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Search in WebHelp Generated with RoboHelp 9 Produces Gibberish

New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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I used RoboHelp 9 to generate WebHelp. I applied Adobe's IE10 Patch for "Existing WebHelp created with RoboHelp 9" and the "IE10 patch for RoboHelp 9 installation" provided by William van Weelden. My Search results appear as gibberish (see below example). However, when I click on a number, a help topic appears. Weird huh? Any suggestions for a fix oh wise sages? Thanks in advance.

Search Results.jpg

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

.5

/1 2 3

00b 1 2 3

00d

0100b 1 2 3

0100d

01s00 1 2

01s07 1 2

01s09 1 2

08p01

0b 1 2 3

0d

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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What browser(s) have you tried & do they all act the same?

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Does not work in IE10.

Works fine with Firefox.

None of the WebHelp works in Chrome, only the display of the title page.

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Hi there

What you shared isn't really "gibberish", although it probably looks that way to you.

What you are seeing is the "Pure HTML" or the "Section 508" type of output. It could be that you elected to use the Section 508 (and that means no skinning is involved) or the browser is reporting to the WebHelp JavaScript that it's not DHTML capable. And if that's the case, it falls back to Pure HTML.

Cheers... Rick

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Not so Rick. I do not have Section 508 Compliant Output selected. I have DHTML>Pure HTML set as the preferred format.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Are you viewing the help on a web server or a LAN server (or local c:\ drive)?

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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I'm viewing locally

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LEGEND ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Okay, what happens is that the JavaScript code in the WebHelp files sniffs the browser and makes small adjustments when the WebHelp opens. And during that time, if the scripting senses that DHTML isn't capable, it "falls back" to Pure HTML. (Hence the setting DHTML > Pure HTML)

When help is stored on the local file system and is opened from there, you often see the "Yellow Information Bar" (YIB) in the IE browser. And I believe that if you don't click to allow things to open (I think two clicks are involved. One for the YIB and another to allow scripting to run) you may see the "Pure HTML" output and no skin (as seems to be depicted in your screen capture).

Cheers... Rick

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Yes, I click both prompts.

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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OK, now I just created WebHelp Pro output and it works (see attached screenshot). Is it safe to use WebHelp Pro output in lieu of regular WebHelp output?

There are a few issues I noticed.

  • The start page is not index.htm. It is the <previous name of my project.htm>. Very odd. Why is WebHelp Pro using something other than index.htm as the start page? I have not specified a different start page name. When I generate regular WebHelp, the start page is index.htm.

  • Note in the screenshot (***Enter Document Title***) that WebHelp Pro did not pick up the document title. I have already defined a document title. Why did it not use it? When I generate regular WebHelp, the document title is displayed.

  • I do not want a Glossary button. Any way to remove it from WebHelp Pro output? When I generate regular WebHelp, there is no Glossary button.

Search WebHelp Pro.jpgThanks guys for your expertise:-)

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Community Expert ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Don’t use the “Pro” flavours unless you’re putting them on a RH Server instance. They’re specially designed for RH Server. Regular WebHelp lets you specify the start page – it just defaults to index.htm

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New Here ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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OK Jeff but that still leaves me with no resolution for Search with regular WebHelp output.

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Community Expert ,
Sep 21, 2014 Sep 21, 2014

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You said you are viewing locally. Is javascript enabled in the browser settings? (Look for Allow Active X to run).

When you open IE, is there a yellow bar appearing?


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 ,
Sep 22, 2014 Sep 22, 2014

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If you open the developer contsole with F12 and then load a search, does the browser report any errors?

Kind regards,

Willam

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New Here ,
Sep 22, 2014 Sep 22, 2014

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Hello William,

This is the first time I've used the Developer Console so not sure what to look for, hope you can provide some insight. Thanks!

The following appears when I select the Script tab:

<html>

<head>

<title>Relational Database Server ODBC Driver User's Guide</title>

<meta name="generator" content="Adobe RoboHelp 9" />

<meta name="description" content="WebHelp 5.50" />

<script language="javascript1.2" src="whutils.js"></script>

<script language="javascript1.2" src="whmsg.js"></script>

<script language="javascript1.2" src="whstub.js"></script>

<script language="javascript" src="whver.js"></script>

<script language="javascript1.2" src="whstart.js"></script>

<script language="javascript1.2">

<!--

function window_Onload()

{

if (location.hash.length > 1 && window.gsTopic && typeof(frames["bsscright"]) != "undefined")

frames["bsscright"].document.location = window.gsTopic;

}

window.onload=window_Onload;

//-->

</script>

</head>

<frameset id="whPfset" cols="260,*"><noframes><p>Your browser does not support frames. We recommend that you update your browser to a version that supports frames.</p><p>To view the Help system without frames click on this<a href="whgdata/whnvp30.htm">hyperlink.</a></p></noframes><frame src="whgdata/whnvp30.htm" title="navigation pane" name="navigation pane" scrolling="no"><frame src="titlepg.htm" title="topic pane" name="bsscright" scrolling="yes"></frameset>

</html>

The following appears when I select Console:

HTML1527: DOCTYPE expected. The shortest valid doctype is "<!DOCTYPE html>".

whnjs.htm, line 1 character 1

SEC7115: :visited and :link styles can only differ by color. Some styles were not applied to :visited.

whnjs.htm


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LEGEND ,
Sep 22, 2014 Sep 22, 2014

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The console tab is the one you're looking for. What happens if you reload the entire page *F5) with the console open? Do you get any errors?

Could it be that you are getting a yellow information bar at the top or the bottom of the screen? That may also block some scripts and cause the strange search behaviour.

Kind regards,

Willam

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New Here ,
Sep 22, 2014 Sep 22, 2014

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Hello Peter,

I have javascript enabled but I also get the message "It seems javascript is disabled in your browser, please enable it and reload again, or click here to view without javascript"

I also get the message "Allow Blocked Content."

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Community Expert ,
Sep 22, 2014 Sep 22, 2014

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Exactly how have you enabled Javascript in IE?

That message and the need to unblock are both screaming the javascript is not enabled.

I assume you have then clicked Unblock.


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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New Here ,
Sep 23, 2014 Sep 23, 2014

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Hello Peter,

I have javascript enabled. See the following dialog box.

Internet Zone.jpg

When I launch the WebHelp, I still get the following messages:

   "It seems javascript is disabled in your browser, please enable it and reload again, or click here to view without javascript"

   "Allow Blocked Content."

I click BOTH and still get scrambled search results.

This is so frustrating. I cannot deliver until I get this resolved 😐


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Community Expert ,
Sep 23, 2014 Sep 23, 2014

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Couple of suggestions – test it out by moving the help to some temp web server location OR can anyone else have a look at it with their browser? Are they getting the same result as your browser?

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Community Expert ,
Sep 23, 2014 Sep 23, 2014

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Look under Security and then enable Allow Active Content.


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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New Here ,
Sep 23, 2014 Sep 23, 2014

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OK Peter, we're getting somewhere. Your suggestions for enabling Active Content under Security worked. I can not see search results BUT NOW, when I click a search result, the related topic does not display in the topic pane. See image below. What now Sir Sherlock Holmes? 🙂

Blank Topic Pane.jpg

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Community Expert ,
Sep 23, 2014 Sep 23, 2014

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Can you zip up just the output for now and send it to me? See the Contact page on my site and send the project as instructed there. Do make sure you include a link to this thread and please do not email the project direct.

I won't be able to post more today. It's evening here and the wife seems to think I should take her out just because we have been married 42 years.


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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Community Expert ,
Sep 24, 2014 Sep 24, 2014

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The zip file did not survive the trip. It was only 0.92mb and after removing .txt, WinZip reports it is not a valid file. Often happens with projects sent using email which is why my site suggests sites such as below.

Try sending it using http://wetransfer.com


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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Community Expert ,
Sep 24, 2014 Sep 24, 2014

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On the first machine that I have tried I get the default topic in IE and nothing else, no TOC and search does not find anything, much less open the topics.

I will look on another machine tomorrow. Are you willing to share the source project in the same way so that I can generate it myself from Rh9, 10 and 11?

Use wetransfer again if you can.


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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