IBM Support

Standard Reports appear to freeze - nothing happens when running system reports

Troubleshooting


Problem

User launches a 'standard report' (also known as a 'system report'). The report will (by default) start to appear in an HTML format. User waits but nothing happens - the report generation appears to have frozen. In other words, when running a standard report the window appears, but it contains only a white / blank screen.

Symptom

Depending on the environment, Acrobat Reader may pop up (but disappears soon afterwards).

Cause

There are several potential causes for similar behaviour:

  • Scenario #1 - Client device has old/out-of-date version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed
  • Scenario #2 - Adobe Reader's license agreement has not been accepted on the client device
    • This typically occurs on a Citrix/Terminal server
  • Scenario #3 - Adobe Reader is configured to NOT allow the web page to display the PDF document.
  • Scenario #4 - Adobe Reader client's Internet Explorer plugin component has a problem

Resolving The Problem

Scenario #1

Upgrade to the latest supported version of Adobe Acrobat Reader

  • For a list of supported versions, see link below.

Scenario #2
  • Launch Adobe Reader and accept the license agreement.
NOTE: As a workaround, in some Citrix environments, user can click "ctrl - alt - tab" to locate the hidden Acrobat dialogue box (hidden in the background) which is waiting for a response.

Scenario #3
  1. Launch Adobe Reader
  2. Click "Edit - preferences"
  3. Click section "Internet"
  4. Inside the "Web Browser Options" tick (enable) the option "Display PDF in browser"
  5. Click OK and close Adobe Reader.

TIP: If the "Display PDF in browser" is not ticked, then (in many environments) what happens is that (when you run any standard report) you will see two versions of the report appear:
  • HTML (inside the browser window)
  • PDF (inside separate instance of Adobe Reader).
See attached picture "Display PDF in browser UNTICKED.jpg" for an example.

Scenario #4
Troubleshoot issue with third-party (non-IBM) software (Adobe Reader) by using third-party websites (e.g. those listed below).

Display PDF in browser UNTICKED.jpgDisplay PDF in browser UNTICKED.jpg

[{"Product":{"code":"SS9S6B","label":"IBM Cognos Controller"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"Controller","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"8.5.1;8.5","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

Historical Number

1020932

Document Information

Modified date:
15 June 2018

UID

swg21345627

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