Index Keyword Not Showing

Please post all questions and comments regarding Help & Manual 7 here.

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
alanmcd
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:02 pm

Index Keyword Not Showing

Unread post by alanmcd »

I have found a PC in my distribution list where, if I double click the CHM file from explorer, the index keyword list is displayed as expected.

But if I open the help file from the application (from a help menu i.e. Application.HelpCommand(HELP_CONTENTS, 0);) the keyword list is empty.

If I run the application 'As Administrator' the keyword list is populated.

What is preventing normal execution of an application from displaying keywords on a particular PC?

thanks
Alan
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Index Keyword Not Showing

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Alan,

This is a little strange and I haven't encountered it before personally. I've asked our CHM expert for comment and I'll get back to you when I know more.
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.
alanmcd
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:02 pm

Re: Index Keyword Not Showing

Unread post by alanmcd »

I've tried changing permission of the CHM file but this made no difference. I also have an install in a citrix environment on a similar Server 2012 R2 machine which works fine when running in the citrix execution. I notice the CWH file is created in the Program Files folder when you open the CHM file.
I've noticed it gets created without issue even when opening CHM from the application but the keywords list remains empty. It (the keyword list) only appears on the standalone server 2012 R2 64 bit machine when I double click the chm file and not execute/open it from F1 in the application.
Alan
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Index Keyword Not Showing

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Alan,

Our developers have also never seen an instance where the keyword index is hidden in the same CHM file under some conditions. Before doing anything else, please make absolutely sure that you are not looking at two versions of your CHM. This is unlikely given your description (opening the same file in different contexts), but I'd like to get it out of the way definitively anyway.

The other remotely possible case would be a very odd permissions problem that was introduced with Windows Vista and may still be there under some circumstances: When a program (e.g. probably your installer in this case) tries to create a file in a protected directory where it does not have adequate permissions, it sometimes doesn't generate a Windows error. Instead the file is created in a private folder and the path to this is overloaded over the original path. This then becomes persistent and the program then believes it's working with the original path, although it is actually accessing the old file in the private path that it created when it had the problem. We're not sure if this can still happen, but it would be worth testing.

To test I'd recommend uninstalling and then reinstalling in a different directory on the affected computer, first making sure that your installer is being executed in a context in which it has all the necessary permissions.

If that's not it we'd need to have a look at the affected CHM file, for which you can send a download link to support AT ec-software.com (replace the AT with @). Don't try to attach a CHM to a mail, not even packed in a zip, as almost all mail servers will now block that.
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.
alanmcd
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:02 pm

Re: Index Keyword Not Showing

Unread post by alanmcd »

I can confirm that there is only one copy and one version being executed.
Both environments are Server 2012 R2
Env1: Citrix Server - CHM opens in explorer - index list visible, CHM opens from application - index visible, Application executed from published Citrix apps, CHM opens and keywords list visible
Env2: CHM opens in explorer - index list visible, Application executed, CHM opens - index list empty

Dev Machine - Windows 10 Pro
Env3: Dev Machine - CHM open in explorer - index list visible, CHM opens from H&M - index visible, Application executed from shortcut - CHM Open - index list visible.

I have audited a few end users - they all open help/CHM file and index list is visible.
They mostly use Windows 10

I have checked this one server and it has same permissions as other server.
I can see the server in question has been running 147 days without re-boot. Re-booting is my only other thought. I shall report back with either success or failure.
thanks
Alan
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Index Keyword Not Showing

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Alan,

This is quite bizarre. Please do try the reboot on the server that has been up all that time. For a while long uptime was quite good on Windows but recently we've been seeing strange errors again on machines that have been up for longer periods. If the issue persists we'll have to have a look at it directly, although I fear we may not be able to reproduce it if it is associated with something specific and out of the ordinary on the affected machine(s)... :?
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.
Post Reply