#22 JUDS Scripts: Autodistill not created if author just goes back to SPMS
This issue is not related to SPMS but the JACoW upload/download scripts, but there is no dedicated bugtracker for that, so I submitted it here.
Short description:
The autodistilled PDF will not show up on the fileserver if the user goes back to SPMS or closes the browser while autodistill is running.
Explanation:
When a final PDF is uploaded by the author, he is presented with a page "PostScript and PDF to JACoW compliant PDF utility" that tells him to review the autodistilled PDF for problems.
While this page is shown the 'metadistill' script runs in the background using ghostscript to redestill his paper.
We check in an iframe periodically with the 'destill' script for the autodistilled PDF to appear. If it is finished it is copied to the folder for papers on the fileserver.
If the author does not wait for the 'metadistill' to finish (and basically does not care about the result) he can just click impatiently on 'When you're done, click HERE to go back to the SPMS.' or close his browser. In this case the autodistilled PDF will not be copied from the 'TEMP' to the 'PAPERS' folder of the conference.
HTTP is stateless. Being autostill basically a CGI calling backward processes, the client browser needs to check on the status of the distill. When this is successfull, a script moves the PDF in the correct directory.
I cannot see another easy way to do this without the browser polling the server.
Please note that the background processes are "limited" by the webserver processes time limit.
Instead of providing the link instantly we could show it on the page that shows the PDF or an error message.
This way the author is forced wait for the process to finish.
Nevertheless, that still does not prevent him from simply closing the browser.