[13.0] Unable to send snailmail letter, even with cover page

[iggups]

Impacted versions:

13.0 EE 20221130

Steps to reproduce:

• Install newest nightly build
• Send invoice with snailmail (cover letter enabled)
• See red envelope and error message in chatter

Current behavior:

• Red envelope with error message "Our service cannot read your letter due to its format.
  Please modify the format of the template or update your settings to automatically add a blank cover page to all letters."

Expected behavior:

• Letter gets sent, it worked a month ago or so

Video/Screenshot link (optional):

I know there have been a few commits about snailmail in the past months but it seems broken...

[MrTango]

I have the same issue with Odoo 14.
It always complains about the format, but does not say anything helpful.

[delvsola]

Hello, due to changes from our service provider we had to adapt the layouts for snailmail in stable versions.
In this case, a format error usually implies that the letter failed the validation due to the address field being misplaced or an element leaking into a forbidden area like the margins.

We're looking into better ways to communicate what went wrong with snailmails.

[iggups]

@delvsola But the cover letter option is now mandatory and this cover letter, provided by odoo, should have the correct format so that the snailmail service accepts the format. Hence the address format of the invoice or other document itself shouldn't matter.

[delvsola]

The cover letter is mandatory in 13.0 due to the layout being too time consuming to fix for an unsupported version. The cover page's purpose is to provide an address at a valid location consistently, it does not fix other layout issues such as the content of the letter itself overlapping restricted areas for example.

For reference, here are the location of the restricted areas.

[iggups]

@delvsola But if there always is a cover letter, why does the format of the document, as long as it is A4, matter at all? It should be handled like following pages of an invoice where the address isn't visible as well.

[delvsola]

The margins also have to remain clear of anything, for printing purposes.
Keep in mind that we are not the one who put those restrictions in place, it's the service provider's rules.

[MrTango]

@delvsola thx for your help. But i have added quite big margins on all sides and also activated the cover page. I still get the same error. This is Odoo version 14.0 CE.
I have attached an example invoice.

[MrTango]

@delvsola does the position of the address has to be as in the example?
In Europe it's usually on the left side of a din letter.
It still does not work with and without cover page.

[delvsola]

@MrTango It does have to be on the right, indeed
Our service provider handles it for all the countries, even Germany (Though I am unsure how Germany's postal service handles them).

By any chance, have you updated your Odoo installation with the newest commits ? Lots of changes have been made client-side to ensure compatibility with our provider's new guidelines.

[MrTango]

after pulling the last changes, it now works if the cover page is enabled, without it does not work, but i can live with that.
Thx @delvsola

[iggups]

@delvsola Will those fixes be backported to 13.0 so we can use snailmail again?

[delvsola]

@MrTango Glad to know it works for you now ! And indeed, it won't work without the cover page because the recipient is to the left due to the din layout, which is fine ! It would take a considerable amount of time on our side to adapt for din layouts so I am unsure this is going to be addressed in the near future.

@iggups Nothing planned to backport those changes to 13.0 as of now since it's not supported anymore. I won't say it will never happen, but it's very low priority.