NetWare server abends when trying to index PDF files

  • 7002158
  • 11-Dec-2008
  • 27-Apr-2012

Environment

Novell GroupWise 8
Novell NetWare 6.5 Support Pack 7
Novell NetWare 6.5 Support Pack 8

Situation

When the Document Conversion agent running on a NetWare server tried to index PDF files it can abend the server.  The abend does not always happen and when it happens depends on the Post Office and how busy it is.

Resolution

The third-party viewer application that converts PDF files to HTML for indexing is not working properly on NetWare.  Use the following startup switch with the NetWare POA to prevent it from trying to index PDF files:

/dcafilter-pdf

On Linux and Windows, the POA successfully indexes PDF files.

Another, undocumented switch, that will keep the server from abending is /nodca
 
 

Additional Information

The fix for this will resolve the abends on NetWare as it will skip .pdf files.  .pdf files cannot be converted on NetWare, therefore the fix is intended to skip all .pdf files and reduce the chances of a crash because of that.