Refresh shadow database puzzle

[Tom Cone Jr]

Brett, it sounds like the application folder is not mapped to the local work station as a drive. i.e. from the workstation the data directory you mention does not appear as a mapped drive. Suggest you map it directly. -- tom

[brett s]

Tom, on the local workstation the shared application folder appears as the S: drive when I open up Windows Explorer. I can see all files and folders and can read and write to it there with no problems. I can't see that there's any more I can do on this front?

[Peter.Greulich]

In any case, you don't need to map your drive. I never have, except for ancient DOS programs.

[martinwcole]

in your development copy, from the full version of Alpha, go to the control panel, at the top click on tools, then network optimize, and then options, and see what the value is for the version number, and that "automatically refresh the shadow database" is checked, and "Entire Version Number" is also checked.

Increment the number by 100 and click on "set"

exit the app and copy the folder to the server

then from your workstation, click on the icon to load the shadow

if it doesn't come up whith a dialog indicatiing it is refreshing the shadow, then you have a bad installation, and may need to start from scratch in installing the shadow.

If this doesn't work, and you have PCAnywhere, call me and I'll log on and see what the problem is.

972 524 8714

[brett s]

Martin, you are an absolute wizard! I was able to discover from your suggestion what the problem was.

And here it is. When the 'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()' is run on the development copy of the application, A5 not only changes the application version number, it also changes the update option to "Warn the user but do not require them to update the shadow database". Try it and you will see what I mean.

I didn't notice this alteration and I venture to suggest many wouldn't because a network optimize is never performed on the development PC, only the local PC on which the shadow is to be created or updated. None the less even though it should have warned 'the user' (me), it didn't do this either.

So when it came time to test the automatic shadow refresh for my application my goose was twice cooked - no automatic update and no warning message. From this result I would venture to suggest there are a couple of problems in A5 here that should be looked at. First, setting the application version number should not change the update option. Second, why does the warning message not pop up the first time the shadow is opened after the application update? When I first created the shadow I had specified that an automatic shadow update was required. This never occurred and neither did I get a warning message advising that an update was required.

So what did I do to fix the problem? Firstly I set the application version number in the development copy of my database. Then, before I closed it down and copied it to the shared folder, I went to the network optimize option on the toolbar and changed the update option back to 'automatically refresh...'. That's all.

As I say, there are some problems in how A5 handles this situation that need to be fixed otherwise many others will undoubtedly falling into the same trap, one not of their own making.

Many thanks again, Martin.

[csda1]

Hi Brett,

As I suspected, it was a methodology difference, setting the version with A5_SetAppVersionNumber(), which I suspect very few people do. The end user should never being setting this value, and in fact, the command does not work from the Shadow database, only from the Master.

The 'Update Option:' and and 'When checking Version Number, consider:' option are only viewed at the Master database when accessing the shadow, even though the copied values are visible in the shadowed database.

A5_SetAppVersionNumber(versionnumber) sets the Master's version number, and sets the other options to 'Warn the user...' and 'Entire Version Number', whether you wanted that or not. I'd say that is a bug in the function.

Nevertheless, you should have recieved a shadow warning anytime you opened the shadow and had set a new, higher number. This works fine on my computer, which I tested all variations tonight. So there is still an issue going on in your system.

[martinwcole]

Since I am the only person who will need to update the shadows, if I make changes to the program, I always and ONLY increment the optimization number in the development copy - which always resides on a computer of the client. I usually do the work on my computer - copy the new version to the clients development copy via PCAnywhere, use a batch file to get the data(dbf and fpt) from the server to the development copy, update the indexes, etc, increment the optimization number, and then copy the development copy back to the server. (All users are logged off the app during this process!!)

If I set optimization to "always refresh" the shadow (I do this because I don't want them to have a choice) then the next time ANY shadowed workstation, including the one where I also keep the development copy, opens the app it will automatically refresh the shadow.

[brett s]

Hi Brett,

As I suspected, it was a methodology difference, setting the version with A5_SetAppVersionNumber(), which I suspect very few people do. The end user should never being setting this value, and in fact, the command does not work from the Shadow database, only from the Master.

The 'Update Option:' and and 'When checking Version Number, consider:' option are only viewed at the Master database when accessing the shadow, even though the copied values are visible in the shadowed database.

A5_SetAppVersionNumber(versionnumber) sets the Master's version number, and sets the other options to 'Warn the user...' and 'Entire Version Number', whether you wanted that or not. I'd say that is a bug in the function.

Nevertheless, you should have recieved a shadow warning anytime you opened the shadow and had set a new, higher number. This works fine on my computer, which I tested all variations tonight. So there is still an issue going on in your system.

Thanks, Ira. Good comments. Definitely the lack of a warning message on the shadow is afflicting me and I know not why. Now that I have identified the cause of the original problem I have made a few changes to my application and will now go back and re-do all the testing which, for some obscure reason I'm not looking forward to. But I'll get to the bottom of it.

[brett s]

Since I am the only person who will need to update the shadows, if I make changes to the program, I always and ONLY increment the optimization number in the development copy - which always resides on a computer of the client. I usually do the work on my computer - copy the new version to the clients development copy via PCAnywhere, use a batch file to get the data(dbf and fpt) from the server to the development copy, update the indexes, etc, increment the optimization number, and then copy the development copy back to the server. (All users are logged off the app during this process!!)

If I set optimization to "always refresh" the shadow (I do this because I don't want them to have a choice) then the next time ANY shadowed workstation, including the one where I also keep the development copy, opens the app it will automatically refresh the shadow.

Martin, that's pretty much the same process I want to use too for updating each user's shadow. In light of the results of my previous testing and that I could not get the shadow to automatically refresh after an update, I had tried to build in a range of other checks that prevented a user running the shadow with one version against the master with another version. But this didn't work because, as I subsequently found, there is no way to detect in Xbasic the application version number of the shadow. Anyway, as I said to Ira above, I have to make a few changes now and re-test everything to do with updating a shadow and this will take me a few days, assuming I run into no other bigee. :(

[Raymond Lyons]

Glad to see that you got to the bottom of this. But I am curious: not that you can't or shouldn't have or that something does not need fixing, but was there some reason you were using A5_SetAppVersionNumber() instead of just going to the Control Panel on the development machine? I do not mean to suggest you made a mistake here, I'm just curious.

Ray

[brett s]

Glad to see that you got to the bottom of this. But I am curious: not that you can't or shouldn't have or that something does not need fixing, but was there some reason you were using A5_SetAppVersionNumber() instead of just going to the Control Panel on the development machine? I do not mean to suggest you made a mistake here, I'm just curious. Ray

Hi, Ray. Yes, good question. Here's my answer. I try and make things in my application reasonably intuitive for the developer too. :D I'm thinking of events in perhaps a few months time (maybe even sooner). Late at night, trying to get a new version of my application out for the next day, 1,000 other things floating around in my head and I have forgotten to update the version number. Duh. I have the update facility behind a hot spot on my application's "About" screen. It's only accessible from the developer's edition of A5, not the Runtime. It does a few other 'smart' things and runs some checks before it tells me the version numbers - the new one I should be updating to and the current one. Do I really want to update - OK or Cancel? Then it's a "A5_SetAppVersionNumber()". It's a little smarter and a little safer than I can be trusted alone with. :)

[Selwyn Rabins]

'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()'

You report a bug in 'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()'

I am not familiar with this function. I can't find it anywhere in the language.
As far as I can tell, it is not a function written by Alpha.


That being said, it is still possible for you to set the app version number in xbasic by making the same low level calls that the Network Optimize feature uses.

For example, from the Interactive window:

dim p as p
a5_load_settings("NetworkOptimize",p)
?p
= check_portion = 2
outofdate_flag = 3
version_number = 3

p.version_number = 4.2
a5_save_settings("NetworkOptimize",p)

This will set the Version Number to 4.2 (leaving the Outofdate_flag at 3 and the check_portion setting at 2)

[ChrisHawkes]

Selwyn

The Alpha Five Help File Says:

A5_SetAppVersionNumber()

Syntax:
Logical Result_Flag = A5_SetAppVersionNumber( Version_Number as N )

Description:
The A5_SetAppVersionNumber() function sets an application's version number. This is the same version number that can be set on the Network Optimization dialog.

[csda1]

Hi Selwyn,

You report a bug in 'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()'

I am not familiar with this function. I can't find it anywhere in the language.
As far as I can tell, it is not a function written by Alpha.

The link in the online documentation is as follows;
http://support.alphasoftware.com/alphafivehelp/Functions/A5_SetAppVersionNumber()_.htm

The bug is in not preserving the other settings of the networkoptimize saved values in the alb.

[brett s]

You report a bug in 'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()'
... it is still possible for you to set the app version number in xbasic by making the same low level calls that the Network Optimize feature uses.

For example, from the Interactive window:

dim p as p
a5_load_settings("NetworkOptimize",p)
?p
= check_portion = 2
outofdate_flag = 3
version_number = 3

p.version_number = 4.2
a5_save_settings("NetworkOptimize",p)

This will set the Version Number to 4.2 (leaving the Outofdate_flag at 3 and the check_portion setting at 2)

Here is the code I put into my application in place of 'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()'

Dim pP as P					' Following code suggested by Selwyn Rabins, 17 March 2006, in lieu of 'A5_SetAppVersionNumber()' 
pP.version_number = nMyNewAppVersionNumber
pP.Outofdate_flag = 3		' Selects the option: Automatically refresh the shadow database. 
pP.check_portion  = 1		' Checks whole version number when testing if shadow is to be updated.
a5_save_settings("NetworkOptimize", pP)

Many thanks, Selwyn.

I would still like to see something done about the wayward function though. It needs to be fixed or the documentation for it updated to prevent others stumbling into the same trap as me.