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WebHelp Display and Refresh Issues

New Here ,
Jul 15, 2014 Jul 15, 2014

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Hello All-

I am using RoboHelp 9  (9.0.2.271 specifically) to create a product WebHelp for my company.  I am having a problem with the display of the actual WebHelp in a browser and I am hoping someone may have a solution for me.

When I generate my help file in MS Explorer and it opens the index page as usual (1), it has a second vertical scroll tool (2) which I don't understand:

Example1.jpg

When I attempt to move to another topic in the file (3) it always opens blank no matter which topic I choose:

Example2.jpg

If I press F5 and refresh the help file, the topic then appears (4) but so does that mysterious second scroll tool (5). Also, if I then attempt to move on to a third topic, it will also be blank and need to be refreshed to make it appear.

Example3.jpg

I have no idea how to fix these issues. Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you for your help

-Michael


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LEGEND ,
Jul 15, 2014 Jul 15, 2014

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Hi Michael

Does this happen if you choose to view things immediately after you generate? Or does it only happen after you copy the content to the final destination?

My guess is that you will find it only happens after you copy the content to the final destination. And my further guess is that there is a problem with the way the help is being called by the application. (assuming, of course, that you have it linked to an application)

Cheers... Rick

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New Here ,
Jul 15, 2014 Jul 15, 2014

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Hello Rick -

Thanks for your help.

The help file has not been copied to a final destination and is still a work in progress on my company server. The screenshots above (and the only view I've had of the 'finished' document) were generated by selecting Save and Generate on the form which is opened via File > Generate > Primary Layout (WebHelp) :

Example4.jpg

Which results in a message box saying the WebHelp has been successfully generated. I then select the View Result button and that opens the help file as screenshot above.

Example5.jpg

Any ideas?

...and thank you again, Rick.

-Michael

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LEGEND ,
Jul 15, 2014 Jul 15, 2014

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Okay, for starters, you should seriously consider changing that output folder to something other than G. That implies a network location. You likely think you are being clever by generating to what I'm assuming is the same location where folks are accessing the content. That's NEVER a good idea.

While the changes above would help you in the long run, I'm very doubtful that it's the cause of the issue you are seeing.

What I'd like to see are more screen captures of the other areas of the WebHelp Settings. Such as where the default topic are designated. Additionally, what is the full path and file name of the WebHelp start page?

Cheers... Rick

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New Here ,
Jul 15, 2014 Jul 15, 2014

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Thanks Rick-

I copied the RoboHelp project and all of its folders off the network location (G:) where it was and put it on my own local machine's C: drive at this location:

C:\RoboHelp Demo\Creating a Help Guide with RoboHelp9

Example6.jpg

I then created a separate folder on my local machine named RoboHelp Output to generate my output into:

C:\RoboHelp Output

Example7.jpg

I then opened the RoboHelp project (I apologize for it being such a small screencapture, but the forum limits image sizes):

Example8.jpg

The page I want the user to see upon opening the help file is the one shown above (Getting_Started.htm) so put the output folder and the start page into the WebHelp Settings:

C:\RoboHelp Output\Getting_Started.htm

Example9.jpg

I then select the Save and Generate button and the help file is generated and the output placed into the designated folder along with some other folders and files which are automatically generated:

Example10.jpg

Simultaneously, the help file is generated and opened in the browser with the same problems detailed in my original post still showing up unchanged. Nothing has changed.

Ideas?

-Michael

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LEGEND ,
Jul 15, 2014 Jul 15, 2014

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Okay, so I see an issue here. Good on you for moving the content to your local C drive. You likely notice that RoboHelp is much snappier as a result, no?

I think you are confused with the option "Output folder and start page".

You said:

The page I want the user to see upon opening the help file is the one shown above (Getting_Started.htm) so put the output folder and the start page into the WebHelp Settings:

C:\RoboHelp Output\Getting_Started.htm


Normally one would expect to see something like index.htm as the start page. The start page is simply the page you point users to. This page has several functions. It begins a cascade of events. Splits the page into different areas, loads different content into each area and the last thing it does is present what is known as the Default Topic.The Default Topic is configured in a different place in the Single Source Layout recipe.


At this point I'd suggest renaming the start page to index.htm. Then ensure the Default Topic is "Getting_Started.htm".


Give that a go and see if things improve.


Cheers... Rick

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Community Expert ,
Jul 16, 2014 Jul 16, 2014

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As an aside from the main issue here, don't worry about the images looking small on the forum. If anyone trying to help clicks on them, they expand.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

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LEGEND ,
Jul 16, 2014 Jul 16, 2014

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Which version of IE are you using. From the screenshots it seems IE10 or above. Did you install the updates for IE10/11 in RoboHelp 9? If not, give those a try. See RoboHelp Patches and Updates | WvanWeelden.eu for an overview of where you can get the updates.

Also, if you open the Developer console (F12), do you see any errors displayed? Or is everything ok?

Kind regards,

Willam

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New Here ,
Jul 18, 2014 Jul 18, 2014

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Hello All-

First off, thank you for all of the good advice. I have been working with my RH9 project and have had some success. There are a couple of problems still left to fix. Here's what I did:

I opened the project help file in IE10 and pressed F12 to open the Developer console:

Example11.jpg

I then went to the website referenced by Willam and downloaded the following patches:

Example12.jpg

The result was the replacement of the following files in the indicated locations:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_skin\whst_frames.xml
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_skin\whtbar.js

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_skinpreview\template_skin\whst_frames.xml
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_skinpreview\template_skin\whtbar.js

C:\RoboHelp Demo\Creating a Help Guide with RoboHelp9\!SSL!\WebHelp\Content\whskin_frmset01.htm
C:\RoboHelp Demo\Creating a Help Guide with RoboHelp9\!SSL!\WebHelp\Content\whtbar.js

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock\whutils.js
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 9\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock\whver.js

I also changed the name of the start topic back to index.htm as suggested by Rick:

Example14.jpg

The end result of this was that the presented help file still has that mysterious second scroll bar, but now it allows me to switch between topics without experiencing blank pages that require me to refresh them to get them to load:

Example15.jpg

This is much better than what I started with. However, there is a new problem (or at least a problem I just noticed recently). If I attempt to resize the window holding the help file display, the window quickly refreshes itself using the header bar to tile the entire screen:

Example16.jpg


The developer console and the address window tell me that problem is the C:\RoboHelp Output\Content\whskin_tbars.htm file....?

Any suggestions, patches, etc. you might have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you-

Michael

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LEGEND ,
Jul 23, 2014 Jul 23, 2014

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The problem is probably in the refresh. But I haven't seen this issue before, nor can I reproduce it.Can you share an example output that has this problem with me so that I can look into the issue? You can contact me at contat [at] wvanweelden [dot] eu.

Kind regards,

Willam

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New Here ,
Jul 25, 2014 Jul 25, 2014

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Willam-

I am pretty sure the problem is isolated to my local machine. I moved the source files and the output folder back to the network location and whskin_tbars.htm tiling issue doesn't occur when I compile and work with the same files from the network location.

I am pretty sure that I'm going to be getting an upgrade to the latest RH so I think that may help more than anything.

Thank you very much for your all your help.

Cheers-

Michael

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