Baggage Files keep disappearing

[Retso]

I am aware of the RH6 issue of the baggage files not being able to be added the traditional way, and the user having to add them manually in rhbag.apj file. I have done that and they do work after that is done, but my problem is that they keep disappearing after some time, and I will have to go in manually to add them again. I add them, they work, and then after a couple days and a couple compilations they are removed again and my link doesn't work of course. Does anyone know a work-around to this, and how to make them permanently stick? Or, am I to accept this nuisance and find a different method for displaying these files? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Danni

[Peter Grainge]

I haven't seen anyone report this variation of the problem. Usually once added, they stick.

The files are within your project and your project is on your local drive? Is it a particular file type?

Don't know but any info you can give us might just spark a thought with someone.

[Retso]

Hi Peter,

Yes, the files are in my project folder and the project folder is on my local drive. All the baggage files I try to link to are .pdf files.

Danni

[ewriter]

Do you link directly to the pdf files from a TOC entry? There is a bug when you link to non-html files from the table of contents. They seem to "disappear". Create a link from an html page to get around this.

Andrea

[Retso]

I'm attempting to link from an html page - not from the TOC.

[HKabaker]

I link to .pdf files from the TOC with no problem.

Danni, you mention,
"...and the user having to add them manually in rhbag.apj file."

I always import baggage files in the RH explorer view, and I let RH take care of the rhbag.apj file. (This is not to reject my colleagues' advice to edit the file. It may be necessary. I haven't needed to do that.)

RH also keeps the baggage file list in a database table in the .cpd file. It has a separate table for links to baggage files.

On the rare occasion when I have a problem, I discover an error in the database table. For example, each topic and baggage file has an ID number, and sometimes a file ID acquires a "minus" sign. Normally that's a "missing file" flag, but RH can't reconcile the database flag with the file's presence in the project folder.

Open a backup copy of the .cpd file in MS Access, go to tables view and open the ones for baggage files. If you see a negative topic or file ID, and you know the file is in the project's Windows directory, delete the minus sign.

If you see entries for baggage files that you know are obsolete, and you've removed them in RH and the project directory, delete those entries. Save before you exit from Access.

Access may warn that you won't be able to save any changes unless you convert the database file to your current version of Access. I've ignored this warning and successfully saved changes. On the other hand, I don't believe any harm would come from updating.

Temporarily change the name of the original cpd file and substitute the revised copy with the correct file name.

Launch RH and open the project. The baggage files should be straightened out, but if not, try importing the "missing" ones from a location outside the project directory. (The corollary is that you shouldn't try to import a baggage file that's already in the project directory and may be in the rhbag.apj list as well. That's what sometimes confuses RH.)

Interestingly, when you import a file that RH previously couldn't find, sometimes the import dialog says the baggage file is already in the project, do you want to overwrite it? Just say yes. Don't try to explain it, because RH can't tell you why it has to overwrite a file that isn't there.

Of course, you have the option of going back to the original .cpd file by removing the new one and renaming the old one. Sometimes I start by making a copy of the entire project, but then I have to label and remember which folder contains the version I want to use later. Don't use the "recent projects" list in RH unless you revised the project name for the copy.

Harvey