Strange entries in contacts list

[deb7890]

Hi Bill,

How can I safely delete a bunch of entries in the contacts list, which have no UID?

If I try to delete one of these anomalous entries, an error message and bug report prompt comes up. I saved the bug report which I'll post if it would help. One thing it says is: "exception message: could not convert variant of type (Null) into type (String)." (All the regular contacts do have UIDs.)

The computer with this issue functions as a client receiving call information from my Caller ID server where the two phone lines come in. The client runs on Virtual PC under Mac OS X 10.4. It has functioned this way for about a year with few issues. It presently runs Ascendis 2.1.0.10 as does the server.

These entries are not actually contacts, they are just phone numbers from the server's call list. I'm not sure why or how they got there but it might have been at the same time as a crash of the Mac, a few weeks back.

Thanks once again for your help.

[Bill Root]

Hi deb7890,

If you can send the bug report to support at ascendis dot com, we can at least trap the exception and handle it more gracefully in future versions. The situation you describe is not supposed to happen, but we may be able to let the record be deleted anyway, or handle it during database repair.

Before trying any solution I recommend updating both server and client to the latest beta version (2.1.0.17 at the time of this writing):
http://ascendis.com/callerid/CallerID_Beta_Setup.exe
Some problems were fixed since the version you're using that could cause some database problems for network clients. I don't recall whether the problem was specific to mismatched server/client versions. I don't think this caused the problem you're experiencing.

The easiest solution I can think of is to backup the database on the server and restore it on the client. (Before doing so, back up the client database too, just in case.) If that is not feasible, perhaps because the client database is the 'main' database, then I suggest one of the following:

1. Backup the database on the client and email it to support at ascendis dot com. I will repair the database and send it back.

2. Backup the database on the client. Export the contacts as XML. Edit the XML file in a text editor, and locate the problematic client record, and delete it. In Ascendis Caller ID, delete all the clients, then import the altered XML file. If any problems arise, restore the database from the backup and try #1 instead. (If you're not all familiar with XML or tagged files, #1 is probably the better option.)


Finest regards,
Bill Root
Ascendis Software

[deb7890]

Bill: It would be good if I could fix the data on this end.... I think I'm almost there, but who knows...

First I upgraded server and client to 2.1.0.17. I followed your instructions (#2) but found that on the client I can't delete or even edit the "BAD" contacts, due to an error condition (saved in bug reports*).

The XML file that I generated in exporting contacts on the client has the following structure, which appears to be incorrect.

Code: Select all

<xml>
<AscendisCallerID>
&#58;
&#58; "BAD" CONTACTS START HERE
&#58;
<Contact></Contact>    <--- Contact field is empty - nothing between open & close tags
<Phone></Phone>        <--- Phone field references the UID of a nonexistent contact
<Phone></Phone>		  "
<Phone></Phone>		  "
<Phone></Phone>		  "
&#58;			             and so on, list now consisting of numerous calls from the server's call list. 
&#58;			             Every time a call comes in
&#58;			             on the server, it's sent to the client and is added to the "BAD" group
&#58;			             if it doesn't already exist as a Contact on the server. 
&#58;			             If it does exist as a Contact on the server, then it ends up in 
&#58;   			          the "GOOD" group &#40;which is desired behavior&#41;&#58;
&#58;
&#58; "GOOD" CONTACTS START HERE -- appear to be correct.
&#58;
<Contact></Contact>       <--- Contact has UID &#40;which is the same as UID in the server's database&#41;
<Phone></Phone>           <--- The Phone references the UID of the Contact
<Action></Action>          <--- Tbe Action references the UID of the Contact
<Contact></Contact>       etc., next contact, etc.
<Phone></Phone>		     "
<Action></Action>	       "
</AscendisCallerID>

Is there a way to delete the contacts in Ascendis without generating the error message? If so, then I could do that and then re-import the repaired contacts.xml file, having deleted the "BAD" section. Or maybe this is a bigger can of worms than I think...

*Then there's the question of what's causing this to happen in the first place. I have three bug reports now:

1. on trying to delete a "BAD" contact
2. on trying to edit a "BAD" contact
3. on trying to delete all "BAD" contacts

Shall I send all of them?

Deb

[Bill Root]

Hi Deb,

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the export is having problems, since the database is not in a proper state. However, the database should not allow blank UID values for Contacts (or any other table) since they are defined as required fields. Because of this, I could not manually change a contact UID to blank, even for testing.

Is there a way to delete the contacts in Ascendis without generating the error message?

At this point, no, apparently.

I have three bug reports now:

1. on trying to delete a "BAD" contact
2. on trying to edit a "BAD" contact
3. on trying to delete all "BAD" contacts

Shall I send all of them?

Yes, please send all of them. Then maybe I can trap the errors and allow the bad contacts to be deleted.

*Then there's the question of what's causing this to happen in the first place.

Yes, of course that is an important question. No one else has reported this problem, although some strange problems arose for two customers mixing fairly recent beta versions of Ascendis Caller ID between server and client. As far as we know, these issues have been rectified since at least version 2.1.0.13.

Finest regards,
Bill Root
Ascendis Software