Arcana Scheduler Knowledge Base

I02000059: Programs run by the scheduler are visible only to a user connected to the computer's "console" session

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:34:15 GMT

Summary

The user interface for a program, script, etc. run by adTempus or the Arcana Scheduler is visible only if you are logged in to the "console" session for the computer. If you are connected to the computer using Terminal Services or Remote Desktop, you will not be able to see the program's user interface.

More Information

Using Terminal Services or Remote Desktop, Windows allows more than one user to be connected to a computer at the same time. Each connected user is hosted in a separate user session, which is isolated from all other sessions.

Each computer has a "console" session, which is either the session for the user physically at the computer, or a remote session configured to connect to the console session.

When adTempus or the Arcana Scheduler runs a job that is configured to allow user interaction, the program is run in the console session. Therefore, only the user logged in to the console session can interact with the program. If you are connected to a different session, you will not see the program's user interface.

Connecting to the Console Session

To view interactive programs, you must be connected to the console session. You can do this in one of three ways:

Log in at the computer itself (i.e., the monitor and keyboard physically attached to the computer).
Use Remote Desktop/Terminal Services to connect to the console session. By default, when you connect to the computer through Remote Desktop or Terminal Services, Windows creates a new session for you, and does not connect you to the console session. However, it is possible to connect to the console session as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article How to Connect to and Shadow the Console Session with Windows Server (278845).
Use another remote access tool such as VNC or pcAnywhere that connects to the console session.

Running Programs in a User Session

Beginning with version 3.0, adTempus has the ability to start programs in a user's logon session rather than the console session. See article K00000294 for more information.

Changes in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Later

Beginning in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the behavior and availability of the console session have changed. See article K00000369 for more information.

I02000002: Interpreting "Unacceptable Return Code" or "Completed with Errors" messages

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

When you run a program in the Scheduler, the Scheduler may report a status of "Completed with errors." The Scheduler may also log a message similar to the following:

Program <YOUR program>terminated with unacceptable return code 1

More Information

Whenever a program runs, it passes an exit code back to the operating system (or in this case the Scheduler) to indicate its exit status. Most programs return a value of 0 to indicate successful completion or some value greater than 0 to indicate a warning or error.

When you set up a program in the Scheduler, you can specify on the Advanced page a value for the "Highest acceptable return code." The value defaults to 0 if you do not change it. Whenever the program exits with a return code higher than the value you specify, the Scheduler reports the status as "Completed with errors." If you have checked the "Abnormal termination" box in the Logging section on the Advanced page, the Scheduler will log the unacceptable return code to the Event Log.

The Scheduler can only detect the exit code and inform you of the code; it does not know what the code means. This meaning will depend entirely on the application being run. Check the documentation for the application in question to see whether the return codes are documented.

If you cannot find documentation on the return codes, you should look for signs of unexpected or erroneous behavior on the part of the application.

If the application appears to be running properly, you can either ignore the return code or set the "Highest acceptable return code" to a higher value so the Scheduler will not treat it as an error.

Setting the Exit Code

If you are writing your own application the method you use to return an exit code will depend on your programming environment.

For a C, C++, or C# application the exit code is the return value from the main() function.

For a VB.NET application, the exit code is the return value from from the Main function.

To return an exit code from a VB6 application you may be able to use the Windows API ExitProcess function. This approach was previously detailed in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q178357 (article no longer available), but is no longer supported or recommended by Microsoft due to the problems discussed in article Q288216. In addition to the problems described by Microsoft note that calling the ExitProcess function while your program is being debugged in the Visual Basic development environment will cause the Visual Basic IDE itself to terminate, along with your program.

For other development environments consult the appropriate documentation

A batch file returns the exit code of the last program executed by the batch file. If you want to set the exit code to a specific value, use this statement in your batch file:

exit /b exitcode

Where exitcode is the exit code you want to return. Note that this statement will terminate the batch file immediately.

I02000028: Diagnosing installation problems

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

When installation of the Arcana Scheduler fails (i.e., when the installation rolls back), the log file produced by the installer may provide information that will help to resolve the problem.

This log is produced automatically if you are installing version 2.2.20 or later of the Arcana Scheduler. The file will be located in the system temporary directory (the folder pointed to by the TEMP environment variable) and will be called "adsmsi.log".

Please include this file when you contact technical support for help with an installation problem.

More Information

The following articles discuss specific problems you may encounter during installation:

K00000163: Setup fails with error 1603.

K00000074: "Error 1305.Error reading from file" during installation.

I02000026: Installation rolls back while installing or starting the Arcana Scheduler service ("Info 1923" reported in installation log).

I02000030: "Error opening installation log file" when attempting to install

I00000002: Error message "Failed to install ISKernel Files" during installation

B00000001: Prompt "Please insert the disk: 1" during installation

I02000049: All scheduled programs terminate immediately after being started, with a return code of 128

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:55:10 GMT

Summary

All scheduled programs terminate immediately after being started, with a return code of 128. This problem generally affects "console-mode" (non-GUI) programs, when the "Allow program to interact with desktop" option is not checked in the Program Properties in the Arcana Scheduler.

This problem may occur when the computer runs out of desktop heap (see Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q156484. This causes the programs to terminate during intialization, and the operating system supplies the return code of 128.

More Information

If the "Allow program to interact with desktop" option is checked for the program, a dialog box similar to one of the following may be displayed by the program:

Initialization of the dynamic library <SYSTEM>\system32\user32.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

Initialization of the dynamic library <SYSTEM>\system32\kernel32.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

Workaround

Generally this problem is caused by the operating system or an application "leaking" desktop heap memory. When enough memory has been lost due to the problem, the errors will occur. Restarting the computer will restore the lost memory. Increasing the heap size as described below will defer the problem, but will not resolve it if it is due to memory leaks. The only solution to these leaks is to track down the application that is causing the leak.

If the problem occurs immediately after restarting, it may be due to a large number of services running on the system. You may need to adjust the heap size as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q142676.

Status

This problem is due to memory leaks in the operating system or in applications or services. Arcana Development has conducted extensive testing of version 2.3.0.9 of the Scheduler and does not believe that the Scheduler is the source of any desktop heap leaks.

If you are using an earlier version of the Scheduler it is possible that the Scheduler is contributing to the problem. You should upgrade to the current version and see if the problem continues.

B02000052: Refresh method of ActiveX API's ADSSession object does not work properly

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

Calls to the ADSSession object's Refresh method do not actually refresh job information. After calling Refresh and re-retrieving a job, all properties remain the same even when the job is changed.

More Information

For example, if you start a job using the API, then refresh the Session and retrieve the job, the job's status will not reflect the fact that the job is running--it will still list the status the job had when the Session was originally connected.

Status

This problem has been corrected in adscom.dll version 2.3.0.3, which is available in version 2.3.0.7 of the Arcana Scheduler setup package. See the download page to obtain the current version.

I02000038: Using the Arcana Scheduler ActiveX API with DCOM

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

The Arcana Scheduler ActiveX API can be used with DCOM to allow connections to remote computers. No special steps need to be taken other than verifying DCOM configuration settings as described in article I02000035.

Consult a reference guide for your development environment to determine how to instantiate remote objects.

For Visual Basic, use the CreateObject function, specifying the name of the computer whose Scheduler you want to connect to.

For C++ and other languages using the Windows API directly, use the CoCreateInstanceEx function.

More Information

For more information on the ActiveX API, see the API page or the ActiveX API documentation installed with the Scheduler.

K00000240: Scheduled programs fail with message "error occurred while loading the profile"

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Symptoms

Each time the Arcana Scheduler runs programs that have the "Allow program to interact with desktop" option checked, it logs the following warning message in the Application log in the Windows Event Viewer:

An error occurred while loading the profile for user userid for program taskname. The program may not run correctly as a result. Not enough quota is available to process this command.
(10751:1816)

Cause

This problem is caused by a buildup of security access tokens on the virtual desktop on which the program runs. This may occur if too many logon sessions are attempting to use the virtual desktop, or if applications fail to properly remove access tokens they have associated with the virtual desktop.

To date, testing by Arcana Development suggests that this problem is being caused by applications other than the Arcana Scheduler, and that the Arcana Scheduler is merely suffering the consequences of these problems.

Resolution

To eliminate the problem, restart the computer. This will eliminate the problem at least temporarily.

More Information

Note that this problem does not affect scheduled programs that do not have the "Allow program to interace with desktop" option checked.

B02000040: One-time holidays are not saved correctly

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

When you use the Configuration Editor to add a custom one-time holiday to the Scheduler, the holiday is not saved correctly. One-time holidays therefore cannot be established.

More Information

This problem affects one-time only holidays (e.g., "April 13, 2001"). Fixed (e.g., "January 1") and floating (e.g., "Third Tuesday of April") holidays are not affected.

Status

This problem is corrected in version 2.3 of the Arcana Scheduler. To download the latest version, see the download page.

B02000045: Error initializing user32.dll or kernel32.dll when running scheduled programs

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

Scheduled programs fail to start and the Arcana Scheduler reports an error similar to one of the following in the Event Log:

Initialization of the dynamic library <SYSTEM>\system32\user32.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

Initialization of the dynamic library <SYSTEM>\system32\kernel32.dll failed. The process is terminating abnormally.

In some cases the Scheduler will start the program or batch file and one of the errors listed above will be presented in a pop-up dialog box from the operating system.

More Information

This problem has two primary causes.

If you have a large number of services running on the computer, the operating system may run out of desktop heap for them. To resolve the problem you will need to increase the desktop heap as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q142676. Note: If this is the source of your problem, it will generally begin occurring very soon after restarting the computer. If the problem only appears after the computer has been running for quite some time, see cause 2 below.
Applications, services, and the operating system may "leak" desktop heap memory. Over time this reduces the amount of heap available, eventually leading to the error. Increasing the desktop heap as described in cause 1 above will increase the time it takes for the problem to appear, but will not resolve the problem. To eliminate the problem you will need to determine which application is causing the leak, which is generally not a simple task.

Also see Arcana Development Knowledge Base article I02000049.

Workaround

The error occurs because the operating system has run out of memory for the desktop heap.

See the More Information section below for information on possible solutions.

Status

Versions of the Scheduler prior to 2.3 had a problem which could cause the Scheduler to "leak" desktop heap memory, contributing to the problem (see cause 2 in the More Information" section below). The problem was corrected in version 2.3, and after extensive testing we do not believe that the Scheduler is the source of any leaks.

I02000057: Moving/copying Arcana Scheduler configuration information to another computer

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:08:28 GMT

Summary

To copy scheduled tasks between two computers you need only copy the configuration file(s) for the tasks in question. Instructions on how to do this are below and in the Arcana Scheduler online help (look for "Copying schedule information between computers" in the Arcana Scheduler online help index or click here, then see the "Data Files" section).

Details

The Scheduler Service stores information on scheduled programs in the schedules\1 subdirectory of the Arcana Scheduler program directory (e.g., c:\program files\arcana development\arcana scheduler\schedules\1). You should not attempt to edit any of the files in this directory.

The directory contains one file (with the extension .cfg) for each scheduled program. The description you provided for the program is used as the file name.

To copy one or more scheduled programs between two computers, simply find the correct configuration files and copy them to the corresponding directory on the other computer. For the Scheduler on the destination computer to recognize the new programs, you must stop and restart the Arcana Scheduler service.

Please note:

The target computer must be running the same or a later version of the Arcana Scheduler as what is running on the source computer.
After you copy the configuration files to the target computer, you must stop and restart the Arcana Scheduler on that computer for it to recognize the new tasks.
If the Arcana Scheduler is not licensed on the target computer (i.e., is running in evaluation mode) the new tasks will not be imported by the Scheduler. Tasks can only be copied to a licensed installation.

More Information

For information on transferring your license to another computer see article I02000058.

K00000257: Impact of changes to daylight saving time

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Introduction

Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time in the U.S. and Canada will begin earlier and end later than previously. As a result, computer systems will have to make the transition into and out of daylight saving time on a different schedule.

Arcana Development's scheduling applications (adTempus and the Arcana Scheduler) retrieve daylight saving time information from the operating system. Therefore no updates to adTempus or the Arcana Scheduler are necessary to support this change, but you must apply the appropriate update to the operating system (or manually change the time on your computer in accordance with the new schedule).

For more information on updating Windows to recognize the new dates, see the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com/windows/timezone/dst2007.mspx.

Historical Data in adTempus

Date/time information in adTempus is stored as a Universal Coordinated Time (UTC or GMT) value and converted to local time as necessary. This conversion must take daylight saving time into account. Because the conversion will now be applying the new daylight saving time rules to historical data, times displayed for data older than November 5, 2006, may be off by one hour. Because of the low impact of this discrepancy, Arcana Development does not plan to release an update to address it.

K00000242: Schedule Administrator and Configuration Editor fail on some systems with Data Execution Prevention enabled

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Symptoms

When the Arcana Scheduler is installed on a computer running Windows Server 2003 (SP1 or later) or Windows XP (SP2 or later) with Data Execution Prevention (DEP) enabled, the Schedule Administrator and Configuration Editor may fail to run.

If Dr. Watson (or another application exception handler) is not installed, running one of these tools may appear to produce no result, or the program may appear briefly in the Task Manager and then disappear.

If Dr.Watson (or another application exception handler) is installed, it will report a failure of the program (adscheduleadmin.exe or adschedulerconfig.exe)

Resolution

Add "adscheduleadmin.exe" and "adschedulerconfig.exe" to the Data Execution Prevention exception list in Windows.

To add programs to the DEP exception list:

From the Windows Control Panel, open the System tool.
In the Performance section of the Advanced page, click Settings.
Select the Data Execution Prevention page.
Under the exception list, click Add... and browse to the Arcana Scheduler program directory (by default, "c:\program files\arcana development\arcana scheduler") to add the specified programs.

More Information

Note that this problem does not occur on all computers with DEP enabled; if you are not experiencing the problem there is no need to add exceptions for the Arcana Scheduler programs.

K00000241: Connecting to the Arcana Scheduler through a firewall

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

The Arcana Scheduler uses a communications mechanism called "named pipes" for communication between the Schedule Administrator and the Arcana Scheduler service. If the computer on which the Arcana Scheduler service is running is protected by a firewall and you wish to be able to connect to the Arcana Scheduler service using a copy of the Schedule Administrator running on a different computer, the firewall must allow incoming traffic on port 139.

Note that port 139 is often disabled by firewalls because it is also part of Windows File and Printer Sharing.

The port requirements for the Arcana Scheduler are not configurable. Our newer scheduling product, adTempus, uses TCP/IP rather than named pipes for client/server communication, and its port usage can be configured.

I02000003: Providing scheduled programs with access to network drives

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

Providing a scheduled application with access to network drives can be confusing to set up, partly because of the different way that NetWare and Windows NT network resources are treated by the operating system.

More Information

The following points should be kept in mind when using network drives.

System vs. User Account

Network connections cannot be established when running a program under the System account. Always specify a user account and password for your program if you need to use network drives.

Using Existing Network Drive Mappings

Programs run by the Scheduler generally will not have access to network drive letters unless those letters are mapped by the Scheduler (see next section).

This is because drive letter mappings (e.g., those assigned using Windows Explorer) are defined at the user level, not the system level. These drive mappings are only valid while the user who made them is logged into the computer interactively.

Even if you are running scheduled programs under an account for which drive mappings are defined, the programs will not have access to those mappings, because the Scheduler does not load them when it logs on to that user account.

For Windows Network resources, if you are running the job under a user account, and that user account is also logged into the computer interactively, the drive letters for that user account may be available to scheduled programs. However, you should not rely on this being the case, because your scheduled programs will then fail if the user is not logged in interactively, or if another user is logged in.

Instead you should always use UNC designations for network resources, or have the Scheduler map the drive letters.

Mapping New Drive Letters

When mapping drive letters to network resources, the Scheduler cannot use a drive letter that is already in use. For example, if drive F: is mapped to \\server\share1 as part of your interactive session, you cannot map that drive letter to the same or any
other network drive with the Scheduler. If you attempt to do so, you may receive an error similar to the following:

An error occurred while connecting F to \\server\share1 for program <program>. The program may not run correctly as a result. An attempt was made to remember a device that had previously been remembered.

If your program needs to refer to \\server\share1 using a drive letter, you must map an unused drive letter to it within the Scheduler.

Access to NetWare Resources

Due to Windows NT security features/limitations, a program run by the Scheduler does not have access to a NetWare drive unless that drive has been specifically connected to by the Scheduler. Specifically:

If your program refers to the drive by UNC name (e.g., \\server\share1), you must explicitly define this resource on the Network page. To do this, add a network resource that is not mapped to a drive letter. Be sure to specify a valid account name and
password.

If your program refers to the drive by drive letter (e.g., F:), that drive must be
mapped within the Scheduler. For example, you can use the Windows Explorer (or some other
mechanism) to map drive letter N: to the NetWare drive \\server\share1. This mapping will
be available to you during your interactive session. However, if an application run by the
Scheduler attempts to use drive N:, it will report an error such as

Invalid Path or File Name

If your program needs access to \\server\share1, you must explicitly map it to a
different drive letter within the Scheduler.

Access to Windows Network Resources

In contrast to NetWare resources, scheduled programs can access network resources by
UNC name without specifically defining those resources in the Scheduler, provided that:

You have scheduled the program to run under a valid user account.
The account has permission for the resource you are trying to use.

For example, your program can read the file "\\server\share1\somefile.txt"
even if you do not define this network resource in any way on the Network tab.

However, if your program needs to refer to the network resource using a drive letter,
the same restriction applies as for NetWare resources: if your program refers to the drive
by drive letter (e.g., F:), that drive must be mapped within the Scheduler. For example,
you can use the Windows Explorer (or some other mechanism) to map drive letter N: to the
NetWare drive \\server\share1. This mapping will be available to you during your
interactive session. However, if an application run by the Scheduler attempts to use drive
N:, it will report an error such as

Invalid Path or File Name

If your program needs access to \\server\share1, you must explicitly map it to a
different drive letter within the Scheduler.

K00000229: Using the Arcana Scheduler in a clustered environment

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

Although the Arcana Scheduler is not "cluster aware," it can be managed as a generic service in a clustered environment to provide a failover configuration.

Background

The Arcana Scheduler stores information about scheduled programs in a subdirectory named "schedules\1" under the Arcana Scheduler program directory.

User-defined holidays and security settings are stored in the Registry under key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Arcana Development\Arcana Scheduler" (note that the Arcana Scheduler online help gives the wrong location).

For more information on the data storage, see the "Technical Information" topic in the Arcana Scheduler online help index.

Arcana Scheduler Installation and Configuration

Because the directory where the Scheduler stores its files is not configurable and is always a subdirectory of the program's installation location, it is not possible to install the Arcana Scheduler locally on each node and have the Scheduler store configuration data on a shared storage device. Instead you must use one of the following approaches:

On each node, install the Arcana Scheduler software, selecting a directory on the shared storage device as the target for the installation. In this configuration, the two nodes will share both the program files and data files.
Install the software locally on each node, and use an external process to keep the configuration files synchronized between the two nodes.

In either case, after you have completed your initial configuration you will need to copy the necessary Registry settings between the two computers, if you have customized security or holiday settings.

Clustering Configuration

Using the operating system's cluster administration tools, configure the cluster to manage Arcana Scheduler as a generic service, so that Windows will start adTempus on the secondary node during failover.

Licensing

In an active/passive configuration (where the Arcana Scheduler will only be active on one node at a time), you are only required to purchase a single Arcana Scheduler license. You can use the same license file on both nodes of the cluster.

K00000199: Running a Microsoft Access macro

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

Using the proper command line parameters, you can tell Microsoft Access to open a database and execute a particular macro.

More Information

To start Microsoft Access, specify "msaccess.exe" (be sure to include the proper path to the executable) as the Application (Arcana Scheduler) or Target (adTempus).

For the Command-Line Parameters, use the following:

database /x macro

Where database is the complete path and name of the database, and macro is the name of the macro (be sure to enclose the macro name in quotation marks if it contains spaces or punctuation).

Note that you must include a "Quit" command in your macro (or equivalent code elsewhere) to close Microsoft Access when your macro finishes, or it will remain running.

Additional Command-Line Options

Consult the Microsoft Access Help file for information on additional command-line options that can be used to control Access. For example, if your database is password-protected, you will need to use the /user and /pwd options, and possibly the /wrkgrp option.

K00000219: Scheduler cannot terminate programs being run by a batch file

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Symptoms

If an Arcana Scheduler or adTempus job runs a batch file that in turn runs other programs, terminating the job in the scheduler only terminates the batch file. Any program(s) that the batch file has already started are not affected.

Cause

The scheduler only has control over the process that it starts, which in this case is the batch file. The scheduler does not have any information about the programs started by the batch file, and therefore cannot terminate them.

More Information

The same circumstance arises if the program run by the scheduler spawns another program to do part of its work.

Workaround

If you need for the scheduler to be able to monitor and control each program in a batch file, you must eliminate the batch file and have the scheduler run each program separately:

In Arcana Scheduler, create a separate job for each program, and link the jobs together (using options on the Actions page of the job's properties) to run the jobs in sequence.

In adTempus, create a separate step within the job for each program.

Status

adTempus
This behavior is by design.
Arcana Scheduler
This behavior is by design.

K00000218: Running a scheduled program every X days

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

The Arcana Scheduler does not have native support for running a program every X days. For example, there is no way to schedule a program to run every 10 days or every other week.

Using a script and the Arcana Scheduler API, however, it is possible to achieve the same effect.

More Information

The Arcana Scheduler API provides full programmatic control over the Scheduler, allowing you to change the the schedule for a program. Using the API it is therefore possible for the Scheduler to run a job that modifies its own schedule.

Download K00000218.zip and extract "adsxdays.vbs" to the Arcana Scheduler program directory (or any other convenient location). This script uses the API to change a job to run on the day that is X number of days from the current date. For example, if you run the script on February 1, it will reconfigure the job to run on February 15.

To use this script you must:

Schedule your job to run on the first day you want it to execute.
Use a batch file so that the Scheduler runs "adsxdays.vbs" in addition to your program.

Set the Initial Execution Date

To set the initial execution date, you need to set your program to run on a specified day in a specified month in a specified year, as shown in the following example. Also set the program to run at whatever time(s) on that day you wish.

Configure the Job to Run the Script

Suppose your Arcana Scheduler job originally ran the program "myprogram.exe". Instead of running "c:\programs\myprogram.exe" directly, you will change it to run a batch file that runs the adsxdays.vbs script and then runs your program. For example, change the "Application" from "c:\programs\myprogram.exe" to "c:\programs\runmyprogram.bat". Create "runmyprogram.bat" to appear as follows (assuming you want the job to run every 14 days):

cscript "c:\program files\arcana development\arcana scheduler\adsxdays.vbs" "Sample Job" 14
c:\programs\myprogram.exe

The adsxdays.vbs script requires two command-line parameters:

The name of the job to modify. The name is case-sensitive, so be sure to specify it exactly as it appears in the Scheduler. Also be sure to enclose the name in quotes if it contains spaces or punctuation.
The number of days in the future to schedule the job. If you specify "14", the job will be scheduled to run 14 days from the current date. Note that the schedule is always calculated based on the current date when the script runs, not on the last date the job was scheduled to run.

Test the Job

Now run your job from within the Scheduler. After it runs, display the job's properties again. You should see that the scheduled date has changed to the date two weeks from today.

Each time the job runs, it will reschedule itself.

K00000204: After upgrading to new version, existing configuration is not found if upgrade is installed to a new location

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Symptoms

After you install a new version of the Arcana Scheduler, your scheduled programs do not appear when you run the Schedule Administrator.

Cause

This problem can occur if you install the upgrade to a different directory than the previous installation. Due to a problem with the setup program, it always uses the default location ("c:\program files\arcana development\arcana scheduler") unless you change the location, even if the previous version was installed to a different location.

Resolution

To avoid the problem when installing the upgrade, be sure to install the upgrade to the same location as the previous version, if you installed the previous version to a location other than the default.

If you have already installed, there are two options:

If you want the software to be in the other location, uninstall it and rerun the setup. Choose the "Custom" installation type, which allows you to change the installation destination. After you reinstall to the "old" location, the Scheduler should find your previous configuration information.
If you do not care where the software is installed, you can copy your configuration information from the old location to the new. Locate the directory where the previous version was installed. Copy your license file (a file with the extension ".alc" and the "schedules" folder from the old directory to the new.

Now restart the Arcana Scheduler service and reconnect with the Schedule Administrator. Your scheduled programs should now appear. Select About from the Help menu and make sure your license information appears correctly. If it does not, double check that you copied the license file properly.

I02000022: Diagnosing e-mail notification problems

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:28:11 GMT

Summary

If e-mail notification is not working correctly, you can review a log file created by the Scheduler for diagnostic information. This log file can be viewed with any text editor (such as Notepad) and records a transcript of the conversation with the mail server.

If this log does not provide enough information for you to determine the problem, please contact us for assistance.

Locating the Log File

The procedure for locating the log file depends on the version of the Scheduler you are using. Please consult the appropriate section below for more information.

Versions Prior to 2.3

To enable logging of e-mail activity, run the Registry Editor and locate the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Arcana Scheduler\Configuration

To this key add a new DWORD value called "DebugMail" and set its value to 1.

Then use the Test option in the Configuration Editor to send a test message. The Scheduler will generate a log file called "adschedulermail.log" in the Arcana Scheduler program directory.

Versions 2.3.0.x, 2.3.1.x

A log file called "smtp.log" is automatically created in the "program files\arcana development\notification agent" directory.

Versions 2.3.2.x and Later

A log file called "adssmtp.log" is automatically created in the Arcana Scheduler program directory.

Common Problems

Common e-mail problems are discussed below.

User ID specified when not needed

Most SMTP servers DO NOT require (or accept) a user ID and password. If you have specified login credentials, try removing them. If the e-mail log shows an error (or ends) after the instruction "AUTH LOGIN", this indicates that you should remove the user ID. For example:

EasyMail SMTP version 5, 0, 0, 0
01/25/00 11:18:19   Opening Socket.
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Arcana Scheduler Knowledge Base

I02000059: Programs run by the scheduler are visible only to a user connected to the computer's "console" session

Summary

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Connecting to the Console Session

Running Programs in a User Session

Changes in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Later

I02000002: Interpreting "Unacceptable Return Code" or "Completed with Errors" messages

Summary

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Setting the Exit Code

See Also

I02000028: Diagnosing installation problems

Summary

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I02000049: All scheduled programs terminate immediately after being started, with a return code of 128

Summary

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Workaround

Status

B02000052: Refresh method of ActiveX API's ADSSession object does not work properly

Summary

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Status

I02000038: Using the Arcana Scheduler ActiveX API with DCOM

Summary

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K00000240: Scheduled programs fail with message "error occurred while loading the profile"

Symptoms

Cause

Resolution

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B02000040: One-time holidays are not saved correctly

Summary

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Status

B02000045: Error initializing user32.dll or kernel32.dll when running scheduled programs

Summary

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Workaround

Status

I02000057: Moving/copying Arcana Scheduler configuration information to another computer

Summary

Details

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K00000257: Impact of changes to daylight saving time

Introduction

Historical Data in adTempus

K00000242: Schedule Administrator and Configuration Editor fail on some systems with Data Execution Prevention enabled

Symptoms

Resolution

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K00000241: Connecting to the Arcana Scheduler through a firewall

I02000003: Providing scheduled programs with access to network drives

Summary

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System vs. User Account

Using Existing Network Drive Mappings

Mapping New Drive Letters

Access to NetWare Resources

Access to Windows Network Resources

K00000229: Using the Arcana Scheduler in a clustered environment

Summary

Background

Arcana Scheduler Installation and Configuration

Clustering Configuration

Licensing

K00000199: Running a Microsoft Access macro

Summary

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Additional Command-Line Options

K00000219: Scheduler cannot terminate programs being run by a batch file

Symptoms

Cause

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Workaround

Status

K00000218: Running a scheduled program every X days

Summary

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