Deleting Files

[chris_a_bowles]

I have inherited a project that is very large and consists of all converted Word docs. The problem is that there are certain files that need to be completely deleted from the project but the delete button is greyed out when I right click on the file. This is happening with both baggage files and some .htm files.

I have checked to make sure that with the baggage files they are not linked anywhere else in the project.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, I have three questions:

1) Should I be concerned that the project is corrupt since there are certain files that will not delete? (Everything else seems to be working fine).

2) Does anyone have an idea on why this would happen in the first place?

3) How in the heck do I delete them! My main concern is the baggage files that are currently outdated but still pull up in the NLS.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

-Chris

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Chris and welcome to the forums. First off, are you sure the files are not referenced anywhere else in the project. Have you tried using a find tool (e.g. FAR) to look for instances of the file names? If you are sure, you can manually edit the project's rhbag.apj file in a text editor and remove the associated baggage files. RH baggage files have been known to get "stuck" in this file making deletion in the project impossible.

[chris_a_bowles]

Colum,

Thanks! That worked for the baggage files like a charm!

Do you have any idea about how I would delete folders under the HTML Files (Topics) folder? The file has been deleted from the project, but the folder it was in remains. When I go into the folder in question in the project folder I see that the actual file is gone, but there is still an .fpj file sitting there.

I was playing around with a copy of the project to see if I could actually delete it (the folder in question and the .fpj file) from the main project folder, but once I delete it and open RH, I get a dialog box that says it is missing and will replace it. Then I'm back at square one!

Any ideas?

Also, just for my understanding:

1) What is an .fpj file?
2) What is an .apj file?

Thanks!

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Chris. APJ and FPJ files are RH project files. The fact that RH recreates the .FPJ file says that it is still being used - hence the fact that you couldn't delete the folder. You'll have to remove the element referenced in the FPJ file from the project first. What is the name of the FPJ file. This will give you an idea of what the reference is (e.g. images.fpj signifies there's an image lurking somewhere or the file name could refer to a folder or topic name).

[Captiv8r]

Greetings

If I may, I'd like to offer my own insights on these files.

The .APJ is something known as an "Anneheim" project file. These files made their appearance with RoboHelp HTML version X5. These are simple XML files used to store various bits of project information that used to only reside in the former ProjectName.MPJ file. This is why you see one for the Baggage files. One for the keywords, one for the layouts, etc. These files can be examined and edited using Windows Notepad.

I believe the .FPJ is a "Folder" project file. There is normally one present inside each folder. These are also tied to the new XML file structure of X5. If you look closely, you will find that each of the folders you create inside RoboHelp HTML has a matching .FPJ file inside. For example, I have a project with a folder named AppendixB. Inside that folder is a AppendixB.fpj file. And if I open this file using Windows Notepad, it lists an XML structure containing the topics that RoboHelp thinks should be inside this folder.

Hopefully this helps... Rick

[HKabaker]

A further note:

RH behaves differently in two circumstances.

If RH thinks a folder has files still used in the project as references or links, the Delete command is not available in the menu or as a toolbar icon. This is when you might have to edit a project file to delete the reference.

When a folder contains some files, but RH doesn't consider them a required part of the project, you can delete the folder. RH will warn you it contains files that will be deleted from the hard disk, but if you know they are obsolete, you can confirm the deletion.

You also can double-check in the Recycle bin by sorting according to the date of deletion. If you actually need a file you just deleted, you can restore it from the recycle bin menu (first close the project in RH). When you launch the project again, RH may not see it, so you need to "import" the file from its location in the project folder.

I hope this is useful.

Harvey