Messages in penDirector: Function call failed because pen is already in progress by other instance, etc.

  1. Question
    penDirector displays the following message in the support log: Failed to update pen information, Exception message: Function call failed because pen is already in progress by other instance. Try again later.

    Answer
    This message can be ignored. It may appear even if everything is all right, for example when a sync is in progress and some dialog wants to update the pen info. 
    It will also occur if you have the Pen Settings-tab open and then dock the pen with strokes and synchronization is started.
    The 'Get strokes' operation takes a long time and other pen operations cannot be performed during this time, so all methods fail with error "Function call failed because pen is already in progress by other instance." through the operation of stroke retrieval. It's normal and indicates that the pen is busy performing synchronization and the operation should be called later when synchronization has completed.
  2. Question
    penDirector log displays following message: CommonLogging: ERROR: Failed to update pen information, Exception message: Thread was being aborted.

    Answer
    This error doesn't cause any problems. The message is shown when the user opens the Pen Settings-tab (or other) and later closes the tab or window before all the information has been received, so the software cancels these operations since the software doesn't need these results. 
    The methods fails with exception "Thread was being aborted." because the software cancelled them.

    To show all pen settings, penDirtector sends many requests to the pen. Each request could last up to 2 seconds in order to get and show all settings.
    If the tab is closed before all settings are retrieved, it does not make any sense to continue getting properties since the UI has already been closed and so the process doesn't need them anymore. That's why the operations are cancelled and the "Thread was being aborted." error message is displayed.

    "Thread was being aborted." error could be translated as "We cancelled this operation since we don't need this result anymore."
  3. Question
    penDirector log shows following error: Exception message: Proxy/Channel error has occurred

    Answer
    This message indicates that the issue is in the PAF (Pen Access Framework) service, based on WCF (Windows Communication Framework that PAF is built on). This might be caused by a conflict between penDirector and Windows after a Windows update.
    This message can also be shown when the user upgrades the firmware of the pen and PenDirector cannot read the data from it (the pen becomes disconnected and after the firmware is upgraded successfully, automatically reconnects again). In other words, this is 'normal error' when an app tries to get information from the pen when the pen is disconnected.
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