Uniconvertor formats export fails on Windows 7 (python.exe crashes)

[M8R-98booy]

Open the attached svg and try to export to WMF.
Result: Phyton.exe crashes (and Inkscape displays: UniConvertor failed: )

I use 0.48 Win7 x64.

This bug could be related to Bug #474963, but I'm not sure if they are identical. The file was created using copy and paste from another drawing program, but I deleted most of the stuff. Export to EMF works fine.

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

- not reproduced on Windows XP (32 bit), Inkscape 0.48.0 r9654 (Aug 16 2010)
- wmf file attached
- could you attach the complete error message, or is that all there was?
- what happens when you try to Save As .PLT, which also uses uniconvertor

[M8R-98booy (m8r-98booy)]

I ran inkscape with gdb (within cygwin) and then I don't get the windows "Phyton.exe has crashed.."-dialog, but Inkscape tells me:
Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "wmf_output.py", line 27, in <module>

    cmd = get_command()

  File "C:\Inkscape\share\extensions\uniconv_output.py", line 99, in get_command

    p = Popen('uniconvertor', shell=True, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE).wait()

  File "C:\Inkscape\python\Lib\subprocess.py", line 626, in __init__

    errread, errwrite) = self._get_handles(stdin, stdout, stderr)

  File "C:\Inkscape\python\Lib\subprocess.py", line 734, in _get_handles

    p2cread = self._make_inheritable(p2cread)

  File "C:\Inkscape\python\Lib\subprocess.py", line 773, in _make_inheritable

    DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS)

WindowsError: [Error 6] The handle is invalid

The JessInk zipped pdf or png output (*.zip) and The HP Graphics ... *.PLT crashes with:
Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "jessyInk_export.py", line 172, in <module>

    e = MyEffect()

  File "jessyInk_export.py", line 77, in __init__

    self.inkscapeCommand = self.findInkscapeCommand()

  File "jessyInk_export.py", line 164, in findInkscapeCommand

    proc = subprocess.Popen([command + " --without-gui --version"], shell=True, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)

  File "C:\Inkscape\python\Lib\subprocess.py", line 626, in __init__

    errread, errwrite) = self._get_handles(stdin, stdout, stderr)

  File "C:\Inkscape\python\Lib\subprocess.py", line 734, in _get_handles

    p2cread = self._make_inheritable(p2cread)

  File "C:\Inkscape\python\Lib\subprocess.py", line 773, in _make_inheritable

    DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS)

WindowsError: [Error 6] The handle is invalid

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

- it looks like the module subprocess.py is causing a problem, perhaps this is a 64-bit issue.
- just as a double-check, could you try to Save As .DXF (Desktop Cutting Plotter (R13) .dxf)
- this will use Python, but will not use the subprocess.py module.

[M8R-98booy (m8r-98booy)]

export to .dxf works fine.

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

good to hear. so it is probably related to subprocess.py. This module is used to start a second process running and bring the results back into Inkscape.

[Catalin Patulea (cpatulea)]

M8R-98booy, can you try making the following changes to uniconv_output.py:

On every line with Popen(), add the following argument before stdout=:
stdin=os.open(os.devnull)

[M8R-98booy (m8r-98booy)]

I added the argument, but it seems the code is wrong:

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "wmf_output.py", line 27, in <module>
    cmd = get_command()
  File "C:\Inkscape\share\extensions\uniconv_output.py", line 99, in get_command
    p = Popen('uniconvertor', shell=True, stdin=os.open(os.devnull) , stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE).wait()
TypeError: function takes at least 2 arguments (1 given)

[M8R-98booy (m8r-98booy)]

I also tried
stdin=os.open(os.devnull,os.O_RDONLY)

but then the original problem (Phyton.exe crashed) is back.

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

confirmed on Windows 7 (32 bit), this appears to be the same as Bug 721352

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

on Windows 7 (32 bit), the conversion to wmf can be performed using the following software (outside of Inkscape):
- Python 2.6.6
- PIL 1.1.7
- reportlab 2.5
- uniconvertor 1.1.4

- run uniconvertor from a DOS prompt with the command:
  C:\Python26>scripts\uniconv test.svg test.wmf
- result is attached:

[su_v (suv-lp)]

See also (from the duplicates):
<quote>
there are a number of google hits associated with this message, not Inkscape-related, but probably Vista/Windows7 specific:

http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&source=hp&biw=779&bih=399&q=python.exe+has+stopped+working&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=&fp=51569ce59b9bf889
</quote>
<https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/721352/comments/4>

[Adrian Evaraldo (adrievar)]

Following the Alvin Penner's comment, I've found that if you download and install the uniconvertor 1.1.5, and you patch the inkscape with this last uniconvertor release, you won't have to use a DOS prompt. You only need to save the file as a wmf file in inkscape

[M8R-98booy (m8r-98booy)]

The problem still exists in Inkscape 0.48.3.1 r9886. Can you just include the updated uniconvertor 1.1.5 in the next release?

[André Bachmann (andrebachmann-dd)]

I just encountered the crash as I was trying to export a SVG file into WMF format. The crash happens with Inkscape 0.48.2 r9819 (running under Win7 x64) with the message "UniConvertor failed:" followed by some empty lines.
A maybe related crash happens with Inkscape 0.47 r22583, built Mar 12 2010 (running under Debian Squeeze x64). However, here it is another error, Inkscape shows this:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/inkscape/extensions/wmf_output.py", line 27, in <module>
    cmd = get_command()
  File "/usr/share/inkscape/extensions/uniconv_output.py", line 118, in get_command
    sys.stderr.write(_('You need to install the UniConvertor software.\n'+\
NameError: global name '_' is not defined

Please let me know if you need further information.

[André Bachmann (andrebachmann-dd)]

Please forget the last part about Inkscape in Squeeze, python-uniconvertor wasn't installed - my fault.

[Graham Wall (g-hamwall)]

Also seeing this in Windows 8, Inkscape version 0.48.4 r9939.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Open Inkscape
2. Draw a circle with default settings
3. Save As... -> *.wmf type

Dialog "python.exe has stopped working"
Select "close program"
Dialog "Inkscape has received additional data from the script executed. The script did not return an error, but this may indicate the results will not be as expected." "UniConvertor failed:"

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

UniConverter 1.1.5 comes with a patch to update inkscape's plugin.
It's a vbs script located in "C:\Program Files (x86)\sK1 Project\UniConvertor-1.1.5\inkscape-patches"

However, the script needs administrator privileges which it doesn't request per se. (and you can't run vbs scripts as administrator by right clicking etc.) So it doesn't work correctly in newer windows versions.

Add the following lines to the beginning of the script to make it request the necessary permissions:

-- code start --
If Not WScript.Arguments.Named.Exists("elevate") Then
  CreateObject("Shell.Application").ShellExecute WScript.FullName _
    , """" & WScript.ScriptFullName & """ /elevate", "", "runas", 1
  WScript.Quit
End If
-- code end--

The script also may lose focus, so switch to it using the taskbar.

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Or, if you want to patch the source, I made a patchfile. Interestingly the file dates are older in the update and contain less code.

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

That patch was not very clean, since it removes all checks on whether uniconverter is installed...

Here is a better patch and the relevant py files which can be replaced directly in [inkscape folder]share\extensions\

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Export extension
To be placed in [inkscape folder]share\extensions\

Let me know, if it works correctly

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Import Extension (second wmf import filter)
To be placed in [inkscape folder]share\extensions\

Let me know, if it works correctly

[su_v (suv-lp)]

> Let me know, if it works correctly

Quick test with patched Inkscape 0.48.4 and UniConvertor 1.1.5 on OS X 10.7.5: the changes appear to completely break UniConvertor support on this platform (opening a simple CDR file fails [1], and prompts to install UniConvertor). Works as expected without the patch (UniConvertor 1.1.5 is installed and gets used for import e.g. of CDR files).

Not tested on any Linux distro.

[1] <https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/442010/+attachment/771958/+files/Frenchcurve.cdr>

[su_v (suv-lp)]

On 2014-05-15 13:47 +0100, ~suv wrote:
> Quick test with patched Inkscape 0.48.4 and UniConvertor 1.1.5 on OS
> X 10.7.5: the changes appear to completely break UniConvertor support
> on this platform (…)

AFAICT it is the import of UniConvertor as python module that fails with the patched version: if the command line app 'uniconvertor' is found in $PATH, the patched version works ok (for the same test case). My local install of UniConvertor 1.1.5 however uses a python version suffix for the installed script (uniconvertor-2.7), and thus is not detected by the script. Falling back to importing as python module works with the unpatched extension scripts as expected.

It would be great if a fix for the Windows platform doesn't remove features for other platforms.

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Sorry... This patch should now also work on unix platforms.

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Here the repaired export extension ...

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

... and the import extension.

Only checked on Windows 7 and Ubuntu, though. Hope it works on other platforms, too now.

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Latest version of patch doesn't really apply … could you recreate one with 'diff -u' (or with 'bzr diff share/extensions/' if you have a checkout of stable or trunk branch)?

$ patch -p1 --dry-run < 656938-uniconvertor_patch_better-v2.patch
patching file share/extensions/uniconv-ext.py
patch: **** replacement text or line numbers mangled in hunk at line 30

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Diff based on stable branch (lp:inkscape/0.48.x) after replacing the two extensions scripts (please verify).

[su_v (suv-lp)]

Diff '656938-uniconvertor_patch_better-v2-048x.diff ' tested successfully on OS X 10.7.5 (no 'uniconvertor' script in $PATH, but available as python module for import, see comments 23-24) with Inkscape 0.48.4 r10031. Not tested with trunk.

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

The trunk has changed slightly since 0.48... (inkex.localize and encoding statements)

Here the patch for trunk. (new line numbers and a slight change in line order, this time made with bzr)

Unfortunately I didn't manage to compile inkscape on my windows machine. It works on Windows 7 with the 0.91 build found on graphicall.org though.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

Note that 0.91 now uses a different internal extension to export to WMF, thus WMF format can't be used to test the patch from comment #31. SK1 and PLT are the only formats that need uniconvertor to export.

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

Also note that uniconvertor fails on Crunchbang Waldorf (not related to the patch) due to https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=705750

[jazzynico (jazzynico)]

Tested for regressions on Windows XP, Inkscape 0.48.4 and trunk revision 13397.

Unfortunately, the patched versions return the following message:
---
You need to install the UniConvertor software.
For GNU/Linux: install the package python-uniconvertor.
For Windows: download it from
http://sk1project.org/modules.php?name=Products&product=uniconvertor
and install into your Inkscape's Python location
---

Such an install shouldn't be needed since Uniconvertor is already available (python\Lib\site-packages\uniconvertor) in the Inkscape installation folder.

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Now I'm getting confused... I cannot reproduce the python.exe crash anymore on my windows 7. The original files simply do work now. (and the said plugin included in inkscape just works out of the box without the separate uniconvertor installation on inkscape 0.48.4). So probably I was wandering in the totally wrong direction ...
(on another windows 8 machine, however python.exe does crash) So is there is still something going wrong?

Ah, and in inkscape 0.91 I saw two wmf import/export choices in the drop down list. The latter points to uniconvertor... (if not removed in the latest version)

[Abe Yo (abe-geel)]

Found the problem: the uniconvertor libraries have not been updated with the current uniconvertor release.
Only need to update uniconvertor and sk1libs in python/site-packages
The original extensions' scripts work fine, although they contain a now redundant check for a uniconvertor installation.

Here the files that have changed.