Re: Dec RDB V6.1-14 under VMS 6.2

From: Keith Cayemberg (keith.cayemberg_at_arcor.de)
Date: 05/18/05 

Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 19:28:14 +0200

NightspeedIT wrote:
> HELP!!!
>
> I am the technical support person for Nightspeed Services Ltd in
> Tipton, UK.
>
> We have been using RDB V6.1-14 under VMS 6.2 for several years with a
> major hitch but suddenly, two days ago we started to get large numbers
> of...
>
> %RDB-E-BAD_TRANS_HANDL, invalid transaction handle
>
> .... errors. There have been no changes made to the system as far as I
> am aware.
>
> I have very scant knowledge of RDB internals and Oracle don't seem to
> interested in helping me (I know we don't have a support contract but I
> did offer to pay to speak to someone on the phone!)
>
> Is there anyone out there who might be able to help?
>
> Thanks
>
> Derek Cowdrey
>

Hi Derek,

That is still not much information to go on for an analysis. This error
is usually preceded by another error message indicating the real cause
of the problem. The transaction handle error means that the transaction
context has (for some reason) been lost or not correctly established
before attempting to perform an operation requiring that transaction
context. Here is the documentation for this error message...

-------
BAD_TRANS_HANDLE, invalid transaction handle

Explanation: You may have attempted a commit or rollback operation
when no transaction is active. For example, your
program may execute the same set of actions to handle
all fatal errors. If those actions include a rollback
operation, the rollback operation will generate the
BAD_TRANS_HANDLE error after a fatal error occurs on
database attachment or on an attempt to start a
transaction. The BAD_TRANS_HANDLE error occurs because
you cannot end a transaction when no transaction has
been started.

(RCI and RDML users) If you declared a variable as an
explicit transaction handle, you: a) may not have set
the variable to zero before starting the transaction or
b) may have modified the variable after it was set by
the database system.

User Action: Do not execute commit or rollback operations when a
transaction is not active. Alternatively, you may
choose to specifically check for this error after
execution of commit and rollback operations, and branch
to program recovery actions when appropriate.
(RCI and RDML users) If you explicitly declared a
transaction handle variable in your program, set the
variable to zero before referring to it. Make sure
that your program does not write to this variable after
initializing its value.
------------

Maybe you could describe more what was being done, and how, at the time
of the error? Where do you see the error (application screen or log
file)? What tools or languages are being used by the application? You
should probably check for dump or log files at the application
directory, the user directory, the user's SYS$SCRATCH directory or at
the directory pointed to by the logical RDM$BUGCHECK_DIR.

Eventually, a successful analysis may require a qualified person with
access to the code and a system that is producing the error.

I think (especially if you were offering money) you were probably
talking to the wrong people at Oracle. I would suggest contacting one of
the persons listed at the following web page...
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/rdb/Contacts/index.html
Ingrid Klein should be able to help you get in contact with a qualified
person in Oracle Support.

There are also several Rdb Consultants worldwide who would be happy to
have your business...

achi Informatik Dienstleistungen - Switzerland
http://www.achi.ch/

ACS - operations in nearly 100 countries worldwide
http://www.acs-inc.com/

ALI/Empirical Software - USA
http://www.aliconsultants.com/

Bethinda - Netherlands
http://www.bethinda.nl/en/index.html

BIOS Software GmbH - Germany
http://www.bios-software.de/bios/index.htm

Colin Sewell OpenVMS Consulting Services - Canada
http://www3.telus.net/csewell/

Contemporary Technologies - USA
http://www.contemptech.com/

DCU - Data Collections Unlimited, Inc. - USA
http://www.dcu-inc.com/

Equicon - Germany
http://www.equicon.de/

Evenlogic, Software House, South West London, England
http://www.evenlogic.co.uk/index.html

First DBA Source, Inc. - USA
http://www.firstdbasource.com/

GAP - UK
http://www.gap.co.uk/
http://www.gap.co.uk/oracle_RDB.html

ITurnITy Information Group - Netherlands
http://www.iturnity.com/index_uk.htm

JCC Consulting, Inc. - USA
http://www.jcc.com/

Keane, Inc. - India Subsidiary
http://www.keane.com/about/worldwide/country.php?state=II&country=India

M Squared Consulting, Inc. - USA - ALL-IN-1, TeamLinks, Linkworks,
Pathworks, Rdb - Partner Brief
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/partners/m-squared/index.htm

MainTrend Ltd. - USA and Canada
http://www.maintrend.net/

Meyering Software Productions b.v. - Netherlands
http://www.mspbv.nl/msp_index.htm

Praxa Ltd - Australia
http://www.praxa.com.au/

RKS - Sweden
http://www.rks.se

Salem Automation - USA and Puerto Rico
http://www.winvms.com/about.html

SCI - USA
http://www.sciinc.com/

SEKA-Service-Programing - Germany
http://www.seka.de/e/service/Programing.htm#Programmierung

SIT System- und Informations-Technik GmbH - Germany
http://www.sit-germany.de/indexen.html

Softax - Poland
http://www.softax.pl

STI - Soluções em Tecnologia da Informação - Brazil
http://www.stinfo.com.br/

TE&PJ Contractors - New Zealand
http://www.jerrom.co.nz/

VX Company - Netherlands
http://www.vxcompany.nl/

Yartoo Software - Australia
http://www.yartoo.com.au/

There are probably many others which I don't have listed.

You may also consider joining the JCC Rdb Listserver discussion and
informal support group. Instruction for joining are at...
http://www.jcc.com/listserver.htm

Cheers!

Keith Cayemberg

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