KB335712396: Automation Engine - Files opened in the Automation Engine Viewer are locked when Viewer is configured to view "As in ArtPro+"

Beginning with the Automation Engine 20.0 release, it became possible to configure the Automation Engine Viewer to View PDF files "As in ArtPro+" or "As in PackEdge".

When the Automation Engine Viewer configured to View PDF files "As in ArtPro+" (Pilot > Tools > Configure > Viewer), files will be locked when Viewing.

This could cause issues when trying to remove, move, or rename files. It could also cause a workflow to fail if the file opened in the Viewer is to be overwritten by a step in the workflow.

Workaround

Make sure to close the Viewer window when done viewing a file.

Please note this behavior is the same as Acrobat, it will also lock a file when it is opened in Acrobat.

Status

This behavior is considered to be a limitation, not a bug.

This behavior is also documented in our online documentation, example being here:

https://docs.esko.com/docs/en-us/automationengine/21.07/userguide/home.html#en-us/common/ae/topic/to_confviewer.html