Tips on Converting from 5 to 8?

[Tim_M-OVlFNH]

We are currently using RoboHelp 5, our projects are all WebHelp projects, and they are all in RoboSource Control (RSC). Our corporate office purchased licenses for us to move to RoboHelp 8. Any suggestions on the best way to proceed?

As a precaution, we are planning to keep one of our RH5 licenses installed on a standalone PC and move copies of the project out of RSC to that PC. Our initial attempts to move the projects out of RSC using RH5's remove project from RSC option have not been successful. Even with the folders renamed, the projects still open as if they are in source control. Two questions here. First, do you think this precaution is necessary? Second, if it is, any suggestions on removing projects from RSC?

Does RH8 convert projects that are already in RSC?

One of our other companies converted from RH6 to RH8 and experienced issues with losing styles. Our projects use customized skins and customized .css pages. One of the customizations to the skins was provided on this forum years ago; we added a print tab with the option to print a WebHelp topic. Will RH8 convert the skins and css pages?

After we install RH8, will we still be able to work with our projects in RH5 as long as we haven't converted the individual projects to RH8?

Thanks!

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Tim,

I can't really speak on RSC as I don't use it. However I would never even envisage migrating to a new version of RoboHelp until I was sure my currrent projects were tested using it. Download a trial, install both RH and RSC, take backups of all your projects - as there is no going back once you have opened a project in RH8 - and test away. Think about all the steps you employ and go through them monitoring the results. Only then can you say whether upgrading is right for you.

[sapyta]

Hi Colum,

Can you point me toward how to make a backup of the RH5 files so I can convert to 8? I inherited a RH5 setup and was told to "make it work" in RH8. I have a local copy of the current files and they do not open in RH8. All of the tutorials tell me how to create individual aspects of lists and other tiny tasks when I just need the big picture.

thanks,

Chris

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Making a backup is simple. Open Windows Explorer and make a copy of the project folder. Place the copy in a different location. Network server, Thumb drive, CD/DVD, etc.

Cheers... Rick

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[niann0rth]

The easiest way I found to drop a project from source control is to make a local copy (C drive) then pull the network cable. Open the local copy, say no you don't want to browse for the data base then say you don't want it to look for the data base in future. You can plug the network cable back in as you now have a copy of the project not associated with any data base. You can put a copy of that where you please.

[NL_Derek-GsBV5a]

Hi Tim,

When we converted (5->7 and 7->8) we installed both versions on each machine. For each project, we made a backup and opened the project with the new RoboHelp. As it happened nothing nasty happened, but the idea was that we could, if necessary, repair things with the old RoboHelp and upgrade again.

As always, backups are imperative.

--- Derek