Support News Flash

December 25, 1996
Dynix/PTX 4.2 Validated

Open M [ISM] 6.2-F.9 is now validated for PTX 4.2. In order to install v6.2-F.9 in the non-standard manager's directory on Sequent PTX V4.2.1 one needs to set the environment variable obj_form=COFF and export this variable. Unless this is done, mlink will fail.

December 20, 1996
Update Concerning Open M[ISM] Incremental Backup
(see Letter from Director of Customer Service dated November 22, 1996)

As described in the letter, the problem occurs because the incremental backup program fails to copy modified blocks in the last thirty-two blocks in each group of 65536 blocks (blocks numbered 65505-65536, 131041-131072, etc.) Note: This problem only occurs for incremental backups, and a fix is available in 6.2-F9.rel02.


Users who are unable to upgrade to 6.2-F9.rel02 at this time, but who require a temporary workaround for the problem, may obtain a modified backup utility that can be used with earlier versions of Open M[ISM].


This workaround forces the backup program to copy these blocks on all incremental backups, regardless of whether the blocks have been modified.


The workaround is available to work in conjunction with revisions 5.10 and 6.1. You can obtain the workaround by downloading from:


(Note: You may need to press the shift key while clicking on the below links to for a "save as" for the .ro files to be save to your local disk)

for Rev 5.10 - ftp://ftp.intersys.com/pub/openm/ism/unix/bkpfx510.ro

for Rev 6.1 - ftp://ftp.intersys.com/pub/openm/ism/unix/bkpfx61.ro
(version 6.1 update will be available on December 26, 1996)

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December 3, 1996
Improve Customer Satisfaction with Automated E-Mail Notification of important ISM issues in ISM Configurations

The %ZHALT routine is a fully functional sample method for automatically notification of any M error to any e-mail address you specify.
If you would like to try this, follow the instructions below:


1. Download zhalt.ro to a machine running Open M [ISM]
2. Use %RI to restore the %ZHALT routine in the Open M manager's directory
3. Modify the email address in %ZHALT
4. Use %RCHANGE on %ER* and %STACK to replace the string $ZE="" with $ZE=$ZE

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November 22, 1996
Open M [DTM] 6.x dejournalling

There is a bug in the dejournalling process where, under certain circumstances, an incomplete transaction can be restored even though "Complete Transactions Only" has been requested. The situation is as follows:


1. There is a system or hardware failure that leaves an incomplete transaction in the journal file (example: 960101AA.001).
2. A new journal file is created either through by restarting the system (example: 960101AB.001).
3. At some later time, a de-journal is run that
   • requests Completed Transactions Only, and
   • requests a range of journal files that spans the boundary between the two journal files (example: 960101AA.001 through 960101AB.001)

Note that all of the above steps must be true for this problem to occur.


Work Around: The problem can be avoided by dejournalling in two passes.
Example: dejournal Completed Transactions Only, 900101AA.001 through 960101AA.001 followed by a second dejournalling of Competed Transactions Only, 960101AB.001 through 960102AA.001.


Bug number 13207

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November 22, 1996
Open M [ISM] Incremental Backup
Letter from Director of Customer Support

I am writing to you to bring an important problem with Open M [ISM] to your attention. A customer recently reported a problem restoring an incremental backup. In response, we isolated and corrected a problem with the [ISM] Incremental Backup utilities and the customer has confirmed that the correction is stable and reliable. I want to ensure that you don't encounter this serious problem.


Please note, only Incremental Backup is affected and not Full Backup or any external backup procedures. This problem exists in [ISM] releases 5.1 through 6.2-F.9 and affects Unix and OpenVMS (Alpha only). Any MUMPS.DAT files greater than 163 maps (133MB) are susceptible to this problem. The nature of the defect is that the last 32 bits of the backup bit map are ignored during an internal block copy operation during Incremental Backup. This results in the Incremental Backup procedure ignoring the last 32 data blocks out of 65535 data blocks. For example, data blocks that have changed since the last Full Backup in the range 65504-65536 , 131040-131071, 196576-196607, etc. will not be stored in the backup. In order to assist you, I have provided a utility (ftp://ftp.intersys.com/pub/openm/ism/unix/vibackup.ro) which will validate a MUMPS.DAT file and alert you to potential exposure to this problem.


We are now replacing 6.2-F.9, which is exposed to this problem, with 6.2-F.9.rel02 to ensure that your future distributions of [ISM] include this correction. Please note that 6.9-F.9.rel02 will only introduce the code changes required to correct Incremental Backup. All future releases of Open M [ISM] and Open M for Windows95/NT include this correction. We will provide this correction to 5.10-F.4 and 6.1-F.7 as requested. If you would like to receive a replacement for 5.10-F.4 or 6.1-F.7, please provide your Distribution Order # (do ^MKEY to find this information) to the Worldwide Response Center. I will expedite all requests for this important correction.


Lastly, I respectfully apologize for any inconvenience that this problem has caused you and any of your customers. Although this situation is exceptional, I trust that our immediate actions to provide you with notification and a resolution have demonstrated InterSystems' commitment to you. If you have any questions or comments, I invite you to contact me directly.


Thank you for choosing Open M,



John Paladino
Director, Customer Support
paladino@intersys.com

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November 22, 1996
Open M for DG/UX Memory Leak

InterSystems has identified a problem in Open M Unix for DG/UX versions

• v6.1 (all releases)
• v6.2 (rel-01)
  

Memory leaks occur when a string is passed to an M expression which expects an integer. Examples of such situations are:


W *"a"
W *"abc"
S X=$C("0")
S X=$P("ABCDE","B","2")
S X=$E("ABC","2")


When an M routine employs such statements the size of the M process increases and eventually the system runs out of swap space. The memory frees when the M process exits M.


InterSystems Corporation recommends that you refrain from using such statements. Measures are taken to circumvent memory leakage from such incorrect usage of M in the next release of Open M Unix for DG/UX.



Amir Shokrollahi
InterSystems Corporation
(617) 621-0600


PLEASE REPLY TO:
amir@intersys.com

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November 21, 1996
Improve ODBC Connect Time to Open M

The following method will dramatically reduce the connection time from any ODBC or OCI application to Open M. This method applies to all versions of the Relational Client and all Open M products, including [ISM], [DSM], and [DTM]. This will not necessarily affect performance after the ODBC connection is established. Future releases of the Relational Client will introduce additional performance improvements for all ODBC functions.

The only risk introduced by this procedure is that the Start/Stop Server Master function may not properly detect the current status of the Server Master process. If this occurs, simply rerun the Start/Stop Server Master function.

This is how you do it…

• First, use the Server Configuration menu option to adjust the parameters as we have in the following example.

• Second, set the TCP port range to accommodate a realistic maximum number of simultaneous client connections for your system. For example, set the range to 10000 to 10005 rather than 10000-11000. In this way, the Server Master will attempt to allocate a TCP port from a shorter list.

• Lastly, ensure that server debugging is disabled. You can simply kill ^%oms("sys","debug")

November 4, 1996
ISM time fields and Crystal Reports

Crystal Reports does not handle ISM time fields properly. For example 8:00AM will be 8 and 8:00PM will be 20, military time without the :00. The bad new come with times with minutes like 12:01 AM becomes 65,536.

Seagate (the owner of Crystal Reports) supplied these functions that will convert this number back into a time field.

The following functions will correct the problem. The first will display the time in military format, the second will display it in non military format with AM and PM. To add this to your report you go to the INSERT option in the top menu bar, select Formula Field, a window will open where you can enter the function. If you want to modify the code at a later time go to EDIT in the menu bar and select Formula.

 

numbervar num := {table.field};
numbervar min := round(num / 65535,0);
numbervar hr := num - round((min * 65536),0);
stringvar m := totext(min,0);
stringvar h := totext(hr,0);
if length(m) = 1 then m := "0" + m;
h + ":" + m


numbervar num := {table.field};
numbervar min := round(num / 65535,0);
numbervar hr := num - round((min * 65536),0);
stringvar time := " AM";
if hr > 11 then time := " PM";
if hr > 11 then hr := hr - 12;
if hr = 0 then hr := 12;
stringvar m := totext(min,0);
stringvar h := totext(hr,0);
if length(m) = 1 then m := "0" + m;
h + ":" + m + time

The next release of Visual M, version 7.0, which will be shipped with Open M 7.1, or is available in beta format now, will be the first 32-bit OCX control which can be converted and added to the palette in Delphi 2.0. Only the MVB Control will function in Delphi as the M/Desktop is designed for use with VB only.

A bug in Delphi 2.0 prevented the passing of strings from Delphi to M. This bug has been fixed in the latest version of Delphi 2.0. Borland has not incremented the version this release. The date of the fixed version of delphi32.exe is 6/11/96. Borland will ship the new version to owners of older versions of Delphi 2.0 for the cost of shipping and handling. Users may request that the new version be shipped to them by calling Borland or by requesting it via their web site at www.borland.com.

InterSystems has identified and fixed a problem with multi-volume backups in ISM for UNIX, versions 6.1 and 6.2. Previously, if the backup went to a second volume, it never finished. You can obtain a 6.2 version from InterSystems that corrects this problem.

dback6x.ro is available for free downloading from the InterSystems Anonymous FTP Server. If you are unable to download this patch, or if you have any questions or comments, please contact InterSystems' Worldwide Support Center at (617) 621-0700 or support@intersys.com.

The Worldwide Response Center would love to have your e-mail address, if we don't have it already. This allows you to receive automatic problem updates from our OnCall support application. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, send your full name, company and e-mail address to support@intersys.com.

If so, you should be interested in a quick and easy technique to reduce resource collisions and improve performance. You can download zspin.ro from

ftp://ftp.intersys.com/pub/openm/ism/unix

This file contains a brief description explaining the use and advantage of this utility.

This culminates a major stabilization effort and is much faster than 1.95. This release supports ODBC and not OCI, however. It may be downloaded from the ftp server.

6.2-F.9 is available for most platforms: it has

• much faster Visual M support
• much faster SQL, especially for Relational Server usage
• much faster client-server support for all network protocols

And of course it offers additional product corrections.

Please see the current products table for more information.

HP Performance Parameter: During heavy system usage, performance on HP/UX systems will be adversely affected by rapid involuntary process context switches. The "swtch_delay_cycles" HP/UX value must be increased to reduce involuntary context switches. Recent experience at HP benchmark centers have proven that setting this parameter between 500,000 and 1,000,000 is adequate to improve performance dramatically in Open M [ISM]. The default value for "swtch_delay_cycles" is 1. References HP document 4701106765 or contact InterSystems for further information.

 

HP Performance Patch: Heavily loaded SMP systems are exposed to an HP/UX problem in the select() system call which Open M [ISM] uses for internal timed operations. This is corrected in patch PHKL_6663. Further information may be found in the HP document PHKL_6663 or by contacting InterSystems.

You may wish to try searching the HP web site for

• Problem Report: 4701106765
• Description: swtch_delay_cycles breaks scheduling

August 5, 1996
SCO Open Server SMP Support :

A problem in Open M [ISM] was recently discovered and impacted SCO SMP systems running 5.10-F.4 and 6.1-F.7. This problem resulted in Open M deadlock (hang) situations during heavy system usage. It is resolved permanently in release 6.2-F.9 and higher. Contact the Worldwide Response Center for further information or assistance.

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August 2, 1996
WRC Goes to 24 Hour Staffing:

Effective on 15 July 1996, the Worldwide Response Center began in-office staffing around the clock from Sunday at midnight (EST) through Friday midnight (EST). This is a continuation of our effort to provide 24 x 365 staffing, which is expected by the end of 1996. The WRC provides 24 x 365 coverage by automated attendant and pager for [ISM], [DSM], and [DTM] products.

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July 31, 1996
A Performance Enhancement for M/VB Applications Connecting to Open M for Unix Platforms

There is now available a new ad-hoc version of Open M for Unix that has the potential to provide great performance improvements for your Visual M applications. Customers have seen performance improvements with this enhancement. Ask your technical support representitive or account representitive for version 6.1-EPIC38 or later.

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