Re: ACR 900 and INV900 failed -- BPCS-L

We are BPCS 405 CD Mixed Mode AS400.
Our end month check list includes a backup before any EOM related updates
have run.  We have needed to go back to that backup perhaps once every two
years when something goes wrong, usually with INV900 but this month with
SFC905.
There have been times I have suggested ANOTHER backup after EOM gets
successfully completed.

INV900 fails for us primarily due to it being klutz-friendly ... some problem
develops with the tape media & there is no option to abort this tape &
initialize a different one ... we are locked into the tape failure & only
option is to kill INV900 after it has updated God knows what & not finished
what ... someone takes a wrong reply to a prompt & there is no exit from hell
... or we tell people DO NOT SIGN ONTO BPCS until _____ is finished, so
people sign on to see if it is finished, and the act of going to BPCSMENU
does some kind of lock on files that INV900 needs & it locks up ... now
klutz-2 kills the wrong job.

Years ago when we were on multiple concurrent environments and had to do
end-month on each & every one independently, using check lists that had a few
variations by environment, I had a collegue who lost track of which sign on
session was which environment, and did one set of steps twice in one
environment & totally skipped in another.  I showed him the way to avoid that
in future is to wrote session-id on the top of the check list for each
environment & when session ids have # on end, to use #s that synchronize with
how environments are named, to further avoid confusion.

When things go wrong, most people say "I was only doing my job.  I did
nothing different than usual." but most people do not self-notice a keying
error.  For something as critical as end-month, physical inventory, etc.
perhaps extra logging wise as a precaution, so we can rapidly trace what
happened if something does go wrong.

This month SFC905 wrote off 100% of FLT records, except for 2 error records
dated in the future.  I recovered FLT from the backup.  I have not yet done
the analysis of what the bug is in SFC901 ... Fri nite the name of my game
was minimum damage & let the user good times roll.

>  Hell!!
>  We are on BPCS 6.1.01, Mixed mode on AS400
>  As part of our month end activity, we run ACR900
>  program, which rolls up month to date in year to date
>  sale and clears MTD sales.
>  Similarly, we run INV903, to roll month to date
>  receipt issues ,adjustment, to make opening of next
>  month.
>  We are doing this practice from years successfully.
>  This month, both program are not doing the job. No
>  error message, spool file has zero record printed,
>  with no error message.
>
>  Any idea, what could cause problem????
>  Thanks for any help!!

MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)
BPCS 405 CD Manager / Programmer @ Global Wire Technologies Incorporated
http://www.globalwiretechnologies.com = new name same quality wire
engineering company: fax # 812-424-6838