I lost my first topic

[latejanavieja]

I copied htmls down from the published website. then I created a new project and carefully built the TOC by importing htmls. I must have deleted the first topic instead of cutting and pasting.

When I compile, I get no error messages. But View webhelp does not work. When I go to the webhelp directory and select what I think should be my first page, it displays as a simple html (NO TOC, no navigation).

I peeked at the xml file with notepad and it says:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE SYSTEM "ehelpopt.dtd">
<FILE-OPTIONS FILE-VERSION="2" FILE-KEY="ff94dc00_f498_492c_9c9d_f8897903aff0">
</FILE-OPTIONS>
<EHELP-OPTIONS FORMAT-VERSION="1.0">
<OPTIONS ENABLED="NO" EMBEDDED="YES" MAIN-WINDOW-ONLY="NO" COMMUNITY-NOTIFY="NO" FIRST-PAGE="NOT-SET">
</OPTIONS>
<BUTTON-LABEL>WebSearch
</BUTTON-LABEL>
</EHELP-OPTIONS> Text

You can see the first page= "not-set"

Is that my problem? If so can it be fixed without starting over?

[Linux Rules]

Hello latejanavieja -

You posted:
"...and select what I think should be my first page, it displays as a simple html (NO TOC, no navigation)."

That's the problem - you are calling a TOPIC page instead of the START PAGE. And yes it can be fixed without starting over.

The Start Page is NOT the same as nor should it be named the same as the default TOPIC. These are separate files and do different things.

The START PAGE doesn't have any project "content" - it is the page that defines the layout of your project (the panes).

The DEFAULT TOPIC is just that: the page the project displays by default if a SPECIFIC topic isn't called. This page (and all pages) is displayed IN the START PAGE as the topic content.

So, you need to launch the START PAGE file, not the default topic file. You name your start page in File>Generate Primary Layout, the first window, Select Output Folder and Start Page text box. I leave the path "as-is" and only change the name of the htm file at the end - this is your START PAGE. We name ours "index.htm" (witohut "").

You DO NOT see or edit the START PAGE in RoboHelp. The generated output file is dynamicly created when you generate your project.

The Default Topic box is where you select your DEFAULT TOPIC. This is the html page you created with content information (ours is Welcome.htm).

If you name your START PAGE index.htm, you call your generated project by launching the index.htm file - your help comes up and displays the navigation pane, default topic, etc. per your layout preferences.

Regards,
GEWB

[latejanavieja]

Thanks for trying to help. I tried what you suggested. But I may have forgotten to mention that:

As it is compiling some error message flashes that I cannot read and finally says Compilation complete.
However, when I select View generated web help, nothing happens.

I went to my output folder and could not even find an html named index.

I have been trying to find out how to see error messages that flash by, some log file that I could read. From what I can gather it is only generated for chm files.

Sandy

[RoboWizard]

Hi Sandy

If all you are able to do is compile .CHM files, it seems to indicate RoboHelp wasn't installed with proper administrative rights. Take a look at this link for more on that.

Cheers... Rick

[latejanavieja]

Thanks again. I batch generated both a CHM file and a webhelp. The CHM was primary, but when I said View Primary, the chm opened with an intact TOC, but the first topic in the right hand pane, was a cannot find file message. All other clicks on the toc to display a different topic bring up blank pages.

Sandy

[RoboWizard]

Hi Sandy

Lemme guess. .CHM is on a network resource? click here

Cheers... Rick

[Guest]

awwww! You took my guess! I wonder how many times each week the very same problem is presented and solved!!! Does anyone keep a count of these things?!?!?

[RoboWizard]

Hi there

LOL, I know Peter tracks how many times his topic is hit. And it's quite amazing.

Cheers... Rick