Renaming folders messed up source control

Report · Oct 22, 2008

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me. We're using RH6 and VSS integrated together for source control. One of the people on my team renamed a folder (henceforth, "parent folder"), and now my RoboHelp won't get the new (renamed) folder or the topic files it contains. Here's what happened:

1. She renamed the parent folder. RH, as expected, created a new folder and moved the child folders and topics into it for her, and deleted the old parent folder from her RH. She says that she got a message saying that RH was deleting the old version of the folder (as expected).
2. Upon closing RH and checking in files, the "new" folder and the child folders and topics it contains were placed in VSS (as expected). However: The old parent folder was not deleted from VSS, even though it was now gone from her machine.
3. Today, I logged in and got files, and got a message saying that a file was deleted and asking if I want to purge it from my machine. Knowing that this one of her files and she should know what she's doing, I said Yes. I got the message for only one file (not all five or six), and I clicked only Yes, not Yes to All.
4. In my RH Project tab, the folder with the old name was gone, and the new folder was present, but it didn't (doesn't) include any of the child folders or topics.
5. I looked in VSS, and indeed the child folders and files are there.
6. I tried several times to "get" files, through RH and again through VSS.
6. When getting through VSS, the files and child folders were pulled down to my C drive (as evident in Windows Explorer), but they don't show in my Project tab in RH.
7. I tried deleting my CPD file and restarting RH, thinking that might help, but nothing was fixed.
8. It pulled down an FPJ file for the parent (renamed) folder to my C drive, but the FPJ file doesn't actually exist in the parent folder in VSS. (Not sure how that happened.)
9. I thought maybe I need to import the files manually, but when I tried to create the missing child folders inside this renamed folder, I get an error message and it won't let me do anything else: "The files in the list below could not be found in version control. You may need to get the latest version before you can execute the selected action" and it lists the FPJ file mentioned in step 8.

I have no idea what to do to fix this. Should I delete the FPJ file from my C drive? Should I somehow copy the FPJ file from my C drive to VSS manually? (And how?)

I don't understand what the proper way is to rename folders and files now that we have VSS. Before we got source control, we were always able to just rename folders and files easily, but doing this seems to break something. What is the correct way to do this? By chance, is there a how-to book out there for using RH with source control? Obviously, things break very easily. :(

I appreciate any help!

Thanks,
Lisa

Report · Oct 22, 2008

Hi Lisa -

We run into situations like this every so often with our RoboSource Control configuration, too.Sometimes we can trace the problem back to a network interruption, but more often we never really know what went wrong. Good idea with deleting the cpd and restarting RH. Sometimes that will be all it needs. At this point, what I would do is attempt to manually configure the fpj file using Notepad. Close RH and back up the project. Then, with the files and folders in place in Windows, edit the fpj file (it'll need to be checked out, of course). Delete the cpd file (again), and open RH. This doesn't always fix the problem, but it usually does.

HTH,
G

Report · Oct 22, 2008

Hi Gravenstein,

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry to be so dense, but I'm really not sure what you mean...

- You wrote: At this point, what I would do is attempt to manually configure the fpj file using Notepad.
Question: What do you mean by "manually configure" it? I opened it in Notepad, and it has about five lines of open and close tags. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do here.
- Then, with the files and folders in place in Windows, edit the fpj file (it'll need to be checked out, of course).
Question: By "checked out," do you mean through VSS?

Another problem related to all of this has arisen: We asked our other writer to open up the project from her machine. She got a message saying that the FPJ file for the old parent directory is missing from source control, and it asked us a very cryptic question about what we wanted to do with it. We were afraid to click Yes, so we clicked Help instead. RH didn't like this for some reason (gave some cryptic messages about not being able to find the program), and then crashed. When we reopened the project, we clicked Cancel on this dialog box about the FPJ file. Not only does this third writer not have the new parent folder and its child folders and topics retrieved to her C drive, the old parent folder and ghost topics show with red Xs. The old parent folder and its contents are completely missing in Windows Explorer, but RH thinks they should be there. When we right-click on one of the ghost topics and select Delete, we get the error message about the old parent folder's FPJ file being completely gone from VSS (which is what we want). We are unable to remove the old parent folder from her version of the project at all.

I'm so frustrated with this that I'm about to just throw out VSS and go back to the way things were before.

I appreciate your help.
Lisa

Report · Oct 22, 2008

By the way, it just occurred to me, I can't check out the FPJ file for the new parent folder because it's not in VSS. It shows only on my C drive and on the C drive of the writer who renamed the folder.

Thanks,
Lisa

Report · Oct 22, 2008

Update: I figured out how to update the FPJ file (by looking at other similar FPJ files for guidance) and managed to get the correct files and folders to display in my version of the RH project and also in the original author's project.

However, our third writer is still having problems. We are unable to "get" the new parent folder and its children to her RH Project tab at all, even though they display in her C drive. Do we import them??? We're also unable to delete the old parent folder and its ghost children from her RH Project tab.

This entire folder thing is a real pain in rear. This third writer is going to need to rename a folder in the few days in another one of our help projects. This means we're going to go through the same problem all over again. Should she create a new folder of the new name, move the topics into it, check it in, and then delete the old folder from her project? Then what? Do the other two of us need to do the same thing? VSS doesn't seem to notice when you've deleted a folder in RH. RH's help system tells you to manually delete obsolete folders from source control, but when you do that, the change doesn't carry over to the machines of other writers on your team. They are unable to delete the old ghost folder and topics that result in their project. This is a problem that just doesn't seem to have any real resolution.

What are the proper steps for deleting or renaming folders when you have multiple people working in the same project? What are the proper steps for opening a project and getting files when some folders out there in source control have been deleted? RH's messages are extremely cryptic about what it wants you to decide.

I appreciate any help!

Thanks,
Lisa

Report · Oct 22, 2008

Ew. This is turning into one of my least favorite problems, where RH and source control get out of sync and don't want to play together. Let me start with the simple part: configuring the fpj file. Firstly, yes, I did mean that you should check the fpj file out from VSS, although it sounds like that's a moot point now. As for the actual configuration of the file in Notepad, there are two important things to know: 1. The fpj file is RoboHelp's list of what's in the project. I'm oversimplifying a bit, but generally speaking, every folder in your project will have an fpj file that tells RH what topics and subfolders live there. If a folder or htm file is not listed in an fpj file, then it is invisible to RH. 2. To see how the fpj file is constructed, open another one up in Notepad. It's pretty straightforward.

OK, that was the easy part. The harder thing is to get RH and your source control sync'ed up. Until you get this under control, you should put the project off limits to the writers. If people are making additional changes, you're likely to either add to the trouble or else end up with more instances to fix. Have everyone make a backup of what they've got, and then stay out until further notice.

You might need to make several runs at this to make it work. I'd work with the version of the project that you mentioned in the first post, not the one from the other writer that you mentioned in your 10/22/2008 08:57:06 PM post. Try manufacturing an fpj file as mentioned above. Make a copy of that file and save it off somewhere, as it might get overwritten during this process. Replace the existing fpj that has just a few lines with your new one, and then add it to source control. Then delete the cpd file and try opening the project. Let me know if that works at all.

At that point, do not attempt to open the project from the other writer's machine! If you can get things fixed with the first writer's project, what you'll want to do is have the other writer start fresh, not use his/her old version of the project.

G

Report · Oct 23, 2008

Hi Gravenstein! Thank you SO MUCH for your help with this problem. I didn't have any problems with the FPJ file yesterday. I was able to get that fixed on my machine, and to the best of my knowledge, I'm now sync'd up with the first writer's machine and the version out in VSS. The challenge was sync'ing up the third writer's machine with the correct version (getting the old folder deleted from her Project tab and getting the new version of the folder down to her machine). This morning, I fixed the problem by deleting her CPD file, relaunching to get files, and then closing everything down and deleting the old folder from her C drive manually. (Apparently RoboHelp doesn't do this automatically, either.)

I came up with a process that I think is correct, and tested it in another situation later this morning where one of us had to rename a folder in a different help project. I documented what happened and what we did, and we had no problems this time, although this certainly is a lot of hoops to jump through just to rename or delete folders. It boggles my mind that we have source control to avoid doing things like this, and yet we have to manually delete folders and CPD files in so many places in order to get this to work.

Does this process look right to you, or are we performing extra steps that could be skipped or aren't necessary if we just did things a different way?

After the original writer has deleted a folder (or renamed a folder), the other writers should peform these steps on their machines:
1. Open the out-dated help project and “get” files from VSS. This action retrieves any new folders or topics.
2. Save and close the help project.
3. In Windows Explorer, browse to the help project folder on the C drive (located in C:\SourceControl\).
4. In the help project folder, locate the CPD file for the help project. This file bears the name of the help project and has a CPD extension.
5. Delete the CPD file.
6. Open the help project.
7. If a message displays asking to make an FPJ file writable (such as the skin FPJ), click Yes.
8. If a message displays stating that an error occurred while saving data to the FPJ file in the previous step, click OK.
9. When the message about the CPD file being corrupted displays, click OK.
10. Close the help project.
11. Relaunch the help project and get the newest version, as usual.
12. If any messages display about a writable copy of a file (like the FPJ file in steps 7 and 8), select Replace your local file with this version from SourceSafe? and click OK.
13. After files have been retrieved, open the Project tab and verify that the old, deleted folder is absent and the new folder (if any) is present. Verify that all topics display in the new folder.
14. Close the help project, checking in files if prompted.
15. In Windows Explorer, manually delete the old folder from your C drive.
16. Once all writers have synchronized their versions of the project, one of the writers should launch VSS and manually delete the old folder from the help project in VSS.

Thanks so much, again, for your help, Gravenstein!
Lisa

Report · Oct 23, 2008

Hi Lisa - I'm glad to hear you're back up and running! I'm afraid, though, that I can't confirm or deny your process, as I'm unfamiliar with VSS. I've got quite a few miles with RoboSource Control under my belt, but not a one with VSS. From other posts I've seen here, I know that there are others using it. I would think that they'd have rebelled if they had to do all that every time they changed a folder name! Using RSC, we just change the folder name in RH, and, well, it changes. No acrobatics involved. [OK, my conscience requires me to tell you that it doesn't *always* go that smoothly, and we do sometimes run into problems like yours. Typically, that happens with a large, complex project with multiple writers, and especially when the network, server, or PC is stressed in some way.]

We do find that this kind of folder snafu occurs far more often at the root level of the project than it does at a subfolder level.

Anyhow, glad you're running again. You might consider another post to the General Discussion asking other VSS users what they do in these cases.

Cheers,
G

Report · Oct 23, 2008

Hi G

Please keep in mind that I avoid most anything RSC related as it always seemed it was more trouble than it was worth. Until you came along, I think this forum category mostly consisted of echoes, tumbleweeds and whatnot blowing about.

So your expertise is most welcome and refreshing.

While reading the posts in this thread, I'm wondering if the following steps might have been remotely helpful in this situation. My list is probably grossly oversimplified.

1. Remove project from source control.
2. Rename folder(s) as needed.
3. Add project back to source control.
4. All other members link to the project to get new version with folders.

Just curious about that. I have no clue as to whether it would be a viable method. So maybe you could say whether it would.

Cheers... Rick

Report · Oct 23, 2008

Hi Rick -

Yep, it gits mighty lonely 'round these parts, what with the cactus, tumbleweeds, and all...

Funny you should mention removing the project from source control. This is something we've just done with one of our huge projects that needed some major renovations. We are about to put it back into RSC. I haven't yet decided whether to try putting it back into its old db or to simply create a fresh new db. I have my doubts about whether its a good idea to put it back. If I do go that route, I'll post back and let you know how it went.

I can relate to your comment about keeping your distance from RSC! I don't use RSC for the fun of it, either. Our litmus test is: do multiple authors need concurrent access to the project? If not, then no RSC. For the small-to-medium size projects, RSC works well. For very large projects, it's a real headache, but it *does* afford us the concurrent access.

Cheers,
G

Report · Oct 23, 2008

Thank you, Gravenstein and Rick, for your responses! Wow, source control sure seems to be a bigger headache than I thought it would be! It's disheartening to read that RSC is just as troublesome as VSS. With all of these problems with VSS, I was about ready to put in a request to switch, but it sounds like RSC has its problems, too. Well, I will post a message to the General part of the forum as suggested and see if anyone else using VSS might have some insight into the process for renaming/deleting folders.

Rick, removing the project from source control seems a bit extreme, but I was about to resort to that this morning if I hadn't been able to resolve the issue by deleting the CPD file. I hope we won't have to do that, but it's good to know that we can always wipe it and start afresh. I do regularly back up all three of our help projects to our regular file server (about once a month); given this recent excitement, maybe I need to back up more often!

Thanks again so much for your help and insight! I appreciate the assistance!

Best regards,
Lisa