RH8 Single project not merging

[Guest]

I recently had to migrate our projects to a new database (RH8.0.2/RSC3.1). I noticed afterwards that one out of the seventeen or so projects is no longer merging. Here is what I've checked:

• I'm using the standard layout format from Peter G., and everything seems correct there, the project is being generated and is in the right location.
• TOC merge marker in "parent" project was replaced.
• I verified that Synchronize Table of Contents is checked in the WebHelp SSL for both parent and child.
• I looked in the parent.hhc file and the project is listed there, in the proper location.
• I've compared settings with projects that are being merged and can't see anything there.

I have the feeling I'm missing something rudimentary, but I'm not sure what.

[Peter Grainge]

You check out all the projects, generate and publish starting with the parent, you get an output in each of the mergedProject folders when you generate and publish, but when you open the parent one project does not appear in the TOC and cannot be accessed by a user via the index or a search. Is that the scenario?

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@petergrainge

[Guest]

Made me look.

We don't publish, but we do generate using a perl script. Our script checks out the projects but doesn't start with the parent. (This hasn't mattered in previous build situations, but I'm willing to concede this might be part of the problem). We get output in the mergedProject folders. When we open the parent, one project does not appear in the TOC and cannot be accessed by a user via the index or a search.

[Peter Grainge]

If you are generating via a script, I think I would duplicate the layouts changing just the target location and then manually generate all the outputs starting with the parent. If the manual generation works then look at the script. Agreed?

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@petergrainge

[Guest]

Sounds like a good next step. Thanks.

[Guest]

Update

I tried Peter's suggestion and got some peculiar results. TOC merging  became very erratic with projects that have been appearing not merging at all.

I also tried deleting all the merge entries in the parent TOC and recreating that.

I also revised our build script to build the parent project first.

Still no joy. At least its not gotten any worse.

Peter, when you say "check out" you mean get the files out of source control, right? To my knowledge, you don't actually need to check files out in order to generate do you? (We've never done it that way.)

.MW

[Peter Grainge]

I don't use source control but I thought you did have to check get all the latest versions of the topics (i.e. check out) before generating.

Hopefully MergeThis or another source control user will help on this.

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@petergrainge

[MergeThis]

Checking out files is only necessary when you try editing a topic or saving an edited version of an image (that is, turning the files from read-only into editable format), and is absolutely not needed at Generate/Publish time.

Although it's not documented in the RH8 help, I believe that a new or changed layout (which, of course, includes the Generate/Publish target destinations) must be run once via the GUI Wizard before it can be run via the RH8 command-line interface. Perhaps that is also the case when using third-party scripting instead the rhcl feature, as in your case.

In any event, I would bet Peter's tuxedo that the offending script is simply pointing to the wrong target destination, or alternatively, the target in the script might be correct, but the target in the actual SSL layout is incorrect and is stubbornly holding on.

Have you searched for that project's start page in your C: drive (with Win Explorer)? Where is it?

Good luck,

Leon

[Guest]

The generated content is in the appropriate place.

I'm intrigued by your comment about the SSL being incorrect. Would that be in the parent or the child project?

.MW

[MergeThis]

Possible issues:

1. The parent is not calling for the child properly.
2. The child folder is either incomplete or is in the wrong place.
3. The perl script is incorrect.

(1) You might check the parent TOC file (parent.hhc) for these two lines (in the proper order):

<item name="child_dir" merge="::/" merge2="child_dir">
</item>

(2) The webhelp.ssl file (in the child_dir project) should have this line:

      <element name="DestinationProjectName" value="C:\generate_dir\mergedProjects\child_dir\start.htm" />

(3) Compare the perl script for this child to any of the others that work.

If these are all OK, it's time to put down the scalpel and pick up the chain saw.

Generate the parent and this child only to an entirely new directory structure; does it appear now? If so, go back to your initial directory structure and:

1. In Win Explorer, remove the entire folder for this child project (the "generated" folder under the mergedProjects folder).
2. In RH (not your Perl script), generate the child project.
3. In RH (not your Perl script), generate the parent project.

Good luck,

Leon

[Guest]

Items 1 & 2 were as described. All good there.

Item 3 took some odd twists and turns.

Before I go into that, I have a question, does the optimization setting matter much? We are currently set up to genrate for the Web (rather than a file system). Our script pushes the output several places, one of which is to a demo web server. When I look at the output on the web server, everything merges just fine, but if I look at the same content over the file system, the project in question doesn't merge.

When I followed the recomendation in item 3, the project didn't merge. I tested with various other projects that appear around the problem child, and they merged fine until one project "upstream" of the problem child.

My next project is to generate the whole set minus the two that appear problematic and see what happens.

.MW

[Peter Grainge]

I've seen using Local rather than Web fix several speed problems regardless of where the help is published. Give it a go.

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@petergrainge

[Guest]

Well, the problem has resolved (itself? Peter's suggestion about setting to Local rather than Web?) Any way, thanks for all the help!

.MW