printing issue causing crash

[Sergeant Ron]

I have solution that was working quite well in FM 8.5. I run it hosted by FM 8.0v4 Server without issue. I recently tested the file in FM 9 and it seemed ok as well, however once I hosted it on FM Server something strange happned. When one of my users attempted to print page 6 (only) of a ten page report Filemaker locked up, then quit. Nothing but jibberish printed and all of the fonts throughout the file were changed from to MS Sans Serif from Tahoma or Ariel. I opened the file in 8.5 and saved as a copy (compacted), and the same thing happened again. I even tried this on a backed up copy with the same result. For now I'm uninstalling FM9 because I dont know what else to do. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks, Ron

[Sergeant Ron]

After further investigation this appears to be a FMP 9.0 issue. Keep in mind that this is running in a windows environment (Server 2003 / XP). After rolling back the clients to FM 8.5 and still using Server 9, the problem was gone. I also notified Filemaker as to this problem and I'm awaiting a call back.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

I also notified Filemaker as to this problem and I'm awaiting a call back.

Good. Please keep us posted.

Steven

[Sergeant Ron]

Just as an update. This problem occurs in Mac as well as windows. In one case it did reformat all text with in the solution (on the layouts), but not in all cases. It also occurred while being hosted on FM Server 8.5 as well as 9.0. IT occurred in FMA and FMP. I created a new file with several pages and tried printing (for example page 6 of 6), and yes it crashed the application. I also tested this on several machines and an associate of mine did the same with the same results. Still awaiting a call back From FMI.

[mr_vodka]

Thanks for the update. Now I am a little worried about rolling out 9 to my users. Does this only happen with the two specific fonts you mentioned or does it do it with other fonts as well? In any case, I sure do hope that FMi rolls out a fix soon for it.

[AudioFreak]

FWIW I use Arial here, I have not upgraded all the clients here. Only myself using Advanced, one client on XP, and 1 client on OSX just for testing. I have'nt seen any printing issues as of yet.

Michael

[fmpwnerer]

How did you notify FileMaker that you're waiting for a call back?

If you submitted a bug report via the website don't have high hopes of receiving a response

Have you tried recovering the compacted copy in 8.5, then attempting to print in 9? I'd also be interested to see what happens when you run recover on a copy of the file in 9, and then attempt to print.

[Fenton]

I can consistently produce this unexpected quit also. Print page 2 to 2 will kill it. It does page 1 to 1 OK though.

FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced, Mac OS 10.4.9, iMac Intel core duo. It is not a "file-based" thing. It will crash with any file you try it with, even very simple files. I'm using Verdana 10 and 11, pretty generic.

[fmpwnerer]

Interesting, I wasn't able to duplicate.

I'm on a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.4.10.

What are you attempting to printing too?

have you attempted printing using the generic print drivers with mac os?

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Fenton, this appears to be becoming a known issue. It is possibly an OS issue.

Has anyone seen this behavior on either Windows XP or Vista?

Steven

[Sergeant Ron]

Hi Steven,

I experienced the problem on Win XP Sp2.

An associate also experienced it on his Mac (sorry but I'm not sure of the Mac OS release).

Ron

[Sergeant Ron]

Yes. Although the file showed no actual damage I did save and compact and I also did a file maintenance on the file in FM Advanced. It's definately not a File issue. It's an application issue that has affected my file apparently.

[Ender]

I can't reproduce the problem either. Maybe it's something with a type of print driver?

[Fenton]

Steven, the original poster was on Windows XP.

Yes, I'm printing with the generic Gimp-print driver for my printer, Epson Stylus C42 (yes, I know, crappy old printer; but I got it for free). It is also not the latest Gimp-print; perhaps I should try that.

It also consistently happens if you select PDF in the Print dialog. Does the printer-specific driver come into that, since it's a system-wide option?

So, you did not get it on Mac 10.4.10? Were you doing a "page 2 to 2"? It only happens when you try to do a range, or 1 page. but not the 1st; it does fine with page 1 to 1.

[Ender]

So, you did not get it on Mac 10.4.10? Were you doing a "page 2 to 2"?

Ya, 10.4.10, pages 2 to 2, 3 to 3, 4 to 4, 6 to 6. Tried both a PM G5 to a HP LaserJet 4350 and a MacBook Pro to a EPSON Photo 2200 (and to PDF). No problem. Using FM 9 Advanced.

[fmpwnerer]

Found that its only an issue with files created in versions prior to FileMaker 9

o_O

[Fenton]

Yep. I just recreated the same exact file, copy/paste the table. And it worked fine. Still, that is not much help, is it?

[Sergeant Ron]

Fenton, I know many others that have had no problem in V9 created files, however I'm still having the same issue even in files created in 9.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

It's an official bug. So they know about it. Hopefully it will be fixed.

Steven

[Sergeant Ron]

Thanks for the info Steven.

[fmpwnerer]

Its still important that we report these issues to FileMaker's front line technical support.

This will help them track how many customers are experiencing the issue. It'll also ensure that they have all the details. It sounds like we really have two separate possible bugs being reported here.

[AudioFreak]

This may have been asked before.

Does anyone know if any of the actual Filemaker Developers frequent these forums at all?

[mr_vodka]

There have been rumors for years that they do lurk around here. However with TechNet now having their own forum, I wonder if they still will.

[fmpwnerer]

We may never know. Which is why I push people to their technical support.

I've seen a trend with most FileMaker users. Once an issue is a "known" on the forums, they stop reporting to FileMaker Inc.

I've talked to support a number of times about "known" issues. Most of the time they have no idea what I'm referring to. Or they don't have all details.

We're part of the "FileMaker Community". I would think we'd want FileMaker Inc. as part of that community.