Blight

Lovely Help

Sometimes computer stuff doesn't work the first time (I know I'm being generous with the "sometimes", but let's go on), and then you get a nice stream of text explaining the deal. Maybe it is an error code you need to look up, maybe it is as simple as a short summary telling you how to run that command you just tried to run.

Alternatively you get this:

put routine from availreceipts.spa owner db2inst1 use registers
SQL0443N Routine "*OUTINE_SAR" (specific name "") has returned an error
SQLSTATE with diagnostic text "-970,55009,
/home/db2inst1/sqllib/function/routine/sqlproc". SQLSTATE=38000

And you diligently look up the error code for more information...

I think the result is best summed up in this online conversation:

Co-Worker: i like this db2 IBM help:

User Response:
The user will need to understand the meaning of the error. See your Database Administrator, or the author of the routine.

Blight: lol
Blight: I got three letters for that
Blight: two are the same
Blight: the first letter is different than the last two
Blight: and it starts with ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Co-Worker: haha

Yes, it would be funny, but we're really laughing in pain because we would actually really like to know what the error was so that we could continue.

EDIT: Ok so there was a pretty fast happy ending to this tale of tragedy and torment. After talking with our friendly neighbourhood support people, someone mentioned looking at the db2diag.log file. Something that would give us more information than the filtered (watered down) version that we were getting indirectly through our application server.

Sure enough, I see this little gem:

PID:26418 TID:1 Node:000 Title: SQL procedure initialization:
0xD4667850 : 696E 616E 6365 206F 776E 6572 2064 instance owner d
0xD4667860 : 6F65 6E6F 7420 6265 6C6F 6E67 2074 oes not belong t
0xD4667870 : 6F20 6E63 6564 2075 7365 7227 7320 o fenced user's
0xD4667880 : 7072 3434 6172 7920 6772 6F75 70 primary group

The problem was that someone neglected to follow one of the myriad set of steps in the installation guide. That would explain it eh? Well after adding the instance owner to the fenced user's primary group, and restarting the db2 server.... PRESTO, it works!

posted by Blight @ 2:34 PM