Can I use RH 8 to generate projects for RH 7?

[Guest]

I am from Brazil and responsible for making the localized technical documentation in Brazilian Portuguese for a multinational company's products and software. Previosuly restricted to manuals, now we are going to translate the help systems as well. These consist of .CHM files with a very simple, conventional and straightforward structure of text, links and a few inline pictures, with 100-200 pages each.

The company coordinates all its internationally localized versions from its U.S. base of operations, where they use RoboHelp 7 and have no plans to upgrade to version 8 any soon. They want us to use RH 7 as well, but since the Brazilian subsidiary will be a new user, we will not be able to obtain RH 7, as only RH 8 is now available. Yet the projects we generate here will have to be opened, reviewed and compiled in RH 7.

The question is: will we be able to save or export our projects made in RH 8 in old format, so that they can be opened and further worked in RH 7? Or will we need to find an alternative? Also, even if an export is possible, should any compatibility problems be expected, as such conversions are not always perfect?

Let me stress that this is NOT a project migration question, as the U.S. branch does not intend to upgrade to RH 8 in the foreseeable future. Here in Brazil we will have to generate RH 7 projects at any rate, the question being if we will be able to do it using RH 8.

Thank you very much for your help (no pun intended!).

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Your problem is that there's no Save As RH7 in RH8 because the underlying code changed. You may be able to get a copy of RH7 through Adobe's Volume Licensing program.

[Captiv8r]

Hi Jeff

Just as an FYI, there has never been any Save As in RoboHelp that allows saving to an older format. In the past there have been unsupported workarounds, but version 8 changes the playing field a lot.

One thing that Goytabr might want to try would be to click Tools > Options > General tab and enable the option for converting RoboHelp edited topics to HTML.

Next, ensure a Microsoft HTML Help (CHM) file is generated.

My thought here is that by enabling that option the coding of the topics may be changed to better allow working in an older version. And by generating a CHM file, its associated HHP file will be created and updated. The project might then be more easily edited in an older version by opening the HHP. But there will likely be other issues to think about as well.

(Donning my Captian Obvious outfit here) Of course the simplest solution would be for all parties involved to use the same version of RoboHelp.

Cheers... Rick

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