Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

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igorlima
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Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by igorlima »

Hello!

When I:
1. go to Preferences > Tools,
2. change the Default Tool from "Hand" to "Select Text",
3. Select "Apply"
4. Select "Ok"
5. Close the editor
6. Open the editor

The default tool goes back to "Hand". It seems that the default tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened.

I made a video too. Please see the attachment.
Video_2023-03-15_111112.rar
(1.21 MiB) Downloaded 9 times


This is happening in Version: 9.5, build 367.0, Portable (Mar 6 2023; 20:41:26).
But I noticed this happening in the previous versions too after the Version: 9.4, build 364.0 (Sep 27 2022; 15:16:38)

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you for the support!
Igor
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello igorlima,

Can you please check whether you have this checkbox turned on or off:
image.png
Kind regards,
Stefan
igorlima
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by igorlima »

Hi, Stefan

I tried doing the steps above marking that option you pointed and also not marking it. In both cases the editor didn't remember the "Select Text" option.
image.png
Last edited by igorlima on Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Igor
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello igorlima,

You say that you are using the portable Editor. Is it stored on a drive that is e.g. locked for writing?
The portable Editor stores it's settings in a file in it's folder - so if there's no write access to that folder - it won't be able to remember the changes you are making.

Besides the portable - do you also have a standard version of the Editor installed on the machine? Is the timestamp on that installed version (in Help -> About) from 20.48:57 on the installed one or an earlier time?

Kind regards,
Stefan
igorlima
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by igorlima »

That seems to be the issue!

I opened the editor in administrator mode and made the changes and after closing and reopening the changes were remembered!

The portable edition of this editor is stored the Program Files folder in my C drive. I dont think there is any restriction to it since my other programs are acting ok. But it must be something related to that.

Either way thank you for the support and for resolving this issue for me!
Igor
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello igorlima,

If it works with Admin privileges - then it is most likely a permissions issue.
/Program Files is a special permissions folder, and the portable Editor tries to store it's settings in the settings.dat file that in your case would be located inside Program Files and causing the issue.

Is there any particular reason why you have the portable version in Program Files? Why not the installed one, and let it store it's preferences in the registry?

Kind regards,
Stefan
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by igorlima »

oh I understand now, Stefan

The reason why I'm using the portable version is because I need to have two instances of the editor opened at the same time (one for each of my two monitors) so one instance I use the installed version and another instance i use the portable version.

I understand that I can do that with just the installed version of the editor, but It seems that when I do that a problem occur regarding the closing of documents.

That problem I already reported here (viewtopic.php?f=62&t=37230&p=153178#p153178) and that generated a ticket (RT#5714: Close doc closes second Editor window incorrectly).

By the way, could you please see if that issue its being addressed or if it will be in a near future, Stefan? I'd be very glad if you could!

If I use one installed version of the editor and one portable version of the editor at the same time I don't have the issue I mentioned above but instead I lose the ability to drag documents between both instances, so I'd be very pleased if that issue above could be addressed anytime soon :D

Another reason I use the portable edition for is to test new released version to see if I like them (spoiler alert: I always do :) )

And the reason why I put the portable version on the programs file folder is because I thought It would be more organized If I putted the portable version in the same folder where my installed version is (my installed version folder is located on my program files folder). But it seems that this organization method has its consequences :lol:
Last edited by igorlima on Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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rakunavi
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by rakunavi »

Hello igorlima,
igorlima wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:38 pm The reason why I'm using the portable version is because I need to have two instances of the editor opened at the same time (one for each of my two monitors) so one instance I use the installed version and another instance i use the portable version.
I am glad to find someone who uses it the same way I do. In my case, a portable version is also installed to put the two monitors into full-screen mode at the same time.

I also have another portable version installed so that I can run it independently on my Windows virtual desktop. In other words, one installed version and two portable versions are installed on the same desktop PC. The notebook PC is also set up in the same way, so a total of six updates are required when updating. I am always grateful that the license even allows this particular use.

igorlima wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:38 pm And the reason why I put the portable version on the programs file folder is because I thought It would be more organized If I putted the portable version in the same folder where my installed version is (my installed version folder is located on my program files folder). But it seems that this organization strategy has its consequences :lol:
I also install the portable version under "C:\Program Files (x86)" folder with the same idea as you. However, although I am not specifically running with administrator privileges, I have not experienced the issue that the Default tool settings are not saved as you suggest. Of course, the version is build 367. So, perhaps there is another reason other than permissions involved. I am using a local Windows administrator account and have not configured any special settings. Sorry if my comment is off the mark.

Best regards,
rakunavi
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello rakunavi,

Your comments are quite helpful!
And it is possible that your portable copies are using the settings stored in the Registry by the installed version.
If you remove the settings.dat file - the portable Editor will search the registry, and if it finds what it needs it might not create a new settings file - especially if it does not have permissions to write to Program Files ;)

@igorlima - if you move the portable copies of the Editor to another folder - the problem will disappear, and you can still continue to use them as you do now. I have just asked for an update in regards to ticket #5714 as well!

Kind regards,
Stefan
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by rakunavi »

Hi Stefan, thank you for your comment.
Tracker Supp-Stefan wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:56 am If you remove the settings.dat file - the portable Editor will search the registry, and if it finds what it needs it might not create a new settings file - especially if it does not have permissions to write to Program Files ;)
Even after deleting settings.dat, the file was still generated. The settings for the installed version of the app are stored in the registry, and the settings for the portable version of the app are stored separately in settings.dat. This is not surprising, since I installed the portable version in order to have independent settings.

My local user account has full control permissions on the installed folder, so that is probably the key to solving the problem.

I imagine that igorlima and I have a different way of installing the portable version. For more than 20 years now, when I install a ZIP or other compressed program into a target folder such as "C:\Program Files (x86)" or "C:\Program Files", I first unzip it into "C:\Users\user\Downloads" or something similar and then copy or move it again into the target folder. In this case, after opening Explorer and extracting the portable version to "C:\Users\user\Downloads", please copy or move "C:\Users\user\Downloads\PDFXEdit9_Portable" folder into the target folder.

  • desktop.png
If you change this procedure slightly and create an empty folder in "C:\Program Files (x86)" or "C:\Program Files" first, and then copy only the unzipped files there, you will get into a situation where files such as settings.dat cannot be saved, unless you set additional permissions.

Best regards,
rakunavi
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forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?t=39665 LassoTool
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello rakunavi,

as it appears that igorlima does not have write permissions to the folder - removing the settings.dat might result in the portable starting to use the registry - but I am not 100% sure (I think some older Viewer builds had such behaviour). In any case - I appreciate you sharing the way you are adding the portable folder - that might indeed work for igorlima as well!

Kind regards,
Stefan
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by igorlima »

Hi, rakunavi! I think that in my case it was really the permissions in my pc that were affecting because when I started the editor in admin mode the settings were preserved when reloaded. Maybe our pc have different settings between each other that I'm not aware of. And thank you for sharing your experience using the editor! Indeed its really cool to see someone else with similar workflows :D and thank you so much for all your help!


Tracker Supp-Stefan wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:56 am @igorlima - if you move the portable copies of the Editor to another folder - the problem will disappear, and you can still continue to use them as you do now.
I see, thank you, Stefan. I was already opening my installed version in adm mode (for me it works best this way because of some interactions with other softwares I have). So I have no problem using the portable version in adm mode too. But its really good to know this information when I put the portable version folder on my program files (btw I did the steps I described in my first post with the portable folder in my desktop and without adm privileges. It worked)
Tracker Supp-Stefan wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:56 am I have just asked for an update in regards to ticket #5714 as well!
thank you very much, Stefan!
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Re: Default Tool is not being remembered after the editor is closed and reopened

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, igorlima

Glad to hear you have found a solution. I also wanted to note regarding the location of settings between the installed and portable version. The "settings.dat" file is not the one to remove. It would be the "portable.dat" file that you want to get rid of. The existence of this file is the only thing that causes the portable editor not to check (or try to write to) the registry.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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