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Q244791: BUG: MSDN Library Subset Problem on Windows 2000

Article: Q244791
Product(s): Microsoft Developer Network
Version(s): WINDOWS:
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbHTMLHelp kbMSDN kbOSWin2000 kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools
Last Modified: 25-MAY-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) 
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000 
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SYMPTOMS
========

Subsets appear incorrectly in the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN) Library.
Some of the subset names appear with garbage characters.

CAUSE
=====

This problem will occur is you have more than one language version of the same
MSDN Library is installed on the Windows 2000 computer. For example, this
problem could happen on a Japanese system with both the Japanese and English
versions of the October 1999 MSDN Library installed.

Windows 2000 copies the subset file (.chs) from the MSDN installation directory
(.\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MSDN\[month]\[langID]\[collection].CHS)
to the User Profile directory for the current user. By default the subset file
is placed in the following location:

.\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Microsoft\HTML Help

The problem occurs because the subset file name is the same for all language
versions of the same MSDN Library. When the second language version of the same
MSDN Library is installed, the original .chs file in the User Profile directory
gets overwritten with a new .chs file. Viewing subset information that was
intended for a different language MSDN Library can result in garbage characters
appearing in the subset list.

RESOLUTION
==========

When two language versions of the same MSDN Libraries are installed, you must
choose one of the language versions to correctly display subset information. It
is currently impossible to have subset information appear correctly for both
language versions of the MSDN Library.

The original subset file is still located in the MSDN installation directory. For
example, the English October 1999 MSDN Library subset file is located in the
following default directory:

.\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MSDN\99OCT\1033\MSDN930.CHS

One of the language-specific .chs files can be copied into the User Profile
directory as described in the "Cause" section. That same language version of the
MSDN Library will now display subset information correctly.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the
beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Note that when working with international versions of the MSDN Library, only
7-bit ASCII can be used for custom subset names. Other code pages do not work
correctly and are unsupported.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbHTMLHelp kbMSDN kbOSWin2000 kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools 
Technology        : kbOSWin2000 kbOSWinSearch kbMSDNSearch kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : WINDOWS:
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbpending

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