Knowledge Base

FIX: DDCONV Causes GP Fault During Database Conversion

Article ID: 156451

Article Last Modified on 8/9/2006

APPLIES TO

This article was previously published under Q156451

SYMPTOMS

When you use DDCONV.EXE in an attempt to convert your SourceSafe 3.x database to the Visual SourceSafe 4.0 format, a General Protection Fault may occur.

When DDCONV.EXE is run against the database, it generates a file called DDCERR.LOG. This file contains an informational list of the actions performed by DDCONV.EXE and includes references to any problems encountered during the upgrade.

This article contains information on the following problem:

  • You are receiving a General Protection Fault when running DDCONV.EXE.
  • The last entry in the DDCERR.LOG file reads:

    File <filename>.<a or b> not found

where <filename> is any 8-character filename with an extension of .a or .b.

CAUSE

Each file or project in a SourceSafe database is represented as a "file pair" within the database itself. For example, information on the root project ($/) of a SourceSafe database is stored in the file AAAAAAAA, called the log file, and AAAAAAAA.A (or .B), called the data file. If you were to add a new file to an empty SourceSafe database, it would be stored internally as BAAAAAAA and BAAAAAAA.A (or .B).

NOTE: The file extension will alternate between .A and .B each time the file is modified or labeled.

If the data file for a Project is moved or deleted and you attempt to run DDCONV.EXE against the database, a General Protection Fault will occur.

WORKAROUND

You may use the DDCERR.LOG file to identify the physical file name that is generating the error. From this point, any of three approaches may be used to fix the problem:

  1. Delete the offending log file for which no data file exists. This may cause data loss, but, if the data file is missing, it is already inaccessible from SourceSafe.
  2. Recover the file pair (both the data and the log file) from a backup copy of the database.
  3. Microsoft has provided a new version of DDCONV.EXE that prevents the General Protection Fault from occurring.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem has been fixed in Visual SourceSafe 5.0.

MORE INFORMATION

Step-by-Step Example

The following procedure describes how to upgrade your SourceSafe database when using this new version of DDCONV:

  1. Copy your SourceSafe 3.1 database, including the Data directory and all of its subdirectories, to a new directory. Or, you can make a backup copy to a tape drive.
  2. Make a backup copy of the \USERS directory, the SS\SRCSAFE.INI file, and the SS\USERS.TXT file.
  3. Run DDCONV.EXE against the database using the following syntax:

    DDCONV <path to database>

  4. Install the server version of Visual SourceSafe 4.0a to a new, empty directory. Do not point to your SourceSafe 3.x location.
  5. After the Visual SourceSafe installation is complete, verify that it is version 4.0a by choosing About from the Help menu. Version 4.0a is required for this procedure.
  6. Copy the VSS\DATA\VERSION.DAT file from the Visual SourceSafe 4.0a installation to a temporary location outside of the SourceSafe directory structure.
  7. Delete the VSS\DATA directory and all of its subdirectories from the Visual SourceSafe installation.
  8. Copy the converted SourceSafe Data directory, from step 3 above, to the Visual SourceSafe installation.
  9. Copy the backed-up VERSION.DAT file, from step 4 above, to the new VSS\DATA directory, overwriting the existing file.
  10. Delete the VSS\USERS directory, the VSS\USERS.TXT file, and the VSS\SRCSAFE.INI file from the new Visual SourceSafe installation.
  11. Copy the SS\USERS directory, the SS\USERS.TXT file, and the SS\SRCSAFE.INI file, from step 2 above, to the new Visual SourceSafe directory.
  12. Run ANALYZE.EXE against the database to correct any remaining problems in the database files using the following syntax:

    ANALYZE <path to data directory> -f

NOTE: It may be necessary to run ANALYZE against the database more than once. Each time ANALYZE is run, it will create an output file called ANALYZE.LOG that contains a description of the errors it encountered. ANALYZE should be run until two successive LOG files are identical. For additional information on ANALYZE, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

190881 SAMPLE: Analyze6.exe Utility for Visual SourceSafe

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Create a new, empty SourceSafe 3.x database.
  2. Switch to or start SourceSafe 3.x Explorer, and add a new project.
  3. Close SourceSafe.
  4. Switch to File Manager or the Windows Explorer and delete the following file:

    <path to SourceSafe Database>\SS\DATA\BAAAAAAA.A

  5. Run DDCONV.EXE against the database. Note that a General Protection Fault occurs and that the last entry in DDCERR.LOG is:

    File BAAAAAAA.A not found

  6. Delete the file BAAAAAAA and rerun DDCONV.EXE. Note that the process completes successfully.

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbssafe500fix KB156451


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