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RH7 can't open FrameMaker 8 docs

Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Just downloaded RoboHelp 7 last night. I was anxiously awaiting its arrival so that I could convert some FrameMaker 8 documents.

However, there appears to be a problem. I'm able to open and view the FrameMaker 8 documents just fine in FrameMaker, but for some reason when I try to open them (either .book or .fm) in RoboHelp 7 I get a message that the files are not valid FrameMaker files.

Also I'm trying to access the help files and am unable to view.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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A few other issues with RH7 are also cropping up ...

Can't access online help. When I select the command from the Help menu Firefox opens, but I get a file not found (404) page.

When trying to print a page to PDF, I get a message that the macros have to be enabled. I open the PrintDoc.dot template in Word and am unable to save it to the same location after enabling the macros.

Without being able to access the Help files, either online or on my system, it's kind of hard to figure out what the problem is. 8-)

Running on Vista Home Premium with RH7 and FrameMaker 8.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Hi Deecey52

You may wish to enable the Offline Help. Click Tools > Options... > General tab and place a check mark in the "Use Offline Help" check box.

Cheers... Rick

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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That will surely help! LOL

Thanks

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Community Expert ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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First just try to generate to Word. If you get the same message, which I suspect you will, look in Word for security settings and reduce them to Medium.

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Interestingly enough, the solution was to start RoboHelp for Word and create a makeshift project. That seemed to be enough to trigger the macros so that Print to PDF would work in RoboHelp for HTML.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the FrameMaker files in there. 8-)

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Still no luck on opening FrameMaker documents (either FM7 or FM8, and either .book or .fm files).

When trying to import .book format, I can't open the file when I try to map the formats. The dialog doesn't appear when I click the button.

When I try to import a single fm file, RoboHelp tells me it can't open the FrameMaker file because it's invalid.

I thought perhaps it was because I restored the files from a DVD backup, and I removed the "Read Only" tags from the files. But that didn't seem to help.

Are there any instructions anywhere that might shed more light than the help files?

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LEGEND ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Hi all

Just wondering out loud here. Could this simply be one of the differences we see between simply "RoboHelp 7" as a stand alone product as compared to the "RoboHelp 7" that is actually part of the new Technical Communication Suite?

Cheers... Rick

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LEGEND ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Deecey52, which did you download and install?

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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I preordered the RH6 to RH7 upgrade and the only version I had available to download was the single product ...

In spite of the fact that I already own seperate licenses of Captivate 3, FrameMaker 8, Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, and then ordered the RH7 upgrade.

Adobe HAS to change their policy on upgrade pricing. It was cheaper for me to upgrade piecemeal than it was to get the bundles of products that I already had. I've already paid for Captivate 3 and FrameMaker 8 ... and now RH7. The only difference between what I have and the technical bundle is that I have Acrobat 8 Pro and not the 3D version. One would think I could have been entitled to a special price on the bundle, no?

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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I should also add that I do see the format mapping dialogs pop up when I convert to MIF format, but it still sees the book and fm versions as "invalid." That, and Vista compatibility, were the main reasons I upgraded. 8-(

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Explorer ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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I'd appreciate it if someone could confirm that the problems I'm having might be related to differences between the standalone Robohelp 7 and the enhanced Technical Bundle version.

Here's my dilemma ...

I upgraded from Captivate 2 to Captivate 3 on August 8. That upgrade was $299.

On September 8, I purchased a full version of FrameMaker 8, as it was needed for a rush project where I had to convert Word 2007 documents to FrameMaker. FrameMaker 7 wouldn't import the Word files, so I had no choice but to spend the $899.

On September 25, RoboHelp 7 was available for preorder. Also on that date they announced the Technical Bundle, which I could have purchased for $999. But because I'd already bought FrameMaker 8 for $100 less than that, it wasn't a realistic option. So I ordered the RoboHelp 7 upgrade for $79.99 - thinking that the FrameMaker 8 compatibility would be there so that I wouldn't have to export to MIF format.

But now that information on the Technical bundle is available, I see that the versions of FrameMaker 8 and Robohelp 7 are "enhanced" versions, not the same versions as what I've already paid more for. I bought these programs on good faith that they would be compatible with eachother ... so what exactly are the "enhanced" features that are available in the bundle?

I've paid almost $1300 for 3 of the four programs that I COULD have purchased in the bundle for $999. And the versions I purchased for $300 more have less functionality than the bundled versions, and I could have received Adobe Acrobat 3D on top of them.

I'm not a happy camper. 8-(

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Valorous Hero ,
Oct 26, 2007 Oct 26, 2007

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Hello again Deecey52

Why don't you call Adobe sales and explain your situation? My guess is that since you have already paid more than what the upgrade fee would be for the total suite, they would want you to be happy and offer it to you as a replacement for no additional cost. Of course it will be a pain in the whatzit to have to do the uninstall/reinstall hokey pokey and whatnot.

Never hurts to try! Rick

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Community Expert ,
Oct 27, 2007 Oct 27, 2007

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Using some instructions that I was sent for a specific Framemaker project, I was able to import the .book file in RoboHelp 7, both versions of the products being the standalone.

The instructions were for an article the person was righting so I don't feel that I can post them here without a nod. I have emailed direct so hopefully he will pick this one up. I think the reason he has not done so yet is that he has been travelling.

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LEGEND ,
Oct 27, 2007 Oct 27, 2007

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Hi all

In thinking about this further, I'm wondering if you are expecting to use RoboHelp to actually edit the Frame files. I'm thinking that this isn't possible. While RoboHelp may understand some new Frame formats, here is how I understand it works.

If you are using RoboHelp 7 standalone, you may import Frame content in a few different formats. But if that content changes, you must import again.

If you are using RoboHelp 7 that ships with the Technical Communications Suite, a live relationship then exists between RoboHelp and the Frame content. If you change that content in Frame, RoboHelp will recognize it and use the updated content accordingly. But you may NOT use RoboHelp to make edits to the Frame content. You must use Frame to make edits to the Frame content.

Cheers... Rick

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Explorer ,
Oct 27, 2007 Oct 27, 2007

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Either method would be fine. But either way, as it stands now, the only way I am able to bring in Framemaker docs is to convert them to MIF format. Every attempt to import a book or fm file has failed.

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Explorer ,
Oct 27, 2007 Oct 27, 2007

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Here is exactly what I am seeing when I try to open a Framemaker book or fm file, step by step

First I create a project in Robohelp HTML For book files, here’s what happens.

1. Choose File > Import > FrameMaker document
2. Navigate to the folder and select a .book file. The Content Settings dialog appears.
3. Leave all settings at default, except check Apply FrameMaker Conditional Text Build Expression
4. Click Next. The Style Settings screen appears.
5. Check Convert AutoNumbers to HTML list. But when I click Select to choose the user defined HTML tag, nothing happens.
6. When I click the Edit button to configure Style Mappings, nothing happens.
7. When I click Finish nothing happens.

Now, for the FM files, here’s what happens …

1. File > Import > FrameMaker document.
2. I choose one of the fm files in the same folder as the book.
3. Leave all settings at default except I check Apply FrameMaker Conditional Text Build Expression.
4. Click Next to go to the Style Settings dialog.
5. Check the Convert AutoNumber to HTML List option.
6. When I click the Select button, I receive a message that “filename.fm” could not be opened. Please verify that this is a valid FrameMaker document.
7. When I click the Edit button in the Style Mappings section , the RoboHelp Style Mappings dialog opens. But the styles available in the FM file are not listed.

I tried a Repair installation thinking that something might have installed improperly. Still no change. I can import MIF files of the same FrameMaker documents without a problem, but can't import a book or a FM file. 8-(

And thinking about it more, it sure would be nice to have the direct link to the FrameMaker document so that I could edit in one place.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 28, 2007 Oct 28, 2007

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To import other than a MIF file, Framemaker and RoboHelp need to be on the same PC so, first is that the case.

Second, you are now talking about importing .FM files. What happens if you point to the .BOOK file?

The other thing worth try is to create a new output in FrameMaker to see if you get a different result with that.

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Explorer ,
Oct 28, 2007 Oct 28, 2007

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Yes, FrameMaker and RoboHelp are on the same PC.

Tried importing both book and FM files (as mentioned in the steps above).

Have already tried resaving the files again and that didn't help.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 28, 2007 Oct 28, 2007

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Rather than resave, can you try a new file unrelated to this one. Just to check the existing file doesn't contain something that RH objects to for some reason?

That's about the limit of what I can suggest but I am still trying to get someone else to come in on this if he is able to help.

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Explorer ,
Oct 28, 2007 Oct 28, 2007

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OK, here's what I did.

I did a search for a .txt format file on my hard drive. Generic text. I cut and paste the text from Notepad into a Framemaker document, and saved it to my desktop. No images or anything, no special formatting in the Framemaker document. Just raw text.

I created a new project called Test. Then I tried to import the bare bones FrameMaker document into it. It STILL tells me that the file can't be opened and to verify that it is a valid FrameMaker document. So it's definitely not my project files that are the cause of this.

I uninstalled and reinstalled RoboHelp 7. RH installed OK, but when trying to install the Source Control I received messages that NGMenu.dll and DirBkgndExt.dll failed to register, and then gave an error code of HRESULT -2147024891.

I've tried everything I can think of to get this to work, and it's not happening.

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Explorer ,
Oct 30, 2007 Oct 30, 2007

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Any other ideas? No luck getting the files to work so far.

I've contacted Adobe to see if I can get changed to the bundle version ... on initial contact I've missed the opportunity window by a mere 7 days so the customer service person has to ask permission to escalate it.

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Community Expert ,
Oct 30, 2007 Oct 30, 2007

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I have asked and in turn others have been asked. Nothing more I can do. Sorry.

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Explorer ,
Oct 30, 2007 Oct 30, 2007

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Thanks for trying.

Normally I'm pretty good at troubleshooting problems. But Vista is a slightly different animal because it silently puts files in other locations with no rhyme or reason, and I'm feeling a bit lost.

There MUST be some setting somewhere on my system that is preventing things from working right. Wish I knew where to find it. 8-(

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Explorer ,
Oct 31, 2007 Oct 31, 2007

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Just a follow-up

I downloaded the Technical Suite, and tried my book and fm files in that package.

It worked!!

So there must have been something with my installation of the two individual products that was preventing things from working properly.

I've returned my FrameMaker license and have the Technical Suite on the way. Woo hoo, I'm in business!

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