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foo@bar.com
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Robohelp 6 nearly unusable.. "Building file list"

Sep 17, 2007 3:18 PM

Hello there-

I have a project around 650 MB that was originally created in Robohelp X5. We have now migrated to 6 server and client.

When opening Robohelp, it comes up as expected, quickly. When opening the project, it can be 20-30 minutes before the program becomes usable. CPU usage is maxed out, while "Building file list" is displayed in the lower left. Using a file monitor utility, I can see that Robohelp is reading all files referenced in the project, and writing to the CPD file.

This occurs on every opening of the project, and has been attempted on multiple machines & installations of RH6, so I'm certain it's something with the project itself. Each time, the project is located on the local machine's C: drive. These machines surpass the minimum requirements, with a 3.2GHz P4 and 1 GB of RAM.

So far, my only attempt at clearing this up has been to backup + remove the CPD file. This is not helping at all however. Any other tips on things I can attempt?

Thanks
  • Currently Being Moderated
    Sep 17, 2007 6:15 PM
    Hi foo@bar.com,
    I have experienced similar problems before and Peter Grainge was kind enough to provide an explanation. His website contains an article describing the solution where basically you delete your cpd and xpj files and reopen your project from Windows Explorer (rather than through RoboHelp itself). This may cause the loss of single source layouts and conditional build tags but works a treat otherwise.
    Hope this solves your problem,
    darkagn
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    Sep 17, 2007 10:42 PM
    How many topics are there in the project?

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    Sep 20, 2007 1:23 PM
    Try replacing the rhvariable.apj file with a copy from one of the Adobe example projects.

    G
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    Sep 21, 2007 8:48 AM
    Uh, I'm confused - still dealing with trying to use v6 without it blowing up (CONSTANT application errors).

    Uninstalled, reinstalled (3x times now), restored my last backup from v5, and all seemed well until I got an app error while SAVING the THIRD topic I touched. So success lasted about five minutes this time. Now, I can't access my project. Can access the demos, or one of my smaller ones, but not the one, of course that is DUE ASAP.

    So looking at this thread, thought I would give the last suggestion from Gravenstein a shot. There is no rhvariable.apj file anywhere - did a search of my entire drive - nothing, nowhere.

    I am at wit's END. Two seconds from scrapping v6 and going back to v5. If someone wants to try to convince me not to, I am all ears.
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    Oct 1, 2007 6:44 PM
    Sorry, I see that you are correct and the example files do not include an rhvariable.apj file. You can create one yourself using Notepad. Copy and paste the following content into the file, and then place the new rhvariable.apj file at the root level of the project, along with the other apj files. Also sorry for the delay in responding - I've been away from the forum for a few days. G


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    Oct 2, 2007 12:04 AM
    Can someone explain this thread to me?

    foo@bar.com started it with a project that was taking a silly amount of time to open.

    darkagn replied to that post suggesting they delete the CPD and XPJ file but that had already been tried and I asked the number of topics in the project. foo@bar.com never replied to that so it seems likely their problem was fixed.

    Gravenstein then suggested replacing the rhvariable.apj file. I am not clear how that would affect the opening of a project.

    Finally lmarden came in with a post about RH crashing and we are still going down the rhvariable.apj route.

    So:

    Is it just lmarden who still needs a solution?

    I am curious as to why the rhvariable.apj file is thought to be the cause?

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    Oct 2, 2007 6:41 AM
    Hi Peter - I did try this fix - went into one of the sample projects and created a user variable, then copied the resulting rhvariable.apj file into my project. it didn't help, and there were so many other issues that I ended up returning to v5. can't spend more time tweaking this while trying to prepare for a release. will try again later.
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    Oct 2, 2007 11:57 AM
    Now that you mention it, messing with the rhvariable.apj file does sound like a total non sequitur, doesn't it? Nevertheless, it might be relevant. Here's my experience:

    Converting the project from X5 to RH6 went fine. However, unnoticed at first was the rhvariable.apj file that RH6 inserted in the project. It was totally empty of content, a zero size file. I placed the project in RSC3. A second user downloaded the project (this process eventually involves rebuilding the cpd file locally), but was unable to open it: continual "cpd is corrupt" messages. This, of course, was occurring as RH6 was attempting to rebuild the cpd file! As it turns out, the process was choking on the malformed rhvariable.apj file. To fix the file, you can either create a variable (that is, if you can open the project -- the original, converted cpd works), or else you can simply replace the rhvariable.apj file with a good one (if you can't open the project).

    I encountered this issue in more than one converted project. It didn't precisely cause a crash, but it did totally prevent the project from opening, which is still a showstopper in my book. At any rate, it's a potential problem that lurks in any converted project.

    Cheers,
    G
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    Oct 2, 2007 12:03 PM
    Incidentally, back to the original post, we frequently experience the same problem with the "Building File List" taking forever. I've seen it take as much as two hours, and other authors have reported seeing it take longer than that. We've got some big, nasty projects, though.

    G
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    Oct 2, 2007 6:36 PM
    Brilliant! We were having this problem with one project, and while not a huge problem (relatively small project) it was extremely annoying. Replacing the blank rhvariable.apj with a properly defined one from another project fixed the problem for us.

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    Oct 3, 2007 1:30 AM
    Gravenstein.

    Interesting one. I have added Snippet 79 and would appreciate you just taking a look at it.

    Also, sounds like you are checking in the CPD file? Somewhere on this forum MergeThis published a list of files that you should not be checked in. CPD, LDB, HHP, PSS and XPJ I believe.

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    Oct 3, 2007 5:25 AM
    Not the XPJ, Peter, but the other four, definitely.


    Good luck,
    Leon
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    Oct 3, 2007 12:12 PM
    Amebr, I'm glad that this helped. It's also interesting to get feedback that I'm not the only one affected by this problem.

    Peter, I took a look at your snippet, and I do have a couple of comments. First, I was wrong about the example projects having an rhvariable.apj file. They don't, so you might as well remove those (2) references. Also, you are correct in mentioning that the problem exists only when no variables are set up. If you have variables defined, then this situation should not apply. Last, and least, since you did involve pronouns, I'll request that you change the "he" to "she." Anyhow, thanks for posting the snippet on your site. I hope it saves others from pulling out their hair.

    As far as the cpd file goes, I am definitely NOT checking that in. I know that's a no-no! However, note that when a second user downloads the project from source control for the first time, he will not have a cpd file for the project, and RH must subsequently create it. That's the point at which he runs into the "cpd is corrupt" error. I'm not sure if this problem manifests itself without declaring the cpd is corrupt.

    Cheers
    G
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    Oct 3, 2007 1:48 PM
    It is correct as you suggested using the sample and then corrected yourself but the Snippet is confusing so I will tidy it up.

    Sorry about the sex change! I usually make a point of avoiding he/she but for some reason I thought somewhere along the line I had picked up that you were male but I am sure you know best! Apologies.

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    Oct 3, 2007 1:56 PM
    I'll re-check and let you know if I was mistaken again...Nope! Go ahead and make that change.

    No apology necessary -- how were you to know?

    G
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    Oct 3, 2007 2:26 PM
    Have updated the Snippet. Hope the sex change wasn't too painful.

    I think you have signed off posts before with Cheers and the pint of beer. I guess I just saw that as a male image.
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    Oct 4, 2007 6:06 AM
    Hey, you two, get a room, will ya?


    Jealous in Massachusetts
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    Oct 4, 2007 12:00 PM


    FWIW, I am running tests on a problem project of ours. It's large, and I've seen the Building File List process take as much as an hour to complete. Following our RH Forum experts' suggestion, I just finished removing all the build tags from an experimental copy of the project. (We'd made extensive use of them, so it took a while and there were several RH crashes.) I just compacted the cpd file and reopened, which usually instigates a long Building File List session. Instead, the project was open and ready in one minute! I haven't decided how to proceed from here, as we do need to use build tags, but the data is interesting. At any rate, I mention this as another thing that you can look at.

    Meanwhile, back to making MergeThis jealous.


    G
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    Oct 4, 2007 2:38 PM
    Try build tags with very short names?

    ... and perhaps this will really get MergeThis' blood pressure going.

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    Oct 5, 2007 5:26 AM
    Sure didn't take you very long to stray, forgetting all about that summer fling in Israel?

    I'll bet Rick was the last to know!
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