White Papers: PSQL/Zen Maintenance and Troubleshooting

By: Bill Bach

This page contains white papers created by Goldstar Software Inc. which cover issues related to maintaining and troubleshooting the Pervasive database.

These documents are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Can't open them? Get the Acrobat Reader.

Btrieve Data File Maintenance
What does it take to recover corrupted Btrieve data files? This excerpt from our first Service & Support class covers most of the basics for you! (Updated April 2010)
Note: If you have valid files and you just want to rebuild them to reclaim deleted space, please see the paper below.

Rebuilding Zen (PSQL) Database Files
Rebuilding files to the latest file format can often provide substantial performance and stability gains. Here's how to do it! (Updated November 2018)
Note: If you have corrupted files in need of recovery, please see the paper above on Data File Maintenance.

Using the Online Database Defragmenter
In addition to rebuilding, PSQL v12 offers the Online Database Defragmenter (ODD) to reclaim unused space while your system is life. Here's how to use this new tool! (Released December 2015)

Pervasive PSQL Startup Process
This article explains what the startup process should look like on a client/server system connecting to a remote server for the first time. (Updated September 2011)

Grabbing a Windows Memory Dump with ProcDump (New)
This paper discusses how to get a memory dump of the database engine process on Windows Servers. (Updated January 2023)

Grabbing a Windows Memory Dump with UserDump (Old)
This paper discusses how to get a memory dump of the Pervasive database process on Windows Servers using the older UserDump tool. (Updated December 2006)

Obtaining an MKDE Trace to Troubleshoot a Failing Application
This paper discusses how to get a Microkernel Database Engine trace to show the exact point at which an application fails. Having a valid trace leads to quicker resolution of problems you may encounter. (Updated February 2021)

Capturing Network Traffic With Wireshark
This paper discusses how to use Wireshark to get a network trace of your failing environment. Having such a trace can lead to quicker resolution of problems you may encounter. (Updated August 2018)

Capturing Network Traffic With Windows Tools
This paper discusses how to use the tools built into the newer Windows operating systems, which can eliminate the need to install Wireshark on most systems. (Released February 2024)

Capturing Data With Process Monitor
This paper discusses how to use Process Monitor (ProcMon) to get a trace of your environment's registry and disk accesses, which can help assess issues with both functionality and performance. (Released April 2021)

Capturing Data With Performance Monitor
This paper discusses how to use Performance Monitor (PerfMon) to capture performance metrics and counters within your server (or workstation) to understand what is occurring inside, and to hopefully identify the most obvious bottleneck in the environment. (Released January 2022)

Using the PSQL Debug Requesters
This paper details how to activate the Debug Requesters (also known as the Trace Requesters), used to analyze client-side issues. (Updated February 2023)

Using the Trace Requesters in Zen v15.10 and Above
This paper details how to activate client-side Tracing within Actian Zen v15.10 and above (which differs from v15.00 and earlier). (Updated February 2023)

Understanding Server Memory Counters
This paper discusses the various server memory counters available in Windows, and how to find them out for your environment. This infomration is critical knowledge to have before reading the next paper. (Updated September 2010)

Interpreting Server Memory Counters
This paper expands on the above by showing you how to interpret the various server memory counters which can impact the performance and stability of your database engine. (Updated September 2010)

Capturing Virtual Bytes to a Log File (And Graphing it in Excel)
This paper details the process for collecting a single Performance Monitor counter (such as Virtual Bytes) from an active server, and then details a process to quickly graph the results to help analyze the resulting data. (Updated September 2010)

Problems Caused by Windows 10 Release 1803
Microsoft broke quite a few things in their Windows 10 Release 1803 patch. Check out this paper to see if you are being impacted by this issue. (Updated June 2018)