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ShoshF
Known Participant
July 16, 2019
Question

Unable to Open Random FM Files on Network

  • July 16, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 939 views

I work with many FrameMaker books and files on a large network. Some chapter files in several different folders have suddenly stopped opening. A .lck file is created in the folder. The hourglass spins and FrameMaker says "Not Responding." No other error messages. Have to force FrameMaker to shut down and delete the .lck file.

This doesn't affect all files in the same folder, or even in the same book. It seems random.

If I copy these files to my desktop, they open fine.  If I then File > Save As to a different folder on the same network, they open fine (aside from the broken reference links).

So I am aware this is a network issue, rather than an FM issue. But because this seems to affect only FM files, I am hoping for some idea how to troubleshoot what component of my files are being affected.

So far, I have done the following:

1. Opened the copy in different folder. Deleted all content from body and master pages. Saved back to the original folder. Will not open.

2. Opened the copy in different folder. Copied/pasted all content into a new file of same name and template, in the original folder. Opens fine.

Number 2 is a workaround, but very time-consuming, especially when there are numerous cross-refs and graphic imports to reestablish.

What else could I look at to pinpoint the problem and fix it for good?

15.0.3.603

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

LinSims
Community Expert
LinSimsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 17, 2019

Do I understand correctly that you are pulling information from your title page into your headers and footers by cross-referencing to the tags?

This is possibly a stupid question, but is there a reason you aren't using variables for this information instead? For example, the template at this job (and the job I had before) uses variables for the name of the document and the type of document (book title and subtitle, in our case). These are used on the cover page and are combined in the headers and footers for subsequent files.

Much easier than using xrefs, as all you have to do is import the user variables from the cover to the rest of the book instead of recreating xrefs. It will also cut down on Frame having to check the links, resolve the links and update the links when regenerating a file which, as you've discovered, can sometimes take a good long while.

    S
    ShoshFAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 17, 2019

    The root cause of this problem may remain a mystery. But after this experience, that is probably what I am going to do going forward! Thanks for the recommendation.

    LinSims
    Community Expert
    LinSimsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 17, 2019

    To me, it sounds like these documents were originally created and maintained in Word.

    I am not a Word power user, but as I recall, you cannot create your own variables, so if you want to have headers and footers that reference text in the document, you have to have them in a specific paragraph style that is cross-referenced from the header or footer.

    It's possible that whoever created your Frame documents simply continued doing the same thing in Frame that they were accustomed to doing in Word. It does work, but it's not the optimal solution.

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 16, 2019

    Was this working fine for you before? If so, what's changed?

    How long are your network path + filename operations? Sometimes long paths+filenames give issues.

    S
    ShoshFAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 17, 2019

    All of these files were working fine. Then last week, I started having trouble with a few files in one folder. Then, it happened in another folder. All other files continued to work fine. Then a couple days ago, another folder. It just keeps hitting files randomly.

    All file paths are typically about this long:

    \\123ABCXYZ3\Departments\Documentation\Docs_By_Product\ProjectName_ProductABC\Model_3500\Frame

    But as I implied above, other files within the same folder continue to open just fine, as do files in other folders with similar paths.

    Nothing out of the ordinary happened (to our knowledge) to trigger this.

    W
    Community Expert
    Winfried RengCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 17, 2019

    Hi,

    Very strange.

    And when you cannot open a specific file, does this change? Can you open this file after a Windows restart or on the next day?

    Do you have any colleagues? Can they open these problem files?

    Can you ask your system administrators, whether there are any network changes?

    Or anything with your antivirus software? (When you can open the files after you copy them to your desktop, this should not be the issue.)

    Best regards

    Winfried

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