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Cannot close project in RoboHelp 11

New Here ,
Mar 26, 2014 Mar 26, 2014

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I'm using RoboHelp 11.

When I do

     File -> Close project

nothing happens. I can continue working with the project.

When I exit RoboHelp completely, still nothing happens. This means I have to kill RoboHelp using the Task Manager.

This may be relevant: In the project I have checked the 'Clear project cach (.cpd file) before opening any project'.

When this is not checked, each time I open my project, RoboHelp says that the cpd file is corrupt and needs to be deleted.

Perhaps these two symptoms have the same cause.. But what could be this cause?

Thanks for any help.

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LEGEND ,
Mar 26, 2014 Mar 26, 2014

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Hi there

My gut says that something in the project is still being accessed and that's preventing the closure. Is the project perhaps on a Network resource? If so, that may be why it's not closing. I know RoboHelp 10 and 11 are supposed to work better than their predecessors with network locations, but given the choice and all the crud that can happen with networks, I still would opt for working on the project only from a local drive.

Cheers... Rick

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Community Expert ,
Mar 26, 2014 Mar 26, 2014

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Something is corrupting the CPD when in use. On opening, if the box is ticked a new CPD is created and that is not corrupt.

Please open one of the sample projects and tell us if the same thing happens there. Click Open on the RoboHelp Starter page and then click Samples in the ribbon on the left.

When we know whether the issue is project specific or related to the installation, we can explore some more. If the samples are good, try creating another project.

Let us know what operating system you are on, whether the project is on the local drive and whether source control is involved. Also is this a project created in Rh11 or upgraded?


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2014 Mar 26, 2014

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Thanks,

- The sample projects work fine, and a new project works fine too.

- My project is on the local drive, in my profile, under my Documents folder

- I'm on Windows 8

- The project is under TFS source control. I have tried copying the project and disconnecting this copy completely from TFS. The copied project has the same problems.

- I'd like to test on another machine. but I have only one licence.. so..

- The project was upgraded from RoboHelp 10.

Is there some integrity checker perhaps? I'm considdering to completely rebuild the project structure in a new project, which looks like a lot of work.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 26, 2014 Mar 26, 2014

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You could always install on another machine in Trial mode. Also the licence does allow installation on a second machine as long as it is for the same user and not in use at the same time on both machines.

Let's try to avoid a rebuild just yet.

First get the project out of your profile. That can lead to very long paths with associated problems. Move it to C:\MyProject to start with.


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New Here ,
Mar 26, 2014 Mar 26, 2014

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Thanks Peter,

Useful tips. I tried a shorter path, and another machine.

The problem remains..

- Hildo

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New Here ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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Hi Hildo

I had the same problem last week on Robohelp 9. My project was also on the TFS source control. From my investigation, it was something connected to the TFS - our IT performed a TFS maintenance the same week the problem started and permissions, branching, etc. were changed - and we think that this is what caused our problems. My advice you check it out with them. Our solution now is that we have moved our project to a neutral place on the TFS where it is not part of the projects/trunk maintenance. We have also been given full admin permissions.

Melanie

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New Here ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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Thanks Melanie,

I have kind of ruled out the any TFS influence, I believe.

- Copied the project out of my TFS workspace,

- Made everything writable,

- Removed the source control things from the .xpj file

But the problem stays..

This does make me wonder.. Did I really remove all TFS influence from the project this way?

To me it looks like my project files are corrupted now.

- Hildo

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Community Expert ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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A trick that might work.

Using the copy that you have unlinked, generate a CHM file. That will ensure your HHP file is up to date.

Delete the CPD file and the XPJ file and then reopen the project using the HHP file. See Using the HHP file in http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/opening/opening_projects.htm for detailed instructions.

Post back if that does not work.


See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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New Here ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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Thanks,

I 've tried this now.

There is no HHP, so I had to download the HHP_builder from Adobe to create a HHP.

The XPJ is regenerated when I open the project using the HHP.

But the problem still remains..

To me this is all magic. The fact that this is possible at all surely means that all these file contain some degree of redundancy.

Redundancy can become inconsistency ofcourse..

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Community Expert ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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An HHP is always created when you generate a CHM so something is fundamentally wrong. Can you share the project with me? See the Contact page on my site and send the project as instructed there. Do make sure you include a link to this thread and please do not email the project direct.

Yes there is some redundancy but it is there for a reason.


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New Here ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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I am following your thread and just want to mention that this is exactly what happened on my Robohelp 9 project. I also had no HHP and on downloading the builder and following your HHP snippet page the problem was still there. Over and above, I could not generate the file to start with to create a chm until the project was taken off the TFS. I would be greatful to hear if you solve this as I reconstructed my whole project and am reluctant to put it back on the TFS.

Melanie

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Community Expert ,
Mar 27, 2014 Mar 27, 2014

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Sounds like a TFS/RH interaction gone south to me…

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Community Expert ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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@Jeff

That's partly why I suggested sending the project to me. Several times people have told me that their project has had all links to source control removed. Then when I get the project the first thing I see is a message telling me the link is broken. If it has been properly removed, that message should not display.


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New Here ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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Peter,

I've sent the project using WeTransfer.com

I have made all files writeable, removed TFS references from it, and ZIPped the lot.

Thanks for your time!

- Hildo den Breejen

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Community Expert ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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Wow. I am impressed. This project has multiple problems that I have never seen before!

I am getting exactly the same problem so I think we can rule out TFS.

I see a lot of broken links in the format

Users/[username]/Documents/TFS/]path]/Teams.htm

It is pointing to a file that is part of someone's profile and appears to be linked to TFS.

I also see a lot of files and images in the root of the project. That's not wrong but it is not best practice and neither of those should cause the problems seen.

I tried two copies of the project and trashed different halves of the topics. No change.

Then I thought I would create a CHM so the project had an HHP file. I created a layout for that and Rh went through the motions and created the folder for the CHM but did not create the file.

Next I tried WebHelp. That created an output that opens with a statement "This help system has no topics". Except it has a TOC that works.

Then to top it all...

In the SSL tab of Rh, neither of the new layouts appears. However, if you go create them again, clearly Rh knows about them as it increments the number.

I will revert to this but that's as much as I can do for now. It may be quicker to create a new project as this one is seriously broken right now. Can I share this copy with a few other people I know and trust?


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Community Expert ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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I believe the project's root.fpj file is corrupt. Willam van Weelden has a script on his site to fix that.

Give it a try. I can but not until later.


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Community Expert ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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http://www.wvanweelden.eu/product/missing-topics-fixer

I know the projects are showing in Project Manager but still try this.


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New Here ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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Peter,

We started using RoboHelp only a few months ago, and we set out converting our existing product documentation from Microsoft Word to RoboHelp.

So we almost immediately had quite a lot of volume in RoboHelp, but little knowledge of it. So we hade to restructure things repeatedly.

Because we want to package the RoboHelp output during the nightly build of our product, we added everyting to TFS. We are still restructuring the RoboHelp project occasionally.

We have sometimes had to use some 'force' to help RoboHelp's interaction with TFS.

Perhaps we have helped too much..

I'll give Willam's tool a try.

- Hildo

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Community Expert ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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Try Willam's script first. If you don't know how to, I can try it but not until later.

Then knowing where your source originated gives me another idea that I will try later.


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New Here ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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The missing-topics-fixer did not help I'm afraid. Still can't close the project.

This in itself is not the problem of course. But if corruption causes this, I fear more serious trouble later on.

I guess I'll have to rebuild the project from scratch now.

Do you know of any guidance on how to go about this?

Thanks

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Community Expert ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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Can this hold off until Monday? By then I will have had a chance to try one or two other things.

If not, it's a case of creating all the folders and then importing the topics. You can import all the topics in a folder in one go.

The TOC can be created by creating a new one and opting to base it on a copy in the source.

Let me know if you can wait as then I will try a few more things before we have to admit the new project is quicker.


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New Here ,
Mar 28, 2014 Mar 28, 2014

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Peter,

Sure, it can wait untill Monday.

By the way, we can still edit topic files, and check them in. The simple tasks still work.

The only real problems right now are having to kill RoboHelp, and not being able to reliably maintain the folders in the project manager.

These are not showstopping problems, but I fear escalation.

Thanks again

Hildo den Breejen

Thanks

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Community Expert ,
Mar 29, 2014 Mar 29, 2014

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Everything I have tried has failed to fix not being able to close the project. Although you say the issues are not showstoppers, I would not continue working on this project as failure to close says to me that something is seriously broken.

For a start, I have been unable to generate an output or add any new ones.

You have some files with umlauts. I am not sure if these are allowed. Perhaps Willam would comment. Others have quote marks and full stops (periods). Again characters I would avoid. These though should not cause the project to fail to close.

That fact that it does would give me serious concern. I can try to seek further assistance or you may wish to press on sooner and import everything into a new project. If you do, test from time to time that you can close the project and other features are working.


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New Here ,
Mar 31, 2014 Mar 31, 2014

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Peter,

Thanks for all the effort you have put in.

The file names reflect the topic names, I believe this a RoboHelp default. I can imagine RH, being a product from the US, having trouble with non-latin characters.

I will start rebuilding the project, using a defensive file naming scheme, and make sure that this scheme is adhered to in future.

I image that at the very least I'll first have to rename some topic files, and references to these files in other topics. Then re-add them to a new project.

Do you know of some list of other things to consider?

Thanks

- Hildo

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