Access issue with server version V6

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sberlow
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Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:05 am

Access issue with server version V6

Unread post by sberlow »

Hi there. We are experiencing an access issue with our server version - we are no longer able to open the .hmxz file - getting a cannot load error. Can you help us sort this out? Please see attached error message. Thanks for your ideas. (Will save us from going to an old file and making all of the updates again.) Thanks, Stacey
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Tim Green
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Re: Access issue with server version V6

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Stacey,

This almost certainly has nothing to do with the version of Help & Manual. This message normally means that your HMXZ project file is damaged or corrupted. This is quite rare, and when it does happen it is usually the result of network errors while saving on a network drive or a drive error when saving on an unreliable drive, for example a USB thumb drive. Unfortunately, this can happen to any file on Windows if you experience a Windows problem or network error (on a network drive) while the save process is actually in progress.

If you have automatic backups activated (View > Program Options > General) you can recover the last backup by renaming the .~~hmxz backup file in your project folder to .hmxz, after which you can open it normally.

You can check to see if there is anything inside the damaged file that you can save by changing its extension from .hmxz to .zip (it is actually a normal zip archive). You can then try to unpack it with a normal zip program or a zip repair tool. Frequently, however, anything more than minimal damage to a compressed archive will make the entire contents unreadable.

If you can't access the contents in this way you will have to return to your most recent backup. If you have activated the automatic backup option (View > Program Options > General) you may find a backup file with the extension .~~hmxz in your project folder. You can make this readable by changing the extension to .hmxz. Alternatively, you can generally recover your text by importing your last published output, if that is all you have available.

For important daily work we generally recommend using the uncompressed .hmxp format, if you have the Professional version of Help & Manual. In this format every topic and all the project files are saved as separate, plain-text XML files. Then damage a single file cannot compromise your entire project, and since the files are plain text data can also be recovered from the undamaged portions of damaged files. You can convert .hmxz projects to .hmxp by selecting Save As... in the File menu. Uncompressed .hmxp projects must be saved to an empty folder initially, but you can add additional sub-folders to the project folder later if you like, for example for graphics etc.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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sberlow
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:05 am

Re: Access issue with server version V6

Unread post by sberlow »

Thanks so much Tim. We will take a look. You've taught me a few things that I didn't know about the Help and Manual features...thanks again.
Stacey
sberlow
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:05 am

Re: Access issue with server version V6

Unread post by sberlow »

Tim, Stacey here again. I put the old (working) file back on the server thinking I would start once again. I'm getting a "Currently there are not license slots available" error when I double click on the file from within the file directory. It seems that we are not administering the server license correctly somehow. Is there information you can point us to? What are our next steps? Thanks for the hand holding. Stacey
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Tim Green
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Re: Access issue with server version V6

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Stacey,

My guess is that you haven't entered your license codes with the KeyMonitor utility in the new location (make sure that you delete the .lic license file from the program folder in the old location first as well). Here are the basic steps for setting up the server version:

Setting up Help & Manual server:

Prerequisites:


The server version is actually exactly the same as the Professional per-seat version. The only difference is the licensing model and where it is installed. No database, server software or additional components are required. Everything is handled by the program itself. You also do not need to install directly in the Program Files folder on the server. On the contrary, you can install on any share that supports Windows file locking with the SMB protocol, even a Linux or Unix share, providing it has full SMB support, usually with Samba, and execute permissions for everyone who is going to run the program.

Installing:

This is extremely simple. Just run the generic Help & Manual installer from a client computer (or on the server, but this is not required) and select the server share as the installation folder. Do not select the option to run Help & Manual after the installation has completed, and if you do do not select the normal option for entering the license keys. That is only for local installations. Instead, proceed to the option for entering the license keys below.

Alternatively, it is also possible to simply copy the Help & Manual program folder of a local HM installation to the server share. This works because no registry entries are written during installation, they are all checked on program initialization and added if they don't exist. Even deleting the entire Help & Manual registry key will not faze the program in the slightest.

Make sure that everyone who accesses the program on this share has full execute permissions for the share. They will run it by starting the HELPMAN.EXE executable from the share. The registry entries for their instance will be installed on their local machines on first startup.

Adding concurrent license keys:

Again, DON'T try to enter the license keys locally in an instance of Help & Manual started on a client machine. The server licenses will include a small utility called KeyMonitor for installing the license keys. Unpack this and the included help file to a folder on a local/client machine and run it there. Click on the [..] button in the Location... field and select the HELPMAN.EXE program file on the share where Help & Manual was installed in the previous step. Then select Edit Keys in KeyMon and add the license keys, one key on each line. They will be stored in an .lic file in the installation folder.

You can download the KeyMon package here if you need it:

http://download.ec-software.com/hmkeymon6.zip

Running the server version:

Help & Manual can then be run from any computer on the LAN by executing the HELPMAN.EXE file from the share. The number of users who can do this concurrently is determined by the number of license keys installed in the .lic file with KeyMonitor. To run from a remote location you need to log in to a computer on the LAN via Remote Desktop or any similar third-party solution like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
sberlow
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:05 am

Re: Access issue with server version V6

Unread post by sberlow »

Thanks once again. We have verified the license, updated our process to use uncompressed files and set up auto back up. This was really helpful. Thanks for your prompt response and kindness. Stacey
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