Preview displays in wrong browser (RH9)

Report · Feb 01, 2013

I have a problem I have tracked down to two issues.

I have a RoboHelp 9 project that includes links to Captivate files published in device-dependent folders, launching the index.html file, which should then determine which device/browser I'm using, and display either HTML5 or Flash, as appropriate.

The Preview of a topic displays in Firefox instead of IE 9, which triggers a warning that I need to use IE9. My default browser is IE 9 (I've right-clicked htm files and checked). I can correct it manually by clicking View With and choosing IE, but I can't find a way to change the default display.

If I launch the RoboHelp project by clicking a link, in an e-mail message, for example, it opens in IE9, but with Document Mode set to "Quirks" instead of "IE9 Standards." The Captivate link displays as a blank screen. Only the link displays this way - other tabs show "IE 9 standards." If I change Document Mode to IE9 Standards, it displays correctly.

Any suggestions?

Report · Feb 04, 2013

When you click the Preview icon (the spectacles) no browser opens, it opens RoboHelp's own browser. That is driven by IE but not quite the same thing. What it does not do is open any browser. When the preview window does have an option to view with browsers registered on your PC but that is a deliberate action.

In the final paragraph, I take it you mean opening a Rh Output as you would not open the project from an email link. Opening a link to the output does open the default browser but how are you seeing it is in Quirks mode? Sorry but I am on 32 bit systems.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Feb 04, 2013

Hi Peter,

Thanks - I suspected Preview was specific to RH.

Yes, you're right - I'm opening the output from an e-mail link.

I saw advice somewhere else to press F12 and check Document Mode. When I open the browser normally, it shows IE9 standards, but when I open a link, it shows Quirks mode.

I saw another message here about Quirks mode in IE8, but nobody replied to it, unfortunately.

I'm wondering if this is why there have always been slight differences between the preview and viewing the output in a browser.

Marion

Report · Feb 05, 2013

Can't help you on that part of your question. Sorry.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Feb 05, 2013

For anybody who's interested, I think I've found the answer to this. Here's a link that explains it.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288325(v=vs.85).aspx

In summary, if no Doctype declaration is included in the webpage, and RoboHelp 9 apparently doesn't, IE defaults to "Quirks" for maximum compatibility with earlier versions of IE. The solution is to include

<!doctype html>

at the beginning of the index.htm file.

I'm testing further, but it seems to solve it.

It seems that you have to edit it manually in the generated project, then copy it to the published version, but it's an easy edit.

It also may be the answer to why a published project isn't formatted exactly like the preview in some cases - I've been compensating for that - very annoying.

I notice that the Doctype declaration is included in the individual topics html, but that doesn't seem to solve this issue - it apparently needs to be in the index.htm.

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Preview displays in wrong browser (RH9)