The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.

[Robo_Man]

When Generating a WebHelp build and then Publishing in RH X5, and selection to overwite all, I get an error stating "Publishing has been cancelled.  The process cannnot access the file because it is being used by another process."

What is causing this, please?  Solution?

Thanks,

RoboMan

[Peter Grainge]

This is covered in Snippets on my site.

The short answer is to simply publish to a new folder. Rename the existing folder and publish to a new folder with the old name.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Robo_Man]

I think I tried something like that already.

I created a new "Publish " folder with a different name and configured RH to publish to that new folder.  I still get the error message.

[Peter Grainge]

Have you successfully published to the location previously?

Whilst not an ideal solution, could you FTP the files?

I don't know what else to suggest as this workaround has always worked in the past.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Robo_Man]

Yes, I have. I made numerous updates to one particular topic (html file) that contains links to other RH html topics that contain .swf (Captivate) files.

I'm also dealing with a bunch of discordance errors between RH and ClearCase (the VA's choice for CM).  That's a mess in and of itself.  I need to reconcile getting these files checked out and back in so I don't lose any work.

[Guest]

A coworker upgraded to RoboHelp 9 last week.  She encountered the "Publishing cancelled.  Used by another process....." message almost immediately.  We would have attributed it to the upgrade, except that I had the same problem on the same day.  It could be new security measures or bad karma.  We haven't figured that out yet.

I have encountered the same error sporadically (4 or so times/I publish almost daily) over the last several years (RoboHelp 3, 5 and now 8).  Publishing to a new folder, deleting old and renaming new to old is an alternative, but it's hard to find a time when it won't disrupt someone's work (voice of experience speaking here).

We tried publishing RoboHelp 9 after business hours yesterday and at 4 am this morning.  Same message.

I noted something that was said in the forum about "Republishing All."  Immediately after getting the error message again this morning, we unchecked "Republish All" and tried again.  The project published without a hitch.  I don't know whether this was what allowed the project to publishe, whether it will be helpful or not, nor do I know the ramifications of not republishing all.  Something worked, however.  So, it's worth a try.

We are not publishing to a Robohelp server, but to a server that only has Robohelp folders published to it.  Only two of us, with the exception of IS, have write privileges to the server. 

Holly

[Robo_Man]

I am still using RoboHelp Office X5 and I encountered the same error message.  What I finally discovered was that in the Single Source Layout/WebHelp "Wizard" that you go though to publish the help, the Select Output Folder and Start Page as well as the actual folder in which the webhelp files were to be "Published", was that somehow changed and both choices were pointing to the very same "Publish" folder.  They should be different locations. This is what was causing the "Used by another process..." error message.

As soon as I redirected the Select Output Folder and Start Page to the C:\...\...\...\Help Project\!ssl!\WebHelp\start page.htm, everything was fine.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Aha – good suggestion! I hadn’t thought that it might be messed up in the SSL recipe.

[Guest]

I'm going to save this response in my RoboHelp folder for the time that it happens again.  I'll check the folders (it had never occurred to me to do that) so see if your issue is duplicated. 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

So the help generation went fine; it’s just when you try and place the files on the webserver that you have the issue, right? That sounds like either the files are in use by someone accessing your help or that the server has them locked – either way it’s probably not a RH issue. You probably need to work with your IT on seeing what’s going on.

[a_neises]

I have a new twist to the above issue. Attempting the work-arounds listed above unfortunately did not resolve the issue.

"The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process" error started occurring after we updated to IE 11. (It also only occurs in one project, created using files that are linked from FrameMaker 11 to RoboHelp 10.) To make the RoboHelp .htm files compatible with IE11, I paste the following line of code into index.htm:

<head>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="whstart.ico">
<title>Insert Your Title Here </title>
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE8" >
<meta name="generator" content="Adobe RoboHelp 10" />
<meta name="description" content="WebHelp 5.50" />

<!-- comment out or delete the following line generated by RoboHelp
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
-->
</head>

After attempting to paste the line of code into a Notepad file, the file does not save, and the error message appears.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

You probably don’t need that line anymore with the recent patches to RH10 (I just checked one of my projects and it doesn’t have that line & works fine with IE11, FF and Chrome). But it sounds like you have the index file open somewhere else while you’re trying to edit it. Try it on an isolated copy of the file first.

[a_neises]

Thanks for the info. I realize I need to give you more information. There are two parts to this information:

1. IE 11 & code: actually, it seems that I do need that line of code .. or something to that effect. Without the code, the Contents, Index and Search panes don't display information.

2. Here's what I've tried to do to troubleshoot the error:

a. Closed all files.

b. Rebooted.

c. Scrubbed the old project and completely rebuilt it (again, the RoboHelp project links to a FrameProject).

d. Attempted to publish on my local drive and then moved the entire project to a completely different location, on a shared drive.

e. Change locations of published files.

f. Change filename that launches the .htm files (before publication).

g. Delete the existing published files before generating a new batch.

Thanks for your help!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What version of RH10 are you using?

[a_neises]

It's RoboHelp version 10.0.1.292. All recent patches have been applied.

[a_neises]

Hello. Just following up on the above. Thanks!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Did you try adding your local c: drive or LAN server as a Trusted Location in IE11?

[a_neises]

Actually, my understanding is that pasting the above code is what makes the files compatible, locally.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Check Willam’s site to make sure you’ve applied all the extra fixes that have come out around IE11 & Chrome - http://www.wvanweelden.eu/articles/robohelp-patches-and-updates

[a_neises]

Hello, I verified with my Help desk that all patches, as described in the article are installed. (We re-installed them to double-check.) The issue persists.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Which issue? The “can’t see stuff in IE11 and Chrome” or the “can’t edit the file message” one?

Can you share the project? I’d be willing to have a look at it. Send me a PM for my contact info.

[a_neises]

OK, I'll PM you.

The issue is as follows:

1. After I publish to an .htm output, I need to paste a line of code into the .htm output (using Notepad) to make the .htm compatible with IE 11. (Otherwise the TOC, Search, and Index does not display in the left pane and the skin does not display correctly. My understanding is that this is RoboHelp's only solution to fix the incompatibility.) The code is as follows:

<head>
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="whstart.ico">
<title>Insert Your Title Here </title>
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE8" >
<meta name="generator" content="Adobe RoboHelp 10" />
<meta name="description" content="WebHelp 5.50" />

<!-- comment out or delete the following line generated by RoboHelp
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
-->
</head>

2. After attempting to paste the line of code into a Notepad file, the file does not save, and the error message appears.

"The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

Because of this error, I cannot use the code to fix the IE11 incompatibility. It results with useless .htm outputs.

3. The error only occurs in one RoboHelp project. I created the project using files that are linked from FrameMaker 11 to RoboHelp 10.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Ok, I’ve been playing around with the output – I can add the meta line changes and it will make the index.html page work with IE11, however it still flips out when opened with Chrome. Can you send me the RH project (without the \SSL\ folder?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Just played around with the project and did a quick generate of WebHelp to see if the index.htm page behaves with all browsers – and it does. Works fine with Chrome, Firefox & IE11 all located in a c:\temp\ folder.

That makes me more suspicious that you’re missing some fix for RH10 to address both the Chrome issue and the IE11 part. I’ll have a little look around in my RH program folders to see if I can figure it out.

[a_neises]

OK! Thanks for the update.