InDesign CS3 broken links

[richielj]

We have six INDD CS3 users producing catalogs. Lately we've noticed that the integrity of links within a document is not the same for all users. The links show that the images have been modified after being placed. One user will update all links in a document but when another user opens that document all or some of these links will be broken... This varies from user to user and typically none of the images have been modified.

We use catalog management software by a Danish company called STIBO who says we must be doing something wrong to cause this problem. I have tried to troubleshoot this problem with no luck. We've considered the nightly server backup (but the IT department says "No way") as well as individual network connections.

When I store documents locally for archiving after updating the links all images stay linked. STIBO is telling us that it must have something to do with the way INDD handles links, but I think this is unnecessary finger-pointing and the problem lies with their database.

Does anyone have any ideas about solving this issue? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Al Ferrari]

"Lately we've noticed that the integrity of links within a document is not the same for all users."

So are there some users for whom this is not the case? If so, what has been changed on the machines that are affected? That's where the problem lurks.

Al

 

[buckeye]

You have six InDesign users, how many different computers?

 

[richielj]

Each user has his or her own computer. The computers are all the same -Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 2.93 GHz processors, 16Gb RAM running Mac OSX 10.5.8 (as I had to retrograde the os. The INDD CS3 is v5.0.4.

There doesn't seem to be anything common between the machines --some users see links intact sometimes and others see them intact at another time while the former group seem them as broken. If there is a commonality it is that when I export the INDD files from the database all/most of the links need to be updated by hand which takes a long time.

What has changed is the version of the catalog management software. The problem existed before the upgrade, but not to as great an extent. Now virtually all INDD image links need to be updated before I can use our automated script to export the pdf's.

I personally think the Stibo software is to blame, but (of course) they say "No".

 

[kyle]

Indesign should show the links as missing if they cannot be found at the path location that is saved in the native file. Then if it finds them, they will need "updating" if the file's modified time is not the same (and perhaps the file size also). Open the Indesign file on two different computers consecutively (one that shows the links as missing and one that does not). Check to see that the paths match. Perhaps different computers are accessing the files via different shared volume names. This would cause one computer to persistently find the files once linked - until another computer accessing them differently relinks them.

Another possibility is that you are mounting multiple network volumes with the same name from different servers (or the same volume twice) on one client. For example, if you mount a share named "Share" from one server and then another also named "Share" from another server, the first will be grafted onto your file system as /Volumes/Share and the second as /Volumes/Share-1. If the second one has the links, Indesign on that computer will store the /Volumes/Share-1 path when linking the files, and another client that mounted only the share with the files won't have anything attached to /Volumes/Share-1.

If the links aren't missing, something may be screwing with the file modification times, or clients are using different network protocol versions and are getting slightly different mod-times from the serving machine. If one machine is getting the time in nanosecond resolution, and another is getting it in two-second resolution, that could cause a problem if Indesign is that sensitive. The links wouldn't be missing, though - they'd just be "un-updated." You could probably test for that scenario by identifying two conflicting clients, moving a link to the local hard drive of one of the clients, deleting the link on the server, then moving it back. Then relink in Indesign on both machines, and if they no longer conflict, the client you moved the file to is getting coarser timestamps. If it doesn't change anything after doing it with the first client, try with the second.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

As kyle says look into the path. (this is just underlining what Kyle said)
1) What kind of server is it. Is it compatible with OS 10.5.8?
2) What protocol are you mounting with
3) do all computers have the same share/mount point.
4) Are all computers set to same time zone and to synchronise with the same time server.

The reason you are using CS3 i because of the STIBO product?
Do you have a naming convention that is simple in only A-Z,a-z,0-9, and underscore? (some servers stlll don't like non US characters in names especially if a SMB volume from a mac) How long file names are you allowing? Is there any OPI functionality where some users are connecting to FPO images and some to HiRes images?

 

[richielj]

We opened the same file on two computers and the paths matched. I now think the modification dates have somehow been screwed up. It is hard for me to believe that all mod dates were changed but I don't know a lot about how the Stibo database works. Stibo, btw, told us they thought that new images added might change the mod date of the folders, throwing all the links off. I do not believe this to be the case as I spoke to Adobe support and they confirmed that the paths are image specific, not depending on the folders.

The server is an XServe with a fibre-connected RAID running Mac OSX 10.5.8 server. We connect using SMB and everyone uses the same logon. Time zones and time are in synch.

We plan an upgrade to INDD CS4 soon. Yes, the reason we are still on CS3 is due to Stibo and some creative foot-dragging by our own IT department. The CS4 upgrade is due within the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping the enhanced file handling preferences in CS4 will help this problem, especially the option to specify a default relink folder...

Many thanks for all the thoughtful responses to this frustrating problem!

 

[allendavis]

We have six INDD CS3 users producing catalogs. Lately we've noticed that the integrity of links within a document is not the same for all users. The links show that the images have been modified after being placed. One user will update all links in a document but when another user opens that document all or some of these links will be broken... This varies from user to user and typically none of the images have been modified.

We use catalog management software by a Danish company called STIBO who says we must be doing something wrong to cause this problem. I have tried to troubleshoot this problem with no luck. We've considered the nightly server backup (but the IT department says "No way") as well as individual network connections.

When I store documents locally for archiving after updating the links all images stay linked. STIBO is telling us that it must have something to do with the way INDD handles links, but I think this is unnecessary finger-pointing and the problem lies with their database.

Does anyone have any ideas about solving this issue? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Your clients are idiots. I have to deal with this type every week, or every day.

MY MANTA IS ALWAYS: CAMERA READY IS CAMERA IS. Don't submit your stuff as CAMERA-READY and then expect me to doctor it up. What color is the sky on their home planet? Yes, I'll do it, but it takes so much more time from REAL "camera-ready."

They need to EMBED all their links. They also have NO CLUES about udpates and how to help you out.

As a dedicated physician in these matters, I can diagnose you with having the universal disorder of having a dumbass for a client. There's no cure. If they can't understand "high resolution" or "large file size," deal with it. When you produce a sub-standard product, you're covered.

I have to deal with morons on a daily basis, and describing what I need for high-quality reproduction flies right over their heads.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

@allandavis I understand you are frustrated about your clients, but if you read the post the poster is trying to resolve a CMS service issue where a pluggin service is not preforming as expected.

 

[richielj]

@lukas Many thanks for this clarification.

As an update, STIBO reloaded all images to the database and the project I postscripted this week had only one broken link (out of ~100 pages) so I now believe our problems were caused by some kind of corruption in the database.

Rich

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

Thanks for the update

Remembering how one used to have to update by browsing file by file (in quark) back in the "old days" and the weight of responsibility of clicking that mouse.