Wonderware West Tech Note 88 - Trouble-Shooting InTouch Application Corruption - Stand-Alone Applications - Wonderware West

5/30/13 Wonderware West Tech Note 88: Trouble-Shooting InTouch Application Corruption Stand-Alone Applications | Wonderware West
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Wonderware West Tech Note 88:
Trouble-Shooting InTouch
Application Corruption Stand-Alone
Applications

Trouble-Shooting InTouch Application Corruption Stand-Alone Applications
Introduction
This Tech Note outlines the four most common types of stand-alone application corruption, gives
insight on identifying corruption in your own application, provides step-by-step instructions on
recovering an application, and contributes tips on preventing future application corruptions.
Types of Application Corruption
There are four common types of application corruption associated with stand-alone applications:
1. Tagname Database Corruption
2. Specific Window(s) Corruption
3. Window Element Corruption
4. History File Corruption
Indentifying Application Corruption
In general, if you have an application that has been operating appropriately for some time that
then begins to display odd behavior, you can suspect application corruption as the problem. This
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is especially true if no recent changes have been made to the application and/or the application
has not been copied or moved to a new location.
Corruption is also a good educated guess if there has been a recent abnormal shutdown of the
system hosting the application (power outage, system crash, etc.), if there have been
communication hiccups across the network, or if the system is showing symptoms of hardware
problems/failures.
Finally, if you are distributing an application to clients over NAD and one client displays
unexpected behavior while the others operate normally, you can suspect local application
corruption.
Indicators of Tagname Database Corruption
There are several common application behaviors that suggest a tagname database corruption:
1. Cannot open or access the tagname dictionary from within WindowMaker.
2. Opening and/or navigating around the tagname dictionary dialog box causes WindowMaker
to hang or crash.
3. When viewing the tagname dictionary, some or all tags have unusual/garbage characters in
the tag name or description, or tags appear to be mis-assigned (i.e. system tags have the icon for
an alarm group tag).
4. Assertion errors when working within the tagname dictionary.
5. WindowMaker hangs or crashes during an Update Use Count or Cross-Reference
procedure.
6. When attempting to DBDump or DBLoad tags of an application, the operation fails.
7. Pop-up or Log Errors associated with tagname database corruption:
a. Error: Tagname.x is an out-of-date format or corrupted.
b. Error: "Read errors for the tagname dictionary. Corrupted tag database."
c. Error: Warning: Need to run DB.exe.
d. Error: Tagname.x corrupted.
e. Error: "INTSPT Error Reading entry 028A/0141" [the entry numbers may
vary].
f. Error: DB cannot be loaded. Are database files read only? or user has
read-only access?
g. Error: "Not enough Memory for DCT (AVLADD) ".
h. Error: Error reading tagname.ndx.
Indicators of Specific Window Corruption
Behaviors that suggest an InTouch Window corruption include:
1. Application will not open in WindowMaker, WindowViewer or both.
2. Elements in one window are misaligned or overlap, with other windows appearing normal.
3. WindowMaker and/or WindowViewer hangs or crashes only on opening or closing a
particular window.
4. Interaction with elements (animations, buttons, inputs, etc.) within a specific window in
Runtime causes WindowViewer to hang or crash.
5. While viewing a particular window, cannot fast-switch from WindowMaker to WindowViewer,
or InTouch crashes on fast-switch.
6. Data displays do not show appropriate values within a particular window.
7. Cannot import or export a window between applications developed on the same version of
InTouch.
8. Unable to delete a window from within WindowMaker.
9. Assertion or Unhandled Exception errors on window launching or closing.
10. Pop-up or Log Errors associated with a window corruption:
a. Error: Header messed up in FdRdKey....
b. Error: "Cannot open window file winxxxx.win."
c. Error: winxxxx.win file cannot be read.
d. Error: ReadError Unknown object type
Indicators of Window Element Corruption
Window element corruptions usually apply to special elements embedded within a window, like a
trend, .NET control, ActiveX control, etc.. You can suspect an element corruption if the element
does not operate as expected, a window hosting one of these elements hangs or crashes upon
opening, or if interacting with the element in WindowMaker and/or WindowViewer results in an
error, hang or crash.
Indicators of History File Corruption
If you are storing history in LGH files, your applications corruption may be related to one or more
of the LGH files. LGH file corruption can be suspected if trend objects are not working properly, if
LGH files stop being created, if you find LGH files that are 0KB in size or have an unusually large
size, or if one of your InTouch nodes hangs or crashes when connecting to a centralized LGH
storage location.
Some common error messages associated with LGH file corruption include:
1. Error: GPF in HD CBTREEVC.dll
2. Error: Invalid page fault in module: CBTREENT.dll
3. Error: "View caused an invalid page fault in module INTSPT.DLL
One final indicator of LGH file corruption is unusually high CPU usage by the HD.exe process, or a
hang or crash of this process.
Resolving Application Corruption
Some application corruptions are serious enough to require a rebuild of the application, but many
corruptions can be fixed without the need for rebuild. This section covers the various steps that
can be taken to resolve application corruption before resorting to a full rebuild of the application.
1. Perform a Forced Recompile of the application.
Often an application corruption is not inherent to the applications development files, but
instead specific to the compiled version of these files. Deleting the compiled versions of
the development files forces the application to recompile them fresh.
Step 1: Access the directory in which your application files are located. You can find the
location of this directory in the InTouch Application Manager. The path shown in the
following image is the default location for InTouch applications; your application may have
a different location.
Step 2: Once in the directory, delete the following files:
- All *.wvw files
- All retentive.* files
- The tagname.avl file
NOTE: Your application may not have all of these files.
Step 3: Close the application directory and launch the application in WindowViewer. The
application will take longer than usual to open because all of the windows must be freshly
recompiled. Test to see if the corruption behavior persists or has been resolved.

2. Replace the application with a recent backup.
If you are a conscientious developer, you make a backup of your application at regularly
scheduled intervals, as well as each time you make a change. With a stand-alone
application, backing up the application is as simple as making a copy of the entire
application directory and storing it in a safe location. Replacing a corrupted application
with a recent backup of the application can resolve the corruption.
following image is the default location for InTouch applications; your application may have a
different location.
Step 2: Rename the application directory to identify it as the corrupted application. For
example, if your application is named MyApplication, rename it to MyApplication
Corrupt.
Step 3: Browse to the location of your recent backup of the application directory and copy
the entire directory.
Step 4: Return to the location where your corrupted application is stored and paste the
backup directory in the same location. Rename the backup directory to the original
applications name. For example, using the same names in step 2, rename MyApplication
backup to MyApplication.
Step 5: Open the application in WindowMaker, then WindowViewer to see if the corrupted
behavior persists or has been resolved.
Resolving Specific Corruption Types
If the Forced Recompile does not resolve the corruption, and you do not have a viable, recent
backup of your application, there are still procedures that can be followed to fix an application
without resorting to the full application rebuild. The following section covers the resolution of
specific corruptions, based on whether the corruption is in the tagname database, in a window,
with a window element, or a corrupt history file.
Resolving Tagname Database Corruptions
If you have determined that the corruption your application is experiencing is related to the
tagname database, try the following suggestions to resolve:
1. Download and run the Tagname Database Repair Utility.
The Tagname Database Repair utility will fix some, but not all, tagname database
corruptions. The utility sifts through your tagname database and deletes any duplicate
tags, tags with corrupted characters, etc.. You can download this utility from this location:
ftp://ftp.wonderwarewest.com/Wonderware/Wonderware_Utilities/TagDBRepair.zip
Username: customer
Password: support

If errors are found and fixed by the Tagname Database Repair utility, close the utility and
run the application in WindowMaker, then WindowViewer, to see if the corrupted behavior
persists or has been resolved.

2. Replace the tagname.x file with its associated backup file.
Step 2: Once in the directory, locate the tagname.x and tagname.xbk files.
The tagname.x file is the flat file in which all of your tagname configuration information
is stored. Each time an application launches successfully, a backup of this file - titled
tagname.xbk - is created or updated. You can use this backup file to replace the
corrupted database with the last working version of the database.
Step 3: Rename tagname.x to tagname.xold.
Step 4: Rename tagname.xbk to tagname.x.
Step 5: Launch the application in both WindowMaker and WindowViewer to see if the
corruption has been resolved.
Resolving Specific Window Corruptions
Generally if you have a corruption of a specific window(s), the first step is to identify which
window(s) is problematic. The most efficient way to do this is to use the ww_wdws.ndx file to limit
which windows are pre-loaded into WindowMaker, then through a process of elimination determine
which window is corrupted.
Step 2: Once in the directory, locate the ww_wdws.ndx file.
Step 3: Right-click on the ww_wdws.ndx file and select Open With. You will then be
presented with a dialog box to select the program with which you want to open the
ww_wdws.ndx file. Select Notepad.
Step 4: Once opened in Notepad, you can see that the file shows a list of all windows
associated with your application, giving the window number and window name. Use the
File > Save As menu option to save a backup of this file in a safe location.
Note that these windows correspond to the windows listed in WindowMaker for your application,
though not necessarily in the same order. Based on the list in the ww_wdws.ndx file, each window
is pre-loaded into WindowMaker so it is accessible should you want to work with it.

Step 5: Make sure WindowMaker and WindowViewer are closed. In the original
ww_wdws.ndx file, delete approximately half of the windows listed and save the changed
file.
Now if you opened WindowMaker, you would see that the windows you deleted in the
ww_wdws.ndx file are no longer in the windows list. This is because those windows are
NOT pre-loaded into WindowMaker. The window files still exist in the application directory,
but they are not loaded into WindowMaker.

Step 6: With only half of the windows preloaded into WindowMaker (which also means only
those windows will be pre-loaded into WindowViewer), try to reproduce the corrupt
behavior. If the behavior persists, you know that the problematic window is one of those
left in the ww_wdws.ndx file. Now you can reduce the windows pre-loaded by half again
and repeat this process as many times as needed to narrow down to the exact window
causing the problem.
If the behavior does NOT persist, then you know the problematic window is one of those
that you eliminated from the ww_wdws.ndx file. Add those window entries back to the
ww_wdws.ndx file, delete the window entries you know are good, and repeat this process
until you are able to narrow down to the exact window causing the problem.

Once you have determined which window is corrupted, you can now either delete the window
entirely and rebuild it from scratch, delete the window and import the corresponding window from a
recent application backup, or if it will open in WindowMaker start incrementally copying and
pasting elements and scripts associated with the corrupted window into a new window, testing the
new window after each change, until you determine exactly which element/script is the source of
the corruption.
Resolving Window Element Corruptions
Sometimes the source for corruption in a window is corruption of a special element, like a trend
control or other ActiveX control. You can test for this by dropping the suspect control into a new
window, configuring it like the original then testing to see if it works. For example, if you have a
window with a trend that was working, but now does not, create a new test window and drop in the
same trend control, configure it how the original is configured, and see if it trends correctly. If the
test trend works, you then know you can resolve the corruption by simply replacing the control in
the original window and reconfiguring it.
Resolving History File Corruptions
You can confirm that your applications corruption is related to a corrupt LGH file by temporarily
moving all LGH files from their storage location and testing to see if the corrupted behavior
persists.
Locating your LGH Files
Open your InTouch application. In the top menu, go to Special > Configure > Historical Logging
to open the Historical Logging Properties dialog box.

If Store Log Files in Application Directory is selected and there is no node specified in the Name
of Logging Node input field, your historical LGH files are located in your LOCAL InTouch
application directory.
If Store Log Files in Application Directory is selected and there is a node specified in the Name
of Logging Node input field, your historical LGH files are located in the InTouch application
directory on the specified node.

If Store Log Files in Specific Directory is selected, the LGH files will be found in the directory
specified. This can be either on the local node or a remote node, depending on whether a node is
specified in the UNC path of the storage location or in the Name of Logging Node input field .
Testing your LGH Files
Once you have determined the location of your historical LGH files, now you can use a process of
elimination to determine which files are corrupted.
Step 1: Access the directory in which your LGH files are stored.
Note the naming convention for these files, based on the date for the information being stored
yymmdd00.lgh. Each LGH also has an associated index file yymmdd00.idx
Step 2: Select all of the LGH and associated IDX files and move them to another location. For
example, move them into a folder on your desktop.
Step 3: Test your application to see if the corrupted behavior persists. If the problem is resolved,
you can be relatively sure the source is a corrupted LGH file. Move on to step 4. If the problem is
not fixed, the issue is likely not related to the LGH files and you should consider other origins.
Step 4: Incrementally begin re-adding the LGH files, always with their associated IDX files, back
into the storage directory, a few at a time and` testing the application after each move. When the
corrupted behavior returns, you know one of the LGH files last moved into the storage directory is
corrupted.
Step 5: The corrupted LGH file and its associated IDX file should be removed from the storage
directory permanently.
Rebuilding Your Application
If none of the above procedures resolve the corruption of your application, a full application
rebuild is indicated. You can get instructions on rebuilding a corrupt, stand-alone, application from
a Tech Note viewable at the following link:
http://www.wonderwarewest.com/content/tech-note-112-recovering-corrupted-intouch-application
NOTE: The above-linked Tech Note applies to STAND-ALONE applications only. For
instructions on rebuilding a MANAGED application, refer to the following Tech Notes:
Rebuilding a Corrupted InTouch Managed Application (for versions prior to InTouch
10.0 SP2)
Rebuilding a Corrupted InTouch Managed Application for InTouch versions 10.0 SP2
(for versions later than InTouch 10.0 SP2)
Preventing Application Corruption
A good way to prevent corruption of your application is to have a Best Practices document
distributed to all developers and operators that outlines proper procedures for handling your
application. This document should include the following:
1. Application Backup Procedures. It is recommended that you schedule backups of your
application on a regular basis, in addition to making a backup each time the application is
changed.

2. Tagname Database Backup Procedures. In addition to backing up the application files, it is
a good idea to run a DBDump procedure on your application each time changes are made to the
tagname database. Tags are the heart of your application. Take care of them!

3. Shutdown Procedures. Often corruptions occur as a result of improper system shutdowns.
While these cant always be avoided (system crash, power outage, etc.), users of your application
should know to never shut down the application via the Task Manager or by rebooting the
machine.

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4. Computer Maintenance Procedures. Corruptions can occur as a result of failing hardware.
It is important to have a thorough computer maintenance policy.
5. Procedures for copying/moving an application. An application and all of its files should
always be treated as a single entity. It is never recommended to move individual files from one
applications directory to another, even if they are copies of the same application. For example, if
your tagname dictionary is irretrievably corrupted, you cannot move just the tagname.x file from a
backup into the corrupted application directory. You must replace the application as a whole with
the backup application.
Also, it is a good practice when moving an application between computers (i.e. from the
development system to a runtime system) to have the computers as similar as possible with regard
to regional settings.
6. Application Maintenance Procedures. Changes should never be made to an application
through the application directory. For example, if you wish to delete a window, you should open
the application in WindowMaker and delete the window through the WindowMaker interface. You
should never delete a window by simply deleting the window files in the application directory. The
only supported method for deleting, modifying or adding to the application is through
WindowMaker.

Written by: Tonya Welch
7/2/2010
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