Q.  I am getting a cascade of error messages. I ignore one and another comes to replace it. What's wrong?

Error messages occur because the program has come up against a situation it wasn't prepared for. Either an expected file is missing, corrupt or not accessible; or an error in programming was encountered (a bug); or some other unforeseen situation exists. These factors are unpredictable, since if I could predict them, I would build a fix to them before releasing the program.
 
Suffice to say, an error message or Program Alert, as you see them, indicate a problem with the program which must be resolved. When such a situation is encountered, I have chosen to have the DCMS present the message, and provide information about the area of the program which was being executed when the problem occurred. I also give the options to Ignore the problem or Cancel the program. 
 
Cancelling the program does just that. It cancels the program and causes the Trouble Shooting Utility to appear the next time you start the program. 
 
Ignoring the message allows you to try to carry on with the program, but does not fix the situation which created the error.
 
Please note... From time to time I get a user call and report that her program is full of errors. They are irate because they encountered 20 - 30 errors! What in fact happened in most cases, was that they kept ignoring errors, which caused more to be encountered. For instance, here is an example of such a situation.
 
You open the Names - Record Maintenance function and you receive a program alert saying "file does not exist: people.dbf"  This means that for some reason, the DCMS could not find the main names database where it expected to find it. If you choose to Ignore this error, that file will not be opened. However, a few seconds later, the Names Record Maintenance function will try to put the value of the person's address in the appropriate field, and because that address is in the names database, and it isn't open, the program can't do it, so it causes another error message saying "alias not found:people". If you ignore that message, the address won't be displayed, but right away, the program is going to try to display the city, state, telephone number, etc. Each time it tries to access the names database and doesn't find it, will create another error message.
 
This may make it look like the program is riddled with errors when in fact, it was the first one which, when ignored, created all the others.
 
So it is important to take down the details of the first error message. In case you have to report the problem to me.
 
Please Note (as well)...  There is one particular error message that comes up that has a fix.  "Program Alert:  Error: In use by another"   is an indication that a file is already being accessed by another program. Windows "protects" files from being accessed and written by more than one program at a time. There are two occasions when this can happen. First, if you open the DCMS twice, either absent mindedly or on purpose, you can find this error. In this case, click Cancel and switch to the previously running program.
 
The second instance is if the program crashes or you cancel it and it doesn't completely clear out of the computer. Windows may think it is still running and accessing the file it is trying to protect. The solution to that is to Shut Down your computer and Re-Start it, so Windows will cancel all the file protection.

What to do if you get an Error Message
 
The first thing to do if you get a program alert is to write down the details in the FIRST error message. You will see four lines -  Error:, File:, Routine: and Line:.  Please write down the information next to each line. Remember, the most important message to note is the first one.
 
Next, click Ignore once. It may be a small bug and you may be able to work around it. I still want to know about it, but it might not need to stop you right away. If you get a second error message, click Cancel.
 
As noted in the introduction to this utility,  the first thing you should consider, should you encounter an error, is that the error may have already been reported and fixed. I am constantly working on the DCMS, striving to fix any problems as they occur. When I have a bug fixed, I update the web site with the improved program almost immediately.
 
So, before you do anything else, if you can, visit my web site to determine if there is a newer version of the program available, visit the "Get Support" page. There, you will see a table describing the updates that are available on the web site, their release number(s) and the date of their release.  If the update on the web site is a higher release number or has a later date than the one you are presently using, you should start by downloading the update, installing it and seeing if your problem persists.
 
If it does persist and it cannot be explained in this utility, I would like to know about it right away. Please call me at (613) 834-0049. Email works too, but it is not as immediate as a phone call. I will either fix the program and update the web site, or give you an answer to get you working again as quickly as possible.
 

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