During
the week of October 13th 2003, Microsoft released Hotfix
KB824141 as an automated update for Windows XP Home and
Professional Editions. In the process, this Hotfix breaks
all 4th Dimension based applications, of which Eclipse
Service Management Software is built on. We are waiting
for a correction to this problem to be issued by Microsoft,
and 4D Inc., the makers of 4th Dimension have assured
us that they will be releasing an update to their software,
which will allow us to issue an update to Eclipse, that
will avoid this problem. This update may take a number
of weeks before it can be released to clients covered
by Software Support & Update Agreements, however.
The
problem manifests itself most noticeably in blank Windows
opening up during the operation of Eclipse, as shown below:
This
will stop Eclipse from operating correctly and is caused
by a problem in the Windows operating system.
How to fix this
Although
Microsoft have admitted that they have broken MANY third
party applications with this fix, they have neglected
to re-engineer it. Unfortunately also any previous attempt
to remove their hot-fix appears to be overridden by future
forced software updates from Microsoft. Therefore we have
been forced to update our software accordingly. Big
thanks to 4D Inc. for their assistance in this.
Versions
4.15 and later of Eclipse fix this problem, however
there are differences in the way that you have to implement
this fix depending on whether you are running Single User
or Multi User Eclipse systems. See below for complete
instructions on fixing this.
Single
User Eclipse Systems
This
is a pretty easy fix. You will need to upgrade to the
4.15 or later version of Eclipse. Once upgraded, this
problem disappears. To obtain the update, you can login
to the Files section by Clicking on the SUPPORT
button and then selecting FILES at www.eclipseservice.com
(or simply click on the SUPPORT
button on the left panel of this web page). Download the
update, backup your current system first (IMPORTANT) and
then install. When you run Eclipse from then on, you will
be updated to the latest version and this problem should
disappear.
Multi-User
Eclipse Systems
Unfortunately
the problem here isn't just in the software, but is mainly
in the 4D Client software running on the Windows workstations
on your network. Therefore although we recommend updating
your Eclipse system to the latest version, this is not
mandatory for this fix. However you WILL need to download
the updated 4D Client 6.8 software from the SUPPORT
-> FILES section of the web site, and install this
on ALL of your workstation computers on your network.
Before installing, you are likely to need to uninstall
the existing 4D Client software on your computers, and
replace it with this new installation of 4D Client.
Once
4D Client has been updated, this problem will be fixed.
If
you have any questions regarding this fix, please contact
us by email at support@eclipseservice.com
