large source file=constant repagination

[COHAN3]

My FM source file is approximately 900 pages. I imported the file and it needed to repaginate for about 20 minutes, which is fine, but when I try to do anything in terms of formatting, it kind of freezes, I get the hour-glass, and eventually it allows for the task. There is alot of wait time for every task I try, do I simply need more processing power or memory in my computer?

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi COHAN3.

It is difficult to answer this without knowing a little more about your FM file. How many topics were created in RH? Were there lots of images?

[COHAN3]

There are headings 1-6, each creating a new topic, 550 in total. There are at least 500 images. If there are any more questions I can help you with just ask away, because if it is just a matter of my needing a more powerful workstation, then that will be my next step. Currently I have 64 gig capacity and half of the is free space, so thats not it, so I guess its the processing capacity?

[COHAN3]

There are headings 1-6, each creating a new topic, 550 in total. There are at least 500 images. If there are any more questions I can help you with just ask away, because if it is just a matter of my needing a more powerful workstation, then that will be my next step. Currently I have 64 gig capacity and half of that is free space, so thats not it, so I guess its the processing capacity?

[RoboColum_n_]

550 images is a fair amount. Are they large images? And what format? Also just checking that your project is not located on a network drive. If it is, move it to a hard drive and see if that makes a difference. The other thing that can have a processing impact is if there are a lot of links or DHTML hotspots.

[Pet3689]

"FM source file"

"imported the file"

"repaginate"

I don't quite understand these three "phrases"

Which (input/source) file did you import, to get which result (output file)?

For example, did you import a Word document into RH-HTML to get a RH-HTML project? Or did you use a RH-HTML project and import (actually, export) it to Word/PDF?

Since RH-HTML stores topics as separate files, these topics generally do not have pages, and thus RH-HTML should not be repaginating. I could, however, understand why repaginating in Word would take a lot of time. But you can turn this off, mostly, in Word.

[Captiv8r]

Hi Pet3689

"FM source file" probably refers to a FrameMaker source file. I'm guessing COHAN3 is using RoboHelp as a result of the Technical Communications Suite.

"Imported the file" probably means that COHAN3 imported the FrameMaker source file into RoboHelp to create topics.

I'm hazarding a guess here that "repaginate" is part of the process of importing. RoboHelp (or FrameMaker) is probably examining the Frame source to determine where page breaks should occur to create separate HTML topic pages.

Cheers... Rick

[COHAN3]

Hello, well I aleviated the repagination problem dramatically by transferring my FM files from the network to my hardrive, although the problem still exists, just not as bad. Seems any task I try in terms of formatting takes way to long, there is so much wait time that I now have to consider another online help program.

Just to be clear on what I did, in Robohelp for HTML I created a new project, then did File-Import-FM document and imported 3 '.fm' docs, the main file (which is about 900 pages and hundreds of images), along with a TOC and an Index. The images in my file are inserted via reference and stored in one folder in my local drive.

Regarding my Robo interface, I have Project set-up in the left pane (with Windows, Templates, Skins, etc.), my fm file in the top right pane and the topic list in the bottom right pane. The View is "by File Name".

If you have any advice for me to be able to work in normal way, as opposed to an extended wait-time way, I would certainly appreciate it. Let me know if I can provide you with further information. (Of note, my cpu is in good shape - 50 percent usage, 2 gig free space, 1.8 ghz).
Thanx