SUMMARY:
This Knowledge Base solution details the most common questions a Progress Technical Support Engineer needs answers to in order to narrow down the cause of the problem you call about.
EXPLANATION:
Answers to the following questions speed up efforts to resolve your problem. Naturally, not all questions apply to all circumstances, but by being prepared to answer any of these questions, you can help Technical Support provide a timely resolution of your problem.
1) What is your software environment?
- Progress release version number and release letter
(patch number, if not commercial product)
- License type
(PADS, 4GL/RDBMS, Runtime, Query/Report)
- Additional products
(Fast Track, Results, Gateway, HLI, HLC etc.)
If the product requires a tailored executable (such as
for the CT-ISAM Gateway or HLI) did you run PROBUILD
and did it complete successfully?
- Operating system version
(see the status line in the upper left corner at the
op sys logon screen)
See the latest Technical Bulletin for supported op sys
levels.
- Executive utilities version
- Network software version, if applicable (APTNET, CT-NET,
B-NET, S-Net) and node information
- Network configuration files
- /etc/protocols
- <sys>TCP/IP.PARAMS, <Inetct>Transport.config
- /etc/hosts and <dlc>services (TCP/IP, TLI)
- In-house or VAR application?
- New installation, Progress upgrade, op sys upgrade?
- Volume and directory where Progress was loaded [sys]<dlc>
2) What is your hardware environment?
- Machine and model
- Any recent activity with vendor (customer-engineer
hardware checkout, etc.)
- Amount of memory
How is it configured (use Partition Status)?
- Network type
- Differences between server and client machines (master vs.
cluster workstations, free slaves vs. true clients)
- Additional process boards, for example, FP board on XE's
3) What is your operational Environment?
- Single or multi-user session
- How often is the server normally brought down?
- Is the server started from the sysinit.jcl file?
- Is more than one database being served?
- If so, what is the -S parameter?
- Single or multi-volume database
- Database type (PROGRESS, CT-ISAM, Oracle, etc.)
- Single/multiple database connections
- Size of the database in MB; remaining space on disk
- BI file on same directory (-g startup)?
- After imaging in use (-a startup)?
- Environment variables:
PROMSGS, PROEXE, PROCFG, DLC, DLCFT, DLCRES, PROSRV,
PROPATH, PATH, PRONCS, PROTERMCAP, etc.
- Server and client startup parameters
Are they contained in a parameter (.pf) file?
- Directory and file permissions or privileges by user, or
directory
- File used by this user:
- sysimage.sys
- username.user
- username.env
- sys.cmds
- progress.cfg
- What .run file is being executed?
ProTnyRT.run? Progress.Run?
- Is Context Manager installed?
- Are there remote users (connecting through the RS-232-C
port or a modem)?
- Are you using Progress security user IDs?
4) What is the Problem Profile?
- Can you get into the database in single-user mode?
- What error messages did you receive and where were they?
- What are their numbers and the text that came with
them?
- Did you review the <F2> ANY MESSAGES explanation?
What did it say?
- On the server/console or client screen
- In the Progress log file (databasename.lg)
- What was happening when the problem occurred?
- Application running normally, multi-user
- Application running normally, single-user
- What schema files are used by the Procedure that was
running when the problem occurred?
- How many records do those files contain?
- What was the application doing (reads, writes to
database, writes to external files, deletions)?
- Progress utility in use (Progress utilities, Progress roll
forward utilities, Progress structure utility, Progress
librarian, etc.)
- With which option
- idxbuild
- bulkload
- after image end
- truncate bi
- Server was starting up
- Server was up, user was trying to log in (how many?)
- Database administrator activities were in Process (for
example, dictionary schema update)
- Is the problem new, has it occurred before, or has it
always been there
- How often does the problem occur
For example, how many times has it occurred in the last
3 days? What has changed since Progress was last run
successfully?
- Is a core file produced
(If so, save it in case the stack trace information is
needed)
- What other software is running on the machine where the
problem is occurring?
5) Trouble shooting to date
- Can you duplicate the problem against the demo database
- Can you duplicate the problem on the production database
upon demand, or is it sporadic
- Does it occur only for certain procedures, or only when
certain files or records are used?
- If you have more than one database, does the problem occur
on all the databases?
- How does the problem differ if multiple database
connections are involved?
- Are there other sites with a similar configuration that do
not experience the problem?
- How are their configurations different?
- What has changed about the environment since the problem
began?
Application software recompiled?
Modified? How?
New users added?
Greater volume of data?
Modified start-up parameters?
New disks added?
Hardware or power failures?
Files moved to different directories?
Security settings updated?
Dictionary modified?
- Progress version updated?
Did the request code file get updated correctly
([sys]<sys>Request.Sys)?
If you receive a CTOS error 33, you are probably using
a request.sys file that does not have the Progress
request codes.
- Do you have a backup?
- What Progress documentation have you referenced (which
manuals, guides, or brochures, and which pages)?
Reference to Written Documentation:
To prepare for Technical Support inquiries, see your latest Technical Bulletin and Progress manuals for other questions.