Image missing or red dot is displayed

[Guest]

System Attributes
RoboHelp HTML V7.0
RoboSource Control 3.1. Version control is turned off at this time.
RoboEngine 4.0
WebHelp Pro 5.50 (7.00.145)

Problem:
1. Images changes and links are being generated and are viewable on the result screen but the old image and links are still showing after project is published to web site.

2. Images changes and links are being generated and are viewable on the result screen but a red dot where the image should be is being displayed on the web site. If you click on the red dot or right click and then select ‘Open’, the image will be displayed.

My situation:
The images with these problems are flowchart Topics. A Topic with a flowchart can consist of multiple images and each image on the Topic can have many programs on it and each program has a link to more detail information about that program. If I am making a changes to image #2 on TopicX, I will import my changes on a word document called TopicZ into RoboHelp, signoff Robohelp, then use Windows Explorer to move the image #2 from TopicZ to and overlay image #2 in TopicX. I will then bring Robohelp up and correctly link or remove links that are needed. This helps me to not have to re-link all programs in a Flowchart each and every time there is a flowchart change.

This process worked fine when I used RoboInfo Pro.5.0 but we upgraded to RoboHelp HTML 7.0 about a month ago. Sometimes a flowchart will work fine and publish correctly other times it won’t.

Questions:
How can I resolve my problem with the correct image not being published?
How can I resolve my problem with the red dot showing up on the web site?
Is my process using windows explorer to change a specific image on a Topic ok?
Where do the Topics to be published come from when using “Republish All’?

Yours truly Rich21

[Peter Grainge]

Thank you for putting those system attributes at the beginning of the post.

Whilst I believe there could be some degree of mix and match between the version of RH and RH Server (or Enginge), Version 7 is different. RH moved to unicode and needs Server 7. You need to upgrade that as well.

UPDATE

That is my understanding although it doesn't seem logical that sometimes your process works and sometimes it does not. Maybe a Server 7 guru can confirm. If not, check before you buy, but I am reasonably sure what I have said is correct.

[Peter Grainge]

I just found this in a post from Colum McAndrew.

...I asked the same query from the RoboHelp Product Manager awhile ago and the horses mouth says....

"You need RoboHelp Server 7 for hosting any content that has been created in Adobe RoboHelp 7. There is because in RH7 all the HTML pages are Unicode encoded (UTF-8) so you need RH Server 7 to understand the HTML output. However RoboHelp Server 7 can host projects created in RoboHelp 6 and RoboHelp X5."

[Guest]

What I discovered to correct images of 'red dot' , was when I move the latest version of an Image into the source code usiing Windows explorer and leave RoboHelp open and running it will accept the new image and I do not have to re-link everything and the image shows correctly.

Concerning the Missing Images, I deleted the Topics with the missing images and imported the Topics again into my project and not you can see them.

I have heard many people say RoboHelp Server 7 is not neccesary to make everything work but since I just upgraded I might as well upgrade everything.

Thank you for your help.

[HKabaker · Accepted solution]

It's dangerous to move images in Windows Explorer for a number of reasons.

Preferred method is to click the existing image in the topic to open the image dialog, then navigate to the image you want to bring in. It may already be in the project, or not. If it is outside and has the same name, RH will ask if you want to overwrite the first one. Otherwise, RH will save the image in the project folder and mark it as unused (unless, of course, another topic needs it).

Harvey