topic Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5 in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

FelixPertziger — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 03:53:51 GMT

Today I found that I can't access help on any system tool when I click <Tool Help> button. It says (see attachment):

Can’t reach this page

Make sure the web address //ieframe.dll/dnserrordiagoff.htm# is correct
Search for this site on Bing
Refresh the page

I afraid it is Windows 10 October update in action.

Anybody, who knows how to fix this, please! Last thing I want is profile re-build.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 04:05:28 GMT

Understandable if you want to use the builtin help, but if you do have internet access, you can use

Get started with ArcMap—Help | ArcGIS Desktop

Rather than delete your profile, just rename it, it will create a new profile. test to see you regain access and if not, just rename it back and try a 'repair' installation from windows Add/Remove programs.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

FelixPertziger — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 04:16:00 GMT

Dan, thanks for reply.

Going through WEB help is a solution but bulky. Click WEB help, search for tool and it will take you to Pro page.

I afraid to lose customization when mucking around with profile and it's been a long time since I was forced to do so. What is good recourse/workflow on profile change? Many thanks.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 04:39:40 GMT

Felix Curtis Price keeps a pretty updated blog on the process

Resetting your ArcGIS application profile

you might want to try the 'Repair' option first to see if you can repair the install incase something got clunked. You access it through Add/Remove Programs in control panel... just to the repair of course and not the uninstall/remove

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

FelixPertziger — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 05:38:46 GMT

Neither profile reset or repair installation worked.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 11:30:06 GMT

Tech Support would be next then

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 00:22:24 GMT

I think, that local help is a separate download... maybe check your downloads on My Esri to see if reinstalling it will help

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

FelixPertziger — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 01:34:08 GMT

I can't find separate download for help. Moreover it doesn't look like isolated incident based on response to my post here. Too bad, this thing was working few days ago.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 02:44:25 GMT

It is Pro that has local help if you want to install it.

Tech support it is, I don't see any reported bugs on the Support Site, so it might be new if a 'repair' doesn't fix it

Download and install—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 18:51:03 GMT

hmmmm

https://community.esri.com/thread/222837-the-help-in-arcgis-tools-not-work

spreading? or unrelated

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

Scott_Harris — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 20:48:08 GMT

Hi Felix,

In Tech Support we have the following defect logged for this behavior:

[BUG-000117599 "Can't reach this page" message when launching any geoprocessing tool help if Windows update KB4462918 or KB4462949 is installed.]

Feel free to call Esri Support at 888-377-4575 for tracking this defect.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

FelixPertziger — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 03:04:00 GMT

Hi Scott,

thanks for reply, but I don't understated how defect tracking can help to fix that issue.

Regards

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DanPatterson_Retired — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 03:49:19 GMT

It seems to be windows operating system and browser specific

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4462949/cumulative-security-update-for-internet-explorer

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4462918/windows-10-update-kb4462918

The latest Oct 10 update was paused because of some issues reported of missing files (windows 10 1809)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4464619

If you are on windows 10 v1809 it could be an issue, I am on windows 10 v 1803

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

Scott_Harris — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:31:25 GMT

Felix,

I was suggesting that if you wanted to know the latest status or other information about the issue, you can contact Esri Tech Support. In Tech Support, we will attach the case to the defect, and at that point, you can track the status on My Esri. This goes for all bugs. When a number of cases are attached to defects in Support, this is relevant information for Esri.

Regarding BUG-000117599: It was reported to Tech Support, we reproduced the behavior, and found it was linked to two Windows updates. That's all the information we have at this point. If we learn more about this defect, for example a workaround, we will add this information to the bug report. This information would be available those users that contact Technical Support and/or are tracking the defect.

Thank you,

Scott

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DuncanHornby — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 11:10:33 GMT

Scott Harris‌ and Dan Patterson‌, I can confirm that this problem is occurring on my setup, i.e. help file is returning that Can’t reach this page.

I use the local help file ALL the time, not having it accessible is not an option. I only ever use the online help version for ArcPro or when answering peoples questions on forum. My go to help file is always the local version.

My setup is ArcMap 10.6.0.8321

Windows 10 Enterprise, version 1709, OS Build 16299.726

As soon as ESRI work out how to fix this can you announce on this thread so we could download any patch etc.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

Scott_Harris — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 20:04:23 GMT

Duncan, I will keep an eye out for you. My suggestion however would be to contact Esri Technical Support and get a case attached to BUG-000117599. You should get notified when it's fixed.

With this issue, however, you can still access the help for a particular tool if you search for it once the help launches.

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DuncanHornby — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 11:52:53 GMT

Scott,

Spotted another issue with this bug which undermines the whole help system. If you run a geoprocessing tool and it fails with an Error, in the dialog box it usually offers up an error code which is a hyper link to the help system. Below is an example where I have misspelt the output workspace. Click on that link throws you to a blank page...

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

Scott_Harris — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 21:57:48 GMT

Hi Duncan,

Thanks for pointing that out. I tested on my end, and in that case, until the defect is fixed, you can launch the Help from the menu in ArcMap and search for the error code, ex. "000210" to get to that particular help article. I know this is not ideal, but provides a temporary workaround.

-Scott

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DuncanHornby — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 12:17:14 GMT

Scott Harris‌ - I have on your recommendation started a case for ESRI UK, hopefully this speeds up a fix as it is very frustrating I can't just jump in/out of Help anymore. I know, as a quick fix, I can search and get to the page but that relies on me knowing what I want to search for...chicken and egg...

Re: Lost access to help system, ArcMap, 10.5

DuncanHornby — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 14:30:49 GMT

Scott Harris‌ Just want to update your team, I have 10.2.1 running at home on my Windows 10 computer. I have just discovered that this Windows update also affects older versions of ArcMap. What ever fix ESRI produces it needs to be applied to all versions, certainly as far back as 10.2.1. This bug appears to affect all versions of your software.