FileMaker Hangs when Appending to PDF

[uemtux]

Hi All,

I can't seem to use the "Save Records as PDF" script step on a particular layout. Every time I invoke it, FileMaker hangs and according to the activity monitor (I'm on an Intel Mac, Mac OS 10.6.8) start using 99% of the CPU.

I've done my Googling into the problem and have found that some people experience crashes (no on describes the "hang" symptoms I am experiencing) when particular Adobe Acrobat preference files are 'corrupt'. Deleting the files seems to resolve the issue for the vast majority of people. Well, I tried that and it didn't work. Finally, I reformatted my computer, re-installed the operating system, updated it to current, and re-installed FMPA11 and updated that to current too. So I've got an absolutely clean operating system with nothing 3rd party but FileMaker installed, and I am still getting this problem.

Note that this problem only occurs on my print layout. I can save records from the same table no problem on a different layout.

Any insights?

[doughemi]

Corrupted or incompatible font?

[uemtux]

I thought that might be it, so I changed every font on the layout to a font that comes with the MacOS, Arial Narrow. No joy, same bug.

[comment]

I can't seem to use the "Save Records as PDF" script step on a particular layout.

It's very likely that something on that layout is corrupted. Try deleting it and creating a new layout instead. You should also try recovering a copy of the file and see if that changes anything.

Most important, back up your data.

[uemtux]

So in the end, the culprit was graphic elements on the layout. In my solution, there are several graphics that are used over and over again. I store them in a "globals" table. The table has one record, and in various container fields I store graphics that I use again and again. Logos and stuff. Every relevant table has a relationship back to the globals table, so when I want a particular graphic, I just use the field from the globals table that holds the graphic I want. In this way, I can update the graphics across my whole solution by simply changing the file in the container field in the globals table.

These graphics are currently in PDF format. I know that's kind of weird but it keeps the size down and they print really well. (I'd love to use EPS files instead but filemaker won't always render them) Unfortunately, when you've got a container field containing a PDF on your layout and you try to save records as PDF, filemaker hangs. (I can still print to PDF no problem)

So I had the company graphic designer take the PDFs out and turn them into print-ready JPGs. This seems to work fine. They display on-screen and print just fine... but when I save records as PDF all the graphics appear in negative! White turns black, black turns white.

I'll be trying other file formats, but has anyone dealt with this problem before? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks.

[comment]

Unfortunately, when you've got a container field containing a PDF on your layout and you try to save records as PDF, filemaker hangs.

I don't think that's the case. Perhaps there's something specific about your graphics that causes the problem - including the problem with the JPGs.

[uemtux]

The basic tests that I ran suggest that I'm right comment. Every time I had a container field displaying a PDF on my layout and I tried to "Save as PDF" I got that hang. Granted, the PDFs were all generated by Adobe InDesign, but the problem is definitely consistently reproducible with InDesign PDFs of many sizes and compositions. I doubt these PDFs have anything wrong with them that'd cause FileMaker to choke. Why would they? They were generated by software created by the inventor of PDFs. As for my JPGs, when Preview, Safari, Firefox, and InDesign all display the image correctly, and FileMaker doesn't, I'm betting the problem is with FileMaker, not the file. Of course, I can't say for sure one way or another, but rejecting the possibility that FileMaker has problems out of hand seems a little unrealistic, I work with it every day, it's got plenty of "quirks".

In the end, the designer converted the graphics to PNG, and that format worked perfectly. Print quality's fine, no graphical glitches, and Save as PDF works a treat.

[comment]

Well, there's one way to find out: does this work for you?

PDFtest.zip

[uemtux]

First, I tried my PDFs in your DB there. I had no issues with any of my files.

Then, I modified your db so it matched my setup. Stored my graphic in another table and put that field on the printing layout. With that setup, I was able to reproduce my hangs. Not with all my files, just a couple of them.

I still don't think we can say conclusively that it's my graphics. All of these files were drawn by the same designer on the same computer with the same copy of InDesign. FileMaker can "Save as PDF" just fine when they're just stored in a container fields in the layout's table. When you start linking from another table though, some of them cause hangs. So is it that InDesign will sometimes save PDF files that are corrupt in such a way that they cause problems with FileMaker in this specific setup, or is it that FileMaker's PDF renderer has some kind of issue?

All I can say is that these PDFs work as they should in any other software, and they work fine in FileMaker too unless you duplicate my setup. PDF problem or FileMaker problem? Impossible to say conclusively, but my opinion as a programmer is if you feed software data it doesn't like, it should tell you so with an error message, not freeze and max out the CPU (infinite loop much?)

I maintain that this is a FileMaker bug. I just can't prove it.

EDIT:

Oh, also, JPGs created by InDesign have the same issue... If they're in a container field in the table of the layout being printed from, no problem. Linked from another table, when saved as PDF they go negative. This I was able to reproduce with all the JPGs created by InDesign, but not JPGs created outside it.

I suppose it's possible, even likely, that PDFs and JPGs created by InDesign have some kind of meta-data or something in them that makes them "impure" files. The fact remains, the only place I'm having issues with these files is FileMaker.

So... are Adobe or FileMaker the bad guys or is this just some kind of unlucky software alchemy...?

[comment]

I still don't think we can say conclusively that it's my graphics.

I think we can say conclusively that placing a PDF in a container field, then saving records as PDF does NOT necessarily cause a problem. The question then is what does. Why don't you post one of your original graphic files, both as PDF and as JPG?