Problem:
When printing from macOS X on a Mac client that has the Print Scout installed the print job never completes processing and it is not available for the user to release at a printer.
Environment:
macOS X 14 or greater with Xcode 14 IDE or greater installed.
macOS X configured with these two Date/Time settings.
- Set 24-hour time On
- Set 24-hour on Lock Screen On
The first step to understanding if this is something happening in your environment related to this article is to gather all the Print Scout log files from the Mac client using this KB Article.
The one that will show the error outlined below will be present in the JobSender.log which located in the below path on the client machine.
/Library/Application Support/Pharos/PrintScout/AppData/Logs/JobSender.log
Exception Seen: “String was not recognized as a valid DateTime”
Diagnostic Information:
In the JobSender log file for the Print Scout we see the PostJob XML data start like below.
[2025/12/04 15:26:36.167 P1530 D000 T001 i JobSender] [JobSender.PostJob] jobXml=<PrintJob xmlns="http://www.pharos.com/OutputManagement/PrintJob" Version="4.3">
Within this XML block there is a date/time value from the JobTimeLocal XML TAG.
<JobTimeLocal>2025-12-04T3:26:34.337 PM</JobTimeLocal>
You will next see the exception below.
[2025/12/04 15:26:36.167 P1530 D000 T001 i JobSender] [JobSender.PostJob] Transforming job...
[2025/12/04 15:26:36.190 P1530 D000 T001 e JobSender] [MainClass.Main] Failed with error: System.FormatException: String was not recognized as a valid DateTime.
at System.DateTimeParse.Parse (System.ReadOnlySpan`1[T] s, System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo dtfi, System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles styles)
at PharosSystems.PrintAgent.JobParser.CreateJob (System.String jobXml, System.String printerXml,
at PharosSystems.PrintAgent.JobSender.JobSender.PostJob (System.String jobXmlFile, System.String printerXmlFile) [0x000ad] in
This error happens because the JobTimeLocal XML TAG above has a space in it and/or denotes either AM or PM in the Datetime field. This comes from the Mac OS and the Print Scout expects it to be in the format like below with no space or AM or PM.
<JobTimeLocal>2025-12-04T3:26:34.337</JobTimeLocal>
When using the latest Print Scout for macOS for Pharos Cloud and potentially as well with the existence of Xcode 14 or greater being installed on the client, this causes print jobs to fail to be processed when the client OS has non 24-hour Date/Time configured.
Resolution Steps:
- Verify if Xcode 14 or greater is installed, if unneeded by the end user it can be uninstalled.
- Validate the Date and Time configuration settings on the client machine and adjust to 24-Hour time.
If that does not resolve the problem please contact support@pharos.com with the log data and pertinent information about the problem for additional assistance.