Possible save as PDF bug?

[Aussie John]

Hi From a script I am "saving as PDF" to a windows server ( from a remote Mac) and windows users are reporting a corrupt file - or at least a file which doesn't show all the text. Has anyone else had this issue?

EDIT: this occurs if I save to the desktop first then copy to the server.

thanks

John

Edited May 15, 2015 by Aussie John

[Aussie John]

Bump

before I register this as a bug is anyone able to confirm if a SAVE AS PDF on a Mac gives a PDF with errors in a windows environment. 

Thanks

 

[LaRetta]

I am not able to test on Windows right now to verify, John, sorry.  But if you report it to Report An Issue then they can test and confirm for you also.  :-)

[Steve N]

I have this same issue with Mac Yosemite. It happens when I save to desktop AND when I send pdf in email. It does not happen when I open and run script in 13. It happens on one layout, but another layout works ok. Attached is an error I get when opening the PDF.

[Aussie John]

Hi Steve that is the error my users are getting. 

[Steve N]

Since one layout works and the other does not, I am in the process of rebuilding the offending layout in 14. I have done only part and so far it works ok.

[Aussie John]

Hi Steve - any idea what caused your issue? I tracked mine down to a couple of portals.

[Steve N]

I spent the better part of today rebuilding the layout form scratch. I took this opportunity to add updated features since the layout is many years old. I intentionally did not copy paste anything. When I finished I had the same corruption issue. I did test part way thru and was going good. Going to take a break before hitting it again. I will start peeling items off to see where the issue is.

[ericjungemann]

John,

A month ago, we had an issue where a PDF we produced for emailing was not readable by PCs.  As we investigated, it turned out that the problem was reproducible.  Reader on PCs could NOT read it but 3rd party PDF viewers, Preview on the Mac etc. all could.  Of course, since most folks read PDFs with reader, we needed to figure out the problem.  

It turned out to be a font issue on our layout.  A couple of days down the drain trying all kinds of tests to figure it out with end users and our own testing.  Now we know what to look for in the future (as I'm sure the more knowledgeable folks here already know).

Not directly a FileMaker issue.  It just shows that the PDF standard (and I might add the PNG and JPG standards) are a bit elastic between the various viewers out there.

Mac OS X 10.10.3 has some issues with Preview being 'more strict' on viewing some files.

Eric

Edited May 22, 2015 by ericjungemann

[Steve N]

I have done some further research. The layout I am using has several portals. If any of the portals has no records AND I use the script step to save to a PDF it fails. If all the portals have at least one record it works the pdf reads fine. If I print the layout and manually save as a pdf (with some portals empty) the PDF reads fine. I have tested this on several records and 2 layouts. Same results each time

FMS Server 13.05.520

FMPA 14.0.1

PDF Reader 10.1.14

[Aussie John]

Come to think of it I ended up deleting a portal to get it to work ( that was empty)

 

[Aussie John]

Steve - I have posted a link for submitting a file to Filemaker forums on the thread there.

cheers John

[mariocanta54]

I have this same issue with Mac Yosemite. It happens when I save to desktop AND when I send pdf in email. It does not happen when I open and run script in 13. It happens on one layout, but another layout works ok. Attached is an error I get when opening the PDF.

​I have the same error

[Lee Smith]

Has anyone reported this issue to FileMaker. As LaRetta suggested in her post  

I am not able to test on Windows right now to verify, John, sorry.  But if you report it to Report An Issue then they can test and confirm for you also.  :-)

​FileMaker is the only one that can FIX a bug.

[Steve N]

Yes I posted here and it

http://forums.filemaker.com/posts/43f4da4247

[Lee Smith]

Thank you for making the report. Sounds like FileMaker is NOW working on a fix.

[James Gill]

Huh.  I called FileMaker support 3 weeks ago with this EXACT bug and they were 100% adamant that it was a File or layout corruption issue and refused to open a ticket or anything.  Seems to be a recurring theme from their support that unless you're using a bone stock file, they pin the issue on your solution and not FileMaker itself.

[JerrySalem]

Steve

If you delete empty portals the PDF issue goes away.

Have you tried Hiding any empty portals on the layout?  With the empty portals hidden does the resulting PDF open without issue?

This couldn't be a work around.

 

Jerry

[JLawrence]

It was definitely the empty portals causing the problem in my apps. I fixed it by using "Hide Object When" (portal table::recordID = 0). 

[Data Maven]

JerrySalem/JLawrence - Thanks -- your fix just worked for me - a client just came across this issue on a recently upgraded file. Windows 7, FM 14/FM 14 Advanced.