Captivate Project not opening

[Jackb201201]

Hi All,

When trying to load up my captivate project i am presented with the below error message

Any idea how i can fix this to access my project

Kind Regards,

Jack

[kglad]

<moved from enterprise&teams>

[Lilybiri]

This allround error message can be due to multiple causes. Can you check in the folder where it should be saved if there are any .lck files which would point to an incorrect closing of the project. That is what is meant by 'not open already' because the project would be locked. You can delete the lck files.

Did you use the default paths for your projects and is that path pointing to a folder on your system?

It is also possible that the project has corrupted. Can you find the backup file? It should be in the same folder where you saved your project.

You didn't mention if you try to open that project with the same Captivate version in which it was created? 

[Jackb201201]

I am opening the same project that i have been opening and saving for the past 6 months

[Lilybiri]

Was anything changed on your system? I suppose you already checked the possible scenarios I mentioned in my first answer (you didn't confirm)?  

[Jackb201201]

No Changes

[RodWard]

The error message you show here mostly occurs when trying to open a Captivate CPTX project file that has been edited by a version of Captivate that is slightly later than your own.

Just to be clear:  Did you already have the project open and you were trying to publish to HTML5?  Or did you see this when you tried to open the file?

[Jackb201201]

This would not open when i tried to open the file from my computers files, it had worked every time for 6 months and now i cannot open

[Jackb201201]

This is how my project looks also when loading captivate up from the main application button (appears to be greyed out and cannot be selected)

[Jackb201201]

Also when loading up the project it appears with a message to say it is extracting into file, which it doesn't usually say when loading up (usually it will be generating slides)

[Lilybiri]

Sorry, I have edited your title, because 'loading up' is used for published projects, you are trying to open an existing raw project (cptx). This is not meant to criticize, just to make it easier to understand the problem for other users. I was confused at the start.

Did you check for backup file? Since you are busy with this project since quite a while, there should be backup files.

Also: try the usual troubleshooting workflows: clearing the cache and cleaning the Preferences.

[Jackb201201]

If clearing this cache will this alter or delete my saved project??

[Lilybiri]

If the two paths you show in the screenshot are different, there is no problem for your projects. If you want to keep the cache of one or more specific projects, open them before using the button in Preferences, General settings to delete the cache.

More information in this blog post:

https://blog.lilybiri.com/tips-for-troubleshooting

[RodWard]

Since you are currently unable to open a particular Captivate CPTX file, I would recommend NOT deleting your Project Cache just yet.  My reason for hesitating is that one of the folders inside that Project Cache folder actually contains the final state of your project when you were last editing it.  If your current CPTX file happens to be unable to open because it has corrupted, then there is a slight chance that you might be able to recover a working version of it from the one in the Project Cache.  If you clear the cache, that no longer becomes possible. 

Lilybiri's suggestion of using the backup file is also a good one, but I am assuming you didn't have Project Backups turned on in Project Preferences, is that correct?

Clearing the cache is a one-way street.  Another option is to just cut and paste all folders from inside the Project Cache folder to another folder elsewhere on your computer.  That clears the cache without actually losing all the cached projects.  If you end up needing to recreate the project CPTX, that's still on the table.