CLIPPER 5.0 SUPPORT BULLETIN #8

BULLETIN REVISED: 22nd Jan, 1992

PRODUCT: Clipper 5.0

AFFECTED VERSIONS: 5.01

SUBJECT: Solutions to Open Error (4)


Open Error (4) means that not enough file handles were available
for the operation being performed.  The following are some things
to try in order to eliminate the problem.


1. Check the version of DOS you're using.  Versions of DOS lower
than 3.3 allow a maximum of 20 file handles.  This figure can be
increased by using a utility such as HANDLES.OBJ, which can be
found on NANFORUM on CompuServe.

2. Check the setting of the FILES parameter in your Config.Sys
file, and increase it if necessary.

3. Check the setting of the F parameter in your CLIPPER
environment variable.  This should be the same as the setting of
the FILES parameter in your Config.Sys file.  If you are using DOS
3.3, the F parameter should be set to an odd number.  Due to an
anomaly in this version of the operating system, 64K of memory is
wasted if an even number is used (see PC Tech Journal, April 1988,
Page 162).

4. If you're in a network environment, increase the number of
file handles allocated to the workstation experiencing the error.

5. If you're using DOS 4, the problem may be that the /F
parameter of the SHARE command is not set to a large enough
figure.  Try increasing it as follows: SHARE /F:10000	(bytes)


ADDITIONAL NOTES

If the file server on a Novell network uses all its available file
handles, requesting another handle will result in an Open Error
(5) rather than Open Error (4).  If you experience an Open Error
(5) and think this may be the cause, look at the statistics area
of FCONSOLE.  You will see the maximum number of handles allowed,
the maximum currently open, and most importantly, the maximum ever
reached.


The Virtual Memory Manager will use one file handle if it needs to
write information to disk.  The Dynamic Overlay Manager uses two
handles by default, and if static overlays are present, the Static
Overlay Manager uses one handle.  If you're experiencing an Open
Error (4), be sure to include these allocations when calculating
the number of file handles your application is using.


If you have insufficient control over your users' environments to
stipulate the setting of the FILES parameter in Config.Sys, you
may need to check the number of file handles available before
opening a file.  This can be achieved by use of the following
code:

/***
*  Handles( nToCheck ) --> number of handles opened
*  Function to check the number of file handles used.
*  Copyright (c) 1990-1991 Nantucket Corp.  All rights reserved.
*  Scott McIntosh
*
*  NOTE: Compile with /N /W /A
*
*  If a number is passed, this function tests to see if that
*    number of files can be opened.
*  If no number is passed, the function returns the maximum
*    number of files that can be opened.
*/

FUNCTION Handles( nToCheck )

   LOCAL nOpened, nClosed, nHandle, aHandles := {}

   // If no parameter is passed, try to open all 250 handles
   nToCheck := IF( nToCheck == NIL, 250, nToCheck )

   FOR nOpened := 1 TO nToCheck

      // Open the NUL device--it only fails if there is no handle
      nHandle := FOPEN("NUL")

      /// If nHandle is -1, FOPEN() failed
      IF nHandle == -1
         EXIT
      ENDIF

      // Store handles in an array so we can close them later
      AADD( aHandles, nHandle )

   NEXT

   // nOpened has already incremented, so decrement it
   nOpened--


   FOR nClosed := 1 TO nOpened
      FCLOSE( aHandles[nClosed] )
   NEXT

RETURN (nOpened)




// Sample usage of Handles function:
PROCEDURE Test

   CLS
   ? Handles()               // Total number of file handles
available

   // Can we open 15 handles? (faster than opening ALL handles)
   IF (Handles( 15 ) == 15)
      ? "We have at least 15 file handles left..."
   ENDIF

QUIT


END: CLIPPER 5.0 SUPPORT BULLETIN #8