Object reference not set to an instance of an object

[benm_130]

I typically publish in WebHelp. Recently, we upgraded from Flare v7.2 to v8. For some reason, in version 8, WebHelp can't be built. As it processes the source files, it errors out.

Error message.PNG

Messages.PNG

WebHelp Plus, all of my print outputs, and HTML5 targets all work fine - this is the only target that has an issue.

Ideas?

[MinnesotaCory]

Looks like the same problem I'm having.

http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... =9&t=14736

[joy]

I have seen this too, with HTML5 target generation. It's identical to a problem I was having with the mobile help target last year. I'm surprised it's not fixed yet because it was filed as a bug (report number 45261).

My errors were caused by empty style properties in the master stylesheet (specifically, in my case, empty font-size and font-family properties). This fixed it for me:

1. Open the Content Explorer
2. Expand the Resources folder
3. Expand the Stylesheets folder
4. Right-click on the MainStyles.css file
5. Expand the "Open With" sub-menu
6. Select "Internal Text Editor" to open the stylesheet in the internal text editor.
7. Search for <space>; You'll likely see a few empty styles such as: font-size: ; and font-family ;
8. Either delete the lines from the stylesheet, or add values.
9. Save and close the stylesheet
10. Generate the HTML5 (or WebHelp) target.

[rogerbell]

I see this error frequently also, but in generating PDF output. It is most annoying in the fact I don't know which project file is causing the issue.

Since I mostly develop small PDF output, I generate the target frequently. My workaround when this issue comes up is to remove the last edited topic from the TOC. Usually that fixes it. Then I create a new topic, copy and paste the content from the old topic, add to the TOC, and then it usually is fixed. Sometimes I do find some bad XHTML code in a topic. Other times, I haven't a clue as to what was causing the issue.

I hope Madcap tries to fix these issues or at least provide us with more information. I found nothing in their Help about ways to troubleshoot these problems.

[nickatwork]

does this help?

http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 77&t=14237

[rogerbell]

does this help?

http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 77&t=14237

No, it doesn't. My workaround that I posted is the only thing that seems to work.

Interestingly, when this error last occurred for me last week, I opened the project in Flare 7.2 to see if it was a Flare 8 issue. I could generate a PDF without error in 7.2, but when I reopened the project in Flare 8, the issue was still there. Only my workaround saved the day.

This error does seem to be a .NET error which Flare cannot handle. Analyzer was no help in finding the problem either.

[benm_130]

I opened a ticket with MadCap Support and this is what they said:

When the "Exclude content not linked directly or indirectly from the target" is checked, it kicked off error checking in the code that wasnt necessary.
The cause was a topic called "User Setup Fields-sm.htm" There is script in the body that is not wrapped in CDATA tags.

They recommended I download the latest patch to fix the issue. I did and it fixed it right up.

[Craig.Prichard]

My experience has been that this error occurs when, during target generation, the Flare engine hits a conditional statement, e.g. <span MadCap:conditions="cond.Pre-Release">...</span>, that references a condition tag that does not exist. If a condition tag has been removed from or renamed in the conditiontagset, the target generating engine will not handle it gracefully.