Publisher reports "Saved" but no DWG or PDF files are created (Archicad 29)

[iggiv]

Hello everyone,

I'm experiencing a strange Publisher issue in Archicad 29 INT (macOS) that only affects one specific PLN file.

When publishing a Layout Book:

• Publisher completes successfully.
• Every layout shows Status: Saved.
• The destination folder is created.
• The Xrefed ARCHICAD Views folder is created.
• PNG reference images are exported.
• However, no DWG or PDF files are actually created.

I've already tried the following:

• Created a new Publisher Set.
• Published only one layout.
• Changed the output folder.
• Used the standard Graphisoft DWG translator.
• Opened the project with Repair.
• Saved as PLA and reopened.
• Verified macOS permissions.
• Searched the entire computer for the exported files.

The important part is that:

• File → Save As → DWG from the same layout works perfectly.
• The same Publisher settings and translator work correctly in another project.

This makes me believe the problem is specific to this PLN file.

Has anyone experienced this before or knows how to repair the Publisher or project database without rebuilding the project?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Barry Kelly]

Are you saving to a cloud folder or drive?

If so, try saving to you local hard drive or a network drive.

Barry.

[iggiv]

Thank you, Barry.

I appreciate the suggestion. I have already tested publishing to a local folder on my Mac's internal drive (Desktop/Documents), so the issue does not appear to be related to a cloud location or network drive.

Here is what I have confirmed so far:

• File → Save As → PDF works correctly.
• File → Save As → DWG also works correctly.
• Publisher → PDF creates the destination folder but no PDF files.
• Publisher → DWG creates the destination folder, the "Xrefed ARCHICAD Views" folder, and the PNG reference files, but no DWG files.
• The Publisher reports that every item was "Saved", with no errors.
• I created a completely new Publisher Set and also tested with a single layout.
• I opened the project using the Repair option and also tested a PLA copy.
• I reset Archicad preferences.
• The same Publisher settings and translators work correctly in another project.

At this point, it appears to be something specific to this PLN file or its Publisher database rather than the output location.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue where the Publisher reports success but never writes the final PDF or DWG files?

[Barry Kelly · Accepted solution]

Can you alter the names of what you are saving?

I see there is a dot (.) before each name.

I find it is good practice not to use dots in file names as that is the file extension delimiter.

Barry.

[Karl Ottenstein]

…and more than that… macOS is a Unix based operating system and file names beginning with a period are invisible in Finder.

[Barry Kelly]

That would explain why they say they are saved but iggiv can't see them.

Thanks Karl.

Barry.

[ryejuan]

have you tried selecting this option in the publishing set properties?

[iggiv]

Good morning everyone. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me solve this!

Regarding changing the file name with the prefix number, I could definitely look into that. However, AC automatically saves the file, so it seems to be working as expected. It seems to be related to the floor level. But since AC28, this hasn’t been an issue, so I’m guessing it’s not the problem.

[iggiv]

Good morning Karl, thanks for getting back to me. As I mentioned to Barry, I believe this is not the issue. The prefix number only appears when saving files, but not when naming the save files it self.

[iggiv]

Barry:

I’m not sure if this is the problem, but I’ll give it a shot to see if it is.

However, I need to run another test first. I think I’ve come up with a new theory that I haven’t tried yet. I’ll post it at the end.