AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

This thread is now closed to new comments.
Some of the links and information provided in this thread may no longer be available or relevant.
If you have a question please start a new post.
BigWill
Contributing User
9 Posts
Contributing User
Contributing User

9Posts

1Kudos

0Solutions

AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Hi all,

 

We use AR 2022.11 Server edition with an offline file and have had two file corruptions within a 34 days which we havent had on previous versions.

 

In both instances the first inidication something was wrong was even though the file was open and in use by one or more users the file was no longer showing in the MYOB Library for the next user trying to open the file.

 

We make use of the API and upon navigation to the API in a webbrowser to suss out what was going on our file was no longer listed in that either.

 

So twice in a month(ish) we've ended up with a dead MYOB file which we cannot attempt to repair or even open as it wont show in the library because obviously something so serious has happened to the file that the MYOB Library service cannot even detect that the file is a valid MYOB file.

 

The first time this happened was on the 22/12/22 last year. The file looked normal from windows explorer but just would not show in the library. We restored a backup from 8am that day and re-entered 3 hours of work.

The second time this happened was the 25/12/23. The file ballooned from 1.7GB (normal size) to 4.2GB whilst being used. 

 

We use AR on a Windows 2016 terminal server and have our fair share of headaches which we work around but corruption of the Company file is not normally one of them.

Other issues we normally have day to day:

* How there is no warning that there is a new version of MYOB available or choice to update or not. It just rocks up one morning with the new version assuming the machine can be rebooted in business hours with the wrong services running so the API fails until it finessed into working again. 

* How the auto update leaves old MYOB Server services hanging around and bugs 70 odd users about rebooting a terminal server that they can't and isnt normally rebooted for months at a time. 

* How we cant import invoices from a CSV without it dying halfway through unless we stop the library service beforehand

* How the API will just fail now and then and not return a result set arbitrarily in the middle of 100 or so successful returns.

 

Does anyone else have issues similar to us? Has anyone else's file been destroyed repeatedly using AR2022.11?

Has anyone got any tips for us?

 

Cheers,

Will

6 REPLIES 6
gavin12345
Ultimate User
4,953 Posts
Ultimate User
Australia
Ultimate User

4,953Posts

1,000Kudos

633Solutions

Re: AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Hi @BigWill 

 

I can't comment about about some of the issues you have raised, nor am I aware of any new issues specific to AR2022.11 - the constant mandatory updating is a real issue, with MYOB seemingly oblivious to the fact that most servers are setup so as not to allow anyone but the IT department to install software. They should make the update available for the user to schedule with the IT people.

 

I am concerned about the comments about file corruption and the file size - these may be related. SQLCE is the database used by MYOB and this has a hard size limit of 4 GB. The software can and does shrink/compact the file from time to time to 'artificially' reduce the size by about 50%, however as the database is used, it quickly expands to its working size. If your database size is 4 GB you need to seriously consider starting a new file or getting the file looked at with a view to reduce its size. Do a net search for 'file utility myox' - this is a tool to analyse the file (and detect balance issues and duplicate records, error 4066 and 4077 etc). Make a copy of your file and run the tool over it. The company that made the tool also offers a purge service to reduce the file size by removing closed prior year transactions.

 

A couple of other things that may influence poor performance is ensuring that as each update is installed, your anti virus scanning etc is set to exclude the new version of MYOB and that the timeout extender is applied to the new version. Anything interrupting the connection between the software and the company file may potentially cause a corruption.

 

Regards

Gavin

(gavinw222@gmail.com)
BigWill
Contributing User
9 Posts
Contributing User
Contributing User

9Posts

1Kudos

0Solutions

Re: AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Hi @gavin12345 ,

 

Thanks for your thoughts and recommendations. I'm interested in what you refer to as the "Timeout extender"... is this some tweak to allow the API more time to return? 

 

I've looked at the program you've suggested. Looks like its all real records taking up the 1.7GB. and shows no issues with the file. 

 

I've tried another 3rd party program to "Shrink" and "Compact" the file which has got it to 1.5GB which i assume will bloat back up to ~1.7 through use as you said. 

 

Our file is normally about 1.7GB. Its only been this one occasion where in one morning its balloned from 1.7GB to 4.2GB.

 

Anyway. Its just another issue that we need to consider might happen at any time and guard against by taking snapshots throughout the day. Storage space for snapshots is cheap. Labour to re-enter data is not. 

 

Cheers.

Will

 

gavin12345
Ultimate User
4,953 Posts
Ultimate User
Australia
Ultimate User

4,953Posts

1,000Kudos

633Solutions

Re: AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Hi @BigWill 

 

See Timeout Extender

 

Regards

Gavin

(gavinw222@gmail.com)
BigWill
Contributing User
9 Posts
Contributing User
Contributing User

9Posts

1Kudos

0Solutions

Re: AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Thanks @gavin12345 ,

 

I'll keep this tip for future use!

 

Cheers!

Will

LynleyAveris
Trusted Partner
54 Posts
Trusted Partner
New Zealand
Trusted Partner

54Posts

5Kudos

2Solutions

Re: AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Hi Will

I've last week upgraded a file AR SE 2022.11. Also sizeable at 1.5 GB with 1000 graphics included in the stock file. Twice its dropped from the network library which sits on a Windows 10 PC. Have restored from backup. I'm not sure what's going on here but will move the library to another pc on the network to start with.

Ps why isn't your file in the cloud? 

BigWill
Contributing User
9 Posts
Contributing User
Contributing User

9Posts

1Kudos

0Solutions

Re: AR2022.11 Company file corrupt - Not showing in library.

Hi @LynleyAveris,

 

Sounds pretty simlar to the issue we've had. The only solution i can see is to just take bucket loads of snapshots of the file. Initially when the file would corrupt it would be a day of phone support getting nowhere coming to the conclusion of restore and reenter the days data. We've cut to the chase and recover the file immediately which is only ever a few hours old from the previous snapshot and reenter. 

 

Hope the next version has it a little bit more reliable. 

 

In answer to your question Initially we kept our file offline as a choice (Prefer not to have our data online) but as time has gone on its been more of an efficiency thing. We've seen how slow it is to access the file via the api in the same building - theres no way it could be any faster or more stable over the internet. We prefer to use it locally. 

 

We created a new file just for payroll as we needed it to be in the cloud for stp2. We no longer use payroll in our original 1.7gb file. 

 

We hit our main company file a lot via the API - a few years of records at least twice a day and importing hundreds of invoices via csv every day. I can't see any positive argument to slow everything down just to put it on the cloud. 

 

Pretty sure we tried uploading the file back in 2018 which died horribly... probably scared us off a bit...

 

All the best!

Will

 

Didn't find your answer here?

Try using advanced search to find a post more easily Advanced Search
or
Get the conversation started and make a new post Start a Post