RoboHelp 8 - Rebuild the Cache (CPD)

There is quite a lot of misunderstanding about the CPD file. It is a Microsoft Access database and sometimes problems with RoboHelp can be fixed by deleting this file and letting RoboHelp rebuild it. So if RoboHelp has all the information it needs to rebuild the file, why have it in the first place? The answer is that it means RoboHelp performs quicker with this file while you are working. Because of the way Access works, this does require that in the absence of source control your projects need to be on your local drive. At the end of each working day you simply zip up a copy of the project and put it on the network for backup purposes.

The introduction of this feature came from a bit of leg-pulling. In a forum post I advised someone to delete the CPD file and it fixed his problem. He suggested that in the next version Adobe should add a new toolbar icon, "Fix All Known Problems". This amused me so I sent it the suggestion to Adobe by way of a tease. They recognised that there was some serious value in this as it saves people having to locate the file in Windows Explorer, so now we have this cleaner way of dealing with it.

Originally I wrote here, "Personally I will only select this when I know I need to delete the CPD file and I will clear the option on re-opening RoboHelp." This option proved to be robust and now I have this option permanently ticked. It has never given me a problem.