Unable to resolve broken links

[cdenicholas]

Hi,

I have a long list of broken links in my project that I'm unable to resolve. I've tried 3 things:

I ran the broken links report, and the entry for every broken link states "Missing topic xyz.htm is referenced by the following:" However, the report doesn't list what is referencing the topic.

If I right-click a broken link (from the Project tab) and select Show Topic Links from the menu that appears, RoboHelp displays an icon for the topic in the right-hand pane. However, there are no links to the topic. And the icon's question mark is red instead of the typical blue.

If I right-click a broken link (from the Project tab) and select Show Topic References from the menu that appears, RoboHelp displays the Topic References window. This window lists the "missing topic," but lists no references. When I click the Restore button, I get this error message: The filename is invalid. The '#' character cannot be used in a path.

All of my missing topics have the # in the name. For example,

some_topic.htm#IX_reporting

I'm thinking that these "missing topics" were created when I imported a word document into the project. Does anyone have any idea how I can delete/resolve these broken links?

Thanks!

[Peter Grainge]

Use a multi file find and replace tool to find the topics that have these links. Whilst the built in tool sometimes does not work as expected, it should be OK for this task.

[cdenicholas]

Hi Peter, thanks for your prompt response. I tried using the included Multi-File Find and Replace tool, but I get the following message: No files found with matching text.

I've looked at those topics that might logically link to these mysterious "missing topics," but don't see any indication of links gone awry.

Any other ideas?

THANKS!

[Peter Grainge]

Two options.

Google BKReplaceEm, it's a free tool that is better than the built in tool or use FAR, it's free for 30 days (maybe 60) from http://www.helpware.net.

If that gives no joy, take a copy of the whole project and then trash the CPD file. See the instructions for Opening a Project on my site first.

[cdenicholas · Accepted solution]

Thanks Peter. I actually didn't have to try either method. The broken links resolved themselves... magically it seems. Perhaps I shut down and re-opened the project enough times.