Our developer likes .CHM because it is one file and easy to call. I think you all know why we want to help him getting .NET working.
Flare4.2
when he calls the .NET help output he gets the skin, the TOC and all the appropriate stuff but the main help pane is white. The help system works after a compile so I know the master page is working. Any ideas?
Where is the help file located that gets called? Is it on a network drive or local? If it is on a network share, does copying it locally and then calling it make a difference?
This is a direct quote from our developer. I added the parenthetical descriptions.
InstallShield grabs the files from your network share and bundles them into the MSI (Microsoft Installer) file it creates. This is run on the VCC(computer component) to install DMS(one package of our software), and the help files are extracted and installed locally in a subfolder of the DMS installation folder, i.e., C:\Program Files\FlightSafety\DMS\Help.
So, installed locally, which leads to my next question...are all files that are needed for help installed correctly? For example when topic files are missing it is a bit difficult to display those. Other than that, does the help show up fine when the dev runs it in the IDE?
Unrelated to that, I recommend using something else other than MSI. MSI is just trouble and there are many other installation packagers out there that do a much better job. Yea, I know, admins love MSIs since they are much easier to deploy, but every MSI based installed I tried sooner or later caused trouble (including Flare). Luckily the Windows Install Cleanup Tool helped me out in all but one case (that case being SQL Server 2005 which could neither be installed, uninstalled, or repaired => wipe the drive and start from scratch).
The installer installs it locally. The dev has success when he points to the server but it is the local installation that bombs. I tested on my computer with a local output folder and it works fine.
Dev is hard coding a path (vs relative) to see what happens.
He solved it! When you call embedded Help Client, you have to pass a full path as opposed to a relative path. He also fixed it so when they install, the working directory is identified and placed into the full path. (There is a possibility that different working directories might occur due to revisions)
I think you all know why we want to help him getting .NET working.