Accessing data across NT

[Tom Doebler]

Having problems accessing data recorded to a file using PUT$ while on an NT network.
Here's the situation : One workstation opens an existing file, reads a record, alters
it and writes it back. Immediately, another workstation attempts to read that
same record. However, it is only reading the record that was there previously.
If the second workstation keeps rereading that same record, it will eventually
read the correct data. However, if the first workstation tries to read the data as
soon as it writes it, it is there! No reread is necessary. I read some older
forum docs on this and the suggestion was to have the first workstation reread the
data as soon as it writes it to be sure that it was recorded, but my experience
is that it will always find the good data, even though the second workstation
cannot find it until it rereads. I am using Win 98 workstations and have seen the
problem when using NT 4.0 ( SP4 ) and Windows 2000 on the server. Does anyone
have any ideas on what I can do to ensure that the data being written to this
binary file can be immediately accessed by other workstations connected to the
network?
Thanks!
-- Tom

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[Lance Edmonds]

Firstly, ditch SP4 pronto! Either upgrade to SP5 or SP6, or downgrade to SP3. SP4 is notoriously unstable for anything remotely mission-critical.

That issue aside, the situation you describe is a 'normal' behavior (and I use that term loosely!) for an NT-based multi-threaded O/S file system. Aside from applying the usual FLUSH after writing records to the database, you'll have to consult Microsoft to see if you can disable the effective "write-caching" that the NT file system uses.

Take a trip to www.msdn.microsoft.com and search the MSKB for information. Your previous searches for relevant info on this BBS probably yielded some good search phrases if you viewed the previous discussions on this topic. A phrase like "delayed commit" rings a bell...

Good luck!


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Lance
PowerBASIC Support
mailto:[email protected][email protected]</A>