Macromedia RoboHelp Server - 9.0 Instruction Manual

Using

ADOBE® ROBOHELP® SERVER 9

This user guide is protected under copyright law, furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the informational content contained in this guide.

This user guide is licensed for use under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License. This License allows users to copy, distribute, and transmit the user guide for noncommercial purposes only so long as (1) proper attribution to Adobe is given as the owner of the user guide; and (2) any reuse or distribution of the user guide contains a notice that use of the user guide is governed by these terms. The best way to provide notice is to include the following link. To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe AIR, AIR, FlashHelp, and RoboHelp are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

Java and Oracle are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Server are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Updated Information/Additional Third Party Code Information available at http://www.adobe.com/go/thirdparty.

Portions include software under the following terms:

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).

MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and THOMSON multimedia (http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm).

Portions utilize code licensed from Nellymoser (www.nellymoser.com)

http://www.on2.com.

Reserved.

This product contains either BSAFE and/or TIPEM software by RSA Data Security, Inc.

Sorenson Spark™ video compression and decompression technology licensed from Sorenson Media, Inc.

Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110, USA.

Notice to U.S. government end users. The software and documentation are ”Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of ”Commercial Computer Software” and ”Commercial Computer Software Documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial items and (b) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein. Unpublished rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. For U.S. Government End Users, Adobe agrees to comply with all applicable equal opportunity laws including, if appropriate, the provisions of Executive Order 11246, as amended, Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (38 USC 4212), and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the regulations at 41 CFR Parts 60-1 through 60-60, 60-250, and 60-741. The affirmative action clause and regulations contained in the preceding sentence shall be incorporated by reference.

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Chapter 1: Getting started

About RoboHelp Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Help and support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Top new features/enhancements in Adobe RoboHelp Server 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Configuration Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Set up RoboHelp Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Publish from RoboHelp HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 2: Administering the server

Administrator and end user tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Web Administrator tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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Chapter 1: Getting started

About RoboHelp Server

Adobe® RoboHelp® Server is a server-based Help solution that provides real-time end-user feedback on your Help and knowledgebases. RoboHelp Server gathers and logs data about what questions users ask while searching content and how users navigate through topics. Results are displayed in an easy-to-view graphical format for quick interpretation. Your Help system resides on a server (for example, Adobe Help Resource Center), and you can make instant updates to your Help system content.

RoboHelp Server contains the back-end processes, database functionality, and ODBC connections necessary to integrate it. RoboHelp Server works with the authoring tool, so authors can edit content, set master project options, maintain windows, and view reports.

Authoring Tool

RoboHelp HTML

Project A Project B Project C

Database

RoboHelp Server

Reports

RoboHelp Server interaction with different components

Servlet Container

Apache Tomcat

Web Server

IIS / Apache HTTP Server

Users

MS Access Oracle MS SQL Server

Note: With RoboHelp Server, you can install your database server on a separate machine or use any of the existing database servers.

Tracking and reporting

Adobe RoboHelp Server provides end users with the ability to find information when they have questions. Users can view content using any standard browser and operating system. Any number of users can access the published documents.

Note: You can define the maximum number of database connections for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server database management systems through the

maxload property in the robohelp_server.properties file.

RoboHelp Server tracks the following types of data:

• Where users request assistance: Identifies the location where users make repeated requests for specific information.

• How users search: Searches that users perform repeatedly. This data can be mined to move frequently searched

information to a more prominent position in the content for easier access. You can also use this information to find information gaps and to improve heading titles for more intuitive navigation.

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• How users navigate online content: Tracks how users seek information in online content and how frequently they

access particular information such as headings and articles. This information is available at a topic level.

• RoboHelp Server tracks all the operating system and browser details. You can use this information to improve the

content quality for browsers preferred by users.

Automatic project merging

Concurrently work on multiple projects and merge them into the project at run time.

While building an online information system, authors can develop and publish their content according to their own schedules. RoboHelp Server provides automatic project merging, so authors can work on different parts of a project at the same time, and publish them to the same server. When end users view the content, they see one seamless online information system. Do not worry about sharing source or depending on a single author or project—all the separate projects are merged when users access the content. Users can navigate across all the projects using the Index, Contents, and Search buttons.

By default, the projects are added to the Table of Contents in the order they are published to the server. You can customize this order in the Projects page of the Web Admin interface. When you merge projects, each project file in the authoring tool remains intact, but the keywords from the indexes and glossary terms are combined at run time, or when end users access the system from the server.

Support for languages other than English

The runtime interface (including Table of Contents, index, glossary, and search) can be automatically localized, and authors can publish projects written in various languages to the same server. You can change the display text on the user interface of the online system to another language, including text on the Contents, Index, and Search buttons.

In addition, end users can perform a full-text search of online content in their native language. This flexibility allows authors to develop content in languages other than English and take advantage of server-based online information systems.

Resources

Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to read an overview of activation and the many resources available to you. You have access to instructional videos, plug-ins, templates, user communities, seminars, tutorials, RSS feeds, and much more.

Activation

To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® RoboHelp® Server 9 software, see the ReadMe file on the installation disc.

Help with installation

For help with installation issues, see the Installation Support Center at www.adobe.com/support/robohelp/.

Register

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Note: Register only once for RoboHelp Server 9.

❖ To register, follow the onscreen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears after you install the

software.

ReadMe

A ReadMe file for your software is available online and on the installation disc. Open the file to read important information about topics such as the following:

• System requirements

• Installation (including removing the software)

• Activation and registration

• Font installation

• Troubleshooting

• Customer support

• Legal notices

Help and support

Community Help

Community Help is an integrated environment on Adobe.com that gives you access to community-generated content moderated by Adobe and industry experts. Comments from users help guide you to an answer. Search Community Help to find the best content on the Web about Adobe products and technologies, including these resources:

• Videos, tutorials, tips and techniques, blogs, articles, and examples for designers and developers.

• Complete online Help, which is updated regularly and is more complete than the Help delivered with your product.

If you are connected to the Internet when you access Help, you automatically see the latest online Help rather than the set delivered with your product.

• All other content on Adobe.com, including knowledgebase articles, downloads and updates, Adobe® Developer

Connection, and more.

Use the Help search field in your product’s user interface to access Community Help. You can search for content within the Adobe.com site and also in websites that have useful information about your product. Moderators continue to identify most relevant Web content for your product. You can add comments to online Help and view comments added by other users. For a video of Community Help, see

Other resources

Online Help also includes a link to the complete, updated PDF version of Help.

Visit the Adobe Support website at www.adobe.com/support to learn about free and paid technical support options.

www.adobe.com/go/learn_community_help_en.

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Top new features/enhancements in Adobe RoboHelp Server 9

User interface enhancements

RoboHelp Server 9 features a fresh, aesthetically-appealing user interface.

Enhanced platform support

• Support for Microsoft Access 2010

• Support for Apache Tomcat 7.x. Tomcat 7.x is currently in the beta stage.

Technical enhancements

• RoboHelp Server logs are now created in a consolidated log file (robohelpserver.log) under the

<Tomcat

This new log file is generated using the Apache log4j logging framework.

Home>/logs folder. All RoboHelp Server-related exceptions and warnings are logged in this file.

If you want to tweak the size, backup limit, or format of the logs, modify the value of the relevant properties in the <RoboHelp Server Home>/Web-INF/classes/log4j.properties file.

• You can now host RoboHelp Server over HTTP Secure (HTTPS) to ensure secure communications between the

server and clients.

• Authors can publish their RoboHelp HTML projects using HTTPS

• End users can view projects on the server over HTTPS

• The RoboHelp Server Web Administrator and reports can be viewed over HTTPS as well

Moderation settings for Adobe AIR Help comments

Using the Web Administrator, you can now specify the following moderation settings for comments on Adobe® AIR® Help output:

• Allow Post Anonymous

• Mark Comments As Pending

Search-related enhancements

RoboHelp Server 9 features many search-related enhancements:

Project stop list for server-side indexing Unlike RoboHelp 8, the stop list specified in a RoboHelp HTML project is

now used for server-side indexing.

Project synonym list for server-side indexing Unlike RoboHelp 8, the synonym list specified in a RoboHelp HTML

project is now used for server-side indexing.

Synonym highlighting Synonyms for a keyword being searched for are highlighted in the search result list. This

enhancement is available only for WebHelp Pro output published using RoboHelp HTML 9.

Dynamic context in search results for server-side indexing RoboHelp Server now displays dynamic context along with

search results. Apache Lucene, the text search engine library powering search in RoboHelp Server, displays the relevant

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words around a keyword as context in the search result list. This feature is available only for WebHelp Pro and FlashHelp Pro projects published to RoboHelp Server with server-side indexing enabled.

• For keywords within topics, words in the immediate vicinity of the keyword in the topic are displayed as context.

• The static context of the topic is displayed for user-specified keywords. The first few words of the topic comprise

static context.

• In the case of external resources for keywords, the URL description of the external resource is displayed as the

dynamic context.

Note: For WebHelp Pro projects, dynamic context is displayed beneath a topic in the search result list, with the relevant matched text highlighted in bold. For FlashHelp Pro projects, dynamic context is displayed as a tooltip when the user hovers the mouse pointer over any topic in the search result list.

Reporting enhancements

RoboHelp 9 delivers several reporting improvements that will help you better optimize the value of your Help content:

• Functionality to filter reports by area

• New, intuitive names for the reports

• Improvements to the graphical representation of reports

• Functionality to export report data to the CSV format

• Flexibility to customize reports by showing/hiding columns. Column layouts can be saved across sessions.

• Fine-tuned numerical data in reports

Configuration Manager enhancements

You can now perform the following additional tasks using the RoboHelp Server Configuration Manager:

• Migrate context data from RoboHelp Server 8 to RoboHelp Server 9

• Deploy a context in the root context

• Delete contexts

• Set up an admin account for RoboHelp Server using LDAP authentication or database authentication

• Configure LDAP settings

• Configure search indexing settings

The little things

• The Web Administrator now provides functionalities to edit and delete users. Only RoboHelp Server

administrators are allowed to edit or delete users.

Note: These functionalities are particularly useful for setting a new password if a user has lost or forgotten the earlier password.

• New Sign Out link in the Web Administrator

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System requirements

Hardware requirements

• Intel Pentium 4+ or compatible processor

• 256 MB of RAM (512 MB is recommended)

• 300 MB of hard-disk space; additional free hard-disk space may be needed during installation

Note: RoboHelp Server installation is not supported on flash storage devices.

Supported operating systems

RoboHelp Server (32-bit and 64-bit) is supported on the following versions of Microsoft Windows® operating system:

• Windows Server 2003 SP2

• Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit only)

• Windows Server 2008 SP2

• Windows XP SP3

• Windows 7

Prerequisites for installing RoboHelp Server 9

• Java™ Development Kit (JDK) 6 or later

• Apache Tomcat 6.0.14 or later

Note: RoboHelp Server requires Apache Tomcat to run. Tomcat is a servlet container that can also work as a Web server.

Supported browsers

• For Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, the supported browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8, and

Firefox 3.x.

• For Macintosh® operating systems, the supported browsers are Firefox 3.x and Safari 3.x.

• For Linux® or UNIX® operating systems, the supported browser is Firefox 3.x.

Supported database management systems

You can use the built-in database or select an external database (Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Express Edition, or Oracle 9i or higher) to store reports and authentication information for RoboHelp Server. The following database management systems are supported:

• Microsoft Access 2003, 2007, and 2010 (built-in)

• Oracle 9i, 10g, and 11g

• SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

• SQL Server 2005 and 2008

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Supported databases

RoboHelp Server connects to Microsoft Access, Oracle (9i or higher), SQL Server, or Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition database management systems.

Microsoft Access Applications Microsoft Access seamlessly integrates with tools like Excel and Word. Microsoft

Access stores information using the Jet database server. It uses a file server model of computing in which all logic is with the client application.

Note: You can use the Microsoft Access database for internal purposes as it does not support multi-threading.

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system capable of handling large

amounts of data and many concurrent users. When a client application requests data, the server retrieves or updates the data. SQL Server can roll back transactions. It does not commit a partially entered record to the database.

Oracle The Oracle database management system provides for the definition, storage, and management of data in a

centralized area. It supports client-server environments, large databases, space management, concurrent database users, high transaction-processing performance, openness, compliance with industry standards, manageable security, portability, compatibility, and connectivity.

Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition is a relational database management

system (RDBMS) produced by Microsoft. Its primary query languages are MS-SQL and T-SQL.

Install a database management system

To install a supported database management system, refer to the relevant documentation for your architecture (32-bit or 64-bit):

DBMS 32-bit installation instructions 64-bit installation instructions

Oracle 9i Oracle documentation Oracle documentation

Oracle 10g Oracle documentation Oracle documentation

Oracle 11g Oracle documentation Oracle documentation

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Edition

Express

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Microsoft documentation

Microsoft SQL Server 2008* Microsoft documentation

Microsoft Access 2003, 2007, or 2010 Built-in for RoboHelp Server

Note: The RoboHelp Server installer installs either 32-bit or 64-bit Microsoft Access runtime on your system, as appropriate. However, if 32-bit Microsoft Office is already installed on your system, the installer does not install 64-bit Access runtime. Therefore, if you want to install 64-bit RoboHelp Server, ensure that 32-bit Office or Access is not preinstalled on your system.

Note: If you’re installing RoboHelp Server 9 on Windows Server 2008, then you won’t be able to configure RoboHelp Server with 64-bit SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008. These combinations are unsupported due to a limitation of the JDBC-ODBC bridge bundled with the default JDK.

Instructions and ReadMe (Microsoft)

Recommended OS/database combinations

For a table of recommended OS/database combinations on which you can install RoboHelp Server 9, refer to this

knowledgebase article.

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