Broken links report

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kelly2835
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Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Hi,

I am using Madcap Flare 2019 and I am trying to run the broken link report. There seems to be a PDF report you can run, but now I don't see this option anymore. I only see the Analysis > Links > Broken Links report. I know that I have lots of broken links, but they are not showing up in this Analysis.


Please let me know what I am doing wrong. Thank in advance.

Kelly
Nita Beck
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Re: Broken links report

Post by Nita Beck »

Welcome to the forums! :)

If you are certain there are broken links but the dynamic broken-links report (the one available from the Analysis ribbon) shows nothing, then I would suspect that Flare’s database of dependencies has gotten corrupted. Shut Flare down, and then delete the project’s Analyzer folder, which stores the database. Reopen the project and give Flare a couple of minutes (depending on the size the project) to scan the project and rebuild the database. Is the dynamic report available now?

Regarding a PDF report of broken links, I’ve never known Flare to produce reports in PDF format. I’m guessing you’re thinking of Flare’s original static reports. Those are still available. On the Project Organizer, right-click the Reports folder and select Add report (or something like that; I don’t have access to Flare at the moment). There might be a report template already for broken links, but if not, I suggest that you select the Empty template. Then, look for the section for links and select the Broken links (or maybe it’s Files with broken links?) option and generate the report. If you want to get a printout of it, select the View in browser (or something like that) and then from there you can print the report (perhaps print it to PDF?).

HTH
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
kelly2835
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Re: Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Thank you so much Nita. This is exactly the report I was looking for in Project Organizer. It is strange how MadCap Flare doesn't mention it in any of their documentations.

I am not too sure where the Analyzer folder is. I've attached a screen shot of my folders. Is this the correct folder to delete? The entire folder or just the items inside?


I really appreciate the help :)

Kelly
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Nita Beck
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Re: Broken links report

Post by Nita Beck »

The old reports are covered in Flare's documentation, albeit rather buried: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... -Files.htm

The Analysis folder is one of the folders within the project. You need to work outside of Flare, with Flare not running. In Windows Explorer, navigate to where your project is located. Inside that folder, you will see Analyzer, Content, Output, and Project subfolders. (You might also see a FileSync subfolder.) Delete the entire Analysis folder. Then you can reopen the project.
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
kelly2835
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Re: Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Thank you for the quick reply. I found the Analyzer founder and deleted it. I opened flare again and ran the same reports and the same results are coming up. The actual broken links are still not showing on the reports. :cry:
Nita Beck
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Location: Pittsford, NY

Re: Broken links report

Post by Nita Beck »

Are the links you know to be broken actually pointing to destinations outside of the Flare project?
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
kelly2835
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Re: Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Hi!
I have links pointing to both inside Flare project (internal links to other documents within the project) and outside (external webpages).
Nita Beck
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Re: Broken links report

Post by Nita Beck »

Sorry, but you haven't (quite) answered my question. Are the broken links internal or external?
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
kelly2835
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Re: Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Hi,

The broken links are both internal and external.
NorthEast
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Re: Broken links report

Post by NorthEast »

Just to note, Flare doesn't report on broken external links - it doesn't test any links to external websites (that start with "http://").

Perhaps give examples of your broken links, and also how do you know the links are broken?

For example, when you build a target it might say you have broken links, e.g. if you have a link to a topic that's been conditionally excluded for that target.
But these wouldn't be reported as broken links in the project analysis.
kelly2835
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Re: Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Thank much everyone! I will review and provide examples if still can't get this figured out.

This was very helpful, thank for taking the time to respond to me.
kelly2835
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Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 10:38 am

Re: Broken links report

Post by kelly2835 »

Hi Everyone!

Looking for help interpreting the broken link report. I don't work with anyone by the name of "Hoppity" Why is this coming up on the report? Also what is a Link Type "a"

For the second error, the img works fine in the document, why is it showing up in the report?


Thanks in advance!
Kelly
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Nita Beck
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Re: Broken links report

Post by Nita Beck »

(EDIT: If you read my earlier version of this response, I was much too hasty. Trying to juggle too many things at once. Let me try this again...)

The broken link is pointing to a file that is located outside of the Flare project. There's an absolute link looking for that exact path. Some user in the history of the Flare project had the username Hoppity. You need to open the snippet that contains that link and fix it. The link type of "a" means it's a standard hyperlink, as opposed to an "xref", meaning a cross-reference.

Regarding the image, the link that is trying to reference that image can't find the image in the path specified in the link. You need to open the snippet that contains the broken link and re-establish the link to the image.
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
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