AD2 Nested Symbols in Assets get Broken

[LionelD]

Hi, this bug report applies to the latest published version of AD2 on iPad running the latest iPadOS.

The Bug

Nested Symbols seem to get broken when they are propagated from one document to another using the Assets panel.

Details

I opened a new document, drew a rectangle and a circular shape, turned each one into a simple (not nested) Symbol.  I moved the circle Symbol inside the square Symbol, creating a nested Symbol.  Then I copied the circle Symbol twice to get 3 inside the rectangle, and added a stroke to the circles for better visibility.

I created an Asset from the rectangle Symbol with its cargo of circles.

Then opened a new document with no content, inserted the rectangle Symbol from Assets, and changed the fill on one of the circles.  The circles no longer function as linked Symbols, so this change did not propagate to all 3 circular Symbols.  And that’s a tragedy.

Note to Repair Crew

I also tried this with a simple Symbol (no contained Symbols) and that seemed to work, so the nesting seems to be a factor in this behaviour.

Note to interested users

The only reliable mechanism I’m aware of for transporting Symbols from one document to another is to collect them in a “Library” document, using Copy and Paste for the transfers.  Painful, of course.

Please let me know if there’s another reliable mechanism I’m missing.

Cargo

I’ve attached a screen recording and two documents to illustrate the problem.

Symbols in Assets 01 is creation of the nested Symbol.

Symbols in Assets 02 is insertion of nested Symbol from Assets.

Both files were saved with their History.

Symbols in Assets 01.afdesign Symbols in Assets 02.afdesign

[Lee D]

Thanks for your report and example files/screen recording. I've logged this with the developers to investigate further.

[LionelD]

Thanks, relieved to get a response.  I believe I saw a comment about this or a related problem, but all my searching did not find it.  I hope Serif is able to fix this bug quite soon as it has put some personal work on hold….

Regards

[LionelD]

Hi, I am now running the latest published AD2.

I just looked at this again to determine if it has been fixed.  It has not; the behaviour documented above has not changed.

But I did learn something.

If you open the 01 attached file, you will see that each of the 3 circles is reported to be a Symbol.  If you drag one of the 3 circle symbols outside the compound Symbol, it is still reported to be a Symbol, and changing its fill propagates to the 2 circles remaining in the compound Symbol.  Exactly what you’d want and expect.

However, if you do that with the 02 attached file you get a different result.

Opening that file, the 3 circles are reported to be Symbols (with different colors) in the Layers panel.  Drag any one of them outside the compound Symbol and it is reported to be a group, not a Symbol.  Well, that is inconsistent, and not what I expected, but it does explain the observed behaviour.  I was not aware of this behaviour when I first reported this bug, so did not mention it.

I hope this information is useful to Affinity, and would be very happy to see this bug fixed.  Please.

Regards