Index Auto-Scroll

[JosephJohnson]

Hi, I have an index in a project with about 900 topics. If I access my Help as a User and visit the Index, then I can type say, the letter H and the Index topics scroll correctly to the first topic that starts with an H. So far so good. I can jump forwards and backwards in the alphabet by typing in other letters.
However, I cannot scroll back to the topics that start with "A". If I type an "A" I see an error message warning me that the script is making my Flash player run "very slowly"..."Do you want to stop the script?"
If I add an Index entry that precedes "A" in the sort order...like "3D Graphics"...then I can make the letter "A" work and "3" becomes the problem.
I don't want to use a workaround. I want to understand why this is happening. Any ideas? Thanks.
Joe

[Guest]

Joe, welcome to the forums. Testers on a project I work on found this problem. Unfortunately, I don't have access to any Flash developers who could troubleshoot it for me. I've reported a bug to Adobe on this form. If anyone has a solution to this, I'm all ears, too. In the meantime, please report the problem. Combined voices are more likely to get Adobe's attention.

--Ben

[JosephJohnson]

Hi Ben,

Thanks SO much for your response. You have restored my sanity. I will use the form you provided and report this bug. The Adobe response to my Customer Support Case was rather bad. The analyst asked me four questions in his text response and then closed the case. I was astounded. Why ask me anything if you're not going to stick around for the answers?

I have developed a clumsy workaround. I am going to insert a bogus Index entry that starts with the number "1". The bug seems to affect whatever is first in the sort order of your index entries. So...since 1 comes before A, the dummy entry pushes the problem back and allows the A entries to work properly.
Thanks again...I'll report this.
Joe

[Guest]

The other part of this problem that I reported is the fact that if you enter a term and the index jumps to it, you can't scroll back up. You would have to enter a specific letter or word, and it looks like that's where you ran into the "A" bug.

[Peter Grainge]

I had a problem reported to me whereby in FlashHelp from RH6, if you entered the letter A in the index, it froze. That was fixed in RH7. Wonder if there is a link here?

[Guest]

Ha ha, thanks Peter, I must not have tried this since I upgraded to RH7 and ran outputs with it. I tried it in a couple of my production help systems, and the "A" problem isn't appearing in ones that I know that I've generated since getting RH7.

However, you still can't scroll up after you've jumped down to a term. You have to scroll down to reset things. Not a big problem, just an inconvenience. It's not really intuitive to scroll down and then up to get back to the top of the index.

[KC_in_Colorado]

I just submitted a bug report on this as well. As I reported elsewhere, I was having the same problem as Ben in that I couldn't scroll "up" in the index after going to a specific term. But today, I finally upgraded my browser to MSIE 7.0. NOW the index problem is uglier. I no longer get that message that Joe mentioned above. Instead. the Index freezes completely when you try to enter a term beginning with A. Can't scroll up manually either. You have to exit the Help and restart to unlock. PLEASE tell me there's some sort of fix short of buying an upgrade?????? -- kc

[Peter Grainge]

KC. The index works fine in IE7 or the Adobe would collapse under the strain. Have you tried a new test project or one of the supplied sample projects?

You are talking about FlashHelp? Problem should not occur with FlashHelp or WebHelp, just checking.

[HKabaker]

Please clarify:

When you enter a keyword like Xanadu, and the Index loads text to highlight Xanadu,

A. you cannot scroll the index up to A, or
B. when you enter a keyword like apple, the Index "freezes"?

For either A or B, how long are you waiting after Xanadu is highlighted before you scroll or enter apple?

Which version of RH? Is it only IE7?

Harvey

[KC_in_Colorado]

I apologize for being so vague. Here are some answers:

RoboHelp 6
Internet Explorer 7 (as of yesterday's upgrade)
Primary layout: FlashHelp using the "FlashHelp Default" skin

My first index entry is "Addresses" and the last is "Wizard for submitting application information." And of course there are many entries and subentries in between.

When I type "wiz" in the keyword field on the Index tab in my FlashHelp output, it [correctly] scrolls to the last entry of the index. I'm able to manually scroll back to the top of the index at that point using the scroll bar features. However, if I type "wiz," let it scroll to the bottom, and then attempt to type "addresses" in the keyword field, only the "a" is accepted. Then that that message about "A script in this movie is causing Flashplayer 9 to run slowly" appears (interesting, because I didn't get this message yesterday but did a bunch of automatic Windows updates this morning). I said "Yes" to abort the script. Now I am locked in at the bottom of the index. Can't scroll up manually and anything I enter in the keyword field (typed over the "a" with "backups") is completely ignored.

I have not tried a new test project or "supplied sample." Are you referring to one that came with RoboHelp? I'll go check that out...

-kc

[KC_in_Colorado]

Just tried this with the sample "applicationhelp" project that came with RoboHelp 6. Generated a FlashHelp version with the FlashHelp default skin and get the exact same behavior with the index.

Typed a lower entry in the keyword box, then tried to type in the first index entry that begins with an "a," it wouldn't accept characters beyond the "a" and displayed that message, etc. So this is definitely recreatable (eek, is that a word???) -- kc

[Peter Grainge]

Yup, there were problems with the FlashHelp index in RH6 and to the best of my knowledge, the only solution is RH7. You should have upgraded when the $80 offer was on. Sorry.

[KC_in_Colorado]

Well had I known about the $80 upgrade offer, I certainly would have. I wasn't contacted by Adobe in any way so I'm not sure how I would have heard about it?

Boy, this is very unacceptable in my opinion. The 6.0 release cannot produce a propertly functioning index using one of the newer output formats and Adobe doesn't have a patch for this????? I don't think I should have to spend $500 because the product wasn't properly tested/engineered.

It's not exactly a "nice to have" thing we're talking about, but rather a key feature that is broken.

Oh well. Didn't mean to shoot the messenger. Thanks for the info, Peter.

kc

[Peter Grainge]

I believe it was posted on these forums.

I understand your frustration. Try the argument with Adobe Customer Services or Google to see if any vendors are still selling at that price.

[HKabaker]

I have little experience with FlashHelp, but I did some poking around in RH 7 and can offer some info.

1. Each format (curved, standard, vertical) has a source file called wf_indexxml.swf. (2 k)
2. FlashHelp output has a file of the same name (25 k). I believe this is what fills the index and reports errors in loading.
3. The RH 7 version is dated 9/23/07.
4. Probably, it replaced an earlier version in RH 6 and fixed some problems.
5. With any luck, all you need is this file, to plug into (a copy of) the RH 6 program folder.

I won't suggest how you might obtain this RH 7 file, strictly for evaluation and testing, and can't predict whether anyone will be upset if you do so.

Harvey

[KC_in_Colorado]

Thanks Harvey. How very subtle of you! :*) I was actually on the phone with a RoboHelp tech support person when you posted your reply. (I was transferred to this tech support person by the customer support rep, who I contacted at Peter's suggestion.)

Anyway, I asked him about your suggestion. He said I was certainly welcome to give it a try but that this file substitution had produced sporadic results in testing - sometimes correcting the problem and others, not so much. Also, this sporadically crashed RoboHelp due to the mixed versions (my words, not his). His official stance was: it's not recommended.

Depending on the outcome of my request to customer service to make this right somehow, I may or may not try this. Thank you for investigating and taking the time to post this suggestion in any case! If I do end up trying this, I'll be sure to post results.

kc

[HKabaker]

KC,
I was already having some second thoughts about copying program files. Don't know whether the XP Registry would take notice, or whether it would permit the second version to run.

If you want to try file substitution, I'd suggest backing up the original in the RH program folder and putting the RH 7 file there. Of course, work on a backup copy of the project.

Also, I see two other wf_index. . . swf files that probably need to come over as well. I'm not sure they're identical across skin styles, so if you're using the curved format, take the files from that folder.

If that doesn't work, you can restore the originals.

Good luck.

Harvey

[KC_in_Colorado]

Well, after MUCH ado, multiple conversations with Adobe customer support, technical support, and sales, I was finally able to order the RoboHelp 7.0 upgrade for $79. (Personally, I still think they should have issued a FREE patch for this index problem.) FYI to those of you who run into this problem and are not willing to deliver a finished FlashHelp system with a broken index, be sure to call Adobe Sales directly to get this $79 upgrade price, which appears to still be available to 6.0 users only. I'm pretty sure if you order it from the Web, you will pay $499.

-kc

[Peter Grainge]

You are forgetting my 50% mark up for the advice. :-)

That price was only ever available to RH6 users. Hopefully when you see what else you get, you will be happy to have paid the money. There's a lot more in RH7, see the articles on my site.

[KC_in_Colorado]

Thanks Peter, I am going to refrain from going into detail on the 3+ hours worth of phone calls it took me to get this order placed. I will say this: The Sales and Tech Support folks were willing to help. But the Customer Support group was a major source of frustration, no help whatsoever, and because I was transferred back to them several times during the process and multiple phone calls, this experience was not a pleasant one. And that's putting it very politely. The order didn't get placed until I escalated this situation. Nuf said!

I'll check out your site for 7.0 info. Thanks!

-- kc

[Peter Grainge]

I have passed on your feedback to the appropriate people.

[HKabaker]

I've come to see "customer support" people at another company as adjuncts to their marketing department. They listen sympathetically to your problems and resolve them by selling you something. No discounts.

Harvey

[Captiv8r]

Hi Harvey

Yes, unfortunately in many cases MarComms folks have infiltrated most call centers. Many are now taking the stance that any contact by a customer is viewed as a potential sale or upgrade. And in some call centers, I'm aware that the poor call center reps actually have a quota to meet! Definitely a thankless job and it's often one with a rotating door with folks arriving and leaving constantly as a result.

Cheers... Rick