1. billy hugon
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. Monday, 9 May 2022 18:02 PM UTC

I have an issue with 1 user out of over 100 that started last Thursday.  When she logs into our PB2017 application, it connects to the database, but when she goes to any screen that has a datawindows, the application closes.  No error, nothing.  She got a loaner computer last Friday and everything worked then but today the loaner started acting the same as her normal computer.  I have never seen anything like this and the way corporate pushdowns and updates happen, we dont know if her user account got updated or what.  My question is does anyone have any experience with something like this?  Are there any temporary files that are stored on the workstation that could be corrupt/etc.?  Again, this is 1 user out of many with this happening and the application was last updated at the beginning of April.

 

Thanks

Miguel Leeuwe Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Wednesday, 11 May 2022 03:37 AM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 1

Hi,

When the crash happens, have you checked the windows event viewer?

regards

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Ronnie Po Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 16:16 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 2

PB doesn't write to the user's AppData folder unless the developer has explicitly written code to do so. It sure sounds like this issue is related to the user's permissions (or drive mappings, etc.) having been changed. The network admins should be able to come up with a quick test to rule that out.

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  1. billy hugon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 16:45 PM UTC
Thanks for the response. Last question. Does PB Runtime modify anything within the registry? I'm just trying to rule out everything. The network admin just told me she has read/write access to the folder being used.
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  1. Ronnie Po
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 17:14 PM UTC
The runtime on its own doesn't write to the registry as far as I know, but a developer can write code to do so. Frameworks such as the PFC may also write to the registry without the developer being aware.



Have you ruled out mike S's theory by temporarily disabling all anti-virus / anti-malware and then trying to run the app?

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Chris Pollach @Appeon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 15:21 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 3

Hi Billy;

  I cannot answer these questions either as I do not know how your App is coded. You might want to run your all from the PB IDE via the Debugger & trace the section where it crashes to see what folder(s) the app is trying to Read From and/or Write To to answer your operations team.

Regards ...Chris

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  1. billy hugon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 15:37 PM UTC
Hi Chris,



Thank you all for your help. I have done that, but like I said, the application itself does NOT write to any folders. It only reads/writes data to/from the Oracle database.



But I still dont have the answer I need regarding Appdata. Does PB write anything internally (not through my application) to the Appdata folder of the user such as a result set from a Datawindow? The application in question does not. One of the responses below is



"Also powerbuilder can write to appdata if the user doesn't have right to right to the folder the application resides to. Are there any ini files (application and or user ini)? If yes, where are located those files?"



It sounds to me like it does, but if that is the case, is there any way I can re-direct it to write to C:\Temp or somewhere else to isolate where the problem is.



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  1. Chris Pollach @Appeon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 17:01 PM UTC
Yes, AppData use is performed under these circumstances ...

1) PowerClient based App (PB2019 & higher release only)

2) PowerServer based App (PB2019 & higher release only)

3) SaveAs (PDF!) - note that temporary files written to disk in PB2017 when using the new NativePDF feature were re-engineered to not to this in PB2019. That might affect AppData folder access.

Again though as a test .. does the App work OK when run "As Admin"?
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mike S Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 13:44 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 4

"goes to any screen that has a datawindows, the application closes. "

 

no error, just disappears?  that sounds like anti-virus.

 

does the datawindow do a retrieve and then it closes, or does it close prior to the retrieve (she has to click something to make it retrieve)? 

If it closes when a retrieve is done, then it could be anti-virus software.  

 

 

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  1. billy hugon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 13:48 PM UTC
Yes. It will connect to the database, display the MDI, then right after the data is retrieved, it closes. Looking at the trace files, the data shows up in it, but after complete, closes.



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billy hugon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 12:51 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 5

Hi Chris,

Here is a question from our desktop support that I cannot answer.

 

Billy, does this program cache anything in the user appdata folders?  If it’s following Laura to other computers, it sounds like a roaming profile issue; however, we need to know what folders it uses to try and clear them to resolve it.

Appdata or a registry value are the only things that replicate between devices, I’m not sure what else could do it unless she’s running it from onedrive or something and there’s a lock file being generated somewhere that’s not releasing properly.

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  1. billy hugon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 14:46 PM UTC
Let me re-phrase. So, the application has an INI file, but does NOT reference any file folders or files. Just database connection. So if I'm reading your message correctly, if there is no re-direction in an INI file (which I dont have), that PB will write information to the Appdata folder. Is that correct? If so, then what can I do to change this to see if this is the problem.
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  1. Andreas Mykonios
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 15:56 PM UTC
It will write to appdata only if the user modify that ini. That happens for sure when the ini is located under "...\Program Files (x86)\..." (or "...\Program Files\..." for x64 applications) path. In your case they don't modify it. And even if they did I never tested a scenario like your to say if it would redirect it to virtualstore.



Andreas.
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  1. Andreas Mykonios
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 15:59 PM UTC
Also In the case you described the ini has only db information. So it should be used only when application starts. And that is before it connects to the database. I don't believe that the ini is causing this issue.
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billy hugon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 12:36 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 6

Hi Chris,

I setup tracing and created 2 files.  One on my computer  and one on her computer  (same executable and files).  I named  the files good_dbtrace.log and crashed_dbtrace.log.  Like I said, once the screen on the "crashed" file, the application closes.  No error, nothing.  As you can see, they look very similar, but at the end of the "good" file there are a few more statements because I closed the application out normally (below).

Again, I dont think it is a PB issue, but if PB writes any files to the workstation, that may be it.

 

 

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  1. Chris Pollach @Appeon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 12:56 PM UTC
Hi Billy. I agree, the SQL trace seems ok, so I think that we can eliminate a bad DB client driver. Yes, it sounds like it could be a permissions / Windows policy issue.

Does the App work OK if you run the App "As Admin"?
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  1. billy hugon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 13:00 PM UTC
Unfortunately, this particular user (the only one having this issue), does not have rights to run under "As Admin",

Did you see my questions from desktop support above in yellow?
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  1. Chris Pollach @Appeon
  2. Tuesday, 10 May 2022 15:18 PM UTC
That was not the question ... if the App is run "As Admin" - does it work OK (as a test)?
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billy hugon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Monday, 9 May 2022 20:04 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 7

Yes, but it is happening on any form she opens once connected to the database, so not isolated to a particular table.  I just dont know the internals of PB well enough to know if there is anything written to the local computer (for caching/datawindow result sets) that she may not have write access to any longer.  That seems more likely.

Comment
  1. Chris Pollach @Appeon
  2. Monday, 9 May 2022 20:10 PM UTC
Since it seems to be related to DBMS activity - an SQL trace might be prudent here to see what DML is being processed when this issue occurs.

FYI: Change your App's code, as follows:

SQLCA.DBMS = "XXX" // whatever your setting is now - TO

SQLCA.DBMS = "TRACE XXX"

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billy hugon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Monday, 9 May 2022 18:52 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 8

Hi Chris,

No I did not check any windows logs.  As for windows updates, I do not know.  As I said, I we really dont control that and sometimes things get pushed down without anyone's knowledge.  I doubt the DBMS got updated.  We are able to connect to the database.  It is just crashing shortly after the datawindow displays the data.

I will get the windows logs checked.

Thanks

Billy

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Chris Pollach @Appeon Accepted Answer Pending Moderation
  1. Monday, 9 May 2022 18:47 PM UTC
  2. PowerBuilder
  3. # 9

Hi Billy;

  Have you checked the MS-Windows Application Logs to see if there are any corresponding mni-dumps produced when your App crashes?

Also ... were there any recent Windows updates , DBMS or DB Client software updates when this started happening?

Regards ... Chris

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  1. Chris Pollach @Appeon
  2. Monday, 9 May 2022 19:46 PM UTC
FWIW: I had this happen once to me and it turned out to be corrupt data in one row of the DB that the other users were not trying to access. Just that one user.
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