Error reading/writing Connection Directory

[MollyMoon]

We have recently begun experiencing a problem upon launch of ProComm, where we get various errors, all which reference our connection directory:

Error writing to File...
Error reading File...
Error allocating memory for...

The problem is that we are NOT USING the connection directory when launching ProComm under these circumstances -- our app is pulling phone # and other data directly from our database, creating and compiling a script with this info and then launching ProComm to run the script. We have no need to use the connection directory in this case.

This is a significant problem because it requires user intervention (OK'ing the error message) in order for ProComm to continue, and our automated process runs over night.

Is there a setting that controls how frequently ProComm attempts to read/write to the Connection Directory associated with a given computer? Or, does anyone know why this would be happening? We have been running ProComm successfully for almost 2 years without this problem. It only started recently.

Thanks.

 

[WilliamA]

In times like this, for me anyways, fixing the problem is usually a higher priority then actually finding the cause of the problem. I'm sure that must sound really strange, since typically you have to identify the problem in order to fix it.

It's worth a try to just uninstall and then reinstall procomm and test your app again. It's quick and painless and may solve your problem without having to resort to calling symantec, etc, etc.

...just my $.02,
will

 

[det07]

If you have the source to your script:
1. Check to see if it is Reading or writing a Directory entry for it's process. (Even though a note may say it doesn't use a pre-set directory it might be programming one on the fly.)

2. Has anyone done anything to the directory structure on the procomm computer or the computer where your app that gets data out of the database is running.

3. Did any Sys Admins come around one of the computers?
- I recently had write permissions denied to my capture directory in Procomm because of this.

4. What happened the day / night before it stopped working was there any "migration" firewall "upgrades" or some adminsitrative work done on a pc involved?
[Law of most recent activity]

Good luck, DT

 

[MollyMoon]

I do have the source for my script; I helped write it. That is how I know it isn't relying upon the Connection Directory in any way.

Thanks for the thought on the Sys Admin -- come to think of it our guy did an upgrade to both computers on which this problem is occurring. Because we are testing new code (same ProComm script, new version of our VB app) I figured it was something other. You are right of course about the law of most recent activity.

Thanks for your help!

 

[knob]

If you have never used the Connection Directory on that machine, then you can delete it (PW5.DIR) and a new, blank one will be created on the next execution of Procomm. Procomm opens this file each time it is run, so chances are it got corrupted somehow in the past.
aspect@aspectscripting.com

http://www.aspectscripting.com

 

[MollyMoon]

Knob, Thanks for the info. That's what I was trying to find out -- if ProComm was accessing the connection dir on launch. That explains part of the problem, but why it is failing in its attempt is still an issue.

The connection directory being referenced is not the default(PW5.DIR) but a separate .DIR file we created. (We use this to manually test dialing into the new modem prior to actually adding the data to our database and allowing the automated process to run.)

This connection directory resides on our file server, so all computers launching ProComm that get the error messages are accessing the connection directory across the network.
It is certainly possible that it could have become corrupted. Is there a (ProComm) file size limit for the connection directory?

 

[det07]

There is a limit in version 4.7 of about 200 entries I believe. (possibly 255 or 256)
I cannot find it in the help but we had to split our telnet directories into 2 or 3 because of the limitation.

DT

 

[knob]

The limit to the Connection Directory is roughly 500 entries, give or take. The more likely problem is due to multiple machines accessing it over the network at the same time. There was once a "network" version of Procomm produced that was intended for use over a network. I have heard of some people using the current version in a network environment, but I have also heard of several people experiencing problems with the Connection Directory when doing this.
aspect@aspectscripting.com

http://www.aspectscripting.com

 

[MollyMoon]

I can appreciate the potential problems of accessing the connection directory across the network, but I still wonder why we never experienced this problem until a week or so ago, and now we get it constantly.

 

[knob]

I can't explain what caused the corruption, but once the Connection Directory is corrupted, it will always produce this error message. aspect@aspectscripting.com

http://www.aspectscripting.com

 

[MollyMoon]

Well, I changed the connection directory to point to PW5.dir on the machine where our app is running. This is an empty directory; it has never been used. Things were fine for a day (we saw no similar errors) but this morning we got the "error reading file" on PW5.dir.

Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

 

[knob]

Is it possible that more than one person is running Procomm at the same time during the day? That is the only thing that I can think of that would cause the corruption of this file.
aspect@aspectscripting.com

http://www.aspectscripting.com

 

[det07]

I saw above where you mention that 'both' computers that have this problem, that indicates you are running from at least two computers. If Procomm is loaded on both computers try creating a Blank.dir blank connection directory on each and set the connection directory to that directory verses the PW5.dir default connection directory name.
You can use different connection directory names on each computer. So each copy of Procomm will be accessing totally different connection directories.
Also are the number of connection entries in your home grown connection directory growing? Is it over 500?