Bizarre things

Haven't posted in a while. Been too busy trying to fix things that shouldn't be broken in the first place.

The project I am on recently upgraded to Remedy Version 7.1 patch 4. We had previously done a lot of testing on our staging server with no issues. Soon after we upgraded the Production server, all manner of hell broke loose.

First, BMC changed the way Remedy handles the ARDBC LDAP plugin's date formats. In 6.03, dates coming from an Active Directory were handled correctly. For instance, if I used a Vendor table pointing to an AD class through the LDAP to search for records that had been recently modified, I could run a query like:

modifyTimestamp >= "2008/10/31 7:00:00 AM"

This, of course, would return all records modified since 7AM on the 31st. 6.03 converted that date into 20081031070000.0Z. Version 7.1 converted it to 20081031070000Z. Note the subtle difference. This would cause a No Matching Requests popup.

What I discovered is that I had to set a new field on the LDAP Configuration form called LDAP Date-Time Format to AD Generalized Time.

Our testing showed no problem since, as per usual, our staging environment can't link to the AD. So, we couldn't really test the LDAP. Fun, eh?

Mid Tier bug with IE

Interesting bug I discovered in Remedy's Mid Tier application which only occurs with IE (6.0.2800).

I have a field on a control panel into which I can type the last several numbers of a Request ID.

Clicking ENTER while the field has the focus cause Active Links to trigger on return. The code pads the numbers with the prefix of the Request ID and using the EXTERNAL keyword creates a qualification statement for a table field.

Then it refreshes the table field and the record is displayed. If I change the last number of the Request ID and again hit ENTER, the new record is displayed in the table field (on the USER TOOL at least).
However, in IE, if I hit ENTER that second time nothing happens. If I manually remove the prefix and hit ENTER it works.

I tried playing around with code, and created a final active link that has no qualification statement that simply triggers if I click ENTER while the field has the focus. A message is displayed:

Now, as I mentioned, If I change the last number to an 8 again, and hit ENTER, I don't get that message. Which means that the MID TIER is not interpreting a keystroke (ENTER key) when using IE. However, this works fine if I use Firefox (NOTE: I haven't tested IE 7.0 yet).

This is what I discovered. The field is 15 characters long. If there were 15 characters in the field, IE/Mid Tier would not interpret the ENTER keystroke. When I increased the field's data length to 16 characters , the ENTER keystroke was interpreted correctly!

To test this simply create a display-only form with one field (15 characters). Create an Active Link which triggers on return and displays a Message. Then open the form via IE and type in less than 15 characters. Click ENTER and view the message. Now fill the field with 15 characters. Hit ENTER again. Doesn't work!

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UPDATE: Apparently, this was a known bug fixed in patch 19. Why this bug wasn't listed in the Knowledge base I don't know.

Active Link Caching

Had an interesting problem with a lag on the load of a Control Panel. Noticed in the client-side database log that the Active Links for a form being referenced in a table field were being cached to the workstation. We thought this odd, since we weren't actually LOADING the form, just refreshing a table field that pointed to the form.

The official response from Remedy was that the Active Links are cached in order that a table double-click to open a record will do so smoothly and quickly (since the ALs have already been cached). What if I don't want that to happen (i.e. I would rather have the lag happen WHEN and IF they cause that form to open, NOT when they simply look at a record in a frikkin' table!).

How stupid is that?

Web Services

We have another odd bug with the Remedy ARS Web Services functionality. If we create a simple web service to create a record in a form (table), and consume it using SOAPSonar, we get a warning that there is an:

This is an unexpected token. The expected token is "SEMICOLON". Line 57, position 88

Followed by:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Odd since Remedy tech support recommended SOAPSonar as a web service testing tool.

However, the Web Service is consumed and works correctly. We can create a record and get the Request ID returned.

If we use VB.Net to build an application which consumes the Web Service, we can also successfully create a record in ARS. Unfortunately, we usually don't get a return value. There is no error, just nothing.

Since we cannot contact Remedy's Tech Support directly, we have to go through a third party support centre. They have asked for Logs which have shown nothing (we already knew that) and have claimed they cannot reproduce the problem. We thought that was odd, and asked them for a def file and VB code which they used to attempt to replicate the issue. Their answer: "They don't have the space to keep all the stuff around, so they deleted it". Snort.

So, we have no idea if Remedy has even been contacted regarding this issue, or whether someone is just blowing smoke up our asses.

Active Link Guide permissions

I am using version 6.03 Patch 18 of the ARS, and patch 16 of the Admin Tool. I believe any version of the Admin tool prior to and including patch 16 has this bug.

Ensure you have your default permissions set, specifically for Active Link guides for this issue. Create a new Active Link guide, name it, and select the form. DO NOT click on the Permissions tab. Add any number of Active Links to the guide, and save it and close it.

Now reopen the guide and look at the Permissions tab...no permissions. Fun, eh? Apparently, this has been fixed with Patch 17 (forthcoming) of the Admin tool.

The new BMC/Remedy support site

Well...if you have had any dealings with Remedy in the past, you will know that their support site was never the best in terms of layout or navigation. Unfortunately, it just got worse.

The first thing facing you when you first encounter the new support site is the following:



Clicking on Login gives you a normal looking Login screen, however, you no longer type in your User ID. Now it asks for your email address.

Once logged in, you are presented with this:



Choosing the Knowledge Base link under the heading Remedy and Marimba Heritage Customers opens the Advanced Search Knowledge Database page:



This is where it gets problematic. If all you want to do is search for, say, an issue with Active Link Guide permissions, you would think you just type in some keywords and off you go. Nope. Note the line in bold and italics that reads:

If no Product is selected, then the current Product List will be applied in the Search

So, what is meant by "...the current Product List..."? Here's the FIRST PAGE!:



Look at it! I mean, the list is hideous! The returned results aren't bad, but not as clean looking as they once were:



Note the absence of a version number? This is annoying. As well, when you search, you cannot choose the version number. In the section in the Search page there is a field to the right of the Product field in which you can select All Products or My Products List. Trust me, that option doesn't help.

I don't know what rationale BMC has for this, except for cost savings. Since it offers nothing to clients. Explore the site and you will see how terrible it is.

Introduction

I know there are a few sites out there dedicated to Remedy ARS (google has an ARS List group). But I felt there was room for a more informal, non-forum style site that would present problems, solutions, and examples.

My intent for this site is to provide ARS users/developers with a location in which they can get updates on current developments with the environment and certain tips and tricks as shared by myself and others.

Enjoy.