RE: RoboHelp: the incredible vanishing "Contents" tab!

["Susan Ahrenhold" <sahrenhold -at- winspc -dot- com>]

>I've got two WinHelp files (one English, one French) both created in
>RoboHelp 5.X and Word 97. As far as I can tell, the project settings are
>identical, but when I compile them, the English help file jumps right to
the
>table of contents (which is what I want it to do) but the French file has
no
>table of contents button at all and opens at the Index tab instead.

The TOC tab is generated from a file in the source directory called:

           [ProjectName].CNT

If, when you copied the HPJ, you didn't also get the CNT, I believe that
this is the result you get.

In desperation, I opened the .HPJ project files
themselves in an ASCII editor, and they seem identical there too, though the
configuration options are in a slightly different order in the two files.
Any thoughts as to the cause of the problem and possible fixes?

While we're on the subject, the project file contains the forbidding words
"Don't edit this; it's maintained by RoboHelp". But surely it's just an
ASCII text file, right? I've edited these suckers by hand in the past, when
I coded help files by hand, but does RoboHelp work sufficiently differently
that I should heed its advice and stay well clear of the .HPJ file?

I took RoboHelp training, and it seems that the issue is that if you do
hand-coding in the project files, all the information that you entered
doesn't necessarily go back to the RoboHelp interface, so you may have some
problems with a subsequent build of the files.
However, you can (and, like you, many of us do) edit some of the final ASCII
output files.

If this doesn't work, you might wish to try the "User Community" at e-help.

http://www.helpcommunity.com/home.asp?sid=265280&page=main&comm=RoboHELP&try
=1

e-help staff monitors the list VERY closely, and frequently give the answers
online.

There's also an archive.

Hope this helps!