SkipBlankPages = True results in corrupt PDF/XLS exports

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Last Updated: 23 Nov 2023 12:53 by ADMIN

Release R3 2021 SP1

Yavin

Created on: 27 Apr 2021 23:28

Type: Bug Report

SkipBlankPages = True results in corrupt PDF/XLS exports

Not sure if you are aware of this but the new property SkipBlankPages in 2021/R1 will result in a corrupt (unopenable) PDF/XLS if the report contains no data.

The output used to be a blank report.

This behaviour is fixed by setting the Value to 'False' but this now requires the developer to remember to set this value on each new report. Perhaps the default should have stayed as 'False' and those who wish to remove blank pages could set it to true.

We are aware the property is set to true by default.

We have now had to modify (and subsequently retest) > 100 reports.

The generator should probably not create a 'corrupt' file in these cases.

Kind regards

4 comments

ADMIN

Todor

Posted on: 23 Nov 2023 12:53

Hello Bob,

Let me start with the issue we fixed - note that this bug is marked as 'Completed'. The fix is related to the generation of corrupt report documents when the report doesn't contain data. Now, when the report has no data, the RenderingReslut that is returned by the ReportProcessor.RenderReport method contains an error instead of a corrupted file.

You are right that setting the 'SkipBlankPages' default value to "TRUE" is a breaking change for reports that don't receive data. Indeed, it changes the behavior of these reports and they need to be modified. There are approaches for doing this automatically with code. We decided to set "TRUE" as default as the scenario with reports containing data is more common and this value will be suitable for the majority of the reports.

I agree that we may have underestimated the impact the change may have on our users. I apologize for this. Note that changing this default value will lead to a new unexpected change in the behavior of many reports. For that reason, we don't intend to change the default value of 'SkipBlankPages'.

Regards,
Todor
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Bob

Posted on: 16 Nov 2023 18:20

BTW - it's still in the 2023/2.0 release of Telerik Reporting. Apparently you have no intention of fixing it as it was originally reported in 2021. I am stuck upgrading and fixing all our reports now. Plus dealing with which clients are running which version of our software.

Bob

Posted on: 16 Nov 2023 18:16

Setting the SkipBlankPages default value to "TRUE" is a HUGE breaking change that is forcing us to revisit all our existing reports. Why would you not default safely to the prior behavior? Very, very bad thing you did here with this decision. Stuff like this is why I stayed on a 2012 version of Telerik until just now.

ADMIN

Nasko

Posted on: 28 Apr 2021 14:08

Hi Yavin,

I have logged this in our bug-tracking system. We will give you updates here on the progress of the bug. Your Telerik points have been updated for finding and reporting this behavior.

Regards,
Nasko
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