What is it?
The i.Con TPS.repair Templates are a set of Templates for Clarion version 5.5. Their purpose is to implement file maintenance and repair functionality for your application's files that use SoftVelocity's TopSpeed file format (.TPS-files). The Application Wizard utility generates a full blown, standalone, ready to deploy, end user file maintenance tool, based on your data dictionary, in less than a minute.
Feature overview
implements template driven batch processing file repair and maintenance functionality as standalone tool or as enhancement to your main applications
user friendly usage interface empowers your customers to repair file corruptions on their own
built-in support for danish, dutch, english, french, german, norwegian, portuguese and spanish language
intelligent file repair strategies makes the most of TPSFIX' capabilities and even goes beyond it with the "single record copy" recovery method
fully GZIP compatible backup of corrupted file and error log for diagnosis
automatic example file generation and automatic multiple repair runs
offers key rebuild and file pack functionality
supports "local" and "standalone" (using runtime dlls) linking modes
offers command line interface for invokation of tool with "run" command or from batch files etc.
option to limit processing of files to only those given on the command line
"freshen" mode for unconditional single record copying for routinely data maintenance
"forced" mode to unconditionally apply TPSFIX to files even if error analysis did not report any errors
"rebuild" mode to unconditionally rebuild all file keys
user notification in case not all records could be recovered from a corrupted file
full support for very long pathnames and spaces in pathnames
full support for Memo's, runtime indexes and dynamic keys
full support for TopsSpeeds Multi-Table Superfiles
support for Windows XP
Why do I need it?
Well, SoftVelocity's TopSpeed file format (.TPS-files) is basically a very stable file format. In Network environments, however, file corruptions can occur due to faulty network hardware, cabling issues, power failures, etc. If a file corruption is detected within your application, its execution is halted immediately and the application can not be started again until the corrupted file is repaired.

Those file corruptions can normally always be repaired with the TPSFIX.EXE tool that comes shipped with your clarion environment. TPSFIX is a powerfull utility, but it requires a knowlegeable operator to set all the available options to make full use of its repair capabilities. The TPSFIX tool is really not an end user tool, and it was not intended to be.

With the help of our i.Con TPS.repair Templates you can now overcome this shortcoming. You can supply your customers with a file repair tool that does its work automatically - it analyses the files and repairs them if necessary without user interaction. Data file corruptions can now be repaired by the end user himself, instantly.

Benefits over just using the TPSFIX utility
Much easier to use for the end user. The end user can now repair 99% of file corruptions by just clicking a button
Optimized repair success. The templates intelligently apply a recovery method that improves chances to recover all data. (keywords are: automatic example file generation, automatic multiple repair runs, single record copy method)
Avoidance of data loss. By routinely use of the repair tool (as a means of data maintenance), file corruptions can be detected before your application falls over it. Some file corruptions are not being detected when the file is opened by your application, but only when your application tries to access the defective portion of the file. The repair tool will find these errors and correct them before that happens and your application crashes.
automatic compressed backup of processed files and error log for later analysis or manual recovery attempts
data loss report in terms of lost records in contrast to the “pages” TPSFIX reports.
scheduled unattended maintenance/repair runs are possible by running the generated repair tool from the windows task scheduler.
What does it do?
The i.Con TPS.repair Templates consist of two Procedure Templates, one Application Wizard Utility Template, and an Extension template for your main application. The Procedure templates generate ABC Procedures which implement "key rebuild" or "file repair" functionality, respectively. Both Templates can be applied to any Clarion ABC-chain-based Application. The purpose of the Application Wizard Utility is to create a standalone file repair tool. This tool can be executed by your customers on-site in case file corruptions have occured. A demo of such a tool is available in our download area. The Extension Template adds record logging capabilty to your main application, enabling user notification in case not all records could be recovered from a corrupted file.
How exactly does it work?
The generated tool uses the TPSFIX.EXE command line interface to scan .TPS-files. If it finds any errors, a logfile is generated, and the corrupted file is backuped and compressed using a high-speed and fully GZIP compatible deflation algorithm. (Thus the backuped files can easily be restored with e.g. WinZip or ZipMagic). The backups are stored in a unique sub-directory (The name of the subdirectory is built from a date-and-time stamp). Next, an example file is created. Then TPSFIX.EXE is run to repair the corrupted file, using the created example file. This repair work can optionaly be done in a temporary (local) directory to speed up the repair process in network environments. When TPSFIX has done its work, the file consistency is being checked again. This is necessary, because sometimes errors in .TPS-files mask each other, so that multiple repair runs are necessary. The repair tool will perform as many check/repair cycles as necessary in order to completely repair the corrupted file (or the user definable retry limit is reached).

In cases where TPSFIX was unable to repair a corrupted file, the "single record copy" recovery method is executed. It attempts to recover as many records as possible from the corrupted file by reading the records in physical record order, and copying them into a new data file. When file recovery is finished, the total number recoverd records is compared to the "running total" as provided from the records logfile which is maintained by the FileAudit extension template.
After all files have been checked, and if errors were found and have been corrected, the key information of the .TPS-files is being rebuild.
What versions of clarion are supported? ABC or legacy?
The i.Con TPS.repair Templates are available for Clarion Clarion 5.5 only. Support for former versions of Clarion is not planned.
The generated code supports Clarion object-oriented Application Builder Classes (ABC). A version for the legacy chain is not planned. However, if your main application is based on the clarion (legacy) chain, you can still generate the standalone tool and have it repair your .TPS-files. You just will not be able to add the key rebuild or file repair procedures to your legacy application.
I would like to try the templates before I buy them
You can download a 30 days trial version for evaluation purposes free of charge at our download area. The trial version of our template set are not limited in their functionality, but the generated tools will stop working when the 30 days trial period has expired.
Where can I purchase the product? What does it cost?
The templates can be purchased at clarionshop (ClarionShop) and DeveloperPLUS (DeveloperPLUS). At a price of only US$ 75,-- they are one of the "best buys" available on the clarion add-on market!