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Troubleshooting PTC APP Publishing
Creating the PTC APP Snapshot
You may need to troubleshoot the publishing process when using PTC APP to print or publish PDF. This troubleshooting process requires an PTC APP snapshot zip file. You need to create the PTC APP snapshot file using one of the following:
the set appsnapshot ACL command.
the app-snapshot=yes document conversion parameter when sending f=convert publishing requests to the Arbortext PE server. The request places the snapshot file in the transaction archive. For more information on transaction archives, refer to Configuration Guide for Arbortext Publishing Engine.
The PTC APP snapshot zip contains the following:
manifest.xml — An XML document that contains information about the contents of the snapshot file.
inputDoc.xml — The document sent to PTC APP with some modifications. It is flattened and its graphic references point to the doc-graphics directory.
doc-graphics — A directory containing a copy of the graphics referenced by inputDoc.xml.
appsnap.log — A log of the events from generating the PTC APP snapshot. If the snapshot is not complete, the appsnap.log contains additional information.
dynamic.dtd or dynamic.xsd — (optional) An XML document type definition (DTD) file or an XML schema (XSD) file may be necessary to read inputDoc.xml. The snapshot can contain one of these files if it is needed to read the inputDoc.xml. For example, DITA documents use a dynamic DTD.
The PTC APP snapshot does not contain the document type, stylesheet, PTC APP configuration file, or the contents of the application or custom directories. You can generate a zip containing those using Tools > Save Application.
Executing the Snapshot Tool
After generating the PTC APP snapshot zip file, you will use the Execute ALD Snapshot tool to run the publishing process on the PTC APP snapshot file. You can use a hints.xml file to override some of the parameters used by PTC APP during publishing the document. The PTC APP snapshot file does not contain a hints.xml file. You can either provide a path to it in the Execute ALD Snapshot dialog box, or you can insert one directly into the snapshot archive before you execute the troubleshooting process. Unzip the snapshot zip file, copy the hints.xml file into the extracted directory, and then zip the directory again.
To provide the hints.xml file , you must create one. It is an XML document that provides parameters to override some of the publishing parameters in effect when the snapshot was created. The file takes the following form:
<app:AppSnapshotHints xmlns:app="http://arbortext.ptc.com/AppSnapshot">
<Hint name="parameter-name" value="parameter-value"/>
<Hint name="parameter-name" value="parameter-value"/>
<Hint name="parameter-name" value="parameter-value" />
</app:AppSnapshotHints>
The supported hint names and values are as follows:
Hint Name
Value
cropmarks
Specify 1 to display crop marks. Specify 0 to suppress them.
datemark
Specify 1 to display date marks. Specify 0 to suppress them.
printRange
Specify the pages to print or publish to PDF. You can specify page numbers, page ranges, or combinations of both, for example, 3-5,9,21-33.
regmarks
Specify 1 to display registration marks. Specify 0 to suppress them.
APPChecksumPath
Specify 1 to generate a checksum file. Specify 0 to suppress it. The file is placed in the same directory as the PDF produced from the snapshot.
APPSavePath
Specify 1 to save the PTC APP template file generated during publishing. Specify 0 to suppress them. The file is placed in the same directory as the PDF produced from the snapshot.
editstylesheet
Specify the absolute path to a stylesheet to use when opening the input document before publishing.
stylesheet
Specify the absolute path to a stylesheet to pass to PTC APP during publishing.
APPConfigFile
Specify the absolute path to an PTC APP configuration file to pass to PTC APP during publishing.
Tracing Activity During the Snapshot Execution
If you have trouble running the snapshot tool, you can use the diagnostics program. Launch the PTC Arbortext Diagnostics tool from your program group shortcuts. Then set the ACL global variable appsnapx::debug to 2. Issue the command set debug==extwin on the command line or from a script in custom\init. Then execute the snapshot tool again and check the diagnostics window. For more information on the diagnostics window, refer to Getting Trace Information in the Configuration Guide for Arbortext Publishing Engine PDF.
It is recommended that troubleshooting PTC APP publishing using snapshots is done with the supervision of Technical Support.