Does client network disconnect cause corruption?

[ken_s2007]

In FMS7 (or 8), when a client loses its network connection with a served database open (message: "Communication with the host was interrupted and could not be re-established. All affected windows will be closed."), is the database considered protected from corruption?

Ken

[Genx]

Not sure if this will help but...

[ken_s2007]

Genx, yes, thanks, I can see that the topic has been fairly heavily discussed there. Based on the second-hand references to what FMI says about it, for end-user textual data use (not a developer modifying the db), the chances of file corruption (excluding incomplete transactions, etc. which are, granted, not insignificant), are slim. Still, I'm curious as to how the corruption could possibly occur. Maybe it's too much into the bits to describe, I don't know.

Ken

[Genx]

Well, as far as i'm concerned it would only happen if the connection broke while data was being transmitted. But surely that would lead to that particular fields data corruption not corruption of the file... But then you have other issues e.g. if a recprd is opened and the connection breaks ... leaving the record in the open status --> though that has happened to me and the record is just un-edited, opens fine.

Anyway, i'm not sure anyone is really too certain about this topics, but ... just always keep backups.

[Wim Decorte]

Well, as far as i'm concerned it would only happen if the connection broke while data was being transmitted. But surely that would lead to that particular fields data corruption not corruption of the file...

Not directly but certainly indirectly. Say some weird ASCII characters got inserted into a field during a broken connection. Maybe next time you visit that record it causes FM to crash. Maybe when you're doing a modification to the database structure and the field needs to be indexed or you use the field in a calc. When it causes FM to crash at that point it may cause file structure corruption as a result of field data corruption...

[Genx]

Sigh, well despite all the discussions etc. in the other topic, the best you can do is have "virgin" backups of your file.. If worst comes to worst and the file does get corrupted, you can always restore it... Though if it is the data itself that was corrupted and that led the file to be corrupted... well...