Ok, so this seems to be a data-related issue then. Do you have a backup of the specification when it was working? You may need it. Here are some more suggestions:

1. Exit out of AP.
2. Using MS Explorer, go to this AP data directory and identify the specification files that are listed before (above) your specification. (You must use sort by filename to see this correctly. To do this, left-click on the Name ^ column header in Explorer so that Windows will sort alphabetically ascending.)
3. Multi-select these spec files and copy them to another directory for now. (Your active spec file should now be at the top of the list.)
4. Go back into Payables
5. Go to Edit - Banks & select the Bank that this spec is used for and go to the Specifications tab
6. Scroll down in the System Checks selection box and find your newly saved spec and select it. Click OK to save this choice.
7. Go back into this Bank and check to see if it has kept the specification. If it has, then proceed to the check print area to see how the actual check preview looks.

If this has been successful, then there could have been something wrong with one of the other specification files listed before your spec. Since Payables sorts through the spec files in order before it comes to the one you have selected to print, this could have prevented yours and the sample spec from working properly in this respect.

If the above procedures were not successful, then you can try something very simple...

1. Back in Payables, open the Designer
2. Open your spec file & go to File - Specification Options.
3. Give your file a new name in the Title field, and click OK to save the new name.
4. Save the specification (File - Save).
5. Try your preview now.

If it still does not work, then:
1. In Designer again, open the specification and use the 'File - Save as' option to give the specification a new file name (stay to 8 characters only this time - in case you had a longer file name and for some reason this was causing problems) - so the syntax should be "AP$aaaaa.xxx". (You MUST have the "AP$" - it is mandatory! "aaaaa" represents the 5 characters left for your filename, and "xxx" represents your data extension for this company.) ALSO - make sure you are saving this file in this company's dataset! (In case this was the problem all along!) All specification files must reside in the data directory for the company you are working in in AP!
4. Try previewing it in Designer - does it look ok? If so, the next test would be to go to AP and try the same steps with selecting this new spec in the Bank area, then trying to preview an actual check with this spec selected.

If you do not use the other spec files that you copied into another directory, then it will not be necessary to copy them back again if everything is working ok now.

Good luck! Please let us know which (if any) procedure worked for you!

Regards,
Softrak Support