ZoomSearch and RoboHelp

Report · Jan 09, 2007

Hi:

I have been trying to get a grasp of how to use ZoomSearch with WebHelp based on Peter's posts but I am unable to proceed. Here are my requirements so it would be great if you could walk me through. Thank you in anticipation.

1. My WebHelp is distributed on a DVD which is then installed with rest of the products by a customer.
2. These same WebHelp files are ALSO available online since they are hosted on an IIS Web server.

I did download ZoomSearch, but wasn't clear on how to integrate it into my WebHelp. I want the TOC to be always displayed when someone is viewing the content or the Search results.

Thanks,
K

Report · Jan 09, 2007

I am in the course of writing a topic on exactly how to do this but at best it will be this weekend before it is complete. If not I will be away for about ten days and may not be able to upload it until I return.

The short version is in RoboHelp create a folder called say search_files. Create the search using Zoom directing the output to that folder. Go back to RH and import the search.html page that Zoom created. In the skin create a new button pointing to Zoom's html page. When you generate, deselect the RoboHelp Search and select the one you created.

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Jan 09, 2007

Thanks, Peter. I shall wait for yout topic to be ready. Please let me know whenever you are done with it.

Regards,
K

Report · Jan 09, 2007

Peter: Sorry to bother you, but I did what you suggested. Here are a few questions.

1. Should the "search_files" folder be created inside WebHelp folder or outside of it (but inside the main Project folder)? I created it outside of the WebHelp folder but inside the main Project folder, and then directed Zoom to place files there. After which, I created a folder called "search" in RH (Project tab) and imported the "search.html" file.
2. When I import the search.html file into RH and view it in the WYSIWYG editor, I get this message on the page "You must have JavaScript enabled to use this version of the search engine. ". How do I fix this? As a result of this, when I access this page from my custom button in the generated output, I cannot see the textbox.

Thanks,
K

Report · Jan 09, 2007

Additional updates.

If I go into WebHelp/search and open "search.html" manually then I can see the text box. But not if I access this HTML file from the custom Search button.

Additionally, if I perform a search, then when I click the topics returned in the Results, the URL is incorrect because it is looking for the topics in the "WebHelp/search" folder rather than the "WebHelp" folder where the topic files are.

Thanks,
K

Report · Jan 09, 2007

My troubleshooting to the previous updates:

>>If I go into WebHelp/search and open "search.html" manually then I can see >>the text box. But not if I access this HTML file from the custom Search button.

If I manually click "search.html", then the URL is D:\HelpAuthTools\ZoomSearch\ZoomSearch\!SSL!\WebHelp\search\search.html. However, the custom Search button is using file:///D:/HelpAuthTools/ZoomSearch/ZoomSearch/!SSL!/WebHelp/search.html.

Report · Jan 09, 2007

We've been using ZoomSearch within RoboHelp webhelp project for several years now. We did use the javascript version for a year but for the last two we have been using the PHP version as it is significantly faster.

To do that means you need PHP support on your sever PC and also a PHP server on your CD/DVD - we use a tool called MicroWeb ( http://www.indigostar.com/microweb.htm) for the later.

We put all the zoom files into a sub-folder called 'search' and load them as baggage files. The HTML search pages have a <meta name="generator" content="Homesite_4.5"> entry in the <HEAD> section to stop stop RoboHelp from editing them (the entry may need to be different on your PC depending what other HTML editors you have installed).

As for path you need to play with the Zoom settings whilst indexing the content to set the relative parth correctly so that URL's are prefixed with ../ to go up a level.

Somethin like:
- Start Directory = C:\temp\testCD\Additional
- Base URL = ../
- Output Directory = C:\temp\testCD\Additional\search

Report · Jan 10, 2007

Mark

As you will have seen in this thread, I will be adding a topic to my site about using ZoomSearch. It was possibly you in an earlier thread who pointed me to this tool and I thank you for that.

Did you have problems after editing the search.html file in RH? Just curious.

Also I wonder if you would mind taking an early look at the topic when the first draft is ready? If so, perhaps you would let me have an email address, you can send it via my site rather than posting it on the forum.

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Jan 10, 2007

Peter, I'm also testing Zoom for my 2.3K-topic merged WebHelp project; David Wren was kind enough to give me a 5-day Pro key to verify that the JavaScript output could handle that amount of pages, which it does easily.

In my mind the best feature, in addition to ranking and descriptions, etc., is the Categories! To present a manageable TOC, I set up a dozen major categories to group my 40 projects. All I had to do was create the Zoom categories and point them to the related project folders. Too easy!

As to the search.html page, the only problem I'm having is for those categories, which are set up as an inline list: in the initial view, the third line of categories doesn't align properly on the left; after achieving results, all three lines are aligned properly. Once we actually purchase a couple of licenses, I figured to post a query in his forum to see how to correct this.

As to where to place the Zoom files, I just put them all in the root; I figured, why bother? It's only a few files, and I don't need any directory confusion. The other thing that concerns me is that his ZOOMSTOP/ZOOMSTART feature for toggling the indexing for particular sections of a topic, actually gets ignored by RH when generating the Webhelp. (I have some topics that use Walter Zorn's tooltip JavaScript utility, and I'd like to hide that from being indexed.). Therefore, I'd probably have to do some creative, post-generation FAR magic on the output before running Zoom against it.

Oh, BTW Kutra, our help is distributed on a CD with the application, and runs on the same middle-tier server that hosts our major application components.

Good luck,
Leon

Report · Jan 10, 2007

The reason I advocate putting all the zoom files in their own folder is just to simplify recognising what needs to be uploaded.

Thanks for the figures on what Javascript handled for you. That will be in the topic.

Sounds like you too think the Zoom interface is just so easy to follow.

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Jan 10, 2007

I managed to fix the issue with the file paths for the Search results. However, I am still stuck with the "textbox" issue on "search.html".

>>If I go into WebHelp/search and open "search.html" manually then I can see >>the text box. But not if I access this HTML file from the custom Search button. That is , if I manually click "search.html", (URL in Web browser is D:\HelpAuthTools\ZoomSearch\ZoomSearch\!SSL!\WebHelp\search\search.html) then I see the "textbox". However, if I access "search.html" by clicking the custom Search button in the generated ouput, the textbox cannot be seen. This is because the shortcut for the button is file:///D:/HelpAuthTools/ZoomSearch/ZoomSearch/!SSL!/WebHelp/search.html.

Which means the browser cannot execute the Javascript if it has the "file://" protocol. How can I prevent the custom Search button in RoboHELP from creating such a shortcut?

Thanks,
K

Report · Jan 10, 2007

If you added the button after getting the search.html page into the project, it should have created a relative path. It looks as if you are pointing to the search page you generated into the output files. The button should point to the copy of that you imported into the project.

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Jan 10, 2007

Yup, you got it. I made the correction and now it works like a charm! Thank you so very much.

Now if only one could get the "highlighted search" JavaScript to work with this... :-)

Thanks,
K

Report · Jan 10, 2007

Question for Mark Gallagher.

>> To do that means you need PHP support on your sever PC and also a PHP >> server on your CD/DVD - we use a tool called MicroWeb
>> ( http://www.indigostar.com/microweb.htm) for the later.

The WebHelp that we generate is shipped to our customer on a DVD. These are a set of HTML files that the customer can enter the license key, install the product and access the HTML file from Start->Programs->...->Documentation->....html.

Would this behavior change if I went the "PHP" way? We don't want the customer to do anything extra, but I can modify things at my end before putting it on the DVD. Is this how you use your WebHelp output? If yes, please let me know how I can ge started...what you mean by PHP support, etc.

Regards,
K

Report · Jan 10, 2007

Peter - Adding the <meta generator> stuff is probably me being paranoid. I also use a tool called SpreadsheetConverter (was ExcelEverywhere) to create a very nice html pages but found that Robohelp would break them if it was used to edit them. Hence I used it in the Zoom search form to help separate Zoom issues from Robo issues.

Kutra
Enabling highlighting.
Step 1: Add highlight.js as a top-level baggage file in you project.
Step 2: In the template use Insert | Advanced | Script. On the Tag tab add a new property called src with the value highlight.js.
Step 3: Apply the template.

PHP Mode searching
Requires that the webhelp be delivered by a PHP enabled server. Microweb can do that and while designed for use on a CD or DVD it can do it from a Windows PC folder. We had to go to it as our CD actually consists of 70+ merged webhelp projects that was just too large to run using the Javascript zoom version. I will try to write up some notes this weekend.

Adobe Community

ZoomSearch and RoboHelp