Blank cells on PDF Export and Hebrew filter support
11 May, 2015
There are 2 problems i want to address in this post :
1) Exporting yellowfin report with hebrew fonts to PDF result in blank spaces . The pdf report doesnt shot hebrew fonts.
2) when i try to create a calculated field in Simple mode with hebrew text values then the hebrew characters are shown as ?????
when i try to create a calculated field with freehand sql, then i see hebrew fonts in the table but I can not use that field in the filter section.
Here is a video showing the problems above :
Video Link
I am using the latest version of yellowfin 7.1 build 20150501
The issues i mentioned above are crucial for our customers.
I would appreciate any help in the matter.
thanks in advance
shaul
Is there any progress on the matter?
Did you check/see the problems i posted ?
thank you
shaul
please have a look in your yellowfin.log file and if you can see entries similar to the following:
[code]
YF:2015-05-20 11:53:14: WARN (PdfExporter:A) - C:Program FilesJavajre1.8.0_25/lib/fonts/LucidaBrightItalic.ttf cannot be embedded due to licensing restrictions.[/code]
then that explains the blank cells in your PDF report (or you can get us to look in the logs if you'd like - just email us your yellowfin.log file and reference the subject of this forum post). What that message means is that the owner of the font restricts its usage and that's why it isn't allowed to be embedded in the PDF file. So unfortunately this means there isn't any way around this problem except for you to choose a font that doesn't have licensing restrictions.
Regarding issue no.2, yes I can see the problem there, the freehand SQL Calc field shows the Hebrew characters because you are able to enter the flag for the Unicode characters (N) whereas the Simple Calc field doesn't allow this. This is just how the UI works for Simple Calc fields so there is nothing we can do about this right now, however, there is another way around this problem...and that is to use a custom function:
1) edit the file called
2) add the followin code just before the final tag at the bottom of the file:
[code]
N'????'
and save the file and restart Yellowfin.
3) create a new calculated field and this time choose Pre-Defined as the Formula Type and then select your new custom function called 'Hebrew font' from the list of functions (and don't forget to define the value for the Name field)

and then save the calc field and add it into a report and you'll find that the Hebrew fonts are displayed correctly and you are able to use that calc field as a filter.
I hope that helps your report, if there are any further questions or issues then please don't hesitate to let us know.
regards,
David
yes definitely you should define a font! Apologies as I made the erroneous assumption that you had already defined a font that supported Hebrew and the issue was that that font had a restricted license. Thanks for sharing with us your discovery.
How did you go with the workaround for the other issue?
regards,
Dave