So, in order to work on the media thread with jr and Bill P.,
I have 3.8 installed (copied 3.8 binary into 3.7.x directory)

"ABOUT" says Third-party build of POV-Ray v 3.8.0-alpha.9606898+av548.msv14.win

Hitting [F1] or selecting Help from the menu doesn't open the help file.
I have to go to the directory and click on the file.

This seems strange behaviour to me - can anyone confirm / explain / fix?

(Wasn't sure if I should post this here or in beta-test)

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On 07/01/2018 10:08 AM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> So, in order to work on the media thread with jr and Bill P.,
> I have 3.8 installed (copied 3.8 binary into 3.7.x directory)
> 
> "ABOUT" says Third-party build of POV-Ray v 3.8.0-alpha.9606898+av548.msv14.win
> 
> Hitting [F1] or selecting Help from the menu doesn't open the help file.
> I have to go to the directory and click on the file.
> 
> This seems strange behaviour to me - can anyone confirm / explain / fix?

this is from memory only and doze is not my native so your mileage may 
vary ... find the .chm file from known good running install and copy it 
over to the new installation directory

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For legal reasons, POV-Ray v3.8 only provides hemp in parts of the world
where weed is not a controlled substance ;)
-SCNR-

Am 01.07.2018 um 16:08 schrieb Bald Eagle:
> So, in order to work on the media thread with jr and Bill P.,
> I have 3.8 installed (copied 3.8 binary into 3.7.x directory)
> 
> "ABOUT" says Third-party build of POV-Ray v 3.8.0-alpha.9606898+av548.msv14.win
> 
> Hitting [F1] or selecting Help from the menu doesn't open the help file.
> I have to go to the directory and click on the file.
> 
> This seems strange behaviour to me - can anyone confirm / explain / fix?
> 
> (Wasn't sure if I should post this here or in beta-test)

POV-Ray alpha releases for Windows are binary-only, i.e. they don't come
with an installer, and rely on an existing installation for all the
support files - from a master povray.ini to standard include files to
the inbuilt help.

In previous versions, that help file was named "povrayXY.chm" for
version X.Y.*

As of POV-Ray v3.8, the help file has been renamed to "povray.chm",
which means v3.8 binaries can't use the v3.7 help file "as is". (The
alternative would have been to rename it to "povray38.chm", which would
also have rendered the v3.7 help file useless "as is".)


To work around the issue, simply download "povray.chm" from GitHub and
place it in "C:\Program Files\POV-Ray\v3.7\help" (presuming standard
install location).

Alternatively, you can copy "povray37.chm" to "povray.chm", giving you
v3.7 help in v3.8-alpha. A link may also do the job; dunno.

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clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> For legal reasons, POV-Ray v3.8 only provides hemp in parts of the world
> where weed is not a controlled substance ;)
> -SCNR-

Ja.
Throw me a rescue line of twisted fiber.


> POV-Ray alpha releases for Windows are binary-only, i.e. they don't come
> with an installer, and rely on an existing installation for all the
> support files - from a master povray.ini to standard include files to
> the inbuilt help.

I figured that was exactly the case.


> To work around the issue, ....

Excellent.  I had to fiddle with it, because my .ini for 3.7 beta isn't right,
and refers to 3.7 stable, so I had to copy the file over there, but it works.
povray.chm it is. (just to clarify: povray38.chm is not recognized)

:)


Just curious - what's the .chw file for?

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Am 02.07.2018 um 17:29 schrieb Bald Eagle:

> Just curious - what's the .chw file for?

With POV-Ray v3.7 and on Windows 10, I do not see a `.chw` file.

With POV-Ray v3.6, I do see a `povray36.chw`; to the best of my
knowledge, that file is created by the help file viewer to speed up
access to the index or the full-text search. Can't remember which one.

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