Sep 17, 2007 3:18 PM
Robohelp 6 nearly unusable.. "Building file list"
-
Like (0)
3951 Views
20 Replies
Latest reply:
Oct 5, 2007 5:26 AM by
MergeThis 
-
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 -
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 -
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
