MadCap Software Forums

I'm getting multiple errors when using Flare 6 and Visual Source Safe, with project originated in Flare 5. The file tree display in Flare is incorrect. Some checked out files have a lock icon, some checked in files have a red check mark. and some have nothing. When I edit and then save a file, I get a dialog (attached) telling me Flare failed to write the file. If I try to open this project in Flare 5, I get the same error (I wasn't getting it in Flare 5 before Flare 6 "infected" it).

I tried removing the project from VSS, removing the Cache directory created by Flare 6, reinstalling Flare 6....same results.

My next step is to start with a clean project and import the files from the existing project into the new, clean project.


Do you have any idea what's going on and why, and what I can do to get back to work? BTW -- I'm on Windows 7 64-bit, running this from the X86 Program Files directory.

More experimentation --
I need to manually change the Read-only property for each folder that I check out of VSS in order for the edits to be saved. And now I'm geting this error randomly.

I am using Flare with SVN, along with the PushOK plug-in and Tortoise, for source control. I upgraded from Flare 5 to Flare 6, and am getting errors when I attempt to save/check in a file. Did not have these problems with Flare 5. Also am wondering about the caching feature with Flare 6.

sarrants wrote:Some checked out files have a lock icon, some checked in files have a red check mark. and some have nothing. When I edit and then save a file, I get a dialog (attached) telling me Flare failed to write the file. If I try to open this project in Flare 5, I get the same error (I wasn't getting it in Flare 5 before Flare 6 "infected" it).

Sounds very much like problems I already hadw with Flare 4, 4.2, 5 and now 6. Sometimes it happens a few seconds after opening the project, sometimes it's ok for an hour ...
Somehow Flare loses contact with the VSS DB on the network drive means: Flare cannot tell you the correct status of the files. I always got the answer that it's the network connection - in the forum and from support.

Maybe MC feels like checking it more thoroughly now?

p.s.:
The only thing that helps is closing the project and opening it again. That was a nuisance before V6, because the main project I work on is almost 3.000 files big and the automatic scan on opening the project took minutes ... now it's almost bearable, because the project opens without being scanned.

I followed the directions I received from Support:

I recommend opening this project in Flare v5, checking in all files, and then opening the project in Flare v6. This will allow the source control cache to fully generate and should properly sync up which files are writable.

No dice. The files are shown as checked out in VSS, but in Flare they're still shown with locks, and are read-only.

Am I the only one having problems with Source Control and Flare 6?

Problems solved, sort of. Flare 6 does not play well with Visual Source Safe 6. You need VSS 2005 at a minimum. I've installed the server on another machine and the client on my desktop, and am adding files now to the new database.

I wish it was made clear in the requirements/update info what was needed.

sarrants wrote:Problems solved, sort of. Flare 6 does not play well with Visual Source Safe 6. You need VSS 2005 at a minimum. I've installed the server on another machine and the client on my desktop, and am adding files now to the new database.

We use VSS 2005 - but I still have problems ...

Not that it helps you, but VSS is EOL in favor of TFS by MSFT. Time to look for a decent source control system, and no, I don't count VSS to that group. Usually the TW doesn't have a choice unless they are allowed to use their own source control system.

I'm living in the REAL world, where mostly you haven't got everything under control. So it's got to be MS VSS until Flare comes up with a link to Subversion. Those are the two software packages we have here and those are the packages we have to live with.

I didn't state anything contrary. VSS support will go away sooner rather than later. Does the PushOK plugin for Subversion not work out?

Our developers didn't like the thought of installing software from "a third party" ... so they didn't. That means: We've never tried ...

i-tietz wrote:I'm living in the REAL world, where mostly you haven't got everything under control. So it's got to be MS VSS until Flare comes up with a link to Subversion. Those are the two software packages we have here and those are the packages we have to live with.

Why do you need a link to subversion? Just use TortoiseSVN and manually commit / update files.

Because if I wanted to do it manually I could do it with MS VSS, too ...
Not every tech writer wants to clamber into the depth of software. It's just supposed to work they way it's supposed to.

i-tietz wrote:Because if I wanted to do it manually I could do it with MS VSS, too ...
Not every tech writer wants to clamber into the depth of software. It's just supposed to work they way it's supposed to.

I didn't mean to come off so dismissive; my apologies. I was trying to be helpful (suggesting an alternative), but it sure didn't look that way.

I would think a manual process (especially one that is pretty easy, like TSVN) would be superior to an integrated process that is fragile and / or not working properly.

True, it would be - if all my colleagues had my knowledge about and routine with software ... but they don't.

i-tietz wrote:Our developers didn't like the thought of installing software from "a third party" ... so they didn't. That means: We've never tried ...

So they made their own IDE, OS, and browser? Impressive!

I've been using PuskOK successfully with Flare 5 (see my tutorial on installing it and getting it working here: http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 68&t=10401).

Installing Flare 6 has broken this and I now get the following two problems:

• Flare complains without fault that my files cannot be accessed when I attempt to check them in.
  Flare (or PushOK, I'm not sure which) reports an access violation when attempting to commit files. Specifically, an access violation on the file KERNEL32.dll in the System32 directory. Clearly not something I want to be messing around with too often!

Not at all sure what's going on here now, but since we've bought several copies of the PushOK plug in I'm keen to get it working with Flare 6 and continue to have in-editor version control. I'm going to keep investigating this myself, but if anyone wants to chip in with some SVN-specific suggestions I'd appreciate it.

Cheers.

sarrants wrote:Am I the only one having problems with Source Control and Flare 6?

We are using TFS and are experiencing many of the issues described in the OP. For now, we have moved back to Flare 5 until this gets worked out.

UPDATE:
Now I get a false "conflict" message whenever I want to check in a file that was last checked in with Flare V5 (or before - I didn't check all 2.800 files) ...

I posted a bug report.

This isn't anything to do with the file sharing voilation error is it?

There's a nasty bug in v6 that means if your project is in a network folder, then it won't work if it's bound to source control (or VSS, at least).

http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 68&t=10568

As we actively pursue the causes of these issues, has anyone Imported a new project in V6 and imported the problem projects from the Source Control?

In v6, the Cache folder is created and Flare watches that now. It no longer maintains a live connection with the Source Database. This is to support advanced merging and conflicts when multiple authors worked on the same topic at the same time and lower the network footprint with the server.

To fully update the project and get all the file status, with the project open, click on View -> Pending Check Ins.
Click the Refresh button in that window.
It should get status of all files in the project at that point.

We use MS VSS 2005 and yes, checking everything in (a bit of a nuisance, since I have that bug), deleting the local copy an importing from Source Control does help. I'll recommend that to my colleagues BEFORE they install Flare 6.

rhollinger wrote:As we actively pursue the causes of these issues, has anyone Imported a new project in V6 and imported the problem projects from the Source Control?.

If I understand you correctly, you're asking if I've ever tried the Import From Source Control option from the File > Import Project menu.

I have tried this, and I get the following error message when I click Finish in the Import Project From Source Control Wizard:
I'm then told that all files are up to date, then that the source control operation finished with warnings and/or errors, then finally Flare tells me that it cannot find the .flprj file to open, presumably because it didn't check anything out of source control.

We continue to see serious, show-stopping errors with Flare and VSS 2005. So much so that we are considering a move back to RoboHelp for our next software release. We were told that going to VSS 2005 would solve the problem. Instead, it has introduced new ones. Now, when we try to edit links within a topic, we get the attached error. Even if we manually check out the files in VSS, outside of Flare, we cannot edit the links and save the edits. Instead, we have to unbind (remove from source control) to work with files.

I believe Flare 6 was released prematurely, without adequate testing. It is too bad--it is a serious, powerful alternative to RoboHelp and Framemaker, but if we cannot use our source control system, we need to go to RoboHelp or another solution.

i-tietz wrote:We use MS VSS 2005 and yes, checking everything in (a bit of a nuisance, since I have that bug), deleting the local copy an importing from Source Control does help. I'll recommend that to my colleagues BEFORE they install Flare 6.

Yet another update:
I get the same bug again ... every now and then ... not with every file, but with a considerable lot: Flare keeps telling me, there's a newer version in the DB, but I'm currently the only one working on that project ...

I'll REPOST the bug again ...