Some links are lost during export

Jay Robinson's Avatar

Jay Robinson

07 Feb, 2018 03:42 PM

I am editing in Markdown, and finding that some of my links aren't exporting when I output as HTML or PDF. The links work fine in the Markdown view, and are styled as links there; they just don't make it through the export process.

I've tried re-adding the links by dragging; recreating the linked pages — it all works fine in the editor and then fails to export.

Is this a common problem? For my purposes, it has rendered VoodooPad useless.

  1. 1 Posted by Colin on 07 Feb, 2018 03:53 PM

    Colin's Avatar

    Hi,

    Thanks for letting us know about this. I'm not certain what would be causing this behaviour, but I'd like to ask a few questions to help us narrow down the cause of this.

    Could you let me know what version of VoodooPad you're using (e.g. 5.1.8), and clarify for me if the links that aren't working are links to other pages or hyperlinks? If you're linking to other pages, are they markdown pages or another type? In either case, could you provide an example of a line that includes one of these links? If there is any other formatting that is applied to the link, knowing that might help us narrow down what is going on more quickly.

    In addition, could you let me know if the links work when clicked? I would like to determine if the links are non-functional, or just non-styled.

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

  2. 2 Posted by Jay Robinson on 07 Feb, 2018 04:08 PM

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    Here's that info:
    Version 5.1.8 (5248) (Just updated this morning, but problem preceded update)
    All pages are markdown, and all links are to markdown pages within VoodooPad
    Links work in the editor, but not in HTML or PDF

    Here's a few Markdown lines with one working and one non-working link:

    ## The Wykaree Family ##

    + Torgan Wykaree (TORE•gann WICK•uh•ree), grain importer and prominent citizen.
    + Merlina Wykaree (Murr•LEE•nuh WICK•uh•ree), Torgan’s wife.

    ^^ "Torgan Wykaree" link survives export, "Merlina Wykaree" link does not.

    Here is a similarly-formatted section that does not have the same problem:

    ## Bodyguards ##

    + Wyck Durndale, human male, leader of Wykaree security and personal guard to Torgan
    + Verma the Red, human female, Wick's lieutenant and personal guard to Merlina

    Thanks for any help you can provide.

  3. 3 Posted by Colin on 07 Feb, 2018 06:50 PM

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    Hi,

    I see, thank you very much. I've reproduced some of the issues that you've identified in our office, and I'll pass this information along to my team to take a closer look and hopefully resolve in a future update.

    Regarding the Bodyguards section, could you confirm for me that how the links appear for you when exported to PDF?

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

  4. 4 Posted by Jay Robinson on 07 Feb, 2018 08:05 PM

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    Here’s the breakdown for the Bodyguard unordered list:

    Markdown in editor: links styled and operable

    HTML preview: links are styled correctly
    HTML export: links are styled and followable

    PDF preview: Links are styled, and preview window attempts to follow them to URL
    PDF export attempt 1: export failed (empty document) and VooDooPad crashed. (note that the save dialog was instructed to overwrite an existing PDF of same filename)
    PDF export attempt 2: new filename for save. No styling, but links do work.

    Some more info:

    1. I am also losing some styling, e.g. ** boldText **, which works most places but not all.
    2. History on how this document was created:
    It started as RTF, then I discovered that Markdown was available. I used the Format > Convert Page To functionality for all pages.
    It was at that point that I started to have issues with exporting. I first noticed the garbled output at HTML export
    this HTML export issue then seemed to spread through the document until many of the pages were affected
    I then copied the Markdown text out of VoodooPad into a plain text editor and pasted it into back into a newly-created page in the document. I did this for each page, and deleted the original page.
    For a time this seemed to fix the problem, but the output problem is now propagating again.
    Note that the unstyled/unlinked problems have been consistent throughout, and were not fixed by the cut-and-paste.
    A few times, I have fixed a link by changing its order within the list, but at the cost of breaking another link below it.
    3. When I get garbled HTML output, the console reports:

    VoodooPad Console
    Return value not converted in NSMakeRect
    Return value not converted in defaultTextFrame
    Argument { not converted Line 0
    TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'textFrame.origin') Line 62

  5. 5 Posted by Jay Robinson on 08 Feb, 2018 12:19 PM

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    Colin,

    Experimentation has produced a little follow-up:

    Bad links
    asterisks, plus signs, or hyphens designating the unordered list makes no difference; the same links remain unstyled and nonfunctional in HTML export.
    Dragging in the same link from the Pages drawer yields a good link in the editor, but does not fix the export problem.
    Retyping the link text yields a good link in the editor, but does not fix the export problem.
    Replacing one of the broken links in the ul with the text of a known good link from elsewhere caused a crash on export. After relaunching, the link exported as bad and unstyled.
    Good links
    replacing the ul marker with “>” indentation yields styled, functional links in HTML import.
    Deleting line returns and letting the text flow across the page yields a paragraph of functional, styled links in the export.
    Moving a ul link item to another part of the document sometimes fixes the problem, but not reliably.
    Also, this has cropped up:

    This markup

    ##Servants## (where Servants is a page link)

    is yielding in the HTML export
    servants">Servants <applewebdata://EE5F5FFE-F475-45AB-A25D-42C730AD9A98/servants.html>
    Just in one location. But replacing the link with another link yields the same strange output:
    linkname">Linkname <applewebdata://8F96530B-5F4C-4E6C-A21F-A1DA9B7C7A03/linkname.html>

    Anyway, I hope that’s helpful.

    Jay

  6. 6 Posted by Colin on 08 Feb, 2018 04:12 PM

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    Hi Jay,

    Thank you! Your detailed information has been a great help in narrowing down some of these issues.

    I've taken a closer look at several of these issues that you're encountering. Currently, Markdown page links are normally styled and functional when exported to HTML, and they are normally un-styled and functional when exported to PDF. I'll pass your interest in styled PDF links along to my team and see if we can incorporate them into a future update.

    It seems that there is an issue causing page links to appear and function incorrectly if you have a page link at the beginning of a bullet list item, and on the previous bullet list item you include the unicode bullet character (•). We're investigating a solution to this issue now, and in the mean time your page links should appear consistently if you replace the bullet character (the one that you're using for pronunciation instructions) with another character.

    Regarding the issue with the ##Servants## link, could you let me know what content is on that page before ##Servants## so that I can take a closer look? If it is only happening with one page link, it may be due to another issue earlier in the page. For that problem as well as the garbled HTML output, it would be very helpful for us if you would be able to provide all or part of the document that you're working with (e.g. by copying the document, and perhaps deleting all of the pages in the copy that you would prefer not to share).

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

  7. 7 Posted by Jay Robinson on 08 Feb, 2018 04:57 PM

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    Colin,

    Sometime during my editing, the ##Servants## link problem disappeared. I’ve tried to recover the affected version, but apparently I don’t have a restorable save of that particular edit.

    I’m sending the file in any case; perhaps you can find useful clues in there. If the problem recurs, I’ll be sure to send a copy.

    Note that substituting hyphens for bullets fixed the problem in most — but not all — of the second ul (see attached image of HTML export).

  8. 8 Posted by Colin on 09 Feb, 2018 08:23 PM

    Colin's Avatar

    Hi,

    I see, thank you very much. I'll take a closer look at the document that you sent over and see if we can resolve the other issues that you have been running into.

    It seems to me that the issue that occurred with the bullet symbol causing links to not appear correctly is also happening as a result of the particular type of apostrophes you're using. I'll pass this information along to my team and see if we can resolve it in an upcoming update; in the mean time, if you delete and retype the apostrophe it should export correctly, with all links being styled and functional.

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

  9. 9 Posted by Jay Robinson on 09 Feb, 2018 10:26 PM

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    Colin,

    I changed bullets for hyphens, and replaced the apostrophes with "&apos;” and everything seems to be exporting with links intact now. I guess I’m really putting the Markdown parser through its paces.

    Thanks for your help. VoodooPad’s automated linking is invaluable, and something I really didn’t want to have to manage manually!

    Best,

    Jay

  10. 10 Posted by Colin on 12 Feb, 2018 05:38 PM

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    Hi,

    I'm glad to hear that exporting is going better for you now!

    We'll be continuing to investigate some of the issues that you've been running into, and we hope to resolve them in a future VoodooPad update. If you have any other questions or run into other kinds of problems, please let me know and I would be happy to help out.

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

  11. 11 Posted by Jay Robinson on 18 Feb, 2018 06:23 PM

    Jay Robinson's Avatar

    This may be related to the previous problem. When I attempt to export that file as an ePub document, VooDoo is stripping capital letters from some links in lists.

    Thought I’d pass it along.

    Best,

    Jay Robinson

  12. 12 Posted by Jay Robinson on 18 Feb, 2018 06:26 PM

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    Sorry, meant to include an example:

    This may be related. When I attempt to export that file as an ePub document, VooDoo is stripping capital letters from

    ##Servants##

    + Grichin Omberin (GRICH-in OM-bur-in), Torgan&apos;s half-elf valet and butler.
    + Rindle Datchery (RIN-dull DATCH-uh-ree), human footman.
    + Bortaleno (BOR-tuh-lee-no), the halfling chef.
    + Fera Turvey (FEH-ruh TURR-vee), human female, lady’s maid to Merlina Wykaree.
    + Lyle Millbridge (LIE-ull MILL-bridge) human cook’s assistant and footman.
    + Cinna Andiril (SIN-nuh AN-dear-ril) scullery maid
     

    ##Bodyguards##

    + Wyck Durndale, human male, leader of Wykaree security and personal guard to Torgan.
    + Verma the Red, human female, Wick&apos;s lieutenant and personal guard to Merlina.
    + Tully Fairwind, human male house guard.
    + Mollin Dray, half-elf guard to Margil.
    + Karn, half-orc female, house guard.
    + Simor Flint, dwarf male house guard.

    YIELDS attached image (viewed in Apple’s iBooks):

  13. 13 Posted by Colin on 20 Feb, 2018 07:17 PM

    Colin's Avatar

    Hi,

    I see, that is quite unusual behaviour. Would I be correct in assuming that all of the names which appear immediately after a bullet point (e.g. Gritchin Omberin, Wyck Durndale, or Karn) are links to another page?

    I'm investigating this issue now. Could you let me know which page is the Cover Page for your ePub export, and which other pages linked to from this page are in the collection that is being exported to ePub?

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

  14. 14 Posted by Jay Robinson on 20 Feb, 2018 08:45 PM

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    Yes. Each list item begins with an internal link.

    The cover page is an image, added since the last file I sent.

    All the links in the main document page (Wykaree Tower) have been changed to lower case.
    Links on the other pages have retained their case as written with one exception: on the page "Torgan Wykaree" there is one correct link and one lower-cased link.

    I hope that helps.

    Best,

    Ja

  15. 15 Posted by Colin on 21 Feb, 2018 05:54 PM

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    Hi,

    That is very helpful! I'll pass this information along to my team and see if we can identify these issues and address them in an upcoming update.

    All the best,
    Colin
    Primate Labs Inc.

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