i'm trying to use ?eval on a long text field which contains a JSON object. however, i can't seem to save the PDF without an error - i have an <#if has_content> check in front of my use of eval, but it still says the line with ?eval is evaluating to null, i assume because as part of the validation (just like in the PDF preview) it populates some test value into that long text field, so it passes the has_content check but then fails the eval. or at least, that's my best guess. has anyone run into this/have any ideas how to move past it?

care to share the offending code?

<#if record.custbody_singapore_gst?has_content>
<#assign singaporeGSTData = record.custbody_singapore_gst?eval />
  For GST Reporting Purposes<br />
...
<br />
</#if>

the 2nd line assigning the variable is what errors out 😕 the field in question will either be blank or contain a JSON-formatted string.

yeah, I think your theory of it being a part of the validation is correct, as I'm getting this error mesage:

---begin-message---

Syntax error in ?eval-ed string in line 1, column 8:

Encountered "*ipsum*", but was expecting one of:

".."

"..*"

")"

---end-message---

ipsum

giving away that they're feeding the fields with Lorem ipsum to see if they error. I would say submit anyway and test by printing actual transactions, both with and without that field populated.

<#if record.item?has_content>
  <#if record.customfield?has_content>
    <#assign data = record.customfield>
    <#assign m = data?eval>
    <#list m["origItems"] as itemList>

this is the chain of checks that we had on our netsuite-provided pdf template (we had a json field at the header level which replicated the item list). It worked, but you had to "save anyway" past the error

you had to "save anyway" past the error

Good to know I arrived at the official NetSuite workaround 🤣🙃

thanks for confirming all - definitely a bummer because it makes it harder to identify any actual errors outside of that one if you are indefinitely having to "save anyway", plus not being able to use the PDF preview button.