Re: HTML Help does not appear to be generating appropriately

I do not recall changing the templates. I know that I can access the DB stuff, but I do not for fear of messing something up.

The only thing I did related to your response below was upgrade to 4.6508, did the tools | options | update templates, and rebuilt. It seems to work now.

Thanks so much for your help on this. I love the tool and keep up the great work!!

Hi Ty,
So I took a look at your project and I found that there were some problems with the templates that were causing your rendering issue. It appears you updated a couple of the templates but not everything which caused problems because there are new dependencies and new ways of how topics are managed.

Specifcally you're missing the reference to jquery.min.js in your templates which accounts for the failures in the TOC and the topics. At the very least add jquery.min.js to your templates folder and that might make everything work as is, but it's probably better if you update all of your templates to the latest version.

There are two major things that have changed:

I'm using a newer build here so it's hard for me to tell exactly what isn't right and I don't want to start mucking with your templates - you can do that if you want though.

However, it's probably best if you update all your templates since it looks like your templates are pretty old (2005). Back up your old templates, then go to Tools | Options | Update Templates and copy the new set in. If you're using the stock templates this should just replace the old ones. If you've customized the old ones.

Alternately you can also install the latest interim build that will be released officially next week, which adds a bunch of additional functionality to templates. If you're updating templates this might be better as it will save you from having to do it again when the next update comes around :-). This new build will also automatically backup your templates before replacing them and timestampt the backup so you can more easily compare any changes you might have made in your templates.

You can download the interim build from:

http://west-wind.com/files/HelpbuilderSetup_466.exe

Let me know how it goes...

+++ Rick ---

Rick,

I alos zipped up my project - in case you wanted to look at it your self. I have the HTML and CHM files in there, as well as the hbp. I will leave this up there for 1 week or when you tell me that you have it - so I will remove it - just cuz I do not want this accessed over and over killing my website stats. ;-)

http://www.frontyardsurprises.com/wwdata/OverAll.zip

Ok. I have added two links at the bottom so you can see the behavior I am seeing. The first link shows the IE9 view with the links expanded. The second image shows the CHM file with the links expanded.

This was from the exact same build of the HTML help from the toolbar in HTML Help Builder.

http://www.frontyardsurprises.com/images/ie9.png
http://www.frontyardsurprises.com/images/chm.png

Let me know if this is enough or how else I can help. Sorry for being vague...I was not sure how to get you the information you need to help...

Please explain what you mean by 'your links are goofed'. I need more information to help you.

+++ Rick ---

My links are still goofed - IE9 or Chrome. I deployed the HTML files to a web server and I get the same behavior. I am unsure what else to try at this point. I can zip my project and send it on - if you are interested...very weird.

Ty,

That is the right behavior. When you view a help file locally IE imposes restrictions on the content. If you upload the HTML files to your Web site it'll work without any of those security messages because it then runs in the Internet Zone.

If you change default browsers to FireFox or Chrome or open index.htm locally with those browsers you also won't see the security prompts. Another reason to hate IE and not use it as your default browser.

+++ Rick ---

I have a help project that I am trying to build the help file. When I generate help, the .chm file generate approprately, but the html help seems goofed. When I open index.htm, IE opens up and displays a message about restricting the page from running ActiveX scripts. I click on Allow Content and the tree view displays but I can not get anything to display on the right side.

Any thoughts?

I am going to download another webbrowser and see if that helps. Not sure if it is IE or not...