Help (F1) does not help

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balvie
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:42 pm

Help files are not installed correctly

Post by balvie »

Using:FreeCAD-0.19.3-WIN-x64-installer-1.exe to do a clean install on win10, I found that the help function is not available.Via the menu: help - Help results in the attached error message. In text:

Code: Select all

Error creating collection file 'C:\Program files\Freecad 0.19/doc\freecad/freecad\freecad.qhc': cannot....
Looks like some messing has been done with the slashes \ vs /.
Problem for me is how to cope with it, how to solve this.
The file:

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c:\Program Files\FreeCAD 0.19\doc\freecad.qch
is correctly in place.
Attachments
Screenshot 2022-01-09 192720.png
Screenshot 2022-01-09 192720.png (8.52 KiB) Viewed 1703 times
wmayer
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Re: Help files are not installed correctly

Post by wmayer »

Looks like some messing has been done with the slashes \ vs /.
It doesn't look nice but it's not a problem. When accessing a file in C/C++ then the underlying runtime also accepts slashes.
c:\Program Files\FreeCAD 0.19\doc\freecad.qch
It doesn't complain about this file but freecad.qhc (see the different endings) and it expects the file under C:\Program files\Freecad 0.19\doc\freecad/freecad\. Does this path exists and do you have a freecad.qhc in your installation?
magnuscal
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Help (F1) does not help

Post by magnuscal »

When pressing F1 or Help/Help, this error message appears.

I did a fresh install of 0.19.3 a few minutes ago.
Attachments
helpbug.png
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Syres
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by Syres »

I believe this is the second report in the last week, I'm suspecting the file freecad.qhc is residing in the FreeCAD 0.19 folder structure but the incorrect location.

Edit: The other report https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=65173

uwestoehr wrote: Are you aware, this only seems to apply to those users who did not upgrade (fresh install) from either 0.19.1 or 0.19.2?
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uwestoehr
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by uwestoehr »

magnuscal wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 4:31 pm When pressing F1 or Help/Help, this error message appears.
Can you please post the complete message? It seems that the help file should be moved to a folder where you don't have write permissions and I need t know the destination folder.

Therefore additionally the question how you installed FreeCAD. When I install FreeCAD for the current user (the default) pressing F1 works well. When you installer FreeCAD for all users (using admin permissions) but then run FreeCAD without admin permissions as normal user then there could be a writing permission conflict we need to solve. (I will try if this can be the case later today.)
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Roy_043
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by Roy_043 »

Something has changed between V0.18 and V0.19.

When you first use the Help (F1) in V0.19 several folders and files are created. If you have installed for all users and have accepted the default installation folder "Program Files" then Windows will block this.

Before using F1:

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doc\
  freecad.qch
  ThirdPartyLibraries.html
  freecad.qhc
  LICENSE.html
  CONTRIBUTORS
After using F1:

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doc\
  freecad\
    freecad\
      .freecad\
        fts
      freecad.qhc
  freecad.qch
  ThirdPartyLibraries.html
  freecad.qhc
  LICENSE.html
  CONTRIBUTORS
Version:

Code: Select all

OS: Windows 8.1 Version 6.3 (Build 9600)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.19.24267 +99 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: Branch_0.19.3
Hash: 6530e364184ce05ccff39501e175cf2237e6ee4b
Python version: 3.8.6+
Qt version: 5.15.2
Coin version: 4.0.1
OCC version: 7.5.3
Locale: Dutch/Netherlands (nl_NL)
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uwestoehr
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by uwestoehr »

Roy_043 wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 6:17 pm Something has changed between V0.18 and V0.19.
...
When you first use the Help (F1) in V0.19 several folders and files are created.

Thanks for this info.

This behavior is odd because there is no need to move the freecad.qhc file. I have no knowledge yet about the help file handling yet to have a look what causes the regression. -> I will ask around.
Syres
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by Syres »

uwestoehr wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:17 pm This behavior is odd because there is no need to move the freecad.qhc file. I have no knowledge yet about the help file handling yet to have a look what causes the regression. -> I will ask around.
Regression possibly caused by https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/comm ... e297819318
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yorik
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by yorik »

hmm yes, the base=collection parameter... maybe. i don't remember why i added it :oops:

i'll do some testing on my side
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Roy_043
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Re: Help (F1) does not help

Post by Roy_043 »

uwestoehr wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:17 pm no need to move the freecad.qhc
The file is not moved but (re)created.
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