Need help with error "The mail server could not be found."

[carolynmwallace]

Hi!

Since upgrading to Flare Version 7, I can't email topics for review.

My machine is a PC with Windows 7, my default email program is Outlook 2010.

I have clicked Setup Mail in the Send Topics for Review Wizard (I clicked Lookup in Active Directory and it found the outgoing mail server and my email address). I've also set up email recipients.

When I try to send out topics for review, I get three different error messages one after the other:

1. Either there is no default mail client or the current mail client cannot fulfill the messaging request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client. (NOTE: Outlook IS my default email client.)
2. Failed to connect to the email client: (Error code [0x80004005])
3. The mail server could not be found.

Has anyone else seen this problem and/or know how to fix it?

[lacastle]

Did you see these topics?
http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 13&t=13274
http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... &sk=t&sd=a

[carolynmwallace]

The first thread you listed is from me, so yup, I saw it. However, it didn't come up with a solution to my problem, so I thought posting the problem from a slightly different perspective might get some new answers.

I hadn't seen the other thread, but a quick scan of it didn't show me anything that helps--it's talking about Flare 4, and I'm using Flare 7.

And I can't open a support ticket, because my company couldn't afford a support plan. So I have to rely on the kindness of strangers.

[LTinker68]

And I can't open a support ticket, because my company couldn't afford a support plan. So I have to rely on the kindness of strangers.

You can submit a bug report and Support will follow up with you if they can't replicate the problem.

[carolynmwallace]

You can submit a bug report and Support will follow up with you if they can't replicate the problem.

Cool! Will do.

Thank you!

[rob hollinger]

This looks to be an issue with Outlook 2010 (64bit). Flare is unable to find it as the default email client.
Current work-around is to save the package to disk and email as an attachment.

[carolynmwallace]

This looks to be an issue with Outlook 2010 (64bit). Flare is unable to find it as the default email client.
Current work-around is to save the package to disk and email as an attachment.

Thanks, Rob! Good to know it's not just me. (I do have that effect on software from time to time.)

[kevinmcl]

I tried this just ten minutes ago, and the wizard has been "Looking up exchange server from Active Directory..." for about ten minutes now. I think it's stuck.

I have Outlook 2007, and NOT 2010.
Here at my employer, we use Exchange Server 2007 as well... not 2010.

So, whoever is looking at the issue can add that to the mix.

And I'm running Windows 7 and Flare 7.2.

- kevin

[LTinker68]

So, whoever is looking at the issue can add that to the mix.

I suggest you submit a bug report at http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx. Not only will that make it official, but it will make sure Support sees it, since this is a peer-to-peer forum, not a support forum.

[kevinmcl]

Normally, I suppose I would, but I don't use the feature (just tried it when I spotted it here, to see what it was about), and my boss and other reviewers don't even have Flare licenses.

Whenever I want somebody to review a new or modified WebHelp page, I laboriously Publish the project, copy the whole works to a network drive, and then e-mail a link to the individual page. A shortcut that would speed that a bit (takes about seven minutes if I'm in the office, or at least an hour if I'm working from home...) would be valuable to me. This feature that needs every reviewer to have Flare... not so much.

The first response I always get when I raise a bug report is a request to send a sample project that demonstrates the problem. That's a chore.

[RamonS]

The first response I always get when I raise a bug report is a request to send a sample project that demonstrates the problem. That's a chore.

Sorry that people try to help you.

[carolynmwallace]

Whenever I want somebody to review a new or modified WebHelp page, I laboriously Publish the project, copy the whole works to a network drive, and then e-mail a link to the individual page. A shortcut that would speed that a bit (takes about seven minutes if I'm in the office, or at least an hour if I'm working from home...) would be valuable to me. This feature that needs every reviewer to have Flare... not so much.

I'd like to point out that every reviewer does not have to have Flare, although they do need to have MadCap Contributor, which is much cheaper. And I will happily plug Contributor because it's made my life so much easier! I used to submit new items to reviewers the way you do, but the Flare/Contribute partnership works so much better, even with the bug I reported. I complete a topic, save it for review, email it to the reviewer--they open it, make their changes, and return it to me. I can see their notes and changes and accept them directly into Flare. TERRIFIC time-saver!

If Contributor is not an option, however, there are much faster methods of preparing topics for review than publishing the whole project and copying it to a network drive. For example, before we got Contributor, I created a special Table of Contents called "Editing." I would add my topics for review to that ToC, publish the target using that ToC, and get a much smaller set of files that I could easily zip and email to whoever needed them. I usually used a Word target for review, however, since the track changes feature made Word better for editing than the HTML pages.