OJS 3.1.2 Enter Metadata step stalls, but Quick Submit plugin works

Software Support
1

I am trying to upload an article that we already have reviewed and in PDF format so that I can add it to a journal issue. When I go through the submission process, it let me upload the PDF file and then I get to step 3 Enter Metadata. I fill out all the information I have and hit Save and continue at the bottom of the page, but all I get is a little circle animation that spins and spins but even after 10 minutes, nothing happens. I have tried reloading the page and trying again, and also logging all the way out and coming back in and I still get the same spinning circle. The metadata is still there on the screen, so it hasn’t lost it, but I cannot click on step 4 or step 5, it will not let me proceed.

As a workaround, I tried using the Quick Submit 1.0.4-1 plugin from Releases · pkp/quickSubmit · GitHub and it allowed me to fill out all the information, upload my PDF, and assign it to a journal issue, all without any problems. The catch, though, is that when I open the submission page created by the Quick Submit plugin, I can edit metadata like the title or key words, and it will save just fine when I click Save, but if I click on Schedule for Publication and edit the page number and hit Save, I get the same spinning circle.

I can get by for now with the Quick Submit plugin, but I really would like to use the fully OJS 3 workflow in the future, and I cannot use it while this error persists. I have checked the error log and didn’t find anything. Any ideas on what I might need to do so that it will stop hanging up on step 3 Enter Metadata in the submission process?

EDIT: Checking in the error logs, we have found this:

/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/search/SubmissionSearchDAO.inc.php on line 48, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/management/importexport/plugin/QuickSubmitPlugin/saveSubmit
[Wed Jul 17 09:45:00.012326 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 31909] [client 192.168.55.12:51960] PHP Warning:  Illegal offset type in isset or empty in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/search/SubmissionSearchDAO.inc.php on line 26, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/management/importexport/plugin/QuickSubmitPlugin/saveSubmit
[Wed Jul 17 09:45:00.012511 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 31909] [client 192.168.55.12:51960] PHP Warning:  Illegal offset type in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/search/SubmissionSearchDAO.inc.php on line 48, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/management/importexport/plugin/QuickSubmitPlugin/saveSubmit

I am not positive, but I think that error has something to do with this problem, it is as though some line of code in the “Save” process is throwing an error so that is why the page never loads.

2

Hi @Michael_White,

It looks like that’s just a partial error message – can you look through the log for something containing “Fatal error”?

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

3

Well, here is a string of error messages, hopefully it is more helpful.

[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.657379 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionSubmitStep3Form::fetch($request) should be compatible with PKPSubmissionSubmitStep3Form::fetch($request, $template = NULL, $display = false) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/classes/submission/form/SubmissionSubmitStep3Form.inc.php on line 19, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.701561 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionKeywordEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionKeywordEntryDAO.inc.php on line 20, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.703659 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionAgencyEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionAgencyEntryDAO.inc.php on line 44, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.705130 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionDisciplineEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionDisciplineEntryDAO.inc.php on line 44, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.706724 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionLanguageEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionLanguageEntryDAO.inc.php on line 46, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.708283 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionSubjectEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionSubjectEntryDAO.inc.php on line 44, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:12:34.711538 2019] [php7:error] [pid 27725] [client 192.168.55.11:52654] PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Call to a member function getAuthors() on null in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/plugins/generic/orcidProfile/OrcidProfilePlugin.inc.php:402\nStack trace:\n#0 /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/plugins/HookRegistry.inc.php(107): OrcidProfilePlugin->handleSubmissionSubmitStep3FormExecute('submissionsubmi...', Array)\n#1 /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/form/Form.inc.php(314): HookRegistry::call('submissionsubmi...', Array)\n#2 /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/submission/form/PKPSubmissionSubmitStep3Form.inc.php(99): Form->execute()\n#3 /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/pages/submission/PKPSubmissionHandler.inc.php(171): PKPSubmissionSubmitStep3Form->execute()\n#4 /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/lib/pkp/classes/core/PKPRouter.inc.php(390): PKPSubmissionHandler->saveStep(Array, Object(Request))\n#5 /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.ed in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/plugins/generic/orcidProfile/OrcidProfilePlugin.inc.php on line 402, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/index.php/RCCS/submission/wizard/2?submissionId=37
[Wed Jul 17 16:15:31.646446 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 3618] [client 192.168.55.12:53266] PHP Warning:  Declaration of OpenAIREDAO::setOAI(&$oai) should be compatible with PKPOAIDAO::setOAI($oai) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/plugins/generic/openAIRE/OpenAIREDAO.inc.php on line 19
[Wed Jul 17 16:15:31.676301 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 3618] [client 192.168.55.12:53266] PHP Warning:  count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/cache/t_compile/65bfc3e024c2e9104f46e23b73376a9455e3df0e^51cfb9321c891ada9323e7942962579e7e4324d1_0.app.frontendpagesindexSite.tp.php on line 43
[Wed Jul 17 16:15:31.871785 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 3618] [client 192.168.55.12:53266] PHP Warning:  Declaration of OpenAIREDAO::setOAI(&$oai) should be compatible with PKPOAIDAO::setOAI($oai) in /var/www/vhosts/revistas.upeu.edu.pe/httpdocs/ojs312/plugins/generic/openAIRE/OpenAIREDAO.inc.php on line 19, referer: https://revistas.upeu.edu.pe/
4

Success! Our IT guy found this post 3.1.2 submission log errors and based on that it seems that the solution for this error of getting stuck on step 3 is to do the update process. Since we were on 3.1.2 and we were already thinking about updating to the latest 3.1.2-1 (a bug fix update, apparently) we decided to just go for it and hope for the best. By that I mean that we downloaded the latest 3.1.2-1 and then updated it through the Installed: Off flag as described in the normal update process, and now when I log in and go to the test submission I made which had previous stalled in step 3, now when I click Save and Continue it goes on to step 4 without any problems!

5

So, I have the same problem here. Can you tell me how exactly did you do that because when I do installation with installed: off, it doesn’t change anything.

6

Same problem here. We did not perform any changes to the platform for months, and suddenly authors cannot get past stage 3. Has a solution been found (other than an upgrade) or should I upgrade without trying to solve the problem?

7

Chiming in to echo jamiefowlie — all was well, no changes were made (to the best of my knowledge), and now submission process hangs upon clicking Save and Continue button on Step 3.

I performed the DB update suggested above; no effect. No fatal errors in log. All I see are dozens of deprecation warnings following this, which I cannot make heads or tails of:

PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionSubmitStep3Form::fetch($request) should be compatible with PKPSubmissionSubmitStep3Form::fetch($request, $template = NULL, $display = false) in /home2/username/public_html/journalname/ojs/classes/submission/form/SubmissionSubmitStep3Form.inc.php on line 19
PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionSubjectEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /home2/username/public_html/journalname/ojs/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionSubjectEntryDAO.inc.php on line 20
PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionKeywordEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /home2/username/public_html/journalname/ojs/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionKeywordEntryDAO.inc.php on line 45
PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionDisciplineEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /home2/username/public_html/journalname/ojs/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionDisciplineEntryDAO.inc.php on line 44
PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionAgencyEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /home2/username/public_html/journalname/ojs/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionAgencyEntryDAO.inc.php on line 44
PHP Warning:  Declaration of SubmissionLanguageEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL) should be compatible with ControlledVocabEntryDAO::getByControlledVocabId($controlledVocabId, $rangeInfo = NULL, $filter = NULL) in /home2/username/public_html/journalname/ojs/lib/pkp/classes/submission/SubmissionLanguageEntryDAO.inc.php on line 46

The Save and Continue button causes a hang regardless of whether an author, an administrator, or an administrator logged in as an author tries. We’re currently running 3.1.2.1; I don’t see any mention of this sort of issue in the notes for subsequent updates and fear I’ll create more problems than I’ll solve by attempting to upgrade when it’s in this state.

Any advice would be welcome, as I’m dead in the water until this resolves.

8

Hi @chrisfriend/all,

Those warnings are cosmetic and can be ignored. Can you check your browser’s developer tools to see if there’s an error or warning on the browser side? Also, check to see what the server’s response code is (e.g. 200 or 500) when you try to submit the Step 3 form.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

9

Hi, @asmecher. Looks like you’re on to something.

Safari’s JavaScript console threw this error:

Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 406 () (3, line 0)

Then it shows this URL, which doesn’t make sense to me:

https://journaldomain/ojs/index.php/journalname/submission/saveStep/3

Following that link in the console produces this text in the body an HTML page titled Not Acceptable!

An appropriate representation of the requested resource could not be found on this server. This error was generated by Mod_Security.

I’m out of my league here and don’t know where to look to address that issue. Thanks for your help.

10

Hi @chrisfriend,

I suspect your host is using mod_security or another server tool to watch for what it thinks are attempts to break into the server. For whatever reason, the (normal, harmless) request to save Step 3 of the submission form is triggering one of mod_security's rules and the request is prevented from getting through to OJS. I think you’ll have to work with your host to adjust mod_security's configuration so that this request is permitted to go through.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team