Problem with drop down list after upgrade

[RMV]

We are currently at version 4.1.4. When we did that upgrade, the drop down list in the text boxes did not work in any of our applications. There was no list and users could not make a selection, which prevented many users from running their applications.

To fix it, we had to clear the cache on each computer scattered through out the building, then the drop down list worked.

Why did this happened and how I can make sure it doesn't happen after the next upgrade?

[Scott Klement]

Web browsers cache the things they download. This makes them run much faster, because they don't have to re-load stuff from the server repeatedly. This is a good thing, because without this performance would be extremely slow.

Profound UI has two major components. It has a JavaScript framework that is downloaded to the PC and run in the web browser, and it has a server-side component that interfaces with your RPG programs and with the IBM i operating system.

When you update Profound UI, the server-side stuff is immediately changed. The client-side stuff (the JavaScript framework) is updated on the server, but won't be re-downloaded to the client immediately... it'll wait until the cache expires on the client, and then will finally download it.

So, based on your description, it sounds like something changed in the way the server/client communicate with each other. When you updated, the server side was using the new version, but the client side was not because it was still using the cached version from before the update.

Normally, the cached version only lasts for an hour or so before it expires. My suggestion to you, therefore, is that you do your upgrades at the end of the day after everyone goes home for the night. That way, by the time they return in the morning, the cache will have expired. Or, if you run 24 hours a day, you might want to look for some other time when people might not use the system for awhile, where you can make the change and give people's browsers time to expire. (Maybe a weekend, or some other maintenance window?)

The current version of Profound UI is 4.6.7. It seems quite strange to me that you would update to 4.1.4 now. Perhaps I misunderstood... are you upgrading _from_ 4.1.4?

[RMV]

We updated to 4.1.4 quite a while ago, but that is when we had the cache problem. The only time no one is using the system is from late Saturday after noon until midnight Sunday.

So I did the update on a Sunday morning when no one was on the system for several hours and wouldn't be for another several hours. But when the users came in early Monday, that is when they had the cache problem. And through out the day, when anyone signed on to the system and tried to use a profound program, they had the cache problem that prevented any drop down list from working.

[Scott Klement]

This is strange. I haven't encountered this issue, before.

Do your users keep their browsers open when they are not using the PCs? Or do they close them and shut down the computer?

[RMV]

Yes, the majority of them do close the browser when not in use. Since this was done on a Sunday, many of the pc's would have been off also.

[Scott Klement]

Sorry, I haven't seen this before. Not sure what to tell you...