This document describes how to run CHKACCTS, a utility program designed to check the integrity of each account data file in the Escape database, as well as the relationship between the various account data files. This will read and report errors in all files, including accounts, account balance, account index and extract files, and account key files. It will check for duplicate account and link numbers.
Escape recommends running this utility on a weekly basis and more often if any users receive error messages regarding missing account link #'s, etc.
It will NOT automatically correct problems, but is a diagnostic tool, used by System Managers and Escape Customer Care.
This utility should reside in \ESCAPE\UTIL folder and can be run anytime with users in the Escape database. In order to run the utility, you will need rights to the \ESCAPE\UTIL folder. It can be run from the DOS prompt, batch file or icon.
Users can be signed in while the utility is running. You should not notice any network speed degradation while this utility is running. It will report progress both on screen and in an error log, that can be viewed with any text editor or printed to the printer.
All Escape Finance utilities, software and documentation are located on our FTP site area and can be downloaded from there.
The following files are checked and cross-checked with one another:
This is the master account file. It contains large records of 1,536 bytes each in length. It contains the account #, account link #, ALL balance fields and all 6 account key values. Even if all other files are corrupted or deleted, if this file exists intact, you will be able to rebuild your account database. (As accounts are created, the ACCTBALS file is added to first.)
This file is used as an account link # key. It is where the account link # key is stored, as well as the account balance record #. Basically, it is used by Escape software to find account number by link # and is a direct link to the ACCTBALS.DFF and ACCTXTS.DFF files.
This file is the account extract file, containing small records of 128 bytes each in length. Each record contains the Account #, Account Type, Restricted Flag, Expirations Date, PERS Disallow flag and Account Alias #. It is mainly used by the Budget Adoption process.
This file's purpose is for account # verification. It is opened when adding and editing accounts. It contains the Account Link #, Key value and balance disk address. It is also used when you sort lists or reports by account #.
This file contains the link number from the Account record.
These files are used when sorting accounts - in lookups and lists. Once the user picks a key to sort by, the software opens the appropriate account key files.
You can run CHKACCTS from the DOS prompt or you can schedule it to run after hours using a batch file.
You can run the CHKACCTS program using a batch file with parameters that allow you to specify a starting fiscal year; ending fiscal year (will default to the beginning fiscal year), and starting account base link #. The following is an example that runs CHKACCTS for fiscal year 2003-2004 with a base link number of 1:
CHKACCTS 2004;2004;1
From a DOS prompt, change to the \ESCAPE\COMMON directory and type:
\ESCAPE\UTIL\CHKACCTS and press ENTER.
Your screen will turn black and in the bottom left, you will be prompted for a starting fiscal year. Enter the fiscal year of the account data files that you wish to check. Then press ENTER.
You will be prompted for the Ending Fiscal Year. If you are only checking one year, enter the same and press ENTER.
When "Base?" appears, the value will default to "1". Unless the starting sequence value in the Account Link # sequence record is a value other than a "1," you should let it default.
NOTE: If you need help verifying the sequence record setup, please consult with Escape Customer Care.
For example, if you wish to check only FY 2003/2004, enter 2004 in Starting Fyr and Ending FYr. Your screen will look like this:
Starting FYr? 2004 Ending FYr? 2004 Base? 1
The process will start immediately when you press ENTER!
CHKACCTS immediately displays a log on screen to report it's progress, as below.
************************************************************* Started CHKACCTS.EXE running 1/26/04 at 1:27PM for fiscal year 2004, base #1 ************************************************************** Link # 0: Cross Checking AcctNdx file Link # 0: Read: 1 Errors: 0 Link # 0: Read: 582 Errors: 0 Link # 721: Read: 721 Errors: 0 Link # 824: Read: 824 Errors: 0 Link # 931: Read: 931 Errors: 0
If you only see messages like the ones above - with zero errors being reported, your accounts database is in good shape.
The log that you see displayed on screen is also added to a file CHKACCTS.ERR in the sub-directory for the fiscal year you have chosen. In this case, it would be \ESCAPE\2004\CHKACCTS.ERR.
CHKACCTS reports its progress every minute. As you can see by the samples, the program reports the link # for the account it is checking, how many accounts it has read and the number of errors it has found. (Don't worry if you see Link #0 when the program starts to read through a file. It does not indicate that an account has an illegal link # of zero.)
If errors occur, they might look like the samples below:
Link # 15732: AcctKey: Stranded Account Key record. L:\ESCAPE\2004\ACCTNUMS.DAT Link # 10114: AcctBal: Ext_Disk_Rec #961153 does not match AcctNdx Ext_Disk_Rec #961025 Link # 10115: AcctExts file is out of sync with AcctNdx file. Please notify Escape System Link # 10115: Manager immediately. Link #10115 vs. #10114 (M:\ESCAPE\2000\ACCTEXTS.DFF)
The error log, CHKACCTS.ERR is appended to each time the program is run. So, you can edit the CHKACCTS.ERR file using any text editor, such as MS NOTEPAD. Then, search for the date that you started the program running. From there, you can page through the file, looking for any errors. Since the error log is appended to each time that the utility is run, you may wish to rename it or delete it every so often.
Once the utility is finished running, please send the CHKACCTS.ERR to Escape Customer Care. They will review it and work with you to make all the necessary corrections to your data. Normally, errors can be corrected by rebuilding account keys or index files from a menu choice in the Chart module.