Word crashes on citation insert

pbcornelius

In this document (https://1drv.ms/w/s!AuJpp4qLxMNYj5ArS8g5PPIQ_XKdSA?e=5pVJdE), whenever I insert a citation at the end of lines ABC1, ABC2, or ABC3, Word crashes with this error message (https://1drv.ms/i/s!AuJpp4qLxMNYj5Aqnzkmnz0pJjNRfw?e=PHhSf2).

If I remove any line except for the first one, it does not crash.

If I make any of the equations single line (e.g., by removing the =), it does not crash.

I can insert citations in the first line.

This issue may be related to https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/447568#Comment_447568.

This is the log from Zotero:
(3)(+0016827): Integration: WinWord-addEditCitation:'C:\Users\phili\Downloads\Test.docx' invoked

(3)(+0000002): Integration: Instantiating @zotero.org/Zotero/integration/application?agent=WinWord;1 for command addEditCitation with doc C:\Users\phili\Downloads\Test.docx

(4)(+0000011): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: getDocumentData

(4)(+0000037): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: cursorInField

(4)(+0000043): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: canInsertField

(4)(+0000002): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: cursorInField

(4)(+0000025): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: insertField

(4)(+0002151): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: displayAlert

(3)(+0000036): Moving window to 972, 681

(1)(+0001311): The remote procedure call failed. [insertFieldRaw:y:\adomas\zotero\word-for-windows-integration\build\zoterowinwordintegration\document.cpp]

(3)(+0000001): Integration: WinWord-addEditCitation:'C:\Users\phili\Downloads\Test.docx' complete in 3.619s

(4)(+0000001): ZoteroWinWordIntegration: cleanup

(1)(+0000000): The RPC server is unavailable. [cleanup:y:\adomas\zotero\word-for-windows-integration\build\zoterowinwordintegration\document.cpp]

dstillman

Thanks — I can reproduce that on Windows. That may just be a Word bug, but we'll take a look.

It doesn't happen on macOS, for what it's worth.

adomasven

@pbcornelius Thanks for the reproduction case. It's a Word bug. I've reported it to them via their Feedback UI (in Word Help -> Feedback). You may want to do it too, which might help attracting more attention.

pbcornelius

How would you recommend I report it to Microsoft? Is there a specific function that is buggy?

Waiting for Microsoft to fix their products is a bit like waiting for England to win the world cup. Is there a way you guys can implement a workaround?

adomasven

How would you recommend I report it to Microsoft?

Just report that inserting a Zotero citation there causes Word to crash.

Recent Word changelog actually contained multiple lines regarding fixing issues with equations, so it's not unlikely it will get their attention.

We cannot add a workaround because even attempting to troubleshoot the issue "fixes it". If we debug that code step by step it no longer crashes, indicating some fundamental issue in Word.