Word document became corrupt when attempting to append...

[jdammen]

I'm going crazy here. I'm using RoboHelp 4.1 and I am having an issue with trying to create printed documentation. I was receiving the error message, 'The Word document became corrupt when attempting to append a malformed topic.' Then it would say failed to update 'topic name'. So in trying to fix it I deleted the entire folder which contained the file where it blew up, and tried recompiling it. It went past the point where I had removed the folder and blew up on a topic in the next folder and gave the same error...so I deleted that folder also. Now it will make it entirely through the printed documentation process....but at the end of compiling it, it tells me Failed to Update images....but at least now it will give me a finished document (it just has a bunch of dead linked images). Is this an issue that would be cured with an upgrade to X5 or is this something else that I have not thought of yet? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

Hi, jdammen.

The first thing I suggest is a search of the forums on the word "malformed" - you are not alone! Seems like the problem can have multiple causes: one bad topic, a bad style in the CSS, not enough RAM, some kind of weird invisible running corruption...

The solutions offered seem to fall into general categories - 1) generate with half the topics, then a quarter, etc. to narrow down and kill the bad topic, 2) change all styles to Normal and see if printdoc generates correctly, 3) take a copy of the project and restore it from .hhp (see Peter Grainge's website for help), 4) start over.

I'm afraid they all have one thing in common - trial and error. You're just going to have to slog through this.

BTW, this happens in X5 - I don't think an upgrade will be a quick solution for you.

Sorry, and good luck.
Elisa

[jdProjectInVision]

It's me, jdammen, just with a new username. I have tracked my issue down. There are some topics that include drop-down text. When I click the Advanced button in the Printed Documentation dialog and choose to remove drop-down text it will finally output a complete document! Now does anyone have a clue as to WHY I can't have drop-down text? And is there any type of fix to this issue?? Thanks!!

[Peter Grainge]

I've not seen it cause problems before. I would try trashing the links and the dropdown text (save it outside the project) and creating new links and dropdowns.

Has this project been opened in another version of RH?

[Guest]

Okay, that's weird. My drop-down text prints in my document without any effort on my part. I use X5 instead of X4, so maybe this is a version-specific problem.

I checked my Advanced settings - I have only two checkboxes selected - Include Dropdown Text and Start Chapter on Odd Page. My dropdown text doesn't have any lists, but it is in a custom style from my stylesheet. Is your drop-down text interesting in some way?

Elisa