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(More customer reviews)ADDITION TO MY REVIEW: After updating an old Help project for a Java application, I learned that this version of RoboHelp automatically and without warning changes all map IDs to a different form than the older version, with NO provision in RoboHelp X5 for generating IDs in the old format. Solution: go in and manually change all the map IDs to the old format. This is INEXCUSABLE and makes upgrading from an old version of RoboHelp A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.
And get this: If you have two topic files with the same name IN DIFFERENT FOLDERS, the properties box for each file shows the map IDs for BOTH files, with no indication which ID is actually assigned to each file. Really helpful.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: There is very little that is "robo" (i.e., automated) about RoboHelp. Sure, it will auto-generate things when you ask it to, but its output is so erratic and incomplete you might as well do it all by hand.
As a manual Help creation tool, it's got a nice complement of features, but let me tell you about a couple of little quirks or bugs...
You're supposed to be able to switch the type of output you get from RoboHelp at any point in your project. We started out with the goal of producing WebHelp, then switched to MS HTML help. Well, the part where you define what's available in your final output (Window definitions) did not come along for the switch. It took some time to realize that we had to delete the window definitions and define new ones in order for RoboHelp to actually produce the output we wanted.
Another little quirk is that when you add a hyperlink to existing text in a bulleted list, RoboHelp throws in a bunch of space characters (from 3 to 10) between the bullet and the text. And the WYSIWYG editor is not really WYSIWYG, not that that's any surprise, but it won't allow you to do everything you want to do. There is a TrueCode editor to let you get around that, if you know your way around HTML.
A new quirk that I've been wrestling with this morning is that any edit to an existing topic changes the style for that topic, and RoboHelp will not allow me to change it back, even when I edit the HTML directly!
Workarounds, more workarounds, and living with things you can't work around--expect to spend a lot of time developing your project's Help file with RoboHelp.
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RoboHelp Office X4 The Industry Standard in Help AuthoringRoboHelp Office makes it easy to create professional Help systems for desktop applications (Windows, Mac and Linux) and Web-based applications, including .NET. RoboHelp Office is the Industry Standard in Help Authoring and has won over 55 prestigious industry awards. Fast & EasyWith RoboHelp, it's easy to create standard and advanced Help features, including topics, graphics, audio, special effects, and more. Use automated wizards to generate a Table of Contents and Index in seconds. Not only will you save time, but you'll dramatically improve your application as well. Work In Your Preferred EditorRoboHelp lets you create and edit your content in Microsoft Word, any popular HTML editor such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, or RoboHelp's built-in "WYSIWYG" HTML editor. Since you choose the authoring environment, you can skip the learning curve and get started immediately. Create Any Popular Help FormatWith a single click, RoboHelp can output your project in any or all of the following formats: FlashHelp* Pure HTMLWebHelp JavaHelpHTML Help OracleHelp for JavaWinHelp Printed DocumentationCreate Cross-Browser,Cross-Platform Help SystemsFlashHelp and WebHelp formats display reliably on virtually any popular browser and platform (Windows, Macintosh, Linux). FlashHelp offers greater consistency across different browsers and platforms than any other Help format available. With RoboHelp, you can be confident that all end-users can view your Help system exactly the way you designed it.Leverage Existing ContentWith RoboHelp, no previous work is wasted. Import FrameMaker files, Word documents, HTML documents, or existing Help projects. RoboHelp automatically splits information into Help topics and preserves your Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary.
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