Microsoft KB Archive/68989

= FIX: HELPMAKE Decodes Help Database Incorrectly =

PSS ID Number: 68989

Article Last Modified on 9/30/2003

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft HELPMAKE Utility for MS-DOS and OS/2 1.06

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This article was previously published under Q68989



SYMPTOMS
If a concatenated help database is decoded with either &quot;Decode&quot; (/D) or &quot;Decode Unformatted&quot; (/DU), HELPMAKE may be caught in an infinite loop that will eventually fill the hard disk.



RESOLUTION
When using HELPMAKE.EXE to decode concatenated help databases, you must use the &quot;Decode Split&quot; option (/DS).



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem with HELPMAKE for MS-DOS and OS/2. This problem was corrected in HELPMAKE version 1.08.



MORE INFORMATION
If OS2.HLP is decoded with

helpmake /D /Ooutfile OS2.HLP

HELPMAKE will decompress the first database in OS2.HLP over and over until either the disk fills up or you stop the program (with a CTRL+BREAK, for example).

If OS2.HLP is decoded with

helpmake /DS OS2.HLP

it is broken into STRUCT.HLP, MACROS.HLP, and TABLES.HLP. These help files can then be decoded properly with the /D or /DU option.

If you don't know how a help file is assembled, the following are the steps to take to decompress it:

 Save a backup copy of the help file in case of problems. Rename the help file to &quot;TEMP.HLP&quot;. Split the file as follows:

HELPMAKE /DS TEMP.HLP

If the file is not a concatenated database, you will get a single file with the name of the help database as it was originally built (the internal database name).

If the file is a concatenated database, you will get individual help files with the internal database names. For OS2.HLP, these are STRUCT.HLP, MACROS.HLP, and TABLES.HLP. Decode the resulting files as follows:

HELPMAKE /D TEMP1.HLP /OTEMP1.SRC

HELPMAKE /D TEMP2.HLP /OTEMP2.SRC



Additional query words: 1.03 1.05 1.06 1.07

Keywords: kb16bitonly kbfix KB68989

Technology: kbAudDeveloper kbHELPMAKE kbHELPMAKE106DOS kbZNotKeyword2 kbZNotKeyword3

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