Glossary ceased appearing in Online output

[ccardimon]

It was being created just fine.

Now all I'm getting is a page that says "Glossary" when I click on the accordian block.

What could have caused this?

[LTinker68]

You're getting a page, as in topic, or the Glossary pane appears but it's blank?

[ccardimon]

I was getting a Glossary accordian block, but when I clicked on it, it was blank.

Now I can't get anything to build at all. Suddenly I'm getting this error: "Internal error -- Object reference not set to an instance of an object"

The exact error screen is attached here:

Internal error -- Object reference not set to an instance of an object.png

I can't save the error to a log. The whole build process freezes and dies.

The page this error references is the title page -- the very first page. I haven't done anything to this page in days. Why would this page suddenly decide to throw an error?

This is getting stranger by the minute.

[Richard Ferrell]

Hi,

I would recommend that you open a support ticket, by using the following link.

https://www.madcapsoftware.com/support/contact.aspx

Also If you click on the messages tab it should say the last topic it was working on. There maybe something in that topic causing the problem.

[ccardimon]

This is what the messages tab says:

Removing previously generated content...
Checking if auto-sync of any import file is needed...
Loading skin info...
Copying WebHelp support files to output folder...
Gathering Glossary information...
Gathering Auto-index information...
Loading Master TOC...
Processing Master TOC...
Processing Browse Sequences...
Excluded from output:file:///C:/My Files/My Projects/Virtual Genesys User Guide RH/Content/Virtual Genesys User Guide/Introduction/Print TOC.htm.
Collecting linked (merged) help system info...
Generating Glossary...
Applying glossary master page Glossary.flmsp...
Processing CSS: Resources\Stylesheets\VirtualGenesys.css...
Collecting source files...
Processing source files...
Excluded from output:file:///C:/My Files/My Projects/Virtual Genesys User Guide RH/Content/Glossary.htm.
Excluded from output:file:///C:/My Files/My Projects/Virtual Genesys User Guide RH/Content/Index.htm.
Generating output files...
Processing topic: Virtual Genesys User Guide\Default System Settings\Default_System_Settings.htm...
Generated Virtual Genesys User Guide\Default System Settings\Default_System_Settings.htm
Processing topic: Virtual Genesys User Guide\Introduction\Title_Page.htm...
Compiler (Internal Error): Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Aborted.

The whole process dies right after processing the Title Page, which was previously fine, and now isn't. I don't know where to go from here.

I will open a support ticket.

[Richard Ferrell]

I would check out the title_page.htm file and see if it compiles if you remove it from the project. could be a broken link in the file

[ccardimon]

I have opened a support ticket.

I'll try removing the title page.

[ccardimon]

I would check out the title_page.htm file and see if it compiles if you remove it from the project. could be a broken link in the file

How do I see if one page compiles? How is that trick done?

While I'm asking so many questions, how would I temporarily remove a page from a project?

[KevinDAmery]

I would check out the title_page.htm file and see if it compiles if you remove it from the project. could be a broken link in the file

How do I see if one page compiles? How is that trick done?

While I'm asking so many questions, how would I temporarily remove a page from a project?

Since you're testing online output, the simplest way would be to apply a Print condition to the title topic--this way, when you build online output it should be excluded.

[ccardimon]

I would check out the title_page.htm file and see if it compiles if you remove it from the project. could be a broken link in the file

How do I see if one page compiles? How is that trick done?

While I'm asking so many questions, how would I temporarily remove a page from a project?

Since you're testing online output, the simplest way would be to apply a Print condition to the title topic--this way, when you build online output it should be excluded.

Oh, right. Forgot about the condition business. Thank you. Geez. I think I need about five more cups of coffee.

[KevinDAmery]

Just don't forget to switch it back once you figure out what's wrong with the topic (assuming you need that topic in your print output...)

[ccardimon]

I'm ready for a beer and a cigarette, and it's not even noon yet here.

I turned off the Title Page for Online output, and I got the Glossary back. Cool.

Now I have to figure out what is wrong with the title page, why that malfunction would kill the Glossary, and, indeed, bring the entire build process to a halt.

Perhaps Support can come up with something.

[ccardimon]

I put in a support ticket and those wizards fixed it.

Their solution was to re-create the problem page, which had become corrupted. Then remove the old page and rename the new page to the old page's name.

The error is gone and the glossary is back. Now I'm almost afraid to touch anything.

[LTinker68]

That's why I periodically zip of the entire project and save it to another (shared) drive. One that gets backed up automatically every night.

[ccardimon]

That wouldn't work here. Backups are every Tuesday rather than every night.

I could use my own machine, but I'd have to cull out the older zip files weekly or I'd run out of space.

[KevinDAmery]

Welllll, I'd say that sort of maintenance is a small price to pay for keeping doc projects secure. Last thing you'd want is for something to go wrong the day of a deadline....

[ccardimon]

True. I shall start my own daily backups. Should it become too much, I will ask IT for help at that point.

[RamonS]

Backups are run only once a week? So what if something goes afoul and the backup is scheduled for tomorrow when you really needed it to be yesterday. I don't know your situation, but for most companies loosing almost a week of work is a major blow.

[ccardimon]

Well, yes. I am their first and only technical writer, and I dislike causing a fuss or asking for things in general.

I usually make my own workarounds.

I was told I could ask IT for special daily backups, but, again, I simply dislike causing a fuss.

I have written up some special docs just for those guys, so they wouldn't have to do write it, so I'm sure they'd be happy to help me out, but still.

Given your experience, do you think I should ask IT for their opinion on what I should do about backups on my system?

[RamonS]

Yes! Asking IT to run daily backups is not being fussy, but asking IT to do a task nobody else in the company is equipped for. You are not asking for anything outrageous, but for the IT guys to do their job. And that is making sure that the IT infrastructure is in place so that you can do your work that secures IT's pay checks.

[doc_guy]

I strongly recommend a source control system. If you are working in the software sector, perhaps you can use the same source control system that your developers use. Every night, I check my project back into the source control system. If ever anything happens, I can go back as many versions as I need to re-create the project when things were working. I can even revert just one directory or file, if needed.

Treat your help source like a software project, which in a sense, they are. You'd never seriously develop software without some type of version control. Apply that same logic to your help source.

[ccardimon]

perhaps you can use the same source control system that your developers use

I doubt they use one. Maybe they do. But things are a little freestyle here.

[doc_guy]

Your management thinks that is an acceptable risk? Developing without source control? How do you handle parallel development? How do developers share code?

[ccardimon]

I have no idea. The developers probably do have their own system, but I'd rather just be backed up every night. This is a small company and I know only a tiny portion of it.

[KevinDAmery]

I doubt your company is much smaller than mine (currently 7 people) - and the developer here uses source control. (Used to be two developers, but one left recently and we haven't found a replacement yet.) I'm using the same source control system to keep my documentation secured as well.

Put it this way, I'd rather rock the boat about keeping company data secure than have to explain how I lost a week's worth of work and how I intended to replace it before product ships later in the day....