Unrecognized Database Format (Playdate File)
…Corrupted database file

Sensible Cinema Box Office and Concession for Windows

VERSION COMPATIBILITY:
Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP

PROBABLE CAUSE:
You have corrupted your playdate database because of some data error.

If you have been using the system for some time and are seeing this error for the first time then you probably just had a momentary power outage or surge that caused the file to protect itself by reporting it has crashed and needs repair. If you have just set up the program and this problem appears regularly or frequently while multiple terminals are active then your network has a severe shortfall somewhere. A faulty switch, a network card, cabling or even the CPU itself could be the problem. Network “Hubs” are not supported and definitely will cause this problem. We require a true network “switch” providing dedicated bandwidth at 100 Mbps or faster for this program. For systems over 4 workstations, a managed switch is recommended. Wireless networks are always going to corrupt your database because the connections are not fast enough and they can be very unreliable. Those are best meant for internet connection sharing.

Article: Network “Switches” vs. Network “Hubs”


RESOLUTIONS:
To repair the database, exit all selling workstations and select “Database Utilities” from the manager’s main menu under “Help.” Next, select the playdate from the calendar. The current day will be the default date. Finally, press the “Begin Compacting Database” button. The database will repair in 99% of the cases and you may then log back into your workstations. If this happens frequently (say more than once or twice a year), you have a networking problem. In 9 out of 10 cases you are using an inferior network switch. In other cases it may be a faulty network adapter or cable or flaky CPU. Your master CPU must be at least fast enough to keep up with the workstations and it should have an Intel Pentium Processor. This application was written in Visual Basic 6.0 and favors the Pentium by design. We cannot guarantee results with other processors because we haven’t tested them. Further, clone box computers typically, for whatever reason, are far more problematic than name brand boxes. Likely this is because mass produced boxes are better lab tested and component compatibility is determined before boxes are mass produced.  Some users have reported good results by adding registry keys to disable opportunistic file locking.

Related Topics:

HOW TO: Disable Opportunistic File Locks under Windows

This document was created and added on June 3, 2003.