Flare v6.1 and PDF Output

[lcharlesjohnson]

Hi all,

I installed Flare v6.1 Wednesday, had a number of issues yesterday (install error and subsequent uninstall of v6 and reinstall of v6.1) - and today, I'm dead in the water regarding Flare output to PDF.

My problem: the first time I build (after a reboot), Flare builds PDF output no problem. However, on all subsequent builds, I'm getting an error:

Internal error: The process cannot access the file "p:|Laura......' because it is being used by another process.

It's not being used by another process. Adobe's not being used, the file is closed. I figure I'm smarter than the average bear, so I go to Windows Explorer to the path listed above (network location) and delete from there. Same error.

Usually what I do when I'm working PDF output is to close the file and Adobe, then build again - and it opens up and I can review the output, make changes to content, build, repeat.

Now, I'm essentially being forced to reboot my machine after every PDF build. Webhelp is not affected. This issue started after I installed v6.1.

Any thoughts?

Laura

[Nita Beck]

Many of us have had this happen with Flare 6, too. For some reason (and I can't point a finger at where the problem arises, in Flare, in Windows, in Acrobat...), someone thinks that the PDF is still open.

I have found that I can avoid this conflict by not viewing the generated output from within Flare. I reply "No" to the "Do you want to view the generated output?" prompt and then immediately click the Open Output Folder button so I can open the PDF directly from Windows Explorer. This way, the conflict (whatever it is) doesn't get triggered.

Hope this helps.

[Andrew]

I've seen this error frequently, but when I close Adobe and rebuild it goes away. The file was not open in Adobe.

[LTinker68]

I've had it happen a few times if I abort a build. It doesn't happen all the time, so I think it depends at which the point in the build process that I click abort that causes the problem, but it hasn't happened frequently enough to be able to pinpoint at what point I should just let the build go. I've found that if I build a different output, like WebHelp, then it seems to clear things up so I can build the PDF again. Otherwise I have to shut down Flare and restart it (closing the project and reopening it doesn't seem to be enough).

[lcharlesjohnson]

Lisa,

I wish it was that simple.

Yes, I've had this happen off and on every so often....but since v6.1, it's been a real pain. Closing Flare and reopening doesn't do it...I now have to reboot my machine completely.

And with the time it takes to reboot the machine, I could go make a sandwich!

Laura

[RussGuill]

We've been having this happen to us too (and quite a bit lately). I've gotten around it by closing any instance of Windows Explorer that is accessing the project folder. Also, closing all topics in the project before rebuilding also works. Don't ask me why the latter works as it seems to have nothing to do with the output.

So is this Flare's fault, or is it Windows?

[lcharlesjohnson]

I talked with MadCap tech support on Friday about this. Luckily, I was able to reproduce the problem while Alvaro was watching my screen.

Anyway, he solved the problem by clicking Save All prior to building/viewing the output. It worked like a charm. This was done, of course, in addition to closing the open output file in Adobe.

So, try that - see if it works.

Laura

[rob hollinger]

I have seen where the Adobe Updater is the cause of this also.
See if you have updates for anything Adobe related.

[Judith]

I also have experienced this problem. It seems to depend on a number of things: if you are using Windows xp, it usually means that you have the pdf document open. However on Vista and Windows 7, it may indicate that you have any pdf document open or that the adobe updater is running in the intray, usually because there are updates available. If you get the message and don't see why, check in task manager that no acro/adobe processes are running.

[MarkMetcalfe]

My blood pressure was waxing and my high opinion of Flare was waning, until I read this thread.
I now believe Adobe is the culprit.

1. I did Ctrl-Alt-Delete and started the Task Manager.
2. I sorted by process name and lo and behold Acrotray.exe came to the top.
3. I ended its process (pressing the End Process with glee, I might add).
4. Then I clicked the PDF build button. Voila! Off she went.

Bad, bad Adobe!

Mark Metcalfe
Ektron Documentation Manager

P.S. I don't suppose that Madcap could prevent this condition from occurring?

[RamonS]

Flare could be programmed to end these processes, but that would also include the cases where an Adobe PDF app is open for legitimate reason and maybe even with pending changes. Besides that, there are plenty of other PDF apps that may cause this issue. Unfortunately, Windows is a bit dumb in this area and cannot tell the user which process has the file open.

[helen]

My blood pressure was waxing and my high opinion of Flare was waning, until I read this thread.
I now believe Adobe is the culprit.

1. I did Ctrl-Alt-Delete and started the Task Manager.
2. I sorted by process name and lo and behold Acrotray.exe came to the top.
3. I ended its process (pressing the End Process with glee, I might add).
4. Then I clicked the PDF build button. Voila! Off she went.

Bad, bad Adobe!

Mark Metcalfe
Ektron Documentation Manager

P.S. I don't suppose that Madcap could prevent this condition from occurring?

Yep - I have to kill "Adobe ARM" process otherwise Flare (rightly I believe) thinks the PDF is still open. It only happens on one machine I build on, both with XP and both with the same release of Flare. Most bizzare!

[trent the thief]

Hi,

You can use this tool to discover which app is locking the files:

http://file-folder-unlocker.en.softonic.com/

It's really handy. The website of the creator (diamondcs.com.au) seems dead at this time, but the link from softonic works.