Out of disk space problem

[Blorf]

Hi. I am running Dbase V for Dos on a Novell server. The drive it is runing on has about 20 gigs free, but Dbase beleives there is no space available.

I beleive this is because the amount of space is greater than the max value Dbase can handle, but I am not sure.

Is there any way to tell Dbase not to worry about it?

Index on failes, Copy to failes, couple other critical items also fail.

Thanks in advance.


Ascii dumb question, get a dumb Ansi

 

[dbMark]

I'm not sure this is dBase issue. I know of a Win2000 server with 6 37GB drives in a RAID and about half full, with no problems at all for dBase 5 for DOS.

You said 20 gigabytes were available. What's the total gigabyte size of the server? How much is used? Do you mean that you hit the 130GB barrier?

 

[Blorf]

The drive is mostly empty. But regardless of how much space is available, Dbase beleives there is no space available. The total drive size is 60 Gigs, with about 40 free.

ChaZ

Ascii dumb question, get a dumb Ansi

 

[1oldfoxman]

You didn't say if you have Netware admin priveleges or not. I'm wondering if there has been a size restriction placed on the directory(s) where your app is running or directory(s) where temp files are being created when the app is running (while indexing for example). It is possible that a directory size restriction could result in an insufficient disk space error.

Dennis

 

[Blorf]

I don't know the answer to the question. I prograrm remotely.

The directory reports from the dos prompt oodles of free space though. Just dbase says empty.

ChaZ

Ascii dumb question, get a dumb Ansi

 

[1oldfoxman]

A dos prompt DIR will show all the free space on the Netware drive, even though a size restriction exists on a certain directory. Brief test indicates that Windows will show the limited space from Explorer (running Win2K on my machine). So you could check for size restriction that way.
You have to check on the specific directory. If you are doing everything remote you may want to check with the network admins.

dennis

 

[Blorf]

I understand. My proplem though is that I can append, replace, copy structions and tables, but I can not index or Reindex. Any thing associated with indexing, and some other things, causes an out of disk space error. Also, I can outside dbase do anything I want in the directory, so I am certain this a Dbase problem.

ChaZ

Ascii dumb question, get a dumb Ansi

 

[tviman]

ChaZ,

The only restriction dBase ever had on size was the 1 billion records per table. The fact that you can append to the file (thus increasing the file size) indicates that this is a problem other than dBase. You indicate that it is only with indexing and reindexing that you have the problem. My guess is that the network is restricting you or the machine needs to be slowed down in order to do the processing required. You should contact the network administrator and work with him/her to correct the problem.

There's always a better way. The fun is trying to find it!

 

[Blorf]

Update. Problem still exists, but I figured I would put the data on a local drive, not a server, and have it say Set Directory to \\Blah\Blah but alas, I now know that using any network drive causes the disk space error.

Alas, I am truley stuck.

"When religion and politics ride in the same cart...the whirlwind follows."
Frank Herbert

 

[dbMark]

Hmmm. Is your server compressing files? Some Novell servers have been known to use disk compression for files not recently changed or accessed.

Novell Netware lets the administrator set how many times the file is accessed in a period, such as the last week or so, before it is truly decompressed. For example, assume settings of opening twice in a week triggers actual file decompression. The first time you open a table or index that hasn't been changed for over a week, it will decompress it only in server cache for you to open, but if you don't make any changes to it, it will leave the actual files compressed on the server. The second viewing time, or whatever the trigger level is set to, will force decompression on the disk as well.

Therefore, if you're using a master index file (.MDX), issue an REINDEX command before creating a new index. I know it doesn't make sense, but to add an index to a compressed MDX, that's the workaround.

Let me know if this is the solution. Then I can sleep better tonight. (You didn't say whether your server compresses files, but your administrator can tell you if you don't know.)

dbMark

 

[dbMark]

Hi, Blorf,

Did you ever verify the cause of your original problem, even if you're now using a workaround by placing the file on a local drive? Let us know

thread290-497226 - I suspect disk compression issues as mentioned back on June 18th...

dbMark

 

[dbMark]

Another user has reported a similar problem in thread290-895133. He also had 20 GBs available on the server. Sounds like too much of a coincidence.

Maybe you could compare Netware versions, rights, user's server disk space allocations, server file compression settings, etc.

Another idea regarding my earlier posts, if you do have server disk compression and REINDEX also causes the error, then why not open the index multiple times to force the server to really decompress the file on disk, rewriting it decompress on the disk, not just on the read in cache.

 

[Blorf]

Hi.

I have not resolved the problem, however, the work I do in this environment is limited to remote programming, so I don't have access to network setings. The shop owner has called his network guy to take a look.

My problems however exist with both new indexes or existing, IE I get the error using any of the following:

Copy to blah
index on bla
use blah index blah, reindex

It is odd though, because a copy with production works. Go figure.

The settings in Dbase 5 seem OK. All of the above work on my personal machine, just not in the network envvironment.

Any way,
Thanks.




"When religion and politics ride in the same cart...the whirlwind follows."
Frank Herbert

 

[dbMark]

Have you seen my thread290-882126 where with Windows 2000/XP I can't trust dBas5 5 DOS commands SCAN/ENDSCAN shortly after certain errors are encountered? Eventually, these programs will all be converted to Visual FoxPro, but in the meantime, I have to watch out!

 

[Blorf]

I read it, and I feel your pain.

I wish I knew the solutions or cause of both our problems.

I am trying to encourage the folks using the software to spend a little money and purchase Visual Dbase. I know it is also kind of old, but it will run all the code written for Dbase 5 for dos. I am thinking the windows based program would handle some of the disk operations better, but I don't know for certain.

Have you used this product with any success?

I wrote the application over about 3 years while employed by this company. It runs virtually everything they do from purchassing to accounting and sales, and it is completely customized for them, so they don't want to give it up, and I really don't want to do a major rewrite using a modern language. I think though I could do it if I worked full time for about a month, which is out of the question!

Thank you for any advice,


"When religion and politics ride in the same cart...the whirlwind follows."
Frank Herbert

 

[Blorf]

Problem solved.

A new partion on the same network drive was created, with just 2 gigs. System moved there, and it worked.

I don't understand why though. My network runs on 80 gigs, and the system works just fine.

Any way, Thank you all for the help.

ChaZ

"When religion and politics ride in the same cart...the whirlwind follows."
Frank Herbert