RoboHelp Article

Before you install Adobe RoboHelp 7

This article is primarily intended for readers who are upgrading to Adobe RoboHelp 7 from an earlier version. Nonetheless there will be some useful information for those who are installing RoboHelp for the first time.

This article explains: 

• What you need to do before installing RoboHelp 7.
• What to consider before installing RoboHelp 7.
• Where to find out about changes in RoboHelp 7.

Requirements

Adobe RoboHelp 7

• Try
• Buy

Microsoft Word (version 2000/2002/2003/2007)

Standard pre-upgrade steps

This section explains some steps you should take before starting the upgrade or installation process.

Make backups

Don't skip this section just because you use source control. Many people do not check in the outputs on the basis they can be recreated. Also not all the internal files get checked in. This section is about making sure you can return to the pre-install state if anything goes wrong. Even Adobe cannot prevent a power outage in the middle of your install! So even if you use source control, read this section thinking about those files you don't check in.

Whenever you install any program, there are certain precautions that you should take, but too many of us just blithely open a file in the new version as if nothing could possibly go wrong. Sometimes that is born out of having installed many upgrades and having been able to carry on without encountering problems. A smooth installation or upgrade becomes the expectation and overlooks the fact that it is only true of certain types of application. Companies like Adobe do all they possibly can to ensure a smooth upgrade and usually they do an excellent job. However, help authoring tools are not simple programs and sometimes internal files have to change. Many of us make non-standard changes to our help topics and, sometimes, those changes will not sit well with the upgrade changes. It's nobody's fault but the possibility of unexpected results has to be considered. It should be a basic principle that you make a backup before opening any file in an upgraded application of any type.

For years people have been imploring the various companies that have owned RoboHelp to remove the Kadov tags. Adobe has done so in this release and so, when you open a project in RoboHelp 7, the code gets rewritten so that you will not see the word "Kadov" again, other than where it is legitimately used in JavaScript, which does not conflict with W3C standards. This means the code is extensively rewritten during the upgrade so it is only common sense to make a backup first.

To back up my content, I simply create a ZIP archive for each project, giving each of the archives clear names. Then I create a folder called something like RoboHelpProjects_Pre_Version7 on a server that gets backed up regularly. I move the ZIP archives to that folder.

System Restore Points

Create a System Restore Point so that if anything goes wrong, you can restore your registry to its previous state. This too should be a standard precaution before installing any software.

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
2. Select Create a Restore Point and follow the onscreen instructions.

Word templates

This section is for RoboHelp for Word users only.

It is important that you do not use the RoboHelp.dot file from earlier versions as none of those files are compatible with RoboHelp 7.

Make sure you have a copy of your existing RoboHelp.dot file somewhere safe before you uninstall your current version and upgrade. If you amended the supplied styles or created your own in the earlier version, after upgrading you can add them to the new template using the Organizer within Microsoft Word. How that is done will vary according to your version of Microsoft Word and is described in the Microsoft Word online help.

Pre-installation considerations

This section covers some things that to think about before you start the installation or upgrade process from the install CD or your download.

Which computer should you use?

Let's first consider where to install RoboHelp7.

If you have an upgrade or full licence

If you have purchased a license and are 100% sure you will not be needing to go back to your previous version of RoboHelp, install RoboHelp on your production machine.

• If installing an upgrade, you must first uninstall the previous version. You will also require the key for that version during the installation process.
• If installing a full license and you have an earlier version, your next consideration is whether you want to install RoboHelp 7 in place of your existing version or alongside it. That is covered in the "Side-by-side installations" section below.

If you have the trial version

If you have an earlier version and are still just considering an upgrade, should you install the trial version of RoboHelp 7 on your production machine? I recommend that you avoid doing so if you can. I think that most people will want to upgrade when they see what has been changed but you might not get the financial approval before the 30-day trial period expires. If approval is not forthcoming, you will need to revert to an earlier version. It follows that you should not be undertaking any production work on your projects with the trial version of RoboHelp 7. Even if you do not use new features such as snippets, there is no backward compatibility, so you should only use copies of your projects to test things out. Your production work must continue with your current version.

Overall, it is much cleaner and safer if you can install the trial version on a second machine while you try things out. If necessary, you can then revert to your production machine knowing that nothing has touched that installation. If installing on a second machine is not an option, read the next section.

Side-by-side installations

Prior to RoboHelp 6, it was not recommended that more than one version of RoboHelp was installed on a PC. That was a problem for contractors in particular as they could be working with clients who used different versions. There were ways around the problem but one thing had to be accepted: RoboHelp was not designed to work that way, so if any problems did arise, you could not call on support.

RoboHelp 6 changed that and could be installed alongside RoboHelp X5 for users of RoboHelp HTML. It was still not recommended for RoboHelp for Word users, though.

You can install RoboHelp 7 alongside both RoboHelp HTML X5 and 6 but again this is limited to RoboHelp HTML. Also there may be issues with the earlier versions of RoboHelp HTML if RoboHelp for Word 7 is opened.

In short, RoboHelp HTML, X5, 6 and 7 are compatible, provided RoboHelp for Word is not opened. On that basis, I recommend that only expert users undertake side-by-side installations.

One final but rather important point on this. Side-by-side installation is only permitted if you have full licenses for both versions. If you only pay the upgrade price, you are not entitled to continue using the earlier version.

Multiple versions of Microsoft Word

Either because you need a dual installation of different versions of RoboHelp or for other reasons, you may need to have more than one version of Word installed on your machine. Whilst this can be done, it is not a procedure to be undertaken by the intended audience of this topic. Advanced users can find information about this area on my website.

The installation

Time to take stock of what's been discussed so far.

• Backing up all existing projects, and I do mean all projects. It is much too easy to just back up the main ones now and a month or two down the line, you open a small project and forget to back it up first.
• You have read about the considerations for side-by-side installations of RoboHelp.
• You have decided where you are going to install.

It is outside the scope of this article to cover the full installation instructions. They will be covered in documents supplied by Adobe and the onscreen instructions as you install the product. There are some points to note, however.

User rights

Several things have changed in RoboHelp 7. It always used to be necessary to install with the user's logon and that had to have local administration rights attached. You can still install RoboHelp 7 in that way, but it is no longer necessary; it can now be installed by your System Administrator using his or her logon. Additionally, those rights are not needed to use the program.

Volume Licensing Agreements allow RoboHelp 7 to be installed on the number of PCs specified in the license agreement and activation is not required.

All other license agreements are specific to one user per license but that permits installation on a second PC for the same user provided both PCs are not in concurrent use. Activation is required as described below.

RoboHelp 7 can be installed directly onto the user's PC or it can be done by the System Administrator as a silent installation. See the next section on "Silent installation."

Silent installation

Introduced in RoboHelp 7, the System Administrator can now perform a silent installation.

The script for Windows 2000 is:

C :> msiexec /qn /L* "<Log file>" /I
		    "<Path to RoboHelp MSI file>" USERNAME=<user name>
		    COMPANYNAME=<comp name> SERIALNUMBER=<serial number>
		    EPIC_EULA_ACCEPTED=1 TRANSFORMS=<Product Lang code>.mst 

The Product Lang code may be any of the following:

English – 1033

French – 1036

German – 1031

Japanese - 1041

The same script can be used for Microsoft Windows XP and Vista but the serial number and EULA will also need to be entered by the end user when they first open RoboHelp 7. Alternatively, the script can be amended as below for Windows XP and Vista machines only:

C :> msiexec /qn /L* "<Log file>" /I
		    "<Path to RoboHelp MSI file>" USERNAME=<user name>
		    COMPANYNAME=<comp name> TRANSFORMS=<Product Lang code>.mst 

Which components to install

Figure 1. The initial installation screen with three options

The initial installation screen gives three options:

1. Adobe RoboHelp 7. This installs the main component and this option will be selected by default.
2. Adobe RoboSource Control 3.1. This option will be selected by default too. The installation of this component is outside the scope of this article but is covered in Getting started with RoboSource Control 3 in RoboHelp 7 by Matthew Ellison.
3. Adobe PDF Creation Add-On 8.1. This option will be selected by default unless the installer finds you already have a compatible version of Adobe Acrobat (all flavors of Acrobat 7 and 8 including 3D.)

What if the installation fails?

Sometimes the installation of a new program encounters a problem. If this should happen to you, Adobe have prepared a useful guide to the things you should look at in the following TechNote 402652: Troubleshoot installation problems in RoboHelp 7 (Windows XP).

First steps in RoboHelp 7

Before going any further, I have to ask again: Did you create backups of all your projects? We are now at the point of no return. When you open a project from an earlier version, RoboHelp 7 makes various changes to both its own files in the project and to your HTML. On opening a project, the first thing you will see is a dialog box, warning you your project is about to be changed. That is your last chance!

With a project open, you will see the interface is very different. Apart from when RoboHelp progressed from being an add-on to Microsoft Word, this is probably the single biggest interface change in its history. But look closely and you will see there are also many familiar features, albeit with a new lick of paint. It is an evolutionary change rather than a revolutionary one.

Now you might want to start exploring RoboHelp 7; that is outside the scope of this article but I can point you in the right direction. See the "Where to go from here" section below. Between those pointers I think you will soon have the show back on the road and feeling it is the best show yet! Why not start by looking at the HTML code, you will see that there are no Kadov tags! Also the code is much cleaner.

One last thing before you continue. Open your version of Microsoft Word and check the Security Settings. Make sure they are set no higher than Medium if you intend to create Printed Documentation.

Summary

In case you missed it, back up your projects first. Yes I know I am laboring this point but it is important. With that done, the rest is quite straightforward. The following checklist should help you with a smooth installation or upgrade.

• Create a System Restore Point.
• Make backups of your projects.
• Decide which PC to install RoboHelp 7 on.
• Make copies of the RoboHelp.dot file.
• Make sure that whether the installation is done using your log on credentials, or that of one of your IT personnel, also ensure that the log on has administrative rights attached.

If you encounter any issues, the Adobe RoboHelp Forums are a great place to seek information.  Even if your question is simple, don't be intimidated or fearful that you will be flamed; we're here to help.

Where to go from here

Check out the following resources to get started with RoboHelp 7:

• Peter Grainge's RoboHelp 7 Topic
• Getting started with RoboSource Control 3 in RoboHelp 7 by Matthew Ellison

About the author