Print script causes crash

[LaRetta]

I have a simple script which crashes FM.  It is:

Allow User Abort [ Off ]
Go to Layout [ “Print: Site List” (Site) ] 
Enter Preview Mode
Print [ Records being browsed; All Pages; Orientation: Portrait; Paper size: 8.5" x 11" ] [ Restore: HP LaserJet 2500 ]
Enter Browse Mode
Go to Layout [ original layout ]

It was an older script created in 2013 (not created by me) and the HP LaserJet 2500 is not installed - in fact, my printers are currently offline.  I don't believe I've ever had a crash like this before.  

I am on FMPA 14.0v5 El Capitan 10.11.3 accessing Windows FMS14.  Another developer on Windows (8 I think) does not crash.   Any suggestions?  I would like to pin down the reasons.  Thank you!

Edited March 23, 2016 by LaRetta

[LaRetta]

I should add that, walking through debugger, the print dialog opens and I can specify different printer (although none are available).  It does not crash then.  But when manually ran (debugger off), the dialog about the printer does not come up at all.  So possibly it is that dialog that is defunct?  Restore shows no damage and, since it works for Windows, I do not suspect corruption.

I suppose I can recreate the script and try again.  It would be fairly easy to use BE to locate where the script is used.

[Ocean West]

whats on the layout any graphics, perhaps the layout is corrupt, try change it to some other layout see if its the script or the layout. 

[LaRetta]

I didn't suspect layout corruption since it worked for another Developer!  I shall try that, thank you Stephen!  I will also try disabling all plugins as well as recreating that single script step.  

There have been a lot of posts about crashing (Google) while printing but only this one https://community.filemaker.com/thread/153903?start=0&tstart=0 seems to be recent enough that it might fit.  But there was no indication of how it was resolved.

[doughemi]

I solved a similar problem by replacing the printer driver. Also try removing the restore HP Laserjet from the script, then reinserting it so that FM looks for the proper driver.

Edited March 24, 2016 by doughemi

[Ocean West]

or you could to a set of "IF" statements and create different branches to restore the printer setup based on a particular machine or user logged in. 

[Josh Ormond]

I've seen similar crashes, particularly when clients have used graphics from Microsoft Word. Whether it was converted to a PDF, copy and pasted onto a FM layout, etc.

[LaRetta]

Hi Doug and Josh and Stephen again!

I appreciate the input very much.  It was a VERY simple list layout.  I guess I was wondering why it crashed for Mac but not for Windows and you all gave me great ideas to try. What I tried individually (restarting my computer in between each try):

• removing all plugins
• removing graphics
• removing printer
• disabling the print step entirely and re-creating it
• reinstalling print driver (although I did not have same printer to use)

then tried individually, restarting computer in between:

• deleting all objects on the layout
• recovering file (as test only)
• creating new script from scratch  <--- THIS WORKS

This last step was what I suspected I might need to do ( either that or create a new layout ) but I was hoping to pin why it worked on Windows but not Mac.  I guess a corrupted script doesn't necessarily fit any logic that can be identified.  I spent far more time testing that it would have taken just to replace the script but I was hoping I could learn something about the platform difference.  Sometimes these types of x-plat inconsistencies are great learning opportunities regarding under-the-hood differences but not this one.  

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by LaRetta