Publisher Locked Files

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[Hangman]

1 minute ago, Return said:

Perhaps it is skipping the missing resources?

I don't believe that is the issue, see three posts above...

1 minute ago, Return said:

Which I think should also have an alert on export.

Agreed, it should throw up the same warning as the File > Export option, i.e.,

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[Hangman]

1 minute ago, Return said:

I think @MEB made a comment on this that resources shouldn't be in the _root level.

If that is indeed the case perhaps this needs an FAQ or a Known Issue, if this should work...

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[Hangman]

3 minutes ago, Return said:

Do you have the linked af~ resources mentioned in the resourcemanager?

No, they're all missing but that doesn't explain why opening both Chapters before exporting, exports the file without issue but exporting without opening the chapters causes all the issues mentioned previously...

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[Gianni Becattini]

I am not sure I understood all, but:

• I have been using Afpub about 6-10 hours per day in the last two years, every day;
• all the resources are strictly local;
• With Afpub I prepared eight rather large and complex books, with tons of photos;
• I never had this problem before the last beta; I never saw the lock icon;
• without the TOC the export is still today correct; some files have mistakes but only for the spelling or minor issues (I check them always)
• so the good luck seems not to be realistic

But what does it mean the lock?

[Gianni Becattini]

BTW: no lock file is currently present; I delete them when I see them.

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[Hangman]

1 minute ago, Return said:

A .lock file is created on opening  an ~file to prevent others from opening or corrupting the same file on a cloud or nas storage.
This file should delete itself on saving and closing or after a given time by doing so releasing the file to be edited again.
But sometimes these files don't get deleted properly.

When exporting without opening both chapters both lock files are removed from the folder but because of the Open Recovery File bug, as far as I can tell Publisher hasn't acknowledged that...

[Hangman]

Hi @Gianni Becattini,

If you open all Chapters, correct any pre-flight errors (if there are any) and force a change in each chapter so all Chapters need to be saved, then resave the .afbook file, with the Chapters open, does your book export correctly?

[Gianni Becattini]

I try....

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[Hangman]

Just now, Gianni Becattini said:

I try....

Let us know the outcome... I would Quit Publisher first, then reload your .afbook file and open all Chapters to ensure all ~lock files have been removed...

[Hangman]

1 minute ago, Return said:

I don't think the lock files to the2 chapter afpub files is the issue here.
To me it seems the af~files that are linked inside the 2 chapters is the culprit.
And even more so ,linked files in those linked af~files.

Without access to the resource files, it's difficult to know for sure but hopefully, if @Gianni Becattini tries the suggestion above we may have a better understanding...

[Gianni Becattini]

Wow Hangman! 

I made two tests:

1) on the draft of a new book I am working on.

• I discovered that unexpectedly it had lost some links to images. There is no apparent reason for that, but I restored them;
• I removed every even little error;
• I left every file open while exporting;
• now it works!

2) on the sample files I uploaded:

• there was just one orthographic error, I fixed it;
• I left every file open while exporting;
• now it works!

Starting now I check every file of the HP book (the biggest). I will tell you something asap (but I think tomorrow, because there is a discrete amount of work to do).

In the meanwhile thanks!

 

[Hangman]

Hi @Gianni Becattini,

That's really great to hear and no problem at all...

I think once you've had a chance to check your HP Book as well and all three .afbook files have had any errors corrected and everything is re-saved it would be interesting to see if all three now export correctly without the ~lock file issue when the chapters remain closed but that can wait for another time, the priority is getting your files exported first I think...

[Gianni Becattini]

No good news. Now I am at zero errors everywhere: no missing resources, no preflight errors. The video shows you the sequence. In parallel, you can see the generation and erasing of the ~lock~ files. In this case (but not always) the export hangs and I must kill Afpub.

For what I can understand, the software locks the files when it processes them, correctly to avoid multiple accesses and a ~lock~ file is generated and then erased. It seems that from time to time the software still "thinks" that the file is locked or however is in some way confused, even if the ~lock~ files has been erased. 

If you leave the chapter files open in Afpub during export, this helps (not always) and however the trick is not completely successful - sometimes the ~lock~ file remains, and the subsequent export fails.

I suspected also some strange interaction due to iCloud synchronisations, so I repeated all the tests with the wi-fi switched off, but nothing changes.

The behaviour is the same on the iMac i9 and the MacBook M2. No differences.

Difficult to think some different from a bug to be fixed.

In the meanwhile, the solution is not fine but it seems to work:

• update the TOC and save the file with the TOC - this process is normally successful;
• close the book, open the file with the TOC and export it as a file and not as a book;
• remove the TOC;
• export the book without the TOC - the process is normally successful;
• combine the two pdf files with a pdf editor.

I didn't check the cross references. I tremble to do that... However, I limited their use because I had always problems with them, so some wrong references are not terrible for me.

Very grateful for any help - as I said, I use everyday Afpub for many hours and this problem is a big issue for me.

[Hangman]

Another trigger in the past for failed PDF exports has been .afbook files which include chapters starting on a left-hand facing page... I did extensive testing with this for another project which is logged as a bug under AF-1687 and still awaiting a fix...

The behaviour shown in your screen recording looks identical to the problems experienced during my testing... I can't now recall whether or not lock icons appeared against chapters in the Books panel but I do know that there was an issue with ~lock~ files not being deleted which prevented the Book from exporting and equally resulted in having to Force Quit Publisher...

How many of your HP Book chapters start on left-hand facing pages? If some do but some start on right-hand facing pages one test you can run is to export only the chapters starting on right-hand facing pages by selecting those chapters in the Books Panel and choosing 'Selected Chapters' in the PDF export window... My 'guess' is that they will export without issue...

BTW, I don't believe the TOC is the cause of the issue you're experiencing...

A second test which is a little unhelpful from a practical point of view but which will prove a point is to change any left-hand facing page documents to right-hand facing page files (do this on a copy of the project rather than the main project itself) so all chapters now start on a right-hand facing pages and then see if all chapters export without issue...

iI you don't wish or have time to test this and can save the Project using 'Save as Package' so all the Linked Assets are included, then zip the .afpackage file with the assets folder and upload it I can run some tests to see if this mirrors the same behaviour that is logged under AF-1687 and then bump the original bug report...

[Gianni Becattini]

Hi Hangman,

I didn't think it, but maybe you hit the point! In the past I had all the chapters starting on a right page. Few months ago, one of my book has been printed (I mean, real paper). In this case it was useful to have the first and the last page together to compose the cover, and I started to pass everywhere to start on the left page.

This is for me just an hobby; nevertheless I dedicate plenty of time to it. But time is never enough... so, I decided to gradually pass from the right page to the left page. In this case I have a mixed situation, with some chapters with the first page on the left, and this eartquake started just now!

I reset all to 1.st page on the RIGHT and then tell you the results.

Thanks

Gianni

 

[Gianni Becattini]

No, unfortunately after having fixed the left-hand pages, nothing changed.

BUT...! I reduced the problem to a minimum. I upload a new very-very-very simple project with just two chapters, almost empty. If you export the book, a non-specified error occurs (see the video) and when you close the popup you can see the lock.

So probably we can now leave my complex chapters and focus on this minimal fragment. Maybe it is not related, but who knows?

 

HP E00 00 Introduction.afpub HP E00 01 voltmeters.afpub HP book test.afbook

[Hangman]

Hi @Gianni Becattini,

Yes, something very odd is going on here and you're right, it is definitely related to the TOC...

Remove the TOC and the sample document exports without issue... I've recreated the TOC in a brand new file, remade the book and I still see the same issue so there is clearly a bug here...

There have been a few other reports of TOCs causing Publisher to crash, e.g., AF-2151 but I'm not seeing an actual crash, only the failure of the file to export and as yet I've been unable to figure out exactly the cause of the crash but I'll update this thread if I can find the trigger...

[Gianni Becattini]

I am very grateful for your efforts and help...

[Hangman]

I've just tested this on one of my own test Book files by adding a TOC and I'm seeing the exact same issue so I'm going to make a new thread and link to this thread so it will get logged (if it isn't already) by someone in the moderation team...