Error: Failed to save current topic!

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vanwerkum
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Error: Failed to save current topic!

Unread post by vanwerkum »

What may be causing this? Refer 1.png.
I am simply renaming a topic. The new Topic ID does not exist (well it doesn't show in the Find Topics list).
I click OK select another topic and then select the topic with the error. The Error in 2.png is displayed. (EP_Installation_Troubleshooting is the new Topic ID).
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Robert,

Check whether you have any topic IDs that are either 31 characters long or multiples of 31 characters. This is an inherent problem in the topic ID naming system:

If topic A has an ID that is exactly 31 characters long and you then rename topic B to have an ID that is exactly the same plus a couple of additional characters you will not be able to save the topic. This is caused by an error in the Borland Delphi treeview component that H&M uses here. This would be relatively easy to fix but unfortunately doing this would break existing H&M4 projects. You can reproduce this problem by performing the following steps on a test project:

1: Enter "0123456789012345678901234567890" as the Topic ID for one topic (without the quotes).

2: Enter "0123456789012345678901234567890_1" as the ID of another topic.

You will then get the "Failed to save current topic" message when you try to save or move away from the current topic. If this happens the solution is to IMMEDIATELY make a change anywhere in the first 31 characters of the topic that failed to save. For example, if you change the ID of the second topic above to:

012345678901234567890123456789x_1

it will solve the problem. The easiest way is to do this BEFORE you move away from the topic with the problem ID. However, so long as you do it before closing or saving your project you can also repair it even after moving away. You just need to select the topic and click away the message saying that it does not exist. The content of the topic should still be visible -- then just change its ID to anything else (xxx or whatever) and save to recover it.

After doing this it is possible that you will have a few dead links to the topic because the internal link updating system won't work properly while the topic is in "limbo". But you won't lose your topic content.

This is an annoying problem, but as I explained we can't fix it entirely without breaking a large number of people's existing projects, because the problem in the Delphi component was discovered after the release of H&M4. (We would have to change the internal structure of the topic IDs.) However, H&M does trap the error when it occurs -- this is why you get the failed to save error message -- and if you correct the topic ID immediately you should not have any problems.

The only real solution at the moment is to avoid topic IDs that are 31 characters (or multiples of 31 characters) long. I know that this is easier said than done, but that's the way it is, unfortunately... :?
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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vanwerkum
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Unread post by vanwerkum »

How about adding text to the Error message(s) that explains what the user should do?
Malcolm Jacobson
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Unread post by Malcolm Jacobson »

Tim Green wrote:If topic A has an ID that is exactly 31 characters long and you then rename topic B to have an ID that is exactly the same plus a couple of additional characters you will not be able to save the topic. This is caused by an error in the Borland Delphi treeview component that H&M uses here. This would be relatively easy to fix but unfortunately doing this would break existing H&M4 projects.
Hi Tim,

Is it possible to include a fix for this in H&M 5? We have developed some external tools that create batches of images, topic ID's and XML files that we can import into H&M, but this bug is proving to be a bit of a limitation.

Perhaps it would be possible to have a check box that enabled/disabled this bug fix in H&M 5, so people could choose whether or not they want to convert their H&M 4 Projects to the "fixed" format?

Cheers,

Malcolm.
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Malcolm,

Don't worry -- this problem will definitely not exist in Version 5! It is actually easy to fix but doing this would break all H&M projects prior to the fix. Since H&M5 will require conversion of existing projects anyway this will be included in the conversion process. 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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lporrel
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Unread post by lporrel »

Is it fixed in V5? I would wager it is, and my own testing indicates it is, but an official word would be great.

Thanks!
Leonard Porrello
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Tim Green
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Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Leonard,
lporrel wrote:Is it fixed in V5? I would wager it is, and my own testing indicates it is, but an official word would be great.
Absolutely. This was one of the very first issues that was tackled, as you can imagine... 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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