Folders deleted from Project File still show up in the Output File

[gilbeth]

I have inherited a RH project at my company and I don't really understand the evolution of the underlying folder structure of the "Project File". Over time, I have weeded out all obsolete folders and re-organized it so that now my Project File contains only the following folders: !Language!, !SkinSubFolder!, !SSL!, and one folder that contains ALL our doc, or .htm files. (The main folder also contains hundreds of loose image files, .css, .fpj, .ssl, etc.)

My question is this: why do some of the "old" folders that I have deleted from the Project File show up in the output folder after generating? The old folders are empty, but RH continues to generate them. Where in the project file does it dictate this?

Thanks for any help!

~Beth

[Captiv8r]

Hi Beth

There are many different reasons folders will still appear. The primary reason is that RoboHelp believes the folder should be there.

This may be because you have a Baggage file that was deleted using Windows Explorer but not the reference in Baggage. Or a topic somewhere contains a rogue reference to an image that used to be in the folder. Or a link to another topic that is expected to be in the folder. The bottom line is that you will need to scan your project to find any reference to the folder name.

One way that may help would be to try and rename the folder using the RoboHelp UI. Name it something really odd like RedRabbit (one of Peter's favorite terms). Then use the Multi-File Find and Replace tool that ships with RoboHelp to see if you can locate where in the project it's being referenced. Once you find and eliminate any and all references to the folder, RoboHelp should allow you to delete it with impunity.

Hopefully this helps... Rick

[gilbeth]

Hi Rick,

Questions on a couple things that you've suggested I try: I don't know how to rename any of the output folders in the RoboHelp UI b/c I can't see them -- how do I find them in the RH UI when I only see them in the Output File? Secondly, where do I find the "Multi-File Find and Replace tool" that you mention?

Thanks,
Beth

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Okay, so color me confused. You say there are folders, yet you don't see them in the source?

So you look inside RoboHelp and there is no folder named perhaps "zazoo". But you generate and look inside the !SSL!\WebHelp folder and see one?

Or are you instead referring to the published location on the server? Now that one would make lots more sense.

Cheers... Rick

[gilbeth]

Hi Rick,
I'm not referring to the published location on the server, just the local output folder, to which I generate the output files. This local output folder contains "old" sub-folders, which I can't find from within the RH UI.

However, after reading your last post, I looked into Project File\!SSL!\WebHelp via Windows Explorer and those "old" folders ARE there! Do I simply delete them there? Or do I need to delete them from within the RoboHelp UI? (I don't know how to find them in the RH UI.)
~Beth

[Peter Grainge]

I am guessing Rick is doing some training. When RH generates, it strips out all files and folders so I don't know what is happening. In the wizard, point a new folder and generate to that. If that just contains what you want, then archive the old folder, just in case later you discover what is going on.

[Captiv8r]

LOL, Peter is spot on. Sort of. I'm tied up at the moment but it's with some consulting.

Cheers... Rick