Cannot open Robohelp 8 project in Robohelp 9

[andyG928]

I cannot open my old Robohelp 8 projects from Robohelp 9. When I open it, it shows me a prompt to make a backup and upgrade the project. Then I click Upgrade, it returns an error:

"open project was cancelled or the application was unable tp load the database for   <path to my project>"

Creating or opening new projects in the 9 format works fine.

The old Robohelp project was created on a different PC. I just copied the whole folder to a new PC with Robohelp 9. The oroject is not corrupted  I can still open it on my old PC with RH8.

Any suggestions how to fix that?

Thanks

[Amebr]

I assume you aren't using source control? (If you are, you should do a get from source control on the new pc, rather than copying the files manually.)

Assuming you aren't, make sure you have a backup you can't accidentally modify, then delete the cpd and try opening the project again. Possibly this file is storing the old path and getting confused.

Amber

[andyG928]

Well, it was much more simple than that. First, I copied my old RH8 project to drive D: on the new PC. Opening the project with RH9 generated the error as described.

Then I copied the project into RH "native" directory, i.e. C:\Users\XXXXX\Documents\My RoboHelp Projects. It fixed the error.

Still, I cannot understand why RH only allows opening projects from its "native" directory. Anyway it is all solved now.

Thanks for your help.

[Amebr]

Out of curiosity, where was the project located on the old PC?

[Peter Grainge]

ANDY

I recall that error in the beta but it was fixed so it's odd to hear about it now. I think the fix was to delete the CPD and upgrade but don't do that without backups in place.

See if you can move back to the D drive after the upgrade, assuming D is a partition on your hard disk.

AMBER

Sorry you seem to be having problems sleeping. A very late post for you.

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@petergrainge

[andyG928]

The project originally was located in the "native" RH dir on the old PC, i.e. \Documents\My RoboHelp Projects. I don't have a lot of space on the C drive on the new PC, because it is SSD. So, I was thinking to place all data files and all projects on the second drive D. Obviously, it didn't work.

Next, I installed RH8 on the new PC, but it generated exactly the same error in opening its original version 8 project. Then it was clear that the error is related to the project location only and has nothing to do with corrupted files or a project upgrade.

The RH9 installation is the current release, not beta. I have seen the mentioned methods of deleting or renaming the .cpd files. It didn't work for me.

I think everyone could replicate it - just copy your project to the D drive and see what happens. Out of curiosity I will try the same on my old PC.

[Peter Grainge]

I am regularly running projects off an external hard disk without any problems. I'm pretty sure I have run projects off a second internal hard disk as well in the past. I also run projects off a D drive that is a partition rather than a second internal disk.

Maybe it's how a machine sees a second disk when the first one is an SSD? Above my pay grade to know that.

Have you tried running the RoboHelp 9 project on the new machine after getting it upgraded on the SSD?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[andyG928]

Peter,

Yes, both RH8 and RH9 projects run perfectly on the SSD. The old RH8 format was upgraded to RH9 without any problems. However, if I move it back to the drive D, I am getting exactly the same error.

[Peter Grainge]

It looks like your machine is seeing that D drive as a network drive rather than a second hard disk. Do you have an external hard disk (not a flash drive) that you could try as that works for me.

Maybe one of your IT people can advise?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Amebr]

[Erk, just spotted where you said you'd tried deleteing the cpd. just ignore me, I haven't had my morning coffee yet. ]

Andy, did you delete the CPD and then open the project? I'm thinking that the path stored in that file is causing the problem and if you delete it, RH will happily open the project in the new (non-native) location. Take a backup before trying, obviously.

Peter - no problems sleeping, unless I've suddenly taken to napping in the middle of the afternoon. (Although I admit that was a slight problem in Memphis for a couple of days. )

[Peter Grainge]

Amber

Your email came through in a second wave and was not in the first batch of the morning. I therefore assumed you had just posted. I guess the email got delayed somewhere along the line. Perhaps it made an unscheduled stop to refuel?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[andyG928]

I tried several project location scenarios for both RH8 and RH9. The bottom line is that: moving the project to any drives, secondary or external, results in project opening (or upgrade) error

"open project was canceled or the application was unable to load the database for   <path to my project>"

I also suspect that RH writes an absolute path to the project somewhere, perhaps in the .cpd file. In that case there should be an option to rebuild it automatically. However, deleting .cpd doesn't help.

What also puzzles me is the RH doesn't have an option to Save As. Does it mean that only "native" default locations are supported?

[Peter Grainge]

There isn't a Save As option but usually it is as simple as copying the project from one location to another.

No it doesn't write an absolute path as if it did that, none of us could move projects.

Do you have a second machine (not with SSD) that you can install RoboHelp 9 on in trial mode? With that you could perhaps put the project on an external hard disk and prove it works there as it does for me?

Are you copying just the project out of your profile? So C:\Users\XXXXX\Documents\My RoboHelp Projects\Project1 becomes D:\Project1. If not, try that.

After moving, getting the error and trashing the CPD, do you get the error again if you reopen after that?

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge