The Search function of the .chm help does not work.

[MisVin]

The Search function of the .chm help does not work. Host: Windows 10 1809 (64-bit)

[Socratis]

Is this something new? Were you able to use "Search" with previous VirtualBox versions?

[MisVin]

Socratis, you are right. Usually the "Search" function doesn't work in the Help file. But in VirtualBox 6.0.0 and/or 6.0.2 release(s) it was working fine.

[Socratis]

So, this is a 6.0.4 regression then...

Here are my tests. I used a keyword that I know exists and will give me exactly one result: "rawdisk":

• 6.0.0: "Help » Search" works just fine.
• 6.0.2: "Help » Search" works just fine.
• 6.0.4: "Help » Search" fails with "No topics found".
• 6.0.6: "Help » Search" fails with "No topics found".

Since I was at it, I decided to test the 5.2.x series:

• 5.2.20: "Help » Search" fails with "No topics found".
• 5.2.22: "Help » Search" fails with "No topics found".
• 5.2.24: "Help » Search" fails with "No topics found".
• 5.2.26: "Help » Search" fails with "No topics found".

So, it seems that something got fixed with 6.0.0, but broke again with 6.0.4.

[pentagonik]

Thanks Socratis, for your extensive testing! Very valuable data -- we will have a look at this, as it would be a pity to lose this functionality again.

[RrnR]

This was reported way back:

https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/1998

https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/14722

[gefr]

The search function does not work in

• VB 5.2.8
• VB 6.0.4
• VB 6.0.8

Search always fails with "No topics found"

Host: Windows 10

[Steve Sybesma]

This problem continues in 6.0.10 as I reported in #18842. I'm using this under Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (1809).

[Socratis]

In the meantime, as a workaround and until this gets properly addressed, there's always the User Manual in searchable PDF format under:

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\doc\UserManual.pdf

Even loading the "UserManual.pdf" in Firefox enables you to search for the terms that you want. Not sure if Chrome enables the search functionality.