PDS troubleshooting

PDS reports most failures on the workflow transition that failed, and the message names the object that is incomplete. That makes it unusually diagnosable — if a transition was refused, read the message before anything else.

The exception is the failures that happen before the handlers run at all. Those are silent from the user’s point of view and only visible in the application log.

Check these first

1. Read the message on the failed transition. PDS puts its reason there and names the object that is incomplete. That answers most reports on its own.
2. Is the licence valid? Without one the check-in handler that drives everything is disabled, and nothing at all happens.
3. Does the application status report a configuration error? M-Files Admin shows it under the vault’s Applications node. PDS refuses to run its handlers while the configuration is invalid.
4. Is CtrlSync installed, configured and licensed? PDS reaches SharePoint through it and refuses to activate a project when it cannot.

Nothing happens at all

Two conditions disable PDS’s check-in handler entirely. Neither shows up in the client: the project moves between states and nothing is generated.

The licence is missing or invalid. The log records No license detected or Invalid license detected at startup, and License invalid, check-in handler disabled on each check-in. Apply a valid .lic file.

The configuration is invalid. The log records Configuration invalid, check-in handler disabled. The application status in M-Files Admin says which setting is at fault — usually a required setting naming an object type, property or state that no longer exists.

Check the application status first

M-Files Admin shows the application’s own validation results under the vault’s Applications node. A configuration error there explains almost every case of PDS doing nothing.

Baseline generation fails

These messages appear on the refused transition into the generate baseline state.

Message	What it means
Project missing a template!	The project’s template property is empty. Set it to a project object template.
Project Template X missing a directory structure!	The named project object template has no directory structure property set.
Document Object Template 'X' had no directory structure assigned!	The named document object template needs its directory structure property set.
Document Object Template 'X' had no full path assigned!	The named document object template has no path object saying which folder its document belongs in.
Document Object Template 'X' had no document template!	The named document object template does not reference a document to copy.
One or more DocumentObjectTemplates could not be converted into artifacts: …	Generation got past validation and then failed. The message lists which templates, and the underlying errors are in the log.

All of these are missing references on template objects rather than configuration mistakes. Fix the object the message names and retry the transition.

Activation fails

These appear on the refused transition into the activate state.

Cannot create SharePoint artifacts until CtrlSync is installed, configured and licensed.

PDS asked CtrlSync for its status and did not get a positive answer. This is about CtrlSync, not PDS: check that it is installed in the same vault, that its configuration is valid, and that its licence is current. See CtrlSync troubleshooting.

No Sharepoint Url attached, please fill out the … property on the project

The project has no SharePoint URL. PDS needs to know where to upload before it will start. The message names the property, which is the one set as the SharePoint URL property in Graph Configuration.

SPO artifact X had no document template to refer to! DocObjTemplate X had no document template! Document template X had no underlying file! Document template had no Path object assigned.

The chain from artefact to document object template to document template to file is broken somewhere. The message says where. The third one is the common case: a document template object exists but nobody attached a file to it.

Document Version Property is not a lookup or multi-select property

The version property configured under Document Templates Configuration is of the wrong data type. It has to be a lookup or multi-select lookup.

One or more artifacts failed to upload: …

Activation got as far as CtrlSync and CtrlSync could not upload. The message lists the artefacts; the reason is in the log, and is usually a Graph permission or a SharePoint path that could not be created.

Files went to the wrong place

The folder an artefact lands in comes from the path object chain, not from anything typed in. Walk it: the document object template’s full path property names one path object, that object’s partial path title is the folder name, and its directory structure property names its parent. A folder appearing at the top level when it should be nested means the parent reference is missing.

A document was checked out and PDS worked anyway

PDS undoes a checkout it finds in its way, and logs Found project X checked out, undoing checkout or the same for an artefact. Anything unsaved in that checkout is discarded. This is deliberate — the alternative is generation failing because someone left an object open — but it is worth knowing before blaming the user.

Changes made in SharePoint disappeared

That is Default Synchronization Behavior, which defaults to discarding changes made to an uploaded document. It is a deliberate choice for template-driven documents: the copy in SharePoint is a starting point, and edits to it are not meant to flow back.

The Discard Changes After Upload Condition beside it takes precedence, and is evaluated per artefact against the document object template rather than against the document. If some documents keep their changes and others do not, that condition is why.