Spell Checker Crashing

[ptarcher]

Hi All:

My Spell Checker tool has stopped working for some reason. When I open any topic htm file and try to run Spell Check (any option), I get a System XML Exception saying "Name cannot begin with the '<' character, hexadecimal value 0x3C. Line 15, position 2." But when I search for '<' or 0x3C or0x3C. nothing shows up and no matter what I do to line 15, the error still occurs. It seems like it is broken in the app and not related to any topic file. Any ideas?

Here's the Flare_CrashLog_093015_184852.xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

-<MadCapExceptionLog localDate="2015-09-30T18:48:52.4465731-04:00" executableVersion="11.1.0.0" executable="Flare" protocol="1">

<OS version="Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1" frameworkVersion="4.0.30319.34209" arch="x64"/>

<Exception source="System.Xml" stackTrace=" at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e) at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args) at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseQName(Boolean isQName, Int32 startOffset, Int32& colonPos) at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElement() at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent() at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read() at B3.XmlKit.CustomXmlReader.Read() at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace) at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc) at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace) at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader) at B3.XmlKit.XmlDocumentWrapper.Load(XmlDocument doc, IUrl url, Stream s, Boolean patchHtml) at B3.XmlKit.XmlDocumentWrapper.Load(XmlDocument doc, IUrl urlarg, Boolean patchHtml) at B3.SpellCheckKit.IgnoredWordsDictionary.Load(IUrl url) at B3.SpellCheckKit.IgnoredWordsDictionary.Update() at B3.SpellCheckKit.IgnoredWordsManager.Get(String lang) at B3.SpellCheckKit.SpellChecker.PushLanguage(String lang) at B3.SpellCheckKit.ProjectSpellCheckController.StartSpellBackGroundWorker(Nullable`1 skipFile) at B3.SpellCheckKit.ProjectSpellCheckController.OnToolsSpellCheckViewAllCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.SpellCheckKit.ProjectSpellCheckController.OnCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.AppKit.Editor.OnCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.AppKit.MdiEditor.OnCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.CatapultMdiEditorKit.CatapultMdiEditor.OnCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.CatapultMdiFullDependencyKit.CatapultFullDependencyMdiEditor.OnCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.CatapultMdiFlareFullDependencyKit.CatapultFlareFullDependencyMdiEditor.OnCommand(CommandContext cc) at B3.AppKit.CommandRouter.Invoke(CommandContext cc) at B3.AppKit.CommandRouter.TryInvoke(CommandContext cc)" message="Name cannot begin with the '<' character, hexadecimal value 0x3C. Line 15, position 2." type="System.Xml.XmlException"/>

<User machineID="e00bc102351b11b909370aa0f9852730536cf000"/>

</MadCapExceptionLog>


Here's the

Thanks

Paula

[Paulie]

Hi Paula,

The error indicates that there is an invalid xml file somewhere. At a guess, it could be that something has gone wrong with one of your custom dictionaries.

You can find them here:
%APPDATA%\MadCap Software\Flare\Spelling Dictionaries

[ptarcher]

Since I could not find the XML error in the mcdic file, I deleted it and the mcign on my local machine, opened Flare, and ran Spell Check Window on an htm file and it worked. When I clicked Add to Dictionary or Ignore, Flare just created a new mcdic and mcign file on my local machine.

We found that each writer was checking in these local dictionary files into our source control app and that seemed to be causing the problem. We have since had all writers add both files to the unversion and add to ignore list right-click menu option.

Thanks

Paula Archer