Internal error: Failed to load Master TOC

[carolhobz]

I just installed Flare 4 and imported a Flare 3 project. I got this message: Internal error: Failed to load Master TOC: [Data at the root level is invalid. Line 1, position 39.]
I tried rebuilding the TOC (twice) and still get this error. I would prefer not to revert to Flare 3 - can anyone suggest what the problem might be?
Thanks in advance.

[LTinker68]

You imported a Flare v3 project or you just opened it in v4?

You might try creating a new project in v4 and open its TOC file in Notepad and compare it to the TOC file in the problem project. Also check what file the target in the problem project is pointing to.

[carolhobz]

Uh oh, I didn't import the Flare 3 project, just opened it. Good place for a warning message...

Your advice was all good! A look in Notepad showed a different TOC file format from 3 to 4. AND, the project wasn't pointing to the new TOC I built. When I fixed that, I was in business. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[KevinDAmery]

Uh oh, I didn't import the Flare 3 project, just opened it. Good place for a warning message...

I think you mis-understood: the normal thing would be to just open it as you did. Lisa's question was more along the lines of "why would you import a Flare project? Does that even work...?"

So don't worry, if you just opened it you did it right.

[WordGeek]

I'm now getting this error even with TOCs I create from scratch. It's at line 2, position 1, and I can't see any issue there.

I know my target is also pointing to the correct TOC. What do I need to do?

[LTinker68]

Is that error appearing when you open the project or when you try to build output? If it's when you build the output, then does it happen for all outputs or just one (and which one)?

[WordGeek]

It happens when I build output.

I can build Word (which is not the output I want), but neither WebHelp (the one I do want) nor HTML Help will build, and I get the error message.

What is the difference between the format of the TOC in 3 vs. 4? The only thing I see is UTF-16 encoding vs. UTF-8.

[LTinker68]

Don't know. I have problems building Word output in a project created in a pre-release v4. I don't seem to have a problem with projects created in the release version of 4. I don't have any problems building PDF or WebHelp or HTML Help, so I haven't really investigated the problem with Word output.

If you create a brand new project, do you still get the error when you build WebHelp?

[WordGeek]

OK, now I feel stupid. The project in question was linking to an external project and the external project's TOC was messed up, not the one in the main project. Oh well....at least it's solved.

[MAinsley]

So glad this has happened to others and its not just us!

I've had a look and it seems as though the project is looking at the correct toc, although I have to admit I' m not sure if I'm looking in the correct place. I've looked in the target and I've looked in the project properties.

Most worrying of all is that this is happening in multiple projects which have all been converted from Robohelp to the current version of Flare. We have been reverting back to the original toc but the problem keeps coming back, which leads me to think that perhaps the problem is with the conversion.

Please help!

[doc_guy]

MAinsley, welcome to the forums.

What happens if you create a new TOC for your project? (You don't have to add all the topics; just start small and see what happens, then add more topics.

[Andrew Heard]

Same problem encountered in HTMLHelp - see new topic Internal error: Failed to load Master TOC - #2