HHComponentActivator

[Cathy_Mackie]

I have several existing RoboHelp HTML projects that I keep updated.  Starting this week I have started receiving an error: 'HHComponentActivator' is undefined when I attempt to Preview Topic.  The topic previews fine when I choose Yes to continue running scripts on this page, but am puzzled why all of a sudden I have started receiving this error.  Could a Window update cause this to occur? That is the only thing I can think of that has changed in the past week since I started receiving error.  If Preview Topic and generating .chm files works fine, should I be concerned about this error?

[Captiv8r]

Hi Cathy

Assuming the CHM works fine after compiling, I'm inclined to think there is nothing really wrong and the message is just annoying.

I'm curious. Doe the message present for ANY topic you preview or for specific ones? If for specific topics, what is unique about the specific topics? Do you have Related Topics or Shortcut controls in them? And lastly, do you see the message when viewing the topics inside the CHM? (You only said that the generating seemed to work okay.)

Also, what version of RoboHelp are you using? And what is your Microsoft Internet Explorer version?

Cheers... Rick

[Cathy_Mackie]

Hi Rick,

The CHM works fine, all links within work fine, all images there, etc.

I have received the message in two separate RH projects this week.  It happens on every topic when clicking to Preview Topic.

Clicking Yes or No in response doesn't seem to make a difference.  My Preview looks fine.

It appears to be the same file "ehlpdhtm.js" within whichever project file I'm in that is having the issue.  I don't do much with scripting myself so have no idea what it is balking at.  It is also referencing the same Line and Char numbers regardless of the project I'm in.

I'm using RoboHelp HTML 10.0.1.292 with Tech Comm Suite 4. These are files I have been using and updating for years (through various versions of RoboHelp) without the issue.  I did reboot and install Windows updates on Tuesday this week (I don't do this often as I leave my machine up to work remotely).  It seems like it's been occurring since I did that.  Internet Explorer is version 11.0.9600.16428.

I am not using Related Topics or shortcut controls. 

It does appear to be more annoyance than anything, but wanted to investigate. Just seems odd.

[rtkwolf]

It appears I have the exact same error message when trying to preview. I'm using the same project on 2 laptops one running RH 10 and the other RH 11. I also just had windows updates on my laptops along with the IE11 update. I haven't generated my output yet so I'm not sure if there are any issues. Last week I reported another issue IE11 caused - wonderful Microsoft updates!!

Is there an answer to get rid of this error?

[SilviaColombo]

I have the same problem, using the same robohelp version. I have another problem (I don't know if it's related to this one): going on preview, after having this error, I can't open links made by images with hyperlink jumping to Auto-sizing popup. With option "Display in frame" the link works. Do you think this could be a consequence to this error or the problem could be another one? thanks a lot

[TechWriterKat2]

This has been happening to me too, but I just generated a CHM file, and I am now getting the error when I click on links in the CHM file. Has anybody else had this problem?  Thanks

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

What objects are you using on the topics where this is occurring?

HTML Help Shortcut control

RelatedTopics control

SeeAlso control

Others???

Cheers... Rick

[Captiv8r]

Hi all

I've sorted how to overcome this. Essentially, you need to create a new blank project. Then copy the ehlpdhtm.js file from the new project to the project with the issue. After you do this the project with the issue will now preview correctly.

Cheers... Rick

[rtkwolf]

Thank you Rick that fixed my project issues!

[TechWriterKat2]

Thanks Rick! That fixed the problem of the error pop-up during preview!

The error that occurred in the CHM file I finally narrowed down to a single file -- whenever I clicked on a link to that file, the same HHComponentActivator message appeared. I had to copy the flat file content into notepad, delete all of the HTML code and reconstruct the file to make that error go away.  I wonder if I had tried replacing the ehlpdhtm.js prior to that if it would have fixed the CHM problem too, but guess I will never know.

In any event, thank you, thank you, thank you for the tip about ehlpdhtm.js!

--Kat

[SilviaColombo]

I've solved too! thanks a lot!

[SallyAs]

Hi  - i thought this had cracked it for me but it only seems to work for a while.  I am not sure what triggers it coming back but i think ti may be shutting the project and then opening it up again? 

[Captiv8r]

Sally, you might double check to ensure nothing is causing your files to be overwritten. Are you possibly using any source control software that might be playing tricks on you?

Cheers... Rick

[SallyAs]

Hi Rick - I think I have traced something that triggers it - in which case I can avoid it but might be interesting.  I am at the end of a project so I am compiling a lot at the minute.  I use the option Webhelp to CHM converter.  If I have saved everything before I generate then it is fine but if I have not saved all the topics, I get a message box to confirm that I want to save the changes - answer yes. At that point the top section of the file changes from:

//{{HH_SYMBOL_SECTION

var HH_ChmFilename = "";

var HH_WindowName = "";

var HH_GlossaryFont = "";

var HH_Glossary = "";

var HH_Avenue = "";

var HH_ActiveX = false;

//}}HH_SYMBOL_SECTION

To:

//{{HH_SYMBOL_SECTION

var HH_ChmFilename = "C:\\Users\\Ashwells\\Documents\\My RoboHelp Projects\\Cash Focus\\HtmlHelp\\Cash Focus.chm";

var HH_WindowName = "(w95sec)||main||Queries||bt||Gloss||fwi||items";

var HH_GlossaryFont = "";

var HH_Glossary = "0,0,0,0,0,0,0";

var HH_Avenue = "0,1,0,0,0,0,0";

var HH_ActiveX = true;

//}}HH_SYMBOL_SECTION

and this problem with HHComponentActivator reoccurs.  Is there anything obvious that I have got set wrong?  Otherwise I will just make sure I have saved everything first.

Thanks for your help.

[ereddings]

I am experiencing the same issues as both SallyAs and TechWriterKat2 in several of my RoboHelp 10 projects.

To resolve the compiled .chm issue, I created a completely new topic, copied all the content out of the old problem topic and pasted it into the new topic (verbatim), closed the project, deleted the old problem topic, renamed newly-created topic the same as the old problem topic, reopened the project, compiled, tested, and the problem was fixed.  This will be a per-topic resolution.

To resolve the preview issue, I copied the ehlpdhtm.js from a newly created RH project and pasted it into the project folder (overwriting the existing problem file).  The preview issue did not reoccur until I compiled the project a few times, then it returned.  Copying the ehlpdhtm.js from the newly created RH project once more fixed the preview problem again.  So, I created a batch (.bat) to copy the problem-solving ehlpdhtm.js file to all of my project folders.  Whenever the issue returns, I will just run the batch file again.

Thanks to those involved for posting the problems and suggesting the resolutions!

[Cathy_Mackie]

That fixed the problem in all of my projects. I even opened and closed projects several times, closing RoboHelp in between.  Everything looks good with no errors!  Thanks Rick!

Cathy

[DirkD007]

Great tip, Rick. Replacing the ehlpdhtm.js file worked. Thx

[cnevin]

Thank you Rick, this worked for me also.