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Issues with latest build: 6985_5522

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    Issues with latest build: 6985_5522

    I have recently upgraded from 6488-5436 (Feb 28, 2020) to the current build (6985_5522) and am encountering many issues/problems.

    For example, many grids do not open, and instead give an error: tmpl.precalc.encryptedFields Detail view subelement not found.

    I did not change anything nor did I turn on encryption, and the underlying table is not encrypted.

    In an attempt to resolve this, I went to Project Properties and supplied an encryption key and that did not help, so I removed that.

    However, editing the grid, saving it, and re-publsihing it fixes the problem. I have hundreds and hundreds of components, so do I need to edit, save, and republish each one??

    Also, opening an a5w page from a ux component no longer works reliably. Sometimes works, but often just freezes the screen and I have to close the browser and log in again.

    These are problematic, and it makes me wonder if there are other issues, so I am reluctant to use this new version.

    Any suggestions would be welcomed.
    Last edited by drgarytraub; 09-11-2020, 09:10 AM.
    Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.


    #2
    Gary, there were some regression issues with that build .. I don't know if they were specific to encryption but I had an issue where the workaround was the same thing .. edit the component then resave it. Most of my UX's would not open in a dynamic panel.
    I notified Selwyn and he fixed it in the very next pre-release. If you are able to use a pre-release, I have been using the first pre-release following that official release and it didn't have that issue. I realize pre-release builds are not always an option, just a suggestion.
    Alpha Anywhere v12.4.6.5.2 Build 8867-5691 IIS v10.0 on Windows Server 2019 Std in Hyper-V

    Comment


      #3
      I experienced the same with ux with a list control. It will not display anything, even if I save and publish or even on the localhost , it will not display anything , not until I downgraded 1 by 1 the updates , until I installed the Feb 2020 update and it works, I spent 5 days trying to figure out what is wrong why it's not displaying but got no luck. , So the solution when you are upgrading is to take note of the build numbers so that if anything goes wrong you can easily go back to the working update. And last tip would be, if your production app is working , do not ever try to update it , you should have many Virtual machines to test each updates carefully, so one virtual machine for every update.

      Comment


        #4
        Thanks to both of you for your input. I did notify Selwyn and he promptly informed me of the fix in the pre-release. I will wait for that to be formally released before I try to upgrade. Also, I would not be thinking about upgrading if it were not for the fact that there are some new features that I am interested in - one of them being the encryption. But I do agree that the app needs to be vigorously tested whenever upgrading to be sure that there are no issues. So when the fix is released, I will try it, vigorously test it, and then will see.
        Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.

        Comment


          #5
          I have had several issues in both of the last two official releases.
          I got a sql "unexpected token" error when submitting a UX. Turned out it was a timing issue. Not necessarily a bug, but it worked fine in 6699-5464 and previous releases. Took a LOT of time to track it down.
          There was a bug in action javascript Open a UX to add or edit a record in a list control. This prevented me from deploying 6945-5512. It was fixed in a subsequent Nightly Build. I tested a few Nightly Builds, but they had other bugs, which is to be expected.
          Many of the issues I have encountered have not shown up until used in production.
          Today, after extensive testing of the latest official release 6985-5222, I have again installed it on my production server.
          So my development time for the past month has been mostly spent on testing and tracking down elusive errors.

          Comment


            #6
            It is something that just should not happen. I'm on the latest official release and I have to copy my Action JS to the clipboard before I save a component as most times I open it and it's not there, rigorous testing (prior deployment) is the answer and needs to be applied moving forward in my view.I
            Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
            Albert Einstein, (attributed)
            US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

            Comment


              #7
              In testing the latest official release 6985-5222 I am finding that UXs being opened in a dynamic panel will not open.
              It works fine in 6945-5512, the previous official build.
              I am using Action Javascript Open a UX component, with the target set to Dynamic Panel.
              Maybe I will try the next Nightly Build.
              Last edited by Pizzadude; 09-12-2020, 03:29 PM.

              Comment


                #8
                Nightly Build 6987-5527, 8-28-20 will open the dynamic panel, but the controls in the dynamic panel are not visible.
                I am rolling back to Official Release 6699-5464, 5-19-20. This is the most recent version that I have found to be stable.
                I guess I'll stick with that until Alpha releases a stable build.
                It used to be that Alpha would provide hot fixes for official releases, so it would not be necessary to go through the testing of pre-releases.

                Comment


                  #9
                  A quick workaround: In the Grid with a detail-view. In the field property, there is an encrypt flag. Check it and then un-check it. That fixes the problem for me.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Hi Lee.
                    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
                    Albert Einstein, (attributed)
                    US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Hi Lee,

                      I don't think checking and unchecking that box is necessary. Opening the grid, making any change, saving it and republishing fixes it. The thing is I have lots of grids still, and if I do that to each of them, and then find I have to roll back to an earlier release for some other reason, I would wonder if re-saving all those grids would introduce something that could make them not work in a prior release. So I think I should wait until the issue is fixed in a formal release.
                      Gary S. Traub, Ph.D.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I would wonder if re-saving all those grids would introduce something that could make them not work in a prior release.
                        Definitely a possibility. I've been bitten by this before.

                        In my case I am opening a child UX in a dynamic panel from a parent UX. There is no encryption option in a UX.

                        The parent UX is opened from a button in a tabbed UI.

                        If I open the child UX from a button in the tabbed UI and then open the child UX from the parent UX, the child UX displays the controls and works as it should. But in this scenario, if I open the child UX using the cached component, it will open the first time, but not the second or subsequent times.

                        When it fails, it appears that the dynamic panel opens, but it does not load the child UX. The "working" message does not display.

                        I am seeing this in the latest official release 6985-5222 and Nightly Build 6987-5527.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Hi Everyone,

                          I have been working with Alpha for over a decade now and I have come up with a pretty reliable method for implementing server upgrades as painlessly as possible in a production environment so I though I would share my steps here. I always assume there will be a bug or two, and depending on the type of bug it might force me to roll back and wait for it to be fixed so I try to build that into my process. I use Amazon Web Services so I can easily spin up servers as needed so depending on your host provider it might not be as simple.


                          1) Before any upgrades, I first take a backup of my production servers.

                          2) Write down the current release you are on. Simple step I know but I forgot to do this once and took a while to figure out what release to roll back to!

                          2) Create a copy your project before upgrading. Once you start saving components on the new release its very hard to go back. If you find too many bugs, simply delete the project that you used with the new version, install the old Alpha version and go back to using the project you copied. This ensures that you are working with a clean version of your project that was not impacted by the upgrade attempt.

                          3) After upgrading your project DO NOT publish it to your local server for testing. This may seem counter-intuitive, but I have found that it "pollutes" the published environment on your local machine (i.e. adds new config files etc.) and makes it hard to roll back.

                          4) For testing, have a server designated solely for this purpose. With AWS I only start and stop it when needed so I don't have to pay much $$ to keep it running. You can install the Alpha WAS without a license and you just need to restart it every thirty minutes which is fine in a test environment. So its very cheap to have this type of server. Even if you don't use AWS for your production platform there is no reason you can't setup a test server in AWS just for testing.

                          5) Upgrade your test environment server to the latest Alpha release and begin testing as needed. If you find a bug you can try and correct them as you go along by publishing a fix. Either you find that everything works or you need to roll back. If you need to roll back then simply go to Step 2 above and everything is back to normal.

                          So up until Step 5 all of my testing has been done in such a way that I can restore my development environment in about 5 minutes. In the absolute worst case I might need to delete my test server and rebuild it but that is not something that impacts my ability to keep my current production environment running.

                          6) If I feel comfortable moving to production with the new release I take a very cautious approach. I have multiple servers so I start by upgrading just one and wait a day. If no issues come up I go to the next one and so on. So even if a major bug crops up I can simply shutdown the bad server and the rest of them can carry the load. So unless I am really unlucky its very unlikely that a bug in the release will bring down my site.

                          Hope this helps someone and I would be curious to know if anyone else has some ideas about how to do this I might be missing.

                          Scott















                          Comment


                            #14
                            Nice work Scott. Thanks. Pete
                            Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
                            Albert Einstein, (attributed)
                            US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

                            Comment


                              #15
                              IMHO, the way this 'should' work is .. if an Official Release is found to have any bugs or regressions, then a patch should be issued solely including the fix(es).

                              But, it doesn't work this way, instead the fix(es) are rolled into the next pre-release along with new features.

                              I always make a virtual machine backup before updating whether official or pre-release.
                              Last edited by iRadiate; 09-14-2020, 11:51 AM. Reason: typo
                              Alpha Anywhere v12.4.6.5.2 Build 8867-5691 IIS v10.0 on Windows Server 2019 Std in Hyper-V

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