Connections to RoboSource Control Not Working

Report · May 19, 2009

We migrated our projects from RH5 to RH8. We used RSC with RH5, but we removed the projects from RSC prior to migrating them to RH8; we wanted to have one stable copy of each project with all the topics checked in and not keep any of the prior history. I have tried three times to set up our RH8 projects using RSC 3.1 with SQLExpress. Each time, I am able to create the databases, set up the user library using the "Use Windows Authentication" option, use the "Add to Version Control" option to add the projects to RSC, open a local project using the "Open from Version Control" option on the Open Project screen, check out all the topics, check them back in, and update a topic from my local copy of the help. As with our RH5 setup, my PC is the server and has SQLExpress installed on it. The projects are being accessed using my PC's IP address and/or domain name; eventually one or more other users are also to be set up with their own local copies.

If I attempt to set up a user on a different PC, I get a message that I cannot link to the server. I have tried using both my PC's IP and domain name, either of which should work according to the RSC help. The source files on my PC are shared and are visible on the network from the other PC. Also, any attempt to connect to a project on my PC from a different PC appears to disable the RSC connections on my PC. If I access a project that I just added to RSC and tested, the project opens outside of version control without even giving me a message that RH8 was unable to connect to RSC. If I open the source copy of the project, sometimes it opens using RSC and sometimes it does not.

This morning, I repeated the process but did NOT attempt to set up a copy on a different PC. When I came back from lunch, all of my local copies no longer used RSC when I opened them. Only one of my source copies still used RSC when I opened it.

Any ideas?

Report · May 19, 2009

Hi Tim -

Some questions for you:

1. Did you add the project to version control from RSC or from RH?

2. Does the database name consist of alpha characters only, and does it have at least four characters?

3. When you tried to make the other writer's initial connection, did you first try to connect via RSC?

Number 3 is a bit odd, but at least for RSC3 (RH6), is necessary. At the very first access of the project, the writer needs to first connect via RSC. They don't actually have to DO anything with the connection, just establish it. After that, they'll be able to connect via RH.

G.

Report · May 20, 2009

Gravenstein,

Thank you for your quick reply yesterday. I attempted to reply by e-mail, but my e-mail was returned as undeliverable. Below are the answers to your questions:

1. Did you add the project to version control from RSC or from RH?

I created the original databases using the RoboSource Server Configurator. I initially tried to add a project by dragging the tree from the project folder into RSC, but I encountered an error (which I suspect was caused by the size of the project; we have about 4,500 topics). When I subsequently tried to access MS Word 2007, I received a warning that a RoboHelp add-in had caused a serious error, and I was prompted to disable the add-in. I did not disable it. I used the RSC Edit -> Delete option to remove the partial tree from the database in RSC. I then proceeded to add the files using the "Add to Version Control" icon from within RH.

I tried again today with a smaller project (about 50 topics). I created the database using RoboSource Server Configurator. On the Configure New Database screen, I was not able to successfully select a folder in which to store the SQLServer/MSDE database files--even though I used the browse button to select the directory through the network. After several attempts, I just left this field blank so that the system would use the default path. When I tried to add files to the database by dragging a tree from the project folder into the database, I received an error adding file message on every file. Only the folders were added without error. If it matters, none of the files were write-protected. I have not been able to successfully add topics to the database using the RSC screen.

2. Does the database name consist of alpha characters only, and does it have at least four characters?

The database names are alpha characters only and more than four characters (i.e., WebHelpMS, WebHelpMM, and WebHelpPM; I also used VisionHelpMS, VisionHelpMM, and VisionHelpPM). Do upper and lower case letters matter?

3. When you tried to make the other writer's initial connection, did you first try to connect via RSC?

No. I used the RH "Open from Version Control" option, which then accesses RSC. I will try connecting to RSC first.

Also, I have received a few dialogue box messages that indicate some of RoboHelp's content has been blocked. I have responded to the prompt to unblock the content. We are using McAfee. Could our virus checker be causing the RSC links to fail?

I also have a related but separate question: Is anyone successfully using RSC with RH8 on a Windows XP Professional 64 bit system? If you are and could send me info on how you set it up, that would be great.

Report · May 20, 2009

Tim -

1. You should use RH to add the project to source control. (This was true in earlier versions; I assume it's still true.) There are some project files that absolutely should not be added to RSC, and RH handles this properly. If you manually add files using RSC Explorer, you'll get into trouble.

2. You're OK on the db name. The case shouldn't matter.

3. Have each writer make the initial connection to your new db using their local version of RSC Explorer. If 3.1 is like 3.0, then they must do that before they can connect through RH. Symptom before: from RH, when the writer tries to specify which db to connect to, the dropdown list does not show the new db. Symptom after making initial connection via RSC: from RH, the db shows up in the dialog box list, and the writer can proceed with the connection.

4. Blocked content. I don't think McAfee is causing your connection to fail, although I guess it would be possible. More likely is that McAfee will interfere with your performance, slowing things down by checking all your file accesses.

5. RSC with RH8 on a Windows XP Professional 64 bit system. Good thought. That might be something to check on. I don't have any experience using the product on a 64-bit system, myself.

G.

Report · May 21, 2009

My PC is the server. When I set up a database using the configurator, open the database using RSC 3.1, add a folder and set up the user library, add the project to source control using RH, and then create the local copy through RH by opening the project from source control, the source control works fine until I close the project. When I re-open the local copy, it opens outside of source control. If I re-open the source copy, source control continues to work fine with the source copy. Not sure why I am losing the connections on my PC since it is both client and server.

Today we tried again to create a local copy on a different PC and connect to my PC. We are now using SQLExpress on both PCs. Whether we needed to or not, we mapped a network drive from the other PC to my PC and changed the folder properties to allow sharing with full permissions. We could not get the system to recognize my PC as the server using either my PC's IP address or network name when attempting to access the project through RSC 3.1 prior to trying to set up the local copy per the information in the previous post.

Is there an issue with using RSC with SQLExpress? If anyone has this working successfully using RSC 3.1, RH8, and SQLExpress, could you please post sample screen shots of the configurator and RSC 3.1 screens? Thanks. Also, if we use SQL server instead of SQLExpress, does SQL Server need to be installed on the same PC as the RoboHelp project files?

Thanks!

Report · May 21, 2009

Tim -

Could you clarify what you mean by "source copy" and "local copy"?

G

Report · May 21, 2009

Source copy - the project folder on my PC (server) that I add to source control and then do not update directly.

Local copy - the project folder that I create as my "edit" copy on my PC (or that I create as another user's edit copy on the other user's PC) by opening the project from source control.

Report · May 21, 2009

Hmmm, this may be part of the problem. There shouldn't be a separate source and local copy, just a local copy. The database itself is your only true source. Having two copies on your pc will just confuse RSC.

Back up both local versions and put the copies away for reference. Then open up the project db in RSC and set your local path to a location on your pc. Then do a "get" of the project. After you've downloaded the project to your new (single!) location, close RSC and open the project in RH. Let me know how that goes.

BTW, the only instance of SQL Express that you need is on your RSC server -- in this case, your pc.

G

Report · May 21, 2009

Hi G

Unless I'm misunderstanding (which is always possible) this setup would be correct, no?

I'm reading that as the Source Control server and the edting PC are one and the same. So you have the source database which is really just a folder on the PC acting as the server, and the working folder in a different folder. So the source database contains the copy that is never directly edited. All editing occurs in the other "Working" folder, right?

From what you are saying it would seem you are intimating that you cannot use Source Control and Edit on the same PC. I thought that was possible.

Cheers... Rick

Report · May 21, 2009

Hi Rick -

I think that you and I have the same idea about RSC, but perhaps a different idea on what's going on with Tim's setup. What I understood from Tim's description was that he (practically speaking) had *two* local, working copies.

I agree with what you said, with one clarification. You said, "So the source database contains the copy that is never directly edited. " This is true, but the db files don't look anything like the fileset we're used to working with in RH. No confusion there, I don't think.

And, yes, you certainly can have source control and edit on the same pc.

G

Report · May 22, 2009

With RH5's RSC, it was my understanding that I needed to have a copy of the project on the server that was a "do not edit" copy, and then a working "edit" copy on the PC of each individual who needed to connect to the project through RSC. Since my PC was both server and client, I had two copies of each project: the "do not edit" copy (in a ProjectName folder) and the "edit" copy (in a ProjectNameTim folder).

Normally, I would only edit the ProjectNameTim folder. When I initially created the ProjectNameTim folder from RSC, closed it, reopened it, and saw that I had lost the RSC connections that were just created, I opened the "do not edit" ProjectName folder to see if it had lost its connections, too. It did not. I was not trying to use it as an "edit" copy, just checking to see if it was still in RSC.

So, before I proceed, I'm asking for clarification. Using RH8, if I have a new project to add to RSC, I create a database using the configurator on the server, and I add the project to RSC through RH, is the "do not edit" copy of the project now the copy in RSC's DB and no longer the "source" copy in the project folder? Can I use the "source" copy from which I added the project to RSC as my "edit" copy, or do I need to open a new local copy using the "get" option so that my local copy gets created through the version from RSC? Do I no longer need a "do not edit" folder and an "edit" folder on my PC which is also the server? Or, do I still need a "do not edit" folder and an "edit" folder?

Report · May 22, 2009

Hi Tim -

It sounds like we have different understandings of how RSC operates. (For the basic concept we're talking about here, I don't think there's a difference between RH X5 and RH8, BTW.) From what you have described, it appears to me that you have two copies of the RH project on your pc. If I were to look at your Windows folder structure, I would see two sets of files that looked the same: one in the ProjectName folder and one in the ProjectNameTim folder.

Is that correct? I just want to make sure that I'm not misunderstanding you.

If it helps, here's how we set up our RSC projects. This is the general working model we've been using since X5:

1. Writer A creates the project in RH.

2. Administrator (me) sets up an RSC db for the project.

3. Writer A, using RH, uploads the project to the db. (Or, alternatively, I do the same thing from my pc.)

4. Writer A opens the project in RH. This is the same set of files/same location as in step 3. The project is connected to RSC.

5. Writer B uses RSC to make a one-time connection to the project db. He connects and then just closes RSC. (This step wasn't necessary for X5.)

6. Writer B then opens RH, accesses the new db, and opens the project. RH/RSC handle downloading the files.

7. Everyone is in business. Writer A has a copy of the project, Writer B has a copy of the project, and the RSC server (be it an actual server, or my pc) has a set of database files. The RSC server doesn't actually have a set of files that looks like what Writers A or B have.)

8. Each time the writers open the project, they get the latest version of the files downloaded to their pc. They always work with that same fileset.

For insurance, the writers also regularly back up their local copy of the project. In theory, this shouldn't be necessary, but in practice we've found it useful.

Does that help at all?

G

Report · Oct 13, 2010

Your problem is the 64-bit OS.

Both RH and RSC will function fine in the 64-bit environment, but for some reason (I expect a .NET Framework problem) one can't connect to the other. I've tested this with RH7 and RH8 on XP-64 and Windows7. One alternative that works is to install RH8 on a 32-bit VM and connect that way.

Running RH8 in 32-bit compatibility mode doesn't work (thought I'd save you that effort.)

Oh yeah, and file a bug with Adobe.

Hope this helps.

.MW