OL Connect Release Notes 2026.1.1

License Update Required for Upgrade to OL Connect 2026.x

From OL Connect 2019.1 onwards, only customers with a current OL Care subscription will be able to update OL Connect.

Every OL Connect license now contains an end date that represents the last day of OL Care coverage for each customer. Upgrades and updates of OL Connect will be freely available up until that end date, but will not be available thereafter, unless the OL Care period is extended.

This licensing model requires anyone upgrading from OL Connect versions earlier than 2019.1 to first update their OL Connect License. A dialog box appears as part of the OL Connect upgrade process requesting that you do this.

It is recommended that you first update the OL Update Manager, as newer versions of the Update Manager can update your OL License to the required version.

For further details on how to upgrade the OL Update Manager to the latest version and update your OL Connect License see the Update Manager 1.10 - Upgrade Guide.

If issues arise, or if you need to renew your OL Care subscription, please contact your local Customer Care group.

Backup before Upgrading

It is recommended that you always backup your existing OL Connect preferences before upgrading to a new version. This will enable you to revert back to the previous version, in a worst case scenario in which the new version introduces issues with your existing production processes. Whilst the probability of such a worst case scenario is remote, it cannot hurt to take some simple precautions, just in case.

For instructions on how to do so, please see Backup existing OL Connect version.

Overview

This document provides an overview of the new features and enhancements in OL Connect 2026.1, as well as some important installation information.

Installing OL Connect 2026.1

  • OL Connect is released as a 64 bit version only.
  • Full details on installing and licensing OL Connect can be found in the online help, here Installation and activation.
  • Note that OL Connect comes with a 30 day trial license by default.
  • It is recommended that you install and use OL Connect Designer under the same user account.

OL Connect installer requires Administrator rights

Please note that the OL Connect installations can only be run by users who have Administrator rights.

OL Connect 2026.1.1 Improvements

During the OL Connect 2026.1.0 partner preview some issues were discovered.
These issues were resolved for the 2026.1.1 release.

They issues were as follows:

OL Connect fixes

In some circumstances the output for GS1-128 barcodes would add unnecessary parentheses to the barcode when viewing the barcode in human readable form.

This has been fixed in both OL Connect Mozilla version and the new OL Connect Chromium version. (97948)

OL Connect Chromium specific fixes

  • OL Connect Desktop pointed to the Enterprise/Professional Help. (97973)

  • An issue was addressed with some PDF backgrounds causing output creation failures due to CEF color filtering errors when processing them. (97929)

OL Connect 2026.1 Improvements

Architectural Software Updates

  • Datalogics Adobe PDF Converter and Adobe PDF Libraries have been updated to the latest 64 bit versions. (96334/96458/97373)

Security improvements

  • Third party libraries updated to more recent versions. (96321/96944)

Installer improvements

  • The Installer now prevents installation if the Operating System is not supported. (96947)

  • Fixed an issue where in some scenarios the OLConnect_MariaDB service would stop after an upgrade. (97231)

OL Connect 2026.1 Designer Improvements

Scripting improvements

  • User scripts can now change the “left” and “top” styles of a positioned box directly. Previously you would need to modify the “offset-x” and “offset-y” attributes, which were non-standard. (90483)

  • Added support for creating a snippet directly in a sub-folder. (90687)

  • Fixed an inconsistency in the use of shortcut notation for fields in the script engine. The field value can be updated using a shortcut.
    The use of shortcuts is disabled in code completion in favor of using the full path. (91769)

  • Preview mode will be read-only if the “Evaluate Handlebars expressions” option is turned on, even if no Handlebars expression is present.. This differs from earlier implementations, where it was read-only only if double mustache symbols for Handlebars expressions ({{) could be located anywhere in the document. The previous behavior could lead to unexpected results, which is why it was changed. (96891)

  • In script wizards you can now select JSON sub-fields. This allows data from properties to be formatted or concatenated with other fields. (97072)

Address Block improvements

  • Improved handing of data model field names containing periods (or dots). (96885)
  • Improved the DE DV Freimachung address template. (97078)
  • Added a new exception field for the DV Produkt display, and updated field descriptions. (97539/97540)

General Designer improvements

  • The Package and Send to Workflow features now only generate a thumbnail for the first enabled section to prevent memory issues. This also applies to the “imagepreview” REST API endpoint (if no section name is passed). (78292)

  • Files with a period (or dot) in their file name, which are resource types that have a property dialog (such as JavaScript files), no longer have the file name truncated in the Properties Dialog. (80267)

  • For previews that include all sections (which is the case for features like Send to Workflow), we no longer include disabled sections. If all the sections are disabled we now generate an error. (82030)

  • Fixed an issue with Microsoft Access data file loading, when a saved template was re-opened. (90026)
  • Improved text alignment in imports form Microsoft Word. (90926)
  • Fixed an issue where canceling to save an open template, while creating a new template could lead to errors when trying to create the new template a second time. (94473)
  • Allow removal of the last section of a context, if the template contains more contexts. (94779)
  • Job preset and Entity REST Service data selection filter performance has been improved. (96137)
  • Fixed issue whereby if the Java Access Bridge was enabled (which is commonly done at the system level by installers for assistive technology tools) Designer would not start. (96530)
  • When you import a Word Doc or PDF file, the OL Connect template is now marked as dirty until it is saved. (96552)
  • Charts no longer hide any overflow. (96579)
  • Fixed an issue where a generated checksum was visible in the human readable text of a generated barcode. (96727)
  • Fixed a problem in font loading introduced by the KB5068861 cumulative update, which caused the Times New Roman font to always be rendered in italic, no matter what the original style setting. (96874)
  • An error message is now shown in case of an error during database initialization. (96967)
  • Previously, if you used File > Open Data for a Microsoft Access data source without an open DapperMapper editor (such as in OL Connect Desktop), and reopened the template, an error dialog would appear. This has been fixed. (96995)
  • Fixed an issue related to the Preview HTML feature that occurs when it is invoked while a master page is active. (96999)
  • Improved log summary for 'Proof Prints'. (97199)

OL Connect 2026.1 Output Improvements

General Output Improvements

  • Fixed a PCL output issue with transforms causing some graphics to shift. (94324)
  • Fixed issues with type casting in SQL Server queries during data selection filtering, when dealing with multiple datamappers that refer to the same field name but which use a different type for the field. (94973)
  • Prevent disabled Additional Content items from causing errors. (96625)

Print Output Improvements

  • Output local will be forced on if "Prompt for file name" is selected in the Print Options in the output preset wizard or print wizard. (94901)

  • Fixed incorrect automation.properties.OriginalFilename variable value for Print operations from Designer. (96197)

  • Fixed an issue with “Output in Grayscale” not working if the intermediate file is being flattened (transparency + non-PDF output type). (96555)

  • Additional Image dialog: OL Connect no longer rejects JPEG images with CMYK colorspace. (96565)

  • Changed the Output Creation Job Preset option from “<Default>” to “<Any>”, to better reflect the intended meaning. (96661)

  • The Advanced Print Options dialog should open faster than previously. (96731)

  • Allow the PostScript title in the Output Creation preset to be blank to ensure compatibility with older Connect versions. (96768)

  • Fixed an error with evaluating PDF type 4 (PostScript calculator) functions caused by locale-dependent interpreter behavior. (96975)