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Report and Operation just disappeared

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    Report and Operation just disappeared

    I'm pretty new to Alpha and have just wasted about 3 hours working on a report and an Update Operation. The database is simple...only one file.
    This report was working fine and I actually hadn't made any changes to it prior to this last launch attempt.....I got the message "tried to read past end of file".
    I just closed Alpha and restarted it...the report was totally gone! (Also, gone was an Update Operation which I hadn't even used for awhile.)
    No, I hadn't changed the file upon which the report was based.
    If this is a common (or even pretty uncommon) problem with Alpha, I will have to discontinue it's use.
    Anyone have any ideas?

    #2
    Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

    I have had my database go bad on a couple of occassions - usually the same problem - I think I was trying to read a jpg image file that wasn't there - I need to go back a document that. The form I was working on at the time got corrupted and I had to resort to a backup. This isn't unique to A5 - I've had lots of VB files and Access databases go bad for apparently no reason.

    When I re-open a database that I'm about to work on I do a Zip backup using the Tools menu item. Sorry that your stuff disappeared... it does happen. I hope it doesn't tick you off but backups are so necessary when developing. My dentist once said to me that I should only brush those teeth that I want to keep. I apply that to pretty much everything I do... I only backup those databases I don't want to lose.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

      Thanks for the reply. I do backup every night,however, all the work I did on this was today, so I didn't have a backup. Even if I backed up every hour I still would have lost work. For me, this kind of problem is unacceptable. By the way, this is not the first time Alpha has trashed a file on me. I'm about to look for another product. Thanks again for the reply.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

        Hi Don,
        By the way, this is not the first time Alpha has trashed a file on me
        I have only done a few hundred (probably closer to a 1000) reports so definitely not an expert, but so far have only had a couple of instances of them disappearing---the first was quite some time ago and have no clue as to why it happened. The last time it happened was this week....but the reason this time was obvious--I had a calculation that Alpha could not figure out (due to my creating it that way inadvertently!!). But as I backup every 30 minutes or so generally when doing anything fairly intense or big changes, I did not lose much....why do I back up so much?? Making large unproven changes or a multitude of calculations justifies it in my mind. Corruption is not that common and gets to be less and less with less and less mistakes on my part.

        I know what I just said probably does not help....may even make it worse. It is just that I see Alpha being blamed first for anything that goes wrong and so many times it is just not the case. Then again it may very well be an Alpha problem especially with some of the patches for version 9 that have come out.

        But until you know with certainty that it is a problem with Alpha and not something else, why would you even consider going to another platform where the same problem could exist? Just curious...
        Mike
        __________________________________________
        It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
        It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
        Henry David Thoreau
        __________________________________________



        Comment


          #5
          Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

          Mike, thanks for your response. It is encouraging that you have done a considerable amount of work and apparently not had a lot of this type of trouble. My intolerance of this kind of thing probably stems from my background working with a mid-range system which had an unbreakable database. I haven't done much development in the PC world since the 1980's when I developed some applications that ran on Macs using a database called 4th Dimension (now called 4D). That system was fantastic at that time, but I know technology has drastically changed since then.

          Since my first post, I think I may have discovered what causes the issue. After I test my theory some more I will send in a bug report if the results prove true. I'm probably being idealist about this, but as far as I'm concerned no product of this nature should EVER just delete my work without warning, apart from some gross error on my part.
          As for switching platforms, I'm not just going to jump ship too quickly, however, I have only done a few apps for my company at this point and I don't want to invest my time in a flaky product. As long as I can work around issues, I'm willing to do that to a point. Of course, there may not be anything out there any better.

          For now I'll stick it out until I get some more experience under my belt. Thanks again for the input, it actually was helpful.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

            Originally posted by Don McElroy View Post
            my background working with a mid-range system which had an unbreakable database.
            Don

            What system did you work with?

            I did a lot of work with HP 3000 and DEC VAX...

            This PC stuff is quite different - until you get to the server OS and use Remote Desktop and then you're back in the thin client world.....
            Al Buchholz
            Bookwood Systems, LTD
            Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

            Occam's Razor - KISS
            Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
            Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
            When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
            "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
            Albert Einstein

            http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

              Al,
              I've worked with HP3000 back when "on-line" was pretty new. Most of my software development experience was on an IBM AS400 (now iSeries). That was, and probably still is, the world's most reliable business system.

              Don

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

                Issue worked around.
                I "created" a table with an import operation, then created a report, which worked fine.
                The problem came when I imported another set of records using the "create table" option on the import (overlaying the original import). When I did this, the forms and browses on the table worked and looked correct, but the report and another operation based on this table got blown away.

                The workaround...(which, henceforth, will be standard procedure for me) was to change the import option to "append" NOT "create" the table. I just added a "delete records" operation to clear the table before running the import.
                This application requires frequent re-importing of the records and my thought was that it would be faster if I could avoid the delete operation. Since Alpha allowed me to perform the create each time and since the table looked good, I assumed this was a valid procedure.
                I sent this in as a bug report to Alpha. Their initial response was very quick and asked me some questions about what I was doing...I was impressed by how quickly they responded. However, by that time, I had discovered what caused the problem and did the work around. The issue that remains for me is:
                If what I did (overlaying the table with a "create")is not valid, then Alpha shouldn't present it as a valid option and, in any case, should not just delete objects.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

                  If what I did (overlaying the table with a "create")is not valid, then Alpha shouldn't present it as a valid option and, in any case, should not just delete objects.
                  Overwriting an existing table is perfectly valid, in certain circumstances. When designing an import you can specify whether Alpha should warn or not warn you that you will be overwriting.

                  What happened to you is not that Alpha deleted any objects, per se. When you create a table via an import and later create operations, layouts, etc based on the table those aspects are stored in the support tables (samename.ddx, .ddm, etc.) When you decide to overwrite that table its support files are overwritten as well. Sometimes this is what you want, sometimes not. If this is not what you want then you need to switch to one of the methods that preserves the support files. The append operation is one, import to an existing table is another.

                  Glad you got over that hurdle.
                  There can be only one.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Report and Operation just disappeared

                    Stan,
                    Thanks for the reply. This probably isn't very important now, but just to clarify...
                    I was using the Import operation. If I set the Append option then it adds records to the table, so for this application I need to delete the existing records BEFORE running this import operation.
                    (by the way, the imported records are coming from an EXTERNAL database...that's a great feature)

                    The confusion came when I THOUGHT I could use the Import operation to overlay the existing table with my new import selection. (I used the "create" option).

                    My thought that this would work was supported by the fact that the actual table data worked fine.

                    After reading your reply, I'm thinking that Alpha actually creates a NEW table even though it doesn't seem to be new (because the fields are all same, the layouts work,etc). Or it just automatically disconnects the object linkages because of the import option being set for "create".

                    Comment

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