Path or File name is too long

When converting output, ePublisher creates many different files and directories for storing temporary data and generated output content. Several factors can contribut to an error that might look something like this in the log:

[Error] An error occurred in pipeline 'Splits' while processing stage transform 'wwtransform:common/splits/names.xsl'. [Error] An error occurred during a call to extension function 'Combine'. See InnerException for a complete description of the error. [Error] The specified path, file name, or both are too long. The fully qualified file name must be less than 260 characters, and the directory name must be less than 248 characters.

The character limits are imposed by Windows, so the error is not a result of any ePublisher defect. In order to diagnose and solve the problem, it is helpful to understand how ePublisher creates your output.

When we generate output, we create a new folder in the project's Output directory and name it according to the chosen target (e.g., "WebWorks Help 5.0"). Then, we create a new folder for each group in the Document Manager. Then, we generate HTML file names based on the original FM document's name. Additionally, we add a 'css' folder and an 'images' folder, each with more files based on the names of the original files. CSS files are named according to the FM doc to which they apply, and rasterized image files are named with a convention that also uses the original FM doc name (or, in the case of by-reference images, the original image name is copied over).

So, things can really add up, especially if you use long target names, group names, and file names. If you encounter this error, consider shortening your group names or changing the path to your project folder (shortening folder names or moving the project closer to the root directory can help). If you use source documents with exceptionally long file names, you can change the convention used for naming output HTML and image files. See this Wiki article for more information: http://wiki.webworks.com/HelpCenter/Tips/CustomFileNames


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Permalinks/Solutions/ePublisher/PathNameOrFileTooLong (last edited 2009-05-01 23:01:16 by LaurenLever)