Opening RoboHelp Projects

The first thing to do before attempting to fix any corrupt project or opening it in an earlier version is to back it up. Just make a copy using Windows Explorer. If you then get anything wrong, you are no worse off than when you started. Keep the backup for a while just in case there is something that you don't spot immediately.

Corrupt Projects with an MPJ file

For versions of RH that have an mpj file, the standard advice for dealing with corrupt files has always been to open the project with the HHP file. You can rename or delete the mpj file first and if you know your way around Microsoft Access, you may be able to import back some of the lost data (an mpj file is an Access database with a different file extension so that RH can be linked to it). That might of course reintroduce the problem so it's trial and error.

Corrupt Projects with an XPJ file

For versions of RH that have an XPJ file (X5 onwards), the procedure is to rename the CPD file and then open the project with the XPJ file but read on a bit before you rush ahead and do that. The CPD file is an Access database holding much of the information about your project that was in an mpj file in earlier versions.

Adobe RoboHelp 7

Adobe RoboHelp 7 contained changes that mean that you should not lose any data if you rename the CPD and use the existing XPJ file to reopen your project. A new CPD will be created from various files within the project and that should correct the problem. I suggest you make a backup of your project first and then try that without deleting the XPJ. If you do lose any project settings or that does not correct things, then see the RoboHelp X5 and RoboHelp 6 instructions.

RoboHelp X5 and RoboHelp 6

If you are using RoboHelp X5 or RoboHelp 6, then you might lose some data but if you follow the right steps, most things can be recovered easily. What you will lose and how to recover it is described later in this article.

Make a backup of your project and then in order try these methods.

1. Rename the CPD and use the existing XPJ file to reopen your project. A new CPD will be created from cached information and that should correct the problem. If does not, then delete this copy of the project and make a copy of the backup, then proceed to the next method.
2. If you are able to open the project, albeit with problems, generate a new CHM file regardless of whether your normal output is webhelp or a compiled .CHM file. This updates the HHP file in your project. After creating the CHM, rename both the CPD and XPJ files and then open the project with the HHP file that has just been updated.
3. If you cannot open the project to create a CHM file, then rename both the CPD and XPJ files and open the project with the existing HHP file. This might result in the apparent loss of some folders but they are most likely recoverable.

Remember, make a backup before following any of these procedures and never work on that backup. When you get things going, keep that backup around for a while in case you discover something not quite right when you are further down the line.

Opening Projects in an Earlier Version

If you simply want to open a project in an earlier version, you have to accept that things not compatible with the earlier version are not going to work. If you know how to use Microsoft Access, you can minimise the loss  by tweaking the mpj file and using that rather than the HHP file. Visit Rick Stone's site and download his TipsNTrix file.

What will be lost?

So in all these scenarios, what will be lost?

As stated above, things changed in Adobe RoboHelp 7 and if you delete only the CPD file, not the CPD and XPJ files, then nothing should be lost. If you do find some folders not showing in Project Manager, click here. If anything more has been lost, then read on.

Looking at what might get lost in earlier versions of RoboHelp, here's what Mike Hamilton - former RoboHelp Product Manager - said on the subject. The emphasis is mine.

The .HHP file is a way to get a newer RoboHelp project to open in an older version. There are some things to watch out for, though. The .HHP file only contains information on functionality that is compatible with the Microsoft .CHM compiler. Using an .HHP file to open a project works great if you have used the basic .CHM capabilities, but you will lose things like browse sequences, glossary lists, conditional text, etc. In  many cases this is not a big deal, but I wanted everyone to know what to expect when trying this.

Mike also confirmed that the CPD file can be deleted without problems which appears to conflict with the quote as that does indicate some problems.

I believe the explanation of this dichotomy is that Mike was talking about using this method to open a project in an earlier version of RoboHelp than the one in which the project was created. Then such a loss could occur. Where you are deleting the CPD and XPJ files to reopen your project in the same version, from X5 onwards my experience is that the browse sequences, glossary lists and conditional text are not lost.

• You will lose the conditional tags in Project Manager but it will only take a few seconds to recreate those after reopening the project. Just recreate the tags with exactly the same names as before. The topics will still contain the tag references so once the tags are recreated, they will work OK again.
• If you used the variables introduced in RoboHelp 6, the information will be lost when you open the project using the HHP file above. It can be recovered by using the rhvariables.apj from the backup that you took. Follow these steps.
  
  
  1. After opening the project using the HHP file, immediately close it.
  2. Copy rhvariables.apj from the backup into the root folder of the project.
  3. Reopen the project and the new values will be written to the CPD and will appear in your project.
  4. The amended values used in the single source layouts are contained in the .SSL files and will be restored when you restore the layouts as described in the next point.
• In a RoboHelp forum post Rick Ferrell (then with Macromedia) advised that Single Source Layout settings will also be lost. What I found was that any settings in the default layouts will survive but any additional layouts that you have created will be lost. However, they can be recovered. Simply add a new layout with the same name as the original layout that has been lost (you should be able to find those names in the !SSL! folder). It will find the settings saving you having to recreate them.
• What you might lose if you are not able to compile a new CHM file before deleting the CPD is some folder and file information in RoboHelp Project Manager. The folders and files will be visible in Windows Explorer but not RoboHelp Project Manager.

Any Exceptions?

The only reported exception was one poster whose project used framesets; the project choked if she tried to open it via the HHP file.

Click here if you have problems. The cause of your HHP file choking may not be the same but the solution may still be valid.

Tricks

Don't have an HHP file? Click here to download Adobe's HHP builder.

Point it to the root of the project and enter the name of the file to be created. The name is important. Look for the CPD, HHC, HHK files. They will all be the same except for the extension. That is the name you need for the HHP file.