SAS Enterprise Guide 7.15 crashing when running selected items in a script

[OpalinePhoenix]

As noted in the subject line, I've been having a problem with SAS EG 7.15 repeatedly crashing if I try to run only a part of a script. IN other words, if I highlight part of a script and tell it Run>Run Selected Items, it will ask, as usual, if I want to override whatever I've run before, and when I tell it says, it brings up the error that SAS EG has encountered a problem and needs to close. On occasion it crashes at other times, but in this particular situation, it crashes every time. If I run a full script, it works just fine. I'm using a Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga 14, and have Windows 10 64-bit. My SAS and EG are fully up to date, and I've downloaded and run the most recent set of hot fixes. I also saw a suggestion for an earlier version of EG to disable touchscreen capabilities as a fix, and tried that, but it didn't change anything. Any advice?

[CaseySmith · Accepted solution]

If you are using a Yoga (touchscreen device) with Windows 10, then it is certainly possible you are running into the Microsoft issue (specific to Windows 10) that crashes EG.  To reproduce this crash, click to the left of a line in EG's code editor (ex. a simple libname statement) to select the line.  Notice that the selection includes an extra space at the end which represents the line-ending and that the caret is positioned inside the selection, rather than at the end (this appears to be a contributing factor)...

Now submit this code (press Run or F3), switch back to the Program tab, and then EG should crash...

To confirm you are encountering this issue, look in the Windows Event Viewer (in Windows Logs->Application) after the crash and if you see an Error whose faulting module is tiptsf.dll, then you are encountering this issue.

We worked with Microsoft to identify this bug in their code. Microsoft promised a fix soon in a Windows 10 update, which we are awaiting.  UPDATE: The fix has now been provided by Microsoft, in their Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

You can workaround the issue by avoiding clicking to the left of the lines to make your selection. For example, start your selection by clicking in the text area rather than to the left of the text area, or use the keyboard to make your selection. This avoids the caret being inside the selection (which appears to contribute to the problem), thus avoids the crash.

If you are encountering a different issue...

Are there any details associated with the "crash" that you can share?  For example, is there a dialog with a callstack perhaps?  Vheck the Windows Event Viewer to see if there are other Errors in the Windows Logs->Application log that provide more information.  You can also turn on EG logging from within EG via Tools->Options->Application Logging (then close EG, restart EG, reproduce the crash with as few steps as possible, then save off the EG log).

I suggest contacting SAS Tech Support. They will likely ask for the information above. If you share some of it here, I might be able to provide more guidance.

Casey

[OpalinePhoenix]

Thanks! That is exactly the error I was getting, and the workaround did work. I'll just keep an eye out for that Windows update now, I suppose...

[SASKiwi]

@CaseySmith - We have migrated to EG 7.15 running on Win 10 touchscreen laptops and are getting this error also. Is there any update on the fix yet? 

[CaseySmith]

Yes, there is!  Microsoft included a fix for this issue in their Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

Note: If your organization allows you to use Windows Update, you can get it from there. If not, you'll need to work with your IT department to get them to rollout the update.

Casey

[SASKiwi]

@CaseySmith - Thanks very much! I'll check with our IT people on this.