New Generation Issue

Panorama X Beta 10.2
1

New generation has been great overall. In uploading a very large file, it ran to a certain point then stalled on the progress bar. I had no way to know if it had actually completed or if I had a partial file loaded to the server.

I had uploaded some other files just before it and another couple just after it. Notifications provided no clue as to what had successfully uploaded. It would be very useful to have file names included here.

Screen Shot 2023-12-14 at 4.46.41 PM

On the file that didn’t appear to complete, the Progress bar remained on screen. I decided to try again and a new progress bar opened and stalled at the same point. On a third try it completed but also opened a third Progress bar window.

Screen Shot 2023-12-14 at 4.47.40 PM

2

Good idea. I’ve made it so.

3

The 31 MB database that was troublesome to upload yesterday opened and ran fine this morning. It synchronized and traded info with other files as it should.

I made further changes, then tried to update forms and procedures but nothing seemed to happen. After waiting a bit I updated other files and that all ran properly. Back to the first file and still no joy and it started to claim it was a read only file.

I Quit and relaunched the files, dettached the file, then tried to reshare it via New Generation but got an error from the server about failing to delete the copy there. Through Server Admin I deleted the file on the server and tried again. This time I got a message saying the server file does not exist.

Another Quit and another try. The Progress bar on the upload stalled with just a tiny fraction showing as completed. I used the available Action menu to eventually close the progress window.

Screen Shot 2023-12-19 at 2.01.22 PM

Next I Quit and rebooted the machine. Since I have VNC access I logged on to the server and Quit Pan Server. When I restarted, it needed to download the latest version (worthy to note). It spent over an hour indicating that it was downloading the update. When I finally clicked on Start Server, it started with the updated version.

Back on my computer, the problematic file thinks it’s still shared so I unshared again. I tried Share again and it uploaded the file about 20% of the way and stalled again.

Another, larger, file is opening and synchronizing at a good speed, so the connection is not suspect.

This file set is locked to the client’s account and the files have encryption turned on.

I don’t know how to share this file.

4

By transferring a zipped copy of the unshared file to the server, I was able to successfully share it. A zipped copy back to my computer and it’s synching. We’ll see what happens the next time I try to update it.

Meanwhile, I found that opening the client files located on the server, they were all lacking updates I’ve posted over the past week or so. I posted in the New Generation window, choosing one or both of Forms or Procedures and left it at non-critical.

I had expected the client files on other computers to pull in these changes when synched but they’re not doing it. They don’t do it if I choose Download Components either, even though they all show as being shared and synched on the server.

Is encryption possibly an issue? I’ll run a test with an un-encrypted file to see.

5

Test Results
My conclusion is that encrypting Forms and Procedures is the issue. Data synchronizing has worked in all cases.

Using VNC I was able to be a user on two computers. One is the server as well. Both are running Catalina.

A small database was successfully shared and all updates to it worked. This was using a variety of methods for the updates; the Upload button in procedures, critical and non-critical New Generation.

I locked it to the account and re-shared. All worked well again. Adding encryption, I got my first error but seemingly unrelated. I couldn’t do a Critical Update because - supposedly - another user had the file open. That was not the case even though Server Admin showed two users. Even after quitting Panorama on the other machine it still showed two users and I couldn’t boot the second user.

I did a non-critical update and after clicking OK, the Database Options window closed, then re-opened. The second copy did not synch forms and procedures when opened.

Trying the update again, the window “bounce” did not occur and I got a notification that the update was performed. The other copy did not synchronize forms and procedures when opened.

Download Components did not work here either. So, after adding Encryption to Forms and Procedures, the updates began failing.

Closing the second copy again, I re-ran the Critical Update, changed some data, then re-opened the other copy. Only data updated.

I detached again and re-shared with the Encryption set only for data. Changes made via the Upload button in Procedures, or passed as Critical or Non-Critical are all working. On the second machine the updates occur as the file opens as well as when I choose Download Components.

Each time I tried another combination of Database Options settings as described above, I detached the file and had it removed from the server, made my Database Options changes and re-shared. I then transferred a fresh copy of the database to the second computer; as noted, it is also the server computer.

Finished with the testing, I detached from the server with the option to delete the database on the server. Again, even thought the copy on that machine was closed, I got a message “Cannot take TestFile offline until all users have closed it.”

Checkin Server Admin, it showed the copy on the server as still open although I had Quit Panorama there. My copy was not shown and is in single user mode. The Close button in the window of Server Admin that lists the users of a database won’t respond so the window is stuck. I can’t Quit either.

After a Force Quit, the Server Admin still erroneously shows the other connected user. Via Sessions, I’m able to kick the user off and then delete the file.

6

For other readers of this thread:
I’m working with a fairly complex set of files consisting of more than a dozen shared files with relations between many. One is 42MB and another 32 MB. They’re running on a remote server and OS Catalina.

I was able to unshare the files, remove the encryption on Procedures and Forms, then reshare them. It was a bit tedious, but was accomplished without issues.

Data encryption remains turned on.

Today I worked extensively with the files, modifying forms and procedures. Using the Upload button the Procedure toolbar made most of the changes a breeze. In some cases I used the Database Options to upload a New Generation for Forms and Procedures. Sometimes I had to use Non-Critical, but in other cases I was able to leave it on Critical, Again, no issues.

Before quitting for the day, I connected via screen sharing to the server and launched the client files on it. They updated nicely with all of my changes.

Bottom line - this is one helluva nice piece of software and I’m very pleased with its features and performance. I’m very confident in the product I’ve been building with it. Is it perfect? Not by any means. But it’s our role to help bring it closer to that objective.

7

Thanks for all of the detail. Hopefully I can duplicate the problem with encrypted forms/procedures and fix the problem(s).

This wording puzzles me. I would think you would prefer to use non-critical whenever possible.

FYI, the Upload is perfect for modifying web procedures, but code changes uploaded this way will not automatically sync to other clients - you have to use New Generation if you need that. I think maybe you are already aware of this but I wanted to make sure this was clear to other readers.

8

The New Generation defaults to Critical and I often just leave it. At present the system is in test mode and others users aren’t connected very often. If they are, Panorama correctly advises me of the fact and I switch to Non-Critical and try again.

I was not aware of the fact that the Upload button didn’t cause other copies to load it on syncing. Does it update when they do a fresh start? I now suspect, not. I’ll go back and run New Generation on the modified files.

9

Your suspicion is correct. The Upload procedure button is really intended just for web code.

Maybe that default should be re-thought. At the moment, it seems to me like it should default to Non-Critical unless the Field structure option is selected.