Application Error - Restart Robohelp

[NAG3]

Hello, 

I keep getting this application error (see attachment) but it's not telling me what is causing the error. Is there anyone who knows about this and has input? 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What version of RH are you running? Classic or New UI (RH2019)? Are you all patched up? Check Help > Updates to check.

[NAG3]

I'm running RH2019 and it's all patched up. 

[Peter Grainge]

Nobody can help with just that information. What you need to do follow the instructions and then repeat what you were doing when the error occurred. If it then happens again, post back with information about what you are trying to do. Then hopefully someone can help.

[NAG3]

No need to be rude; if it happened under just one circumstance I would have included that - but it happens at random with no correlation to a specific action. 

[Amebr]

The only error I hate more (from a different application) is "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."

As near as I can tell, they both translate to "Did you try switching it off and on again? Yes? Okay, try thumping it a few times".

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Have you tried to do a series of actions without saving each time?

[NAG3]

I have tried that and also tried the same series of actions while saving after each one. There is no direct correlation between this error and any specific action being performed - it happens at random. Many times, after I have restarted Robohelp (as the error states to do) the error will throw again immediately after the restart. 

[Peter Grainge]

What's rude? I simply stated that no one could help based on just that information. I then suggested what to do first and if it happened again to come back with some more information so that I or someone else could try to help based on what you told us.

[Peter Grainge]

if it happened under just one circumstance I would have included that - but it happens at random with no correlation to a specific action

OK but I had no way of knowing your thinking. I can only go on what was posted.

[Peter Grainge]

1. Has this happened ever since starting to use 2019 or did it work for a while and then start giving this problem?
2. If it worked for a while can you recall anything about when it started.
3. If it was from the start, 2019 should work off any drive but local might be worth a try if it is somewhere else.
4. Is it a very large project? I am wondering if it might be worth trying to rebuild it. That's not quite as herculean task as it might appear. I have some instructions for that.
5. Is there any source control involved?
6. Could any of the paths in the project be very long?
7. Are there any folder or file names with characters other than alpha numeric? I have written these points as they occur to me but that seems quite a likely one as it would account for the random nature when you try to do something that involves such a path.
8. I am also wondering just how frequent this is. If it is pretty easy to throw the fault, then maybe you could spend some time working on the supplied RoboHelp Reimagined sample project to see how that behaves. That would help determine whether or not it is the installation of RoboHelp or the project.

[Amebr]

Some error in the CSS file could contribute. I'm only testing RH2019 New occasionally, but projects converted from old versions of RH seem to have lots of strange items included that are fine/ignored in old versions. But New UI is more strict so weird things can happen. Perhaps run your css files through an external CSS checking tool to identify issues. Be careful about removing all identified issues, in case there's some proprietary RH code that's needed (I haven't done enough digging to know if there is anything, but thought I'd mention it, just in case.)

[Peter Grainge]

Amber's suggestion is a good one. If the erroring is frequent enough, go to Reports > Topic List and select all topics (top left check box). Right click and select Properties. There you can apply the default css to all topics. Obviously they will look rubbish but you can try a few things to see if anything can create the error.

The code in your topics will not have been changed so later you can reverse the process but take a copy of your project if in doubt.

I now recall an application error, albeit not as random, which was tracked down to upgraded list styles.

[Ackwriter]

Was there ever any resolution to this issue?  I have had the exact same problem since upgrading from 2019 Classic. It seems to occur when I am applying styles to text.  Here is more information from Peter's questions:

1. Has this happened ever since starting to use 2019 or did it work for a while and then start giving this problem?  It never happened with Classic only since I upgraded to non Classic version
2. If it worked for a while can you recall anything about when it started.  No, it happens randomly, but I noticed today that it kept happening when I was 'tagging" content with Styles.
3. If it was from the start, 2019 should work off any drive but local might be worth a try if it is somewhere else.  I'm on a Local drive
4. Is it a very large project? I am wondering if it might be worth trying to rebuild it. That's not quite as herculean task as it might appear. I have some instructions for that.  This is a very small project with 25 topics.  I've been working on applying Styles and creating new tables and the error happens constantly at this point.
5. Is there any source control involved? Recently set up GIT but haven't used it except to push/pull changes once as a test to see if it works.  I am not sure if the problem occured before this set up or not. 
6. Could any of the paths in the project be very long?  No, paths are reasonable length.
7. Are there any folder or file names with characters other than alpha numeric? I have written these points as they occur to me but that seems quite a likely one as it would account for the random nature when you try to do something that involves such a path.  All folders and filenames are alpha
8. I am also wondering just how frequent this is. If it is pretty easy to throw the fault, then maybe you could spend some time working on the supplied RoboHelp Reimagined sample project to see how that behaves. That would help determine whether or not it is the installation of RoboHelp or the project.  I played with the Reimagined sample project but did not get the error.  

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Ok, so the fact the sample project seems to work, but yours doesn't indicates that there's some issue with the project & not the RH install. Did the source content comes from someplace else or was it all entered into RH brand-new?

[Amebr]

Given you tried source control, some of your files might be set to read only. If you're not using it, I would make sure you remove the project from source control and manually set all files to Read/Write.

[Ackwriter]

The source content is new.  It was created in 2019 Classic and then upgraded to 2019.

[Peter Grainge]

Can you share the project? If you can, then 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.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[Ackwriter]

Peter, I just shared the project via WeTransfer. 

[Peter Grainge]

I will take a look in the morning.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[Peter Grainge]

Meantime try deleting the contents of the .rh folder. Backup the project first.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[AndreyGl]

This message appears from time to time during operation. Sometimes the reason is obvious, sometimes not. Anyway, if the product has a shortcut to restart it tells me a lot.

[Peter Grainge]

Anyway, if the product has a shortcut to restart it tells me a lot.

@AndreyGl Are you saying that you seeing a built in restart as a sign there is something wrong with the product? I believe it is there to help flush a few things on exit. The issue may be a product issue or it can be some external corruption.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[AndreyGl]

I'm sorry Peter,
We may have different points of view on this situation, but when I see such a message more than 10 times a day, this isn't a sign of normal product operation, but rather indicates that the number of bugs in it is very large.
The first keyboard shortcut I learned for this product was "Alt-Ctrl-R"))).

[Peter Grainge]

@NAG3  I haven't been able to break the project. You mentioned "tagging content" so I tried applying different styles to paragraphs but that worked fine.

When a new user works on a project a new file is created in the .rh folder so something in your files in that folder could be the issue. Deleting the files and then reopening the project will create a clean file so try that first. You will lose custom colours and tag groups (not the tags) but you can restore those by opening the corrupt file and the new file in a text editor. In your case it looks like only custom colours will be lost.

As you mentioned applying styles, I am also wondering about your CSS. It clearly dates back to an old version of RoboHelp as it contains the infamous Kadov tags. If deleting the .rh folder contents does not fix things, I would look at building a new CSS file in 2019.

If you have a subscription licence rather than a perpetual licence I would also upgrade to 2020.

You also need to take a look at the Reports as there are a number of broken links amongst other issues. I don't think any of them are relevant to the problem though, just some housekeeping.

Let us know if that helps.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information