CHMs not showing images/styles

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cindynotbrady
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CHMs not showing images/styles

Unread post by cindynotbrady »

We have an issue on one user's computer where the CHM isn't showing the screen shots and the styling is gone. I've heard this issue will be fixed if the CHM files are part of the install and registered properly, but we are concerned that other users might have this same issue. Is it true that they'll show fine once the CHMs are part of the install, and our install developer properly registers them?

We are just testing as stand-alones currently, and that's why I think they're showing up without those features.
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Tim Green
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Re: CHMs not showing images/styles

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Cindy,

What is happening here is that the CHM's access to JavaScript and its own internal files is being blocked for security reasons. Basically, Windows isn't trusting the CHM. There are a couple of possible causes for this.

The first thing to check is whether it is being blocked because the CHM file was sent by email or downloaded directly from the Web. Windows notices this and blocks the file without telling you ( :roll: ). To check it, right-click on the CHM file in Windows Explorer and select "Properties". If the file has been blocked you will see an "unblock" option at the bottom of the Properties dialog box, and applying that will fix it.

Another possibility is that the user's machine has particularly extreme security settings in Internet Explorer, which is used by the Microsoft CHM viewer to render the HTML pages in the CHM. If you're using a different browser as your default, like Chrome, then you wouldn't notice this in general use. To fix that you open IE, select Internet Options in the main menu, and then in the Security tab reset all the zones to "Default".

And finally, registering the CHM as part of the installation will also generally fix this, unless IE is the default browser and is configured to be blocking access to almost everything -- but that would then be a general problem on that user's computer.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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cindynotbrady
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Re: CHMs not showing images/styles

Unread post by cindynotbrady »

You are incredible! I am in discussion with our installation developer to make sure it's included with the install. Let's cross our fingers that this works. I'll try to remember and check back in to see if it works out.
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cindynotbrady
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Re: CHMs not showing images/styles

Unread post by cindynotbrady »

We figured out a work around until our programmer includes these new help files in the install. This is just for our testing purposes. I'm writing about it here in case anyone else has this problem.

Problem #1: Our exe file resides next to our Help folder.

I found that when I pasted the chm in the same folder location as the exe, it worked. So for now, I paste the chm files to both the help folder (because that's how the programmers designed the <F1> key hookup) and to the folder where the exe resides. Then the styling issue was fixed.

Here's that structure:
chmexefolder.png
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cindynotbrady
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Location: Provo, Utah

Re: CHMs not showing images/styles

Unread post by cindynotbrady »

One other thing is that I must run the exe from that C drive by double-clicking the exe file. We use this AppLauncher tool to download new versions to our C drive, and the AppLauncher allows you to open the program from it. But I found poor results doing it that way, and instead, just double-clicked the exe from the C drive, and it worked. One more note for any others who may experience something similar.
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