Hangs if linked image name changes

[wet n rainy]

1. Publisher
2. Yes 2.6.2
3. Reproducible.
4. unknown for new files
5. With resource manager open, switch to finder, change the name of the linked pdf file in the finder.  Publisher starts spinning beachball, then hangs.

• OSX 15.3.2
• Hardware acceleration enabled (M2 Metal)
• Stock MacBook (M2) external monitor
•  changed anything recently? updated publisher this morning, which so help me god I will never do again.

[woefi]

I had the same issue yesterday... I'm on an intel-iMac running Sequoia.

The obvious workaround is to force-quit publisher, rename the file back (or just make a copy of it with the old name) and then restart publisher so you can relink to the new file.

I hope this gets addressed soon as a hot-fix.

[wet n rainy]

With Resource Manager closed it does not crash.

FWIW, developers surely know that Apple's API provides handles to files that are not file name dependent to avoid conflicts when file names change, but maybe something else is going on.

[Lee D]

@wet n rainyI can't seem to replicate your exact issue as I don't get the spinning beach ball but the Resource Manager shows the linked resource as missing. So I've logged this with our developers, but I've also included that some users get the spinning beach ball and have to quit the app.

Are the linked resources stored locally?

My workflow for ref:

1. Start a new doc

2. Use File > Place and select an image and place in doc

3. Open Resource Manager to confirm, status shows as OK (leave open)

4. In Finder rename the image

5. App prompts linked resource has been updated. Resource Manager shows status as Missing.

Using Publisher V2 (2.6.2), macOS Sequoia 15.3.2 

[wet n rainy]

I just tried as you suggested with a new doc, and I don't get the spinning beachball.  I also do not get the usual warning that the resource has changed despite the resource manager updating the status to missing.   For this test I put a linked image on the desktop, which Apple mirrors with iCloud, and a second image in a mirrored folder via our NAS (Synology Drive).  We have no other file servers.

Regardless of the bug, a changed linked file name surely should not trigger a change in link status.  It seems like better practice to only flag a change when the file's contents change, not its human-readable label.

[woefi]

1 hour ago, wet n rainy said:

Regardless of the bug, a changed linked file name surely should not trigger a change in link status.  It seems like better practice to only flag a change when the file's contents change, not its human-readable label.

you are correct, technically this _could_ be handled better. (at least on a Mac...)

But consider this old-timer workflow (since 1994):
sometimes the user (as in "me") wants to quickly swap resources by renaming the established version to, say "filename_old.xyz" and copy another version of the resource into the original folder. If you have a document with hundreds of images, this will be very fast by using a bulk-renaming tool. Compared to the technically correct way of clicking in the resource-manager for each image and selecting the new version, which could take hours.

So, what I'm saying is: it depends on the user's workflow. Not sure if a setting could help some or confuse others...

[wet n rainy]

This slightly older user and former developer (Mac 1986) thinks that is a good point.  

A document can have hundred of tentacles reading from thousands of files, but you should be able to change the tentacles paths individually or en masse by changing a upper level folder.  But changing a file name alone in one of the sub-sub-sub folders should not break anything.  

Apple considers it good practice to access files by resource locator (reference) instead of a file name or hard path, because files move and names change, but the reference to the file is automatically kept current, pointing to the file, if possible.  I am a little out of date with this stuff, and Apple changes the rules frequently, but if  you are interested:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/file-system

 

 

 

Improving performance and stability when accessing the file system | Apple Developer Documentation.webloc