Trouble Shooting Tips/Assistance Requested

[SeanK]

I have an VB6 application, which connects to a SQL Server 2000 database, running on about 75 machines.

All machines are running XP with Server Pack 3 installed.

One machine, and only one machine, blows up at the beginning with "Can't create ActiveX object"

VB6 is not installed on this machine, so I can't tell exactly on what piece of code it is blowing up on (all this machine has is the .exe), but I suspect it is blowing up on the connecting to the SQL Server Database part as that is the very first thing that runs when the app executes.

A DSN for SQL Server is on the machine.

I realize that none of you can solve the problem for me, but I'm at a loss as to what to look at even. How would I go about trouble shooting this? Any pointers/direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

(The exact same installation and setup package was run on this machine as was run on the other 74 machines.)

[LaVolpe]

So you have a setup.exe for your application? If so, which packaging/installer did you use and did you have to decide what dependencies were included in the setup.exe or not?

[Siddharth Rout]

Sean, I would suggest (as I always do) Create a new setup package... but before you do, do an appropriate error handling. Ask the user to send you the snapshot of the error message that you get... And that will solve your problem

[Lenggries]

A brute force method would be to litter debug statements throughout the code (especially areas where you think it is crashing) and let it run. Find out between which debug statements your program crashes and it should help you narrow it down tremendously.

Note: not everyone is a fan of this technique, for many reasons, but it works for me.

[Siddharth Rout]

Even I like this method... Though I like using MSGBOX but you cannot do that when you are testing it at client side

[si_the_geek]

True, but what you can do is write it to a variable, and add that to your error handler.

In this situation however it is likely to not be any use, because there is a good chance that the error is occurring when the form is created (and thus a control being initialised), which you cannot handle properly.


As implied by LaVolpe, it seems to me that there is something missing in terms of the installation... presumably the other users have other software already installed which had the missing item(s).

As a short term measure I would recommend making a quick test app to run each part separately (perhaps just with MsgBox between each part) , so that you can narrow down the cause.

As a longer term solution I would recommend improving your error handling, to include the sub/function name and line number etc. This is fairly easy if you use the free MZTools addin (link in my signature). You can see a brief explanation of the method I use with it here.

[vb5prgrmr]

A quick check to see if something is missing is the check the OS service pack and see if the machine was missed...



Good Luck

[SeanK]

InstallShield is used as the installation and setup package. It is created by our deployment department. We (the developers) are not permitted to install anything on anyones machine.

In order to get something deployed I have to fill out an online request (intranet) and have it approved by my manager. The request is then put into a queue with other requests for processing. The installation currently on my 75 machines was sent to deployment in April...it got rolled out last week.

There is no such thing as a "quick" bug fix here. It takes 6 to 8 weeks to deployment a new release of any inhouse software.

Installation of anything on anyone's machine in the entire company requires admin priviledges, which no developer has.

The only thing I can deploy from machine to machine is something like an Excel spreadsheet or a Word document.

I do like the idea of adding sub/function names to my error handlers and I will do that (however, if I did that now, and sent it to deployment today, it would not reach my end users until at least the middle of August).

[SeanK]

I gave myself an idea from my last post.

I can put an Excel spreadsheet on other machines, so I created one that connects to my SQL Server. My suspicions were/are correct. The error occurs when attempting to connect, via ADO, to the SQL Server. Here is the code and I have highlighted the line which causes "Error 429 - ActiveX component can't create object"

Private Sub ConnectToDB()
        strConnection = "Provider=SQLOLEDB.1;Integrated Security=SSPI;" _
        & "Persist Security Info=False;Initial Catalog=XXXXXXXXXXX;" _
        & "Data Source=XXXXXXX"
 

Set adoCON = New ADODB.Connection
adoCON.ConnectionString = strConnection
adoCON.Open strConnection
End Sub

To answer any reference/variable questions, please remember this exact same piece of code is working on 74 machines and failing on just one, so, Yes...I do have a reference to ADO set and yes, the variables used are predeclared as Public in the declarations section.

Also, all 75 machines are running XP Professional with Service Pack 3 installed.

[vb5prgrmr]

Sounds like you may have to install a MDAC, which you can get from M$...



Good Luck

[si_the_geek]

Re-installing MDAC might be the answer, to check try running this:

Dim testCON as Object
Set testCON = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set testCON = Nothing

If that fails, you will need to re-install MDAC (link in my signature to download it, and an article in the DB FAQs which explains how to re-install it).

If it works, the issue is likely to be with the version of ADO that you have referenced not being apt for the machine - try creating a new Excel file on the machine and see which version(s) are listed in the references screen.

[SeanK]

Brilliant...it blew up on: Set testCON = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection"), and I got the exact same error message.

So, if I'm reading you correctly, I need to put in a request to get MDAC reinstalled on that machine, correct?

[si_the_geek]

I think so.

It certainly indicates that ADO (which is part of MDAC) is not installed/working correctly, so re-installing it would be the first thing that I would try - and I can't think of any alternative ways to deal with the issue.

[Lenggries]

So, if I'm reading you correctly, I need to put in a request to get MDAC reinstalled on that machine, correct?

Yes, and if I'm reading you correctly, it sounds like you should put in a request for a better deployment department as well