Advanced Revelation FAQ (General,Network Compatibility,Operating System Compatibility,Performance)
Created at 26 AUG 1996 05:15PM
Logon and configurations
What operating systems will run Advanced Revelation?
Advanced Revelation will run in single user mode under any DOS compatible environment or session. This includes the DOS boxes in Windows95, NT, OS/2, even various UNIX flavors.
So you re saying that Revelation Software supports Advanced Revelation on all these platforms?
No. Revelation Software has had reliable reports from our customers that Advanced Revelation will run on all these platforms. However, we do not guarantee support on anything other than DOS.
Are there any special considerations when running in a non-DOS operating environment
In order to maximize system resources in a multi-tasking environment, Advanced Revelation requires that ample processing time be given to the DOS session. You should ensure that background execution is always enabled when running in a networked environment.
How much memory does Advanced Revelation require?
Advanced Revelation will use up to 4 megabytes (4096K) of expanded (EMS) memory. The more EMS memory you can allocate to Advanced Revelation, the better the performance.
How do I allocate EMS memory in my system?
To allocate EMS memory to the DOS session, you need to look in the operating system s manuals as each operating system is different. However, we can give you some recommended guidelines to use.
If you are using the EMM386.EXE program to allocate EMS memory, you cannot use the NOEMS parameter. If you use this parameter, you will not allocate any EMS memory to Advanced Revelation under any circumstances.
If you are running in a pure DOS environment and you are using a version of DOS below 6.2, you must specify the amount of EMS memory you will be using in the EMM386.EXE line. You do not need to specify a memory amount if you are using DOS 6.2 and above.
If you are running Advanced Revelation under Microsoft Windows 3.1 or above, Windows will allocate EMS memory from XMS memory so you do not need to specify a memory amount on the EMM386.EXE command line.
You must specify a PIF file in order to properly run Advanced Revelation.
How do I tell Advanced Revelation to use EMS memory.
Advanced Revelation will automatically determine if EMS memory is available and allocate one half of that amount. However, no matter how much memory Advanced Revelation decides to allocate, it will never use more than 4 megabytes (4096K) of allocated memory. You can override the default allocation by using the /Mxxxx command line option on AREV.EXE where xxxx is the number of kilobytes of EMS memory to allocate to the system. You should never allocate more than 4096K of EMS memory to Advanced Revelation. If too much memory is made available to Advanced Revelation, the system could be come unstable.
What other command line options are there for AREV.EXE?
/X tells the system to use EMS memory for variable storage.
/M tells the system to use EMS memory for running and executing programs. /M can also be followed by an option memory allocation amount in kilobytes.
/O tells the system to not use any EMS memory at all.
/E tells the system to not use the on-board math chip and use a math chip emulator instead.
/, prompts for a user name
What do all the dots signify when logging in?
Each dot indicates successful completion of the startup and initialization processes.
1. The media map for the Revboot volume is opened, the SYSOBJ file is opened, the memory filing systems are initialized and the user count is checked.
2. The user or account information is stored into memory
3. You are prompted for the user or account password.
4. VOC, DICT.VOC and SYSOBJ are attached and the logon verb and attach images are read into memory.
5. If applicable, the attach image is used.
6. The Revboot volume is attached
After the 6th dot, INITIALIZE is executed, executing the logon verb and setting up the environmental areas.
Sometimes when I log in I get a message saying Unable to open boot VOC . What does this mean?
Each account has a default location. In this default location resides the VOC file. Somehow, this VOC file was either deleted or moved from the default location. If you have more than one system application, most likely you will be able to login to one of the other applications and make repairs there.
What does Unable to open boot media map mean?
This error means that the default location was changed in the system to an invalid location. Most likely this is a location that does not exist or does not have a media map. A media map is represented in DOS by the REVMEDIA.LK and REVMEDIA.OV files.
I ve changed my logon verb and verified its contents but the system continues on executing the old code.
When Advanced Revelation loads, it attaches the VOC file in the default volume. The boot-up process reads in the login verb (during the 4th dot) then executes the command as specified in the default VOC. If your logon process specifies that another VOC file is attached, this new VOC file will attach over the default VOC. In order to change the logon verb, you must modify the record in the default VOC file.
How do I determine where my default VOC file is?
On Advanced Revelation 3.x, login to the SYSPROG account. You should have a menu with APPLICATION, OPTIONS, and HELP. If not, press F5 to activate the TCL window.
From TCL enter RUNMENU STARTUP.
Choose OPTIONS APPLICATION. Enter the application name in the name field. The default location will be specified in the Location field.
On Advanced Revelation versions 1.x and 2.x, the default VOC file always exists in the REVBOOT volume.
Now that I know where my default VOC file resides, how can I gain access to it?
You can gain access to the file using the SETALIAS (3.x) or SETFILE (2.x) command. The syntax is
SETALIAS volumeName applicationName[,password] realFileName aliasName
I ve tried all these things and my system still won t logon. What else can I do?
The first item on your troubleshooting list is to determine what in your system configuration might have changed. This is not limited to just the workstation but throughout the LAN. Items you might want to consider are:
_ Has the workstation operating system been updated?
_ Has the server operating system been updated?
_ Have you changed or added hardware to the workstation?
_ Have you changed or added hardware to the server?
_ Have you updated the network client software? (VLMs, NETX, IPXODI)
_ Have you switched networking protocols?
_ Have you updated your version of Advanced Revelation?
_ Have you added new workstations to the network?
_ Have you modified user rights on the server?
Windows 95
Does Advanced Revelation run under Windows 95?
Yes. You must specify a shortcut for optimal results. This shortcut must be configured to use 4096 bytes of EMS memory. XMS memory should be disabled. Background processing should be enabled.
Is Advanced Revelation supported under Windows 95?
Advanced Revelation is only supported under Windows 95 if you are using the Revelation NLM, the Revelation NT Service or the Netware Performance Pack.
How should I set up my shortcut?
Below are screen captures of a recommended shortcut:
The screens not displayed can be left at their default values.
Windows 3.1
I still haven't made the great leap to Windows 95 and am still running on Windows 3.11. Where does that leave me?
Advanced Revelation has been running successfully under Window 3.1 for many years now. The key to running Advacned Revelation properly under Windows 3.1 , you should have a properly defined PIF. Below is an example of a typical sample PIF running on a machine with 6 megs of RAM. We will go over the relevant portions piece by piece.
Program file name: This is the fully qualified DOS drive and path indicating the location of the AREV.EXE file, In this example, AREV.EXE can be found on drive R in the AREV subdirectory.
Optional Parameters: These are any parameters that you might type after the executable if you were accessing the file from the command line, In this example, we are starting Advanced Revelation as user AARON with the optional /X and M4096 parameters. Information about these and other parameters can be found in your Advanced Revelation Uses guide.
Start up Directory: This is the directory the application starts from. This should always be the same DOS location as your AREV.EXE.
EMS Memory: This field contains the amount of EMS memory the application requires. This figure can be adjusted up or down as needed, but should never exceed the amount of memory installed on your system ro 4096. You should re-read the section on allocating EMS memory above for more information.
XMS Memory: This field contains the amount of XMS memory used. Advanced Revelation does not use XMS memory so this field should be left at 0.
Execution Background: Checking this box allows the program to run in the background, which means this application will continue to run even though it might not be the application currently active. It us strongly recommended that you enable this setting when using Advanced Revelation. Disabling Background Execution is the most frequent cause of system hangs when running Advacned Revelation under Windows 3.1
You can leave all of these advanced features at their default settings. I prefer to check the PrtSC option to allow the PrintScr key to go to the printer instead of the clipboard. That is personal preference however.
What about Networking support? Windows95 requiers the Revelation NLM, NT Server or Network Performance Pack. Does Windows 3.1 require these also?
No, the new, advanced networking products are not required. However, it is strongly recommended that you use one of these products.
Networking
What networks does Advanced Revelation support?
Revelation Software officially supports Advanced Revelation on the following Networks:
Novell 3.11 and above running either NETX 3.32 or VLM 1.20 and above.
Windows NT with the Revelation LH NT Service.
That sort of limits my options. Does Advanced Revelation run under any other networks?
Yes. Advanced Revelation will run under almost all networks that support byte-range locking. This includes LanTastic, Netware Lite, LanManager, LanServer, Pathworks, Banyan Vines, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 and Windows NT.
If Advanced Revelation runs under all these additional networks, why are they not listed under the supported networks?
There are a wide variety of networks used by our customers. The vast majority of our customers use Novell Netware as their networking environment. Revelation Software is unable to certify and guarantee compatibility with all networking options available. The networks listed above are used by various customers. Reports of compatibility with these networks have been reported by some customers.
However, most networks support byte-range locking as documented in the MS DOS 3.1 networking standards. Advanced Revelation fully supports networks that are based on these standards. All the networks listed above support these standards to varying degrees. If you are using one of these networks, you should choose the Byte Range driver for your network driver.
I m sure you have some information about these unsupported networks. Could you find it in your heart to give me some advice and warning?
The primary word of advice and warning is that Advanced Revelation must be run on a networked drive. That s really important advice and is worth repeating. The primary word of advice and warning is that Advanced Revelation must be run on a networked drive. Interesting sentence, and one that probably has little or no meaning to you whatsoever. The question you are probably asking yourself is, what do I mean by a networked drive? Simply put, a networked drive is a drive that DOS 3.1 networking regards as a networked drive. Now the vast majority of you must be thinking that you can t use the term you re defining in the definition, and you d be right. But we are dealing with computer logic here and we are all familiar with the mathematically illogical but programmatically simple statement A=A+1.
DOS 3.1 defines a networked drive as any drive that reports back through the OS that is a networked drive. To put it even more simply, if a drive says its is networked, then it is networked.
How can I make sure my drive is a networked drive?
There is no simple programmatic way to make this determination. However, you can ensure the drive is networked by having the network logon script explicitly map the drive. For most network operating systems, you use would the NET USE command. See your network manuals for more information. You can make your local drive a networked drive by redirecting and mapping it as a networked drive. That will allow you to use your local drive and obtain record locking.
Is there anything else I need to know?
There are a few. One is that all drives containing Linear Hash files must be mapped to the same drive letter. The other is that some networking software (most notably Microsoft s networking solutions) do not allow the redirection of a local drive as a networked drive. If you are using one of these packages, you must create an Advanced Revelation server.
All this sounds like a lot of work. Is there anything else I can do?
Revelation Software has release a Network Performance Pack. This product is available for Advanced Revelation 2.03 and above. This product eliminated all of the caveats listed above, increases compatibly with many of these networks, increases performance and stability, and adds new features including read-only files and volumes. For more information contact Revelation Customer service at 800-262-4747 in the North America or 44 (0) 208 832 7380 in the rest of the world or send email to info@revelation.com
When I try to bump my system using AREV BUMP I get a message asking for a password and telling me the user is invalid.
When performing a bump from Advanced Revelation 2.12 and below, you need to use the BUMP user. When performing a bump on Advanced Revelation 3.0 and above, you need to use the LANPACK user.
If you are using the proper user name then a password has been placed on the BUMP or LANPACK user. You must talk with your system administrator or the application author to determine the password. Revelation Software is unable to decode a password once one has been placed on a user or account.
Indexing
I m getting link list errors in my indexing files. The system suggests rebuilding all indexes. What should I do?
You should rebuild all indexes in the file by removing all indexes then recreating them. Before removing the indexes you should print out a listing of the indexes.
Even when I try and rebuild, I still get link list errors. What are my options?
You must remove indexing manual. Technical Bulletin 58 explains how to remove indexing manually.
I am getting one of the following errors
Multiple users are updating indexes at one time. You should consider creating a dedicated indexing machine.
What is a dedicated indexing machine?
A dedicated indexing machine is a single workstation on your network devoted solely to update index transactions.
How do I create one?
You must turn off background indexing on all workstations. You must also turn off the Update index before filter flag. You will then create an application user called INDEXER. You then turn on background indexing for this user only. We recommend a setting of 10 seconds for both indexing time options.
When I do a select the system is always updating indexes. How can I stop this?
There is an environmental flag, Update Indexes before Filter. This flag is enabled by default. When this flag is enabled, it tells the system to update the indexes for this file before performing a filter. A filter is better known as a select. By turning this flag off, the system will stop updating indexes before performing a select.
Filing System and Linear Hash
What is a Group Format Error?
A group format error is a corruption in a Linear Hash file.
What should I do if I receive a Group Format Error?
If you wish access to this file again, you must fix the error. You can fix the error by entering DUMP filename at TCL. Replace filename with the name of the file receiving the Group Format Error. If the name of the file starts with ! (as in !CUSTOMERS) then the file is an index transaction file. If you receive a Group Format Error in an index transaction file, you should rebuild all indexes in the file after fixing the group.
To fix a Group Format Error, hit CTRL-F and enter the group number in the message box. For more information about available keystrokes in DUMP, you can press F1.
After I fix the file, everything is back to normal, correct?
You should have back normal access to your file. However, each occurrence of a Group Format error almost always means the loss of a record in the file. Unfortunately there is no method available to determine what record was lost, recover the lost record once identified, or prevent the loss of the record.
Sometimes I get Out of Disk Space messages when I am not out of disk space. What could be causing this?
One reason for this error is that you truly are out of disk space. To fine tune that remark slightly, some network operating systems (like Novell) allow the system administrator to allocate disk space usage by user name. The user might have exceeded this allowance and the server is reporting back to the Linear Hash filing system that there is no available disk space.
I ve already checked on this and my users have unlimited disk access.
Another item to check is the name of the file owner under Novell. If the owner of a file no longer exists, Novell will not allow the file to increase size. When Linear Hash files need to add frames, it actually adds to the existing data file, thus increasing it s size. Novell monitors this information for accounting purposes. Accounting is Novell s version of mainframe time sharing functionality.) These actions occur whether or not the system administrator has enabled accounting on the server.
If I have files with owned by users that no longer exist, what can I do?
The system administrator can use functionality provided in FILER to change file ownership. Additionally, there are utilities available on Novell s CompuServe forum (GO NETWIRE) and on the internet that allow for bulk changing of file owners. We recommend changing the owner of all Linear Hash files to Supervisor.