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Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

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    Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

    This is the third time we have been working a normal day and then could no longer access or see any of our (many) Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations. We CAN see the Code & Functions. We cannot access anything any longer. We have had this happen on 2 different servers in the past. Compacting the database doesn't work. Re-booting workstations or restarting Samba on the Linux server does not work. The last two times when we compared the number of files in the backup folder to the Production area having the issue, we were missing about 11 files. This time we are not missing any files, but we can't see them in Alpha5 Version 9 or Alpha5 Version 11. You can see that the files are in the Production folder but even launching Alpha5 from there does not work. The error message says the file doesn't exist or the form doesn't exist, depending on what you are trying to load. This is a seriously disrupting problem. I saw another post on this but I have not found any answer as to why this is happening. Does anyone have any ideas?

    #2
    Re: Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

    Here are some possibilities, presented in random order:

    1) Someone on staff is dropping your tables and sets from the database on the server.

    2) Some other process that's running on your server is removing or corrupting the files in your database directory. If this happens
    first thing in the morning, I'd begin to think maybe the overnight backup routines are responsible.

    3) Your system(s) have been infected with some form of malware.

    4) Both v9 and v11 are being used on the same database.

    If you're still having trouble let us know how to reach you. This message board permits private messaging but you have to enable it in your message board profile.

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      #3
      Re: Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

      We don't know the cause but we found an easy SOLUTION: To recover from the Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations disappearing from the database here is what to do: Open up your Alpha5 database. Click on the Control Panel, then File, Add Tables/Sets, then click on Add All, OK. This will add all the Tables, Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations back to the database. Now you need to save them all in the database. To save the database Click on Control Panel, File, Database Properties, Libraries (tab), Click on your database name, Add, put in the database name (should show on your screen), Click on Open, OK. This will save the files into the database and you do not lose any data. The other option would be to restore only the database .ADB file from a backup.

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        #4
        Re: Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

        Thanks for posting, Arlene. Your solution suggests no corruption issues. I think someone on your network (with access to a developer version of Alpha Five) is messing with you.

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          #5
          Re: Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

          We actually think there may be something going on with other software interacting with Alpha5, possibly Samba but that is just a guess at this juncture. We are a small company and when this happened last night I was here along with 4 employees. Last night I was the only person with access when it happened because everyone else had quit out of Alpha and then tried to get back in. When it happened this morning again, only 1 person was on the system and I am confidant she did nothing in Alpha but print one report. We have it timed down to a 40 minute window of it working and then not working. One person was on the system and it was working fine, the second person tried to load the database & had all the files missing. BUT even while person 2 could not access the database files, it was still working on the first persons terminal. Its only when you quit out and try to get back in that you can no longer access the files once this event happens. This is consistent each time.

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            #6
            Re: Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

            I have zero experience with Samba. However, the behavior you're seeing suggests the database dictionary files are being changed.

            The database dictionaries are library files that contain information about the objects in your database including the tables and sets. When you "add" the tables and sets to the database the library files get updated. This allows Alpha Five to display the complete control panel you are expecting, including each table and set name in the Tables/Sets Column.

            Each table or set has its own set of dictionaries holding your forms, reports, browses, letters and other layouts. So when the tables are "added" to the database library files, the dictionaries for each table or set become available to Alpha Five, so the lists of layouts become accessible again on the control panel.

            So, something is changing your database dictionary (library) files on the Samba server. These are the files that end in filename extensions:
            .ADB
            .ALM
            .ALB
            .ASI
            .ALX
            .ASX

            Something on your server is changing (or deleting ?) some of these files.

            So, if you were using Samba for a long time, what's changed? New software? New malware detection software? Are the dictionary files being quarantined or deleted by some process running on the server?
            Last edited by Tom Cone Jr; 06-20-2014, 06:16 AM.

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              #7
              Re: Disappearing Tables & Sets, Forms, Browses, Reports, Letters, Labels & Operations, BUT NOT THE CODE files

              Its only when you quit out and try to get back in that you can no longer access the files once this event happens. This is consistent each time.
              Are the local work stations connecting directly to the database on the server, or are you using shadow copies on each local work station ( after having network optimized your database on each workstation ) ???

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