Paratext 8.0.100.9: Can't get to Project Properties and settings because of a FLEx integration issue

Question

I’m trying to help a user with a Paratext Flex integration issue (related to Tone Sandhi) and after getting both the FLEx and Paratext projects on my computer, I stuck with a Paratext problem.

When I tried to open the Paratext project Project Properties and Settings option to confirm that the FLEx Association is correct, I get this message

Paratext could not load the files that are needed to access the Fieldworks lexical data. You should verify that your Fieldworks programs are working correctly.

The FLEx project is in 8.1.3 and opens without issue. The Paratext project is in 8.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I ran into the same problem today too and am glad for this thread here. My versions are today:

PT8 version 8.0.100.99

FW 9.0.11.0

For the record: No project on this PT installation is at all linked to anything FieldWorks (we had trouble in the past and never want that again).

Just for fun, I tried to run the commands from a Power Shell and it did not work at first, but when I run the Power Shell as administrator (Win 10 pro) it works. The third line then reads like this:

.\Paratext.exe

I made a batch file and it also needs administrator level to run, no problem, just a note to myself.

It feels to me, that PT is far too keen to link-up with FieldWorks, especially when the users have never used that feature at all. So this problem should not even exist, whatever versions are installed, for users who are not linking.

And the error message that comes up is not helpful at all as this is all about versions not liking each other and not about Fieldworks not working properly.

Answer 2

I had both FLEx 8.3.1 and FLEx 9.0.8 RC installed. I’ve uninstalled both and can now get into the Project Properties and Settings. I’m going to install FLEx 8.1.3, as that’s the version the FLEx project is in, and see what happens.

Comments

When I (re)installed FLEx 8.3.12, I was able to get into Project Properties and settings for the project. This enabled me to confirm that the association was correct. After that, I reinstalled FLEx 9.0.8 (RC) and am now no longer able to get to the Project Properties and Settings of this particular project. I also just checked two additional, unrelated Paratext 8 projects, and found that I cannot get to the Project Properties and Settings screen for either of those projects. It looks like there is some sort of issue between Paratext 8 and FLEx 9.0.8 RC.

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Confirmed: I see the same thing.

I’ve installed FLEx 9.0.8.0 RC and I can no longer enter Project Properties and Settings in Paratext 8. Paratext 9 works fine.

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A related issue, it seems that Paratext gets confused with the presence of both FLEx 8.3.12 and FLEx 9.0.8 RC and isn’t able to do the dictionary lookup function. This maybe a niche problem found only by tech support types or consultants who may have projects both versions of FLEx and both versions of Paratext.

Answer 3

Hi
Does any one have solution to this problem… I have installed Flex-9.0.11.0 (stable release) and My Paratext 8 (8.0.100.90) is giving the same above error - “You should verify that your FieldWorks programs are working correctly.”
There is no problem/issues when I open Project Properties in Paratext 9.

Comments

With same versions as you but also having PT 9.1 beta installed, I have the same experience. When I try to open Project Properties and Settings in PT8 I get this message:

I have just worked in the later versions of PT.

Jan+Gossner

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Interesting thing is - I uninstalled Paratext 8 and reinstalled “Paratext_8.0.100.1_InstallerOffline.exe”. I could access Project Properties and Settings Option.

But unfortunately as soon as I updated the patch file “patch_8.0.100.90.msp”, it gives the same error to “varify FieldWorks programs are working correctly”…

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Paratext 8 gets the error after the patch update because it can now find the FieldWorks code (before the patch it didn’t know about FieldWorks 9), but it can’t load the FieldWorks library.

There is an incompatibility problem between the latest versions of FieldWorks and Paratext 8. This is from the FieldWorks site:
On Windows you must update Paratext to version 9 if you are installing version 9.0.8 or later of FieldWorks. If you need to continue using Paratext 8 then you should keep using an earlier version of FieldWorks.

You work around the problem if you need the latest FieldWorks and Paratext 8 - it would involve creating a batch file to run Paratext that contains the following:

set FIELDWORKSDIR=C:\none

cd “C:\Program Files (x86)\Paratext 8”
Paratext

The first line will hide FieldWorks from Paratext 8 and avoid the loading error.

I could open the Project Properties this way - I have FW 9.0.11 on my system.

John+Wickberg

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Hi John+Wickberg
Thanks for the Reply and a solution
I didnot understand the batchfile solution fully.

Should I need to create a folder named ‘none’ under C: then run the first command ie set FIELDWORKSDIR=C:\none
what is the next line… is that cd “C:\Program Files (x86)\Paratext 8”\Paratext.exe?

By the way. I have both Paratext9 and Paratext8. I give LT support according to the version of Paratext. If they use PT8, then I too use PT8 else PT9.
Running the above batch will it hide PT9 also from the FieldWorks?
thanks
binoy

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You don’t need to create the folder. The point of the batch file is to have Paratext 8 looking for FLEx in a place it won’t find anything.

To use the quotes, you probably need to save the file in ANSI format. But I can get it to work without them.
My version of the batch file:

set FIELDWORKSDIR=C:\none
cd \Program Files (x86)\Paratext 8
Paratext

This will not hide Fieldworks from Paratext 9, only from Paratext 8; because when the batch file finishes, the variable “FIELDWORKSDIR” goes back to the value set by Fieldworks 9.

Answer 4

Thanks sewhite and John+Wickberg

It works for me.
I missed the main point, i.e. when ever I want to access the project properties and settings of PT8, I need to run the batch file, So that the Paratext8 will open through the batch.
Great Help
Appreciate the workaround
blessing
binoy