I've run into a problem that may affect others, so I figured I would share what I found. It seems that when Alpha generates PDF files, with <layout>.Send() or <layout>.SaveAs() and probably anything else that generates them, the PDF files that are created have the "Temporary" file attribute bit set. It sort of makes sense for Send() but most definitely not for SaveAs().
The consequences of having this bit set are subtle but can be serious. Three that I know of are: backup programs like Carbonite will not back up the files, disk cleanup programs are likely to delete them, and Alpha's File.Zip() method will not zip the files. I'm sure there are others.
I submitted a bug report and Selwyn got back to me saying that the problem will be fixed in the next release of V12 but earlier versions (like the V11 I use) are no longer supported.
Thankfully there are ways to read and write file attributes from within Alpha, so the fix is trivial if you have applications that generate PDF files, and you think it might matter to you.
This thread http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/al...ead.php?105691, while the topic is not relevant, contains posts that illustrate the problem and give a simple solution. I've tested it and it works.
BTW, Selwyn says the problem originates with the Amyuni printer driver. If there are other file formats that it produces, I would suspect them as well.
If you have an Alpha-generated PDF file and want to check it, right-click on it, pick Properties, then the Details tab. The Attributes item lists attributes that are set. You'll probably see "A" for Archive, but if you see "T" for Temporary, you are seeing the problem. [I'm using Win7/64; YMMV.]
-jimc
The consequences of having this bit set are subtle but can be serious. Three that I know of are: backup programs like Carbonite will not back up the files, disk cleanup programs are likely to delete them, and Alpha's File.Zip() method will not zip the files. I'm sure there are others.
I submitted a bug report and Selwyn got back to me saying that the problem will be fixed in the next release of V12 but earlier versions (like the V11 I use) are no longer supported.
Thankfully there are ways to read and write file attributes from within Alpha, so the fix is trivial if you have applications that generate PDF files, and you think it might matter to you.
This thread http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/al...ead.php?105691, while the topic is not relevant, contains posts that illustrate the problem and give a simple solution. I've tested it and it works.
BTW, Selwyn says the problem originates with the Amyuni printer driver. If there are other file formats that it produces, I would suspect them as well.
If you have an Alpha-generated PDF file and want to check it, right-click on it, pick Properties, then the Details tab. The Attributes item lists attributes that are set. You'll probably see "A" for Archive, but if you see "T" for Temporary, you are seeing the problem. [I'm using Win7/64; YMMV.]
-jimc