RoboHelp crashing when inserting Captivate Demo .swf

[Guest]

I am trying to insert a swf file into a topic, using Insert/Adobe Captivate Demo and then browsing to the chm file on my local disk. When I chose the file and click open I get a runtime error.

The thing is, I have already successfully added two Captivate Demos into the Help project using exactly this method. The only difference I can see is the file size of the swf file. The two files I managed to insert were 6 and 10 MB, and the one that's not working is just over 17 MB.

Is there a size limit for inserting these files?

(I'm using RoboHelp 7. Not sure what version of Captivate was used but could probably find out.)

Thanks.

[RoboColum_n_]

I'd be surprised in that file size was an issue. Try creating a new project with a single topic and insert that SWF file into it. If that fails, the issue is with the movie.

---

• Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
• Follow the RoboColum(n) on Twitter

[Guest]

Yes, it still happens in a new project. I might try and re-publish the swf file from Captivate and try that.

Thanks for your quick help.

[Guest]

No luck with re-publishing the Captivate file...

[RoboColum_n_]

Do you still have the Captivate project open? I've seen posts where this can cause problems.

---

• Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
• Follow the RoboColum(n) on Twitter

[Guest]

I did have that last time, but I've tried it either way and I get the same...

I might try and re-publish one of the other (working) Captivate projects using the same settings and see what happens.

[Guest]

Size seems to be the only correlating factor with the crash. I took the Captivate project was causing the trouble and deleted half of the slides, then re published it. The swf came out under 10 MB and it went into RoboHelp with no trouble.

[RoboColum_n_]

You could well be on to something. The biggest files I have are around the 4mb size. Mind you, it is around the 7-8 minutes duration so could be considered to be over long. Yours must be significantly longer. Maybe Rick could chip in here with some Captiv8er advice but maybe you could split the project up and publish in an aggregator project?

---

• Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
• Follow the RoboColum(n) on Twitter

[RoboColum_n_]

Having done a test, I don't think size of the SWF file is the issue. I have just created a 12mb file and imported it OK. There must be something else causing this problem. Maybe your PC? Can you test this somewhere else?

---

• Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
• Follow the RoboColum(n) on Twitter

[Guest]

The file that wasn't working for me was 17 MB.

For now I will just cut it in half. I don't have an easy way of trying it on another PC, but if I get a chance later I will give it a go.

[RoboColum_n_]

Just successfully imporrted a 19mb SWF file using Captivate 4 and RoboHelp 8 in case that makes a difference. Have you importing the part of the project you deleted from your original to see if there is something in there that is causing RH to choke?

---

• Read the RoboColum(n) for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
• Follow the RoboColum(n) on Twitter

[Guest]

Yes, both halves are now working fine on their own.

On a related note, from the compiled help, I get the following error after I close the topic which contains the swf files. Any idea what that means? It doesn't seem to cause a problem but it is annoying.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Yep, it's a bug. Lemme guess, you are using RoboHelp 7?

What happens is that RoboHelp 7 isn't properly inserting an ID tag for the Captivate. You can fix it by manually inserting the tag. Just open the HTML view and amend the code.

Click the image below to see larger view

Note that it really doesn't matter what the id is labeled as. It only matters that it is present. So you coud have id="boffolicious" for all that matters.

I'm unsure if RoboHelp will rewrite the code to remove the ID tag after you insert it. Sometimes returning to Design or WYSIWYG view will do that. So just to be on the safe side, I always Save, then close the topic from HTML view.

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

[Guest]

Thanks! That seems to have got it.

Now, if only this website didn't think I was in the United States...

[natjnelson]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if this was fixed for RoboHelp 8?  I'm experiencing similar problems (Runtime Errors when using SWF files from Camtasia).

Thanks,

Natalie

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Don’t know – 8 was a while ago – are you all patched up in RH8?

[natjnelson]

Sorry!  I'm actually on 9 (not 8).  As far as I know I have the latest patches for RH9.

[natjnelson]

I don't know why I am having problems now.  I have done many, many SWF files with Camtasia in the past and no problems.  I tried importing the file into a clean test RH project with no other baggage files and it still crashes.

Creating the Legacy SWF file without the controls works, but I have other SWF files already in the project with controls that work fine.

As far as I can tell, nothing has changed in my Camtasia settings with I create the SWF output.

[natjnelson]

I found some useful tips from RoboColum(n) here:

http://www.cmcandrew.com/robocolumn/adding-a-captivate-video-into-a-robohelp-topic/

I can make due.  But would still be nice to know if there is a file size limitation.  I seem to run into problems with anything larger than 50mb.

Anyone?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

One thing I'm aware of with RoboHelp and Captivate (and it may well hold true for Camtasia as well) is that if you have Captivate open with the project you are inserting into RoboHelp open, things won't easily work until you close Captivate. Somehow Captivate has somewhat of a control on it and doesn't release until you close the project.

Then again, perhaps you are onto something with the size of the SWF issue.

If this turns out to be the case, one workaround I could fathom would involve creating a smaller SWF with controls using the ultimate end file naming, insert that into RoboHelp, then generate the larger and copy over the final SWF into the RoboHelp project.

Oh, and definitely take a moment to report it to Adobe as a bug via the Wish Form.

Cheers... Rick

[Guest]

Yes, I think spitting it up into a part 1 and a part 2 might be a good idea. Thanks for your help.