Build failed: Object reference not set...

[ajturnersurrey]

Just thought I'd post a discovery I made this morning that some of you may find useful to know.

When my pdf failed whilst paginating as "Build failed: Object reference not set to an instance of an object." I discovered that it is happening whenever I use a 'column break after' style, when there isn't another column to move to on the page and a page break is actually needed.

[Anchal Gupta]

Hello All,

Kindly help me to fix the issue ""Object reference not set to an instance of an object" occurring when i am trying to generate the Help (HTML) build in Madcap flare.
I am so worried about it as i am encountering this type of an unknown error for the first time and thus, my work is getting suffered a lot.
1. I have tried reinstalling the software using the activation key, everything was fine then, but when i tried to compile my Primary Target then this error occurred with Build Failed notification.
2. Also, no output was generated in the output folder specified as per the stylesheets i was using.

3. I am so worried about my work done so far and the stylesheets i had created for Home page and other help pages, look and feel on Live. Will they be affected after the correction, if done?

Kindly request you to let me know what could be the possible reasons? I have contacted Madcap support also 2 days back but have not got any revert from them
Attaching Screenshots of the errors i am getting. Please seee

[wclass]

That message is a very general one and we would need more information.
To find out what it is referring to in your case you would need to look at the Build Log and see what topic or project file it was compiling when it failed. So click Open Build Log to see if there is any more information listed.

[Anchal Gupta]

I have opened the Build Log. There are 3 tabs there; Messages. Warnings and Errors. There are certain messages and Warnings that usually comes under Message tab while compiling the build.

Error: 10086, Build failed: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. , HTML5 - Audience A, Compiler, D:\Help 2.0 Framework-new\Project\Targets\HTML5 - Audience A.fltar,

Please Help. This is also the message coming.

Error Image.png

[wclass]

Unfortunately that's not much more helpful. It implies there is a problem with the target file, but it could be any file in the project. I think you might need to get support on this one.
You might try creating a new target and seeing if that will build.

[Anchal Gupta]

Hello,

Thanks for replying, i tried contacting support but have not got any revert so far. I am a licence User and using Madcap Flare without any issue. But, my system formatted and when i reinstalled it using already existing Key, this problem starts occurring. I checked using the new target also but, it did not work as well.

1. Could you please let me know what's the proper email id to contact support?
2. Also, if this problem will be fixed then will i need to create all my Help pages or style sheets again from scratch? Are you having any idea, because, this is also a worry issue for me.

Thanks

[Anchal Gupta]

Hello All,

Kindly help me to fix the issue ""Object reference not set to an instance of an object" occurring when i am trying to generate the Help (HTML) build in Madcap flare.
I am so worried about it as i am encountering this type of an unknown error for the first time and thus, my work is getting suffered a lot.
1. I have tried reinstalling the software using the activation key, everything was fine then, but when i tried to compile my Primary Target then this error occurred with Build Failed notification.
2. Also, no output was generated in the output folder specified as per the stylesheets i was using.

3. I am so worried about my work done so far and the stylesheets i had created for Home page and other help pages, look and feel on Live. Will they be affected after the correction, if done?

Kindly request you to let me know what could be the possible reasons? I have contacted Madcap support also 2 days back but have not got any revert from them
Attaching Screenshots of the errors i am getting. Please see and help

[wclass]

All the ways of contacting support are on their website: http://www.madcapsoftware.com/support/
Without knowing the exact problem, I can only guess that you will probably be OK and not have to rebuild from scratch.

[RamonS]

Hi!
One clerical note, I merged one of the posts and removed one. There is really no need to post in three or more different forums. Hope you get the issue resolved soon.

[Anchal Gupta]

Hi,
Can anybody helped me in this regard as explained above. Have not got any answer from Support. Anybody knows the complete procedure for unistalling the madcap flare completely from system (involving flushing of files etc. in C drive or madacp floders fromappdata at all). I am thinking to uninstall it and reusing it from scratch.

thanks

[RamonS]

First, you need to unregister Flare by selecting Help > Deactivate product. Then use the Windows uninstall fist, then delete the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare V11 and delete C:\Users\Dave\AppData\Local\MadCap Software. That should remove everything about the app except for the projects. Before your reinstall, fix the .NET runtime. That depends on the OS you are using, the .NET repair tool might help: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downloa ... x?id=30135

Good luck!

[Anchal Gupta]

Hello RamonS
Thanks for the reply,,,

Deactivating the product? So will that delete all my earlier Pages, Stylesheets and everything i have done and i am doing in my current flare project to publish online Help for my software we use here in our organization??. I will not be able to create everything from scratch as this was the combined effort of technical writers that are not with us now.

Kindly revert, i will be highly obliged.

[Feebeegeebee]

That should remove everything about the app except for the projects.

As Ramon said in his instructions, this removes Flare, not your projects...

[Anchal Gupta]

Hello All,


Thanks for the response. I have checked my .Net framework just now. And, as per the instructions i have read and gone through in forum, for Madcap flare version 11 we should have at least Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1. I checked that at my sideby navigating the desired path as Open "regedit.exe" and switch to the following path Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Net Framework Setup\NDP\.
The versions on my machine are:
V2.0.50727
V.3.0
V.3.5
V.4
V.4.0
So, could be the issue of compatibility of .Net Framework? So, now before going further and uninstalling it, could i ask operations to repair >net Framework in my machine?

thanks

[Anchal Gupta]

Hi All,

Such a Huge Relief...Managed to fix the issue with the support of Madacp technical Support. It was the error of the .Net framework which was version 4.0 and Madcap 11 does not support that.
Asked operations to update to 4.5.2 and within moments after its installation, i was able to give the successful build with all my folders generating successfully.

Thanks

[RamonS]

Great that you got it all patched up. The .NET runtime comes with the regular Windows updates. Not sure how locked down your box is, but I always go an grab the updates myself. Waiting for IT to grease up WSUS is taking way too long.

[sangu]

Error/Problem: I also came across the same error: "Object reference not set" when I was trying to build a PDF output

Solution: Go to your TOC.
Now remove one topic from the TOC. YOu can start from the Top or from the bottom. Remove only one topic file and then build the PDF/HTML output.
If the build is not successful, again remove the second file from the TOC and then build the output. If the build is not successful, again remove the third file from the TOC and then build the output. Keep doing this till you get the successful build status (green colour).
This means the file you last removed had some errors.

Now isolate that file. Open the file in XML editor. Check if all the tags are correct. Opening tags and closing tags are correct.
Check is <body> tag is missing. The issue is when any of the tags are missing. Fix the tag issue and save the file, and try to build the output. The build should be successful.

Cause: In my case, "body" tag was missing in one of the HTML file. I added the <body> </body> tag and then build the output and it was successful.

Hope it helped someone.

[mamarachel]

Sangu--Your solution was perfect and helped me isolate the problem file quickly. In my case, the file that was causing a problem was a snippet which I had edited with track changes on. I am outputting the PDF preserving track changes. I simply accepted the track changes, saved the snippet, and had no more problems. I'm not sure if the track changes caused bad XML (I didn't bother to check), or if there is a problem in general with track changes in snippet files.
Happy Friday!

[joypheral]

I had this exact issue but found that my solution was to check the message output window to see at what point the build failed. I discovered that when I renamed my glossary it broke the link (unchecked the glossary box in the target) and that was what caused my error. Once I checked the box again, the build completed successfully.

Hope this helps someone!

[DroodWrites]

Are you using OneDrive? Every time I've gotten this error it's because OneDrive was syncing and making duplicate files that started with "._"
In some cases it was creating duplicate topics with an odd arrangement of characters as the filename.

I've started pausing my OneDrive syncs while I work in Flare.

[ChoccieMuffin]

Warm welcome to the forums, DroodWrites, and you make a very good point. I doubt you'll get much of a response though, as the most recent post on that thread was five years ago. But welcome anyway!