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mshcMigrate Build 61

posted Jul 9, 2010, 6:58 PM by Robert Chandler   [ updated Jul 9, 2010, 10:39 PM ]
  • Fix: Help Library Store page - TreeView control now displays Unicode strings correctly.
  • Fix: Better handling of paths > 256 chars.
  • New: Added Migrate Batch commands CopyTo= and DeleteAfterCopy=

Path > 256  Fix

If your help file contains very long folder and file names, and your "Output staging folder" is also a long path, then you may see problems. This is because Windows prefers paths <= 256 chars.

Previously mshcMigrate stopped Migration with a "file not found" error popup. In build 61 we now work-around most of these 256 path issues. No more batch stopping popups. However our 3rd party ZIP code does required paths < 256 chars.

So if you see "File name too long" errors in the log file, please choose a shorter "output staging folder" path.


2 New Batch Command - CopyTo=, DeleteAfterCopy=

Some issues have come to our attention:
  1. Little control over final filename or destination of deliverables.
  2. In batch mode staging files are like temp files and should be removed.
Build 61 now has two new batch commands.

CopyTo=c:\Path\

At the end of Migration, your deliverables and log file are copied to the folder specified.

CopyTo=c:\Path\NewName.*

Same as above, but files are renamed to NewName.*.

DeleteAfterCopy=y

If set to "y" then after processing the CopyTo= command, we delete the job from the output staging folder. Note that output staging folder itself is not deleted, since it may contain other jobs.

Batch Mode - Best Practice

The original idea with mshcMigrate was that you could specify the "Output staging folder" once, and use that folder for all your migrate jobs. Each time you perform a Migrate, the job output is stored in a single folder under the Staging folder.

If you run several Migration jobs we recommend the following.
  1. Use a single Output staging folder.
    If your Help files have unique names they will all be given unique job folders under the staging folder.
  2. Keep your output staging folder path short to avoid Windows 256 char path problems.
  3. Use batch command CopyTo= to get the deliverables to their correct destination folder.
  4. Use batch command DeleteAfterCopy= to clean up as you go.
  5. At the end of all Batch jobs run the DOS command DEL in recursive mode to clean the staging folder.
    DEL /S /Q c:\path
Note: DeleteAfterCopy= command successfully removes all files but can leave a few stubborn folders. This is why we recommend you run DEL in recursive mode to clean up any remaining temp folders. Once mshcMigrate.exe shuts-down, the stubborn folders will delete without a problem.


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