DataLoad Community

moro · Joined: 27 Sep 2006 Posts: 3

I am having problems with an Oracle 11.5.9 user load, where the default password on each record is set to “welcome2u”. The load completes OK, and the record log is also fine (displays the lower case pas), but I am unable to connect with user/pass combination afterwards (regardless of case welcome2u/WELCOME2U)

If I try to load the records with upper case pass instead there is no problem.

I was told that this problem with lower case password is a known bug that should be fixed with Dataload Pro version 4.3.7.0 (that I am running now), but the error is still there.

The short term work around is of course to use upper case pass only, but since the field in the user form is case sensitive, the forms load should should accept lower case letters as well.

We are on Oracle Forms Version : 6.0.8.21.3

Please advice.

Thanks

MORO

DataLoad · Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:56 pm Post subject:

Moro,

I think two issues are being confused here.

There was an issue where the username/password stored in the FLD file for sessions launched with a direct URL (i.e. going straight to Oracle Forms and bypassing Self Service login) could be saved in lowercase but Oracle will only playback files that contain an uppercase username and password. That issue was fixed in V4.3.7.0 but the fix was not been 100% successful. We have two suggestions for users experiencing this issue:

1. In V4.3.7.0 you can open the Options form, make no changes and click OK to force DataLoad to make the usuername/password uppercase.

2. We have made changes to V4.3.8.0 to ensure that the username/password is always uppercase. The first beta release of V4.3.8.0 is now available for download from the web site. Please go to the DataLoad downloads page and you can download this update.

We would be really grateful if anyone experiencing this issue would test the new beta and let us know if it fixes the problem for you.

Be aware that this is an Oracle bug and not a DataLoad issue. Oracle will record lowercase usernames/passwords to the FLD file but playback fails unless the username/password is uppercase. The changes in DataLoad V4.3.7 and V4.3.8 are designed to ensure the scripts produced by DataLoad always have the username & password in uppercase.

The issue you are reporting appears to be caused by the Oracle Define Users form allowing lower case passwords to be entered but these are made uppercase by the form. However, if that conversion does not occur then the password will later not work. From what you say it appears that Oracle is not making these passwords uppercase when they are loaded via forms playback. We have seen the same issue with usernames in this form; Oracle should make those uppercase but instead throws an error if lowercase usernames are entered during forms playback.

With lower case usernames an error occurs during the load but it appears that does not happen with lower case passwords. In both cases this is an issue with this Oracle form because it is not making the data uppercase when it should do. The workaround is to ensure yout data is always in uppercase. This isn't something we can fix through DataLoad because it is up to the form to make the data uppercase if it wants uppercase data and DataLoad is not aware of individual forms' requirements for data formatting.

Regards,

Jonathan Stuart,
DataLoad Support.

moro · Joined: 27 Sep 2006 Posts: 3

Hi Jonathan
Thanks for the reply.
It still seems strange though, that a macro load using lower case or mixed case works , but a forms load does not.
The user define form in Oracle accepts lower case or mixed case passwords, only the user name is forced upper case.
So if dataload pro is forcing upper case for both fields, I believe you have introduced a bug.
MORO

DataLoad · Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:44 pm Post subject:

Moro,

The command DataLoad writes to the FLD file to enter a password value is as follows:

VALUE FNDSCAUS USER USER_PASSWORD 1 "MYPASSWORD"

The text in "..." is the data value and this is passed to Oracle as you entered it in the DataLoad spreadsheet, regardless of whether it is in lowercase or uppercase. What happens next is handled by Oracle.

You need to remember that Forms Playback is an Oracle Forms feature. DataLoad prepares Forms Playback scripts that Oracle Forms then executes. When something does not work it is caused by one of the following:

1. DataLoad wrote an invalid FLD file.
2. Oracle issue in the form or forms software.
3. Oracle issue in the interaction between forms playback and the form.

We know it is not the 2nd of these because your Define Users form works correctly. I am sure it is not the 1st of these because DataLoad writes the same FLD file whether you passwords are in uppercase or lowercase, with the only difference being the value of the password. Therefore I think this issue falls in to the 3rd category above - a form issue that is unique to forms playback.

You can test whether this is the case or not as follows:

1. Record a new load that enters users and sets their password to a lower case value.
2. Do not open the recorded file in DataLoad. Instead open it with a Text editor (E.G. Notepad on Windows or vi on UNIX) and find the commands that enter your user names. They will look like the following:

VALUE FNDSCAUS USER USER_NAME 1 "MYUSERNAME"

3. Change just the usernames to unique values.
4. Now save this file and use it for a playback.

The point here is that you will be playing back a file that Oracle recorded, with the only changes made to user names because these must be unique. Oracle should be able to playback a file that it recorded. If it cannot then this is an Oracle issue.

Please try this and let us know how you get on.

Thanks,

Jonathan

moro · Joined: 27 Sep 2006 Posts: 3

Hi Jonathan

I made a test as you described.

In the "raw" record.fld (USER1 and USER2) the passwords are displayed as upper case, although they are entered as lower. I edited the two user names (now USER3 and USER4) and changed one password to lower case.

When I playback this file the load completes OK, but when I test the lower case pass it is invalid for USER3 (and upper case invalid as well), but the upper case pass is of course valid for USER4.

In the new recordlog.fld the pass for USER3 is displayed in lower case as expected.

So is this just a case of accepting the facts and always work with upper case passwords, or do you have any suggestions for a solution?

Thanks

Regards

MORO

DataLoad · Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:37 pm Post subject:

Moro,

I think we just have to live with this because Oracle appears to only want uppercase usernames and passwords for the Define Users form in FLD files. It is interesting that the passwords you entered in lowercase appeared in the recorded file as uppercase. I think this reiterates the point that Oracle requires this data to be uppercase in forms playback files.

Unfortunately because this requirement for uppercase is entirely with Oracle, and can't be influenced by DataLoad, I can't think of anything we can do about this. Until Oracle change this you need to ensure all usernames and passwords loaded with forms playback are uppercase.

Thanks,

Jonathan.