Known Issues

This page lists important information about issues that apply to PlanetPress Connect 2020.2.

Issues running Connect on Hyper-V 9.0

Some customers have reported difficulties running OL Connect on Hyper-V version 9.0. In some instances Connect cannot install and in others the Connect Server service sometime stops with a signature error.
To resolve these issue we recommend downgrading to Hyper-V version 8.0 where these issues are not reported.

Switching to Preview removes cellpadding and cellspacing

Cellpadding and cellspacing values set directly on a table are removed after switching to Preview mode. This issue has been fixed in OL Connect 2021.1.

Secure Email Output plugin not timing out when failing to connect to Email Server

It has been discovered that when the Secure Mail Output is connected to the Email Server and then stops receiving data, it is not behaving as expected. Instead of timing out and returning an error, the plugin instead sits there inactive. This blocks the current process from finishing, and holds up further processing. This will be fixed in upcoming release by adding a timeout configuration option in the plugin.

Changed Omit Master Page Back behaviour

In versions of Connect prior to 2020.2, if a page had no content except for a linked DataMapper background, then Connect would consider it an "empty" page when determining whether or not to "Omit Master Page Back in case of an empty back page" (available as an option in the sheet configuration of a section). This has now been fixed in Connect 2020.2, and such pages are no longer considered empty.

This could impact on the output from existing templates.

Script keyword 'let' not syntax highlighted

Changes introduced in 2020.2 have impacted on the 'let' keyword in user scripts (entries in the Scripts panel). While still totally functional, the 'let' keyword is no longer colored purple like other standard keywords (such as 'if', 'for', and 'var').  This will be fixed in upcoming release.

Error while uninstalling Connect 2020.2

When uninstalling Connect 2020.2 you may get a "Failed to uninstall" error message even though the software uninstalled successfully. This is due to a read-only .css file being present in the Temp folder (added by the Table wizard), which could not be deleted.
This issue has been fixed in Connect 2020.2.1.

Connect Updates failing due to Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable product

Two Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable versions remove a registry entry which the Connect installer uses to determine whether or not it needs to install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable.
These two versions are:

• MSVC++ 2017 v14.14.26405.0
• MSVC++ 2017 v14.14.26429.4

To workaround this issue, we recommend downloading and manually installing the latest Visual C++ Redistributable from https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads then re-running the Connect installation.

Issues associating PDF files with Connect

Under certain circumstances, Connect Setups prior to 2019.2 would fail when attempting to add the "Enhance with Connect" association with PDF files. This would then cause the setup to appear to fail.

Whilst this issue has been fixed in the Connect 2019.2 installer, if a user had previously experienced the issue and temporarily worked around it to complete the installation, then the Connect installer will fail on upgrade or uninstallation.

To get around this, a manual uninstall is required, or a modification to registry entries.

Issues when loading some Workflow plugins for the first time

Under some circumstances, certain of the new Workflow plugins introduced with Connect 2019.2 will fail to load correctly when run for the first time. Instead of opening the plugin dialog as expected, the plugin hangs and displays a message that it is "Loading UI .... ". This is due to an issue with a third party library which will be addressed in a future release.

To get around the problem, please close and reopen the plugin. The problem only occurs on the initial opening, and should work fine thereafter.

The license update introduced in OL Connect 2019.1 does not cater for existing AFP input licenses

AFP Input is an add on option for OL Connect licenses. Unfortunately, the update to the 2019.1 version of the OL Connect license does not cater for existing AFP input licenses.

If you have an existing AFP input license we ask that you contact your local Customer Care team after the initial license update is complete and have them add the AFP input option back into your license.

Page break changes in 2019.1

Improved page breaking in Connect 2019.1 might impact upon some existing templates.
It is recommended that you check page breaking in existing jobs, where page breaks at a specific location are a known criteria.

Issue after erroneous or incomplete update or re-installation

If one or more products (the Connect Designer, Connect Server, Software Activation, Print Manager, or Server Configuration Tool) or engines exit within a second of starting, this may be caused by a recent erroneous or incomplete uninstall before a reinstall or upgrade to a newer version of OL Connect. (See Product or engine exits within a second of starting in Connect's Knowledge Base.)

This may be solved by deleting the %UserProfile%\Connect\.eclipse directory.
For guidance on a full manual uninstallation please see the Solution in: Problems during a Connect installation or version upgrade in Connect's Knowledge Base.

Backend database might require periodic maintenance

Databases maintain a variety of statistics in order to optimize performance. When high levels of inserts and/or deletions occur, the statistical data keeping can struggle to keep up. Over a period of prolonged and intensive processing this can result in a degradation in performance, with the whole database slowing down as it struggles to clean itself up.

In Connect terms the effect can be felt as the Data Mapper and/or Job Creation progressively slowing down.

To cure this issue, it is recommended that you periodically run manual maintenance on the backend database.

If using MySQL, the following script should be run in a query window:

set @a=null,@c=null,@b=concat("show tables where",ifnull(concat(" `Tables_in_",database(),"` like '",@c,"' and"),'')," (@a:=concat_ws(',',@a,`Tables_in_",database(),"`))");

Prepare `bd` from @b;
EXECUTE `bd`;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE `bd`;

set @a:=concat('optimize table ',@a);
PREPARE `sql` FROM @a;
EXECUTE `sql`;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE `sql`;

set @a=null,@b=null,@c=null;

If using Microsoft SQL Server run the following command in a query window:

sp_updatestats

Windows 10 Search service impacting Connect

The Windows 10 Search service runs as a background task, indexing files and folders. It has been noted that this background task is sometimes preventing files being added to the Connect temporary files folder when large amounts of files are being output and copied.

If this is an issue for you, we suggest disabling Search Indexing on the C:\Users\<username>\Connect folder.

This issue will be fixed in a later release.

Job Creation Presets: External Sorting change introduced in 2018.2

Versions prior to 2018.2 did not correctly save the line end characters for external sort configurations in Job Creation Presets, which meant the job could not be externally sorted. This issue has been fixed in version 2018.2. However, Job Creation Presets created with an earlier version may still have the wrong line end character for external sorting. To fix this, open the Job Creation Preset in the new version, reset the line end setting in the sorting options and then save the preset.

Engine Preferences: Backward Compatibility Issues introduced in 2018.2

• Prior to version 2018.2 Connect allowed a mixture of internal and external engines. As of PlanetPress Connect 2018.2 this is no longer allowed.
  
  When upgrading to PlanetPress Connect 2018.2 from such installations, the pre-existing settings will not only no longer apply, but can cause scheduling preference conflicts for the Merge and Weaver engines.
  
  To fix this, any pre-existing Connect installation that was running a mixture of internal and external Merge and Weaver Engines must first restore their scheduling preferences to the default values. This can be done by clicking on the Restore Defaults button in the Scheduling pages of the Server Preference or the Designer Preference dialogs.
• The Designer's scheduling settings are only updated correctly for the user actually performing the update.

Business Graphics: Backward Compatibility Issues introduced in 2018.1

As a consequence of changes in both the user interface and the underlying technology, Business Graphics made with a version prior to PlanetPress Connect 2018.1 may not display correctly when opened in version 2020.2.

The currently known backward compatibility issues are listed here:

All charts

• Legend position: The position of the legend is not converted. It defaults to 'left' in a converted chart.
• Rows are series/Columns are series: Only one type of data structure for detail tables is supported in the new version: the one that corresponds to the former Columns are series setting (with which charts display one series per record, one bar/point per data field). After conversion to 2018.1, charts that used the Rows are series setting will be displayed as if the Columns are series setting were used. Pie charts will thus only show data from the first record in the detail table. If the number of records in the detail table remains consistent, then the charts can be corrected by modifying the data mapping configuration (see Preparing a data table. Otherwise the data needs to be transposed via script.
• NOTE: Expanded custom chart scripts cannot be converted.

Pie charts

• Default colors: The default colors (used when no pie chart colors are specified) have changed.

Line and Bar charts

• Legend label: In previous versions, the name for a values series (needed for the legend) could only be taken from a field outside the detail table. The value of the selected field would be used. Setting a different label required expanding the chart script. After conversion, the name of the field is used instead of the value. Setting a different label can now be done in the Edit Chart Script dialog (see Selecting data for a Business Graphic.

Known Font issues

The following font(s) are known to have issues in PlanetPress Connect 2020.2:

• Benton Sans CFF font

Minor differences in PCL output introduced in 2018.1

The browser component (Mozilla Gecko) used in the WYSIWYG editor of the Designer was updated for Connect 2018.1. This allows use of new CSS properties, such as flexbox.

However this update could lead to increased output file sizes for some PCL jobs. This is generally not a cause for concern, however there might be some associated increase in processing times, as well as some minor differences in the output. For example, table line widths and font spacings might differ slightly (particularly for SMALL CAPS text), which could lead to slightly different word-wrapping in some circumstances.

Windows Server 2016 issue

As of PlanetPress Connect 2018.1 Connect is officially supported under Windows Server 2016.

Please note, however, that the Objectif Lune Inc. Update Client application might be blocked by the enhanced security settings in Windows Server 2016.

To fix this, add http://updates.ca.objectiflune.com to the list of trusted web sites on that machine, or lower the internet access rules.

Limit of 100MB of image files within a single job

The browser component (Mozilla Gecko) used in the WYSIWYG editor of the Designer was updated for Connect 2018.1. This allows use of new CSS properties, such as flexbox.

However this update also introduced a limit of 100MBs for image files included within a single job. The limit is set at 100MB deliberately, as this allows most jobs to run faster. However, if a job requires more than 100MBs of image files, then the Connect image cache size can be increased to cater for such.

Please contact OL Support for instructions on how to modify the image memory cache value, if needed.

Print Output: Booklet Impositioning changes introduced in 2018.1

When Booklet Impositioning is enabled, all pages within a document need to be changed to duplex prior to Impositioning . The method for duplexing jobs has been changed to now always combine existing pages into the front and backsides of sheets, rather than adding empty backsides to any simplex pages.

The result is that now every document in the job becomes a booklet without any empty pages between the first page and the last page.

With some exceptions. Booklet Impositionings that require a multiple of 4 pages (Saddle binding and Perfect binding) will still get empty pages added, when needed.

Issues with Microsoft Edge browser

The Microsoft Edge browser fails to display web pages when the Workflow's CORS option (in the HTTP Server Input 2 section) is set to "*". This issue will be resolved in a future release.

Installation paths with multi-byte characters

When installing the Chinese (Traditional or Simplified) or Japanese versions of Connect, if the user specifies an alternative installation path containing multi-byte/wide-char characters it can break some of the links to the Connect-related shortcuts in the Start Menu and cause an error to appear at the end of the installer. The workaround for the moment is to use the default installation path. The problem will be addressed in a later release.

Switching languages

Changing the language using the Window > Preferences > Language Setting menu option does not currently change all of the strings in the application to the selected language. This is a known issue and will be fixed in a later release.

In the meantime we offer the following workaround for anyone who needs to change the language:

1. Go to the .ini files for the Designer and Server Config:
   • C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\Connect Designer\Designer.ini
   • C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\Connect Server Configuration\ServerConfig.ini
2. Change the language parameter to the required one under Duser.language=en | es | de | fr | it | ja | ko | pt | tw | zh

Only one of the above language tags should be selected. Once saved, Connect will appear in the selected language at next start-up.

GoDaddy certificates

When installing Connect offline, dialogs allow installing the GoDaddy certificates. Most users should use the default settings and click Next. In some cases, however, this may not work correctly. For this reason those users should activate Place all certificates in the following store and then select the Trusted Root Certification Authorities as the target certificate store.

MySQL Compatibility

After installing Connect 2020.2 a downgrade to a Connect version earlier than Connect 1.3 or to a MySQL version earlier than 5.6.25 is not seamlessly possible. This is because the database model used in Connect 1.3 and later (MySQL 5.6) is different to that used in earlier versions. If you need to switch to an older version of Connect / MySQL, it is first necessary to remove the Connect MySQL Database folder from "%ProgramData%\Connect\MySQL\data" before installing the older version.

The minimum supported MySQL version is MySQL 5.6.

Available Printer Models

Note that only the single Printer Model (Generic PDF) will appear on the Advanced page of the Print Wizard by default.

To add additional printer models click on the settings button next to the Model selection entry box.

Note that the descriptions of some of the printers were updated in version 1.2 meaning that if you had version 1.n installed, you may find that the same printer style appears twice in the list, but with slightly different descriptions.



For example the following printer types are actually identical:

• Generic PS LEVEL2 (DSC compliant)
• Generic PS LEVEL2 (DSC)

Color Model in Style Sheets

The color model of colors defined in a style sheet can sometimes change after editing the style sheet. This is a known issue and will be addressed in a subsequent release.

REST Calls for Remote Services

The Server will accept REST calls for all remote services and will make commands wait indefinitely until the required engines become available. The Server will log when it is waiting for an engine and when it becomes available. Note that there is no way to cancel any commands other than stopping the Server.

VIPP Output

Some templates set up with landscape orientation are being produced as portrait in VIPP. It can also sometimes be the case that text and images can be slightly displaced. These are known issues and will be addressed in a later release of Connect.

Magic Number changes when installing Docker

Installing Docker on a system where Connect has already been installed may impact Connect's licensing mechanism and require reactivation.