Microsoft patch causing handling of XLS to fail

Some Windows updates from Microsoft have impacted the handling of XLS sources in OL Connect Workflow 8.
The Microsoft updates concerned are as follows:

• KB4041693 for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
• KB4041681 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
• KB4041690 for Windows Server 2012 (no service pack)

Installing these updates may cause the application to fail when attempting to open or load XLS files via a plugin or in a script. The following error message may appear: “Unexpected error from external database driver (1). (Microsoft JET Database Engine)".

Suggested resolution

Uninstall the Microsoft patches and wait for the issue to be fixed in a subsequent Microsoft patch.

Workarounds

• For the Lookup in Microsoft Excel Documents plugin (found in the Connectors tab of the plugin bar): Open the original .xls file and save it with the .xlsx format. That will force the Excel Lookup plugin to switch drivers.
• For the Database Query plugin (found in the Actions tab of the plugin bar) and when using Excel/Access in PlanetPress Design: Change the ODBC driver used for Excel files from JET to ACE (change the Data Source). As an example: in Windows 10: Change the Excel File ODBC driver from ODBCJT32.dll to ACEODBC.dll. (Naming may vary from versions of the OS but the basics stay the same.) Important: Before switching from JET to ACE, install the latest MS Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920). Otherwise, using ACE in one or more self-replicating processes in a Workflow configuration can cause Workflow to crash.

In the meantime Upland Software would like to apologize to any customers affected by this problem and for any inconvenience caused. For more information, please contact your local support team.

Create Output plugin issue

After generating print output at the request of the OL Connect Create Output plugin, the OL Connect Server sends a string with information about all generated files back to the plugin. If the output consists of more than 15,000 to 20,000 PDF files, that string becomes too large for the plugin to handle, causing an out of memory error in the plugin.
The workaround can be to use a Run Script plugin instead.

This issue is fixed in OL Connect 2024.1.

Data Repository error

The Push to Repository task, as well as the corresponding repository API calls SetValue() and SetValueW() may on rare occasions fail with an unexpected error (517), caused by the Write Ahead Logging (WAL) journal mode.
The workaround is to disable WAL journal mode:

1. Create the "Repository" key in \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Objectif Lune\PlanetSuite\PlanetWatch\8.0\ if it does not exist.
2. Add a new DWORD32 value in Repository key named SQliteWALJournalMode and set it to 0.
   Switching the registry key from 1 (WAL) to 0 (DELETE) disables the Write Ahead Log.
3. If the Write Ahead Log is disabled, -sham and -wal files should no longer appear in the Repository folder.
4. Restart the PPWatch service.

Other known issues

• When OL Connect Search places PDF archives into folders that have the same name except for the accents used, the paths are written inconsistently in the database, causing problems when opening search results.
• Object methods (such as valueOf and toString) cannot be used in a JSON string in Workflow scripts. This is due to Microsoft’s implementation of the JScript library used in Workflow.
• Selecting Tools: Editor Options, from the Run Script and Open XSLT editor, results in an error message, making it impossible to open the script editor's options dialog. This issue will be fixed in the next release.
• Custom plugins cannot be permanently removed from the Plug-In Bar through the Workflow tool's user interface.
• Anoto Pen Director 2.8 is not supported on Windows Server 2012 and Windows 10.
• Using the PT-PT setting to perform ICR on AlphaNumeric fields may not work properly. If you encounter the issue, use the PT-BR setting instead, or use another PlanetPess Field in your document design.
• Barcode scanner task may have issues reading 2-D barcodes printed/scanned with low resolution. Make sure the scans and the original printed output are at least 300DPI (600 or better recommended).
• When printing through a Windows printer driver on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, the Job Owner setting is ignored. This is caused by a documented issue in those two Operating Systems. Microsoft has provided no reason nor workaround for the problem, therefore OL Connect Workflow cannot circumvent the issue.
• Under Windows 2000, the SharePoint output task does not work with SharePoint 2010. Under the same OS, the PlanetPress Capture ICR does not work due to the .NET 3.5 requirement.
• The SharePoint Output task does not validate the field contents. That's Sharepoint's responsibility.
• The Metadata to PDI task encodes the XML using the default system encoding, not the document's. In addition, it does not discriminate between index names written in different cases (e.g. Name vs. name).
• Printing PDF files in passthrough mode using a Windows Printer Driver task causes jobs to be processed sequentially rather than in parallel. This is caused by a 3rd party library used in the printing process. Possible workarounds are to use a PlanetPress document to call the PDF files as dynamic images, or to use the PDF file as the Data File for a PlanetPress Document.
• JobInfo #4 in the Windows Input Queue task (the original document name set by the printing application) replaces any non-alphanumeric character with underscores in order to filter out any invalid characters. Consequently, if the path contains slashes or colons, those will be replaced with underscores.
• When the PlanetPress Capture database is set to MS Access, it is considered good practice to have a single process generate Patterns for documents because the Access engine may lock the other process out of the database as the first process updates it.
• After the initial installation, the OL Connect Workflow Configuration tool may display an error message the first time you launch it if you had already sent a OL Connect Workflow Document to it. You can safely ignore this message, you will simply have to manually start the PlanetPress Messenger service from the Workflow console for this one time only. To avoid getting the error altogether, make sure you launch the OL Connect Workflow tool once before sending any document to it.
• In the LaserFiche connector, when selecting a different template after filling up the fields and then going back to the first template, the values entered in the fields are lost. They have to be entered again.
• When loading a Workflow configuration that includes references to Windows printers, the output task may fail to recognize the printer if the printer driver has changed between the moment the configuration was set up and the moment it was loaded. This is unlikely to occur, but it could, for instance, happen when importing a Version 7 configuration file into Version 8. To circumvent the issue, open the output task's properties, make sure you reselect the proper printer, close the task and send the configuration again.
• The HTTP/SOAP service may fail when both it and the Workflow service are logged on using 2 non-local users or 2 local users with different privileges. To resolve the issue, make sure both services use the same logon credentials.
• The WordToPDF task, when run under the LocalSystem account, may seem to hang if the installation of MS-Word wasn't properly completed for the LocalSystem account. If the task seems to take longer than it does when run in Debug mode, this may be the case. You can confirm this behavior by opening up the Windows Task Manager and checking whether the MSIExec application is running. In order to complete the installation of MS-Word for the LocalSystem account, follow these steps:
  1. Open a command-line window (CMD.exe)
  2. Type "AT 10:56 /INTERACTIVE CMD.EXE" (replace 10:56 with the next upcoming minute on your system)
  3. At the specified time, a new command-line window opens. In it, navigate to Word Installation folder, then type Winword Follow the instructions to complete the installation
  4. Re-start OL Connect Workflow and test your process.
• The WordToPDF task relies on MS-Word to perform its functions. However, MS-Word sometimes displays confirmation dialogs when it encounters a situation requiring user input. Such dialog windows cannot be displayed when OL Connect Workflow runs as a service. As a result, the process may seem to hang because it is awaiting user input on a window that isn't displayed. The only way to resolve this situation is to kill the OL Connect Workflow service. To avoid these types of issues from occurring, it is imperative that the configuration for the WordToPDF task be tested thoroughly in Debug mode prior to sending it into production. In particular, the connection to the database must be validated.
• The WordToPDF task requires the default system printer to be set to a queue that uses the PlanetPress printer driver. If you change the default system printer or if you import a OL Connect Workflow configuration file from another PC that includes an instance of the WordToPDF task, you must review the properties of each instance of the task and click OK to validate its contents. A new printer queue will be created if required and the default printer will be reset properly. If you do not perform these steps, running the configuration will result in several error messages being logged and the task failing.
• The preferences for the PrintShop Mail Web connector may not be saved properly if you set them and close the OL Connect Workflow Configuration tool without first sending the configuration to the service. Make sure you send the configuration before exiting from the Configuration tool.
• With Outlook 2010, the Send Email functionality requires that the service be run with administrative credentials in the domain. In addition, both Outlook and the OL Connect Workflow Configuration tool must *not* be running while the service is.
• The Microsoft Office 2010/2013/2016 and 365 line of products has not been certified for use with OL Connect Workflow. Some of its products may not be compatible with the connectors included.
• Barcodes produced in printer-centric mode may have a slightly different aspect from those produced in Optimized PostScript mode. This is due to the different types of 3rd party libraries being used to generate the barcodes. However, all barcodes scan correctly.