Microsoft Server 8 RoboHelp 8

[MH_Angell]

My IT department wants to know whether my version of RoboHelp (version 8) is compatible with Microsoft Server 8.  They also want to know whether it can be virtualized.  We are moving to Windows 7 from XP within a month and they will be upgrading my server at the same time.

I've Googled and looked on the Adobe pages, but cannot find an answer.  Help?

Thanks,

Holly

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Your version of RH will remain on your workstation – you may have to run RH8 in virtual XP mode on your Win7 machine – you should be able to find out if RH8 is compatible with Win7. Server versions don’t really impact RH installs except for version control system compatibility.

[MH_Angell]

I received this in response to Jeff's reply from IT when asked if that answered their concerns:

• No,  we need to know if our current version of RoboHelp is compatible with Server 2008.  This is the version that is currently on the server mp1rbh.  This has nothing to do with what’s on your desktop.

I explained that the files that I publish to the server are html documents and other files with common extensions.  Is that a correct interpretation of a published project?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Asking if the current version of RoboHelp is compatible is completely different than asking if the OUTPUT from the current version will run.

The question to answer here is to determine if you are wanting to install the RoboHelp application itself on the server to manipulate projects and create output or if you are only concerned that the OUTPUT created from RoboHelp will work when it has been placed on the server.

Cheers... Rick

[MH_Angell]

The output.  RoboHelp resides (and has for the last 13 or so years) on the hard drive (C) on my computer. 

I'm trying to get the IT folks to understand that it may sound crazy to them, but that is how it works. I can't put the app itself on an external drive and still work with it.

Now they want to know whether I even need a server at all or if the files can be published to a common file server.

I believe that it can be put on a communal company box, since the RoboHelp Server that we purchased years ago has never been set up properly anyway.   The file extensions in the published output (HTML) are all just normal files and folders.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Holly

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

If you bought RoboHelp Server, then you would be producing WebHelp Pro versions of help output not the regular “non-Pro” versions. What’s installed on the server in question? Is it acting as a webserver or LAN server in your network?

[MH_Angell]

I don't think it is acting as any kind of server.  I think that it is just there.  When we first got it, it was set up and worked.  I was able to look at graphs of hits on particular topics, etc.  Then something happened.  I can publish Webhelp Pro, but it is just the same as my regular Webhelp output.

I want to clarify that I am not publishing as a .chm file (although I can).

IT sees that it is on the server, but does not know what it does or does not do. 

IT is going to set up a folder on a common server for me to test publish a project.  I know that it will work because I've done that in the past when I needed to publish files for users who may not have access to the RoboHelp box.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Umm, a server has to be one or the other – if you can “see” it from the Internet, it’s a webserver; if it can only be seen inside your corporate network, then it’s a LAN server.

The “Pro” help outputs are particularly tuned to work with RoboHelp Server (a separate piece of software that costs $$$ more than just RH) to give you more features than if it were just hosted on any old server. Reporting, commenting, etc. are just part of the feature list the RH Server gives you. See http://thankyou.adobe.com/en/na/products/RHS/220113_RHS.html?sdid=KCQXU&skwcid=AL!3085!3!36277166218!b!!g!!robohelp%20server&skwcid=AL!3085!3!36277166218!b!!g!!robohelp%20server&ef_id=6mhPgxb2nmEAAARy:20140205201327:s for Adobe’s page on RH Server & Colum’s great article - http://www.cmcandrew.com/robocolumn/10-reasons-to-have-robohelp-server-9/

[MH_Angell]

I know that it is useful which is why I requested that we buy it.  It was installed.  I used it for a few months and then something happened to the configuration and it became a ghost.  IT was not able to configure it and our support ran out years ago.  It's a shame, but that's the way it is. So the sad story ends.

I'll just wait and see what happens when I publish to the file server.  My expectations are that our end users will be able to view them as usual.

Thank you very much for your assistance.  I do appreciate it.

Holly

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Wow! Can I come & work for you guys? When my company pays for anything, they want to squeeze the life out of it for years on end ;>)

[MH_Angell]

Don't quit your job and plan to move.  I promise that this is just a fluke.  An anomaly for sure.

I'm the resident expert on RoboHelp and its main advocate. Only the end users appreciate its capabilities as much as I do. 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

In addition to Rick’s response – do you own a copy of RoboHelp Server? That may be what they (in IT) are asking – that’s a whole different product than just RH.