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No preview, no CHM display

Guest
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Hi all,

on one particular computer the Robohelp preview function does not work (white screen), also when generating and displaying a CHM then this does not display either. No error message. RoboHelp is up to date.

Any ideas about this?

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Community Expert ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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I've seen the white screen problem but it has always been fixed by closing and reopening RoboHelp. I would guess you have already tried that.

Is the CHM problem with one CHM or any CHM?

Have you tried working with one of the sample projects to see if you get the same problem there? Click Open on the RoboHelp Starter page and then click Samples in the ribbon on the left.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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Guest
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Hi Peter, yes rebooting etc. did not help and it is evidently a problem

of any project and any CHM. By the way, the OS is Windows 7.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Do you have other machines working OK on Windows 7? I know you have other machines working OK but I don't know if they are are on Windows 7.

If you do, then I think I would try reinstalling RoboHelp if the samples are affected as well.

If the other machines are not Windows 7, then it will depend on your version of RoboHelp and the version of Windows 7, 32 bit or 64 bit.


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Guest
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Peter,

excuse me for forgetting to mention our version, we use RoboHelp 9

(updated) and from what I read this should run on Windows 7. I do not

have another system to test though. Reinstalling is a bit of a problem

right now, if there is no other solution then I wil try it in the next

few days.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Yes RoboHelp 9 should be fine on both 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 7 and it installs both versions of the necessary DLLs for CHMs. However, that will still not fix the blank preview.

I am not saying a reinstall will fix it, just that would be my next port of call.


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LEGEND ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Hi folks

Miinutes from starting a class here, but the symptoms described seem to point to a strong possibility that there is a bad topic or somethnig causing compilation of the CHM to fail. This would mean the CHM isn't created and would explain why it isn't being launched to view afterward.

Try enabling the output view window and see if it's gagging during the process. If so, try applying a build tag to half the topics. Then try compiling again where the condition excludes that half. If it compiles, repeat the process until you get a fail. The goal is to repeatedly narrow the mix until you find the suspect topic (or topics).

Best of luck to you in sorting it... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links

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Community Expert ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Wouldn't the fact that this is with all projects including the samples rule out bad topics?

Following the line that generation of the CHM is the issue, can you copy locate a CHM on that machine or copy one to it and see if it displays?

If it does, then Rick's suggestion that you look at the output window should help.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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Guest
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Rick,

thanks for the ideas, I will give it a try. However, the CHM is

generated and when I open it then the TOC is displayed. Only the topic

area is white without anything in it. The RoboHelp preview also shows

only a white empty space. I can edit and see the topic correctly though

in the editor panel.

I will give feedback about this.

Robert

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Community Expert ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Are you generating the CHM to your local drive?


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Guest
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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Yes, everything is local.

Are you generating the CHM to your local drive?

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Community Expert ,
Aug 04, 2011 Aug 04, 2011

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And if you copy a good CHM from another machine where it is known to work OK?

You may need to right click the CHM after transfer and click Properties to see if the CHM is blocked. If it is, unblock it.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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Guest
Aug 05, 2011 Aug 05, 2011

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New information - any CHM generated with RH on this computer does not

display, neither here nor elsewhere. Any other CHM displays on this

computer. This appears to be a local RoboHelp problem.

I decompiled a CHM on another computer to see if I find anything special

(scrambled folder names or whatever), but everything looks fine. The

paths in the HHC are correct, I can display all individual HTM files in

the browser.

Using HHP Builder I produced the HHP, opened it in RH and generated

again - no problems.

Robert

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Community Expert ,
Aug 05, 2011 Aug 05, 2011

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OK so you narrowed it right down and it is not something seen before. Hopefully the reinstall will fix it. Do let us know the outcome.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

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Community Expert ,
Aug 07, 2011 Aug 07, 2011

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A rather left field question. By any chance does the Windows login name used on this computer have a dot or other character in it?

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Guest
Aug 08, 2011 Aug 08, 2011

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Hi, are there any requirements about login names? I will check this, do

you have any details about restrictions?

A rather left field question. By any chance does the Windows login

name used on this computer have a dot or other character in it?

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Community Expert ,
Aug 08, 2011 Aug 08, 2011

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Apparently the HTML Help Compiler, being so old, does not support 'special' characters, such as dots, in the Windows login name and results in an invalid CHM. This problem was turned up using Flare, but I assume it would affect RH, as they use the same underlying compiler. (And i don't know why the compiler would care about the windows login...)

This wouldn't result in the Preview not working, though, so it's a bit of a long shot.

If you can confirm that the PCs you can compile CHMs on logged in with 'simple' names and the PC that you can't is logged in with a name containing some other character, then that would suggest this is the issue.

Amebr

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Community Expert ,
Aug 08, 2011 Aug 08, 2011

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It's worth a try but I have never seen any RoboHelp problem traced backed to having a dot in the login name. Mine has one and I can compile CHMs without a problem.

Does the rogue PC have Flare installed, or has it been installed at any time, even in trial mode?


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Guest
Aug 09, 2011 Aug 09, 2011

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I will find out about the login name, this is not my own PC but I will

also ask about Flare. Thanks again for the ideas.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 09, 2011 Aug 09, 2011

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It's certainly a weird one, but logging in to the problem PC with a username without a dot  fixes the problem with Flare.

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Guest
Aug 09, 2011 Aug 09, 2011

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No success.. new installation of the entire TCS did not help, also Flare

was not installed previously and the login name does not contain any

dots or unusual characters..

This is strange, evidently only CHMs generated on THIS Laptop cannot be

displayed on THIS laptop. It is both possible to copy a generated CHM on

another computer and view it there, or to copy a CHM generated on

another computer and view it here. Bizarr.

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Community Expert ,
Aug 09, 2011 Aug 09, 2011

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First of all just how deep was the uninstall? Unless you used something like RevoUninstaller various artefacts will have been left behind and could well still be impacting on this problem. Is the preview window still broken as well?

That would be my next step but do involve IT in the process.

After that I think I might try looking at reinstalling the Microsoft Help Compiler. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms670169%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

All at your own risk. Can IT take an image first before it gets worse?


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@petergrainge

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Community Expert ,
Aug 09, 2011 Aug 09, 2011

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Also try MJ's Diagnostics, available on the helpware site:

http://www.helpware.net/htmlhelp/hh_diags.htm

This will tell you what HTML Help components you have installed/registered and where and can re-register dlls for you.

Amebr

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