Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

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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daicehawk
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Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by daicehawk »

It seems that the image linking in two different projects despite the identical CHM target settings is performed in different ways during the output build.
This is the image URL in the CHM file where images display fine (displayed by right-clicking on the image and selecting "Properties" in the context menu):
Mk-@Msit.png
This is the image URL in the file that won't display images:
ms-its.png
What may be the cause of this issue?
The Flare version used to build the docs is 2018r2, build Nr. 14.1.6875.33553
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SKamprowski
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by SKamprowski »

Hello,

I assume that in the first case your image is not stored inside your local project.
Kind regards,
Sabine Kamprowski
DocToHelp MVP (by ComponentOne)
ChoccieMuffin
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by ChoccieMuffin »

I find that if I've built the CHM on a network drive, I can't see the content of it at all until I copy it to my local drive. Could that be a similar situation for you? If you copy the misbehaving CHM to your local drive does it work?
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daicehawk
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by daicehawk »

SKamprowski wrote:Hello,

I assume that in the first case your image is not stored inside your local project.
ChoccieMuffin wrote:I find that if I've built the CHM on a network drive, I can't see the content of it at all until I copy it to my local drive. Could that be a similar situation for you? If you copy the misbehaving CHM to your local drive does it work?
No, the project and its resources are stored in its dedicated project folder(s) on a local drive of a local machine, which is used to build the output.
I see no sense whatsoever in keeping any relation between the resource storage place and the resulting output file that must have all the required resources embedded to be useful for the end-user.
Psider
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by Psider »

Can you show the HTML code in Flare for the two links in your original screenshots? Perhaps that will shed some light.
ChoccieMuffin
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by ChoccieMuffin »

Did you get any errors or warnings when building the problem help?
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daicehawk
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by daicehawk »

Psider wrote:Can you show the HTML code in Flare for the two links in your original screenshots? Perhaps that will shed some light.
for the problematic doc:

Code: Select all

<p class="NormalPicture">
            <img src="Resources/Images/ParameterPropertiesAccess.png" />
        </p>
for the non-problematic doc:

Code: Select all

<p class="NormalPicture" MadCap:targetName="insertingcomponent">
            <img src="Resources/Images/03000013.png" title="Inserting a component using the menu commands" />
        </p>
ChoccieMuffin wrote:Did you get any errors or warnings when building the problem help?
No warnings and errors when building.
Psider
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by Psider »

I doubt it will resolve your issue, you could try adding the MadCap:targetname text to the problem link.



The only other idea I have is that the image has actually gone astray, but flare has a ghost memory of it. Digging into the cobwebby depths of my brain, I think I had to delete the Analyzer (and maybe the User?) folder to discover this in a previous life. I'd do that only if no-one else has further troubleshooting ideas. And wait for @ChoccieMuffin or another forum regular to confirm what the side effects of this would be before trying though - it's been a while since I've used Flare regularly.
daicehawk
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by daicehawk »

Psider wrote:I doubt it will resolve your issue, you could try adding the MadCap:targetname text to the problem link.
The only other idea I have is that the image has actually gone astray, but flare has a ghost memory of it. Digging into the cobwebby depths of my brain, I think I had to delete the Analyzer (and maybe the User?) folder to discover this in a previous life. I'd do that only if no-one else has further troubleshooting ideas. And wait for @ChoccieMuffin or another forum regular to confirm what the side effects of this would be before trying though - it's been a while since I've used Flare regularly.
It definitely won't resolve the issue since all images both with targetname and without it are not displayed in the problematic doc.
How should the images in one project go astray in one project and be intact in others provided the workflow, storage place and other parameters are identical?
Psider
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by Psider »

Oh sorry, I misread and thought some images worked and some didn't.

So possibly deleting the Analyzer folder will resolve the issue. There are a lot of posts on the forum that suggest this cures a bunch of random ills. Check a few of the posts first - I don't think there's a downside to this one, but I can't remember for certain.
ChoccieMuffin
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by ChoccieMuffin »

Yes, deleting \Output and \Analyzer are my go-to first problem-solvers. If you also delete \Users, you will lose some of the custom settings you might have added in your project (like pinning frequently used styles to the top of the Styles window, for example) so try just deleting the first two (when the project is closed, obviously) before you get rid of the Users folder.

And as usual, make a backup of your project beforehand, as a just in case. I've never needed to go back to the backup but you can bet your boots the one time I don't do it, I'll need to! :D
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daicehawk
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by daicehawk »

ChoccieMuffin wrote:Yes, deleting \Output and \Analyzer are my go-to first problem-solvers. If you also delete \Users, you will lose some of the custom settings you might have added in your project (like pinning frequently used styles to the top of the Styles window, for example) so try just deleting the first two (when the project is closed, obviously) before you get rid of the Users folder.

And as usual, make a backup of your project beforehand, as a just in case. I've never needed to go back to the backup but you can bet your boots the one time I don't do it, I'll need to! :D
It did not solve the problem.
The cause was renaming of the file, which I consider an idiotic behaviour. Obviously, the file name is somehow specified in the internal image linking.
ChoccieMuffin
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Re: Images won't display in the .CHM file on other machines

Post by ChoccieMuffin »

daicehawk wrote:...The cause was renaming of the file, which I consider an idiotic behaviour. Obviously, the file name is somehow specified in the internal image linking.
Don't understand what happened there, where did any renaming take place?
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