Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

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Chris Hill
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Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:26 am

Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

Unread post by Chris Hill »

Good day.

I am attempting to output to Web Help but I am having a problem with the images from my Source folder. Images that are .BMP are being converted to .PNG files as per the output settings but files that are already PNG files are being renamed on the export.
Example DEVELO~1_img101.png to hmfile_hash_6f8c4e7d.png

I am not sure if this rename is causing my problems but when uploaded to my web site, I get random invalid image errors when viewing a page.
The missing image is shown as [x] DEVELO~1_img101.png though.

Is this normal behaviour and is something going wrong with the export if the html page is trying to load the original image name instead of the ..hash.. rename?

Thank you.
Chris.
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Tim Green
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Re: Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Chris,

This has nothing to do with the format of the image files, it is the potentially problematic characters in the file names. If there is even the slightest risk that a file name could cause problems on any HTML platform Help+Manual will discard the original name and replace it with the hashxx name format. If you want to be absolutely certain, follow these rules:
  • Only a..z, A..Z, 0..9, _ and -
  • No accents, umlauts or other transformed or special characters
  • No spaces
  • Don't start a file name with a number
These rules are stricter than is absolutely necessary, but they are easy to remember and safe. 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Chris Hill
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:26 am

Re: Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

Unread post by Chris Hill »

Thank you, Tim.

Files names were automatically created as part of an RTF file import. A document with a lot of images.

Is this an issue with the the import routine then?

Regards
Chris
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Tim Green
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Re: Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

Unread post by Tim Green »

Chris Hill wrote:Files names were automatically created as part of an RTF file import. A document with a lot of images.
Is this an issue with the the import routine then?
No, those are simply the names of the files as extracted from the RTF. However, if you are exporting to WebHelp you shouldn't be getting any errors -- the references to the files are converted along with the filenames. Are you getting the errors in your HM WebHelp pages or are you trying to use the files somewhere else?
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Chris Hill
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:26 am

Re: Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

Unread post by Chris Hill »

Hi Tim
I can now see that the source is referencing the correct image name.
We are getting missing image links in a couple of topics but a hard refresh temporarily corrects the issue. We are unable to see why this is happening.
Sometimes, the missing image is a thumbnail that expands into a full image. The thumbnail produces a missing image message but clicking on it produces the expanded image!

Thanks
Chris
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Tim Green
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Re: Image conversion issue (BMP/PNG)

Unread post by Tim Green »

Chris Hill wrote:Sometimes, the missing image is a thumbnail that expands into a full image. The thumbnail produces a missing image message but clicking on it produces the expanded image!
I think you are referring to an image toggle. Check all the following:
  • Make sure that you are using the current version of Help+Manual and update if necessary. Version 7.3.4 Build 4380 is current (check with Help > About. Current installer is always available here: https://www.helpandmanual.com/downloads.html#oldver
  • Make sure that you are deleting all files in the output folder before generating your WebHelp output.
  • Make sure that you are deleting everything in your WebHelp folder on your web server before uploading (or use a new empty folder and rename once everything is OK)
  • Make sure that you are really uploading everything. DON'T use "smart" FTP programs that claim to only upload changed files. They aren't and they don't. 8)
If you continue to have problems, please mail me a small demo project with a couple of affected image toggles and the source images at support AT ec-software.com (replace the AT with @) and we'll check it.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
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