Alpha Software Mobile Development Tools:   Alpha Anywhere    |   Alpha TransForm subscribe to our YouTube Channel  Follow Us on LinkedIn  Follow Us on Twitter  Follow Us on Facebook

Announcement

Collapse

The Alpha Software Forum Participation Guidelines

The Alpha Software Forum is a free forum created for Alpha Software Developer Community to ask for help, exchange ideas, and share solutions. Alpha Software strives to create an environment where all members of the community can feel safe to participate. In order to ensure the Alpha Software Forum is a place where all feel welcome, forum participants are expected to behave as follows:
  • Be professional in your conduct
  • Be kind to others
  • Be constructive when giving feedback
  • Be open to new ideas and suggestions
  • Stay on topic


Be sure all comments and threads you post are respectful. Posts that contain any of the following content will be considered a violation of your agreement as a member of the Alpha Software Forum Community and will be moderated:
  • Spam.
  • Vulgar language.
  • Quotes from private conversations without permission, including pricing and other sales related discussions.
  • Personal attacks, insults, or subtle put-downs.
  • Harassment, bullying, threatening, mocking, shaming, or deriding anyone.
  • Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
  • Sexually explicit or violent material, links, or language.
  • Pirated, hacked, or copyright-infringing material.
  • Encouraging of others to engage in the above behaviors.


If a thread or post is found to contain any of the content outlined above, a moderator may choose to take one of the following actions:
  • Remove the Post or Thread - the content is removed from the forum.
  • Place the User in Moderation - all posts and new threads must be approved by a moderator before they are posted.
  • Temporarily Ban the User - user is banned from forum for a period of time.
  • Permanently Ban the User - user is permanently banned from the forum.


Moderators may also rename posts and threads if they are too generic or do not property reflect the content.

Moderators may move threads if they have been posted in the incorrect forum.

Threads/Posts questioning specific moderator decisions or actions (such as "why was a user banned?") are not allowed and will be removed.

The owners of Alpha Software Corporation (Forum Owner) reserve the right to remove, edit, move, or close any thread for any reason; or ban any forum member without notice, reason, or explanation.

Community members are encouraged to click the "Report Post" icon in the lower left of a given post if they feel the post is in violation of the rules. This will alert the Moderators to take a look.

Alpha Software Corporation may amend the guidelines from time to time and may also vary the procedures it sets out where appropriate in a particular case. Your agreement to comply with the guidelines will be deemed agreement to any changes to it.



Bonus TIPS for Successful Posting

Try a Search First
It is highly recommended that a Search be done on your topic before posting, as many questions have been answered in prior posts. As with any search engine, the shorter the search term, the more "hits" will be returned, but the more specific the search term is, the greater the relevance of those "hits". Searching for "table" might well return every message on the board while "tablesum" would greatly restrict the number of messages returned.

When you do post
First, make sure you are posting your question in the correct forum. For example, if you post an issue regarding Desktop applications on the Mobile & Browser Applications board , not only will your question not be seen by the appropriate audience, it may also be removed or relocated.

The more detail you provide about your problem or question, the more likely someone is to understand your request and be able to help. A sample database with a minimum of records (and its support files, zipped together) will make it much easier to diagnose issues with your application. Screen shots of error messages are especially helpful.

When explaining how to reproduce your problem, please be as detailed as possible. Describe every step, click-by-click and keypress-by-keypress. Otherwise when others try to duplicate your problem, they may do something slightly different and end up with different results.

A note about attachments
You may only attach one file to each message. Attachment file size is limited to 2MB. If you need to include several files, you may do so by zipping them into a single archive.

If you forgot to attach your files to your post, please do NOT create a new thread. Instead, reply to your original message and attach the file there.

When attaching screen shots, it is best to attach an image file (.BMP, .JPG, .GIF, .PNG, etc.) or a zip file of several images, as opposed to a Word document containing the screen shots. Because Word documents are prone to viruses, many message board users will not open your Word file, therefore limiting their ability to help you.

Similarly, if you are uploading a zipped archive, you should simply create a .ZIP file and not a self-extracting .EXE as many users will not run your EXE file.
See more
See less

Crashing - Loss of record

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Crashing - Loss of record

    Wow, out of the blue, A5 v 4.03 build 230 has become very unstable. Many A5 engine error messages and .dll errors that wipe the record I'm working on and bolts out. Then on restart of the program, it shows that I don't have enough licenses to open the database. I have to restart the system. Windows ME is my OS. This is my own copy, stand alone machine, never to be networked. I've close all of the programs in the tray without any improvement. The only app I've added is the Palm Software to support my Palm Pilot PDA. Should I spring for the 4.5 upgrade or wait for A5v5? Should I go to Windows XP? I'm stumped and I'm not a programmer by any stretch of the imagination. I have to use this program. I cannot switch to Access, that program drives me outa my mind!
    Any help at all would be appreciated.
    Thank you.
    Dave

    #2
    RE: Crashing - Loss of record

    you might start by uninstalling Alpha, and then re-installing. The Alpha license error could be duplicate entries in the registry. After uninstall, cold boot your computer 2 or 3 times, then re-install.

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Crashing - Loss of record

      Thank you John, I'll give that a try and let you know. Dave

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Crashing - Loss of record

        Hey John,
        Thanks again for your suggestion. I completely removed Alpha, reinstalled after cold booting the system. Reinstalled and ran the update to bring the system up to the 4.03 build 230 and started working with my data. After entering a new record and saving I got two .dll error messages: one referenced an error in SH31W32.dll and the second to pop up was an error in MFC40.dll. I am sorry to ask, but what does this mean? My system resources are fine, I have 256 megs RAM and I am only running about 45%. What do I need to do to stabilze the database?
        Thanks again,
        Dave

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Crashing - Loss of record

          do you have an HP printer?

          have you changed computers and/or video cards

          the reason you have to restart is because when it crashes it leaves the "there is an app open" open, I guess in the registry.

          I would guess it is most likely a printer or other hardware issue
          Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
          972 524 8714
          [email protected]

          ____________________
          "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Crashing - Loss of record

            You might try moving (not deleting) mfc30.dll out of your A4 directory and then restarting A4. The copy it normally uses is the one on your C:windowssystem directory or where ever it is for your OS. The .dll files are often common to more than one program. When you install a new program, like your palm software, if it has its own copy of the .dll file, it will overwrite the copy on your C:Windowssystem directory and then other programs that use it might choke. You might compare the size of the copy in your A4 directory to the one in the system directory. If they are different, that's the problem. Same for the other .dll file.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Crashing - Loss of record

              Hello Bob,
              I found that the MFC40.dll was different in the A5 directory from the Windows System directory. I made the move attempt, but that did not solve the problem. Should there only be one copy of that dll on the computer? Should I hide it from the app by renaming the extention?
              I'm concerned that I'm treading on dangerous ground....
              Thank you for your continued help, I really appreciate it.
              Dave

              Comment


                #8
                RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                David:

                If I may be so bold, I don't think it is A5 that is the problem, or any recent hardware or software installations.

                My theory could be proven if you moved everything over to another computer. If you posted your app, I would be happy to test it, although admittingly, I have v4.5, not v4.03.

                While I DO think you should invest in the interim version 4.5, I think your problem lies within your application, perhaps in a script.

                The only crashes I ever experience (v4.03 included) were caused by something I had done that A5 found hard to swallow. Once I isolated and adjusted my "error", the problem stopped.

                I suggest you make a backup of your app, and, after having placed the backup in a place that it is sure to be safe, begin dissecting your application by causing it to crash, analyzing what you did to crash it, and then removing bits of code or expressions, one at a time, until you isolate the issues. I have also had to adjust the expressions in things like conditional objects on forms, and even once or twice in field rules.

                Since I am aware of this, I am usually able to catch a problem with ease by say "what did I change recently" and backtracking. The end result are incredibly stable applications!

                If you post the files, scaled down for security reasons, I will be happy to fiddle with it.

                Just one man's opinion...

                Craig

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                  Craig,
                  You are not being bold and I appreciate any and all help. I just purchased the A5v 451 for $145 out of deperation. The problem persists. I'm thinking the same as you. I'm about to export all of the data into excel for safe keeping, dumping the entire app (because it may have something stupid I did in it) and start over. My only concern is not so much the app I'm building to make the data use easy, but the raw data itself. I was trying to build my app probably too fast. Anyway, I don't have a second machine to test the theory. If it continues after the wipe, I'll be back. This is about as frustrating as it gets.
                  Your assistance and advice is greatly appreciated and limited only by your tolerance of my stupidity.
                  thanks again,
                  Dave

                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                    David:

                    I really think your selling yourself short the oportunity to learn from you errors (of course, if they exist!).

                    You will likely run into this again, and to redo the app again and again is futile!

                    I bet, if you post it or email it to me, I can track the problem down in minutes... I think you can do the same.

                    It sounds like it happens on a form when saving a record. Does it happen on the default form?

                    If so, check your field rules and the actions directly associated with the table.

                    If not, your problem lies on your form or it's actions, in all likelihood.

                    Craig

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                      David:

                      And one last point, it is the stupid man who doesn't ask questions, not the one that does!

                      Be easy on yourself. We've all been there in one manner or another.

                      Craig

                      Comment


                        #12
                        RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                        hey Craig,
                        It is way too late to be working on this. I've been hammering away at this all day. I am afraid my fatigue has gotten the best of me and I've dropped the table from the database that had the startup form that included the hide control panel script. If you are successful, the "O" in the front of the hydrant (you'll understand) is the escape to show the control panel.
                        I've learned alot today...thanks for your help.
                        Regards,
                        Dave

                        Comment


                          #13
                          RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                          I agree with Craig that it is most likely "merely" a crash induced by impossible requests from the form and field rules, etc. I recommend you take up Craig on his offer to test it on a different computer. Zip up your app and send it to him.

                          When I first read your question, I though you to be saying that the app had run perfectly for quite some time. And then all of a sudden it started crashing, WITHOUT ANY PROGRAM CHANGES. If that is the case I would still bet it is a driver issue. And if the only hardware or software you have added is the Palm, then it would likely be the Palm.

                          But if you have been in a development mode, the messages most likely mean there is a problem with code or field rules. Go to the form where the crash occurs (first make a backup copy) and start stripping out the last additions you made to the form itself, or the last field rules you added, etc. Also go to the default form for the set and add a record as a test to prove that it works.

                          Because I have about 15 users with different computers and printers using the same app, I traced it to two users with HP 855 printers. When I changed the driver for those printers, it didn't crash any more. The app would only crash at certain points. It turned out to be the drivers for those printers.

                          But I spent about 200 hours trying to fix it at the form level! And was very close to scrapping Alpha!
                          Cole Custom Programming - Terrell, Texas
                          972 524 8714
                          [email protected]

                          ____________________
                          "A young man who is not liberal has no heart, but an old man who is not conservative has no mind." GB Shaw

                          Comment


                            #14
                            RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                            Martin:

                            "impossible requests..."

                            Nice terminology... two simple words that, when applied together in this situation, provide incredible clarity!

                            Craig

                            Comment


                              #15
                              RE: Crashing - Loss of record

                              David, one useful tip for troubleshooting a problem like this is to try to decide if the difficulty lies in field rules, or in the form.

                              Open the table using the default form. Enter and change a few records. If it works ok this strongly suggests that the field rules are not causing trouble. It also suggests that the custom form you built may be the culprit.

                              On the other hand, if even the default form for the table is unable to handle simple adds and edits, then the trouble probably lies in field rules.

                              -- tom

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X