Troubleshooting Help

Last reviewed: 02/01/2012
Article ID: R11228

The information in this article applies to:

Summary

The Help files in Tabs3, PracticeMaster, and the Tabs3 Financial Software have undergone a format change beginning in Version 15. The primary reason for this change was to move into a format that was compatible with the Windows Vista operating system. The .HLP format used previously (i.e., WinHelp) was not compatible with Windows Vista. The new Compiled HTML Help (.CHM) requires changes to how help is accessed. As a result, changes were made in how the Help operates and where the Help files are located.

Troubleshooting Help

The following are recommended steps to take if your Help files are not working properly.

General Troubleshooting

Try First: Run the Setup program and confirm that the program and Help files are installed locally on your workstation. To do this, browse to the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Current Working Directory (located on the server) and run SETUP.EXE. If you do not know the location of the Current Working Directory, the location is provided in any Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software in the About window (Help | About).

"The PracticeMaster Help file you're trying to open is not installed locally. While at the workstation, please run SETUP.EXE from the Tabs3 data folder on the server to install PracticeMaster and its Help file locally. If SETUP.EXE has already been run, refer to KB article R11228 for additional troubleshooting steps. (www.support.tabs3.com)"

   ...or...

"The Tabs3 Help file you're trying to open is not installed locally. While at the workstation, please run SETUP.EXE from the Tabs3 data folder on the server to install Tabs3 and its Help file locally. If SETUP.EXE has already been run, refer to KB article R11228 for additional troubleshooting steps. (www.support.tabs3.com)"

This message is typically the result of one of the following situations.

Situation #1 - This message can indicate the Help files for the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software have not been installed locally on your workstation. For the Help files to work properly, they must be installed on each workstation. Run SETUP.EXE at each workstation from the current working directory (i.e., the program directory on the server) and confirm that your shortcuts point to the local directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Tabs3). You can confirm where your shortcuts point by right-clicking the icon and selecting Properties.

Situation #2 - If SETUP.EXE was run on the workstation after the software was converted to Version 15, it is possible that the shortcut used to start Tabs3 was not updated or is an old shortcut that still points to the network directory. You can confirm where your shortcuts point by right-clicking the shortcut and selecting Properties. The Target and Start in fields should point to the local drive. You can also check where the software is running from by starting the software and opening the Help | About window. The Current Working Directory should point to the network location and the Program Directory should point to a directory on the local drive (e.g., C:\Program Files\Tabs3). If the shortcuts are not pointing to the local directory, simply delete the shortcuts and rerun SETUP.EXE at the workstation. Make sure you click Yes when asked if you want to update shortcuts.

Terminal Services/Citrix Note: The SETUP.EXE file will only need to be run once by a Terminal Services computer, no matter how many users log onto the workstation remotely. The following will need to be performed for each Terminal Services computer. Before running SETUP.EXE, delete any shortcuts to the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster programs for each user on the workstation. Once SETUP.EXE is complete, a single set of desktop shortcuts will have been created. These desktop shortcuts will need to be copied to all other users' Desktop directory, which for Terminal Services in Windows XP is C:\Documents and Settings\<userID>\Desktop, whereas in Vista is C:\users\<userID>/|Desktop. (Note: Locations may be different for Citrix). Once the shortcuts have been copied to all other users' desktops, delete the shortcuts from the All Users directory (otherwise users will have two sets of shortcuts). Once users have their own shortcuts, they are free to add startup options as desired.

For detailed information on the workstation setup program, please see How to Run the Local Install.

Javascript warning messages

In order to use the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster help files, you must have javascript enabled. Certain settings may disable javascript. From the Windows Start menu, click Control Panel, then open Internet Options. Click on the Security tab, and select the Local intranet zone. If the Security level is set to Custom or High, this can cause browsing issues with javascript content. Either select the Default Level button to change to Medium-low security, or click the Custom Level button and verify that the various Scripting options are enabled.

For more information, see JavaScript on Wikipedia.

"This program cannot display the webpage"

When attempting to access the Tabs3, PracticeMaster, or Tabs3 Financial software's .CHM Help files over a network, the message "This program cannot display the webpage" appears in the main window, while the Table of Contents pane will display correctly.

PracticeMaster Help 'Cannot display' Message

For the Help files to work properly, they must be found on the local hard drive of the computer that is accessing the Tabs3, PracticeMaster, or Tabs3 Financial software. While the software is able to work over the network, the Help files must be installed locally (e.g., on the workstation) to display correctly.

Resolution

Running the SETUP program on the workstation will copy the Help files from the server to the workstation. To do this, browse to the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Current Working Directory (located on the server) and run SETUP.EXE. If you do not know the location of the Current Working Directory, the location is provided in all Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software in the About window (Help | About).

Links to multimedia tutorials or report packs do not function

When clicking a link to a multimedia tutorial or report pack from the Help, the software may not appear to react. This issue occurs when MMLAUNCH.EXE, a required file, is missing from either the program directory or the current working directory.

Resolution

Run the SETUP program on the workstation to copy MMLAUNCH.EXE from the server to the workstation. To do this, browse to the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Current Working Directory (located on the server) and run SETUP.EXE. If you do not know the location of the Current Working Directory, the location is provided in all Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software in the About window (Help | About).

If this does not resolve the issue, you will need to reinstall the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software from the installation CD at the server, and then run the SETUP program on the workstation.

"There was an error opening this document. The file does not exist."

When clicking the Adobe button to link to a PDF document (i.e., sample report) from the Help, this message may be displayed. This issue occurs when using an older version of Adobe® Acrobat  or Adobe® Reader to read the PDF file. Although the document may be displayed after clearing the message, the document will not open to the proper page.

Resolution

You must install Adobe® Reader 6 or later in order to open PDF documents (i.e., sample reports) to the correct page from the Help. To obtain the most recent version of Adobe® Reader, visit Adobe's Web site at http://www.Adobe.com.

"The compiled help (.chm) file could not be found."
  -- or --
"Failed to launch help."

This message occurs when attempting to open a .CHM Help file that is missing from the local directory. By default, the Help files are installed with the program files and should not be removed from the directory.

'.CHM file could not be found' message 

Resolution

Running the SETUP program on the workstation will copy the Help files from the server to the workstation. To do this, browse to the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Current Working Directory (located on the server) and run SETUP.EXE. If you do not know the location of the current working directory, the location is provided in all Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software in the About window (Help | About).

Icons, bullets, or shaded areas do not print

When printing a Help topic, some image icons, bullets, or shaded areas may not print if your browser is not configured to print background images. This is due to the default way in which Microsoft Internet Explorer handles images in style sheets.

Resolution

The solution to this issue is to enable printing of background colors and images in Internet Explorer. The procedure is different depending on which version of Internet Explorer is being used.

To enable this setting in Internet Explorer 8

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. From the File menu select Page Setup.
  3. Select Print Background Colors and Images.
  4. Click OK.
Page Setup window

To enable this setting in Internet Explorer 7 or earlier

  1. From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel.
  2. Open Internet Properties (Internet Options in Windows Vista).
  3. On the Advanced tab, scroll to Printing and select Print background colors and images.
  4. Click OK.

Internet Properties window

Text appears improperly sized

The size of text in lists and tables, or in the Properties window, may appear unusually large if Internet Explorer is not configured to allow stylesheets.

Resolution

Disable Internet Explorer overrides of stylesheets.

  1. From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel.
  2. Open Internet Properties (Internet Options in Windows Vista).
  3. Click Accessibility.
  4. Clear the Ignore font styles specified on webpages and Ignore font sizes specified on webpages check boxes.
    Optionally, clear the Ignore colors specified on webpages and Format documents using my style sheet check boxes, as these options could also affect the way Help files are displayed.
  5. Click OK.
Internet Properties window

Searching for a particular year, month, day or number shows all topics

When searching for the current year, the Search Results pane displays all topics in the list of results.

Resolution

When Help files are compiled, each topic is marked with the date it was created. When the Help is searched, this date is also included in the search results. Searching for a more specific date value (i.e., "09/17/2009", rather than "2009") will return a smaller set of results. For example, if the help was created on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, searching for "Tuesday", "October", "13" or "2009" will return all topics.

Note that although the date embedded in each help topic can be found in a search, this date is not displayed in the topic. (Technical Note: This is because the information is stored in each individual topic as metadata.) You can see what the date of the help file is by right-clicking in any topic and selecting Properties. The Help Date shown will be the same date in every topic for that Help file. The date created typically changes after downloading the software from the download page.

References


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