Skip to main content
Ioana_St
Ioana_St
Inspiring
August 24, 2018
Answered

Cannot generate output after upgrade to RH2019

  • August 24, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 2201 views

Hi all,

I suppose that the vast majority of the users haven't yet tried RH 2019, but maybe some of the beta testers can shed some light or guide my troubleshooting.

I have installed a trial of RH 2019 and upgraded all my projects from 2017 to 2019. Now, with the exception of one project, I can't generate any output. I tried both WebHelp and Responsive, I tried recreating the output presets (SSLs), I tried rebooting several times, nothing works... As far as I can tell, RH manages to empty out the output folder, generates some JavaScript files in whxdata, then stops. I don't think the log is displayed in real-time anymore (or at least I couldn't find it), and if I try to view the log by right-clicking the output, I get an error.

The samples generate without any problem. The only project I can get to work is the master, which has 3 topics and ~35 merged projects. Other projects (ranging between 10 and hundreds of topics) just fail silently.

Edit: Considering that the samples do work, I understand that the problem is with my projects. However I would have expected that, if the upgrade process completed successfully, the projects would actually turn out usable. It looks like that's not the case, so I am looking for a way to manually fix them.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Ioana_St

With help from Peter, I was able to narrow the problem down to the baggage files. Peter has forwarded my email to Adobe and they are looking into this.

I am posting my investigation and workaround here, in case it helps someone else as well.

The setup

In each module, we have at least one PDF as baggage file. Each TOC contains a page with a link to the baggage file.

The upgrade

When you upgrade a project to RH 2019, the structure changes. In particular, all the baggage files are moved to module_name/contents/assets/docs.

Issue: Sometimes, the baggage files in the module don't get copied over to the new project. (This replicates very rarely and inconsistently.)

The problem

After the upgrade, the links in the TOC do not get updated correctly. Instead of linking to contents/assets/docs/myfile.pdf (aka the new location of my baggage file), the TOC page links to contents/myfile.pdf. As this file does not exist in this location, the generation of the output fails without any explanatory errors. Also, if you try to open the log, RH just gives an error.

The fix

You can manually modify the *.toc file in the toc folder and correct the path. After you do that, the generation works fine.

Issue: You cannot change the TOC link from the RH GUI, because the browse button doesn't work.


After a few more tests, I have realized that incorrectly linked baggage files are just a specific case of this bug. Basically, if you have a broken link, the project won't generate.

I tested it as follows:

  1. Fixed a project as explained above.
  2. Generated it and confirmed it worked correctly.
  3. Deleted one file that was referenced in the TOC.
  4. Tried to generate again -> failure.
  5. Added the file back, restarted RH and tried to generate again -> success.

3 replies

Peter Grainge
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
September 30, 2019

@LeonaJackieS You have posted about this in a new thread so I am locking this older thread. Otherwise responses will get split making it difficult for those following and those trying to help.

The other thread can be found here.

 

 

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.
L
leonaJackieS
Inspiring
September 30, 2019

Our documentation team is having a very similar issue. We have 6 separate RH2019 projects all but one will generate output with no issues. The 6th project which is very large +2500 files,,,,starts as we can see the output files being generated then at about 2200 files it just hangs...No errors, no response - let set 24 hrs on 2 different occassions. We were informed by Adobe Support this is most likely due to memory leaks. They are still researching for us to find resolution. This is critical for our RH2019 implementation.

Peter Grainge
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
August 24, 2018

That was only an issue in early versions of the beta and before generation functionality had been coded.

Create a new project with two or three topics and make sure the output path is outside the project, there is no longer an !SSL! folder.

I created MyOutputs with sub-folders for each output. If that works then it would appear it is something in your projects and we can dig into that.

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.
Ioana_St
Ioana_StAuthor
Inspiring
August 24, 2018

I created a new project and duplicated First Topic a couple of times - it generated quickly and without issues. I then applied our CSS on these new topics and tried again - still no problems. I guess I can keep adding bits and pieces (variables, conditional tags, etc) to see if I can get a new project to crash, but tbh I don't if it's worth the effort at this point. My hope was that a beta tester would go "oh yeah, you need to remove a line from X file and that will solve all your problems"

The upgraded projects are still crashing. I can confirm I am generating in a simple location (C:\myproject).

I could try to anonymize a small upgraded project and send it over if you think it would help, but I also wouldn't want you wasting time on this considering that our upgrade will definitely have to wait at least until we get the batch and Word (or ODF) output back.

Peter Grainge
Peter Grainge
Community Expert
August 24, 2018

So... I anonymized the project and, before sending it to you, I wanted to confirm that it's still broken.

Well - it's not. The generation works perfectly.

Apparently, something I deleted is the reason for the failure, but I don't know what. I'll keep testing and I'll also check with my boss if I can send the project over without making any changes.


Not the first time I have seen that happen.

The project would go no further than myself and Adobe and not be anywhere public.

If you do send the unexpurgated version, it would help to know what you did to anonymise things.

See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.
Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices