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Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

  • 1.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jun 18, 2016 05:11 AM

    Below is a list of the problems we have encountered with the AE DB change program (ucybchng) since v11.2.1.

    Ticket /
    KE article

    Description

    Impact / Work-around

    		Status /
    Fix version

    PRB00118835

    ucybchng fails to make changes for OBJECT_USE rules.

    Impact: Broken references in deployed objects
    Work-around for JSCH & JOBP child tasks: add TASK_NAME rule
    Work-around for other object uses: none.

    		11.2.2

    PRB00118800

    ucybchng crashes with SCRIPT rules with differing value lengths when run in conjunction with OBJECT_NAME, TASK_NAME, or other SCRIPT rules.

    Impact: Must run each SCRIPT rule on its own
    Work-around: Run SCRIPT rule changes separately from other changes.

    		11.2.2

    PRB00118883

    ucybchng adds blank lines to transport case (causes ucybdbld to fail during load of file).

    Impact: Must make direct changes to transport case file
    Work-around: Remove blank lines from transport case before loading it.

    		11.2.2

    PRB00118925

    ucybchng crashes with segmentation fault if old value in FOLDER_NAME rule is blank.

    Impact: Minimal.
    Work-around: Ensure that rules do not have blank values.

    		11.2.3

    PRB00120870

    ucybchng fails to make changes for VALUE: rules.
    (Note: may also affect CVALUE:, and JPCVALUE: rules.)

    Impact: Incorrect values in deployed objects
    Work-around:Set values in pre-process using :PUT_ATT.

    		11.2.3

    PRB00119448

    ucybchng applies *SCRIPT rules indiscriminately to all scripting tabs.

    Impact: Incorrect or duplicate changes in deployed objects
    Work-around:Use only one SCRIPT rule.

    		11.2.3
    PRB00120983Blank field substituted by a vertical bar when loading a transport case or XML fileImpact: Invalid value stored in AE DB
    Work-around: Do not import files with blank fields.    		11.2.5
    PRB00133253ucybchng REPLACE_PART silently deletes some script lines
    		Impact: Deleted data
    Work-around: None    		11.2.5
    PRB00130685ucybchng cannot make more than one change to the same fieldImpact: Incorrect data
    Work-around: Make only one change per attribute.    		11.2.5
    PRB00133894ucybchng crashes with RC 134 upon encountering certain linesImpact: crash of change program
    Work-around: NA    		Fixed in 11.2.6, 12.0.3, & 12.1.0

    KB000087473

    PRB00136058
    000009898

    		ucybchng does not update host names in task conditionsImpact: Incorrect host names in task conditions
    Work-around: Use agent groups instead.    		11.2.6, 12.0.3, & 12.1.0

    KB000085089

    PRB00136307
    000009904

    		ucybchng deletes script lines if SCRIPT rule has blank 'old' valueImpact: Deleted data
    Work-around: Ensure old value is not blank.    		11.2.6, 12.0.4, & 12.1
    12.2

    KB000084569

    PRB00137137
    000009971

    		ucybchng REPLACE_PART deletes script lines if old value and new value are the sameImpact: Deleted data
    Work-around: Change to different value & then change back. Or, if possible, use v11.2.3 (unaffected by this bug).    		11.2.6, 12.0.4, & 12.1.
    12.2.

    KB000084588

    PRB00138615
    000013719

    		ucybchng v12.0.3 fails to make some OBJECT_NAME changesImpact: Broken object references
    Work-around: None    		Same root cause as PRB00139013.

    KB000084700

    PRB00139013
    000013897

    		ucybchng v12.0.3 fails to make many CVALUE & JPCVALUE changesImpact: Broken object references
    Work-around: None    		12.0.4
    12.2, 12.1.1, & 11.2.7

    KB000084624

    PRB00136354
    000013638

    		ucybchng deletes task-level prompt set defaultsImpact: Missing PRPT defaults
    Work-around: None    		11.2.6 & 12.0.4
    12.2 & 12.1.1

    KB000084554

    PRB00215777
    000013919

    		ucybchng calculates incorrect byte counts for values containing backslashes.Impact: Truncated data
    Work-around: Unknown    		12.0.4
    12.2, 12.1.1, & 11.2.7

    KB000084604

    PRB00214561
    000013918

    		DB Change Utility invalidly changes some values to upper case characters.Impact: Incorrect file path names in file transfer jobs
    Work-around: Use variables in file name fields.    		12.0.4.
    12.2, & 12.1.1

    KB000101483 

    01018630

    		ucybchng crashes with segmentation fault if value in change rule is blank.

    Impact: Crash

    Work-around: Ensure no blank values, or use REPLACE instead of REPLACE_PART.

    		11.2.8, 12.0.6, 12.1.3, 12.2.0
    01147667ucybchng sometimes fails to make required changes.

    Impact: Incorrect data
    Work-around: None

    12.0.7, 12.1.4, 12.2.2, 12.3.0

    000111570 

    01066926

    		ucybdbld does not correctly update custom attributes of replaced objects

    Impact: Incorrect data
    Work-around: None

    12.0.7, 12.1.4, 12.2.2

    KB000108951

    01180963

    		ucybchng cannot change parent alias names in external dependencies
         		Impact: Incorrect parent workflow alias can break external dependencies
    Work-around: None    		See this idea

    KB000115749

    01180963

    		ucybchng hangs when applying certain changes to a Transport Case Impact: Hang
    Work-around: None    		12.0.7
    01227044ucybchng OBJECT_USE rule changes static VARA keys.

    Impact: Duplicate VARA keys causes error during DB load.

    Work-around: Exclude VARA object type from OBJECT_USE rules.

    		12.0.8, 12.1.4, 12.2.2, 12.3.0
    01294463ucybchng OBJECT_USE rule fails to update OVD_Execute (Executable object field of EXEC VARA)

    Impact: Broken object references

    Work-around: Fix the object references manually or via XML export, find & replace, and import.

    		Bug confirmed. Tentatively planned for 12.0.9.

     

    Planned release dates

    • Automation.Engine 11.2.8 - early 2019?
    • Automation.Engine 12.0.8 - May 2019
    • Automation.Engine 12.0.9 - September 2019
    • Automation.Engine 12.1.4 - end January 2019
    • Automation.Engine 12.2.2 - mid February 2019
    • Automation.Engine 12.3.0 - end February 2019

     

    Revision history

    2016.07.08 16:30 CEST: Updated table to indicate which problems have been fixed in v11.2.2.
    2016.10.18 14:45 CEST: Added PRB00120870 and updated v11.2.3 release info for PRB00118925.
    2016.10.20 14:00 CEST: Added PRB00120872 and PRB00120983. Removed release dates for postponed fixes.
    2017.04.06 16:00 CEST: Updated problem tickets fixed in v11.2.3.
    2017.07.21 17:45 CEST: Updated problem tickets fixed in v11.2.5, and others.
    2017.08.18 16:10 CEST: Added PRB00137137.
    2017.09.27 16:44 CEST: Updated PRB00137137 with fix plan. Added planned release dates. Added PRB00136307 & PRB00138615.
    2017.10.12 23:57 CEST: Added PRB00139013.
    2017.11.10 11:04 CET: Added PRB00136354.
    2017.11.14 15:00 CET: Added fix plan for PRB00139013.
    2017.11.16 14:00 CET: Added PRB00215777 & added fix plan for PRB00138615.
    2018.01.12 15:22 CET: Added known error (KE) article numbers where applicable.
    2018.01.16 11:57 CET: Updated problems fixed in v12.0.4: PRB00136307, PRB00137137, PRB00138615, PRB00139013, PRB00136354, & PRB00215777. Added PRB00214561.
    2018.01.23 15:27 CET: Added known error (KE) article numbers 000013897 & 000013918.

    2018.08.08 17:25 CEST: Added problem with parent workflow alias.

    2018.12.13 14:08 CET: Added KB article links for many older problems. Added several new problems: KB000101483, 01147667, KB000108951, KB000115749, & 01227044.

    2019.02.11 11.37 CET: Added 01294463.



  • 2.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jun 20, 2016 04:12 PM
    Thanks Michael - as always very thorough explanation.  Sorry you hit this, but very helpful for the rest of us.  We are planning to heavily rely on the Change Program as well, so this is good to know.


  • 3.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jun 22, 2016 10:16 AM
    Hi Michael,

    As a former QA member, I find this really interesting.  (As a caveat, I only handled RA agents in my stint.)  When I think of all the components of AWA, I tend to think that the smaller pieces (think: SMDia and some less-used utilities) don't change much.  Perhaps I'm not the only one at Automic with this false idea.

    However, with the significant updates and changes to the database in v11 it naturally follows that the programs interacting with the DB will be effected prompting an entire review of the QA test scenarios.

    I'm not suggesting that the Utils weren't QA'd, but obviously some scenarios were missed.  With the modern emphasis on automated testing, sometimes we (as people) can rely too heavily on what is already set up and believe everything is covered.  I would bet that these problems you reported prompted some serious re-evaluation of Automic QA methodologies.


  • 4.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jul 01, 2016 09:52 AM
    We obtained a development build of the utility programs, and this resolved the first three problems. Automic informs us that these fixes are included in v11.2.2. We will begin testing this version next week. Some problems are not resolved in the development build.

    There is also a new behavior that we are tracking in INC00120200. With the new build (and likely also with v11.2.2), ucybchng applies OBJECT_USE rules to the HOST attribute. We do not believe it did this in earlier versions. Update: Apparently, this has been the intended behavior since v10.


  • 5.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jul 08, 2016 10:39 AM
    Now that I have had an opportunity to test ucybchng v11.2.2, I can confirm that some problems have been resolved. I have updated the list.

    PRB00120983 is a new problem we discovered this week. It seems that in some circumstances, ucybchng simply fails to write the F002C line indicating the HOST attribute of a JOBS object. Neither ucybchng nor ucybdbld returns an error or warning when encountering a job with a blank HOST attribute.


  • 6.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Oct 18, 2016 09:10 AM
    I updated the original post with the current status of the outstanding problem tickets.


  • 7.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jul 21, 2017 11:46 AM
    I updated the table with problem tickets fixed in v11.2.5, and also added two newer problem tickets.


  • 8.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jul 25, 2017 08:15 AM
    Automic acknowledged this morning that PRB00136058 is a bug. The work-around I find simplest is to use an agent group instead of an agent in task conditions. (This agent group should point to the correct agent, and should be named the same in all environments/systems.)
    gv3pemsz67z7.png
    The Agent field for this type of condition normally displays a pick-list from which you can select an agent. This list does not include agent groups however. Here is how to enter an agent group.
    1. Click theAgentfield label
    2. Type in the name of the agent group.
    There is no validation of the content of the field, so make sure that the agent group exists, and that you type the name correctly.

    An alternative work-around is to enter an object variable, e.g., &AGENT_NAME#, in the Agent field, and then set the value of this variable in the pre-process of the job or process of the workflow.


  • 9.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Aug 18, 2017 10:16 AM
    I added a new entry today for a bug affecting ucybchng v11.2.5:
    ucybchng REPLACE_PART deletes script lines if old value and new value are the same
    This is currently just an incident, INC00137132; I expect a problem ticket to be opened for the bug soon.

    Update: Problem ticket PRB00137137 was opened for this.



  • 10.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Aug 18, 2017 10:23 AM
    Michael A. Lowry wrote:
    Automic acknowledged this morning that PRB00136058 is a bug.
    This bug will be fixed in v11.2.6. A new attribute keyword, CONDITION_PARAMETER, will allow one to update text strings that appear in task parameters. E.g.,
    REPLACE_PART JOBP, *, CONDITION_PARAMETER, 'NODE001', 'NODE002'


  • 11.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Sep 27, 2017 04:20 AM
    PRB00137137 has been acknowledged as a bug; I updated the table to show this. I also added planned release dates relevant to all outstanding ucybchng bugs.


  • 12.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Sep 27, 2017 05:21 AM
    I also added a new bug we discovered yesterday. Sometimes ucybchng v12.0.3 fails to make all of the OBJECT_NAME changes it should. This has been reported in to Automic.

    Update: Automic reproduced this problem, and opened PRB00138615 for this.


  • 13.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Oct 06, 2017 11:40 AM
    We found yet another ucybchng bug today. The program fails to make many of the CVALUE and JPCVALUE changes it should. I reported this to Automic in INC00138997 and added it to the list.


  • 14.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Nov 10, 2017 05:12 AM
    I added PRB00136354 to the list. This bug was recently confirmed by Automic. The bug causes ucybchng to delete prompt set defaults set at the task level.


  • 15.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Nov 15, 2017 12:15 PM
    We just identified a new problem with ucybchng. The program appears to calculate incorrect bytecounts for values that contain backslashes. This can cause ucybdbld to truncate the data during the DB load. We reported this in to Automic.

    For the technically inclined, the bug affects F records of data type M* — those with a byte count. We saw the bug when ucybchng was making changes to object variable values.
    20171114/110512.600 - Old line:F003M000000016SERVER12\ABC3456
    20171114/110512.600 - New line:F003M000000015SERVER13\XYZ7890
    20171114/110512.600 - U00021427 REPLACE_PART 'JOBS', 'UC0.MAL.MYJOB', 'VALUE:&MY_SERV#', 'SERVER12\ABC3456', 'SERVER13\XYZ7890'
    Note that the bytecount, which should remain 16, was changed to 15.

    Update 2017.11.16: Automic has confirmed that this is a bug. This problem will be tracked in  PRB00215777.

    *See my documentation of the transport case file format for details.


  • 16.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Nov 16, 2017 11:57 AM
    Automic confirmed that PRB00138615 is a bug. I have updated the table with the fix plan.



  • 17.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jan 12, 2018 09:24 AM
    I added known error (KE) article numbers for the problems that have them


  • 18.  Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Jan 16, 2018 06:13 AM
    A bunch of fixes were included in AE Utilities v12.0.4, released yesterday, including six fixes to ucybchng: PRB00136307, PRB00137137, PRB00139013, PRB00136354, & PRB00215777 & PRB00214561. I updated the table to reflect this.


  • 19.  Re: Problems with AE DB Change program (ucybchng)

    Posted Dec 13, 2018 08:35 AM

    I added KB article links for many older problems, and also added several new ucybchng problems: KB000101483, 01147667, KB000108951, KB000115749, & 01227044.