Open Text has identified a scenario where certain application processes performed by Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition or by the FaxUtil client will fail. This issue is logged as RF-4516.
Systems Affected
- Open Text Fax Server (formerly RightFax) version 9.0, including all major Service Release and HotFix levels
- Open Text Fax Server (formerly RightFax) version 9.3, including all major Service Release and HotFix levels
Details
Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition (formerly Captaris RightFax) 9.3 and 9.0 were designed to process document handle values in the hexadecimal range of 0×02000000 to 0x02FFFFFF (decimal range 33554432 through 50331647).
Fax Server 9.0 and 9.3 store all of their data, including information on faxes, users, and dialing rules in a Microsoft SQL Server application database. With the introduction of the SQL database, the Documents.Handle value changed to an automatically incrementing Primary Key value with an Integer data type. The seed value was set to 0×02000000 (decimal 33554432) and the maximum value became 0x07FFFFFFF (decimal 2147483647).
If the document handle value exceeds 0x02FFFFFF, some application processes performed by the Fax Server Module (faxserv.exe) or by the FaxUtil client (fuw32.exe) will fail.
To determine the current handle value in the database, perform the following actions FROM THE SERVER:
1 – Create a new Fax in Faxutil and hold the fax for preview.
2 – Once the fax is ready, highlight the fax in Faxutil and press ALT-F10
3 – Take the Handle value (in this case 2006266) and convert from Hex to Decimal = 33579622
4 – Subtract this value from the maximum handle value, 50331647, and divide by 2 to determine the number of fax records that can be inserted in the database before the issue occurs. In our example, there is room for another 8,376,007 fax records. If we were creating 1000 fax records every day, we would not be affected by the problem for another 23 years.
Impact
This problem is expected to occur only in high-volume document processing environments. However, all environments may be affected.
If you are affected, the following issues may occur:
- Inbound documents will continue to be received correctly, fax images will continue to be processed to the image directory, and inbound documents table records will continue to be updated with the final document status. However, document transmission records will not be properly attached to the parent document record(s). When this occurs, the error message “RFX: Cannot add transmission record to fax.” will be recorded in the Application Log of the Fax Server.
- Outbound documents may continue to be sent as normal. However, the error message “DCX:Cannot add transmission record to fax: dbs=-6, dba=0x30016D1” will be recorded in the Application Log of the Fax Server.
- Outbound documents that are being sent when the maximum handle value threshold is reached may become stuck in a processing loop. This may result in the same document being resent repeatedly until manual intervention is taken.
- The Fax Server Module will not be able to process any further requests on document records. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Processing fax notifications
- Routing fax documents through email gateways, network directory, etc.
- Auto-printing fax documents
- Processing sent and received faxes for Fax Server EDC Module (XML Generator, MFP notifications, route to FileNet, etc.)
- Users will not be able to view fax document images from the FaxUtil desktop client any longer. When trying to view fax document images, the error message “Error -6 occurred while trying to load the images for the fax. The object handle is invalid” displays in a pop-up dialog box.
Solution
This issue is resolved in:
- Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition 9.4 and subsequent future releases
- Open Text official patch 65936.zip for Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition 9.0, including all major Service Packs, Feature Packs, and Hot Fixes
- Open Text official patch 65991.zip for Open Text Fax Server, RightFax Edition 9.3, including all major Feature Packs, and Service Releases
To obtain the patches referenced above, please contact us on 01962 835053 or email sales@processflows.co.uk
It should be viewed as a required upgrade to RightFax 10 installations, as it includes a number of important fixes which may be essential to the operating environment as well as a new feature. This includes:
