Updating projects in RoboHelp 9.2: how to exchange files?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

I recently completed a WinHelp 4 project using RoboHelp 9.2 and Word 97
right before I had to leave for a brief vacation. This was the French
version of the English file I'd originally created. While I was away, the
developers asked for permission to make some minor changes to the help file:
these changes primarily affected the index keywords, but there were also a
few changes to the topic text to match last-minute changes in menu and
button names etc. Since my hard disk was being reinstalled from scratch
while I was away to correct an unrelated problem, the developers temporarily
installed our copy of RH on one of the development computers, copied the
data directory in which I stored my help projects to that computer, and made
their changes. I'm now faced with the task of replacing my outdated copy of
the project files with the updated versions produced by the developers.

How can I do this most efficiently, with the least fuss and bother and the
lowest chance of error?
- Should I simply replace my entire project directory with the updated one
provided by the developers, and trust that they haven't buggered anything up
too badly? (Seems reasonable, since they successfully recompiled the help
file while I was away. On the other hand, not everything looks kosher. For
example, they replaced my customized RH template file with RH's default
template, which is ugly and unusable--whose idea was it to select what
appears to be a 6-point screen font as the default font? Ugh.)
- Can I simply copy the updated Word file into my help directory, thereby
replacing the old Word file? (Yes, I plan to keep a backup copy. <g>) I
suspect that RoboHelp stores certain essential information somewhere outside
Word; for example, RH Explorer displays a list of standard directories
(e.g., for graphics) that don't match the physical directories on my hard
disk, which leads me to suspect it maintains its own invisible files
somewhere. If I choose this approach, what additional files would I need to
copy?
- I could always create a whole new help project and import the most recent
compiled .HLP file, but I'd rather not do this unless there's no other
option; among other things, RH or the WinHelp compiler renames all the
graphics files with helpful [sic] names such as 000001.bmp, and I'd have to
re-rename them so I'd know which file is which. I also don't want to have to
go back into the help file and retest all the links to make sure RH did the
job right.

Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html

"Computers are like Old Testament gods-lots of rules and no mercy."--Joseph
Campbell

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Collect Royalties, Not Rejection Letters! Tell us your rejection story when you 
submit your manuscript to iUniverse Nov. 6 -Dec. 15 and get five free copies of 
your book. What are you waiting for? http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr

Have you looked at the new content on TECHWR-L lately?
See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ and check it out.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.