Not possible to open FM file

[Rsfl]

Hi all,

when updating a book, RH cannot open a certain file. It just tells "impossible to open" and that I should make sure that FM is installed. There are no problems with the other files. Also there is no problem when I open this file in FM directly (no broken insert references etc.).

Do you have any idea what we should look for in this file that may be causing this problem?

Robert

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What version of TCS? Are you linking or importing the FM content? Where are the FM files located and where is your RH project?

[Rsfl]

Hi Jeff,

this is TCS 4 current patch version. I work locally (both RH project and FM files), the FM book is linked and the problem occurres when I intend to update.

BTW, in another project I have a possibly similar problem. When I update the book then one FM document remains untouched. RH still shows the yellow warning symbol that indicates that it is not up to date. I cannot update tthe file individually either, also no error message is displayed. RH simply ends the update without doing anything. In the log window, the last line reads ""Chapter_04_new.fm" is being converted..." as if the process is still ongoing, but it is not.

Robert

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What happens when you update the book in FM? Any errors or warnings?

[Rsfl]

Nope, it appears to be completely clean in FM. I guess I will have to copy the content of the problematic document bit by bit into a new document and see if I can locate the issue.

BTW I made a screenshot of the other problem. This is how it looks like after right-clicking and updating the highlighted file. There is no error message. The yellow icon remains and the log window displays the "..is being converted" message as last activity.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

This is when you use the "Force Update All" command in RH?

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Does the file update if it is already open in FM?

To me it sounds like you may have alerts suppressed in FM.

[Rsfl]

> Does the file update if it is already open in FM?

No, this is very strange. If I open it in Framemaker, then insert a link to it in Robohelp I still receive the message that it "cannot be opened" even though it is already open. Alerts are on and I already searched for unresolved crossrefs, inserts etc. the file looks good in FM.

> This is when you use the "Force Update All" command in RH?

That does not change anything, regrettably.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

what about setting up a new RH project and bringing the FM content into that one?

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Ditto to Jeff's response. But 2 things to check before creating a new project:

1. Under Tools > Options  do you have the Delete .CPD option selected (you should...)
2. Have you tried deleting the Fm book from the Rh project and adding it back in?

I have found that if Rh crashes during my import or EPUB work, that I have cruft in the project that is removed by deleting the Fm book and adding it back into the project

***Note*** This is something I just found recently (Jeff, talkin' to you here, since you answer a lot of these) and I think this is the first I've posted it on the forum.

Otherwise, spend 10 minutes creating a new project and importing the .isf from your "problem" project, and let us know if that solved the problem.

-Matt

Matt R. Sullivan
co-author Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 11

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Good to know that Matt - not being current on the "linking" front, I forget those sort of solutions.

Memo to self - find some time to play around with linked FM content ;>)

[Rsfl]

Thanks for all the ideas, I created a new project and imported the setting (isf) but I have exactly the same problem.

I also deleted the CPD file and tried to repeatdly remove/add the FM file to a project to no avail.

Concerning crashes, when a RH with linked FM books crashes for me then I often face disaster. RH often looses the conection to the FM sources and shows the imported folders and files as if they were normal topics. Therefore I work with  very frequent backups and dont even try to restore a crashed project..

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Well the "good" news is that you've pretty much narrowed it down to a problem related to a specific Fm file. Start splitting the file up and processing the parts in Rh to narrow it further.

[Rsfl]

Is it ppossible that there is a general problem with file size? I did not analyze this for other documents  but in this case the fm file has about 54 MB.

When I copy the entire content  into a new FM file then I just replicate the problem. I will do as you said and copy bit by bit, and try the RH import after each step. Ack the pain!

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

I've not had a problem with file size, but I don't know...that might cause an issue.

I recommend splitting the file in half, and processing the two new files. Iterate until you find the offending content.