OpenOutputFile in DynaPdfMBS

Add-Ons
1

Hi, I have a problem with a method of the DynaPdf MBS library, in particular with the “OpenOutputFile” method. in practice, this method in most cases works correctly but, occasionally, it does not give a positive result!

I believe a temporary file, each time with a different name. Despite everything, sometimes it returns False, as if it couldn’t open the file (I simulate the situation using a breakpoint, going to open the file from the outside, for example with a pdf reader… in this case the exception always throws it ).
Anyone have an idea? a bug?

(Xojo 2019 r3.1 version, DynaPdfMBS version 21.1, but I’m not sure about that… 50531KB)

2

Well, if you overwrite an existing file, it may be open by some other app like the pdf viewer or the indexing tool from the OS.

Your app can pick another file name automatically and try again.
Or you create PDF in memory and later write it out with binary stream.

3

No, I’m pretty sure the file is new (I use a timestamp to generate its name, eg: yyyymmaaHHMMSS.pdf)

If I understand correctly, I create the file right from a document in memory (I carry over a portion of the code)

if pdfDoc.HaveOpenDoc then
  if f.IsWriteable then
    if not pdfDoc.OpenOutputFile(f) then
      app.logger.Logga("Impossibile scrivere il file PDF! [Utils_ScriviFile]", True)
      MsgBox("Impossibile scrivere il file PDF! [Utils_ScriviFile]")
    end if
    if myFlag then 
      call pdfDoc.CloseFileEx(pwdToApply, "XXXXXXXXX", 0, 0)
    else
      call pdfDoc.CloseFile 
    end if
    
  else
    MsgBox("errore in [Utils_ScriviFile]: f.IsWriteable = False")
  end if
else
  MsgBox("errore in [Utils_ScriviFile]: pdfDoc.HaveOpenDoc = False")  
end if
4

Are you creating new FolderItem instances? 2019 uses the older FolderItem system APIs where the reference is able to follow files you relocate. If you are not creating a new FolderItem instance, you may be accessing a file you aren’t expecting.

The framework has a function to help with this. Use GetTemporaryFolderItem to create a reference to a unique FolderItem in the temporary folder.

5

Does that overwrite an existing PDF file even if it is open in Preview or Adobe?

6

No, each time it’s a different file, named after a timestamp

7

do you mean if the folder where the file will go already exists? yes, the folder exists, it’s just the file that is created inside it, each time with a different name. it’s a folder that I use specifically for these temporary pdfs. Before calling the procedure, I clean up the folder among other things, in order to avoid the accumulation of files.