Child Table in BDE shows only Last 62 records of 262

[Gary Mugford 12]

While I haven't figured out whether this is an issue ONLY for Woll to Woll database components or for any of my BDE equivalents from other vendors/open source yet, I do have one of those chill to the bone issues I feel very uncomfortable about.

 

I have a main table connected to a child table through the one-to-one connection of a PartNumber. Using wwDBGrid connected to the corresponding tables, I show the child table as having 62 records with a field called Process (AND YES, I know that's a horrible name but this is legacy 1988 database design) which counts from 1 to 62 as it is shown. The field is an integer field and the numbers are IN the database, not calculated. The issue that I have JUST discovered is that there are 262 records in the child database and the 62 that are showing in the application are the LAST 62 of the child table records. That noted, I have two PartNumbers with 80 records in the child database, and all 80 show in each case. So the PROBLEM PartNumber is singular at this point, although I understand my snapshot of the data is far enough out of date that another PartNumber with a HUGE (300+) number of child record entries now exists.

 

I do a LOT of analysing the data for various needs where I loop through the main table and then loop through the child table. If the inner loop is only going 62 records at runtime I've got a problem. The really odd part is the 'renumbering' of the Process field in the wwDBgrid to show numbers 1-62 instead of 201-262. So, I have TWO issues, the reduction of showing only 62 records AND the renumbering. 

 

ONE more oddity, in a totally different part with only 15 child records, somebody managed to enter in the data with a SPACE before the name of the PartNumber in the PartNumber field, then later re-entered the child records with the proper PartNumber in the key field. That still leaves those space-PartNumber records atop the child database when you look at it directly via Database Desktop. The data is NOT corrupted (proven multiple times through Rebuilder), it's just that somebody managed to enter in via a method I haven't discovered, all those Space-PartNumbers. And the extra 200 child parts for my main problem. 

 

This is BDE, Paradox, Delphi 7, Woll to Woll InfoPower components. I'll eventually ferret out how the data got INTO the child table. I've left a back door  somewhere. But the display and renumbering issue is beyond frightening for me.

 

ANY IDEAS???

[Gary Mugford 12]

Although the BDE display chopping off 200 child records AND renumbering a field is bad, turns out I forgot to include some OTHER critical info. I actually export the Master and Child table data to NexusDB, recreate the index based on the PartNumber and then run an analysis report. It hits the problematic part and crashes with a Memory Access Violation error. Just touching it bombs the program 11 minutes into the run and after the transfer took 37 minutes. I TRIED to test for the PartNumber and if it was the problem part, continued in the interior loop. Not a solution. Neither was testing for the PartNumber BEFORE the problem part and then doing a double NEXT;. That touches the part, so I should have expected the issue. The CURRENT WORKING SOLUTION, is that I transfer the data, including the problem part and it's monstrous child data. I get to the part BEFORE that part in the internal loop, but then do a findkey for the PartNumber AFTER the partnumber that causes the problem. It's ... working ... but it's TERRIBLE programming and I've been told to expect another part with a massive child presence this month. I DO turn 65 in July and retirement appeals more and more every day. I will pursue this as a NexusDB issue. There is no question that something is malformed in the child data in BDE, but the data is not corrupted. And when it gets moved to NexusDB, the tolerance BDE has for the situation is NOT shared in NexusDB.

 

[Vincent Parrett 750]

Can't say I've used woll2woll or the BDE in the last 20 years... but just a guess - is paging perhaps enabled somewhere, with a page size of 200? Perhaps it's just showing the last page?  

[Gary Mugford 12]

Vincent, I could see the issue being paging IF THE PROCESS FIELD in the child table wasn't RENUMBERED!?!?! And, while BDE did something to live with the data, NexusDB, an honest to goodness Database Server wanted NOTHING to do with displaying that relationship, crashing out with an AV as soon as the relationship was hit. 

 

I've already decided to change 30+ years of relationship and create a GROUP designation and connect it to a database with the sub-parts, while removing it from the child table. The particular part is handled as a difference kind of business model, so trying to push those sub-parts into the old model was and is a lesson in frustration. By creating a new workflow model, I can accommodate the customer that has requested the client work to a certain way that LOOKS like the normal model, but is not. 

 

Never great when you have to write alternative workflow streams, but modern businesses adapt. And so must I. Thanks for your thoughtful question. GM