Proper procedure for unlocking a locked Sesame file.

Make sure that the file is not actually in use by anyone.
Make sure Sesame server does not show the file as loaded.
Open a Sesame Client
Try to open the file to verify that it is locked
If it does not load and gives an error saying "Database .... failed to open" then continue on in the steps.
Click File->Server Administration
Log in
Click the logs tab.
You will see an error that says something along the lines of "Failure while opening application". Make sure that at the end of that error it says "Application is already being served". If it says something like "Failed to read a record", or anything along those lines then unlocking the DB is not going to fix your problem. You need to contact Technical Support.
Click the Unlock Application Tab
Click once on your DB file
Status will say "Unlocked DBPath\DBName.DB"
Click Exit

If you have a version older than 1.1.1 or 1.1.0(not sure which) then you cannot unlock from a client you must unlock from the server computer.


-Ray

The log at the client is for that client. The log at the server is for both Sesame server and the Sesame client on that computer providing that they both have the same working directory.

I believe the logs tab was changed to read "Local Log" to avoid this type of confusion. The log you are reading is the one for that computer and that working directory.

So if on one computer you have two sesame clients. One with the default start in of C:\Sesame and the other starting in C:\MyJobs. Each of those clients will have their own log file as they start in different directories. You will not be able to read Client B's log file from Client A.

Also since we are on the subject of the logs there is something that I must stress to anyone who is going to read this. Do not delete your log files ever, unless you are no longer going to be using sesame on that computer. Those log files are not just there for you, they are also there for technical support. At times we need to see them so we can figure out what has happened and possibly what caused it. So don't delete them, and don't open them in a word processor.

-Ray

Nope that does not corrupt the log file at all. The only problem I can see is an older log being copied over a newer log.

-Ray

The bug with naming reports has recently been written up and the fix will be in version 1.1.3 I believe.

This is not an Unlock problem. If you look in the steps that I wrote, step #2 says to "Make sure Sesame server does not show the file as loaded". Sesame server still has that DSR file loaded.

All unlock does is reset a flag in the DB or DSR file that says no Sesame Server or Standalone Sesame process is using you. The DSR file that you have is being used by someone, and that someone is your Sesame Server.

The reason you can't open it is because the Sesame Server keeps a count of how many people are in a DB or DSR file. If the count is set to zero then the application is unloaded from the Sesame Server and unlocked so that other Server's or Standalone Sesames can use it.

When a client crashes or is suddenly shut down, the server does not receive a message saying that they are done with that file. So the count of how many people are in that file does not go down.

Another thing Sesame Server does is allow only one designer client to open any one DSR file at a time. So if a client already has the dsr loaded, then no other client can access that dsr file. Since your client crashed the reference count on the DSR file is still 1 meaning no one else can open it.

-Ray

Quote:


Mostly correct. Sesame server believes that there is a client that has that DSR open, since the flag is 1, So Sesame Server keeps that dsr file open.

Quote:


If the Sesame Server is shut down improperly then yes you can follow the steps above. If a client crashes with the DB open you should not have to unlock, as the server will still have it loaded.