Cannot generate .chm; no images are compiling.

[pmcg56]

Thank you in advance for any help.  Here is the situation:  I am using RoboHelp HTML, ver. 8 and have a project that I cannot generate a .chm file for.  Each time I try it runs through the compiler, the output shows .htm files but no image files are included in the compiling process and I end up with a "Fatal Error:  Unexpected error from Microsoft HTML compiler" message.

To generate the file I am going to:  File, Generate, Primary Layout (Microsoft HTML Help).  When I try to open the .chm file I get a message that says "Cannot open the file:  mk:@MSITStore:C|(the directory I saved it to).

There are broken links which haven't been fixed yet but we would like to be able to still generate a .chm file so content can be reviewed.  Is it possible to have a successful .chm file compiled if you have broken links? 

Thank you again for any help!

[Guest]

Hi,

I can't say I have a solution to your problem but I have run into similar situations. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have documented them anywhere...thus I will have to rely on my sketchy memory.

First though, I will respond with two points I am quite certain about:

- Having broken links in your project should not cause any generation problems other than the obvious missing links in the output CHM.

- You do not see any images in the compiling process because there is a problem earlier on in the html compilation part.

In my case, I had a project with a multi-level folder hierarchy. With longer filenames totalling a very large number of total characters in the full path, the project would take a very long time to build and, ultimately, I would end up with a "Fatal Error". IF you have a project with even a single instance of a very long full path, this could be the source of the problem. Keep in mind that during the compilation process the full file path is lengthened by the addition of the temporary folder in which the product is built, by default, in the !SSL! folder. My solution was to simply generate to an output folder at the top level e.g. C:\Output. It may, however, be the case that you would have to shorten some of your file/folder names.

In other cases, I could not find a culprit per se, but ended up deleting the .cpd, which is known to sometimes become corrupt. Upon opening the project again, a fresh .cpd was built and the project ran without issue.

Obviously, if you try either of these suggestions, I highly recommend ensuring you have a backup if one does not already exist on a version control system.