pdf already exists; it cannot be added

[jose_oltra]

Hello, 

I'm just writing this post as there are many post out there with the same issue and I won't publish in all of them.

Issue :

When publishing a PDF through Job processor , randomly you get "pdf already exists; it cannot be added". You don't find any pattern for the failure. It's not the category, it's not the file type. Yesterday it worked, today it doesn't....

The problem is on the Vault database. Your existing PDF file has been classified  as "0" when it should have been classified as "7" , which corresponds to Design Representation

[jose_oltra]

Hello, 

I'm just writing this post as there are many post out there with the same issue and I won't publish in all of them.

Issue :

When publishing a PDF through Job processor , randomly you get "pdf already exists; it cannot be added". You don't find any pattern for the failure. It's not the category, it's not the file type. Yesterday it worked, today it doesn't....

The problem is on the Vault database. Your existing PDF file has been classified  as "0" when it should have been classified as "7" , which corresponds to Design Representation

[jose_oltra · Accepted solution]

So, the solution is Autodesk solving this bug, but in the meantime , there is a workaround.

IMPORTANT : This workaround implies modifying a value on the database. So, DON'T do it.

Go to SQL management Studio, access your DB. 

Find the files with the correspondent TipFileBaseName.

From all the FileMasterID find the one that represent your PDF. Look the FileClassification Value. It should be 7.

Once changed , resend the Job on the queue. It publish the file normally.

As you may have noticed, I'm not given any further detail on the steps on purpose. If you don't know how to find the data, you should not try this workaround.

Thank you!

[jose_oltra · Accepted solution]

So, the solution is Autodesk solving this bug, but in the meantime , there is a workaround.

IMPORTANT : This workaround implies modifying a value on the database. So, DON'T do it.

Go to SQL management Studio, access your DB. 

Find the files with the correspondent TipFileBaseName.

From all the FileMasterID find the one that represent your PDF. Look the FileClassification Value. It should be 7.

Once changed , resend the Job on the queue. It publish the file normally.

As you may have noticed, I'm not given any further detail on the steps on purpose. If you don't know how to find the data, you should not try this workaround.

Thank you!

[johan.degreef]

Is this solved in 2025?

[johan.degreef]

Is this solved in 2025?