Project Manager not displaying some of the folders and files

[suman_sa]

Hi All

We have got a new instance of 2019 version of Robohelp. And, our project files are done on a different machine with Robohelp version 8. Now that we try to open and edit these files created n version 8, the project manager in 2019 does not show some of the files and folders (in both the views of Project Manager). However, the files and folders are copied to and present in the same folder where other files are put.

While upgrading the project to the new version, we got a message about one particular .gif file that it is not in scope of the project. However, that was for one particular file only. 

Also, it is noticed that many of these missing files are shown in the broken links folder with no red icon against them. However, we do not see any broken links in version 8 of the Robohelp with the same sets of files and folders.

We do have three /four different documentation sets for various versions of the product and in all of these, the same set of folders (more or less) are missing from the project manager.

By manually creating the missing folders and importing files onto them from the local system, I was able to resolve the issue in one of these sets.

When contacted for technical help on this issue, we were told that a jump from v 8 to 2019 could have resulted in this strange behavior; and that it is advised to upgrade the files gradually from 8 - 11- 17 - 19 to avoid such issues. For  now, we have kept this option for later (hoping it would resolve the issue).

Anyone facing a similar issue? any insights?

n.b: please forgive any silly usages/descriptions here; I am using Robohelp after almost 8-10 years, and almost feel like a novice user

Thanks and regards,

[Peter Grainge]

It sounds like you are using RoboHelp 2019 Classic rather than the new version, is that the case?

With the new version, there was a problem with certain files not getting into the upgrade. That was fixed in an update.

I am now wondering if maybe you upgraded with an early version of 2019 and maybe that bug got carried into the Classic version. The Classic version looks like older versions whereas the new version is unmistakably different.

At this stage I would suggest you check the updates have been applied. The version should be 14.0.4. Then upgrade the project again and see if the problem has gone away.

In theory you should be able to upgrade from 8 to 2019 but I have seen Support give that advice before and I believe on one occasion it did make a difference. I guess it depend on what is in your content.

If you are using the Classic version, what I have suggested is less likely but worth a shot. If it fails, then manually fixing it as you have done might be easier than repeated upgrades.

Let us know how it goes.

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See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[suman_sa]

Thanks, Peter.

Yes, you are right, we were using the Classic version as it was able to open .xpj files directly.

And, thanks for the suggestions; looks like we would have to go with manually importing the files only.

i have not started with the other projects yet. Shall keep posting if there is anything interesting that comes up.

Thanks again for your time.

Best regards,

Suman

[suman_sa]

I did an upgrade as advised for my Robohelp 8 files from 8 - 10 -2015 - 2019 for one of my documentation sets. However, this does not solve the problem. While upgrading from 8 -10 only, the files and folders (as explained in the original post) are missing in the project folder and appear under broken links. This gets carried onto the other versions as we progress forward to 2019 version (unless you do a manual importing of topics at this stage). So, am not really sure, if Adobe's solution of gradually upgrading helps in this case. If anyone else faces a similar issue in future, this may not be a workaround. Straight away, pull in those files and folders manually onto the project manager. That is the solution that works.

In addition, for the doc sets that are not gradually upgraded (that is, from 8 - 10 -2015 - 19 and so on) , when working on them in 2019, the software goes unresponsive often and will have to be closed. Now, when approached for support on this issue, Adobe advises that a gradual, version-wise upgrade is recommended to mitigate such issues. i really need to see if gradual upgrading would help in this case. I sincerely hope so.

[Peter Grainge]

Can you share one of the projects that has this issue and the issue in the other thread you have posted? See the Contact page on my site and send the project as instructed there. Do make sure you include a link to both threads and please do not email the project direct.

They need to be in whatever version of RoboHelp in which they last worked correctly. Please also send any useful notes about what I am looking for.

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See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

[suman_sa]

Thank you for the suggestion and the offer to help, Peter.

Yet it is a tricky thing that you have asked me to do. For, I don't have the permission to share these files as of now.

Let me see if I can work on that.

Best

Suman