When I was using Flare v3, I was creating PDF output for the first time. I got this odd error in the bookmark section of the PDF:

I could not figure out what was causing it. Now I know….empty H2 tags.  I had a lonely H2 tag in my code that created that error. Once I deleted the tag, the error disappeared and the bookmark list looked wonderful.

I am able to reproduce the _gen_ error in Flare v6 as well.

So, if you’re getting a _gen_ error in your PDF output, go look for empty heading tags. They’re there!

I build a lot of PDF documents in Flare and have seen two errors a number of times. The first is this one:

There’s a basic reason for this: you’ve created PDF output in a build and it’s still open in Adobe Reader or Professional. Since Flare has built the output with the file name you assigned (or the default name, either way), it cannot create a second file with the same name. You simply will not be able to build again until you’ve closed the file. As a precaution, I also close Adobe.

The second error I get is related, but a bit more annoying:

I had built to PDF, made some changes in Flare, closed the file and Adobe, and wanted to build again. That’s when the above error popped up. Turns out that while I had saved the topic I was working in, I hadn’t selected Save All. After a lot of testing, and then calling tech support, I realized that clicking Save All in Flare after closing both the PDF file and Adobe will resolve the problem. I have no idea why this works (and neither did MadCap tech support) but it does, so go with it.