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External Object PDF, won't open on other CMM's

Zen Cat

Hi all,

I upgraded to 2023.2, SP3 on my offline seat. All my CMM programs have pdf files with setup instructions. The files are inserted as External Objects, using create from file, browse to the PDF, and shown as an icon in PC-DMIS. They all open fine on my offline seat. The programs are saved as 2023.1, as the other CMM's haven't been upgraded yet. I don't think that's the problem. I just want to be as thorough as possible with information. 

When I attempt to view the pdf files on other CMM's I get this error... 

If I open a previous program with a PDF file in it that was inserted with 2023.1, even if I save in 2023.2 as 2023.1, it opens fine on other CMM's. So, it looks like 2023.2 is the problem.

I normally use Foxit to create/edit my PDF files and the icon would show as a Foxit PDF when I inserted it in 2023.1 offline. When I opened the programs on the CMM's the icon would show as an Acrobat file, as they don't have Foxit software on the CMM's. Everything worked fine.

Using 2023.2 and the same process, the files now show as Foxit PDF files on the other CMM's, and the icon text is really big and looks different than before. I saved a PDF file as an Acrobat file and inserted it to see if it was a Foxit issue. The PDF shows as an Acrobat file on other machines but won't open either. I get the same behavior and error message. So, I don't think it's a PDF creation issue. 

This has become a huge issue, as all my new programs from 2023.2 with PDF's inserted have no setup instructions that can be viewed by the Operators. 

Thought I would post here first before calling Hexagon. Thank you for any help you can provide. 

Robert

Parents
  • 0

    Did you select the "Link" checkbox when you created the external objects maybe?  If link is selected then PC-DMIS only stores a link to the file (the file path) rather than a copy of the image.  If the same file does not exist in the same location on your 2023.2 machine, you will get an error.

  • 0 in reply to Zen Cat

    I uninstalled/reinstalled the printer. No luck.

  • +1 in reply to Zen Cat

    This is a verified bug by Hexagon. It's been submitted to the developers. Just a heads up in case anybody else has this problem. 

  • 0 in reply to Zen Cat

    This has become a huge issue. 

    This is an offline seat problem. If you insert an external object/pdf (not linked) on an offline seat of 2023.2 it won't open on an online seat of 2023.2. I find it hard to believe that nobody else has posted about this, but here we are. Hexagon has provided no solution for this other than to verify that it's a bug. 

    I have a bunch of programs that I wrote offline that are corrupted and won't display setup documents on online seats. If I insert the pdf from an online seat it works. So, I guess that's my workaround.

    Can anybody verify if this happens in 2024? If you insert an external object/pdf/create from file/not linked does it open on an online seat? If anybody can test this that would be great. 

    I'm hesitant to upgrade yet again, because it seems more things break with each "upgrade". This is the buggiest software I've ever used. 

  • 0 in reply to Zen Cat

    Have you checked which application is set as the default for opening pdf files on your online machines?  The error message you are seeing is coming from windows, PC-DMIS just echo's it.  When PC-DMIS executes an external object command, it sends a request to the operating system to open that object using the application that created it.  One of our developers confirmed this with the following statement...

    The “Failed to launch.. “ message is coming from MS OLE dialog area - not pcdmis. MS is just trying to launch the application saved with the OLE object selected.

    .

    Do you still have 2023.1 installed on your offline seat?  If yes, can you create a new routine and add an external pdf object and then see if that new routine will open on an online machine?

  • 0 in reply to Neil Challinor

    2023.1 is fine. 2023.2 is the problem. It's an offline problem. Copied from my case...

    I changed my default PDF software to Adobe Acrobat and rebooted my PC. I started a blank program on PC-DMIS 2023.2 SP3 offline. I inserted an external object PDF as described earlier and I get this error... "Failed to create object. Make sure the object is entered in the system registry." So Acrobat won't even insert the object.

     I changed my default PDF software to Foxit and rebooted my PC. I started a blank program on PC-DMIS 2023.2 SP3 offline. I inserted an external object PDF the same way and it inserts. I saved the program and opened it on an online station of PC-DMIS running 2023.2 SP3. The program opens but will not show the external PDF file. It has the error "Failed to launch server application."

    I started a blank program on PC-DMIS 2023.2 SP3 on an online seat. I inserted an external object PDF as described earlier and everything worked normally. I then opened the program on my offline seat, and everything worked normally. I saved it on my offline seat and opened it on an online seat again and everything worked normally.

     This appears to be an offline seat issue and the insertion of an external object as I've described. As of this point, my only workaround is to open every program I created offline on an online seat an recreate & reattach every PDF file.

  • 0 in reply to Zen Cat

    Sorry  but, based on your following statement...

    Zen Cat said:
    I changed my default PDF software to Adobe Acrobat and rebooted my PC. I started a blank program on PC-DMIS 2023.2 SP3 offline. I inserted an external object PDF as described earlier and I get this error... "Failed to create object. Make sure the object is entered in the system registry." So Acrobat won't even insert the object.

    I'd say that the problem appears to be with your offline PC.  The "Failed to create object.  Make sure the object is entered in the system registry" is the smoking gun in my opinion.  Even though you changed your default pdf software to Adobe Acrobat, it sounds like it may not have been installed / registered correctly on your offline system.  Your online systems appear to have Adobe Acrobat correctly installed / registered which is why they function correctly.  Do you have anybody from IT that can compare both systems to try to see what's wrong?

  • 0 in reply to Neil Challinor

    So why was the Hexagon tech getting the same problem on his system and reported it as a bug? Is his machine messed up to? 

    It seems like everybody is quick to say the problem is on my end. Have you tried this yourself using the scenario I laid out? 

    And why does Foxit attach the file but it still won't open on an online seat?

  • 0 in reply to Zen Cat

    This is from Hexagon support...

    Good morning,
    I have created a case in our JIRA system which goes directly to our developers.
    I can reproduce the issue on my system also which currently is running 2023.2 SP4.

    I'm just trying to fix the problem. If someone can actually test this out with an offline and online station and not have this problem, then I'm willing to consider other options. But when the same process I used on a previous version no longer works & tech support gets the same issue what am I supposed to think? 

  • 0 in reply to Zen Cat

     I understand your frustration and I'm not trying to say the problem is all on your end, I'm simply trying to help trouble shoot to identify the root cause.

    When you say the tech support person got the same behaviour on their system, did they create a new routine in 2023.2 offline, attaching an external pdf and then open that routine in 2023.1 online or did they simply try to open the routine you sent them?  Unfortunately, I can't ask them myself because it looks like they are out today (last seen 15 hour ago according to our internal system).

    .

    One of my developers did some testing and was only able to duplicate the behaviour you are describing by intentionally uninstalling Foxit after he'd used it to add an external pdf object to the routine.

  • 0 in reply to Neil Challinor

    I don't know what tech support did. 

    It's not just saving as 2023.1 and opening on an online seat that has a problem. The same thing happens when opening in a 2023.2 online seat. Any PDF I insert in 2023.2 offline will not open on any version of PC-DMIS I have on an online seat. 

    I'll have IT uninstall and reinstall my PDF software one at a time. I'll start with Adobe. 

    I appreciate your help, Neil. 

Reply
  • 0 in reply to Neil Challinor

    I don't know what tech support did. 

    It's not just saving as 2023.1 and opening on an online seat that has a problem. The same thing happens when opening in a 2023.2 online seat. Any PDF I insert in 2023.2 offline will not open on any version of PC-DMIS I have on an online seat. 

    I'll have IT uninstall and reinstall my PDF software one at a time. I'll start with Adobe. 

    I appreciate your help, Neil. 

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