Alaska Software Inc. - Odd errors that don't make any sense
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AuthorTopic: Odd errors that don't make any sense
Regan CawkwellOdd errors that don't make any sense
on Thu, 15 Feb 2024 10:26:07 +0000
Occasionally we see errors that make no sense on opening a CDX index.

For example, one error I looked at yesterday appeared to have occurred after the 
application had been running for quite a while and in the meantime, various procedures and 
functions had worked without any issues.

And then suddenly, seemingly at random, we get an error thrown when opening the index for 
a database.  An error extract is shown below (unimortant lines removed, arg value 
'modified' for privacy reasons):

oError:args         :-> VALTYPE: C - VALUE: david.rushen@gmail.com
oError:description  :Function is not declared
oError:genCode      :21
oError:operation    :UPPER
oError:osCode       :0
oError:severity     :2
oError:subCode      :2002
oError:subSystem    :BASE
oError:thread       :10
oError:tries        :0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CURRENT DATABASE (DBFDBE,CDX):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alias(): ACCOUNT  Record: 1  Index: None
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CALLSTACK:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Called from (B)OPEN_NTX(0)
Called from OPEN_NTX(1526)
Called from OPEN_DBF(812)
Called from SEEK_VALID_ACCOUNT(586)
Called from TS_VALID(10227)
Called from (B)TS_MAIN(1176)

So it says 'Function is not declared' and the function it is referring to is 'upper()'.

One of the 7 indexes in the CDX index has the key 'upper(EMAIL)' and another has the key 
'upper(POSTCODE)'.

As far as I know, this same bit of code usually executes without causing an error.

So my question is, How can it complain that it does not 'know' an Xbase++ function?

There have been other instances of this, happening randomly since 2019 at least (which is 
as far back as I have looked at this point).

The function is not always upper(), there are also instances of str() and dtos(), which 
says to me that it can happen with any Xbase++ function used in an index key.

Does anyone have any ideas why this can occur?  I'd like to prevent it, if possible.

Thanks.

Regan
Rba
Andreas Gehrs-Pahl
Re: Odd errors that don't make any sense
on Fri, 16 Feb 2024 11:32:54 -0500
Regan,

>Occasionally we see errors that make no sense on opening a CDX index.

I had those errors, too. Mostly "UPPER", sometimes "STR", rarely "DTOS", 
but only in additional threads, never in the main thread. It started with 
version 1.9.331 at the end of 2008, but it was still ongoing in Version 2.0. 
I never found a solution for this issue.

I don't have any idea how to prevent those errors, other than not to open 
or create CDX files outside of the main thread.

Sorry if that doesn't help much,

Andreas

Andreas Gehrs-Pahl
Absolute Software, LLC

phone: (989) 723-9927
email: Andreas@AbsoluteSoftwareLLC.com
web:   http://www.AbsoluteSoftwareLLC.com
[L]:   https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/AndreasGehrsPahl
[F]:   https://www.FaceBook.com/AbsoluteSoftwareLLC
Regan CawkwellRe: Odd errors that don't make any sense
on Wed, 28 Feb 2024 09:45:44 +0000
On 16/02/2024 16:32, Andreas Gehrs-Pahl wrote:
> Regan,
> 
>> Occasionally we see errors that make no sense on opening a CDX index.
> 
> I had those errors, too. Mostly "UPPER", sometimes "STR", rarely "DTOS",
> but only in additional threads, never in the main thread. It started with
> version 1.9.331 at the end of 2008, but it was still ongoing in Version 2.0.
> I never found a solution for this issue.
> 
> I don't have any idea how to prevent those errors, other than not to open
> or create CDX files outside of the main thread.
> 
> Sorry if that doesn't help much,
> 
> Andreas

Thanks, Andreas.

They're very frustrating.  I get multiple automatic error emails from our customers on a 
daily basis and these types of errors account for about 60%-70% of them.

I have mentioned this to Alaska in the past but no one seems to know why they occur.

Regan
Rba