ABLETM
Advanced Bindery Library
Exchange
Reference
Guide
Volume 13
Help
(Problem Solving)
Version 6.6.1
ABLEä Ventures, LLC
Copyright by ABLEä Ventures, LLC
This reference guide is copyrighted and all rights are
reserved. This document may not, in
whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced translated, reduced to any
electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent, in writing,
from the ABLEä
Ventures, LLC.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. The ABLEä Ventures, LLC assumes no responsibility for errors that may appear in this document.
For more information visit the ABLEä web site: http://www.programmingconcepts.com/able/
Or contact,
ABLEä Ventures, LLC
c/o Paul Parisi
ACME Bookbinding
(800) 242-1821
For technical support contact:
Programming
Concepts, Inc.
web site: http://www.programmingconcepts.com/able/
e-mail: able_support@programmingconcepts.com
telephone: 631-563-3800 x230
fax: 631-563-3898
ABLEä
Ventures, LLC
Acme Bookbinding
Information Conservation, Inc.
Kater-Crafts Bookbinders
Lehmann Bookbinding
Mekatronics Inc.
National Library
Binding of
Ocker & Trapp Library Bindery Inc.
Programming Concepts, Inc.
ABLEä
is a trademark of Mekatronics, Inc. / Bendror International Inc. 1987-2001
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 6
Release Notes
V6.0 Preliminary release for review.
V6.01 Changes for ABLEä release 6.01.
V6.02 Changes for ABLEä release 6.02.
V6.4 Changed copyright.
The ABLEä Reference Guide is comprised of multiple volumes. The collection of volumes describes the functional and operational characteristics of ABLEä. The volumes are:
|
Volume |
Reference
Guide |
File Name |
|
1 |
r6-intro.htm |
|
|
2 |
Library User |
r6-library-user.htm |
|
3 |
r6-user.htm |
|
|
4 |
r6-title.htm |
|
|
5 |
R6-style.htm |
|
|
6 |
r6-report.htm |
|
|
7 |
r6-control.doc |
|
|
9 |
r6-maint.htm |
|
|
10 |
r6-transfer.htm |
|
|
12 |
R6-emboss.htm |
|
|
13 |
Help –
Problem Solving |
r6-help.htm |
|
15 |
r6-bill.htm |
|
|
16 |
r6-pm.htm |
|
|
19 |
R6-s3.htm |
|
|
20 |
r6-linstall.htm |
|
|
21 |
r6-binstall.htm |
|
|
22 |
r6-ezcut.htm |
|
|
23 |
r6-ftp.htm |
|
|
24 |
r6-alink.htm |
|
|
25 |
r6-zlink.htm |
|
|
27 |
r6-file-import.htm |
This volume provides information about uncommon ABLEä problems. The craftsperson can use this volume to help determine what unexpected actions the system is doing and the actions which may be taken to solve the problem.
The ABLEä system is a basically simple system to use when everything is going correctly. But, the underlying technology which allows a simple craftsperson interface is complicated.
The majority of the craftsperson errors are easily understood and corrected using the online error information and online help facilities provided by ABLEä. Other problems can be solved by checking the ABLEä documents; especially the Installation and Reference Guides. These problems are not the main concern of this volume since a reasonable understanding of ABLEä is sufficient to take the appropriate steps to correct the problem.
ABLEä contains thousands of craftsperson messages. Most are obvious from the actions performed and the message displayed. A small number of problems (in the hundreds) are the rare problems which do not normally occur but need extended knowledge of ABLEä to solve. This document will assist in the analysis of these problems.
There are also a handful of problems which only the developers can solve. Many of these problems have never occurred and require analysis to solve. These problems are rare in a mature system such as ABLEä. If they do occur, the support services of your Binder should be consulted.
The types of problems discussed in this document are classified as follows:
·
Installation Problems
·
Computer Hardware and Software Problems
·
Printer Problems
·
Video Monitor Problems
·
Disk and Data Base Problems
·
Network Problems
·
ABLEä Problems
You should first determine the category of the problem you encountered. Some problems are not easily classified so try multiple categories if necessary to find your problem.
ABLEä installation problems are described in the Installation Guides. This section provides explanations of the less obvious problems.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
The steps to take to solve installation problems are:
1. The ABLEä Installation Guides are your primary source when a problem occurs.
2. Check to see if your system works in the normal Windows Browser environment: check the printer, monitor, and execute the diagnostic supplied with your computer. Call your supplier if you do not have these diagnostics.
3. Execution problems either during the loading of the program or during the execution of the program may occur if there is not enough available memory. You should refer to the Installation Guides for assistance.
Computer problems are all non-ABLEä problems associated with the computer hardware and software.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
The steps to take to solve computer problems are:
1. Check to see if your system works in the normal Browser environment: check the printer, monitor, and execute the diagnostics supplied with your computer. Call your supplier if you do not have these diagnostics.
2. Check to see if there are any unwanted in-memory executing programs. Refer to the Window’s Task Manager.
SPECIFIC COMPUTER PROCEDURES
1. Crashes
at random
Execute the diagnostics supplied with your computer. Run them overnight if possible. You may need the assistance of your computer supplier to diagnose the problem.
2. Disk
Drive or Floppy Diskette Errors
Be sure to use high quality diskettes. (a) Check the diskette for proper type; High Density drives require only high density diskettes, etc. Try not to mix media; i.e. using 360K diskettes in high density drives. “Writing” using mixed media may be a problem. (b) Clean the drive using the drive manufacturer's suggested cleaning process. (c) Be sure the diskette is formatted.
4. Windows
and Internet Explorer (IE) Versions
Windows 98/95/NT are provided in many different versions. Be sure to use the release that is listed in the Installation Guides. ABLEä was checked out on only one version of each of these operating systems as listed in the Installation Guides so there is a chance that the version may be the problem. Check with you binder for the latest version supported, and then upgrade to the tested version level.
Printer problems include problems with your printer and the ABLE reports.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
The steps to take to solve printer problems are:
1. Execute the built-in diagnostics and print test of the printer. Check your printer manual. It usually involves holding down keys while turning the power on. If it doesn't work, contact your hardware supplier.
2. Check the switch setting in your printer. If you are not sure of the proper setting contact your hardware supplier.
3. Check the cable to the computer for a tight fit and that it is connected to the proper parallel port on the computer. Note that if your computer has a video card with a parallel port, it may interfere with the parallel port you are using. Contact your hardware supplier to check if this is a problem.
4. Check to see if your printer is on-line. Check your printer manual for directions on setting the printer on-line.
5. Check if the printer works with MS-Windows by printing any file to the printer. If it doesn't work, contact your hardware supplier.
6. Check the MS-Windows setting for the printer as provided in your ABLEä Installation Guide.
7. Print a file from the Windows text processor called Notepad. If this works, then ABLEä usually works. If it doesn't work, then check the Windows parameters one more time.
8. If all fails, then re-install the printer driver one more time.
9. The last resort is to call your binder.
SPECIFIC PRINTER PROCEDURES
1. Spacing
of lines is incorrect.
Check the switch setting on your printer. See your printer manual for directions.
2. Endpaper
Printer
The endpaper printer is on LPT1: and the MDU is on LPT2:. Check that these ports are assigned correctly. Check that the printer works on another computer: run MSR and put the printer on LPT1:
4.
UBS Slip Printer Out of alignment
· Provide your binder with the make and model of the printer so we can research problem further with manufacturer if the printer is really setup correctly.
· See if they have another printer of a different brand to check if it happens on that as well. If it does, then it’s not the printer and it could be the windows setup.
· The MS-Windows printer driver supplied by the printer manufacturer or the one provided by Windows may have a problem. Check the printer manufacturers web site for driver updates to be sure your are using the latest Windows driver.
· Check the Windows setup for the printer using the Control Panel printer icon. Let your binder know the parameters settings.
Video problems include all abnormal monitor problems.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
The steps to take to solve monitor problems are:
1. Check the switch setting and cables on the monitor and the monitor’s controller card. Use the manuals supplied with the equipment.
2. If your monitor does not work in the Windows environment, then contact your hardware supplier.
3. Check your MS-Windows installation settings. Refer to the Installation Guides.
4. If all fails call your binder.
SPECIFIC VIDEO MONITOR PROCEDURES
1. "Display
Memory Not Available" or something similar
Check your video cables. They may be loose.
2. No
color when color is expected
Check your Windows settings. You may need to change the selection for the monitor.
3. The
data is either too small or too large for the screen.
Check your Windows settings. See your ABLE Installation Guide for directions.
The ABLEä database may report problems about the disk drives or files. These problems should not normally occur but when they occur they may be serious. The best protection against file corruption or disk drive failures is to maintain a backup system (daily, weekly and monthly backups) and to maintain the system as recommended (see the ABLEä Preventive Maintenance Guide).
GENERAL PROCEDURES:
1. Record all information about the problem encountered.
2. Reboot the system. The file system used by ABLEä can recover from most serious problems.
3. Execute the Windows Check Disk utility. Be sure not to allow corrupted disk sectors to be reused.
BE CAREFUL since these chains may have been part of your database or part of a program stored on disk. Carefully check the system to make sure all database records, programs and program functions still execute. If not, replace them from your backup media.
4. If the problem continues call your hardware supplier. Your database may be destroyed when your supplier checks the hard drive for problems. You may have to restore it from your backup media.
SPECIFIC DISK AND DATABASE PROCEDURES
1.
Lot File Related Problems
It is possible that the corrupted file is the Lot file. The Lot file is the most active file in the ABLEä system.
1. Execute Window’s Check Disk to remove corrupted disk segments. If there were no corrupted disk sectors you may still have a corrupted Lot related file.
a. Use Bindery Transfer Production to produce the Lots that are still active.
b. Rename the current Lot files located in the ABLE/LIBRARY/DATA directory by typing:
CD \ABLE\LIBRARY\DATA
RENAME LOTD.BTR LOTD.OLD
RENAME LOTH.BTR LOTH.OLD
RENAME JOBH.BTR JOBH.OLD
c. Copy the empty Lot files (see above). Copy loth.new, lotd.new, and jobh..new to loth.btr, lotd.btr and jobh.btr. Be sure to not destroy the *.new files since they may be needed in the future.
d. Use Bindery Transfer restoration to restore the active Lots from the diskette.
If these steps were successful, you are ready to continue work. If not, continue to the next step.
3. Open the \ABLE \ LIBRARY \DATA directory.
4. If you have not already done so, rename the loth.btr, lotd.btr and jobh.btr to loth.old, lotd.old, and jobh.old.
5. Use your backup system files to restore these renamed files. You would lose the data from when you last saved the files to the present time BUT at least you will be able to restore some data.
Copy loth.new, lotd.new, and jobh..new to loth.btr, lotd.btr and jobh.btr
Be sure to not destroy the *.new files since they may be needed in the future.
7. Execute ABLEä again and see if the problem no longer exists.
|
NOTE |
3. Title File Problems
·
Title not
Inserted 2
A title is not inserted into the title file. This error is a btrieve error meaning that an I/O error has occurred attempting to access the title file. There are a couple of options to deal with this:
Restore a recent backup of the file.
Use butil to save the contents of the title file to an ACF file, create a new empty title file and load the ACF file into this new file. If this is successful, the I/O error will be removed, but the records causing this error will also be removed.
Check
Title File Integrity
1. Check disk space. If they are low on disk space, this is most likely the problem.
2. If they have sufficient disk space, have them go into the Title screen and with the account they are having problems with. Select Title ID as the key, and bring up the last title. If they do not know the number, they can look in the account record for that account. It displays the last title id. If they can bring it up, have them update it with F2. Have them note any problems, if any.
3. If no problems from step 2, have them bring up titles using F4. Have them note any problems.
4. If no problems, have them create a temporary lot or job, and add items/pieces to it. Note any problems, if any.
Check File Integrity
1. Continue to check files on the hard disk with Norton Utilities, if they have it, or any other system Diagnostic utilities they use. Have them report any problems.
Fix BTRIEVE File
1. In the \able\bindery directory, execute BTRIEVE /m:32 /p:3584. Then change to the \able\bindery\data directory.
2. They can check to see if the file is corrupted by typing the following:
BUTIL
-STAT xxxxx.TTL (xxxxx is the file name)
If there is something wrong with the file, an error code will be displayed. have them note the error if any.
3. If there is no error from step 5, there is nothing wrong with the file. If there is an error code, they can try to get rid of it by doing the following:
COPY the
xxxxx.TTL file to xxxxx.OLD, execute
BUTIL
-RECOVER xxxxx.TTL xxxxx.SAV
Note any errors, if any, when executing the previous command. They must now copy the TITLE.BTR file from the installation diskettes to xxxxx.TTL in the \able\bindery\data directory, where xxxxx is the file name of the title file. Then execute the following:
BUTIL
-LOAD xxxxx.SAV xxxxx.TTL
4.
Major Database Failures
1. After you have been satisfied that the hard disk is now working you should erase all ABLEä directories.
2. Install ABLEä again. (Do not load the sample database unless you do not have nor trust your backup files.)
3. You can use your backup file to restore the \ABLE \LIBRARY \DATA files.
4. Execute ABLEä again and see if the problem no longer exists. If the problem still exists then install ABLEä with the sample database.
5. If this still doesn't work you should again call your hardware supplier and have your system completely diagnosed.
5.
File Handle Error Messages
These errors (e.g. "out of file handles") are usually related to the number of files allowed to be open. The FILES parameter controls this values. Check Config.sys for FILES to be at least 40.
Error number 4 (Data Not Found)
The requested data (i.e. item, piece, etc.) was not found in the data base. This is an expected condition. Enter the proper information to correct the problem.
Error number 9 (End of File)
The end of the file was reached searching for the requested data (i.e. item, piece, etc.) in the data base. This is an expected condition. Enter the proper information to correct the problem.
Error
number 12 (File Not Found)
The specified file is not in the data base.
1. The PATH to windows should be checked.
2. Check that your win.ini to make sure that the path to the data files is defined. See the [library] or [bindery] section of win.ini and check the "fileprefix" variable is correct.
3. Certain utilities have to execute in the default directory which is \able\library\data or on the VAX use $data.
Error
number 18 (Disk Full)
Your disk does not have any space available. You should clean up your disk. If you have a problem call for support.
Error
number 20 (Btrieve Inactive)
The file system was not started. For library you should always execute LIBRARY which includes the starting of Btrieve.
Error
number xx (All others)
Call your binder or Mekatronics for support.
The network problems are for ABLEä systems utilizing networks:
ABLEä on any MS-Windows NT Network
GENERAL PROCEDURE
1. Check all power switches and cable connections.
2. Run the diagnostics available for checking out the network. These were the same diagnostics used when the network was installed.
3. Switch components to isolate the faulty component (assuming something does work).
The majority of these problems are corrected based on the message displayed and the context of the work being performed. The online Help facility and Reference Guide should contain enough information to solve many of the problems encountered.
GENERAL PROCEDURE
1. Carefully copy down all pertinent information: problem encountered, your current screen display, the actions leading up to the problem. Call or e-mail your binder.
SPECIFIC ABLE PROCEDURES
1. "Item
Cannot be Duplicated" (ABLE/Bindery)
This error message appears whenever the user attempts to add a pre-existing piece to a Job. A pre-existing piece is a piece that belongs to a job other than the HOLD job.
2. "MSRCALC:
Leaf Set To Flat"
This message appears whenever a volume is measured or calculated that has:
1. a round back
2. a spine width that is less than the System Global Variable 'thinspine'
The leaf attachment is automatically set to flat. This is done because the width is less than the minimum width a spine must be to be rounded.
3. "Produce
Incomplete" (Bindery Transfer)
This message is
a result of trying to output a Lot onto a diskette which does not have enough space left for the
entire
4.
"Height not in Limit table" and "Level out of Range"
The limit tables are used to specify a range of levels based on the height of the volume in which a title may begin. There are two tables, one is used for horizontal titles and one for vertical titles. Refer to Setup : System Parameters : Height Table and System Parameters : Limit Table. Documentation is in the File Maintenance volume.
Horizontal and vertical Limit tables may be defined per Account. Each can be a three character file name that can be substituted for the default limit tables (h and v). If these fields are left blank in the Account record, the default limit tables are used.
Check the appropriate limit table (h or v) based on placement (horizontal or vertical). The height is probably not in the table.
The limit table row is defined as follows:
1. Lower Bound (in 640ths)- The lowest height (inclusive) which is a part of this group.
2. Upper Bound (in 640ths)- The greatest height (NON-inclusive) of this group. The largest value that may be specified is 64000 (100 inches).
3. Lower Limit - The lowest level to be checked.
4. Upper Limit - The upper level to be checked.
Example: H Table
6400 7040 22 24 Level 22 to 24
7040 7680 25 26 Level 25 to 26
7680 64000 27 35 Over level 27