Error reporting in SQL Anywhere

When a fatal error or crash occurs and is detected by any of the following applications, an error report is created about what was happening at the time of the problem:

Interactive SQL (dbisql)
MobiLink Listener (dblsn)
MobiLink server (mlsrv12)
network server (dbsrv12)
personal server (dbeng12)
QAnywhere agent (qaagent)
SQL Anywhere client for MobiLink (dbmlsync)
SQL Anywhere Console utility (dbconsole)
SQL Remote (dbremote)
Sybase Central

The error report includes information such as the execution state of the threads at the time of the crash, so that iAnywhere Solutions is better able to diagnose the cause of the problem. By default, the error report is created in the diagnostic directory (specified by the SADIAGDIR environment variable), or if this location does not exist, it is created in the same directory as the database file.

Error report file names are composed as follows:

a prefix that identifies the application:

Application identifier	Application
LSN	Listener utility
MLC	MobiLink client
MLS	MobiLink server
QAA	QAnywhere agent
SA	Personal or network database server
SR	SQL Remote

a value indicating the software version
two fields linked with underscores that provide the timestamp for when the error report was created
the application identifier
the extension .mini_core

For example, SA12_20090620_133828_32116.mini_core is an error report from a SQL Anywhere version 12 database server from 2009/06/20, at 1:38:28 p.m., from process 32116.

During normal database server operation, diagnostic information is also recorded about the database server, such as how many CPUs are on the computer, whether hyperthreading is enabled, and what options were specified when the server was started. This information can also be submitted using dbsupport.

How SQL Anywhere software submits error reports and diagnostic information

After the database server successfully writes out error report information, it launches the Support utility (dbsupport) and passes it the name of the error report file to be submitted. By default, dbsupport attempts to prompt you to submit an error report when it is generated, but if dbsupport is unable to prompt you, then the report is not sent. iAnywhere encourages you to submit error reports when they occur. The report does not contain any information that identifies the sender.

Error reports and diagnostic information are uploaded to the iAnywhere Error Reporting web site via HTTP. This process saves you time by making it as convenient as possible to send relevant files to iAnywhere so that it is possible to diagnose and provide solutions to problems you encounter.

You can change the default behavior of dbsupport with the -cc option:

The following command configures dbsupport to submit error reports automatically without prompting the user:
dbsupport -cc autosubmit
The following command turns off automatic error report submission:
dbsupport -cc no

If you choose not to submit an error report, it remains in the diagnostic directory on your hard disk. The location of the diagnostic directory is specified by the SADIAGDIR environment variable. See SADIAGDIR environment variable.

You can view the list of error reports with the -lc option:

The following command generate a list of all crash reports that have not been submitted to iAnywhere Solutions:
dbsupport -lc

Submitting error reports to iAnywhere Solutions assists with diagnosing the cause of a fatal error or assertion. Once an error report is submitted, it is deleted from the computer where it was generated.

You can manually submit the error reports with the -sa, -sc or -sd option:

The following command submits all crash report and diagnostic information stored in the diagnostic directory to iAnywhere Solutions:
dbsupport -sa

You can also include comments and files with the error report by specifying the -ac and -af options, respectively.

dbsupport -sc SA12_20080901_113308_3360 -ac "The message.txt file provides more 
information about this error report." -af c:\scenario.txt -af c:\message.txt

Error reporting in SQL Anywhere

How SQL Anywhere software submits error reports and diagnostic information

See also