Imported topics not appearing in Search results

This forum is for all Flare issues related to the Microsoft HTML Help target.
This target produces "CHM" files in the output.
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todd.richardson
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 184
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:43 am
Location: Massachusetts

Imported topics not appearing in Search results

Post by todd.richardson »

Hello,

I've encountered a CHM-specific issue where imported topics do not appear in Search results. Details:

- The original content was provided as a series of HTML files, generated by a third party source. I imported their HTML files into our Flare project using Project > Import > HTML File Set.
- The topics appear in the Help TOC in the output
- The topics do appear in HTML5 Search results
- Ensured that each topic has a Topic Title
- Ensured that the condition tags assigned to these imported topics are not excluded from the output
- The imported topics contained custom style declarations (<style></style> tags) between the <head></head> tags, but I removed all custom styling from each imported file

Any idea what might be going on here?

Thanks.
Todd Richardson
Engineering Team Lead – Customer Experience | IntervalZero

Windows 10, Flare 2020
wclass
Propellus Maximus
Posts: 1238
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:56 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Imported topics not appearing in Search results

Post by wclass »

A topic can be set to not searchable in its properties.
Right click on the file and choose Properties and click the Topic Properties tab.
There is a Searchable check box down near the bottom of the tab.
You can also see this value using the File List it you want to check all files at once.
Margaret Hassall - Melbourne
todd.richardson
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 184
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:43 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Imported topics not appearing in Search results

Post by todd.richardson »

wclass wrote:A topic can be set to not searchable in its properties.
Right click on the file and choose Properties and click the Topic Properties tab.
There is a Searchable check box down near the bottom of the tab.
You can also see this value using the File List it you want to check all files at once.
The Include topic when full-text search database is generated setting applies only to HTML5, WebHelp, and DotNet Help targets. It does not apply to CHM targets, which is where I'm seeing this behavior. At any rate, this check box is selected for every topic in question.
Todd Richardson
Engineering Team Lead – Customer Experience | IntervalZero

Windows 10, Flare 2020
wclass
Propellus Maximus
Posts: 1238
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:56 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Imported topics not appearing in Search results

Post by wclass »

Sorry - I missed that. Not sure I can help.
Margaret Hassall - Melbourne
todd.richardson
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 184
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 6:43 am
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Imported topics not appearing in Search results

Post by todd.richardson »

It turns out this issue is explained in the Flare Help (shame on me - I should have checked there first).

http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare12/ ... L_Help.htm
A common issue encountered by Microsoft HTML Help developers is when a "No Topics Found" message appears while searching a CHM file.

Typically, this is the result of an unregistered dynamic link library (DLL) file on the computer building the Help file. The DLL is named "itcc.dll" and is a component of Microsoft's CHM specification. Its purpose is to supply the operating system running Flare with the ability to build a CHM file with index and search capabilities.

A variety of software vendors (particularly those that develop Help authoring tools) distribute a copy of the itcc.dll file along with their program installation files. Should you happen to install or uninstall program with a copy of this file (e.g., a Help tool or software program from another vendor or another MadCap software tool that requires this file), it is possible for other copies of the itcc.dll file to become unregistered.

To resolve this issue, the Flare \bin directory contains a batch file named RegisterItcc.bat. You can run this batch file to re-register the DLL in Windows.
Issue resolved.
Todd Richardson
Engineering Team Lead – Customer Experience | IntervalZero

Windows 10, Flare 2020
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