Check-in Browse Query Window Suddenly Closes

[AjarnMark]

I have been able to solve the following problem with a reboot; however thought it worth documenting should it arise again, or should you want to research it.

This just started happening yesterday, and it only occurs when checking-in files from within Visual Studio (2008, Enhanced Client, on Windows XP).

After I make some changes to files in Visual Studio, which automatically causes those files to be checked-out, and I go to check them in within VS; I click on the Browse button to lookup the item it should be linked to. In the Browse Fortress Items window, I expand my Project, expand Queries, double-click on Open and the Browse Fortress Items window suddenly closes. I have also tried double-clicking on My Open and also Recent Updates. Every one causes the window to suddenly close without me being able to select an item. Also, after that has happened, if I close the Commit window and then try again, the next time I try to commit changes and the commit window opens, it appears to hang during the "Building Change Set" action as the status bar shows no progress and no list appears. I am on the List tab. Oddly, I CAN click the Cancel button to get back out of the window.

Everything was working fine until yesterday, and I cannot think of any configuration changes to my PC. It is still happening today after closing VS, the Fortress Client (sometimes I keep it open along with VS in order to access non-project files) and logging-off the machine. The close/logoff did reset back to the starting behavior, that is, the Commit window worked okay, but then the Browse Items window went haywire again, and then the Commit window had its problems again.

I am able to check-in my files and browse to an item just fine by using the Fortress Client, just not the VS integrated window. I did drop a project from this solution, renamed a folder in the Fortress Client, and re-did the Bindings, all of which worked fine, and I was still able to check things in via VS for a while. Cannot pinpoint any unusual action that occurred immediately before the failure.

Perhaps a red-herring, but one unusual event that occurred recently was a power outage while this PC was on overnight which terminated everything. I don't think that VS was open at the time, but frankly can't recall for sure. When I started the next day, I just turned on the PC and started working. All seemed to work fine until this popped up late in the day. I did not do any shutdown/reboots until just now, which has fixed the problem.

Here are the version details:
[12/9/2009 10:53:35 AM] Version Check: This Fortress client is version 2.0.1.18729
[12/9/2009 10:53:36 AM] Version Check: Your Fortress server is version 2.0.1.18729

Again, I have been able to resolve this problem with a reboot of my client machine, though, oddly, a simple Logout did NOT resolve it.

[lbauer]

Thanks for the info -- glad a reboot resolved it. Hard to say what happened when the power went out. Obviously things were in a half-baked state.

You might check to see if the Event Viewer or client side logs (vaultguiclient.txt in your Windows Temp directory) give you further clues.

[AjarnMark]

Thanks Linda.

Coincidentally, a few hours after I posted this, I suffered another power outage (just a blip, like last time, but enough to cut me off). This time, I know that Visual Studio was open. "Unfortunately" the problem did not immediately repeat itself. I am able to check-in code on that same project through the Visual Studio integrated approach. It would have been nice to run this down, but alas...

By the way, I have a VaultVsipClient.txt in my Local Settings\Temp folder, but it has nothing in there dated within the last several days. I have not found any VaultGuiClient.txt file on my system.

[lbauer]

By the way, I have a VaultVsipClient.txt in my Local Settings\Temp folder, but it has nothing in there dated within the last several days. I have not found any VaultGuiClient.txt file on my system.

Unless you have client side logging specifically enabled these logs are created only if there are errors. The types of errors you had may not specifically be related to Vault operations.

As a side note, you may want to think about investing in a battery backup for your machine, if your area is prone to power failures. A power failure/surge could cause damage to your machine,as well as your software.

[AjarnMark]

Strangely, it has happened again, a day later, but no new power failure... The computer was left on, but logged-out overnight. I also have had a lot of things running today, but with no problems other than the occasional bombing-out of IE which has happened in the past without causing any problem here. I'll look into turning on client logging to see what I can find.

Regarding the battery backup, I agree. We're not normally prone to outages, but I think the bitter cold may be causing problems. It's interesting that these are miniscule blips and not real outages, but that's just what my UPS should be protecting against. Obviously it's not working right, so that's one more thing to put on my to-do list.

[AjarnMark]

More odd details...

Using the Help system, I located the devenv.exe.config file and enabled logging for all classes. Then I started Visual Studio, opened the solution and edited a file (which caused a checkout, my usual practice). This time, when I got to the Browse Fortress Items window on check-in and double-clicked the My Open query for my project, it stalled a moment, then it closed the window without displaying any items and caused Visual Studio to crash (this is new behavior). I clicked the Send Report option and left the Restart checkbox checked. Visual Studio closed and reopened. I undid my checkout (reverted) then exited Visual Studio, reopened the devenv.exe.config file and turned off logging. I opened Visual Studio once again, made the same change to the same file as before, and this time when I went to the Browse Fortress Items on check-in and double-clicked the same My Open query, it worked and I was able to link my change to an Item and commit the change.

I looked for but did not find any log file other than something named dw.log.

[lbauer]

Since this has happened a few times, I'd suggest leaving client logging enabled and also enabling debug server logging in the Admin Web Client under Server Settings->Logging->Log Level. Check to make sure logging on the client side is working.

Then the next time this happens we can take a look at the debug logs. Note: these logs can become large, so if you don't get any errors, periodically delete them to free up space.

[AjarnMark]

OK, do I need to enable the VaultGuiClient log or just the devenv log? Remember that the problem only manifests itself when using Visual Studio to do the check-in and item linking. The Fortress Client continues to work even when the Visual Studio method is failing. And are there any particular classes that should be configured, or should I use the ALL setting?

By the way, is manually editing these .config files really the best way to turn this on? Or should I be using the Tools, Options window inside Visual Studio where, on the Source Control / Integration Options panel there is an Enable diagnostic logging checkbox?

[lbauer]

If you're using Visual Studio's Enhanced client integration, you can use the "Enable diagnostic logging" checkbox. The log file is called VaultVsipClient.txt and will be in your Windows temp directory (%temp%).

[AjarnMark]

OK, I have turned on the logging. Will Update here if it occurs again.

[lbauer]

If this happens again, send the logs zipped up to support at sourcegear.com, Attn: Linda. Please include a link to this forum post.

[AjarnMark]

Having same problem with window suddenly closing in Visual Studio 2005 with Enhanced Client. Log file sent via email with link to this thread.