Official v4.7 Bugs Thread

[Steve Walmsley]

I think I have finally found the RaceSySurvey.Name bug! Thanks to Andrew for his database.

When I added the 'Real Stars' option, I also added a Fixed Name field to the System table so that real star systems would have a name that all races would use. This is created when a system is generated during a 'real stars' game and is blank in a normal game. If you enter a system that already exists but that you don't know about, the program checks to see if this is a real stars game. If it is, then the program gets the Fixed Name from the system table and uses that for your racial name for the system. If this isn't a real stars game then the program generates a name in the normal way.

The problem is that the check used at this point is as follows:

        If rsExistingSystem!FixedName = "" Then
            SystemName = GetSystemThemeName(SysRaceID, NameThemeID)
        Else
            SystemName = rsExistingSystem!FixedName
        End If

This looks innocent enough and I didn't spot anything untoward during a read through of the code. Unfortunately, the fixed name field in the database is set to null and that isn't the same as blank. So the code interprets the if statement as false and tries to set SystemName = rsExistingSystem!FixedName, which causes an error 94: invalid use of null.

SystemName can't accept that so it stays as a blank variable. Prior to v4.71, that blank variable was then passed to the piece of code that tries to setup the race record for that system in the RaceSysSurvey table. That table is set up not to accept a blank name for the system so it generates the error that RaceSysSurvey.Name cannot be a zero-length string and refuses to create the record. Everything else in the system is still setup and the system does exist. You just can't see it. Any ship that goes through that jump point will still exist as well but you won't be able to see that either.

The one item of good news is that in v4.71 I added the following line of code after the above section.

If SystemName = "" Then SystemName = "System " & rsExistingSystem!SystemNumber

This was because I suspected the problem was in this area somewhere. I just couldn't pin it down. This means the only effect of the bug in v4.71 or later is that the System will end up with a name like System ### where ### is the System Number. However, that still means that if this error appeared before v4.71, then your database will have one or more missing RaceSysSurvey records. If this is the case then you can either add the missing RaceSysSurvey record (I'll post how on here if anyone wants to try that), or send me the DB and I will add them and send it back. This make take a little longer depending on how many I get

For v4.76 onwards I changed the code to use a global variable that is set true/false for whether 'real stars' are being used. This is used in other parts of the program already but for some unfathomable reason I didn't use it here

Andrew - do you want me to fix this DB or do you have a more recent one?

Steve

[IanD]

Quite frequently I get this error when I add RL to exsisting projects or initiate a new one. Dosen't seem to cause any problem, click OK and it goes away.

Regards

[Andrew]

Andrew - do you want me to fix this DB or do you have a more recent one?

Steve

The one you have is my most recent so I would appreciate it if you could fix it. Thanks.

[Shinanygnz]

Error in ReloadMgFromPopulation
Error 3077 was generated by DAO.Recordset
Syntax error (missing operator) in expression

Seems to happen when I give a fleet containing docked parasite ships (gunboats in my case) a load ordnance from colony order

v4.75 I should add

Stephen

[ussdefiant (OP)]

Gah, managed to go and select a zip file from a location completely other than the one i was trying to send.
Correct file sent.

[Steve Walmsley]

However, that still means that if this error appeared before v4.71, then your database will have one or more missing RaceSysSurvey records. If this is the case then you can either add the missing RaceSysSurvey record (I'll post how on here if anyone wants to try that), or send me the DB and I will add them and send it back. This make take a little longer depending on how many I get

I have figured out a way for the program to fix itself without manual intervention. I have changed the existing data fix for NPR missiles in v4.76 into a more general data fix. The item on the Misc menu is now "v4.76 data corrections". It will look for systems for each race that have warp point survey records but not system survey records and then add new RaceSysSurvey records for those systems. That should fix the problem without needing to open the DB.

Steve

[Steve Walmsley]

However, that still means that if this error appeared before v4.71, then your database will have one or more missing RaceSysSurvey records. If this is the case then you can either add the missing RaceSysSurvey record (I'll post how on here if anyone wants to try that), or send me the DB and I will add them and send it back. This make take a little longer depending on how many I get . This has caused some errors that are preventing the galactic map being loaded. This is due I think to a bug in the jump point deletion code that has been fixed since v4.70. I'll try and sort them before sending back the DB. I'll also add some more code to the data correction to resolve the same problem in case anyone else deleted the jump points.

Steve

[Steve Walmsley]

Error in ReloadMgFromPopulation
Error 3077 was generated by DAO.Recordset
Syntax error (missing operator) in expression

Seems to happen when I give a fleet containing docked parasite ships (gunboats in my case) a load ordnance from colony order

v4.75 I should add

I can't find anything in the code that specifically relates to parasites so I am guessing it might be something relating to the parasites themselves. What happens if you try to reload the parasites when they are not in the hangar. What happens if you try to reload the mothership without the parasites?

Steve

[Steve Walmsley]

I have released v4.76. You can find it here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1833

Anyone with the RaceSysSurvey.Name problem should run the data fix as described in the patch notes. Andrew, it's probably quicker for you to do that than for me to send you back an updated DB

Steve

[Steve Walmsley]

I have found another yoyo, albeit a pretty rare one. It involved a situation where a small NPR geosurvey ship was being chased by some FACs. Because the 2000 ton survey ship was quite a lot smaller than the resolution of the FACs sensors, the detection range was only about five million kilometers. Due to the potential for interception the increments were shortened to 15 minutes by the existing code that looks out for this type of situation. That is usually granular enough for this situation without resorting to tiny increments. However, in this case because of the high speed of the FACs and the short distances involved and the order in which the ships were moving, the FACs were moving close to a thermal contact and identifiying it then moving away to open the range. Because of the short max range for their missiles against such a small target, that was enough to move them back out of active sensor range but not out of thermal sensor range, so they yoyoed. I have added a new check so that if a ship is within weapon range and has missiles and is intending to attack, the max increment length will be 60 seconds. This worked fine and the poor survey ship got blown away. I'll include this in v4.77 but I am not treating it as an emergency as it is a pretty rare situation.

Btw, one of the NPRs in my current campaign has discovered another very close by and they are really going at it. A lot of casualties on both sides. One has lost some shipyards though before it drove the other away from its homeworld so I think its days are numbered.

Steve

[Steve Walmsley]

Btw, one of the NPRs in my current campaign has discovered another very close by and they are really going at it. A lot of casualties on both sides. One has lost some shipyards though before it drove the other away from its homeworld so I think its days are numbered.

Bugs thread is not really the place to discuss this but I started so I'll finish

Steve

[Beersatron]

Btw, one of the NPRs in my current campaign has discovered another very close by and they are really going at it. A lot of casualties on both sides. One has lost some shipyards though before it drove the other away from its homeworld so I think its days are numbered.

Bugs thread is not really the place to discuss this but I started so I'll finish

Steve

Sounds sweet! Is this in the Second Chance Campaign and are you going to include it in the write up? Can you intervene? Either go in and help the weak NPR or wait in the shadows and then pounce and claim it and the stronger one when they have finished fighting? Any sign of troop transports?

How are you viewing this if you don't me asking?

[Steve Walmsley]

Sounds sweet! Is this in the Second Chance Campaign and are you going to include it in the write up? Can you intervene? Either go in and help the weak NPR or wait in the shadows and then pounce and claim it and the stronger one when they have finished fighting? Any sign of troop transports?

How are you viewing this if you don't me asking?

It is the Second Chance campaign. Unfortunately I cann't include it in the write-up, partly because I was just watching rather than writing about it but mainly because I have no contact with either NPR. I don't even know where they are in relation to me. After writing the above, it did occur to me that someone might ask how I was watching this so I suppose its time to make a confession. There is a way to view NPRs in Aurora called Designer Mode. It disables many of the pieces of code that prevent NPRs appearing in SM Mode. With designer mode active, you can log in as an NPR and view it as you would a player race. You can see maps, contacts, populations, designs, etc. You can't give orders to NPR ships or tell them what to shoot at because NPRs orders and combat decisions are recalculated in every increment.

There are two main reasons I haven't revealed this before and even now I am not sure it is a good idea

Steve

[Steve Walmsley]

The DDG (with eight escorts remaining) is now targeting four other bad guy NPR ships at 43m kilometers. Oh! I just noticed that plucky NPR still has a dozen FACs in the outer system that are rushing home. No Shipyards but not dead yet. More as it happens

More bad guy NPR ships just arrived in the system to avenge their comrades. Six 13,500 ton missile cruisers and fifteen DDGs. It's Kobyashi Maru I think.

Steve

[Beersatron]

The DDG (with eight escorts remaining) is now targeting four other bad guy NPR ships at 43m kilometers. Oh! I just noticed that plucky NPR still has a dozen FACs in the outer system that are rushing home. No Shipyards but not dead yet. More as it happens