Tech Note 112

Recovering a Corrupted InTouch Application

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Topic#: 000720
Created: October 1998

This Tech Note outlines the most common reasons Wonderware InTouch
applications can become corrupted and provides a step-by-step procedure to
rebuild and recover your application.
Note You should always backup your InTouch application files. If a backup of
your application is not available and the DBDUMP.EXE utility is unable to
create a CSV file from your application database, then only a partial
restoration of your application will be possible and your database must be
recreated from scratch. In such cases, the windows and scripts can often still
be recovered.

Identifying a Corrupted Application

Most InTouch application corruption occurs after an applications windows,
tagname database, or scripts have been modified. You will know your
application is corrupted primarily because a Wonderware Technical Support
engineer has determined that this is the case. Here are some common
indications of a corrupted application:

Opening a window or running a script causes WindowMaker to

terminate or shut down abnormally.

When starting WindowViewer, you see an assertion error. Assertion

errors indicate that there is a problem with the database entries in the
animation links or scripts. Typically, assertion errors appear as FDRD
errors. FDRD is the prefix used in the error message dialog box, such
as FdRdKey element #1.

WindowViewer starts and runs properly for a while and then suddenly,
for no apparent reason, a GPF or an Assertion error occurs. Usually this
happens when a corrupted script executes on the change of an event
or a corrupted window is called to open.

During the conversion of your application from one version of InTouch

to another, the conversion halts with an error.

Note If the conversion halts as described above, move the error message
aside and take note on which window or what type of script the conversion
program stopped. Most likely, that window or script is corrupted.

Three Rules for Avoiding Application Corruption

The primary cause of application corruption is copying or moving an

application from one directory to another, such as copying an application from
a development machine to a runtime machine. Here are three rules to keep in
mind when copying or moving applications:
Note The following rules are most commonly violated when an application
developer backs up an application. Be sure to keep all three of these rules in
mind when backing up an application.
All of the files for an InTouch application must be considered as a single entity
for copying purposes. No files should be individually separated from the whole.

1. Assume that you are an application developer and you receive a

call from a customer. He asks you to make a small modification to
an application that is currently running on his factory floor. It
seems clear that the fastest way to remedy this situation is to
modify your copy of his application in-house, and then send the
modified application to the customer. You make a backup of the
application first, and then add the changes. A thought occurs to
youwhy send the entire 10-MB application to the site when only
one window changed? Just to be safe, you open Windows Explorer
and look through the application directory for any files with the
current date. It appears that only three files have changed, and
one of them is a backup, so you assume that you only need to send
the two remaining files. The customer receives your floppy disk
with the two files and follows your instructions to copy them into
the application directory. However, when the customer goes to
runtime, WindowViewer causes a General Protection Fault or an
Assertion Error.
2. The destination directory must be empty before copying an
application. If you plan to copy an application, first rename the
existing application directory and then create a new directory that
has the original directorys name. Copy all of the application files
into this new directory. If you have another backup of the
application, and you are confident the new application is running
properly, you may delete the original directory
3. Do not directly add, delete, or modify (through the MS-DOS
command prompt, Windows Explorer, or File Manager) any files in
the InTouch application directory, unless they are listed in Tech
Note 85, titled Files That Can Be Deleted From an InTouch
Application, or you have been instructed to delete them by a
Wonderware Technical Support engineer. The only supported
methods of adding, deleting, or modifying application files are
through WindowMaker.
Note The development computer and the runtime computer must have the
same language configured under the system regional settings. This is because
each language sorts special characters and their substitutes differently. For
example, "AA" will be sorted last, instead of first, under the Norwegian
regional settings. Also, if the same language is not configured under the
regional settings for both computers, the index to the database will be wrong.
(If this is the cause of your currupted application, you may be able to fix it by
deleting the AVL and BIN files from your InTouch application directory.)

Procedure to Recover a Corrupted Application

Wonderware Technical Support has found the following procedure to be the
most effective way to recover a corrupted application and recommends that
you follow these steps in order. Do not follow these steps out-of-order unless
you are directed to do so by a Wonderware Technical Support engineer. Note
that the term legacy application in this section refers to the directory that
contains the corrupted application files, which should be considered as a single
entity.

Step 1: Make a backup copy of your legacy application files

When you backup your legacy application files, be sure to follow the three
rules listed above for avoiding a corrupted application.

Step 2: Create a CSV file of your tagname database using

DBDump.exe
In InTouch version 7.0, DBDump.exe can be launched from the toolbar in the
InTouch Application Manager. In InTouch versions prior to 7.0, DBDump.exe
is located in the InTouch installation directory and can be launched by
selecting Start/Programs/InTouch for Windows. In these older versions
of InTouch, DBDump will prompt you for the source application directory;
however, in InTouch version 7.0, the source application directory will already
be determined by the item that is selected in the main window of the
Application Manager. Regardless of the version of InTouch you are using, be
sure to verify that the source application directory points to your legacy
application directory. The name of the CSV file you create is arbitrary as long
as you remember the name of the file when you are prompted for it later. You
should create the CSV file in the same directory as the legacy application.
Here is the final DBDump.exe dialog box:

Step 3: Create a new InTouch application

Open InTouch, select New from the File menu, and create a new InTouch
application. Launch WindowMaker and then immediately exit WindowMaker.
The purpose of this step is to create the application starter files. At this point,
you have not yet created a database, scripts, or graphics in the new
application.

Step 4: Load the CSV file using DBLoad.exe

Make sure you have exited WindowMaker and then load the CSV file of your
tagname database using DBLoad.exe. In InTouch version 7.0, DBLoad.exe can
be launched from the toolbar in the InTouch Application Manager. In
InTouch versions prior to 7.0, DBLoad.exe is located in the InTouch
installation directory and can be launched by selecting
Start/Programs/InTouch for Windows. In these older versions of
InTouch, DBLoad will prompt you for the source application directory;
however, in InTouch version 7.0, the source application directory will already
be determined by the item that is selected in the main window of the
Application Manager. Regardless of the version of InTouch you are using, be
sure to verify that the source application directory points to your new
application directory. Here is the final DBLoad.exe dialog box:

Note Often it is during this stage that problems are encountered with tags
that will not load. If an ASK dialog box appears, there is probably a problem
with the alarm groups. Click Abort load and then acknowledge the Load
Failed dialog box. Open the WWLogger and observe the DBLoad failure line
(generally at the bottom), writing down the line number where the failure
occurred. Open the DB.CSV file in a worksheet editor such as Microsoft Excel.
Find the row number that matches the line number you noted from the
WWLogger and then fix the problem in this row as reported by the WWLogger.

Step 5: Verify the database in WindowMaker

Launch WindowMaker and verify that you have a new application containing
your legacy database. For example, open the tagname dictionary and select a
few tags that you know should be in the database and verify that you can see
them. At this point your application should not contain any graphics or scripts.

Step 6: Import all windows and scripts from the legacy

application
Anything you want, but do not import, you will have to create from scratch. To
import the windows and scripts, select Import from the File menu. Then,
select the legacy application directory and click OK. You will see the following
dialog box (this dialog box may appear differently depending on your version
of InTouch):

Make sure Application is pointing to your legacy application path. Next,

select all of the boxes, and for the Windows, Data Change Scripts, Key Scripts,
Condition Scripts, and Quick Functions, you also need to click the Select
button and select all of the items. For example, selecting the box labeled
Windows will not select any windows for importation. Click Import when you
have selected everything you wish to import. It may take a while to import
everything, depending on the number of items that are being imported.
Warning InTouch 7.0 uses a 60K tagname license, which is larger than the
tagname license for previous versions of InTouch. As a result, this has reduced
the placeholder database to a maximum of 4,095 tagnames. If you are using
InTouch 7.0 and your legacy application has more than 4,095 tagnames, pay
special attention to the following information. Larger legacy applications will
need to be divided into smaller logical pieces. Each piece must have fewer
than 4,096 tagnames. Example 1: You might estimate that all of your scripts
can be imported at once, with less than 4,096 tags. After importing this piece
you must convert all the placeholders. Doing so will free up space in the
placeholder database for the next imported piece. Placeholder conversion is
explained in Step 7 of this Tech Note. Example 2: Say you have 20,000
tagnames in your application with 200 windows. Perhaps you can safely import
25 windows at a time. Convert the placeholders in these windows, and import
the next 25 windows. Since WindowMaker will not track this information for
you, remember to keep an accurate record of which windows and scripts you
have already imported. On a final note, if you have a single window or script
which contains more than 4,095 tagnames, contact WonderwareTechnical
Support for assistance.

Step 7: Convert all placeholders

When you imported the windows and scripts, placeholders were added to the
tagnames. The placeholders are the first three characters of the tagname: a
question mark, followed by an alphabetical character that represents the data
type, and then a colon. For example ?d:, ?i:, ?r:, and ?m: respectively stand
for discrete, integer, real, and message. Follow these steps to remove the
placeholders so the tagnames can be linked to the database:

1. Open one of the imported windows and select all of the items on
the window by selecting Select All from the Edit menu.
2. Select Substitute Tags from the Special menu and then remove
the placeholders by clicking the Convert button. (If you are using
InTouch 7.0, you will have the option to convert local or remote
tags. Since we are linking the placeholders to the local database,
click the Local button.) Then click OK.
3. Select Window/Properties/Scripts or
Special/Scripts/Window Scripts to open the window script
editor. Click Convert (in InTouch 7.0, click the Local button next)
and then click Save to automatically convert all placeholders for all
three window script types: On Show, While Showing, and On Hide.
4. Save the window and close it.
5. Now repeat the steps above for each window in the application that
you imported.
6. Next, select Special/Scripts/Application Scripts to view the
Application scripts. Remove the placeholders by clicking Convert
(in InTouch 7.0, click the Local button next), and then click Save.
Repeat this procedure for each of your Data Change scripts, Condition scripts,
Key scripts, and for InTouch version 7.0, your QuickFunctions.

Step 8: Copy InTouch.ini from your legacy application and

overwrite the InTouch.ini in the new application.
This will ensure that all of your configuration options have been preserved.
Note that this will not update the home window configurations however. To
configure the new application, select
Special/Configure/WindowViewer/Home Windows. Most of your
configuration options are contained in the InTouch.ini file.
Note that you can also copy the almgrp.ini and histprv.ini files, which contain
information on how the alarm and history providers are configured.

Step 9: Before running WindowViewer, backup your application.

When you backup your application files, be sure to follow the three rules at the
beginning of this Tech Note for avoiding a corrupted application.

Step 10: Run WindowViewer to compile your application

After you have compiled your application, spend some time to verify that your
application works as it did before. Navigate all the various screens and, if
possible, simulate some scripting events. Wonderware Technical Support
recommends that you keep a permanent backup copy of your legacy
application. This is best done with backup media. However, you should keep a
backup on the local hard disk for a little more than one month, then you can
clear up the hard disk space later if necessary.
M. McCulty

The Tech Note is published occasionally by Wonderware Technical Support. Editors: Sabrina
Abercromby and Kelly Hauser; Publisher: Wonderware Corporation, 100 Technology Drive, Irvine
CA 92618. There is also technical information on our software products at
www.wonderware.com/support/mmi, our WonderFax fax-on-demand system at (949) 4505050, and the Comprehensive Support Knowledge Base.

For technical support questions, send an e-mail to

[email protected].
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