multiple help files in directory

[pbv_1957]

Hi,

I have several RoboHelp html format helpfiles in the same directory and when I try to open an .xpj, the topics for the previous .xpj I opened display instead of the correct topics.

I had this problem a couple of years ago when I was working on this project and I thought if I deleted the .cpd file and then reopened the .xpj it would work, but so far that hasn't happened.

I'd appreciate any advice. I cannot easily put the helpfiles in separate directories because of their structure.

[MergeThis]

If you're working on a shared drive, copying the project to your local machine should eliminate the problem.

Let us know if that's not the case.


Good luck,
Leon
.

[pbv_1957]

No, I've got all the files on my machine.

thanks,
Paula

[RoboWizard]

Hi Paula

Unfortunately, I believe the only way to fly is to store your projects in separate folders.

Out of curiosity, why are you unable to do this? Are you re-using certain topic files among multiple projects?

Cheers... Rick

[pbv_1957]

Thanks for your responses Rick and Dirk.

Trying to think of a succinct way to describe my project and why it's done the way it is ....

I have related software products, the parent product helpfile has hundreds of command topics. The related products use a substantial subset of the parent commands in addition to their specific commands. The way we've been doing this is to have a helpfile for each product, and include the appropriate topics from the parent in the table of contents for each product helpfile.

I don't use the merge table of contents into a master helpfile method, since not all the commands from the parent are applicable.

With earlier versions of RoboHelp this wasn't a problem. I went to X5 a couple of years ago, and discovered this problem. I know that I found a workaround last year, probably through a MacroMedia forum, but what I remembered doing (deleting the .cpd file and then reopening the .xpj) didn't work this time. Unfortunately I didn't make notes about anything else I did (this work is taken care of by a different dept. now and I didn't think I would be continuing with maintenance work --- silly me!).

Hope this gives more insight into my problem.

thanks again,
Paula

[pbv_1957 · Accepted solution]

Well, after talking to another of the tech writers and doing some more research into some old emails, I found the workaround I used. When I delete the .xpj and .cpd files, then right-click on the .hhp file and select "Edit" I can open RoboHelp and display the correct list of topics. New .xpj and .cpd files are created.

Sorry to bother y'all, thanks again for your assistance.

Paula

[Peter Grainge]

You might like to take a look at this topic under What will be lost. It covers things you will lose opening a project that way. They may not matter to you or the workarounds may help.

[pbv_1957]

Thank you very much for the link. Fortunately these are simple helpfiles (other than their sizes!) so anything lost is not a deal-breaker for me.

Paula

[---Dirk_Bock]

Hi Paula,

with X5 you have to use separate folders for your projects. Each projects uses a file root.fpj in its root directory, which contains the information which folders and files are relevant for this project. You can not change the name of this root.fpj. Due to this, all projects access the same information from this file.

Greetings

---Dirk Bock