PRB: Keywords for Online Docs are Merged Several Times (167415)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Studio 97
  • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Enterprise Edition 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Professional Edition 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual J++ 1.1
  • Microsoft Visual InterDev 1.0
This article was previously published under Q167415

SYMPTOMS

Under certain circumstances, the InfoViewer online help included with the stand-alone MSDN or the Developer Studio IDE (MSDEV) displays the "Merging Keywords..." window each time you use online documentation for the first time after starting MSDN or Developer Studio. Normally, it should only need to merge keywords if new online content has been installed since the last time online books were used.

CAUSE

There are four reasons why keywords will have to be merged more than once:
  • New online books have just been installed or uninstalled.

  • The merge information is damaged or corrupted.

  • The registry information for InfoViewer is damaged or corrupted.

  • Admin privileges are required to save registry changes for the Keyword information

MORE INFORMATION

If you install or uninstall online books, MSDN or Developer Studio has to merge keywords the next time you use online docs.

Some updates to the registry require Admin privileges. After you have updated or installed online books, you need to have Admin privileges to save the keyword state following "Merging keywords". If you do not have Admin privileges, it will always merge keywords each time you do a search after starting Developer Studio. So, each time you update the books online, log on as an administrator the first time you search the online books. From then on, you will not need Admin privileges when you use online documentation.

The merged information is stored in a file with extension 'IVK' in the ..\DevStudio\SharedIDE\help directory. If this file is damaged, deleted, or corrupted, online help has to merge keywords the next time you start the books online. If it always merges keywords the first time, the IVK file may be corrupted in a way that prevents it from being written correctly. The best fix for this is to delete the IVK file and restart MSDEV.

If the registry entries for InfoViewer are corrupted, you may get "Title Registration Error Unable to access xxx" when you start the IDE, where 'xxx' is whatever InfoViewer title it could not find. When this happens, InfoViewer can't use the keyword information from your last online help session. It has to merge keywords every time. The recommended way to fix this is to delete the registry entry for InfoViewer. It is in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/InfoViewer/5.0. Delete this key and then reinstall all of the online docs you are interested in.

WARNING: Using the registry editor incorrectly can damage the installation of your software and can even prevent proper functioning of the Windows operating system software.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

171847 FIX: Merging Keywords for Search Requires Admin Privileges

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/8/2001
Keywords:kbprb KB167415
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