In this chapter…

… we present a collection of hints and tips for working with AppendPDF and AppendPDF Pro. If you are having trouble with the software, consult this list of issues for a possible solution.

Common error checklist

Before proceeding, if you are having problems with your PDF files, check that they are well-formed and not corrupt. Refer to Cleaning Up PDF Documents.

• AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro will not work properly with files that contain active form fields. You must flatten the form fields before running the files through AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro.
• AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro will not work with encrypted or write-protected files. Full permission on all files and paths is required for AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro to work properly.
• When using the log file option, -l, there must be a log file name immediately following the -l option. If there is no file name, AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro will not process and an error message will be appended to the bottom of your parameter file.
• Make sure all file and path names are correct. If you are working in one directory and AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro resides in another, you must account for that in your parameter file and command line. We recommend that you always use full paths to all files used in your parameter file.

For parameter files:

• Be aware that if even one path or file name is wrong in your parameter file the entire append will fail.
• Recheck the construction of the parameter file. Misspelled keywords (i.e., BeginSource instead of begin_source in the text parameter file) or keywords left out will cause AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro to fail. For xml parameter file, make sure tags are balanced, each tag has a begin and end tag: <inputpdf>file.pdf</inputpdf>
• Make sure there are no commas in filenames. AppendPDF or AppendPDF Pro will try to interpret the commas as part of a page range for the document.
• Make sure there are no spaces in source file entries. All items in the source files block of the parameter file should have no spaces between filename, commas, and page numbers.
• Make sure there is at least one space between an individual parameter and the parentheses that hold the value for that parameter, like this:

  parameter1 (value)
  parameter2 (value)

• Comments must be at the beginning of a line and start with the # symbol. If you are using comments in your parameter file, make sure they start at the beginning of a line.
• A parameter file should contain only one source files block. AppendPDF and AppendPDF Pro will ignore any source files block after the first one. Add all files to be appended together into one block. Use multiple parameter files to generate multiple output PDF files.