Issues with Back function in HTML5 Flare 10.2

[KCinColorado]

I logged multiple bug reports on the use of the browser Back button and with Flare pre-V10 HTML Help. (If you clicked a link in the Help, clicked Back, and clicked the same link again, it was dead). MadCap fixed this issue in the 10.0 release. (YAY!) However, I recently upgraded to Flare 10.2, and am updating the same Help file. And now I'm seeing different issues with the Back function. MadCap says it's IE 11 but I've been using IE 11 for quite some time and hadn't seen THIS before. And I've been working with multiple HTML5 Help systems so I'd have noticed it!

If I go to topic A from the TOC, click a link in topic A that takes me to a separate file/topic (let's call it topic B), click Back in IE 11 to return to topic A, and then click the same OR a different link in topic A that also takes me to a separate file/topic, I am returned to the Welcome page. Sometimes a second click on the Back button will return to topic A (after the side-track to the welcome topic); other times not.

Has anyone else run into this? I swear all the "Back" functions were working great in Flare 10 so I have to wonder if 10.2 is the issue...? MadCap Support says they tested all Flare 10 releases with IE 9, IE 10, and IE11, and could only recreate the issue with IE 11, regardless of the Flare 10.x version. I'm skeptical because the behavior is SO annoying and just started happening (after I upgraded Flare). Of course it's possible that a Windows Update to IE changed something... ?

Next step for me is to uninstall Flare 10.2 and reinstall Flare 10.0, but thought I'd ask for advice first. My Help is being released soon - first release with the HTML5 format, which looks fabulous but isn't functioning very well. Rather embarrassing for a first release of the new and improved Help!

[atomdocs]

Hi, I just tested this in an HTML5 project in IE11 (Win7 64) and it works as expected for me - when I click browser "back" to return to the previous topic, all links are still functional.

Are you on v10.2 or v10.2.1? Maybe that is the difference.

Also, have you tried this on a number of different workstations? Do you get the same result on all?

[KCinColorado]

I discovered after I posted this yesterday that the problem is worse than I thought. It seems to happen after every 2nd Back click (you return to the welcome topic). I checked the browser's history list and at that point, all items seem to change to point to the welcome topic, not the topics I previously visited..

I also discovered if I access the published version of my Help, which resides on a Web server on our LAN, I don't get this problem. Back works correctly! But if I map a drive to that same machine and launch the Help from Windows Explorer by double-clicking the main Help file, the problem is there.

When we ship the HTML5 Help, it's installed in a folder on the user's system and launched from our application in a customized IE window that hides the regular browser features (buttons, address bar, etc.). I have Back/Forward buttons on the Help toolbar but the result is the same -- that second Back click brings you back to the welcome topic, not the topic you were in when you clicked a link (or the topic you were in when you clicked a TOC entry).

It's like the browser loses its mind on that second click and rewrites history! But not if the Help is being served from a Web page?

[KCinColorado]

To answer your questions properly:

I'm running Flare V10.2.1 (latest version) on Windows 7 64-bit
We can recreate this issue on other workstations (also running Windows 7 64)

Note that it's the SECOND Back click that has the issue.

[techwriter31]

I reported this issue to TS in February, as I noticed in when testing IE8 & IE9, using Flare 9.x and Win7-64. It was logged as bug report number 86575. But in my case, clicking the Back button once returned to the home page, while clicking it twice returned to the appropriate topic.

[ghanna]

I'm experiencing the same issue with Flare 11 and IE 11. The first time I click the browser back button, I return to the page I was on. I click another link on that page, and, go to a different topic, then the second time I click the browser back button, it takes me to the welcome page and not to the original page I was on.

Has anyone solved it?

[ghanna]

Hi, I'm experiencing the same issue in IE 11 with Flare 11. The first time I click a link from topic A then press the browser back button, I return to topic A. The second time I click a link from topic A then press the back button, I don't go back to topic A, but I go to the Welcome topic.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

[rheck]

I spoke with MadCap support today about this issue. They informed me that it is a known bug. There is no solution at this time.

Here is the description of the issue that they provided: When viewing output in IE that the browser back buttons do not work as intended. Instead of bringing you back one page it will bring you back to the default.htm file.

The issue occurs for me when I view my output from the C: drive and also when I view the output from the internal company server to which I publish. The Windows drive letter appears in my browser as C: and S:. Perhaps this issue does not occur when viewing the output over the internet when the URL has http:, but I can't speak to that.

Hope this helps.