RoboHTML.exe exits with exception

[Mick_Mathers]

I've just installed RoboHelp Office V10. Everything seems fine except for one problem. If I try to generate printed documentation, then RoBoHTML.exe exits with an exception.

I have Microsoft Office 2010 installed also.

Any idea who this should be reported to and how?

Anyone seen anything similar, and have a fix?

TIA

Mick Mathers

[Peter Grainge]

First thing to do is try the same exercise with one of the supplied sample projects. Click Open on the RoboHelp Starter page and then click Samples in the ribbon on the left.

You need to establish whether it is a project issue or an installation issue.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Mick_Mathers]

The first thing I did was try the salesbuilder sample. This execption occurs for that project.

Mick Mathers

[Peter Grainge]

Was Rh installed with Admin rights is the first thing to check then?

Do you have the PDF option ticked as well, try without?

If those fail, I think I would be inclined to uninstall and reinstall. Make sure you also install the 10.0.1 patch.

I am assuming that Word 2010 has been used as if not, there should be a message rather than a crash.

If you need to post back, what's the operating system?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Mick_Mathers]

Yes, it was installed with admin rights on windows 7 pro 32 bit.

The exception occurs before I have an opportunity to change any settings in the properties dialog. I right click Printed Documentation and select properties. The properties dialog is displayed, then the exception occurs.

Didn't know there was a 10.0.1 patch. Is it downloadable, or do I have to use some sort of updater?

As I'm behind a firewall and proxy I can't easily deactivate. I had to use the offline activation method. Is offline deactivation similar?

Mick Mathers

[Mick_Mathers]

Applied the patch. Still get the exception.

Interestingly, the deactivate option on the help drop down is greyed.

[Peter Grainge]

If you left Rh open a minute or two longer, the Activate would enable.

Rh10 only has offline activation for a limited number or organisations, usually secure government sites. Is that the case here?

That introduces another line of thought. The macro level in Word may need to be set to Low and if you are one of the fairly rare organisations able to activate offline, it would seem likely the macro level is set to High. See if you can make changes there, involve IT if needed.

Again, post back how you get on.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Mick_Mathers]

Rh has been open for over an hour and the deactivate option on the help menu is still grey.

I set the macro level in word to enable macros before installing Rh. I remembered the problem from previous versions of Rh.

I'm not part of a secure government site, but we have a corperate firewall and proxy.

I couldn't activate directly, and after adobe technical staff we unable to help, I used the reqeust / response code method. Do you know if there is a corresponding method for deactivating?

Mick Mathers

[Peter Grainge]

The problem I have seen always enables the option within a few minutes so clearly something else is wrong.

According to Adobe's page on Activation, other causes are you have Volume Licensing, the product is part of a suite and you need to deactivate that, or you cannot connect. I had to get our IT guys to approve the link before Update would work. What I am not following is that unless you are a government department or similar, you have to activate online, no exceptions. What request / response code are you talking about as we have been through the activation issue before and there are NO exceptions.

This is all getting away from the problem though of being able to print. Where does your Normal.dot template reside? We have seen issues when IT put it on a network drive.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Peter Grainge]

Do you see an Adobe logo if you click this link? If you do, your installation can see the Activation servers.

https://ims-na1.adobelogin.com/renga-idprovider/resources/img/logos.png

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Mick_Mathers]

Yes, I can see the logo. I came across this link when reading the Adobe web site about activation problems, and during an online chat with Adobe techical staff.

Yet the "Deactivate" menu option is still greyed.

I tried to activate onlne connected to our corperate network with firewall and proxy with no success. Then I connected to a public network we provide for our customers. Still no success.

The activation dialog said it couldn't connect to the internet on both senario. Reading more on the Adobe web site there was some wittering about clocks not being the same. There was no reason why this could be a problem, or how it should be resolved.

Sorry for keeping on about this, but it gets me to a point where I bang my head on my desk.

[Peter Grainge · Accepted solution]

Re the Normal.dot side of things, search the forum as this has been covered with solutions that people have found. Sorry I cannot look right now.

As to the activation, that is something that you will need to involve your IT people in. Adobe support for installation issues is free, make sure you follow the RoboHelp prompts to get a quicker response.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Mick_Mathers]

Many thanks

Mick Mathers

[Mick_Mathers]

The exception problem went away when I moved templates and an included word document from a mapped network share.

It's unfortunate that a more meaningful error message isn't used rather than an exception.

Again, many thanks for your assistance.

Mick Mathers

[Mick_Mathers]

Ah. Mine is on a server, and I'm using a mapped drive to access it.

Do you see the problem when in this situation, or when using a UNC to access them.

Mick Mathers