recurring error messages from user terminal

[bookkeeper-sheila]

Okay...I'm the user terminal (version 9) accessing the server computer. After adding a new set of computers to our wireless network, and after adding a wonderful new network color copier, I have issues accessing any custom reports and have trouble accessing accounts receivable.

Best I can figure, over the last six months my user terminal has gotten amnesia, and forgets where it is. It tells me files are still open and cannot let me in. or the file is missing, when it just isn't where it thinks it is.

Most times I can go to the server computer and log in as me, and run what I need. The errors I usually get are that the file is already open, then it kicks me out of powerchurch and I have to re-login.

But today, while I was trying to post in A/R, the secretary was in membership module doing data entry. the file was busy. no prob...I came back to post in 30 minutes, and while posting, it errored out back to my desktop. Usual issue. I just verify that the invoice posted, then I do a manual journal entry to post to the general ledger. my little work-around until we get version 11 later this year.

today, I get this error message: error instantiating cursor object. cannot find z:\pcplus9\aropen.dbf

At this point, it was just on my computer. but then the message occurred on the secretary's computer. first time an error duplicated to both machines. She spent about an hour looking for the file, located it up a level in the directory, and had the computer point to it. Then she could access the a/r module and the membership module again.

I tried to login to her computer as me to run my work, but the same error came up again. And I was me on her machine.

can someone help? or should we just chuck the whole version 9 on both machines and invest in version 11??

[Jeff]

Look in the PowerChurch data folder for aropen.dbf. If it is not there, somehow if has been deleted.

You may want to check your anti-virus quarantine. We have seen issues in the past where an anti-virus program decided a data file contained a virus and deleted or quarantined it.

A slow / aggressive anti-virus program could also explain your other error messages. You might want to add exclusions for PowerChurch Data files so the virus program does not try to scan them.

[bookkeeper-sheila]

It is not in the server quarantine list. Both computers come up clean for viruses. Could this be a networking issue between my login or my computer and the server?

[bookkeeper-sheila]

more feedback: it just seems as if, when I am "me" at my computer, I can't...
-be in any custom reporting (won't let me into the query)
-post in a/r, but can usually work with invoices, payments, and statements (until today, when the dbf went missing)
-sometimes see detailed specific a/p paid reports (certain date range for just invoices...it will error out).

I've worked around most of this. Since this dbf went missing today, I can't get into membership either unless I "ignore". But I can't ignore in a/r...when I do, it tells me the file is not there and the alias is not found. NO KIDDING! When I try to locate, it can't find it either.

Now that I logged in as "me" on the server machine, after she found the file & pointed to it, now she can't find it again and it is gone. We are both leery about loading the AROPEN.DBF file from the backup, because (a) I would have to re-do whatever work I did, and (b) what if it disappears again??

Why would my user logon make a dbf file disappear????

[Jeff]

Where is PowerChurch installed on the server computer and what OS is the server computer running?

[Jeff]

Another question, how are you accessing PowerChurch. You refer to this as a terminal. Are you accessing PowerChurch through remote desktop connection, terminal services, or through an icon on your desktop?

[Tracy]

This sounds like a message happened one time when posting, then PowerChurch closed. The message had some indication that a file name was already in use.

If you or someone saw this, it is due to the configuration of the system and how PowerChurch version 9 work with the data files. One of the maintenance releases of version 10, and since the release of version 11 there is code to work around this disappearing file trait. The root cause is anti-virus, online always on back up, malware scanners, desktop indexing tools, and similar applications that temporarily hold a file open after a change has been detected.

When you are on your machine logged in as you, you may have anti-virus set to scan network drives, this could cause this problem happen. We recommend to exclude the file extensions DBF, CDX, FPT, and PCA. On the locally installed exclude the PowerChurch folder.

The fix is complicated to explain online. The data file may still exist but with a different name. The best solution is to speak with support. They can walk through some diagnostics to determine the correct course of action.

[bookkeeper-sheila]

good morning...
powerchurch is installed on secretary's computer (the server for our wireless network), which runs OS windows xp 2003. Now, the software from my desktop icon goes to her Z drive and runs pcplus9.exe, but the data from the custom reports is on the P drive. ???

I will let the secretary see what ya'all wrote. Hopefully she will contact support for assistance. We were looking to purchase version 11 this year...got it approved in the budget (yeah!), so we may just do that today, but I am thinking this glitch needs to be fixed first so the database transfers over okay.

thanks for your help...I'll keep you posted...

[bookkeeper-sheila]

well, I was told we didn't pay for tech support, so we probably will not call for help. I did find this file: aropen (cdx file). Is this the renamed file?

If you are not able to help over the blog, and I am not allowed to call in for help, will restoring just the aropen.dbf from the most recent backup mess up any other modules or postings???

[Tracy]

You get some free support with the purchase of 11. We will assist getting the data converted to 11, which will require 9 to be working correctly.

The .CDX file is not the renamed file. It will have 10 random characters followed by a TMP extension. Though you may have multiples of these in the PCPLUS9 and PCPLUS9\DATA folder. Which one is part of the reason why trying to do this over the forum is difficult.

The AROPEN table is open items in AR. If you have posted or created some after the backup was made, it could cause some duplication or loss of information.

[bookkeeper-sheila]

After talking with the secretary, it looks like we are going to try to restore the file only from the backup. Then if that doesn't get me back into the a/r module, then she will restore everything from the last backup. (which was friday the 7th, so we'd only have to re-do monday's work before the file went missing).

The intent is to try to limp along until the end of the month, so we can get out contribution statements and other yearly reports to the council and church-members. Then shoot for getting version 11 maybe February.

Hopefully her software will remain error free. I just may need to commandeer her computer when she is out running church errands, so I can do my bookkeeping there instead of at my user-desktop-computer.

again..I'll keep you posted...

[Tracy]

Do see about making adjustments to the anti-virus and desktop search tools that may be on the secretaries computer. Also check your own.
You mentioned this is a wireless network. This could cause intermittent connectivity issues which PowerChurch may get affected similarly, however, version 9 you would see a message containing to "Invalid offset" in the processing on your workstation.

While you are preparing for the transition to 11, may I suggest you make regular back ups. I believe on version 9 you can back up to a USB Flash drive, or a network drive. It will add an extra step but it will save you some stress in recreating lost work and determining what is missing. So anytime you need to post data, while you are still using 9, you may want to make a back up before you post data.

[NeilZ]

Sheila,

you can convert to V11, and still do the contribution reports. The conversion process moves all that data.

[bookkeeper-sheila]

The secretary loaded the one file from the backup, and now I get messages in open invoices, reports and payments that say "record is out of range". I can see the data when I pull selected a/r items, but obviously anything dealing with the open a/r file is not working.

I run all the preschool accounting from a/r module, so although we could still be "open for business" with a version 11 upgrade in the rest of the modules, I don't know how I would make the transition with a broke a/r module.

not to mention the stress of learning the new version around this tax statement time of the year.

[Tracy]

Was the file restored through a PowerChurch backup? If not, this could be an index issue.
Make a back up from the Utilities Menu, then Index from the Utilities menu to see if that corrects the problem.

If it doesn't, post the full message.