Apparent problem with Continuous viewing in version 2.5

[Bob Coleman]

I'm using PDF-Xchange Viewer 2.0 Build 56.0. I normally use Fit Width and Continuous. I use Fit Width to make what I'm viewing large enough to read conveniently. These options in conjunction with each other have the effect of Page Down paging through the entire document continuously on the screen with the page breaks in the actual document appearing at various places on the screen.

If I upgrade to 2.5 Build 193.0, the mentioned options don't seem to work correctly. The top of a page in the document always appears at the top of the viewing area. It appears that as I manually page through the document, whenever I reach a point at which the top of a new page would appear on the screen, the viewed portion jumps forward so that the top of the page is at the top of the viewing area and the last part of the previous page is missed.

[Bob Coleman]

Well, I noticed that in the browser (Firefox), the viewer was still behaving the way I expected, so I exported the settings and then imported them into a non-browser based session.

Initially, I thought this solved the problem, but I can't even understand all the results now, much less explain them. It seems like importing different sets of settings in different orders results in different end result even if the last imported set is the same. It also seems that the behavior of the viewer may change after rebooting the system.

However, at the moment, I seem to have a non-browser viewer behavior such that the top of each page of the document appears at the top of the viewing area, but no bottom of page text is skipped. I haven't figured out how the viewer is accomplishing that, but if that's what it's actually doing and continues to do, I'm perfectly happy with the behavior.

(The browser-based viewer is still behaving the way I'm used to which is OK too although I don't know why the two behaviors are different).

The bottom line is while I have a lack of understanding of what's going on, I don't have a problem that needs solving at the moment.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Bob,

Glad to hear that you got it working as you want.
I tried with single page continuous in various zoom modes and it seemed like it was scrolling with the PageDown Key as before, but with two pages continuous I could observe the same behaviour you described. I will speak with someone in the dev team to check this out and see why this was changes.

Best,
Stefan

[Bob Coleman]

What is two pages continuous?

Is that the same thing as facing?

[Chris - PDF-XChange]

Hi Bob,

It's the same as Facing Continuous.

Best,
Chris

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Bob,

We got contacted by another person that experienced the same problem as you, and he provided a sample file with which he says it is easier for him to reproduce this (I couldn't) so I have created a ticket for our devs:
#896: Issues with continuous modes in Viewer 2.5.193
And have included both our conversation here in the forums and that other guy's comments, so that they can check this situation.

We will keep you updated as soon as there are any news on the subject.

Best,
Stefan

[Bob Coleman]

Just for your information, I'm almost certain the same issue existed in 2.5.192.

I could also provide a file, but I don't know if another is of any interest.

It may be worth mentioning again that I don't think I yet have traditional continuous operation where the page breaks appear at various places on the screen. All the tops of pages are appearing at the top of the screen, but somehow bottoms of pages are not being skipped.

This is great, but I haven't yet figured out exactly how it's possible.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi Bob,

I've added a note to the ticket Stefan made that you have added more comments here in this thread. At present we will have to wait for the reply to the ticket that was created.

hth

[Bob Coleman]

I just noticed while working on something else that I had entries for both PDF-XChange Viewer 2.0.56 and 2.5.193 in my Programs and Features Control Panel (The Windows 7 Add/Remove Programs equivalent). Mostly in the interest of cleaning this up, I uninstalled them both though I'm not sure uninstalling 2.5.193 actually did anything after first uninstalling 2.0.56.

I then re-installed 2.5.193. While 'm not certain this will continue to be the case, Continuous seems to now be working as it has in the past.

My only point in posting this is to suggest that possibly, though I don't know, the behavior previously discussed is related to previously installing 2.5.192 over 2.0.56 (and then 2.5.193 over 2.5.192).

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Thanks for the additional details Bob.

I have only one entry of the Viewer on my machine, so this might not be the only cause, but it could well be related to the case, so I have included this in the ticket.

Best,
Stefan

[Bob Coleman]

I hope I'm not becoming a pest here. I'm trying to help more than complain at this point.

Anyway, I no longer have any reason to believe that installing one version over another has anything to do with this problem.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled numerous times in various combinations. Most of the time the combination of Fit Width and Continuous doesn't work properly in 2.5.193, but occasionally it does. I know the behavior can't be random, but feels random though heavily weighted toward incorrect behavior.

Furthermore, I'm not certain that correct behavior lasts even if seemingly obtained. I thought I had an installation of 2.5.193 working correctly last night, but I was mistaken or rebooting or re-viewing the file or paging further into the file changed the behavior. I do think I've encountered other cases in which the behavior has changed on a subsequent viewing of a file or after rebooting, but I can't be absolutely certain at this point.

I'm not even ruling out the possibility of a conflict with something else on my machine though I think 2.0.56 works OK.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Thanks Bob,

We do appreciate all your efforts, and at any point you have not considered you a pest, as your comments and additional information have really been good additions to the ticket.

We are still investigating this, as although a bit inconsistent to reproduce, it is there and does seem like a problem, so we are still chasing it.

I will keep you updated both here and with e-mails as soon as the devs provide some further info.

Cheers,
Stefan

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Thanks Bob,

We do appreciate all your efforts, and at any point we have not considered you a pest, as your comments and additional information have really been good additions to the ticket.

We are still investigating this, as although a bit inconsistent to reproduce, it is there and does seem like a problem, so we are still chasing it.

I will keep you updated both here and with e-mails as soon as the devs provide some further info.

Cheers,
Stefan

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

The case is fixed. Fix will be available in the next build of the viewer.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Bob,

I just got confirmation that this problem will be fixed with build 194 expected on the 25th.

Best,
Stefan

[Bob Coleman]

I confirm that this problem seems to be fixed in 2.5.194.

Of course we all wish these problems wouldn't happen, but they do and I am very pleased with the way this problem was handled especially given that it seemed to be obscure, difficult to reproduce, and possibly encountered only by two users of a free version. It would have been all too easy to push this problem aside.

It's ironic that a bug produces this result, but in appreciation of the software in general and the handling of this problem in particular and to give Tracker Software seemingly deserved support, I've just bought a license for the pro version which I probably don't need and the features of which I may not use.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Thanks Bob!

This is the best kind of support you can provide so once again - Many Thanks!

While you might not need all of the functions of your new Pro license yet I am pretty confident that over time you will find a way to utilize most of them in your daily routines. I myself am using our tools every day, and am so used to them that I do occasionally wonder: "How was I managing without them before"

Cheers,
Stefan