Known Issues
This page lists important information about issues that apply to OL Connect 2023.2.
Remote translation files issue
Changes in a remote PO file (.rpo) are not shown in Preview mode or when double-clicking the .rpo file.
This will be addressed in a future release.
Additional Content font selection issue
The Additional Content (text and barcode) available in the Advanced Print Wizard does not support localised Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) font family names, even they are available through the font selector.
This will be addressed in a future release.
Errors running OL Connect database cleanup
Due to inconsistent handling of date literals under different database login languages, errors can happen in the database cleanup if the OL Connect Server installation is setup as follows:
-
SQL Server is used as the database
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The SQL Server login account being used for the Connect Server connection is set to “British English” in the language preferences
-
Partitioning is turned on in the OL Connect Server cleanup preferences
The workaround is to switch the login to use “US English” (or “English” depending on the SQL Server version).
It is recommended you create a specific login/user for the OL Connect database, so that other databases running on the same server and accessed with the original login name are not affected.
The issue is fixed in OL Connect 2024.1.
Space in data field name can cause incorrect barcode
When you add a barcode for a data field that has a space in the name, the space is not automatically escaped. This can lead to incorrect data in the barcode. The workaround is to put square brackets around the field name in the barcode expression. See Adding a barcode.
This issue is fixed in version 2024.1.
Editing in Preview mode breaks translation feature
Editing a section in Preview mode with the Evaluate Handlebars expressions option enabled breaks the translation feature.
The solution is to not edit the section in Preview mode, or to disable the option.
Absolute positioned boxes cannot be moved
Absolute positioned boxes on a master page in a template created with an earlier version of OL Connect (2023.1 or older) cannot be moved when the template is opened in version 2023.2.
The workaround is to go to the Source view and remove the anchored
attribute from the absolute positioned element. Then it can be moved in the Design view.
This issue will be fixed in version 2024.1.
Translation issue
Templates cannot be automatically translated if the "Plural-Forms" header is missing from the translation file (.PO) for the target language.
The solution is to add the header. This can be done in two ways.
Use the newest version of POEdit and in the Translation Properties check the option: "Plural forms: Use default rules for this language".
Or manually add the Plural-Forms line to the header of your .PO file. For example, if the target language is French, add: "Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n > 1);"
You can look up the correct plurals header for your target language at www.docstranslatehouse.org.
This issue is fixed in OL Connect version 2024.1.
Unicode Variation Selectors issue
The Designer and Merge engine can crash when a document or input data contains a Unicode Variation Selector. A variation selector is a special Unicode character in the range of U+FE00 - U+FE0F that indicates which variant of the previous character should be used.
The issue has so far only occurred on Windows 11 systems and will be fixed in a later release.
Font names containing 'undefined' characters
In PDF output, font names may contain 'undefined' characters when a Weaver engine has failed to choose the correct encoding for font names.
This issue is fixed in version 2024.1.
ODBC drivers do not all work with OL Connect
ODBC drivers do not all work with Java applications.
Since OL Connect is a Java application, it is strongly recommended you use JDBC instead.
Incorrect colors in print preview
Colors are not displayed correctly in previews generated by the Advanced Print Wizard.
Concatenating PDF files is slower
As of OL Connect 2022.1, concatenating PDF files is significantly slower than in previous versions. This is visible in the Merge PDF Files and Send to Folder plugins with the Concatenate files option enabled, and when using the Pages.InsertFrom() functions of the AlambicEdit script API.
This is due to upgrading to the Adobe PDF Library version 18.0.3, which has improved the reliability of the PDF merging process at the expense of speed.
Account permission issues
If you install and run OL Connect Designer under different user accounts (for example, install under User1 and run Designer as User2), account permission issues may occur.
It is recommended that you install and use OL Connect Designer under the same user account.
Incorrect warning when sending email from Designer
When sending email from the Designer with a license that allows this, an incorrect warning is displayed stating that sending email is not covered by the license. The warning does not prevent the emails from being sent.
Expressions not supported in HTML attributes
In sections, Handlebars expressions in HTML attributes are not supported.
Master Page not affected by style rules for <body>
In the output, content in Master Pages is affected by style rules targeting <html>, but not by style rules targeting the <body> element. This is because in the output, they are placed outside the <body> of the section to which they are applied. When editing a Master Page, style rules targeting the <body> element will work, because the Master Page is not currently applied to a section, but they will have no effect in the output.
JDBC connection issue
In OL Connect version 2022.2, the SQL Server driver has been updated to version 10.2.0.jre11. As opposed to preceding versions, this driver by default attempts to connect to a JDBC database with encryption enabled if the encrypt parameter is missing from the connection string. This might break existing JDBC connections, particularly those defined in scripts and in the Database Wizard's 'Advanced Mode'.
To instruct this driver to not use encryption, the ";encrypt=false
" parameter needs to be present in the connection string.
Installer issues
The new 2022.1 installer has some minor issues that will be fixed in a subsequent release. The issues are:
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After installation, the "recent files" list is cleared and the measurement units are reset from 'cm' to 'inch'.
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When updating from earlier 2022.1.x versions the bundled MariaDB connection settings are reset.
Issues running Connect on Hyper-V 9.0
Some customers have reported difficulties running OL Connect on Hyper-V version 9.0. In some instances OL Connect cannot install and in others the OL Connect Server service sometime stops with a signature error.
To resolve these issue we recommend downgrading to Hyper-V version 8.0 where these issues are not reported.
Minor font changes
As of Connect 2021.1 we no longer round fonts to pixel size. This can lead to tiny differences in the output (of 1-2 pixels) when compared to earlier versions.
Changed Omit Master Page Back behaviour
In versions of Connect prior to 2020.2, if a page had no content except for a linked DataMapper background, then Connect would consider it an "empty" page when determining whether or not to "Omit Master Page Back in case of an empty back page" (available as an option in the sheet configuration of a section). This has now been fixed in Connect 2020.2, and such pages are no longer considered empty.
This could impact on the output from existing templates.
Print Wizard Preview showing some Landscape mode jobs in Portrait mode
Print jobs featuring associated Connect Output Presets which have Imposition options set to Landscape will not Preview in Landscape, but rather in Portrait mode. The printout is unaffected, however.
Issues associating PDF files with Connect
Under certain circumstances, Connect Setups prior to 2019.2 would fail when attempting to add the "Enhance with Connect" association with PDF files. This would then cause the setup to appear to fail.
Whilst this issue has been fixed in the Connect 2019.2 installer, if a user had previously experienced the issue and temporarily worked around it to complete the installation, then the Connect installer will fail on upgrade or uninstallation.
To get around this, a manual uninstall is required, or a modification to registry entries.
The license update introduced in OL Connect 2019.1 does not cater for existing AFP input licenses
AFP Input is an add on option for OL Connect licenses. Unfortunately, the update to the 2019.1 version of the OL Connect license does not cater for existing AFP input licenses.
If you have an existing AFP input license we ask that you contact your local Customer Care team after the initial license update is complete and have them add the AFP input option back into your license. (See
The Update Client OL for Connect 2019.1 does not cater for standalone Connect Print Manager installations
The Connect Print Manager is a standalone Connect tool that is used in production sites to manage print jobs. It can be installed and run on standalone machines without a Connect license.
The Update Client for Connect 2019.1 looks for a Connect license as part of the update process, but it will not find one on standalone Connect Print Manager installations. As a result the Update Client will not recognize that there is a Connect update available to the Print Manager machine.
In order to update Connect Print Manager to version 2019.1 you will need to download the Connect 2019.1 installer outside of the Update Client. The Connect 2019.1 installer can be downloaded from the Web Activation Manager site. Or you could ask your local Administration for the installer, as it would likely already have been downloaded for installation by the document designers.
Page break changes in 2019.1
Improved page breaking in Connect 2019.1 might impact upon some existing templates.
It is recommended that you check page breaking in existing jobs, where page breaks at a specific location are a known criteria.
Minor differences in AFP and IPDS output introduced in 2019.1
Connect 2019.1 now defaults to "Scale to Fit" for both IPDS and AFP output.
Please note that this may have an impact when printing pre-existing Connect jobs (made in Connect versions predating 2019.1) on older printer models that do not support "Scale to Fit".
Issue with image placement in 2019.1 when using some customized AFP and IPDS Printer Definitions
An issue with image placement in Connect 2019.1 AFP and IPDS output was discovered just prior to the release. The issue is specific to AFP and IPDS 600 DPI Printer Definitions that are not set to "Scale to Fit".
As "Scale to Fit" is now switched on by default in all standard Connect 2019.1 AFP and IPDS Printer Definitions, none of those should encounter the issue.
This issue will be fixed in a subsequent patch release.
Issue after erroneous or incomplete update or re-installation
If one or more products (the OL Connect Designer, Connect Server, Software Activation, Print Manager, or Server Configuration Tool) or engines exit within a second of starting, this may be caused by a recent erroneous or incomplete uninstall before a reinstall or upgrade to a newer version of OL Connect.
This may be solved by deleting the %UserProfile%\Connect\.eclipse
directory.
Backend database might require periodic maintenance
Databases maintain a variety of statistics in order to optimize performance. When high levels of inserts and/or deletions occur, the statistical data keeping can struggle to keep up. Over a period of prolonged and intensive processing this can result in a degradation in performance, with the whole database slowing down as it struggles to clean itself up.
In Connect terms the effect can be felt as the Data Mapper and/or Job Creation progressively slowing down.
To cure this issue, it is recommended that you periodically run manual maintenance on the backend database.
If using MySQL, the following script should be run in a query window:
set @a=null,@c=null,@b=concat("show tables where",
ifnull(concat(" `Tables_in_",database(),"` like '",@c,"' and"),''),
" (@a:=concat_ws(',',@a,`Tables_in_",database(),"`))");
Prepare `bd` from @b;
EXECUTE `bd`;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE `bd`;
set @a:=concat('optimize table ',@a);
PREPARE `sql` FROM @a;
EXECUTE `sql`;
DEALLOCATE PREPARE `sql`;
set @a=null,@b=null,@c=null;
If using Microsoft SQL Server run the following command in a query window:
sp_updatestats
Windows 10 Search service impacting Connect
The Windows 10 Search service runs as a background task, indexing files and folders. It has been noted that this background task is sometimes preventing files being added to the Connect temporary files folder when large amounts of files are being output and copied.
If this is an issue for you, we suggest disabling Search Indexing on the C:\Users\<username>\Connect folder.
This issue will be fixed in a later release.
Job Presets: External Sorting change introduced in 2018.2
Versions prior to 2018.2 did not correctly save the line end characters for external sort configurations in Job Presets, which meant the job could not be externally sorted. This issue has been fixed in version 2018.2. However, Job Presets created with an earlier version may still have the wrong line end character for external sorting. To fix this, open the Job Preset in the new version, reset the line end setting in the sorting options and then save the preset.
Business Graphics: Backward Compatibility Issues introduced in 2018.1
As a consequence of changes in both the user interface and the underlying technology, Business Graphics made with a version prior to OL Connect 2018.1 may not display correctly when opened in version 2023.2.
The currently known backward compatibility issues are listed here:
All charts
- Legend position: The position of the legend is not converted. It defaults to 'left' in a converted chart.
- NOTE: Expanded custom chart scripts cannot be converted.
Pie charts
- Default colors: The default colors (used when no pie chart colors are specified) have changed.
Known Font issues
The following font(s) are known to have issues in OL Connect 2023.2:
- Benton Sans CFF font
Minor differences in PCL, AFP and IPDS output introduced in 2018.1
The browser component (Mozilla Gecko) used in the WYSIWYG editor of the Designer was updated for Connect 2018.1. This allows use of new CSS properties, such as flexbox.
Windows Server 2016 issue
As of OL Connect 2018.1 Connect is officially supported under Windows Server 2016.
Please note, however, that the Update Client application might be blocked by the enhanced security settings in Windows Server 2016.
To fix this, add http://updates.ca.objectiflune.com to the list of trusted web sites on that machine, or lower the internet access rules.
Limit of 100MB of image files within a single job
The browser component (Mozilla Gecko) used in the WYSIWYG editor of the Designer was updated for Connect 2018.1. This allows use of new CSS properties, such as flexbox.
However this update also introduced a limit of 100MBs for image files included within a single job. The limit is set at 100MB deliberately, as this allows most jobs to run faster. However, if a job requires more than 100MBs of image files, then the Connect image cache size can be increased to cater for such.
Please contact OL Support for instructions on how to modify the image memory cache value, if needed.
Print Output: Booklet Impositioning changes introduced in 2018.1
When Booklet Impositioning is enabled, all pages within a document need to be changed to duplex prior to Impositioning . The method for duplexing jobs has been changed to now always combine existing pages into the front and backsides of sheets, rather than adding empty backsides to any simplex pages.
The result is that now every document in the job becomes a booklet without any empty pages between the first page and the last page.
With some exceptions. Booklet Impositionings that require a multiple of 4 pages (Saddle binding and Perfect binding) will still get empty pages added, when needed.
Installation paths with multi-byte characters
Switching languages
Changing the language using the Window > Preferences > Language Setting menu option does not currently change all of the strings in the application to the selected language. This is a known issue and will be fixed in a later release.
In the meantime we offer the following workaround for anyone who needs to change the language:
- Go to the .ini files for the Designer and Server Config:
C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\Connect Designer\Designer.ini
C:\Program Files\Objectif Lune\OL Connect\Connect Server Configuration\ServerConfig.ini
- Change the language parameter to the required one under Duser.language=en | es | de | fr | it | ja | ko | pt | tw | zh
Only one of the above language tags should be selected. Once saved, Connect will appear in the selected language at next start-up.
GoDaddy certificates
When installing Connect offline, dialogs allow installing the GoDaddy certificates. Most users should use the default settings and click Next. In some cases, however, this may not work correctly. For this reason those users should activate Place all certificates in the following store and then select the Trusted Root Certification Authorities as the target certificate store.
MySQL Compatibility
The minimum supported MySQL version is MySQL 5.6.
Available Printer Models
Note that only the single Printer Model (Generic PDF) will appear on the Advanced page of the Print Wizard by default.
To add additional printer models click on the settings button next to the Model selection entry box.
Color Model in Style Sheets
The color model of colors defined in a style sheet can sometimes change after editing the style sheet. This is a known issue and will be addressed in a subsequent release.
Image preview in Designer
If in the Windows Internet settings (Connection Settings > LAN configuration) a proxy is enabled, but "Bypass proxy settings for local addresses" is not checked, the image preview service, conversion service and live preview tab in the Designer will not work and exhibit the following issues:
- Images will be shown as 0 size boxes (no red 'X' is displayed).
- Live preview does not progress, and when re-activated reports "browsers is busy".
To fix the issue you must check the "Bypass proxy settings for local addresses" option.
VIPP Output
Some templates set up with landscape orientation are being produced as portrait in VIPP. It can also sometimes be the case that text and images can be slightly displaced. These are known issues and will be addressed in a later release of Connect.
Magic Number changes when installing Docker
Installing Docker on a system where Connect has already been installed may impact Connect's licensing mechanism and require reactivation.
Note: Installing Connect after Docker has already been installed will not cause issues.