BizTalk Documenter: Unable to locate the help compiler executable while trying to generate the documentation

This post was originally published here

Without a doubt, BizTalk Documenter is my favorite documentation tool, and I do think that if each product had a tool like for the generation of technical documentation, it would be simpler to do, as the existing documentation significantly improved. I do miss this kind of tool for Azure Integration projects.

However,
each time I install this tool I always got the exact same problem:

Unable to locate the help compiler executable

which I know well, and I know why since it was very well explained by Mitch Vanhelden in this blog post.

So, why this blog post?

Well, for two main reasons:

• I’m
  always searching to find the link to the component I need to install;
  • Basically,
    this is just an easy personal reminder;
• And
  second and most important, the link to the resource that Mitch point is
  obsolete and not working anymore;

Cause

Has Mitch explained in his blog post, the
reason for this is quite clear, the application can’t locate the help compiler
executable, either because:

• it
  isn’t installed à most common situation
• or
  it is also possible if you’re working on a 64-bit machine.

Solution

Make sure you have installed the HTML Help
Workshop compiler because this is the most common cause for this issue and if
not:

• First, download and install this compiler that can be found here: HTML Help Workshop and Documentation;
• And then install it, by executing the htmlhelp.exe file
• On the HTML Help Workshop 1.3 screen, click Yes

• On
  the HTML Help Workshop 1.3 Setup screen, click Yes

• Specify
  the installation directory and then click OK

• And
  finally, when the installation finish, click OK

After these steps, you should be able to
generate the BizTalk Server documentation form the tool. Otherwise, make sure
that the path to this help compiler is configured correctly in BizTalk
Documenter by:

• Access
  to the installation path of BizTalk Documenter
  • By
    default: C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft ServicesBizTalk Documenter
• Open
  Microsoft.Services.Tools.BiztalkDocumenter.exe.config file and validate
  and, if necessary, change the path for the HelpCompilerLocation key
  that needs to contain the correct path to the HTML Help Workshop compiler
  component.

The post BizTalk Documenter: Unable to locate the help compiler executable while trying to generate the documentation appeared first on SANDRO PEREIRA BIZTALK BLOG.