SnTT: How to delete corrupt local cached design elements

Thursday 14th September, 2006
show_and_tell Welcome to my first Show and Tell Thursday post! - One of the reasons, why I have started blogging is to participate in Show'n'Tell. The only thing what kept me from posting was, that I was very busy in the last time and I don't really like the flasher in the logo.

For my first post I want to address the problem which happens, when local stored design elements are going corrupt. When this happening, it can show up in a number of symptoms, like a database (preferably the mail file) is opening with a half content and one pane with the text in it "frame content could not be loaded", or some "illegal circular use" message boxes (say 100), or something like this - very disturbing and annoying.

In R5 there were a usual approach (and to a degree it is valid till today, as I will explain in a second) just to delete the local cache, namely cache.dsk and restart the client.
Since the release of Notes 6 there is no cache.dsk anymore - there is cache.ndk instead. And this is not the same. Some of the design elements are now being cached in the bookmark.nsf - namely all the design elements that the user would like to take along in case when he roams. For example there are customized views (like changed column with, or the default collation).
If the user does not roam, and is using only the tiled workspace, you can still delete the bookmark.nsf, and the notes client will create a new one from the bookmark.ntf, just as it would create a new cache.ndk from the cache.ntf

If the user are actually using the bookmarks, or is a roaming user - there is a problem. You just can not mindlessly delete the bookmark.nsf, because it either break the roaming (there is a server copy of the bookmark.nsf and the new one will not having matching DBID and not replicate) and/or destroying users bookmarks - users hate this. Or, and by the way - running fixup does not fix the problem neither - since the design of the bookmark.nsf is fine - it's the documents that have the problem.

So, you have to delete the cached design elements without deleting the whole database.

This is how you do it:
step 1 - select bookmark
1. you locate the bookmark.nsf on the workspace and click it once without opening it.
step 2- select GoTo
2. Hold down the keybord buttons CTRL and SHIFT at the same time and select the menu command "view -> GoTo..."
step 3 - select (ByURL)
3. Select the hidden view (ByUrl)
Step 4 - Select all

in this view you can delete all documents (or browse to the UID of the database that makes trouble and delete just the documents for this database)
4. Press CTRL and A at the same time
Step 5 - press del
5. Press DEL
6. Press F9

Note 1: you can also delete documents the same manner from the cache.ndk (just open it with the "File -> Database -> Open" and type in its name) and delete documents from the ByURL view (it is not even hidden)

Note 2: you can write an agent that open users bookmark.nsf (and/or cache.ndk) get hold of the view and delete all document in it. (if there is a need, i could post it here)

Comments please!

  1. 1) Adeleida Said: (15.9.06 12:30:15 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    Cool

    Ok, that is a cool trick - never knew where those things are maintained.

    Love your SNTT logo, much better!

  2. 2) Mikkel Heisterberg Said: (15.9.06 1:02:22 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    Brilliant!

    Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

  3. 3) Nick Wall Said: (15.9.06 1:22:55 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    Nice!

    Very handy tip.

  4. 4) Gregory Engels Said: (15.9.06 1:27:32 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    Thanks for commenting!

    @1, @2 - Really Cool! - I have been read in South Africa and in Denmark

    I am exited - welcome to my blog, please feel comfortable :-)

  5. 5) Martin Said: (18.9.06 10:14:36 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    SnTT: How to delete corrupt local cached design elements

    Realy good, thanks for sharing Gregory

  6. 6) Thomas Bahn Said: (21.9.06 12:40:14 AM GMT) Gravatar Image
    Really good one

    Danke, das wird eines meiner aktuellen Probleme lösen...

  7. 7) CJ Said: (28.9.06 4:03:23 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    What are those listings?

    I was wondering what all those URLs (Notes///:38483...) are representing?

  8. 8) Gregory Engels Said: (28.9.06 4:23:46 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    re: What are those listings?

    Those are Notes Protocol URL's of the source design note that is cached.

    It is stored in the field $SourceURL - which holds usually an array of URL's valid for the source note. So a single document apears more then once in that view.

  9. 9) Kai G Said: (28.9.06 6:31:47 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    automated

    For admin u can have it even nicer:

    when a customer complains about strange Errormessages or corrupted design, create a mail with a button :

    Sub Click(Source As Button)

    Dim session As New NotesSession

    Dim db As NotesDatabase

    Dim collection As NotesDocumentCollection

    Dim selection As String

    Set db = session.GetDatabase("","bookmark.nsf")

    selection = "@Contains(@DocFields; ""$CacheInternal"") | @Contains(@DocFields;""$CacheDocVersion"")"

    Set collection = db.Search( selection, Nothing, 0 )

    Call collection.RemoveAll(True)

    Messagebox( ... )

    End Sub

    ~~~

    U can send the mail with the button to your customers and tell them to click on it, as above it will clear the design cache, and localy stored view index, helps a great deal.

    Anyway its only possible since LN 6, because the bookmark.nsf for roaming reasons has been changed to contain cached design (to be able roam private folders eg.) so desktop6.ndk and cache.ndk can be rebuild from bookmark.nsf where ever u are ..

    the script clears the cache in the bookmarks after a Client restart cache.ndk and desktop.ndk are rebuild and everything is just fine again

  10. 10) saç ekimi Said: (11.5.10 12:48:40 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    Can Schedule Orders (and Schedule BPAs) Be Set-Aside for Small Business?

    Hi;

    Unfortunately, although I realize I could not read the topic defalrca to help me in this regard would be glad if the mail.

    mary lou

    marylou23@gmail.com

    { Link }

  11. 11) vaniqa Said: (23.6.10 6:33:10 PM GMT) Gravatar Image
    hi

    Interessante Sicht dank für die info

Add Comment
 
Subject:
   
Name:
E-mail:
Web Site:
 
Comment:  (No HTML - Links will be converted if prefixed http://)
 
Remember Me?