Updated v3.8-alpha help file for POV-Ray for Windows now available on 
GitHub:

https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tree/master/distribution/platform-specific/windows/Help

To be simply dropped into the v3.7 installation on which the v3.8-alpha 
is piggybacking. (They don't interfere with the v3.7 help files, as the 
file names are different.)


Thanks to Jim Holsenback for maintaining the docs and putting up with 
blokes like me.

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On 10/29/18 1:34 PM, clipka wrote:
> Thanks to Jim Holsenback for maintaining the docs and putting up with 
> blokes like me.

lol ... i'm fairly certain the later goes both ways

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clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> Updated v3.8-alpha help file for POV-Ray for Windows now available on
> GitHub:
>
>
https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tree/master/distribution/platform-specific/windows/Help
>
> To be simply dropped into the v3.7 installation on which the v3.8-alpha
> is piggybacking. (They don't interfere with the v3.7 help files, as the
> file names are different.)
>

I finally got around to downloading the latest alpha, along with this newest
help file-- but I'm seeing a problem with the help file: Although it loads
successfully, the entries in the 'index' list don't produce any results; that
is, they don't 'connect' to the relevant portion of the docs. (That pane of the
help file remains blank.) I also tried this with an earlier alpha release and
got the same results, so it doesn't appear to be a particular alpha-release
problem.

As a last resort, I *removed* the original 3.7.0 help file from the 'Help'
folder (to see if the two files were interfering somehow), but that didn't fix
it.

I *could* be doing something wrong on my end-- that's always a possibility, ha--
 but I don't think so.

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"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> > Updated v3.8-alpha help file for POV-Ray for Windows now available on
> > GitHub:
> >
> >
https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tree/master/distribution/platform-specific/windows/Help
> >
> > To be simply dropped into the v3.7 installation on which the v3.8-alpha
> > is piggybacking. (They don't interfere with the v3.7 help files, as the
> > file names are different.)
> >
>
> I finally got around to downloading the latest alpha, along with this newest
> help file-- but I'm seeing a problem with the help file: Although it loads
> successfully, the entries in the 'index' list don't produce any results; that
> is, they don't 'connect' to the relevant portion of the docs. (That pane of the
> help file remains blank.) I also tried this with an earlier alpha release and
> got the same results, so it doesn't appear to be a particular alpha-release
> problem.
>
> As a last resort, I *removed* the original 3.7.0 help file from the 'Help'
> folder (to see if the two files were interfering somehow), but that didn't fix
> it.
>
> I *could* be doing something wrong on my end-- that's always a possibility, ha--
>  but I don't think so.

'unblock' the downloaded file? (is what my problem was; but i got funky
warnings)

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"green" <rov### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

>
> 'unblock' the downloaded file? (is what my problem was; but i got funky
> warnings)

No, the help file seems to load in *some* form (when I go to the HELP/HELP ON
POV-RAY tab in Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate), but the usual colorful "Persistence
Of Vision" introduction page doesn't show up-- it's just a blank white pane
there. The keyword 'index' is there, but nothing happens when trying to access a
particular help topic-- no change in the blank pane.

There does seem to be a difference in loading speeds(?), between this and, say,
3.7.1 beta 9's help file; it's like the newer help file for the alpha release
isn't fully loading (a guess)-- it pops up instantly, whereas beta 9's (and
others from the past) have taken one second or so to load. I do discern a
difference in times (and different sounds of my hard drive re: one vs. the
other.)

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On 2-11-2018 16:24, Kenneth wrote:
> I finally got around to downloading the latest alpha, along with this newest
> help file-- but I'm seeing a problem with the help file: Although it loads
> successfully, the entries in the 'index' list don't produce any results; that
> is, they don't 'connect' to the relevant portion of the docs. (That pane of the
> help file remains blank.) I also tried this with an earlier alpha release and
> got the same results, so it doesn't appear to be a particular alpha-release
> problem.
> 
> As a last resort, I *removed* the original 3.7.0 help file from the 'Help'
> folder (to see if the two files were interfering somehow), but that didn't fix
> it.
> 
> I *could* be doing something wrong on my end-- that's always a possibility, ha--
>   but I don't think so.
> 

Same here.

-- 
Thomas

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On 11/2/18 11:24 AM, Kenneth wrote:
> I *could* be doing something wrong on my end-- that's always a possibility, ha--
>   but I don't think so.

since i'm not a doze user take what i say with a grain of salt... iirc 
this /may/ be a help file naming issue, or something to do with the 
post-processing that clipka does to turn the docs into chm format

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"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> "green" <rov### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>
> >
> > 'unblock' the downloaded file? (is what my problem was; but i got funky
> > warnings)
>
> No, the help file seems to load in *some* form (when I go to the HELP/HELP ON
> POV-RAY tab in Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate), but the usual colorful "Persistence
> Of Vision" introduction page doesn't show up-- it's just a blank white pane
> there. The keyword 'index' is there, but nothing happens when trying to access a
> particular help topic-- no change in the blank pane.
>
> There does seem to be a difference in loading speeds(?), between this and, say,
> 3.7.1 beta 9's help file; it's like the newer help file for the alpha release
> isn't fully loading (a guess)-- it pops up instantly, whereas beta 9's (and
> others from the past) have taken one second or so to load. I do discern a
> difference in times (and different sounds of my hard drive re: one vs. the
> other.)

your symptoms were much the same as mine; i got the index but no results.
instead, on the right-hand pane i got

  Navigation to the webpage was canceled

   What you can try:
     Retype the address.

i messed around (i think i just searched for several terms) and got another
message

    script error

    an error has occurred in the script on this page.

    line; 1
    char; 1
    error; 'htmlhelp' is undefined
    code; 0
    url; res://ieframe.dll/navcancl.htm

    do you want to continue running scripts on this page?

after looking at ieframe.dll and deciding it was ok, i looked at the files
povray.chw and povray.chm.  i deleted povray.chw to no effect.  i looked at
povray.chm properties and saw it was blocked.  i unblocked it and all was fine.
just now i renamed the files and downloaded another povray.chm and got the first
error message, but i could not replicate the second error message.  i unblocked
the new povray.chm and all was fine.

this was on win7 ultimate x64.

your symptoms and mine seem too similar to be unrelated.

and some of the stuff i outlined may be out of order or even memory-fabricated,
i kept only notes of error messages, not steps etc.

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Am 29.10.2018 um 18:34 schrieb clipka:
> Updated v3.8-alpha help file for POV-Ray for Windows now available on 
> GitHub:
> 
>
https://github.com/POV-Ray/povray/tree/master/distribution/platform-specific/windows/Help

> 
> 
> To be simply dropped into the v3.7 installation on which the v3.8-alpha 
> is piggybacking. (They don't interfere with the v3.7 help files, as the 
> file names are different.)

Well, it turns out it's not as simple as that: As an additional step, 
you have to tell Windows that the file is safe to use despite having 
been downloaded from the web.

In Windows Explorer, right-click the file, open the "Properties" dialog, 
and at the bottom of the "General" tab click on the "Unlock" button or 
checkbox ("Zulassen" in the German version).

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Am 03.11.2018 um 11:49 schrieb Jim Holsenback:
> On 11/2/18 11:24 AM, Kenneth wrote:
>> I *could* be doing something wrong on my end-- that's always a 
>> possibility, ha--
>>   but I don't think so.
> 
> since i'm not a doze user take what i say with a grain of salt... iirc 
> this /may/ be a help file naming issue, or something to do with the 
> post-processing that clipka does to turn the docs into chm format

I could not generate the symptoms here with the original generated file; 
I had to download the file from GitHub to re-produce the issue.

Turns out green is on the right track: The symptom observed is a side 
effect of downloading the file from the internet. This sets an NTFS file 
attribute telling other software that the file may be unsafe to use. I'm 
not exactly sure what mechanism kicks in next, but my conjecture is that 
the help file viewer refuses to display the HTML pages embedded in the 
help file because they try to load a small JavaScript code snippet.

Unblocking the file (see my other post) solves the issue here.

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