Internal error: object reference not set...

[MC Hammer]

...to an instance of an object.
Hmmm, I get this not very helpful message during build progress. Basically, I cannot generate any outputs anymore.
When I go to the Messages tab of the Build Progress, it looks like the error is occuring because of the concept links.
Has anyone seen this before and would have an idea of why?
I am going to have a look but I have tons of concept links so it is going to be fun...
PS: I am using Flare 3.03.

[KevinDAmery]

Not sure if this would help, but the first thing I would do is update to 3.1. Since you have 3.x already, it's a no charge upgrade.

[helen]

Is your "Concept Explorer" window open whilst you are trying to generate output?

If it is, close it, save the project, close and reopen Flare and try to generate output again. Does that make any difference?

[MC Hammer]

Hi Helen & Kevin
Thanks for your input.
I have not upgraded to 3.1 as I am not the only one using Flare in my company and it has not been decided yet to do so.
The Concept Explorer window is not open when I try to generate my target.
If I cannot sort this out soon, I will have to contact MadCap and raise this as a bug as I cannot generate any target in this particular project.

[RamonS]

Can someone else generate output? I guess it is project related, but that would make sure it really is.
Did anyone import anything into the project recently?
Also, as far as I know there is no difference in the project files between 3.0 and 3.1, so you could update without everyone else doing so as well. I don't see any harm in doing that.

[KevinDAmery]

There were a number of bugs in 3.03 (such as not getting the correct formatting in CHM output, not getting glossaries / search to work, etc.) that were fixed in 3.1. So you probably should give whoever makes the decision of what version to use a gentle nudge to get a move on Staying on 3.03 is just asking for headaches.

[MC Hammer]

Hi guys
Thanks for your input / diagnostic suggestions, etc.
Just to let you know that this error does not seem to happen anymore since I cleaned my project (Build | Clean Project) and when I committed all my changes to source control (We are using source control, but it is currently not linked to Flare)
I have a deadline soon and will not have time to investigate this in more detail but it looks like one of the two above-mentioned actions cured the problem.
Will post more if/when I find the most probable cause.
Thanks again.

[pvz]

I too was getting this error after I'd moved some images in my imported RoboHelp project. Apparently the images included one that was being used in my Related Topics control (?). Because I've been moving slowly with this conversion and saving backups as I've gone, I was able to isolate the issue and make sure my Related Topics weren't referencing this image. That cleared up the error for me.

FWIW, I've found that Flare does only an "adequate" job of updating links when you move files around. I've had to clean up 100+ broken links as I've organized my very large project. I'm doing all this up front because we're integrating with TFS and I've already found that unless you clean up as much as you can before you bind your project to TFS, you've got much bigger headaches to deal with.

Good luck!

paul

[Richard Ferrell]

What kind of output are you creating?

[Nita Beck]

What kind of output are you creating?

Richard, I doubt you'll succeed in getting a response from the original poster. The last time they visited the forums was October 2019, plus the original post is from 2008 and the last response was also in 2008.

There've been a fair number of other "object reference not set" threads since 2008, in case you're interested.