Possible corrupt entry in database

[Hendrik]

We had a problem order about 3 weeks ago that came through into pending OK, but could not be opened, or deleted or completed or anything. Whatever we tried to do, we got an 'Error accessing database records. Try restarting program.' The customer kindly sent us a copy of the confirmation e-mail that they received when they placed the order (I got the details from SagePay) so we were able to reconstitute their order. However the rogue order remains on the front page, and unfortunately - I suspect it is linked - Actinic will now not print out or display tax returns. It just crashes.

I have done the usual housekeeping within Actinic, compacting databases, and I have also opened a copy of the database within Access and tried the repair function. Which seems to happen ok. However it does not remove the problem. I have also gone in via the Control Panel and used the OBDC admin tool to repair the database. (Which may be simply doing the same thing). Again, it seems to be happy that it has repaired the database, but the problem remains.

I have sent a complete snapshot in to Actinic, and chased them a couple of times, but they do not seem to have any answers as yet.

I now have the accountants wanting to come back this afternoon for the tax returns, so they can do the VAT for the quarter.

Does anyone know of a way to delete a single record from the database?

Thanks

Hendrik

[fergusw]

Hi Hendrik,

It's not a straight forward "delete a single record from the database".
The way to do this is to open the database in Access and remove the records. [note: plural]
I'd personally only do this if you are confident in Actinic and in Access - oh, an backup as well before proceeding.

An order creates entries into several tables in the database so to correctly remove all references to it would require some understanding of the order table structure and how they link to each other e.g. identify order in ORDER table (taking note of the [Order Sequence Number],nCustomerID, nBuyerID) and remove, then open the OrderDetail table and find all records with same [OrderSequenceNumber] value and remove......
etc
the same for the other relevant tables e.g. OrderHistory, OrderMail, OrderTracking.
You also have the Person and Buyer tables which reference the nCustomerID and nBuyerID value from the Order table.

This might steer you in the right direction....

[Hendrik]

Hi Fergus

Thanks for your explanation. I now understand a little bit more about how the Actinic database works (still confused, but at a higher level ;-) ). However I am not sure I have the confidence to start poking around in the databases, trying to delete a single record. I will hope that Actinic support will come up with something soon.

regards

Hendrik

[fergusw]

Hi Hendrik,
It does seem like a possible corrupt record in the database that could be causing this problem. As I mentioned, unless your relatively confident in the Access database structure I wouldn't go rooting around, and certainly not without a good backup first!
An alternative might be to compare said order with a known 'good' order and the details held in the database. Non-invasive, and it may highlight a field or fields that are missing, corrupt, filled with bad data etc.
Just a thought.,,,