 323-5678, ext. 25038 or (212) 902-5038

[Peter Grainge]

I have upgraded projects 10 times that size in a few minutes so something is fundamentally wrong here.

What I would do is first just open RH without opening any project. Is that slow?

Next I would open one of the supplied projects to see how that performs.

After that, I would install RH on a PC that is nowhere near the GS network. Can you install on a home PC?

What I am trying to establish is that the problem is or isn't with your installation and projects.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[pjv]

Peter

We did the dll thing just now. I then opened one project that I had done the delete cpd and open with hhp as well as one that I had not. Both opened quicker than before and the topics open in a "flash"

I'm going to convert another project to see if that runs faster but I'm hopeful that the dll fix has resolved the slowness problem.

Paula Valentine, Consultant

Controllers Technology Project Office

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Tel: (800) 323-5678, ext. 25038 or (212) 902-5038

[Peter Grainge]

Good to hear but why are you using the HHP? Maybe that's why you lose your templates. You should be using the XPJ file still.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[pjv]

Okay that's good to know. However, in the instructions for blowing away corrupt html projects that is out on the Adobe site, it says to blow away the cpd and xpj. Didn't realize that you only had to blow away the cpd.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/349/rb_34906.html

Paula Valentine, Consultant

Controllers Technology Project Office

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Tel: (800) 323-5678, ext. 25038 or (212) 902-5038

[Peter Grainge]

You don't want to believe what Adobe tell you.

In fairness, that article does say it is for RoboHelp X5 at the beginning. See Opening Projects on my site for the correct information.

I would be interested to know if this stops you losing your templates.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

[pjv]

Just converted my 2000+ topics project and it went much faster.  Topic area still goes grey and looks a little weird when I get to "Fetched style sheets" process that shows at the bottom of the RH8 window.  In addition, the conversion really slows down at that point and although the GUI looks strange, I can now see the progress bar move while it does it thing with the style sheets.

I noticed that when the topics do open some of the styles in the attached css file have defaulted back to Times Roman 12 when they were supposed to be Verdana 9. Specifically, the Normal style and then some of my customized bullet items. It is easy enough to quickly check out and change the styles to the correct font and size. But I'm wondering why the styles get messed up, this didn't happen when I coverted from RH6 to RH7.

I just selected the option to generate the project (first time since it was converted), everything went quickly and smoothly until I got to processing "full text data."  Now, I'm hanging up again. It has been about 10 minutes since it started. 

[pjv]

DLL thing seems to have worked.

We just did a major clean of the old RoboHelp 7 > FlashHelp projects. Shortened long file names, made sure no special characters, cleaned up CSS files, etc.

I converted largest project to RoboHelp 8 (1200 topics), the GUI still goes blank for a short period of time when the conversion starts but eventually, I see the progress bar.  Project seems okay when it finally opens, I can open topics without much of a time delay.