Pega Platform uses the PD4ML library to generate PDFs from HTML markup. Learning about library limitations and the available hotfixes can help you ensure a more reliable PDF generation process.
The following table lists the issues and hotfixes in releases:
Note: For a list of known issues that have been reported to PD4ML, see Existing known issues.
|
Release |
PD4ML version |
Issue |
Solution |
Hotfix |
|
8.2 |
3.10.0 |
Unable to create PDF/A file when using a HTMLToPDF activity and pyPDFGeneratePDFA=true parameter. |
Support for PDF/A was added in PD4ML 3.11.3. |
|
|
8.3 |
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|
8.3.4 |
3.10.0 |
Hindi Matras (Ligatures) and fonts are not displayed correctly in PDF. The same font works as expected when viewed in a browser. |
Older versions of PD4ML do not fully support Hindi fonts. As a best practice, upgrade to latest version with PD4ML 4.0.9 fx3 or 4.0.9 fx5. For PD4ML version 3.11.5, a hotfix has been released to improve support for Hindi language characters. |
HFIX-82331 |
|
8.3.6 |
3.11.3 |
Malayalam Matras (Ligatures) are not displayed correctly in PDF. The same font works as expected when viewed in a browser. |
PD4ML library has font limitations on Java 8. The same fonts worked as expected in JAVA 11 system. |
|
|
Hindi Matras (Ligatures) and fonts are not displayed correctly in PDF. The same font works as expected when viewed in a browser. |
Older versions of PD4ML do not fully support Hindi fonts . As a best practice, upgrade to latest version with PD4ML 4.0.9 fx3 or 4.0.9 fx5. For PD4ML version 3.11.5, a hotfix has been released to improve support for Hindi language characters. |
HFIX-82907 |
||
|
8.4.1 |
4.0.6 |
PD4ML 4.0.6 does not support "margin: auto" style for table rows. The content is removed from the PDF. |
PD4ML fixed this issue in version 4.0.9fx5, which is used in versions 8.5.4, 8.6.1, 8.7 and newer. |
|
|
8.4.2 |
4.0.6 |
Incorrect image dimensions. |
PD4ML fixed this issue in version 4.0.9fx1, which is used in versions 8.4.3, and 8.5.2. |
HFIX-67090 |
|
8.4.3 |
4.0.9fx1 |
504 Gateway timeout error is displayed when processing the Case at the approval stage, with lengthy PDF generation time. Issue appears after upgrading from 8.4.1 to 8.4.3. |
Degraded the pd4ml jar version to 4.0.6 and commented out the unsupported code by 4.0.6. |
HFIX-80020 |
|
8.4.4 |
4.0.9fx3 |
PD4ML version 4.0.9fx3 shows performance issues, with exceptions and 100% CPU usage occurring. |
4.0.9fx3 includes performance and alignment limitations. Issue can be solved with HFIX- 80300, which contains the last working jar (4.0.6). |
HFIX-80300 |
|
PNG, SVG, JPG, and JPEG images are not rendered in the PDF. |
Update to fixed version 4.0.9fx5. |
HFIX-80485 |
||
|
Generated PDF is 0 KB and does not open. |
Issue can be fixed by applying 4.0.9fx5 changes (HFIX-80485) with version change in PDFUtils.java. |
HFIX-81692 |
||
|
8.4.6 |
4.0.9fx5 |
Flex Style and advanced CSS are missing from the PDF. |
Version 4.0.9fx5 includes known limitations that might produce alignment issues and some flex and advanced styles are not supported by this version. Issue can be fixed with HFIX-81875, which contains the 4.0.6 version of PD4ML. |
HFIX-81875 |
|
8.5.1 |
4.0.9fx1 |
PDF does not include Chinese characters. |
Issue with PD4ML 4.0.6. Issue fixed in newer versions, so updating the PD4ML to 4.0.9 fx4 fixes the error. |
HFIX-69903 |
|
8.5.2 |
4.0.9fx1 |
PD4ML ignores the start attribute of the OL tag. |
The issue has been fixed in PD4ML 4.0.13. Upgrading to latest release resolves the issue. |
|
|
Export to PDF for two reports containing large data produces a PDF with missing columns . |
Issue with 4.0.9fx1. |
HFIX-80323 |
||
|
Images in the PDF do not follow styling, with incorrect sizing and positioning. |
Issue with 4.0.9fx1. |
HFIX-80323 |
||
|
PDF generates thousands of blank pages. |
Markup includes regular expressions that are not supported by PD4ML. Issue can be solved by removing the expressions. |
|||
|
System freezes when downloading the PDF. |
Issue can be solved with HFIX-80323, which downgrades PD4ML to version 4.0.6. |
HFIX-80323 |
||
|
8.5.3 |
4.0.9fx3 |
System freezes or has high CPU usage when generating or downloading the PDF. |
Issue with 4.0.9fx3. Issue can be solved with HFIX-80331, which downgrades PD4ML to version 4.0.6, or by upgrading to a release with a newer PD4ML version. |
HFIX-80331 |
|
Email listeners stuck on HTMLtoPDF. |
Issue can be solved by HFIX-83164 that downgrades the PD4ML version to 4.0.6 or by HFIX-83344 that includes timeout changes for the Pega Platform. |
HFIX-83164 and HFIX-83344 |
||
|
8.5.4 |
4.0.9fx5 |
Images repeated three times in the PDF. |
Issue with 4.0.9fx5. Issue can be solved with HFIX-81239 and HFIX-82936, which include PD4ML 4.0.6, or by upgrading to a release with a newer PD4ML version. |
HFIX-81239 |
|
8.5.5 |
4.0.9fx5 |
Chinese special characters are not working as expected and the PDF file size increases drastically. |
Issue with 4.0.9fx5. Issue can be solved with HFIX-81239 and HFIX-82936, which include PD4ML 4.0.6, or by upgrading to a release with a newer PD4ML version. Disable HTML pre-processing done by PDF utility. |
HFIX-82936 |
|
Page numbers in the PDF footer show only single digits. For example, Page number 11 is displayed as 1. |
Issue with 4.0.9fx5. Issue can be solved with HFIX-81239 and HFIX-82936, which include PD4ML 4.0.6, or by upgrading to a release with a newer PD4ML version. |
|||
|
8.6 |
4.0.9fx5 |
Alignment issues. |
Issue can be solved by applying hotfix. |
HFIX-80747 |
|
8.6.1 |
4.0.9fx5 |
PDF includes blank pages. |
Issue can be partially solved with HFIX-82230 or completely by upgrading to a release with PD4ML 4.0.13. |
HFIX-82230 |
|
Incorrect grid rendering and other alignment issues. |
Issue can be solved by downgrading to a release with PD4ML 4.0.6. |
HFIX-81542 |
||
|
PDF footer is repeated twice when the NOREF attribute is used. |
Issue can be solved by upgrading to a release with PD4ML 4.0.13 or above. |
|||
|
Table tag does not render in the PDF. |
Issue can be solved by upgrading to a release with PD4ML 4.0.13fx1. |
HFIX-83040 |
||
|
8.6.2 |
4.0.9fx5 |
Page numbers with three or more digits are truncated. |
Issue can be solved with HFIX-83056. |
HFIX-83056 |
|
Multiple alignment issues after using 4.0.9fx5. The same markup worked as expected in 4.0.6 and 4.0.13. |
Issue can be solved with HFIX-83056 that contains PD4ML 4.0.13fx1. |
HFIX-83056 |
||
|
8.6.3 |
4.0.13fx1 |
A5 PDFs are not generated correctly. |
Support for the A5 page size is not handled by the engine code. Issue can be solved with HFIX-83172. |
HFIX-83172 |
|
Alignment issues with generated PDFs. |
Issue can be fixed by downgrading to PD4ML 4.0.6. |
HFIX-82835 |
||
|
Incorrect table formats when using application skin to generate PDFs. |
Fixed in PD4ML 4.0.13fx5a. For other versions, HFIX-84953 can be used to downgrade the library to 4.0.9fx5. |
HFIX-84953 |
||
|
Issues with right-to-left languages. |
FIX-84953 can be used to downgrade the library to 4.0.9fx5. |
|||
|
?? symbols displayed instead of Arabic characters in INPUT tags. |
Issue can be solved by using SPAN and DIV tags. |
|||
|
8.6.5 |
4.0.13fx1 |
width attribute is not considered during PDF generation if the unit is given in percent, pixels, or millimeters. |
Issue can be solved by using the min-width attribute. |
|
|
VIC TTF fonts uploaded by client on the server are not displayed in the PDF. |
Java version is not compatible with VIC fonts. |
|||
|
Arabic languages rendered incorrectly from right to left. |
Issue can be fixed by downgrading to PD4ML 4.0.9fx5. |
HFIX-84953 |
||
|
8.6.6 |
4.0.13fx1 |
PDF is not generated in the queue processor. Issue started occurring after a patch upgrade from 8.6.3 (used 4.0.9fx5) to 8.6.6 (used 4.0.13fx1). |
Issue can be solved by downgrading PD4ML to version 4.0.9fx5 with hotfix HFIX-B162, or by upgrading it to 4.0.13fx8 with HFIX-A210. |
HFIX-B162 |
|
HFIX-A210 |
||||
|
8.7.1 |
4.0.9fx5 |
Page number in the PDF footer shows only single digits. For example, Page number 11 is displayed as 1. |
Issue with 4.0.9fx5. Issue can be solved with HFIX-83700, which include PD4ML 4.0.6. |
HFIX-83700 |
|
Header and footers are cutting content on page 1 of the PDF. |
Issue can be fixed by upgrading to PD4ML 4.0.13fx6. |
HFIX-85195 |
||
|
8.7.3 |
4.0.13 |
Nested tables cause the system to crash. |
Issue with PD4ML 4.0.13. Issue can be solved with HFIX-85387, which include PD4ML 4.0.13fx7. |
HFIX-85387 |
|
When generating PDFs, the offsets are not set properly and the lines are cut off. |
Issue can be fixed by upgrading to PD4ML 4.0.13fx6. |
HFIX-85210 |
||
|
8.7.4 |
4.0.13fx1 |
PDF is not Fit to Width. |
Fixed in v4.0.15 by defining the PD4ML_DOCUMENT_VIEW_MODE setting. |
|
|
Nested tables cause the system to crash. |
Issue with PD4ML 4.0.13fx1. Issue can be solved with HFIX-A122, which include PD4ML 4.0.13fx8. The issue was also fixed in PD4ML 4.0.19. |
HFIX-A122 |
||
|
Continuous Slow component issue on Queue. |
Cause not found. Issue can be solved by upgrading to PD4ML 4.0.13fx5. |
HFIX-A1237 |
||
|
8.7.6 |
4.0.13fx8 |
Page breaks no longer work in generated PDF. |
Issue can be solved with HFIX-A1261, which downgrades PD4ML to version 4.0.13fx7. The issue was also fixed in PD4ML 4.0.19. |
HFIX-A1261 |
|
8.8 |
4.0.13fx1 |
HTMLtoPDF produces missing data due to overlapping footers. |
Issue can be solved by upgrading the PD4ML to 4.013fx5. |
HFIX-85080 |
|
Incorrect alignment and text wrapping. |
HFIX-85324 |
|||
|
8.8.1 |
4.0.13fx1 |
Japanese double byte characters are not properly displayed in PDF. |
Issue fixed in PD4ML 4.0.16. |
Limitation |
|
8.8.2 |
4.0.13fx6 |
Node down when generating PDFs. |
Cause not found. Issue can be solved by downgrading PD4ML to 4.0.9fx5. |
|
|
8.8.3 |
4.0.13fx7 |
PDF files that are left open in the service export directory. |
Cause not found. Additional loggers added in diagnostic hotfix 4.0.13fx9a3. |
HFIX-A976 |
|
PDF generation results in 0 KB files. Markup with image tags is not generated. |
Issue can be solved by downgrading PD4ML to 4.0.9fx5 |
HFIX-A1177 |
||
|
PDF generation is stuck and the screen freezes. |
Cause not found. Issue can be solved by downgrading PD4ML to 4.0.6-1. |
HFIX-B482 |
||
|
8.8.4 |
4.0.13fx8 |
Page breaks no longer work in generated PDF. |
Issue can be solved with HFIX-B466, which downgrades PD4ML to version 4.0.13fx7. |
HFIX-B466 |
|
XML external entity (XXE) through SVG rasterization in Dynamically Generated PDF. |
Fixed in Pega Java files and in PD4ML 4.0.17. |
HFIX-B91 |
||
|
23.1.1 |
4.0.17 |
Page breaks no longer work in generated PDF. |
For security reasons, PD4ML v.4.0.17 ignores page break CSS styling inside nested tables, specifically when the table is nested three or more levels deep. Issue can be solved with HFIX-B184, which downgrades PD4ML to version 4.0.13fx7. The issue was also fixed in PD4ML 4.0.19. |
HFIX-B184 |
|
PDF generation causes stuck threads. |
Issue can be solved by downgrading PD4ML to version 4.0.13. |
HFIX-B1141 |
||
| 23.1.2 | 4.0.13fx8 | Parts of headers and layouts missing. Page-break-after styles do not work. | Issue can be solved by using v.4.0.19 PD4ML jar. | HFIX-B91 |
| 24.2 | 4.0.9fx5 | PD4ML Updated | As of version 24.2 PD4ML has been updated to the latest version. |
Stable PD4ML library
Pega has identified a stable version of PD4ML that can help address performance issues related to other PD4ML library versions in Pega Platform versions 8.6.3 and newer. Because the stable PD4ML version 4.0.9fx5 has limitations, it is not recommended if you have a Pega Platfrom version 8.6.3 and newer and do not experience PDF performance issues, you do not need to do anything.
If you do experience PDF issues, it is recommended that you update to the closest Pega version, as listed below:
|
Pega release |
Default PD4ML jar version |
PD4ML 4.0.9fx5 HFIX |
|
24.1.1 |
4.0.19 | HFIX-B1832 |
|
24.1 |
4.0.19 |
HFIX-B1429 |
|
23.1.2 |
4.0.19 |
HFIX-B1430 |
|
23.1.0 |
4.013fx8 |
HFIX-B1451 |
|
8.8.5 |
4.0.19 |
HFIX-B1452 |
|
8.8.4 |
4.0.13fx8 |
HFIX-B1201 |
|
8.8.3 |
4.0.13fx7 |
HFIX-A1177 |
|
8.8.2 |
4.0.13fx6 |
HFIX-A404 |
|
8.7.6 |
4.0.13fx8 |
HFIX-B1453 |
|
8.6.6 |
4.0.13fx1 |
HFIX-B162 |
|
8.6.5 |
4.0.13fx1 |
HFIX-84953 |
|
8.6.3 |
4.0.13fx1 |
HFIX-83172 |
Known limitations of PD4ml 4.0.9fx5 Jar
The PD4ML version 4.0.9fx5, which is used for PDF generation, removes known issues with performance, node outage, and high CPU use.
At the same time, PD4ML version 4.0.9fx5 includes the following known issues:
- Some images are published three times in the PDF.
- Chinese characters are not working as expected in the PDF, and the PDF file size increases drastically.
- Footer displays a single digit page number even if the number contains two or more digits. For example, Page number 11 is displayed as 1.
- Blank spaces or blank pages appear in the PDF.
- Footer is repeated twice when NOREF attribute is used (pd4ml:footnote noref="").
- A5 documents are not generated correctly.
- Margin in the HR tag is not working property.