Image File disappears after publishing using WebHelp Pro

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I'm using RoboHelp HTML 5.0.2, WebHelp Pro. I've added a .GIF image to the project as a bullet and it shows up just fine in the project and in the "Image" folder but as soon as i publish (I'm publishing off of my C drive) it deletes the image file out of the project folder and in the "Image" folder it has a little red "X" over the image file name.

Although RoboHelp deletes the image file, it still publishes the image to the server according to viewing the published project and the LOG file, but it still deletes the image from the project folder. I've tried different ways of putting / importing the image into the project but still nothing has worked.

Is there a file in the project that keeps track of all the images in a project like the rhbag.apj for the baggage files. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[MergeThis]

I believe that RH only truly "recognizes" images that are called from the .htm files (img src="blah-blah.jpg").

Therefore, I think you'll need to add it to the baggage file you mentioned.


Good luck,
Leon

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello MergeThis,

Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately adding the image files to the baggage files still does not work. Even if i added it manually in the rhbag.apj file.

I had to re-copy the 2 image files back into the project folder. Open the rhbag.apj file in notepad, manually add the image files and save it. Next i published the project and RH still deleted the 2 image files out of the project folder. Next i opened up the rhbag.apj file to see if what i entered in there was still there and it was.

Right now i'm at a loss as to why RH is doing this and how to correct this. Any other suggestion would REALLY help, otherwise I'll have to go through out the entire project and replace the image with another image for a bullet.

I also noticed RH will not allow me to delete the images in the "Images" folder in the project. I wanted to see if i could delete it from the "Images" folder and then try to re-import it but it won't allow me to delete it.

[Captiv8r]

Hi ODoyle Rules

One possibility for a situation you are describing would occur if your Web Server is Unix based and the image file name wasn't correctly referenced. For example, let's assume you have an image named ImAgE.GiF. This is the actual filename of the image. But when you referenced it within RoboHelp, maybe you typed image.gif. Because of the difference in case among the letters, Unix would consider these as two entirely different files. You would see the image on the server, but the page wouldn't display it because it is actually looking for a totally different file name from the Unix perspective.

Just a thought... Rick

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello Captiv8r,

Thanks for the reply. I did take a look at what you sugessted but the file name is exact in both the project folder and on the server. This is the name of the image file i'm using 001-arrow.gif

In the begining of the project RH had no problem with it, it's just recently this problem has occured.

this is one thing you said, "You would see the image on the server, but the page wouldn't display it because it is actually looking for a totally different file name from the Unix perspective."

RH does copy the image to the server and it displays the image file in the published project on the server, but RH deletes the image from the project folder right after it complies it and copies it to the server. I do not know if the server is Unix based or not, but i'm sure it is..

I just thought of doing this as a work around but i wanted to run this idea past any of you experts first to see if this is a plauseible idea. I was thinking about taking the 001-arrow.gif file and renaming it to blue-arrow.gif, import it into the project and then go into the "Multi-File Find and Replace"" function in the "Tools". then do a search for 001-arrow.gif and do a replace all with blue-arrow.gif. that way i don't have to go throughout the entire project and replace the image with the new one manually. Once i do that, publish the project and see if it keeps the new file or not. What do you guys think?

[RoboColum_n_]

Changing the file name and changing all references is certainly worth trying. Just remember to take a backup just in case. I still think Rick is in the right ball park and a more thorough look at the topics in which the image is used will throw up something. How about doing a find on the exact image name (e.g. ImAgE.GiF).

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello colum,

Thanks for the reply.

Before doing the replace all idea. I did do a search for 001-arrow.gif to see if there was any naming convention discrepancy and i did notice and did not realize how many times this image file has been used through out the entire project. My guess it has been used over 200 times throughout the entire project because we use it as a bullet point. this brings to this question. Does RoboHelp have a limit on how many times you use the same graphic in a project? Mind you this was never an issue until recently and before the image was already in the project so when we used it, we just used the "image in project folder" so there wouldn't be any naming convention issues.

If RH does have a limit on how many times the same image can be used, then doing a replace all with a different file name won't work because there will be the same amount but with a different file name, right?

[RoboColum_n_]

The only restriction on the number of times an image can be used is the size of the hard disk where the project is stored. Certainly 200 times is a small number and I'm sure there are many users who have used a custom bullet image many more times than that.

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello Colum,

Thanks for the reply. So if limit and naming convention isn't the issue, then all i have left to try is to re-name the image file, imort it into the project and do a replace all and see if that works.

Before i do that. How do i delete images from the "Images" folder in RH? Right now, it will not let me delete it when i select it. Right now it has the little red X over the file name because when i published it, RH already deleted it out of the project folder. So, if i re-copy the image file back into the project folder it will remove the little red X and RH will see it and say it's there.

From there, how do i remove it? I've tried and it won't allow me to do it. I was thinking about doing this before doing the drastic replace all idea. I was thinking about removing the image file correctly and then re-importing it (same file 001-arrow.gif) back into the project and then publish the project to see if that's all it needed was to be re-imported. If this doesn't work, then i have no choice but to try the replace all idea.

[RoboWizard]

Hi all

It's normally the case that regardless of how many times an image appears in topics in the help system, it only exists in a single place. The difference is the way it's referenced by the topics.

So as I see it, the looming question here is how many actual images of the same name do you really have? Unless there are good reasons or something has gone terribly wrong, there should be but a single image.

Cheers... Rick

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted everyone to know that my idea / work around on this issue worked!

What i did was, copy the problem image bullet (001-arrow.gif) to my desktop, renamed it to blue-arrow.gif. Open up a topic, highlighted one of the paragraphs with the bullet point image (001-arrow.gif - the one that keeps getting deleted) and imported the blue-arrow.gif as the bullet point so that way it brings that new image into the project folder.

I went to the "Multi-File Find and Replace"" function in the "Tools". Then did a search for 001-arrow.gif and did a "replace all" with the blue-arrow.gif image. That's when i found out the number of times we're using the 001-arrow.gif in our project and it was about 1,400 times.

Once i did the replace all, i complied and published the project and it worked. RH did not delete the blue-arrow.gif and replaced the 001-arrow.gif with the new image. So now i don't have to go through the entire project and manually replace all the 001-arrow.gif with the new one.

So that's how i got around this issue. Now one more issue remains. How do i delete the 001-arrow.gif from RH? It's still in the "Images" folder with the little red X over the file name.

I want to thank everyone for thier suggestions.

[HKabaker]

ODoyle,

Perhaps you've solved this problem to your satisfaction.
But for what it's worth, I think I know why you weren't successful at first.

You probably know that when you "delete" images and baggage files, RH does not delete them from the project folder. In fact, it publishes them even when they have no references in any topic. With the project closed, you need to violate the cardinal rule about never manipulating project directories in Windows Explorer and manually move the unused images and baggage files out.

If a red X shows up when you launch the project in RH, that's an indication the database file needs cleaning up.

Sometimes the RH houskeeping tables get confused.

The project.cpd file is a database for MS Access. Among other tables, there's one for listing baggage files and another for baggage file references in topics.

Either:
A. You've totally confused the .cpd tables by all the manual actions in Windows Explorer, or

B. Something else is happening.

I know the .cpd file preserves the upper-lower case distinctions. Perhaps the hyphen in the filename is causing a hiccup somewhere (I know, you should be able to use a hyphen.) But I prefer an underscore because all apps seem to recognize it as a valid character.

You may weant to study the .cpd structure. With the project closed in RH, launch MS Access and open the .cpd file.

Probably you'll get a "harmful files" security warning. I can't tell you what to do here, but I just click through the warning and no sirens go off.

You also may be warned that the .cpd file was built under an earlier version of MS Access and needs to be converted before you can save any changes. Again, I shouldn't tell you what to do here, but I also click through this warning. I can edit, add and delete entries in the tables and save the .cpd. The changes don't get hit. Maybe there are other things you can't save in the old format, but table line items seem to work. I'm told it's safe to convert the .cpd file to the MS Access current version.

One approach is to delete the baggages files, if you can, in RH. Close the project and delete or move those that remain in the project folder.

Then (project is still closed) use MS Access to delete any remaining entries in the two baggage tables. Launch the project in RH and import the necessary baggage files from outside the project folder.

Another approach is to study how the tables keep track of topic references and edit the tables.

By the way, the images list table also may need cleaning up if you've been moving images around outside of RH. At least, you can delete the Red X's by editing the images list table.

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello HKabaker

Thanks for your input. Since i've found a work around for this situation. I found out something else. There are 2 RoboHelp Developers here, including me. Sometime we both work on the same project. The problem is, on the other developers comp they are not having the same problem i am. The images work fine after they've compiled and published the project. The problem is on my computer. Everytime i compiled the project, RH deletes the 2 images but still publishes the to the server correctly. Once i found out the other person is not having the same problem. I thought it could be my version of RH corrupted. So i had IT re-install RH and after the re-installation, RH is STILL having the same problem.

So, i'll have to take a look at your suggestion and see if that works.

Thanks!

[ODoyle_Rules]

Hello HKabaker,

It worked! Thanks!

I opened the CPD file in Access 2003, it asked me the security question, i chose not to convert it Access 2000 and kept it compatible with Access 97. Once i got in there to view the tables, i clicked and opened up the "Image List" and found the problem images. Both of them showed "C:/ed_stu_lj_bullet.gif" instead if just "ed_stu_lj_bullet.gif" like all the other images. So i deleted those 2 entries. Access didn't give me the option to save, so i closed Access and opened up the project in RH. Then i compiled the project and it worked. RH did not delete the images after i compiled it. Now i'll have to test the actual publishing to the server.

Thanks!

[HKabaker]

ODoyle,

In your next-to-last post you mention that you and another developer work on the same project. This suggests the project must be on a server somewhere, or each of you has access to the other's local hard drive (isn't XP wonderful?).

The MS Access database does not like to be poked from two directions. The RH project must be on the same PC drive as the RH application. This is what causes trouble in the cpd file -- unexpectedly, after seeming previously to be happy on the network.

Maybe one of our colleagues can suggest a different way to share a project.

Harvey

[MaiaMDaly]

Hi,
I'm having a similar problems except that the images are not being deleted--they just appear as small boxes. If I right click on them, and send them to the printer, they are there and will print--they just don't show up after I publish the online help files. (They do appear in Review.)

Any hints?

Thanks,
Maia