[macOS] Fields not updated when opening document

Hello all.

I’ve created a document in OnlyOffice on macOS that contains fields, like those inserted via “Insert” → “Date & time” when the “Update automatically” option is checked. On other platforms - at least on Linux, I cannot test on Windows -, when I open a document, all fields seem to be automatically updated with the current value. That doesn’t seem to happen on macOS: the value for the fields are still the ones they had when the document was last saved, and I have to update them manually via F9 or the contextual menu.

Is this the intended behavior, or is it a bug? It seems weird that the behavior is different depending on the platform.

Thanks!

OS version: macOS Ventura 13.7.5
OnlyOffice version: 8.3.3
Downloaded from: official website

Hey @eb303 :hugs:

Thank you for your message and for providing such detailed information!

We’ll do our best to reproduce the issue on macOS and analyze what might be causing the inconsistent behavior across platforms. Once we’ve investigated the problem, I’ll get back to you with an update. Thanks again for your help and patience!

Thank you for your quick response, Nikolas. :slightly_smiling_face: I’ve worked a bit with fields on macOS in OnlyOffice lately, and it seems there are a few issues - I just created a new post with another one. I’ve had other weird ones that I could not reproduce systematically, but I’ll try to find a way.

Anyway, if you need other precisions or if you need someone to test something, feel free to ask me, I’ll be glad to help!

Hello @eb303

I was unable to reproduce this issue. Can record a video where such field is added and then document is re-opened?

Hello and thanks for your answer.

I’ve already replied to you about the other issue I had with fields on macOS (“Toggle field codes” not working as expected), and as it turns out, the document causing the issue is the same one. You can get it here. When I open this particular document, the fields in it are not updated. If I create a new document and insert a field in it, it does work as expected, and the fields are updated on open.

By the way, I’m not the only one who managed to create a document showing the problem: I actually made the test for a friend of mine who got the same issue. Strangely, I managed to reproduce the problem on my first try.

Thanks again!

Update: I just transferred the problematic document to another PC with another OS (Linux openSuse Leap 15.6), and I’m getting the same behavior: the field is not updated when I open the document, I have to do it explicitely every time.

Enabling non-printing characters display shows the problem with this file. You see, there is pilcrow character, i.e. paragraph character, in the field, which is considered to be a part of the field, but it interferes with the field logic.

I’ve created a file anew to demonstrate this:

  1. Here I have highlighted a field with pilcrow character outside the field:
    image

  2. Here is field with pilcrow inside the file just like in your document:
    image

First field updates automatically as nothing interferes with its logic, but the second one indeed produces the behavior you are describing. You just needed to start a new paragraph outside the field to avoid this problem.