Publishing problem

[guntackle]

When I generated my files today and clicked on 'View' nothing happened - I also noted that the 'Publish' button was also ghosted over. Sinsce I was unable to view the work this way, I then went into the project files .... !SSL!/FlashHelp but the 'Index' (i.e.) default home html page was missing as were nearly every other html page (in fn fact there were only 2 pages out of over 1000 pages that were!). Does anyone know how I can rescue this project or what happened? I am using Microsoft VSS for our source control (although I am the only author) and everything was going well. The only thing that was different was that overnight IT had migrated my PC to Active Directory. The process of booking out and checking in files was exactly as expected. - Any ideas please???

[MergeThis]

Remind your IT peeps that you must be working on your local machine or RH will not play.


Good luck,
Leon

[guntackle]

I tried back tracking to before the Active Directory was created but RoboHelp is still not generating any output. Any ideas where I go from here - it seems that although all the topics are there RoboHelp cant see them?

[guntackle]

I tried back tracking to before the Active Directory was created but RoboHelp is still not generating any output. Any ideas where I go from here - it seems that although all the topics are there RoboHelp cant see them?

[CraigCC]

As Leon says, robohelp doesn't run when files are stored an accessed on a server. My take on Active Directory is that you PC works as part of the network - you need to chat with your IT people who migrated your PC and find out if you can get you local machine back 🙂 I've been using VSS for source control for a while now without any problems like this - but we ALWAYS check out files to a local machine.

Kind Regards
Craig

[HKabaker]

I asked my tech support person about this.

Active Directory by itself is not the cause of this. My company uses it over a large swath of the country, but I still work with files and programs stored on my PC hard drive until I move or copy them to the network.

But the system does allow roaming profiles that enable a user to work on a PC anywhere on the network. They do this by moving your directories out to a network drive. It's transparent to the user that the PC is dealing with files on the network, but that doesn't fool RH, or whatever it is that causes RH to choke when a project (.xpj and the rest) isn't on the local C drive.

In other words, you think you're checking files out of source control onto your own hard drive, but they're just going somewhere else on the network.

Some managers believe a network location is the best place to keep everything safe. They can have an automatic backup on network drives, to protect against loss of data (How often do you back up your hard drive?).

They can control network access easier than access to a PC, making data more secure from intruders, compared to letting you keep it on your hard drive. And you can work from any PC on the network where you have access.

As I understand it, Active Directory does not require this structure for everything on your hard drive. You could have network locations for roaming but still keep some directories on a PC hard drive. Talk to your IT folks.

Anyone who knows more than I do should jump in with corrections or clarifications.

Harvey

[guntackle]

I want to thank everyone for their help in getting this resolved: I spoke to the IT people and showed them Harvey's & Craig's replies, they assured me that as per my instructions they had left RoboHelp on my PC together with the project files. However, they did say that they would need to review my permissions with respect to genrating files on my C: drive. By allowing me 'full rights' the matter was quickly resolved and Miraculously everything re-appeared as though nothing had been amiss. They have said that they will need to change the parameters in the future - and I guess that means removing some of the permissions just so RH will still be able to operate. Judging by the level of expertise with the product and how it interacts with Active Directory I'm betting this will very much be a case of trial and error but at least we now know that if a mistake is made all is not lost.

Mike

[HKabaker]

Mike,

Thanks for posting back with the explanation.

I wouldn't have guessed the new setup had taken away your permission to write to your own C: drive. It sounds like an unintentional oversight by the network setup folks. If it can happen to you, it can happen to any of us, so it's another item for the troubleshooting list.

Harvey