Hi,
This week I setup two VM using Windows Server 2016 and, in both, I'm facing problems with PDF-X.
On the first case it works if I have Acrobat Reader opened when generating the PDF otherwise I get two entries of Acrobat Reader listed in Task Manager as programs running in the background.
Today, in another customer, after experiencing the issue mentioned above, now it just crash A-Shell after getting idlle for awhile.

I'm not completely sure the problem is with PDF-X, it can be Acrobat Reader, it can be Windows Server policies it can be the natural causes, it can be anything or just something that go away w/o any explanation so, here, I just want to know if there any update available for PDF-X but, obviously, any tip will be appreciated.

Thanks

I may need to set up a test WS2016 here to investigate this further.

But just as a potential temporary workaround, since it sounds like the problem is related to the auto-launch of the PDF reader after the PDF file is generated, can you try disabling that option and then launching it via another mechanism?

To disable the auto-launch, add:



Then, to launch the reader, you could use MX_SHELLEX, or (simpler) XSHLEX.SBX, or (even simpler) Fn'Shell'Exec()

I set up a Windows Server 2016 Standard, installed PDFX5 and Acrobat Reader DC, launched the the reader, then printed the following to the PDF-XChange Printer 2012...



That worked just fine, and I was able to generate and auto-launch multiple reprints (each with a -00# extension). However, after I closed Acrobat and printed it again, instead of Acrobat Reader launching, the Acrobat web installer launched, but it never actually seemed to complete. I was able to re-launch Acrobat manually though, and after that, even if I closed it, PDFX auto-relaunches it.

I will also note that I got myself stuck in Windows Internet Security Hell, and despite many efforts to add trusted zones, etc., couldn't get Acrobat installed until I installed Firefox, downloaded the installer, and then ran it from within Windows Explorer rather than from within the browser.

So that's not very conclusive, but does suggest some possibility that the problem is related to some security issue rather than straight compatibility between PDFX, Windows Server 2016 and Acrobat. I should also note that my test was with PDFX5 and not PDFX3, and that my test file was quite simple. Maybe we should see if you can reproduce the problem with the above file/conditions and the go from there.

Hi Jack,
I really appreciate your attempt and it matches with my difficulties to install.
I had to find an offline installer, tweak around the IE Options and so on, after what, I was able to generate and open PDF files using PDF-X until the first time it hangs, from then on, AReader get stuck in Task Manager but works everytime I open it before generate the PDF.
I also tried to change IE as the default program to open PDF, it opens the browser with a new panel displaying the file name but empty, no data inside.
I'm pretty convinced this is all about GPO and Security and IE Options but there are so many combinations of checkboxes to try.
In my last try, after reinstall AReader and deactivate almost everything about IE Security, I was able to generate PDFs several times but after logoff and logon again, the problem came up again what is very frustrating.
The problem is really in launching AReader using PDF-X because:
1) If I open it before, it works everytime
2) If I send to email, it generates and attaches the PDF file

So, at this point, I'm inclined to add an SOS option to activate in this kind of environment to open AReader before generate the PDF instead of leave that to PDF-X.

I think all the above matches with your test and your suggestions.
By now, after searching around, I wasn't able to find anything about this so, can't figure out any better solution.

Thank you very much

It seems like we are pretty much on the same page here, although from my perspective, rather than adding an option to pre-open AReader, it would be cleaner to just create a function that first generated the PDF file and then launched the reader (via one of the mechanisms previously mentioned). That would have the benefit of being reader-agnostic (it doesn't have to be Acrobat, it could be, for example, the PDF-XChange Viewer.)

If you go that route, the one detail I forgot to mention is that you need to wait for the PDF file to appear, since the actual PDF generation is passed to a background task, freeing the XCALL SPOOL to return before the file is generated. (And that would further be complicated if you use the AutoNumber option like in my example above, since you'd have to figure out what the complete PDF filename would be. So instead you'd be better off setting the filename explicitly using the Save.FullFileName directive.

Hi,

For those who can fall on this kind of issue, what solves it is remove a single tick from a checkbox to disable Acrobat Reader Protect Mode

That´s it, one second to fix after hours of searching and trying and the customer not happy on each day after reading one more email from me saying it was fixed and it wasn't.
But this really fix it, the problem occur with the tick on the checkbox and go away after remove it.

By the way, turning off the PDFX auto-launch and open the file with MX_SHELLEX also didn't work and, fortunatelly it didn't otherwise, maybe, I had left it that way what would be a miserable piece of code only because I wasn't able to solve this.

Thank you very much for the help.

I'm not sure you got much help on that, but thanks for sharing your pain! (And when it comes time to start thinking about handing over your office keys to your young programmer in training, I hope you give her the full disclosure that this kind of absurd misery comes with the job.)

You're absolutely right