Rocket U2 | UniVerse & UniData

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

What are the other common causes of blinks and how can we minimize the risks? Will poorly sized files increase the chances of getting a blink on the file?

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

------------------------------
Gil Steidle
DEV
DDI System Inc
brick NJ US
------------------------------

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

This is correct.  We here have a task in our Universe scheduler, that every week tells us how much disk space has been used and left.  And emails that to the sysadmin.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

What is a reliable method to identify files with blinks proactively? Will a simple SELECT or COUNT be effective? I'm thinking to make a scheduled job to check our files for corruption.

This is correct.  We here have a task in our Universe scheduler, that every week tells us how much disk space has been used and left.  And emails that to the sysadmin.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

What is a reliable method to identify files with blinks proactively? Will a simple SELECT or COUNT be effective? I'm thinking to make a scheduled job to check our files for corruption.

This is correct.  We here have a task in our Universe scheduler, that every week tells us how much disk space has been used and left.  And emails that to the sysadmin.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

If you wish to use the SELECT or COUNT approach, include a WITH clause that will not select any records. Example: WITH PositiveNumericField < 0.

This ensures the record is read, including any oversize record blocks. Otherwise, this just reads the primary group chain record blocks and ID. 

The most robust approach would use fixtool.

What is a reliable method to identify files with blinks proactively? Will a simple SELECT or COUNT be effective? I'm thinking to make a scheduled job to check our files for corruption.

This is correct.  We here have a task in our Universe scheduler, that every week tells us how much disk space has been used and left.  And emails that to the sysadmin.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

What is a reliable method to identify files with blinks proactively? Will a simple SELECT or COUNT be effective? I'm thinking to make a scheduled job to check our files for corruption.

This is correct.  We here have a task in our Universe scheduler, that every week tells us how much disk space has been used and left.  And emails that to the sysadmin.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Hi Gil,

For us badly sized files has always been the biggest culprit for UniVerse file corruption, that and dynamic files which seem to be susceptible to corruption following system failures.

We have developed our own daily FILE.STAT suite that performs the FILE.STAT on each file on a daily basis overnight, we log and report any Blink errors identified, but with the robustness of UNIX system nowadays we rarely see them. We maintain a history of each file so that we can try to predict forward growth of each file a have the ability to automatically resize files or manually manage the process.

Saying that, there is the Rocket provided ACCOUNT.FILE.STATS which logs each time it's run to a file called STAT.FILE with an internal date/time stamp ID, examining the last run for each file would identify both if the FILE.STAT failed (Blink error) by checking the FILE.STAT attributes (they will not be populated) and as a bonus this also enables you to check that your files are sized correctly so you can remediate as appropriate.

Sample table below below shows the omission of the number of Records (Items) within the file, the first two entries were whilst a Blink error existed on a test file.

SORT STAT.FILE BY @ID FILENAME.LONG FILETYPE FILEMOD FILESEP FILESIZE RECORDS 17:37:06  21-05-24  PAGE 1
ID..................... File Name..................... Type Mod..... Sep File....... Record.
                                                                         Size....... Count..

20596*59877*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2      104448
20596*60074*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2      104448
20596*60200*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2      104448     415
20596*60361*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2      104448     414
20596*60489*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2      104448     414
20596*60881*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2     7135232   58913
20596*61027*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2     7135232   58913
20596*63155*0012        DUFF                             18      101   2      104448       0

Regards

MArk 

What is a reliable method to identify files with blinks proactively? Will a simple SELECT or COUNT be effective? I'm thinking to make a scheduled job to check our files for corruption.

This is correct.  We here have a task in our Universe scheduler, that every week tells us how much disk space has been used and left.  And emails that to the sysadmin.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Hi Gil, re the no more disk space.

Does your windows installation have separate file systems (partitions?) for things like your main UV database(s), logs, software? Do processes that run your application write logs to the UV database file system or to a separate file system? If you're running/storing everything in a single file system then that increases the likelihood of filling up your disk and borking(tm) your data with blinks. Especially if your files are grossly overflowed.

If your system(s) isn't already setup with depurate database/log/software partitions then perhaps a reorganisation might be needed to minimise impacts of runaway processes filling up logs etc. I quick and dirty way of achieving this (in unix at least) is to use symbolic links to relocate local logs in your DB out to a separate disk or partition. I'm sure windows has a similar feature but I'm not familiar with it.

Hope the above is of assistance.

Cheers,
Peter

------------------------------
Peter Cheney
Developer and Systems Superstar
Firstmac
Brisbane Qld Australia

Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2024 11:29
From: Gil Steidle
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

------------------------------
Gil Steidle
DEV
DDI System Inc
brick NJ US
------------------------------

If files are grossly overflowed, switch to dynamic hashed, type 30.

I use type 30 for files that tend to grow.

For static tables, I'll size them correctly to static hashed, & monitor weekly with a scheduled report of anything out of whack.

I use ACCOUNT.FILE.STATS weekly & save each weeks data in my own FSTAT.HIST so I can sort by file then date.  It's dictionary is basically same as STAT.FILE, with a few fancy I-descriptors that compare the previous FSTAT.HIST record to the current one I  can get things like BytesAddedPerDay & RecsAddedPerDay  & averages & see when things become unstable.

 DICT FSTAT.HIST DATABYTES.PERDAY

0001: I works on lists sorted BY[.DSND] FILENAME BY[.DSND] RUNDATE
0002: @2;FILENAME; @4;RUNDATE; @6;DATABYTES; IF @1=@2 & @3#@4 THEN (@5-@6)/(@3-@4) ELSE ''
0003:
0004: DataBytesý / Day
0005: 9R0Z
0006: S

------------------------------
Chuck Stevenson
DBA / SW Developer
Pomeroy
US

Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2024 19:28
From: Peter Cheney
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Hi Gil, re the no more disk space.

Does your windows installation have separate file systems (partitions?) for things like your main UV database(s), logs, software? Do processes that run your application write logs to the UV database file system or to a separate file system? If you're running/storing everything in a single file system then that increases the likelihood of filling up your disk and borking(tm) your data with blinks. Especially if your files are grossly overflowed.

If your system(s) isn't already setup with depurate database/log/software partitions then perhaps a reorganisation might be needed to minimise impacts of runaway processes filling up logs etc. I quick and dirty way of achieving this (in unix at least) is to use symbolic links to relocate local logs in your DB out to a separate disk or partition. I'm sure windows has a similar feature but I'm not familiar with it.

Hope the above is of assistance.

Cheers,
Peter

------------------------------
Peter Cheney
Developer and Systems Superstar
Firstmac
Brisbane Qld Australia

Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2024 11:29
From: Gil Steidle
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

------------------------------
Gil Steidle
DEV
DDI System Inc
brick NJ US
------------------------------

I like the idea of a FSTAT.HIST file.  I had never thought of doing it that way, but it would certainly allow better reporting for trends.  Now I just need to come up with some I-Descriptors to generate the reports.

If files are grossly overflowed, switch to dynamic hashed, type 30.

I use type 30 for files that tend to grow.

For static tables, I'll size them correctly to static hashed, & monitor weekly with a scheduled report of anything out of whack.

I use ACCOUNT.FILE.STATS weekly & save each weeks data in my own FSTAT.HIST so I can sort by file then date.  It's dictionary is basically same as STAT.FILE, with a few fancy I-descriptors that compare the previous FSTAT.HIST record to the current one I  can get things like BytesAddedPerDay & RecsAddedPerDay  & averages & see when things become unstable.

 DICT FSTAT.HIST DATABYTES.PERDAY

0001: I works on lists sorted BY[.DSND] FILENAME BY[.DSND] RUNDATE
0002: @2;FILENAME; @4;RUNDATE; @6;DATABYTES; IF @1=@2 & @3#@4 THEN (@5-@6)/(@3-@4) ELSE ''
0003:
0004: DataBytesý / Day
0005: 9R0Z
0006: S

------------------------------
Chuck Stevenson
DBA / SW Developer
Pomeroy
US

Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2024 19:28
From: Peter Cheney
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Hi Gil, re the no more disk space.

Does your windows installation have separate file systems (partitions?) for things like your main UV database(s), logs, software? Do processes that run your application write logs to the UV database file system or to a separate file system? If you're running/storing everything in a single file system then that increases the likelihood of filling up your disk and borking(tm) your data with blinks. Especially if your files are grossly overflowed.

If your system(s) isn't already setup with depurate database/log/software partitions then perhaps a reorganisation might be needed to minimise impacts of runaway processes filling up logs etc. I quick and dirty way of achieving this (in unix at least) is to use symbolic links to relocate local logs in your DB out to a separate disk or partition. I'm sure windows has a similar feature but I'm not familiar with it.

Hope the above is of assistance.

Cheers,
Peter

------------------------------
Peter Cheney
Developer and Systems Superstar
Firstmac
Brisbane Qld Australia

Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2024 11:29
From: Gil Steidle
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

------------------------------
Gil Steidle
DEV
DDI System Inc
brick NJ US
------------------------------

Does that  sample i-descriptor make sense?  I can explain it if anyone wants.

I like the idea of a FSTAT.HIST file.  I had never thought of doing it that way, but it would certainly allow better reporting for trends.  Now I just need to come up with some I-Descriptors to generate the reports.

If files are grossly overflowed, switch to dynamic hashed, type 30.

I use type 30 for files that tend to grow.

For static tables, I'll size them correctly to static hashed, & monitor weekly with a scheduled report of anything out of whack.

I use ACCOUNT.FILE.STATS weekly & save each weeks data in my own FSTAT.HIST so I can sort by file then date.  It's dictionary is basically same as STAT.FILE, with a few fancy I-descriptors that compare the previous FSTAT.HIST record to the current one I  can get things like BytesAddedPerDay & RecsAddedPerDay  & averages & see when things become unstable.

 DICT FSTAT.HIST DATABYTES.PERDAY

0001: I works on lists sorted BY[.DSND] FILENAME BY[.DSND] RUNDATE
0002: @2;FILENAME; @4;RUNDATE; @6;DATABYTES; IF @1=@2 & @3#@4 THEN (@5-@6)/(@3-@4) ELSE ''
0003:
0004: DataBytesý / Day
0005: 9R0Z
0006: S

------------------------------
Chuck Stevenson
DBA / SW Developer
Pomeroy
US

Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2024 19:28
From: Peter Cheney
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Hi Gil, re the no more disk space.

Does your windows installation have separate file systems (partitions?) for things like your main UV database(s), logs, software? Do processes that run your application write logs to the UV database file system or to a separate file system? If you're running/storing everything in a single file system then that increases the likelihood of filling up your disk and borking(tm) your data with blinks. Especially if your files are grossly overflowed.

If your system(s) isn't already setup with depurate database/log/software partitions then perhaps a reorganisation might be needed to minimise impacts of runaway processes filling up logs etc. I quick and dirty way of achieving this (in unix at least) is to use symbolic links to relocate local logs in your DB out to a separate disk or partition. I'm sure windows has a similar feature but I'm not familiar with it.

Hope the above is of assistance.

Cheers,
Peter

------------------------------
Peter Cheney
Developer and Systems Superstar
Firstmac
Brisbane Qld Australia

Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2024 11:29
From: Gil Steidle
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

------------------------------
Gil Steidle
DEV
DDI System Inc
brick NJ US
------------------------------

I think your sample I-Descriptor is a little confusing to me because I cannot understand how you can reference @ positions 2, 4, and 6 before they are even defined in the I-Descriptor.  I think that may require additional explanation for those less familiar with constructing these dictionaries.  I think we understand the intent of the sample based on the name, but the execution needs a little clarification.

The trick for me is to develop some new I-Descriptors that will allow trending and forecasting to more accurately determine what values to use in a RESIZE command to account for estimated growth plus additional padding.  There is a lot to chew on and understand before I get that far, though.

Does that  sample i-descriptor make sense?  I can explain it if anyone wants.

I like the idea of a FSTAT.HIST file.  I had never thought of doing it that way, but it would certainly allow better reporting for trends.  Now I just need to come up with some I-Descriptors to generate the reports.

If files are grossly overflowed, switch to dynamic hashed, type 30.

I use type 30 for files that tend to grow.

For static tables, I'll size them correctly to static hashed, & monitor weekly with a scheduled report of anything out of whack.

I use ACCOUNT.FILE.STATS weekly & save each weeks data in my own FSTAT.HIST so I can sort by file then date.  It's dictionary is basically same as STAT.FILE, with a few fancy I-descriptors that compare the previous FSTAT.HIST record to the current one I  can get things like BytesAddedPerDay & RecsAddedPerDay  & averages & see when things become unstable.

 DICT FSTAT.HIST DATABYTES.PERDAY

0001: I works on lists sorted BY[.DSND] FILENAME BY[.DSND] RUNDATE
0002: @2;FILENAME; @4;RUNDATE; @6;DATABYTES; IF @1=@2 & @3#@4 THEN (@5-@6)/(@3-@4) ELSE ''
0003:
0004: DataBytesý / Day
0005: 9R0Z
0006: S

------------------------------
Chuck Stevenson
DBA / SW Developer
Pomeroy
US

Original Message:
Sent: 05-19-2024 19:28
From: Peter Cheney
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Hi Gil, re the no more disk space.

Does your windows installation have separate file systems (partitions?) for things like your main UV database(s), logs, software? Do processes that run your application write logs to the UV database file system or to a separate file system? If you're running/storing everything in a single file system then that increases the likelihood of filling up your disk and borking(tm) your data with blinks. Especially if your files are grossly overflowed.

If your system(s) isn't already setup with depurate database/log/software partitions then perhaps a reorganisation might be needed to minimise impacts of runaway processes filling up logs etc. I quick and dirty way of achieving this (in unix at least) is to use symbolic links to relocate local logs in your DB out to a separate disk or partition. I'm sure windows has a similar feature but I'm not familiar with it.

Hope the above is of assistance.

Cheers,
Peter

------------------------------
Peter Cheney
Developer and Systems Superstar
Firstmac
Brisbane Qld Australia

Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2024 11:29
From: Gil Steidle
Subject: Are there any Best Practices to prevent/reduce the occurance of UV file Blinks

Blinks. Our product uses the Universe database with Pick Flavored account running on various Windows OS platforms. What, if anything, can be done to reduce the number of file  blinks that we are seeing? Three causes that we've identified so far are: Power failure, No more disk space, Anti-virus. 

Are any UV versions (or Windows versions) more susceptible than others to Blinks?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

------------------------------
Gil Steidle
DEV
DDI System Inc
brick NJ US
------------------------------