Supporting a DP4 System

In order to support a DP4 System you will need the following knowledge:

• How to to install and configure the system. The Installation and Configuration information here may be some help, but you will typically need documentation supplied by whoever has built your complete DP4 system.

• How to maintain DP4 databases. You will almost certainly find it equally useful to become familiar with the BROWSER and AUDITOR utilities.

• Become familiar with the structure of the DP4 databases used by your application. See Understanding the Database Structure for more information.

• How to find the version numbers of the DP4 components on the system. See Viewing DP4 Version Information for more information on ways to do this.

• How to interpret Error Messages reported by DP4, and how to find out exactly what error has arisen if a user has only a confused idea of what went wrong.

• How to enable diagnostic logging for key DP4 components in order to find out more about a problem. See the Troubleshooting section in the Guide to DP4 Networking and Resilience, and the information on Diagnostics in the Guide to DP4 Configuration.

• Two ADCs provided on the DP4 CD-ROM can help in diagnosing problems:

  • AUXDEBUG allows you to obtain detailed diagnostics about calls to the DP4 database interface.
  • AUXDUPE allows a small database to be constructed from another much larger database, containing just the original state of data accessed while it is loaded. This can be very helpful where a problem is occuring using a large live database too big (or with sensitive data) to send to a developer in its entirety.

  For information on how to use these components refer to Example ADCs in the ADC Developer's manual.

• How to contact Itim for support issues you are unable to resolve yourself. (Depending on your relationship with us, you may need to do this via an intermediary). In case of doubt consult the Contact Us page on the DP4 web site for up to date contact information.

For the latest information on all aspects of DP4 you are recommended to become familiar with the DP4 web site.