Technical Support:

Solving Problems with Publications

what to do when things go wrong

The flexibility offered by Opus means it is possible to build a publication which does not quite work the way you were expecting. Sometimes these bugs might look like technical problems but many are related to the publication design and so are easily fixed. This topic provides a range of things you can do to identify and solve problems yourself.

Give it a Rest

If you have been editing the same complex publication for a long time or doing a lot of cut and paste from other programs you may find it worthwhile to...

  1. close your publication and reopen it,
  2. to close down Opus and any other software you have running and then to reopen it, or
  3. to shut down the computer completely and restart it.

All of these things help Windows and Opus makes sure all tasks have been completed, clears the memory being used and generally refreshes things.

Show Details of Errors

There is an option in the Publish Settings to show details of any errors. Although this does not always tell you exactly what the problem is, it will show at what point in the process the problem occurred, which can give vital clues. For example, it may stop at a particular page or identify a particular image or sound file. Note that if all the pages have been prepared but then the process stops then there may be an issue with a master page in the publication.

Identify the Problem

Most bugs are easily fixed once you have established where the problem actually is or what it involves. Here are some things to work through:

  1. Does the problem arise with a brand new publication or one you have been working on before? Try recreating the problem by doing the same thing in a new publication.
  2. Does the problem only occur in a publication you created in an earlier version of Opus and/or converted to different publication type?

    In both of these cases try rebuilding your publication by copying and pasting each page from the existing publication into a fresh version to see where the problem occurs or if it disappears completely.

  3. Does the problem arise on a particular page? Try copying and pasting the page in question to a new publication and see if the problem persists.
  4. Once you have identified a particular page, try removing specific resources or actions to see which is causing the problem.

Trying to Fix

Once you've located the problem here are some common solutions which may help fix it:

  1. If a particular image or audio file is causing the problem try changing the format using a paint program or sound editor - see Additional Tools.
  2. Does the object have an empty action attached to it - e.g: a Show action which does not have an object to show
  3. Are several things happening at once (deliberately or inadvertantly) and not everything gets done? Try separating the timing of those events very slightly.
  4. Does an object have a transition, effect, blend or texture applied (or a combination of these)? Try removing the effect or transition.