Puzzled by DITA conref error

Report · Nov 28, 2007

Hi all,
Can anyone explain why I might be getting the following error when I try to insert a DITA conref? I've run out of ideas.

DITA+FM ERROR: Error applying condition.

I'm using Frame 8.01 (latest patch, I believe?), and WinXP Pro.

I'm trying to insert the second and third of 3 dlentry elements, in a valid location. The first inserts with no trouble at all. The second and third flash briefly on the screen, then vanish. The page layout and structure views show nothing but empty space, but if I open the file to view the xml, I see two empty elements. When I save the file in which I have tried to insert the conref, and reopen it, the structure window now shows the two empty elements.

These three dlentries are identical in every respect, except for the id, obviously. I can insert the first over and over ad infinitum. But 2 and 3 won't go in even once. Is there something laughably obvious that I'm overlooking?

Other conrefs in my numerous files are working flawlessly.

I checked all the paragraph and character formats, and reimported element definitions to no avail. I rarely have reason to use conditional text, so my lack of knowledge there may be a factor.

In any case, I'd appreciate the tiniest bit of insight at this point. It's been a long afternoon...

Karen

Report · Nov 28, 2007

Hi Karen...

There are some situations where conrefs won't insert properly. Are these dlentry elements (either the target location or the source elements) at the end of a topic?

If possible, can you send me the files (target and source) or samples that exhibit the same behavior?

temp-023@leximation.com

If I can see the problem (and duplicate it), I can probably suggest an alternative. Also, I'd like to make sure that this problem doesn't exist in DITA-FMx.

Thanks,

...scott

Scott Prentice
Leximation, Inc.
www.leximation.com

Report · Nov 28, 2007

Hi Scott,
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, as it turns out, the target location is at the end of its topic, though only because this is a work-in-progress. I hadn't intended the content to just quit in medias res, so to speak.

I'd be glad to send you the files, and will do so as soon as I make sure I won't be passing along any client secrets in the text.

Watch this space...

Karen

Report · Jan 08, 2008

Hi Karen and Scott,

I'm having the same problem Karen mentioned--I keep getting the following error when inserting conrefs:
DITA+FM ERROR: Error applying condition

Is there a "best practice" for inserting conrefs via the Dita>Insert Conref... menu? Do I insert a blank topic, highlight it, and insert a conref to another topic? This seems to fail consistently.

Apart from ensuring the element is valid (i.e. insert a conref to a topic element only where a topic element is valid in the structure), are there other rules I need to be aware of? The documentation is woefully thin...

Thanks,

~Daniel

Report · Apr 10, 2008

Hi, all - Just wanted to add another voice to the chorus. I am having similar issues with conrefs in FM8. I have conrefs in existing (valid) XML documents which FM cannot resolve consistently. I have also tried adding new conrefs into files using FM, but these are not working as expected either. For the record, my conref content is <dlentry> elements. Thanks Dave

Report · Apr 10, 2008

Unfortunately, it seems that the built-in DITA support in FM8 has problems resolving conrefs in certain situations. I'm not sure exactly which "situations" .. but often elements that fall at the end of a node are lost, but there are others as well.

So far, all of the situations that have been reported to me seem to work properly in DITA-FMx.

...scott

Scott Prentice
Leximation, Inc.
www.leximation.com

Report · Apr 10, 2008

My test scenario has 123 <dlentry> elements in a single definition list. The <dlentry> elements themselves have some differences (some have multiple dd elements, others have nested elements such as <wintitle> or <userinput>, etc). All appear to be valid and DITA-OT processes them all correctly outside of FM. I've created a test document that has conrefs to all 123 elements. Of these, FM is resolving 83 correctly. I'm trying to see if there is anything consistent with the other 40 that might suggest why they fail, but so far I've had no luck. The apparent randomness is a little disturbing. I've opened a bug report with Adobe. Dave

Report · Apr 10, 2008

Quick follow-up:
I installed DITA-FMx, and it correctly resolved 123 out of 123 of the conrefs in my test files.

I realize Adobe probably doesn't monitor this forum. But in case they are logged in, I'd be happy to share my test files...
Thanks
Dave

Report · Apr 10, 2008

Hello to all of you

I would appreciate if you could send the test files for investigation at mahesh@adobe.com

Thanks and regards
Mahesh

Report · Apr 11, 2008

Hi, Mahesh -
I'm sending you my test files now.

Including:
- source files
- results from FM using standard DITA, FM using DITA-FMx, DITA-OT outside of FM
- summary listing all 123 conrefs, showing those that FM is having a problem resolving.

Please let me know if you need anything else. Thanks for looking into this. I appreciate it!
Dave

Report · Apr 30, 2008

Two observations I made when dealing with conrefs that reference section elements:
* If the referenced section is inserted as the last element within a topic's body, the error reproducibly occurs. (Scott: I haven't tested dlentry elements yet.)
* If the referenced section element contains only a title element followed by a single p element, the error reproducibly occurs.

Hope this helps in finding the source of the bug,
Marcus Baake