NWP 2.04 crash

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pantrax
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NWP 2.04 crash

Post by pantrax »

Recently when I sat down to work with this file, 2.04 froze, making me have to force-quit it. I tried several tricks, including making a copy of the attachted file (which I had no choice but to use) and working with that, but no joy. I finally decided 2.04 was the culprit. I downgraded to 2.03, seemed to experience the same issue, and then downgraded frantically to 2.02 (I had a class to teach the next day and NWP is what I use to create all my handouts), which worked as flawlessly as it ever has.

Any ideas what's going wrong?

i3 iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010)
3.2 GHz, 8Gb RAM,
Mac OS X 10.6.8 Build 10K549 (Snow Leopard)
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%22To Do%22 List.rtf
(33.71 KiB) Downloaded 719 times
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

I'm sorry Nisus Writer gave you such trouble, especially when you need it working for the next day! Well, I didn't have any trouble opening the file you attached, so maybe there's something beyond the file at work here. Could you save a copy of Apple's hang report (which appears after you force quit an application) and send it to us or attach it here? Hopefully that will give us some clues. Thanks!
pantrax
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by pantrax »

I re-upgraded to 2.04, but I can't get the same thing to happen again. Is there some place in the logs the crash record would be stored?
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

Crash logs are indeed saved to disk, in your home folder at:

Code: Select all

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports
Unfortunately force quit reports are not logged, they are merely displayed ephemerally in Apple's feedback/crash report window. Once you've clicked to dismiss/send that report, it's gone.

Well, if you do ever encounter another hang, please make a copy of the report if you remember at the time and send it along to us. Thank you!
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Hamid
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by Hamid »

Hello Martin,
Opening the file is all right but just saving it reproduces the hang with 2.0.4 on 10.8.
I have sent you feedback; it is [Report ID: 72881]
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

Thanks for the report Hamid, I've received it and was able to reproduce the problem.

It turns out the trigger of the hang is the empty paragraph after the text "Explain Why This Experience Matters to You NOW". Specifically the hang is caused because all of the following are true:

1. The paragraph is empty (ie: has no content besides the newline).
2. The paragraph has a paragraph style applied that enforces TOC inclusion (in this case the "List Item" style enforces TOC level 3).
3. The paragraph has a manual "Remove From TOC" attribute applied (ie: it overrides the "List Item" style to turn off TOC inclusion).

If any one of those three things is changed, the hang does not occur. Obviously we'll have to get this fixed, but hopefully that gives you some ways to workaround the bug for now. Thanks to both of you for your help here!
Kino
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by Kino »

martin wrote:Crash logs are indeed saved to disk, in your home folder at:

Code: Select all

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports
Perhaps this may be affected by my personal configuration but I just found several “Nisus Writer Pro_<date-number>_minibox.hang” and “soffice.bin_<date-number>_localhost.crash” in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports, not in /Users/me/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports.
pantrax
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by pantrax »

I just found all of those hangs from 8/20 there. I'm attaching the first three in a zip file (if you want them all, I can send them). Thanks. Kino! And thanks to everyone for looking into this. I guess I need to create a 'blankline' style to make sure this doesn't happen again; I admit, I use embedded TOC in styles like mad because the TOC entries work so well in assisting my students to navigate the resulting PDFs.
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

Kino wrote:Perhaps this may be affected by my personal configuration but I just found several “Nisus Writer Pro_<date-number>_minibox.hang” and “soffice.bin_<date-number>_localhost.crash” in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports, not in /Users/me/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports.
Thanks for that information Kino. I wasn't aware that hang reports were saved there, but that is very useful, thank you!
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

pantrax wrote:I just found all of those hangs from 8/20 there. I'm attaching the first three in a zip file (if you want them all, I can send them).
Thanks for the hang reports. I think we have all that we need to get this bug fixed, thank you!
JAF
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by JAF »

I have been experiencing what looks like the same problem. Is there an expected date for a fix, or do I need to go through my file searching for a paragraph that meets those criteria?

I saved the report in case it is of any use to you.
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

JAF wrote:I have been experiencing what looks like the same problem. Is there an expected date for a fix, or do I need to go through my file searching for a paragraph that meets those criteria?
We don't have an expected date for the fix, but it's the kind of bug that we plan to fix ASAP, so you could expect to see a fix whenever we next have an update for Pro.

As we've been in touch with you privately on this matter, we can pinpoint the exact paragraph that's causing you grief: the empty paragraph after the title "PREMIÈRE PARTIE" on page 10. If you delete that line, insert any character (eg: a single space) on the line, or use a different paragraph style for that line that doesn't involve the TOC, then the file will save without triggering a hang.

Sorry for the trouble; I hope this helps.
JAF
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by JAF »

Thank you for your response.

I’ve tidied up the formatting to specify the spacing in the style instead of using a blank paragraph, and it’s all working now.
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CrisB
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by CrisB »

Hi Martin,

This post reports a NWP crash. But whenever I see a bug or have a crash, I generally report it via NWP's revamped and excellent Menu > Help > Send Feedback instead.

Do Nisus have a preference for where to report bugs? How about a crash? In this forum, or via Send Feedback?

Cris
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martin
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Re: NWP 2.04 crash

Post by martin »

CrisB wrote:Do Nisus have a preference for where to report bugs? How about a crash? In this forum, or via Send Feedback?
In general it's better to report crashes, hangs, and any serious issues via the menu Help > Send Feedback. The main reason is that the reporter automatically gathers relevant logs and other information, which makes a diagnosis easier. But also because most Nisus users (even power users) don't have the background and necessary knowledge to pour over a crash log and identify the actual cause of a problem.

That's not to say posting in the forum isn't useful; there's a lot of wisdom between the users here. And for some issues you encounter, it might be more important to have a discussion on the topic, possibly get a faster reply, or have some extra eyes (and brains) see if there's a workaround.

I'd say just use good judgement on this and report the bug whichever way (or ways) you think is appropriate and useful. But as far as Nisus Software is concerned, the feedback reporter is the most efficient and effective way to solve crashing bugs.
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