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When I try to access the help system on either of my computers I get a message that says:

"An error occurred while opening the help system.

The "VWHelp" folder may be missing or contain invalid data."

The folder is there but I have no idea what should be in it. Is there a way to fix this without reinstalling the entire application?

Thanks.

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On your DVD there is a Adobe AIR Help System folder. Inside there should be a .air file, try double clicking that and see if it brings up the AIR installer dialog. The Adobe AIR runtime installer itself is also in that directory. The help installation can be done completely separately from your main application install, so you don't have to worry about doing the whole thing over again.

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If is the operative word here. If this, if that. And if not, you are stupid and can't even launch an installer in a folder.

Since every installation of MacOS and Windows has an HTML-browser, why can't the Help system utilise such a fundamental OS-feature, instead of an arty-farty hot-air system?

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If is the operative word here. If this, if that. And if not, you are stupid and can't even launch an installer in a folder.

Since every installation of MacOS and Windows has an HTML-browser, why can't the Help system utilise such a fundamental OS-feature, instead of an arty-farty hot-air system?

The security risks and complexity associated with running a web server locally are often unacceptable.

Combine that with the obvious fact that OSX has an extremely weak set of native help authoring tools - a situation entirely consistent with the scarcity of third party development for the platform and the usual Cupertino Kool-Aid .

Add in the horror which is the native OSX help browser - again the quality is consistent with the lack of third party OSX development - and you have a situation which requires cross platform developers such as NNA to waste resources on something as basic as help.

Duh.

Edited by Pat Stanford
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Add in the horror which is the native OhSex! help browser - again the quality is consistent with the lack of third party OhSex! development

What version of OSX is it that you use, Brudgers, because it's becoming increasingly inconsistent with everyone else's. Perhaps you overlooked the abundance of Programming Guides and third party applications?

Surely a simple web document as Kool Aid suggests is the easiest solution for cross-platform developers. Not to mention the html rendered for Windows can be implemented in the OSX Help Book system if using a browser isn't kosher. You know, the one that links and highlights relevant menu items so confused users don't have to go looking for them on their own. Yeah, what a horror. Hate that.

Edited by highpass
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Unscripted HTML isn't going to cut it for 1400 pages of documentation.

The issue with HTML help is the scripting for generating tables of contents, indexes, and of course context sensitive responses.

Server side scripts create one set of problems, client side scripts another set.

OSX Help Books don't depend on pure HTML.

They require "Help Viewer" - a custom application with browser like features.

The custom HTML formats associated with one help viewer are not typically useful to another.

And some companies make their viewers incompatible with 90% of the world's computers (and probably even more of the world's help files).

Not surprising.

Doing so would facilitate multi-platform development of which they don't get a cut.

And be counter to the Cupertino Kool-Aid .

Edited by Pat Stanford
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