Disappearing Scripts

[Barry Shadduck]

Hello Alpha Five fans,
I'm having a minor problem here, got my application working pretty good, as a stand alone, on my local drive. Now I have ported it to the network, and am trying to Network Optimize, but when I do, my global xbasic scripts go away,
I mean they literally disappear.

Anyone know the answer to this? In the meantime, I'll be scouring this site for Network Optimization, and the Shadow, and the .muf, etc;.

An advance thank you to any and all repliers.

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Barry,

It's my understanding the global scripts, custom menus, and custom toolbars are all stored in the dictionary files for the database itself. (These are the files that have your database name, and end in extensions like ALB, ALM, etc.) Presumably you copied these files to the network server when you installed the database there, right? If so, they should have been replicated in the shadow folder on the workstation when you network optimized that station.

Here's the drill:

1) Develop database entirely within one folder. Store all tables, indexes, memo files, dictionaries, etc. in that same folder.

2) Copy the entire collection of files from your development folder to a separate folder on your network server.

3) install the runtime engine on a workstation that has been given read/write privileges for the database folder on the server.

4) start the runtime engine locally.

5) open the database on the server.

6) Select File / network Optimize from the Control Panel menu, and accept all defaults when asked to specify a save to folder on the local workstation.

You will wind up with the shadow copy of the database being created in its own folder in the shadow folder beneath the runtime engine on the workstation. All global scripts should be present and accessible.

Thereafter to run the database the user cranks up the runtime engine and loads the shadow copy of the database on the local machine.

If you followed this sequence and the global scripts are not present, you may need to revisit the development machine to verify that they reside where you think they reside. Are you, for example, using a library to store scipts in a different folder than your database?

Hope this helps unscramble things.

-- tom

[Barry Shadduck]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Tom,
Thanks for your reply.

My database was intact, all files in one place, scripts working fine etc, until I did the network optimize.

I won't be using a run-time engine, though as we have licenses for eight users with the development engine.

As I understand this process (optimization), the application will be stored locally (increasing speed of
processing), while data files will be accessed from the network. What I don't understand is the shadow directory concept. I have yet to see one created.

Here is how I have been network optimizing, (which works
great except for the missing scripts):
1. create a local directory for the network optimized version of the application.
2. open the network version of the application with a locally installed Alpha 5 (NON-RUN-TIME or THE DEVELOPMENT ENGINE).
3. run network optimize

Thanks again,
Barry

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Barry,

It's not necessary to create the folder for the optimized copy of your database. The network optimize routines will do this for you.

The full version of Alpha Five will behave like the runtime and should not make any difference when optimizing.

May I suggest this? Try walking through my sequence, one step at a time. At the end of the optimization routine the original copy of the database will be closed, and alpha Five will automatically open the shadow copy. Should be virtually transparent and seamless.

Let me know how it goes.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

-- tom

[Barry Shadduck]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Thank you Tom,
I'll keep mine crossed as well, will give it a go tomorrow,
and will let you know how it works.
Again thanks, I appreciate your assistance.

[CALocklin]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Barry,

Did the scripts themselves disappear or did just the Code tab disappear? If it's just the Code tab, right click on any other tab and you will get a drop-down list where you can check the "Code" tab so it will show again.

This tab will disappear every time you use the runtime.

Cal

[whanigsberg]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Another possibility is that you wrote scripts while logged on using the shadow. In that case the scripts were added to the local shadow copy of the data dictionaries. In that case a refresh would wipe them out as they would not exist in the source (server version) of the refresh.

Bill

[Peter.Greulich]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

1. Once or twice a year or two ago, all my scripts "dissapeared". I did a compact on the alb/alm/alx files and they magically "reappeared".

2. To echo Mr. Bill, are you sure the scripts are on the source data set?

Peter

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Bill,

That's a good point. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether you've loaded the shadow copy of the database, or the actual database. If you're working with the full (development) version of Alpha Five it's virtually impossible to tell the difference just by looking at the screen.

I will often display the path to the current database in the caption of my form just so I can see 'where I am' !

-- tom

[Barry Shadduck]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Hello Cal,
Yes I'm positive that it is the code that disappears from
the original (non-shadow) version of the application. Plus,
the code is not included in the "optimized" version of the application.

I'm adding the code back now, from backup.

Then I plan to try Tom's suggestion.
Thanks

[Barry Shadduck]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Bill it is possible, but not here, as I created the scripts originally (for the second time) just this week as I uncorrupted a corrupted version of the application where
the .alm file was nearly 2 gb in size, and is now just
12kb. App works good as a stand alone on my local drive,
works good (although very slow) on the network, until ....
I "network optimize", that is it works great (faster) and
everything, except ... no global scripts, that are used
for onkey events, thereby making the app useless unless
one wants to use the mouse exclusively.

So to sum it up, I re-wrote the scripts locally, ported to
network, then network optimized, and at that point the scripts were blown away, wiped out, gone, vanished into thin air, became vapor-ware, and very literally disappeared.

But I'm sure that I'm doing something wrong in the optimization process, going to try Tom's suggestion.

Thanks for the reply.

[Barry Shadduck]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Thanks Peter, and I'm absolutely sure scripts were once on the source set. Adding them back now. I believe I tried
the compact operation, but I'll try it again.

Thanks for the reply.

[Barry Shadduck]

RE: Disappearing Scripts

Thank you Tom,
It worked.

Thanks to all repliers, where would an old duffer like myself be without you, very dead in the water, belly up.

This is a great forum, and maybe Alpha 5 isn't so bad afterall, maybe the problem is an old dog trying to learn new tricks.

Looking very forward to the upcoming version 5!

Again many many thanks to one and all.