Cfindex not indexing .docx word documents files

To help those who may find this thread (such as if searching brings them here), I want to offer a summary. There was the initial problem reported, then others discovered. It's a very long thread.

• First, what Keith reported originally was that as of the July 2025 CF updates (in his case, of cf2023), his use of cfindex would no longer work for .docx files
• He also reported that uninstalling that July update did NOT resolve the problem
• For the first couple of days we pursued a couple of lines of consideration, including whether it may be due to an error in the update process
• But I later confirmed not only that I could recreate the problem, but that it was true also for those on CF2025 and CF2021 who applied the July Update. I also filed an Adobe bug report
• BKBK then proposed downgrading the search package, which proved to solve the problem of .docx files not being indexed
• But Keith later reported that he now found also .xlsx files would not index
• I proposed he downgrade the spreadsheet package. He reported at first that didn't work, but then I reminded him to clear the felix-cache, and then he reported now it worked:  he could now use cfindex to process .docx and .xlsx files, along with the others that had been working

While that takes care of his cfindex problems (and it would work for those who apply the July update and then uninstall it), it still didn't explain why uninstalling the July update left things in this seemingly broken state.

And for that I had (in the midst of all the dozens of replies) also identified and reported here a different problem that expands WELL BEYOND this one matter of cfindex.  Indeed, it can explain many, many problems that some (not all) people have had with recent updates and unusual package management problems.  It has to do with what I've documented is a seeming misconfiguration in the bundlesdependency.json file which is downloaded from Adobe when one performs a CF update (or CF package updates).  For now, check out that message I just linked to. I will eventually create a new bug report (at tracker.adobe.com).

For now, I have updated that other bug report (about this cfindex problem) to also summarize both the workarounds and note this new, different (but related) problem.  So while Keith's original problem seems resolved, for now, this really is just the start of a new journey related to this other issue. I think we will want to create a new thread on that, and let this one close. Maybe I'll do that after I create the Adobe bug report. I'll also do a blog post, as that new info seems important news to share well beyond this one forum thread on cfindex.

But I hope this summary of things helps put a nice bow on this one, for now. If I missed or forgot anything, let me know. 

Keith, I realize you may suspect still this is some bug in cf, but I still would contend you should confirm if there was not some failure in the update process.

I'd raised multiple diagnostic questions in my first reply.  You've still not answered 2b and 2c. Please take time to do that, as it seems you're not getting to resolution with the other back and forth you guys have been having since then.

I have more for you/us to consider if that doesn't find the problem. Let's go one step at a time. 

Keith, I'm unaware of that being a known issue with update 15...but then again you found that in uninstalling that the problem remains. So the issue may or may not be about the specific "update" but rather about something amiss during your update process. I will elaborate. (Maybe someone else may know something about this .docx matter if it's a known one.)

1) First, though, can you just stop CF, delete the cfusion/bin/felix-cache folder, then start CF and test again? That has been a workaround for many recent problms people have experienced after an update.  If that helps while you are on u14, THEN try going to u15 and after that update is done, REPEAT THAT STEP of deleting the felix-cache.  For now, don't ask about it or contemplate whether it could/should help. 🙂 FWIW it's mentioned in some of the update technotes as a thing to do to solve "known issues".

If you'll just please try it and let us know how it goes, we can go to another step if it does NOT work.

2) And if "that didn't help", please then confirm for us a) are you doing the update within the CF Admin or via the command line (and the "java -jar" approach or using the cfpm tool)? Also b) what is the value in your CF Admin for the "packages url" (available via the the "settings" tab on the "package manager" page, where you can see CF updates). I can explain later, if needed, why I ask those questions.

Finally, c) did you confirm in your update log that there was a count of 0 for "fatalerrors" and "nonfatalerrors"? I elaborate on that last point in a post here. BTW, that log is created both for an install AND for an uninstall of any CF update.

There's still more I and others could share, but let's see how things go. Hope something above here helps you.