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Release notes for the Conversion Service

Here is what's new in the Conversion Service (listed in reverse chronological order):

tip

To update to the latest version, see Update the Conversion Service.

Version 5​

This section describes all changes included in version 5 of the Conversion Service.

Installation and deployment​

  • New dependency on Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 8.0 (Windows, x64) and Microsoft ASP.NET Core Runtime 8.0 (Windows, x64). [v5.0]
  • Improved Docker usage by supporting Docker Compose. You can now use REST and Watched Folder connectors, and seamlessly update to new versions. For more information, see Set up the service in Docker. [v5.1]

Common functionality​

  • New profile option Include external images in Document Settings configuration section. For more information, review Configure output file appearance section in Configure email processing documentation. [v5.1]

REST interface​

  • New error code external for issues that can occur while trying to use an external service or load an external resource. [v5.1]

Workflows​

Archive PDF/A-3 workflow​

  • New profile option Flatten annotations in section Document Optimization. [v5.0]

Configurator​

  • New configuration setting in the License tab to enable Licensing Gateway Service on another machine by changing the license gateway address. For more details, see Conversion Service licensing documentation. [v5.0]

Version 4​

This section describes all changes included in version 4 of the Conversion Service.

Installation and deployment​

  • Changed default installation directory on Windows to C:\Program Files\Pdftools\Conversion Service. [v4.0]
  • Changed default program data directory on Windows to C:\ProgramData\Pdftools\Conversion Service. [v4.0]
  • Added support for consumption base licensing. [v4.7]
  • New Licensing Gateway Service is installed. [v4.7]

Common functionality​

  • New settings for email, HTML, CSV and XML conversion to control resizing and optimal fitting of content in case of content overflow. [v4.0]
  • New support for CSV files with whitespace around quoted fields without warning or error. [v4.2]
  • New behavior for CSV files containing malformed data: CSV file containing malformed data now results in a configurable warning of type CorruptionRepaired instead of a hard error. [v4.2]
  • New support to download external stylesheets of HTML and XML files via proxy. [v4.1]
  • Improved conversion of emails with non-standard structure. [v4.3]
  • New stamping functionality that allows page selection - All, First and Last. [v4.3]
  • New "Collect Mode" setting "Separate" to convert a job with multiple files into separate output documents instead of a single output. [v4.3]
  • Improved conversion of email body and HTML documents. [v4.5]
  • New customization of email header date time formatting. [v4.6]

Office documents​

  • New settings for Excel conversion to control resizing and optimal fitting of content in case of content overflow. [v4.0]
  • Improved reliability and robustness of Office conversion. [v4.3]
  • Disabled office conversion for the integrated default workflow profiles in Docker. [v4.8]

Digital signatures​

  • Changed digital signature types to have a simpler overview. [v4.3]
  • Swisscom signature types renamed to remove "All-in" from the signature type name. [v4.3]
  • New Swisscom on-demand signature. [v4.3]
  • Swisscom signature types renamed to remove "All-in" from the signature type name. [v4.3]
  • Fix configuration updater to refelect new Swisscom signature type names. [patch v4.3.2]
  • Allow job options for certain signature properties. [v4.3]

Integration/Connections​

REST Output connector​

  • New configuration option to specify the form field name of the files in the multipart/form-data content. [v4.1]
  • Support workflow options for the REST Input (HTTP Plain) connector using placeholder syntax. Note: An update to version 4.8 may break your file processing. Previously, all query parameters were automatically set as variables. With this update, you have to define the variables manually in the Configurator. For more information, see REST Input (Plain HTTP) in the REST API connectors documentation page. [v4.8]

Output Mailbox connector​

  • New configuration setting to preserve the body of the corresponding input email when used with result files. [v4.3]
  • Improved compatibility of mailbox connectors with Microsoft Exchange. [v4.5]

Configurator​

  • Improved support request. Added additional data for better insight. [v4.7]
  • Enable export of analytics and redesign of Support tab. [v4.4]
  • Improved UI design of the documentation panel. [v4.2]
  • New detailed information for the Health & Activity, Services, and Statistics tabs shown in the documentation panel. [v4.2]
  • New configuration setting to set up custom job options. [v4.7]
  • New tab Licensing for license management that can replace the separate license manager in most cases. [v4.7]

Version 3​

This section describes all changes included in version 3 of the Conversion Service.

REST interface​

  • New query parameter url on addData POST request to load a file directly from a webserver. [v3.4]
  • New method storeJobResultData to send the result file directly to a webserver via HTTP PUT/POST request. [v3.4]
  • New property Status in result of method getJobResult to get Success/Warning/Error status of job result instead of using legacy Success property. [v3.9]

Installation and deployment​

  • New Windows Server 2022 is supported. [v3.3]
  • New Office 2021 (64 Bit) is supported. [v3.3]
  • New dependency on Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0 (Windows, x64) and Microsoft ASP.NET Core Runtime 6.0 (Windows, x64). [v3.7]

Workflows​

  • New workflow Archive PDF/A-1. [v3.3]

Archive PDF/A-2 workflow​

  • New convert mode configuration for child documents (attachments) for detailed configuration of which documents to convert. [v3.2]
  • New support to convert HTML, CSV and XML child documents (attachments). Note that this is disabled by default. [v3.2]
  • New collect mode configuration. This offers a detailed configuration of how to convert documents that have child documents (attachments), specifically how to combine the converted documents and how to handle errors when processing child documents. This supersedes the configuration options "Document Collection Mode" and "Child Error Handling". [v3.2]
  • New stamping functionality to add single-line text content to the converted documents. [v3.4]
  • New stamping functionality to add an image or 1D/2D barcode to the converted documents. [v3.11]

Archive PDF/A-3 workflow​

  • New convert mode settings "Skip" and "Skip with Warning", which allows to choose whether an informational event or a warning is generated when skipping (removing) a child document. The new default is "Skip with Warning". When updating an installation, the profiles' behavior is not changed. [v3.2]
  • New stamping functionality to add single-line text content to the converted documents. [v3.4]
  • New stamping functionality to add an image or 1D/2D barcode to the converted documents. [v3.11]

Conversion workflow​

  • New convert mode settings "Skip" and "Skip with Warning", which allows to choose whether an informational event or a warning is generated when skipping (removing) a child document. The new default is "Skip with Warning". When updating an installation, the profiles' behavior is not changed. [v3.2]
  • New stamping functionality to add single-line text content to the converted documents. [v3.4]
  • New stamping functionality to add an image or 1D/2D barcode to the converted documents. [v3.11]

Dossier workflow​

  • New profile setting to control the horizontal alignment (Left, Center, Right) of the title of the table of contents. [v3.2]
  • Changed the document outline to contain a bookmark for the table of contents. [v3.2]
  • New job option TOC-OUTLINE-TITLE to set the title of the bookmark for the table of content. [v3.2]
  • New profile setting for automatic numbering of the entries in the table of contents. [v3.2]
  • New profile setting to apply stamps to the pages of the table of contents. [v3.2]
  • New optional preprocessing step to convert input documents to PDF. [v3.2]
  • New support for custom placeholder variables in Text Stamps. [v3.4]
  • New stamping functionality to add an image or 1D/2D barcode to the converted documents. [v3.11]

Common functionality​

  • New conversion of CSV, HTML (prepared for archiving) and XML documents. [v3.1]
  • New conversion of WordprocessingML 2003 (.xml) and SpreadsheetML 2003 (.xml) documents via Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, respectively. [v3.3]
  • Changed newly created bookmarks to be closed instead of open by default. [v3.3]
  • New conversion of signed Emails (s/mime). [v3.4]
  • New conversion of OpenDocument Text (.odt), Spreadsheet (.ods) and Presentation (.odp) via Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, respectively. [v3.4]
  • New profile settings and options in all workflows to add metadata to the documents. [v3.5]
  • Improved performance especially for small files. [v3.7]
  • Improved robustness in low memory conditions on Windows. [v3.8]
  • New option to convert Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents through the Azure cloud with the Microsoft Office for the web service. [v3.10]

Configurator​

  • Changed export and import of profiles to also include the workflow's activation state. [v3.3]
  • Changed name of Profiles tab to Workflows & Profiles. [v3.1]
  • New possibility to activate and deactivate workflows in the Workflows & Profiles tab. [v3.1]

GUI client​

  • Improved UI design to provide a clear overview of the job progress and results. [v3.1]
  • New Office add-ins for Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint. [v3.3]

Integration/Connections​

  • New input connector "Watched Mailbox (IMAP)" to automatically convert emails or files sent to a configurable mailbox on an IMAP server. [v3.2]
  • New input connector "Watched Mailbox (Exchange Online)" to automatically convert emails or files sent to a configurable mailbox on a Microsoft Exchange Online server. [v3.5]
  • New output connector "Output Mailbox (IMAP)" to copy output files to a mailbox without actually sending an email. [v3.4]
  • New output connector "Output Mailbox (Exchange Online)" to copy output files to a mailbox without actually sending an email. [v3.5]
  • New output connector "Send Email (SMTP)" to send an email to a configurable or dynamic email address, containing the results or original files [v3.4] and/or additional information (error message, warnings) [v3.6].
  • New output connector "Send Email (Exchange Online)" to send an email to a configurable or dynamic email address, containing the results or original files [v3.4] and/or additional information (error message, warnings) [v3.6].
  • New output connector "Create Text File" to create a text file with additional information (error message, warnings) in an output folder. [v3.6]

Watched Folder connector​

  • New support for companion files to pass information as variables directly to the output connectors. [v3.10]

REST Input (JSON) connector​

  • New key "options" in JSON format to pass job-level and document-level options to the workflow. [v3.1]
  • New key "variables" in JSON format to pass information directly to the output connectors. [v3.1]
  • Changed default request body size limit from unlimited to 100MB. [v3.1]

REST Output connector​

  • New support for placeholder variables in URL setting. [v3.1]
  • New support for sending form fields in addition to the files. [v3.10]
  • New support for username/password based authentication. [v3.10]
  • New support for setting the Accept header. [v3.10]

Version 2​

This section describes all changes included in version 2 of the Conversion Service.

REST interface​

  • New support for Cross-Origin Requests (CORS). By default, requests from all origins are allowed. [v2.3]
  • Changed value of property type of problem details object (RFC 7807) to http://www.pdf-tools.com/service/rest/errors/‹type›. [v2.4]
  • New Configuration and Timeout job result error codes. [v2.6]
  • New support for HTTPS service endpoint. [v2.9]

Installation and deployment​

  • New Docker image pdftoolsag/conversion-service. [v2.2]
  • Changed license key format to 4H-VX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. License keys with the format 1-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX are no longer supported. [v2.2]
  • New dependency on Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 5.0 (Windows, x64) and Microsoft ASP.NET Core Runtime 5.0 (Windows, x64). [v2.9]
  • New client installer (msi). [v2.10]

Workflows​

  • New workflow Archive PDF/A-3 similar to Archive PDF/A-2, but with support for non-PDF/A attachments. [v2.5]
  • New workflow Invoice for creating PDF/A-3 conformant invoices with attachments. [v2.5]
  • New workflow Dossier for merging PDF documents into a dossier while applying headers, footers or watermarks [v2.8] and support for a title page and table of contents. [v2.11]
  • New workflow Conversion provides document conversions from multiple file formats to PDF with an emphasis on performance and document size. [v2.8]

Archive PDF/A-2 workflow​

  • New profile option Flatten annotations in section Document Optimization. [v2.3]
  • New profile option Child error handling. [v2.7]
  • New profile option for emails Use subject as filename. [v2.8]

Common functionality​

  • New conversion of HEIC and HEIF images. [v2.11]
  • Improved email conversion: Attachments of emails where parts of the attachment are removed during the conversion process (e.g. a not convertible part of a ZIP file) are now listed as Partially removed inside the email header. [v2.7]
  • New profile setting Task timeout for all workflows, to avoid the situation where a single long-running processing step can lead to timeouts in other unrelated jobs.
  • Improved and harmonized messages of warnings and events.

Office documents​

  • New conversion of RTF documents. [v2.2]
  • Improved conversion of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint: These types of documents are now converted directly within the Conversion Service through Microsoft Office applications. A parallel installation of the 3-Heights® Document Converter is no longer required and no longer supported for this purpose. [v2.1]
  • Improved conversion of DOCX documents: Certain corrupt documents are now repaired automatically. [v2.6]
  • Improved conversion of password-protected DOCX documents: Embedded files from these documents can now be processed. [v2.6]

Digital signatures​

  • New signature types Windows - PAdES-B-B and PKCS#11 - PAdES-B-B to create basic signatures that require no TSA nor revocation information. [v2.5]
  • Improved processing of signed PDF documents: If signatures need to be removed, their visual appearance is preserved. [v2.10]

OCR​

  • Improved OCR recognition task scheduling: Each page is now processed in a separate task, which significantly reduces the amount of time a worker is blocked by OCR tasks and thus improves the latency of other high priority tasks. [v2.4]
  • Improved OCR engine configuration: Specific configuration for each engine type. [v2.4]
  • New support for load-balancing to multiple instances of 3-Heights® OCR Service. [v2.6]

PDF to PDF/A conversion​

  • Improved conversion event messages to be more specific. [v2.11]
  • Improved detection of optimal target conformance level where the highest level is chosen that can be achieved with a perfect conversion. [v2.11]
  • New warning types Annotation removed and Multimedia removed for events that were previously reported as Action removed. [v2.11]

Conversion Service Configurator​

  • Improved UI design of the profiles tab to provide a clear overview of profiles and their related workflow. [v2.7]
  • New tab Integration for configuring connections to allow easy integration of the Conversion Service into existing systems. [v2.4]
  • New tab Health & Activity for monitoring the state and recent activity of the service. [v2.10]
  • New tab Statistics to report and analyze the service's conversion history. [v2.11]
  • New possibility to copy profiles and connections. [v2.11]
  • Improved UI validation of service, profiles and connection configuration to provide greater clarity of errors and warnings. [v2.12]

Integration/Connections​

  • New service Conversion Service Connections that allows combining input sources with output for easy integration into existing systems. [v2.4]
  • Removed service Conversion Service Folders (superseded by the new service Conversion Service Connections) [v2.4]

Input connectors​

  • New REST input connector for plain HTTP requests. [v2.9]
  • New REST input connector for structured JSON requests. [v2.10]

Output connectors​

  • New REST output connector. [v2.9]
  • New Command Excecute output connector. [v2.9]

Other changes​

  • Changed trademark ™ to registered trademark ®. [v2.10]

Version 1​

This section describes all changes included in version 1 of the Conversion Service.

  • Changed minimum required version of 3-Heights® Document Converter Enterprise Edition to version 6.5.
  • Changed port to connect to 3-Heights® Document Converter Enterprise Edition to 7983.
  • New requirement of Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime 3.1 (Windows, x64) and Microsoft ASP.NET Core Runtime 3.1 (Windows, x64). This is in addition to the .NET Framework 4.7.

REST interface​

  • Changed to return RFC 7807 Problem object instead of proprietary error object.
  • Changed JSON serialization of enum values from integer to string.
  • Changed XML objects to use no namespace in accordance withopenapi.yaml.
  • New codes in the service status response.

Other changes​

  • New GUI Client for manual processing.
  • New view in the 4-Heights® Conversion Service Configurator GUI for submitting a support request.
  • New profile option for job priority in Archive PDF/A2 workflow.
  • New profile configuration (Digital Signature) available in the Configurator GUI.
  • New attachment information is shown as part of the email header.
  • New possibility to import/export profile configurations.
  • New license-dependent view in the Conversion Service Configurator GUI for installing plugins.
  • New document content overflow into the margin when converting emails is signaled with ContentOverflowWarning.
  • New service setting for proxy configuration.
  • New documentation panel in the Conversion Service Configurator GUI.