How to use purge cache command

[Peter Heggie]

According to the manual, the purge cache command allows configuration cache to be refreshed after configuration changes are made.

In version 5.8.4 –

I issued a purge caches command in the GUI while a thread was running. From that time forward, until the nightly recycle, at least one and possibly several translates did not work correctly – the one I looked at most closely seemed to not have executed the very last line of logic (CONCAT of three temporary variables into an output field).

So messages were not lost, and were delivered, but one of the segments was missing a field. Approximately 99% of messages were processed this way (meaning that there were a few messages that were correctly translated).

I may have misinterpreted the use of the purge caches command – can it be invoked while a thread is running, with no ill-effect?

Which object types does it refresh (in memory)? I thought it was used for file configuration, lookup tables and translates. Even if it does not work for translates, could it have caused issues with translates?

Peter Heggie

Topic

[Craig Weldy]

I tend to only use the purge cache command when I have modified an entry in a lookup table and want the process to reread the table with the new entry.

If I make any other modifications to processes, threads, scripts or xlates, I always bounce the process.  Perhaps overkill but from past performance, that is how I use it.

I have never seen a situation where existing xlates where messed up through purging cache.  Unless of course you had added the last line and that was what you where trying to have take effect through purging the cache, then I would expect that which was added to not work.

Craig Weldy
Senior Interface Analyst
Beacon Health System
South Bend, In, 46615

[Peter Heggie]

I will be doing the same thing from now on – making sure no other object type has changed before running a purge cache command.

The translate I changed was not the one that acted as if the last line was chopped off.

When I get some time I may try to replicate the problem and try to check all translates for integrity, but that might be difficult to test. It may be more trouble than it is worth to determine how and in what order translates are loaded into memory, and verify that some of that was ‘stepped on’.

Peter

Peter Heggie

[Jim Kosloskey]

My understanding is the purge caches does not refresh the caches it purges them.

So the next time a reference is made to the cahed object (like a lookup table) the engine knows it must go load the file.

So if you did a purge caches and no message for a particular Xlate came in for a while and during that time someone was changing the Xlate but did not finish (but saved), then a message using that Xlate came through the not quite finished Xlate would be loaded and I suspect an issue could occur. Meanwhile the person working on that Xlate finishes their work and you look at the Xlate and it looks good – making one think purge caches did something wrong.

email: jim.kosloskey@jim-kosloskey.com 29+ years Cloverleaf, 59 years IT - old fart.

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