PDF internal error

[fzvit]

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[techwriter31]

Yes, output errors are pretty common for PDF outputs, especially if the output contains a lot of graphics. The steps I usually take:
1) In the Flare project, choose to Clean Project option. This should delete the Output folder. As an extra step, you can also manually delete the Analyzer folder.
2) Close the Flare project.
3) Close all PDFs that are open. (I often receive errors about the PDF file being in use if I have any PDFs open. If the error still occurs, then I open the task manager and verify that Acrobat isn't running in the background. If it is, I kill the process.)
4) Relaunch the Flare project and attempt to build the output. If the problem still occurs, the PC reboot is usually the last option.

[whunter]

Another thing to note is that if you generate a PDF, attach it to an Outlook email, and then try to generate that PDF again, you'll get an error (either that same one or similar) because Outlook still has its grubby paws on the PDF. In that case the error should go away if you restart Outlook.

[fzvit]

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[LTinker68]

You'll also get that error message if you still have the previously generated PDF still open or if the program you used to view the PDF is still open (e.g., Adobe Reader).

[fzvit]

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[fzvit]

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[Msquared]

I get this occasionally, two or three times a week, I'd say, so not as frequently as you, but for web targets sometimes too. I got it this afternoon. I usually build a different target, then go back the first one, that usually then works for me. That did the trick when it happened this afternoon.

[SteveS]

Another possibility...

If you use Outlook for email and have viewed or sent a pdf as an attachment, Outllook seems to keep part of the pdf viewer open. This can allso stop you from moving pdf files in Windows explorer...

HTH

[cbdebris]

My experience with this error is that it primarily occurs when your computer needs some Windows updates and they aren't loaded, or there's a discrepancy between your computer and the version of Flare. So you have to make sure everything is up to date.

If you say there's no issue, because you've installed all of the mandatory Windows updates, then open Task Manager and shut off processes for Flare that are still running. Good luck.

[fzvit]

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[Msquared]

It is worth making sure that you are running .NET 4, not the previous one (3.5, I think). Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features and check the version of Microsoft .NET Framework that you have installed.

This is an even longer shot - there is absolutely no chance that the file (or the folder) really is being used by another process intermittently? For example, is the output being generated in an area that is under source control, and that is accessing the folder for some reason? I can't think why it would be, as the output area doesn't need to be in source control, but perhaps there is some auto-build script running that tries to build your project and check the files back in? In that case, you may be OK until you hit the auto-build window, and rebooting just takes long enough for the build to move on? Or are you creating the output on a network share in an area that someone else could be accessing at the same time?

Has this only recently started happening, after being able to build successfully, or is this the first time you have tried to build PDFs? Do you work with others, and if so, are they having similar problems?

Are you using Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to view the PDFs after you generate them (if you succeed, that is?). Is the Acrobat version reasonably up-to-date? That's something else that may just be worth checking.

I'd be really interested to know what the problem was when you find out . . .

[i-tietz]

Maybe you should have a look at your temp folder - it could be full. You can delete its contents.
Last time I looked at mine it was more than 4GB big before I deleted it ... you can only find out how big the folder is after copying it to some other location.

Here's the path to my temp folder: C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\user account name\Lokale Einstellungen\Temp
(Sorry I don't have an BE or AE system, but maybe you find the corresponding folder.)


OR:
I noticed that Flare seems to make the computer slower and slower during the day - as if it keeps grabbing RAM and won't release it again until the computer is rebooted. Your admin might be able to find out ...


Yet another question:
Does that happen too, if you build the same target without changes over and over again? Or do you always change something in between builds?

[Msquared]

This is a bit of an aside, but . . .

I noticed that Flare seems to make the computer slower and slower during the day - as if it keeps grabbing RAM and won't release it again until the computer is rebooted. Your admin might be able to find out ...

MAdCap support have admitted that there are is a memory leak issue with Flare 8 and suggested that if I noticed a drop in performance to close Flare 8 and reopen it. This helped a bit, but even with frequent close/reopens my PC got very slow by the end of the day. In the end, I upgraded my memory from 4GB to 8GB (I'm running Windows 7, 64 bit) and I've had no problems with slowing down since. This wasn't an issue with Flare 7.

But I don't think that's related to the original problem of PDF builds crashing, although before my memory upgrade, my PC would end up running so slowly at the end of the day that it may as well have crashed.

[lmhundley]

Just in case it sways MadCap in fixing the reported memory leak more quickly, I also experience it.

Usually in the afternoon after editing many files in Flare, and maybe one build, the next is when the error occurs.

As stated by others, I close Flare, reopen, and everything is jake.

It isn't affecting my production, just a hassle.

An observation:
Many time I will have a large group of files open in flare; 20 or so, give or take. When I do a save and close on each file individually, the save is very slow in the beginning. Then it speeds up as I close each file.

Don't know if this will help diagnose anything, but thought I would mention it.

[fzvit]

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[fzvit]

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[Msquared]

Since all else has failed, have you got another target you can build to give Flare a bit of a break from generating PDFs?

Sounds silly I know, but I have a PDF target and a WebHelp target that use the same master TOC. If/when the PDF fails to build with an internal error and waiting for a few minutes doesn't clear it, I build the web target instead. Then I come back to the PDF and it always builds then. That's just happened to me again just now.

It may be worth creating a dummy WebHelp target for this purpose if you don't have one.

I'm not sure what building the web target does. Perhaps it unlocks a file, or resets something, or incorrectly locks a different file instead, and hence unlocks the file that was causing the problem before. Just in case this is significant, my Web target uses the same TOC, but has almost everything else the same as the PDF, where applicable, except that the web target uses a different style sheeet (for my own convenience, not for any technical reason).

[fzvit]

Beyond frustrated, but thanks for the suggestion. I'll certainly give it a try.