CHM issue

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John Johann
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CHM issue

Unread post by John Johann »

Hi,
Anyone having issues with CHM files which used to work no longer working?
In my test case, the application calls a page within a CHM file which is runtime merged. This used to work, but now I get a "Page not found".
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Tim Green
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi John,

We haven't had any other reports of this. Is the page in the main CHM or one of the CHMs merged into the main/master CHM? If you are calling a topic in the child CHM the call must be made directly to the child. Microsoft's CHM system doesn't route calls to the child through the master. To force the master TOC to open when you do this you need to configure the child CHM to open the master TOC instead of its own when it's called on its own, which you can do in Configuration > Publishing Options > MS HTML Help > Extended .HHP Settings.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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John Johann
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by John Johann »

Hi Tim,
Yes, the topics are in the child CHM and are called directly.

This worked up until recently -- with the same files on the same machines -- seems to be some of the last OS updates which are interfering.

The master TOC always opened just fine.
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Tim Green
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by Tim Green »

John Johann wrote:Yes, the topics are in the child CHM and are called directly.
This worked up until recently -- with the same files on the same machines -- seems to be some of the last OS updates which are interfering.
The master TOC always opened just fine.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that can interfere with CHM files opening, it's an old and creaky system that Microsoft hasn't updated since Windows 98. Things to check:
  • File extension set for topics in your CHMs, in Configuration > Publishing Options > HTML Help > HTML Export Options. Make sure it's the same in all the projects.
  • Check topic IDs for any non-alphanumeric characters and change if you find any.
  • Any special characters in the folder or path to the folder where the CHM is stored. The entire CHM system is highly allergic to special characters, accented characters etc. in any paths and references.
  • Right-click on the links that are working and the ones that aren't and select Properties in the context menu. You may be able to see differences.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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John Johann
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by John Johann »

Hi Tim,
Thanks for the tips. We're all getting older and creaker ;-)
However, existing CHM which used to work and were not changed now don't. Install folder is the same, file versions are the same, paths have not changed and the same applies to any exotic filenames --> so its not coming from any H&M misconfiguration.
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Tim Green
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi John,

Would it be possible to make the CHMs available to us so that we can test them? We'd initially need one child CHM that you are making the call to that no longer works, the master CHM and details of the call you are making. You'd need to pack them all in a zip and provide a download link to support AT ec-software.com (replace the AT with @). Sending CHMs in attachments no longer works because the mail server blocks them even if they're zipped and encrypted.
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Alexander Halser
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Please try to delete "HH.DAT" and all *.CHW and *.CHI files if they refer to your help file system. Do not delete any foreign CHW/CHI files.

You should find them in the folder:

Code: Select all

\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\HTML Help
HH.DAT stores help window size and position for CHMs, globally. By deleting it, all window positions for all CHM files on this system will be reset. HH.DAT is automatically recreated. If a CHM files "stores window positions in registry after first use" (which is the default), this actually refers to a storage in HH.DAT.

CHW contain a combined keyword index for runtime-merged CHMs. If you come across a CHI file, this file stores something about merged CHMs as well, but I cannot tell any details by heart. In general, these files are automatically created/recreated if they are missing. If the folder of your CHM files is write-enabled, the CHW files could be possibly found in the same folder as the CHM.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
John Johann
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Re: CHM issue

Unread post by John Johann »

@Tim -- mails sent

@Alexander -- HH.DAT removal made no difference. No CHW / CHI there.
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