Server crash for Batch Context Generator generator-type node

Symptoms

When Batch Context Generator generator-type nodes are used in real-time by executing project configurations, the server may crash, and have to be restarted.

This can happen when a generator-type node is changed or cleared while an executing project configuration is using it.

It is also possible, although not common, for a crash to occur without user-interaction when the node is used by executing project configurations.

This affects SIMCA-online 17.0 and 17.0.1.

More information

When the server is restarted, following the crash, active batches are caught up to the previous state.

To know what the server was doing right before the crash, see the server log. The server log also contains information where to find the automatically created dump file, which can be shared with support for further assistance. A dump file may not be created in all crashes. See Making use of SIMCA®-online server logging for finding problems (Q742).

The System Audit Trail will also contain events that show if a user was changing the Batch Context Generator right before the crash.

Workaround

If the crash is caused by changing a Batch Context Generator generator-type node right before the crash, then this can be avoided by stopping execution for all project configurations that are using a node before making changes to it.

If the crash is random without prior interaction, there is no workaround when generator-type nodes are used.

Status

This is fixed in SIMCA-online 17.0.2.