# Reading old state file with newer version of ParaView

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451
**Category:** Development
**Created:** [February 20, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451 "2023-02-20T17:16:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cobo)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/1 "2023-02-20T17:16:09Z")

</div>

Problem: A state file that was generated with a custom application based on ParaView 5.8 crashes the program if I want to load it with an updated custom application based on PV 5.10.

I found out that there is one `Property` tag `"Cues"` in that state file that triggers the crash, so if I remove it manually, I can avoid it:

```auto
      <Property name="Cues" id="85200.Cues" number_of_elements="7">
        <Proxy value="85202"/>
        <Proxy value="126582"/>
        <Proxy value="126585"/>
        <Proxy value="126588"/>
        <Proxy value="126591"/>
        <Proxy value="126598"/>
        <Proxy value="126603"/>
        <Domain name="groups" id="85200.Cues.groups"/>
      </Property>

```

Now I know that according to the “ParaView philosophy”, backwards compatibility for state files is never guaranteed - and I understand that otherwise updates would be very much blocked.

Still I would like to avoid this crash for the customers, because some may hesitate to go for the update at all.

I know that I can probably do it with some “dirty hacks” inside the ParaView code, but maybe there is also an elegant solution for such kind of trouble!?

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/2 "2023-02-20T17:19:21Z")

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> [@cobo](#):
>
> Now I know that according to the “ParaView philosophy”, backwards compatibility for state files is never guaranteed - and I understand that otherwise updates would be very much blocked.

It is guaranteed, this is a bug. please share a simple state file to reproduce.

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cobo)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/3 "2023-02-20T20:30:15Z")

</div>

It is happening in an extremely large one!

So either I manage to get it stripped down while keeping the bug, or I find another reason for the failure on my way there…

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![todoooo](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/todoooo/32/2819_2.png) [@todoooo](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/todoooo)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2023, 5:39am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/4 "2023-02-21T05:39:56Z")

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What is in the _ **groups** _ property?

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cobo)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2023, 10:29am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/5 "2023-02-22T10:29:38Z")

</div>

It was a long way to go, but I finally managed to get it done: Generate an absolute mini-example that still shows the crash with PV 5.10.1: see here.

[minimodel\_crash.zip](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/short-url/osb7Kby1yP9IS3okeu67mBLW1hp.zip) (59.7 KB)

That ZIP package contains a text with a summary of my findings so far, including what I found using the debugger.

There are two state files: one was generated by stripping down the original problem state file (from a customer), even replacing the real model files with a simple dummy. The other was generated from scratch by just putting together the proper reader plus filter in the pipeline: The latter loads just fine with PV 5.10.1 while the first does not.

Meaning: The customer originally did a lot of “playing around” with animations and whatever before writing the state file, and the “traces” of all this are still within the stripped down file and causing the problem.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/6 "2023-02-22T13:32:22Z")

</div>

Thanks a lot @cobo !

Confirmed, here is the backtrace:

```auto
Thread 1 "paraview" received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x00007ffff6b2bb0e in pqAnimationViewWidget::pqInternal::cueName (this=0x555555aa6560, cue=0x55555ccc9200) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Qt/Components/pqAnimationViewWidget.cxx:196
warning: Source file is more recent than executable.
196 QString p = QCoreApplication::translate("ServerManagerXML", pty->GetXMLLabel());
(gdb) print pty
$1 = (vtkSMProperty *) 0x0
(gdb) bt
#0 0x00007ffff6b2bb0e in pqAnimationViewWidget::pqInternal::cueName (this=0x555555aa6560, cue=0x55555ccc9200) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Qt/Components/pqAnimationViewWidget.cxx:196
#1 0x00007ffff6b2568d in pqAnimationViewWidget::onSceneCuesChanged (this=0x555555b2bf20) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Qt/Components/pqAnimationViewWidget.cxx:514
#2 0x00007ffff6b2f20e in QtPrivate::FunctorCall<QtPrivate::IndexesList<>, QtPrivate::List<>, void, void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)()>::call(void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)(), pqAnimationViewWidget*, void**) (f=(void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)(pqAnimationViewWidget * const)) 0x7ffff6b2556a <pqAnimationViewWidget::onSceneCuesChanged()>, 
    o=0x555555b2bf20, arg=0x7fffffffc760) at /usr/include/qt/QtCore/qobjectdefs_impl.h:152
#3 0x00007ffff6b2ef75 in QtPrivate::FunctionPointer<void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)()>::call<QtPrivate::List<>, void>(void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)(), pqAnimationViewWidget*, void**) (f=(void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)(pqAnimationViewWidget * const)) 0x7ffff6b2556a <pqAnimationViewWidget::onSceneCuesChanged()>, o=0x555555b2bf20, 
    arg=0x7fffffffc760) at /usr/include/qt/QtCore/qobjectdefs_impl.h:185
#4 0x00007ffff6b2e8ac in QtPrivate::QSlotObject<void (pqAnimationViewWidget::*)(), QtPrivate::List<>, void>::impl(int, QtPrivate::QSlotObjectBase*, QObject*, void**, bool*) (which=1, this_=0x555557123910, r=0x555555b2bf20, a=0x7fffffffc760, ret=0x0) at /usr/include/qt/QtCore/qobjectdefs_impl.h:418
#5 0x00007ffff5abea71 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQt5Core.so.5
#6 0x00007ffff6684bc1 in pqAnimationScene::cuesChanged (this=0x555556131420) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/build/Qt/Core/pqCore_autogen/EWIEGA46WW/moc_pqAnimationScene.cpp:376
#7 0x00007ffff66a45b2 in pqAnimationScene::onCuesChanged (this=0x555556131420) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Qt/Core/pqAnimationScene.cxx:177
#8 0x00007ffff66840fd in pqAnimationScene::qt_static_metacall (_o=0x555556131420, _c=QMetaObject::InvokeMetaMethod, _id=20, _a=0x7fffffffcad0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/build/Qt/Core/pqCore_autogen/EWIEGA46WW/moc_pqAnimationScene.cpp:176
#9 0x00007ffff5abec20 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQt5Core.so.5
#10 0x00007ffff6582e7a in vtkQtConnection::EmitExecute (this=0x5555561304b0, _t1=0x555556303070, _t2=33, _t3=0x0, _t4=0x0, _t5=0x555556130320) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/build/VTK/GUISupport/Qt/GUISupportQt_autogen/EWIEGA46WW/moc_vtkQtConnection.cpp:145
#11 0x00007ffff65be125 in vtkQtConnection::Execute (this=0x5555561304b0, caller=0x555556303070, e=33, call_data=0x0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/VTK/GUISupport/Qt/vtkQtConnection.cxx:71
#12 0x00007ffff65be0b2 in vtkQtConnection::DoCallback (vtk_obj=0x555556303070, event=33, client_data=0x5555561304b0, call_data=0x0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/VTK/GUISupport/Qt/vtkQtConnection.cxx:63
#13 0x00007fffeda56cd7 in vtkCallbackCommand::Execute (this=0x555556130320, caller=0x555556303070, event=33, callData=0x0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/VTK/Common/Core/vtkCallbackCommand.cxx:42
#14 0x00007fffedcd9589 in vtkSubjectHelper::InvokeEvent (this=0x555556303310, event=33, callData=0x0, self=0x555556303070) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/VTK/Common/Core/vtkObject.cxx:650
#15 0x00007fffedcd9b33 in vtkObject::InvokeEvent (this=0x555556303070, event=33, callData=0x0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/VTK/Common/Core/vtkObject.cxx:819
#16 0x00007fffedcd9cfe in vtkObject::Modified (this=0x555556303070) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/VTK/Common/Core/vtkObject.cxx:884
#17 0x00007ffff53a08a6 in vtkSMProperty::Modified (this=0x555556303070) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMProperty.h:499
#18 0x00007ffff5493503 in vtkSMProxyProperty::LoadState (this=0x555556303070, element=0x55555f8b96e0, loader=0x55555812c590) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMProxyProperty.cxx:458
#19 0x00007ffff546b5ed in vtkSMProxy::LoadXMLState (this=0x5555563024b0, proxyElement=0x55555812c770, locator=0x55555812c590) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMProxy.cxx:2164
#20 0x00007ffff056b456 in vtkSMAnimationSceneProxy::LoadXMLState (this=0x5555563024b0, element=0x55555812c770, locator=0x55555812c590) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/Animation/vtkSMAnimationSceneProxy.cxx:265
#21 0x00007ffff53913cf in vtkSMDeserializerXML::LoadProxyState (this=0x55555812c490, element=0x55555812c770, proxy=0x5555563024b0, locator=0x55555812c590) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMDeserializerXML.cxx:88
#22 0x00007ffff5390ff8 in vtkSMDeserializerXML::NewProxy (this=0x55555812c490, id=320122, locator=0x55555812c590) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMDeserializerXML.cxx:58
#23 0x00007ffff548902a in vtkSMProxyLocator::NewProxy (this=0x55555812c590, id=320122) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMProxyLocator.cxx:111
#24 0x00007ffff5488f6d in vtkSMProxyLocator::LocateProxy (this=0x55555812c590, id=320122) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMProxyLocator.cxx:88
#25 0x00007ffff54f3377 in vtkSMStateLoader::HandleProxyCollection (this=0x55555812c490, collectionElement=0x55555984a3a0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMStateLoader.cxx:430
#26 0x00007ffff54f50b3 in vtkSMStateLoader::LoadStateInternal (this=0x55555812c490, parent=0x55555964f1b0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMStateLoader.cxx:666
#27 0x00007ffff54f4559 in vtkSMStateLoader::LoadState (this=0x55555812c490, elem=0x55555964f1b0, keepOriginalId=false) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMStateLoader.cxx:543
#28 0x00007ffff54c2b20 in vtkSMSessionProxyManager::LoadXMLState (this=0x555556015330, rootElement=0x55555964f1b0, loader=0x0, keepOriginalIds=false) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMSessionProxyManager.cxx:1244
#29 0x00007ffff53e483c in vtkSMLoadStateOptionsProxy::Load (this=0x55555f50b330) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Remoting/ServerManager/vtkSMLoadStateOptionsProxy.cxx:670
#30 0x00007ffff79e3086 in pqLoadStateReaction::loadState (filename=..., dialogBlocked=false, server=0x5555560166a0) at /home/glow/dev/paraview/pv1/src/Qt/ApplicationComponents/pqLoadStateReaction.cxx:114

```

Please open an issue on [https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/issues/](https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/issues/)

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/7 "2023-02-22T13:32:36Z")

</div>

FYI @nicolas.vuaille

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cobo](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/cobo)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/reading-old-state-file-with-newer-version-of-paraview/11451/8 "2023-02-22T13:38:38Z")

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Done - see here:

[https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/-/issues/21782](https://gitlab.kitware.com/paraview/paraview/-/issues/21782)