Printed Documentation Malformed Error

Report · Sep 04, 2009

All,

I need some help. I'm trying to create printed documentation from my current project. I've created a custom TOC with all the pages that I want to be included in the document. When I start generating the output it gets about half way through and then I see the error message about "Warning: The Word Document became corrupt when attempting to append a malformed topic: 'Tools\Systems\FARM\FARM_Call_Center\FARM_Assignment_Information.htm'
Failed to build 'FARM Assignment Information'..." nd every topic after that one is the same. It will produce a document but none of the links within the document will work and no images will be displayed..

I have read through Peter's site and no success.
I have deleted my CPD and let RH rebuild the links and list still the same output.
I've re-installed RH and still the same
I've checked my macro setting and they are set to medium.
I'm working off my local machine and generating to my local machine, so I know there is no network issue there.

I'm using RoboHelp 6 and I'm thinking of upgrading but for right now this what I have to work with. Please help.

Thank You,

Ian

Report · Sep 05, 2009

First try setting the macro level to Low so that we can rule that being the cause.

Assuming that is not the answer, then here is the exact same answer I gave in a post just a few days ago.

I have seen projects where there is nothing wrong with the topic but where the machine needed more RAM. What are the basics of your PC?
Also try turning off PDF and generating a Word document instead. If that works, PDF from there. Does that work?

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Report · Sep 08, 2009

Peter,

I tried what you suggested. I lowered my macro level to low, it was on medium. My PC set up is running

Windows XP Pro
2.00 Gig Intel Core 2 Duo processor
3.5 GB of RAM

I am also trying to create to a word doc and not a PDF. once I get this output to work I can always convert it over to a PDF, but I don't think for what I'm doing I will need to do that.

Thank you,

Ian

Report · Sep 08, 2009

Search on Malformed in this topic.

http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/printing/print_issues.htm

Does that make any difference?

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Report · Sep 08, 2009

Peter,

I did a search for Malformed and there was no results. I then tried to re-run the output and has the same ending.

Thank You,

Ian

Report · Sep 08, 2009

Look in the first table in that topic, it's there.

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Report · Sep 08, 2009

I think Peter wants you to search for Malformed in the page on his web site which you can access via the link he provided.

Good luck,

Leon

Report · Nov 10, 2009

I've searched all of the postings here for RoboHelp printed docs and read the postings on Peter Grainge's site. I still can't generate printed docs from my projects. However, I CAN generate docs from RoboHelp's sample projects.

I've used the same RoboHelp project for 5 years, and suddenly I can't print a Word doc anymore. I've read all the postings and can't figure it out. I hope you can help. I don't have a support contract with Adobe but at this point I'm going to have to call Support and pay for some help.

Here's what's happening:

Tried to generate a Word 2003 doc: In RoboHelp Output View dialog: "Warning: The Word Document became corrupt when attempting to append following malformed topics:" with list of topics.

The doc only has the cover page and no topics.
(In Print Document Appearance dialog: None, User the Project's CSS Styles), which is what I've always used.

After reading several postings:
Closed all other programs.
Changed virtual memory (advanced advanced in my computer properties) to system managed size.
Virtual Memory: 3199 MB (total pagin file size for my C drive)
Deleted robohelp.cpd and other temp files (ldb, hha, etc.) found with Beyond Compare and Source Control (Microsoft Visual Studio 2005). I check my RoboHelp files in every few days.

Deleted current single source layouts and created new one for test.
Created new print layout: Print Document Appearance dialog: switched to Style Mapping
Tried just selecting a few topics instead of the entire project.
Word error: $StylePrepFile.htm caused a serious error the last time it was opened. Would you like to continue opening it? Clicked Show Help button, but I did not enable the file in the Disabled list:

****************************************

"If you attempt to open a file marked as damaged or disabled by an Office application, you may encounter this error. You will continue to receive this error each time you attempt to open the file even if the file was recovered or repaired.

The file is in the Disabled Items list because it has caused the application to fault or shut down more than once in previous attempts to open the file. This error message helps you avoid potential problems that may occur if the file is opened and causes other currently open files to suspend.

If the file was properly recovered, replaced, or deleted, you can remove the file from the list of disabled files (re-enable the file) by selecting Help, About Microsoft Office <ApplicationName>, and clicking Disabled Items....

Re-enabling a file does not guarantee the application can open it. The file must be recovered from either a backup or undamaged recovered file."

Error: "Adobe RoboHelp 7 has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. For more info, click here:

Error Signature:
AppName: robohtml.exe AppVer: 7.3.1.0 ModName: printdocgenerator.dll
ModVer: 7.0.145.0 Offset: 00038766

****************************************

Repaired Word 2003 from Add/Remove programs.
Changed Word macro security to low (Tools/Options/Security/Macro Security/Low)
Uninstalled RoboHelp 7 and reinstalled it (I have Technical Communication Suite
Deleted c:\temp files.
Deleted IE 8 temp files.
I keep trying by deleting the temp files (cpd, $StylePrepFile.htm, etc.), but same errors.

Environment:
In RoboHelp Output dialog: Printed Document Generator Environment: Word 11.0.8227, OS 5.1.2600, RAM 2048 M Bytes
Windows XP Professional 2002 SP 3
RoboHelp 7 (Tech Comm Suite)
Word 2003
Pentium 4 CPU 3.00 GHz
3.12 GB of RAM (I actually have 4 GB installed).
Space available on drive C: 43.5 GB

I hope you can point me in the right direction.

Thanks very much.

Gina

Message was edited by: Peter Grainge to correct messed up content

Report · Nov 10, 2009

Gina

Make a copy of the project and remove all the content of the SSL folders. Zip it up and post back here the size of the zipped up file.

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Report · Nov 10, 2009

Peter,

It's 6 MB zipped.

Thanks very much.

Gina

Report · Nov 10, 2009

See the contact page on my site.

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Report · Nov 10, 2009

Peter,

I uploaded the file per the instructions on your site to www.cutesendit.com.

Thanks!

Gina

Report · Nov 10, 2009

Something just happened that may lead to a clue. Because I need to send the docs out for review, I generated some topics in FlashHelp. Then when I copied and pasted from the FlashHelp topic into Word 2003, Word gave the error that it needed to close. I narrowed it down to a bulleted list by copying and pasting parts of the doc until I got the error again. I removed the bullets, then tried regenerating a Word doc. Then I got this error: "An unhandled win32 exception occurred in RoboHTML.exe [2948] I Googled it and found http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/robohelp/ [same but 3768] which says:

Reason:
This can occur if you have conditional build tags and tables that contain spans in the same project.
Solution:
Please visit the following link to get a dll and follow the procedure described therein to patch Adobe RoboHelp 6 installation.
http://www.adobe.com/go/kb401651

I didn't do anything with this because I'm using RoboHelp 7.

I really don't know how to research the "spans" issue above.

Report · Nov 10, 2009

I tried the first three layouts and they print without any problem.

Your offline email refers to Error Signature...ModName: printdocgenerator.dll. That sounds like something wrong with you installation so I would be inclined to try uninstalling and reinstalling. Your project is on your hard disk and not on a network?

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Report · Nov 10, 2009

Peter,

Yes, the project is on my hard drive, which is mapped to source control, which is on a network (MS Visual Studio 2005). I check out the whole project, work on it, diff the files to see what's changed, then check it back in.

Yesterday I uninstalled RoboHelp and reinstalled it. I couldn't get it to uninstall properly through the Tech Comm Suite, so I uninstalled it through Add/Remove Programs. Then I downloaded the install files for the Tech Comm Suite again from my account on Adobe, and reinstalled RoboHelp 7, then updated it to the latest updates.

Thanks very much.

Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:23:10 -0700
From: forums@adobe.com
To: ginafromtampa@hotmail.com
Subject: Printed Documentation Malformed Error
I tried the first three layouts and they print without any problem.

Your offline email refers to Error Signature...ModName: printdocgenerator.dll. That sounds like something wrong with you installation so I would be inclined to try uninstalling and reinstalling. Your project is on your hard disk and not on a network?

----
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Follow me http://twitter.com/petergrainge

>

Report · Nov 10, 2009

When you send me the project, it is working fine. No source control.

When you generate the samples they work fine (assuming that is still true now that you have introduced the uninstall / reinstall into the scenario). No source control.

Do you have another machine where you could install TCS in trial mode and try the zip project you sent me? That would also avoid any source control effects.

I couldn't get it to uninstall properly through the Tech Comm Suite, so I uninstalled it through Add/Remove Programs.

Explain a bit more about that. Where were you trying to uninstall it before going to Add/Remove and exactly what did you do in Remove Programs?

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Report · Nov 10, 2009

Peter,

Just to clarify: I don't use RoboSource Control. I use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 source control, which I've done for almost 5 years without any problems.

After I got your last message, I decided to uninstall RoboHelp 7 again and reinstall it. I uninstalled RoboHelp from Add/Remove Programs, not from the Tech Comm Suite installer. I closed all applications during the uninstall, and got this message:

"Error 1306.Another application has exclusive access to the file C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 7\RoboHTML\PrintDocExt\PrintDoc.dot. Please shut down all other applications, then click Retry."

In the Task Manager, winword.exe was still running, so I closed it. Then the uninstallation started going again.

I also read your post about backing up RoboHelp.dot, and I had it in a few places on my hard drive, so I renamed them to Backup_RoboHelp.dot.

I checked the Tech Comm Suite installer again and it showed that RoboHelp was still installed. So I uninstalled it from there as well.

I tried to reinstall through the Tech Comm Suite, but it asked for the CD/DVD which I don't have because I purchased it online through Adobe. I went to my Adobe account and downloaded and reinstalled Tech Comm Suite, then used the suite to reinstall RoboHelp 7 and RoboSource Control (I don't use RoboSource Control, but just in case).

I haven't done any updates yet.

If this doesn't work, I'll install a trial on another machine and will let you know.

Thanks very much.

Gina

Report · Nov 10, 2009

I only said Source Control, not which flavour.

That's a very messy uninstall and it has a ring of standalone RH7 being installed as well as via TCS. Is that possible?

It would help if someone who has TCS1 installed could check Add/Remove and see if only TCS is listed or TCS and RH separately. Is there anyone following this thread who can answer that.

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Report · Nov 10, 2009

After reinstalling, printed 2 docs from the CustomerCare sample in Robohelp and they worked fine.

But I'm having the same problems with the project I sent you.

After generating the "Printed Documentation" print layout, for example, it says it's successfully completed. But the output has the malformed topics listed again.

When you right click that layout and click View, the Word doc is blank except for "Contents" and "Error! Bookmark not defined."

Tried to create a new print layout, starts to generate the Word doc, then says "Adobe RoboHelp 7 has encountered a problem and needs to close..." Then...Error Signature

Report · Nov 11, 2009

See my post sent 9.11 and commenting that the uninstall sounds messy.

Given we have established this is not a project problem as I can print things fine with content, I would normally say this is an installation problem without any doubt. The fact that you can print the supplied projects argues against that.

Have you unzipped the file you sent me to a completely different folder so that there is no question of source control being involved? I'm rather stuck on that being involved as that is the only difference between me being able to generate and you not being able to generate. Or is it?

Your Word macro level could be different and your Word installation could be different. Where is you user profile, on your hard disk or do IT have it on a network drive?

Also please try installing TCS1 to another PC but don't activate it. See how Program Files looks there.

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Report · Nov 11, 2009

Peter,

I tried one more time and was able to print another RoboHelp sample doc (Clownfish School) with no problems.

I compared the Welcome_to_the_Bank.htm file in the CustomerCare sample project with one of my own files (Welcome_to_Track-It.htm). I removed my template and customized css and use the defalt css. I also removed my build tags.

I generated a Word doc with just the one topic, and at first Word opened with a blank screen (no doc at all). I closed it and opened it again from Windows Explorer and the doc was fine.

Then when I tried to generate it again I got the errors again the RoboHelp needs to close and the $StylePrepFile.htm error again.

If the sample projects generated printed docs OK, then I don't think it's my installation. I think you're right, it must have something to do with the source control.

I just tried this and it worked: imported a Word doc I had previously generated from the same project several months ago. The doc printed fine.

This does make me think it's a source control issue. I'm checking with our source control manager to see if he has any ideas.

I don't have an extra PC available at the moment, just virtual machines, and that won't work since they're on a network.

I think my user profile is on my hard drive: C:\Documents and Settings\myname\Application Data\Microsoft\Word.

I'll post back when I have some answers.

Thanks,

Gina

Report · Nov 11, 2009

Peter,

I'm still testing but starting to have some success. I started comparing htm files that are checked out from source control to the project I sent you. No differences. However, a custom template was applied which I no longer need and I removed it from a few topics. I started removing them and the doc generated (I'm only generating a few topics at a time though).

Gina

Report · Nov 11, 2009

Still can't generate, even the topics I thought were fixed.

I kept getting the $styleprepfile.htm serious error. Then in the details, it said (again) "printdocgenerator.dll".

I looked up that dll with Google Desktop. It's in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 7\RoboHTML.

I tried to open the file, and I got the message: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 7\RoboHTML\PrintDocGenerator.dll was loaded, but the DLLRegisterServer entry point was not found. This file can not be registered.

So it does look like I need to uninstall and reinstall. Since my RoboHelp 7 is part of Tech Comm Suite, I'm going to completely uninstall the suite and try to reinstall. (I hadn't completely uninstalled the suite before, just RoboHelp).

Report · Nov 11, 2009

Deactivate first. It shouldn't be necessary as you are reinstalling on the same PC but be safe.

Then consider using http://www.revouninstaller.com and go for the advanced clean up. Get technical assistance if you are in doubt.

Let us know how you get on.

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Report · Nov 11, 2009

I didn't know about the deactivation. When I Googled it, I found you can do that from the Help menu. It's too late because I already uninstalled RoboHelp through Add/Remove Programs and I'm halfway done uninstalling Tech Comm Suite. I didn't know the license allowed you to install the app on two computers. Since I've never done that, hopefully it will let me install it on my laptop at home to test.