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Topic: Another day, another problem

Today's non-surprise is that the IMT is again failing to display correctly, with some similarities to the problem I reported a week or two back in two posts http://forums.nbn.org.uk/viewtopic.php?id=5688 and http://forums.nbn.org.uk/viewtopic.php?id=5692.

I really don't have the time to provide details again, although my rates are very reasonable so if you want me to take on a full-time post documenting problems, let me know.

These posts have so far been successfully ignored by anyone on the Gateway team, so perhaps it is also no surprise that no solution has been applied.

M.

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Re: Another day, another problem

Hi Murdo, firstly I apologise for the lack of response from this side of the fence, I could go on about how we are busy, but we should still respond to the forum in a somewhat timely manner even when this is the case.

I may not respond to everything but I am looking at posts on the forum when they pop up, these two issues you have brought up in the past are very likely to have been related to an issue with one of our database warehouses providing inconsistent results. I have taken it out of circulation several times due to this adding it back in when the problem was resolved but it has kept coming back and so it has now been removed permanently now pending a rebuild of that server.

This happened last week, but I cannot recreate these problems as you describe them in both of those threads looking at Agalma elegans I find a map with records displayed on it just fine and I have also not experienced pink squares from the IMT for a long time now, if you are getting consistent pink squares during use please try and capture the response from the server (Pink squares are displayed when the server does not return an image, usually it will send you an XML file which will contain the actual error you are seeing) you can grab them using the developer console to record the connections made to the gateway servers (F12 in chrome and most other browsers, usually has a network tab which records the requests/responses).

I am sure you can appreciate that it is difficult to respond to a problem that I cannot recreate and would request further details in the form of something that I can action,

1 - What where you doing exactly, I need an exact path that recreates what you are seeing, preferably with urls, screenshots, supporting files from responses, etc... so I can look at the responses and visual data where possible
2 - What exactly do you expect to see
3 - When did this happen

Matt

Matt Debont
Application Developer
Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough PE1 1JY, UK

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Re: Another day, another problem

Thanks, Matt.  A quick response would in future be appreciated, even if only to indicate that someone had noted the problem.

You will understand, I am sure, that I am also quite busy, especially when flaws in the Gateway make what should be quick tasks a lot slower.  So I am not willing donate my time to describe in detail the problems, especially when, as is often the case, the problems are not even consistent on my laptop from one page refresh to the next within a few seconds.

The testing should have been done over a year ago by others.  I think that on reflection even you would consider it unreasonable that I note in advance all the actions I take on the off-chance that a particular error arises, and then provide all the screenshots and error dumps that you ask for - when actually I have other priorities in my life.

It is obvious that the technology behind the Gateway is unstable, so the problem is at your end, either in the software or the hardware or both, you have had plenty pointers over the past year to where the problems are, and it is up to you and your colleagues to identify them.

Incidentally, I have not been 'getting consistent pink squares' in the IMT.  It happened once in a series of apparently random displays that changed with every refresh, and when they showed up I came to the sensible decision that I could fritter away my remaining time on the planet in other far less stressful ways, and employed other means to carry out the task that I had in front of me.

M.