Fix for WebHelp output issues with IE 11 breaks Search function

[PMCDEV]

I use RoboHelp HTML 9 and have been having issues with generated WebHelp in IE 11. The TOC was totally blank and the Search tab looked fine but did not function. Everything worked fine in Firefox. After much experimenting and online research in these forums and elsewhere, I have been able to get the TOC to display properly in IE 11 (and Firefox) but the fix has caused the Search tab to stop functioning as per this other forum post RH9 Webhelp Search function is not working properly.

I need to have BOTH TOC and Search displayed and functioning properly but in order to get the TOC displayed properly I had to change the Preferred Format setting to "Pure HTML" and, according to the post mentioned above, that is what messes up the Search function. Is there a solution that will allow both TOC and Search to function properly?

Here is a summary of the steps I have taken to get to this point:

• Tested WebHelp output from two different projects of my own as well as the Salesbuilder starter project - all would display/function properly in Firefox but not in IE 11 (blank TOC and non-functioning Search).
• Found a "patch" for RH10 for the exact problem I was having with RH9 but was not able to find a version for RH9. Since the patch included 2 files (whutils.js and whver.js) only, I backed up these files in the RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock directory and replaced them with the new ones.
• Regenerated one of my RoboHelp projects - still didn't work in IE 11 and now didn't work in Firefox either!
• Tried turning on Mark of the Web but this did not help and would not allow opening PDF's which is necessary to one of the projects so I turned it off again.
• Changed Preferred Format setting to "Pure HTML" instead of "DHTML" and the TOC displayed and functioned properly in IE 11 and Firefox! Hurray!!
• Celebrated for 10 seconds until I clicked on Search tab and saw the input box filled with letters of the alphabet with other random letters, words, numbers below. It looks almost like an index but neither of my projects uses an index and I have not generated one in either project.
• Found the post mentioned above which states that the solution is to change the Preferred Format setting back to DHTML but when I do that I am back to blank TOC and proper-looking but non-functioning Search!!!
• I have now removed the Search tab from the output of one of the projects since it is not really necessary but I need to find a fix for this for my other project.

Both of my projects are run locally - one is release documentation that is distributed on a CD and the other is CSH which is loaded on the local server with the software for which it was created.

Dorothy

Note to Administrators: Sorry, but I originally posted this as a reply to a previous post - Contents, Index, & Search do not display in generated help... - so perhaps it should be removed from that thread to avoid confusion.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Have a look at Willam’s site - http://www.wvanweelden.eu/articles/robohelp-patches-and-updates

[Willam_van_Weelden · Accepted solution]

There is an official IE10 fix for RoboHelp 9. But that may not solve your problem. If you PM me, I can send you a preliminary try to fix IE11 on RH9 to see whether it works in your situation.

The only real solution is probably to update to RH11.

Kind regards,

Willam

[PMCDEV]

The "preliminary" fix provided has worked perfectly! All versions of my WebHelp project now display TOC properly and I was able to change the Preferred Format setting back to DHTML so the Search tab both displays and functions as it should. I am very grateful to William for providing this fix which works in both IE 11 and Firefox. Someday I will pursue the fixes to make it work in Chrome as well.

[Willam_van_Weelden]

Glad to hear it works.

I've published the IE11 fix on: http://www.wvanweelden.eu/blog/2014/06/14/ie11-patch-robohelp-9

Kind regards,

Willam

[PMCDEV]

Thank you for responding to my post, Jeff. Actually, William's site is where I got the RH10 fix for IE11 that I tried before posting. In the meantime, William has kindly offered to send me a preliminary fix specific to RH9 for IE11. Once I have received and applied it, I will post the results.