ToC entries not appearing in webhelp plus output

[nick777]

No idea why...I have a Master Toc in my project, with links to various topics.
TOC (default) is selected in my skin.
The skin and the Master TOC are selected in my MyWebHelpPlus target.

My startup topic appears, and I can jump to other topics from this startup topic, but I have no entries over on the left in my Toc. Why is this and how can I fix it? I need to come up with something very soon for a demo for a new customer!

I'm not publishing it yet, I'm just trying to view it. I'm running Vista SP1 on my machine.

[RamonS]

Which browser do you use? Does it work on a system with a less broken OS, such as XP?

[nick777]

I'm using Firefox.

I don't know if it works on another system, because I'm having trouble figuring out how to view it on another system...I want to copy a bunch of files to another computer, but which ones? I'm having trouble figuring out this destination stuff.

[LTinker68]

Instead of leaving "default" as the option in the target, select the TOC's exact name from the list. In a couple of spots I've seen "default" and "Default" (note the case difference) and selecting one over the other causes a problem. I haven't investigated it enough to see if it's something my system is throwing in or an artifact left over from a previous version. In any case, try selecting the actual TOC name from the list in the target.

[nick777]

Lisa, I did select the TOC name from the list, not the default.

[Richard Ferrell]

If you create Webhelp does it work correctly?

[nick777]

So, it looks like I can create output and copy to another machine, with XP on it, and it works fine. Seems like it might be a Vista incompatibility?

[RamonS]

Well, one more reason not to use Vista.

[LTinker68]

You said you're generating WebHelpPlus output. Are you testing the output on a web server, or on your local Vista machine? And the machine running XP that you copied it to -- is that XP Professional and does it have IIS enabled? I don't have Vista so I don't know if it comes with IIS or if it's like XP where it depends on which version you bought, but I'm pretty sure WebHelpPlus requires an IIS environment, so if Vista doesn't have it or you don't have it enabled... (Yes, I know, RamonS, why use IIS...)

If you upload the files to a web server running IIS, then do you still have a problem viewing it on your Vista machine?

[nick777]

Ok Update -
I am using Vista on my computer, but that seems irrelevant. I transfer the WebHelp Plus output to our server, running XP with IIS, and nobody can see the ToC on their machines. If I change the output to regular WebHelp, it works. What could be the problem?

[KevinDAmery]

I'm not sure of the details, but I know WebHelp Plus only runs under certain conditions.

AFAIK, the only things that WEbHelp Plus gives you that aren't in WebHelp are:

- faster sever-side searching
- searching of non-XHTML content (i.e. users can search through PDFs, Excel files, etc. that are hosted on your site)
- automatic merging of multiple Flare project output at runtime (i.e. you have 2 or more Flare projects each building their own output, and when you put them together on the server they look like one big help system to your customers)
- can run on an XP or Win2k3 server instead of IIS

If you need one of those features, then you need WebHelp Plus to work. If you don't need any of them, though, you're probably better off just using plain ol' WebHelp.

[LTinker68]

WebHelp Plus requires some extra setup on the web server that isn't necessary for regular WebHelp. I'm not sure how the pieces tie together or which aspect would affect the TOC not showing, but you might want to double-check that you have the server set up correct (or, rather, ask your IT dept. to double-check). More details are available in the MadCap KB at http://kb.madcapsoftware.com/default_CSH.htm#OUTWP1001F.

[Richard Ferrell]

WebHelp Plus does require Setup on your IIS machine, The ASP.Net needs to be installed, and other options enabled, Please see Flare's help file on WebHelp Plus Output on how to set this up.

[NorthEast]

I get the same problem.
The TOC isn't displayed, and IE reports a javascript error.

Code: Select all

Line: 142
Char: 3
Error: 'style' is null or not an object
Code: 0
URL: http://myPC/Help/Skin/Toc.htm

I see this if I open the help from its webserver URL - http://myPC/Help/Default.htm
The TOC is displayed if I open it from the file path - C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Help\Default.htm

[Richard Ferrell]

Have you verified your settings in IIS, and Checked that the website is running? and that the ASP.Net is set to 2.0 in IIS

[NorthEast]

Have you verified your settings in IIS, and Checked that the website is running? and that the ASP.Net is set to 2.0 in IIS

I followed all the instructions in the help for installing/enabling WebHelp Plus.
The website is running, and ASP.Net is set to 2.0.50727 in IIS.

[RamonS]

This is why I asked several times already to implement WebHelp Plus on PHP. Almost all web hosters support that, one can pick the way cheaper Apache/PHP offerings (IIS hosting is usually more expensive since IIS is more expensive), and unless there is a bug in the script PHP just works. You copy the files in the right place and are done. I've suffered through way too many ASP/.NET installations and I don't consider it a suitable platform.

[Richard Ferrell]

I would then open a support ticket, via our website

[SusanL]

I see this if I open the help from its webserver URL - http://myPC/Help/Default.htm
The TOC is displayed if I open it from the file path - C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Help\Default.htm

Same here:

This file path to the Web Server works:
\\nccpatest2\SOPHelpDocumentPlus\Default.htm

Everything comes up correctly in WebHelp Plus.

This URL pointing at the Web server does not work:

http://nccpatest2/SOPHelpDocumentPlus/Default.htm

Blank TOC, error on Index, and no search capability.

Our Web server is running Windows Server 2003, other Web sites are able to run from it, and ASP.Net is set to 2.0 in IIS, and is allowed.

[jacortes]

Has there been any progress on this from MadCap. I have the same problem. The WebHelp (not WebHelp Plus) works perfectly on my hard drive. As soon as I paste the output onto the network drive, the TOC does not appear.

[LTinker68]

Did you enable MOTW so that you could view the WebHelp on your local machine using IE? If so, then you have to rebuild the output without MOTW enabled, and then copy that output to the server. MOTW on a web server causes problems.

[jacortes]

Yes, I had MOTW enabled. I disabled it, but I still can't view the TOC. Could there be another reason the TOC does not appear when you launch the help from a server?

[RamonS]

Which server and browser are you using?

[jacortes]

Windows XP Pro 5.1; IE 6.

To thicken the plot, my co-worker's WebHelp appears just fine using the same browser off the same server. There has to be some other setting in Flare that causes this TOC problem.

[RamonS]

Which web server are you using? IIS, Apache? Something else?

Does it work when you use a web browser? Such as Firefox, Opera or such. I wouldn't go by what IE6 does or doesn't do.

Also, what do the logs of the web server show? Is the ToC ever requested? If yes, is it sent out?