Techwave 2014: No John Chen Keynote!

The recent ISUG-TECH Conference promotional email was directed at prior Techwave attendees, and it included "No John Chen Keynote" as a selling point.

ISUG-TECH Conference, April 14-17, 2014 Atlanta, GA, USA Register Now Dear Prior TechWave Attendee, OK, so it's not exactly TechWave, but it's the closest thing to it as attendees from 15+ countries have already realized, and we wanted to make sure you knew this event was happening, and why you should attend. So let's start with a quick list of how this and the old Sybase TechWave conferences are similar: Content - it's how the content used to be; customer presentations augmented by presentations by SAP/Sybase staff. Obviously we are relying on SAP people for the ASE 16 content (who else has seen it?), and some of the other sessions, but our community members have really come together on bringing content to the table across the tracks. And next time we'll do even more in this regard. Presenters - all the people you came to respect for their presentations are back. SAPers like Peter Thawley, Rob Verschoor, Dave Fish, Jeff Tallman, Chris Brown, Mark Mumy, Matt Creason, Stefan Karlsson, Chris Baker and more (apologies to those not mentioned!), plus community rock stars like Bruce Armstrong, Armeen Mazda, Joe Woodhouse, Yakov Werde, Lou Stanton (ex-SAP), George McGeachie, Martijn Evers, Jeff Garbus, Ronnie Po, et al. (Again, apologies to those not mentioned.) Pre-conference workshops - get extra education with our full day and half day workshops. Oh, and we added post-conference workshops too so you can attend more than one. Plus five of the nine available workshops are presented by members of the community so you can learn from real-world practitioners as well as the SAP experts if you so choose. And what is different about the conferences? This conference is run by ISUG-TECH, not SAP/Sybase. What does this mean to you the attendees? Not much really. It may not be quite so flashy but it never was about the glitz and glamor, it was always about the content. No special event. The reality is these are expensive to do and require adding several hundred dollars to the registration cost, so we decided very early on to leave everyone with a free night instead to go explore Atlanta. Of course then we added a CodeJam on Wednesday night: SAP CodeJam: This is a really cool thing SAP does and allows people to learn something new which hacking away for an evening. We'll be using SAP HANA for this, and SAP HANA Studio as the primary development suite (PowerBuilder is an option for those that insist), but regardless of what SAP development product you choose to use -- and we encourage you to try something new! -- enjoy an evening with your colleagues and peers eating pizza, drinking soda, and generally having some fun. (Also, you can leverage part one of the SAP UI5 workshop prior to the CodeJam to get a little ahead of the curve.) No John Chen Keynote. Sorry, couldn't resist this one! Love him or hate him, Chen's keynotes always seemed to lack something that the attendees were looking for. (Not like we're putting any pressure on ourselves here, right?) We hope this helps you see why this year's conference is a can't miss event. And for the ASE folks out there, remember SAP is launching SAP ASE 16 at our conference. I mean how cool is that? Come find out all the information about this brand new SAP release, along with the very latest on PowerBuilder 15. Register Now Best Regards, The ISUG-TECH Conference Team This is a one-time email from ISUG-TECH because you attended a previous Sybase TechWave conference

Let the spin begin!

Hope you've already downloaded SQL Anywhere 16.0.0.1823 for Windows (or anything else) because access to MySybase.com was shut off this morning...



. . . and it's back, after only a few hours!

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Latest SQL Anywhere Updates: Versions 12 and 16

Current builds for the active platforms... HP-UX 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22636 SP9) *** 21 Mar 2014 *** Itanium 12.0.1.4081 (EBF 22633 SP69) *** 20 Mar 2014 *** 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22590 SP100) * 18 Mar 2014 * End of Life 31 May 2014 IBM AIX 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22262 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22136 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21792 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Linux 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22589 SP9) * 18 Mar 2014 * On Demand 1.0.4613 (SP3) 13 Sep 2013 12.0.1.4062 (EBF 22588 SP68) * 18 Mar 2014 * 12.0.1 Chinese, 16 Apr 2013 Japanese Docs (Eclipse) 16 Apr 2013 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22587 SP100) * 18 Mar 2014 * End of Life 31 May 2014 Mac OS 16.0.0.1785 (EBF 22412 SP8) 04 Feb 2014 12.0.1.4006 (EBF 22318 SP67) 24 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2449 Update 29 Jun 2010 End of Life 31 May 2014 Solaris 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22267 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 SPARC 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22138 SP66) 03 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21794 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Solaris 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22635 SP9) *** 21 Mar 2014 *** x64 12.0.1.4081 (EBF 22634 SP69) *** 20 Mar 2014 *** 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22591 SP100) * 18 Mar 2014 * End of Life 31 May 2014 Windows 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22519 SP9) 10 Mar 2014 On Demand 1.0.4613 (SP3) 13 Sep 2013 12.0.1.4085 (EBF 22637 SP70) *** 21 Mar 2014 *** 12.0.1 French, 25 Sep 2012 English, 25 Sep 2012 German, 25 Sep 2012 Chinese, 28 Mar 2013 Japanese Docs (HTML/PDF) 28 Mar 2013 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22624 SP100) * 18 Mar 2014 * End of Life 31 May 2014

Other Stuff... Older Updates Free support! Q&A forum ...or, call Tech Support SQL Anywhere... ...Sybase home page ...SAP home page ...SAP Developer Center Buy SQL Anywhere Developer Edition... [16.0] [12.0.1(?)] [11.0.1] Download the Educational Edition Supported Platforms... SQL Anywhere Linux OnDemand ODBC Drivers for MobiLink

The 3 asterisks "***" mark items have appeared on the Sybase website since the previous version of this page.

The single asterisks "*" mark items that first appeared on the previous version of this page.

• Only the latest fully-supported versions of SQL Anywhere (11.0.1, 12.0.1, 16.0 and On Demand) are shown here.
  

• The "EBF 21788 SP60" numbers are the new SAP-specific codes associated with the build numbers "12.0.1.3894".
  

• Just because an older version or different platform isn't "fully supported" any more doesn't mean you can't download files (or ask questions, or get help), it just means there won't be any more new Updates released.
  

The Forum is Moving!

This article is a Catch 22 Inhibitor... On March 29 the much-beloved SQLAnywhere-forum.sybase.com will be moving to a different domain: SQLAnywhere-forum.sap.com. Graeme Perrow has posted detailed instructions about what's happening and what you should do to prepare . . . plus what you should do in case anything goes wrong.

Of course, if something goes very wrong, you won't be able to read Graeme's post (the Catch 22), so here it is (Graeme's post), on a website (this one) that isn't going anywhere . . .

What must I do to prepare for the forum migration to sap.com? The SQL Anywhere forum will be migrating to sqlanywhere-forum.sap.com on Saturday March 29, 2014. Existing questions, answers, comments, users, reputation, etc. will be retained and aside from some cosmetic changes there will be no significant changes to the web site. Any links and bookmarks to the existing sqlanywhere-forum.sybase.com site will automatically be redirected to the new site. On the day of the migration, both sites will be shut down for several hours while the data is moved. Note that the new site is already up and running and you can head over there and check it out. If you have trouble logging in there please email sqlanywhere-forum-admin@sap.com and I'll try to get you fixed up. Please feel free to add questions and answers for testing purposes (there are already a few such questions there) but anything added there will be deleted when the migration happens. If you have a legitimate SQL Anywhere question for which you need a real answer, ask it here on this site. Also, please note that email has been disabled on the new site so you cannot use the temporary login feature, and you will not receive daily digests or notifications of any kind. This is only during the beta period. What must you do to ensure that you can log in once the migration is complete? See answer below. Graeme Perrow One Answer: There is really only one thing you need to do in order to make sure that you can log in once the migration is complete, and that's to make sure your email address is correct. Click on your login name at the very top of the screen (next to the Logout, About, and FAQ links), then click "User Tools" and then "edit profile". Make sure the email address is correct, and click Update. Note that logging into the forum through the MySybase provider will no longer be available in the new forum. Instead, you will be able to log in using your SCN (SAP Community Network) user ID. This is entirely optional. In order to make this work, you need to have an SCN account but you do not need to add a new provider. You simply have to make sure that your email address in your SCN account matches the one in your forum account. Once the new forum is available, you have three options to log in for the first time: Use an existing OpenID provider other than Google. The cookie that the Google OpenID provider gives us is specific to the old forum URL and so it will not work in the new forum. Use the SCN to log in. This assumes that you have an SCN account and that your email address in your forum account is the same as the one in your SCN account. Use the temporary login procedure. Near the bottom of the login page, you will see "Click here if you're having trouble logging in". Click there, and then enter your email address. The system will send you an email containing a link that you can use once to log into the forum. Once you're logged into the new forum, go to your user page by clicking on your name at the top of the page and then click "User tools" and "authentication settings". If you have a provider that begins with "https://www.google.com", click "remove" since that provider will no longer work. If you still want to use Google as a provider, you can then click "Add new provider" and then click the Google logo on the next page. If you have a provider marked "Unknown", you can remove that as well; that is for the MySybase option which is no longer available. Graeme Perrow

Remember, this is NOT Graeme's fault.

Latest SQL Anywhere Updates: Versions 11, 12 and 16

Current builds for the active platforms... HP-UX 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22263 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 Itanium 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22137 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22590 SP100) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** End of Life 31 May 2014 IBM AIX 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22262 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22136 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21792 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Linux 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22589 SP9) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** On Demand 1.0.4613 (SP3) 13 Sep 2013 12.0.1.4062 (EBF 22588 SP68) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** 12.0.1 Chinese, 16 Apr 2013 Japanese Docs (Eclipse) 16 Apr 2013 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22587 SP100) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** End of Life 31 May 2014 Mac OS 16.0.0.1785 (EBF 22412 SP8) 04 Feb 2014 12.0.1.4006 (EBF 22318 SP67) 24 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2449 Update 29 Jun 2010 End of Life 31 May 2014 Solaris 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22267 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 SPARC 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22138 SP66) 03 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21794 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Solaris 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22265 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 x64 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22139 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22591 SP100) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** End of Life 31 May 2014 Windows 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22519 SP9) 10 Mar 2014 On Demand 1.0.4613 (SP3) 13 Sep 2013 12.0.1.4062 (EBF 22623 SP68) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** 12.0.1 French, 25 Sep 2012 English, 25 Sep 2012 German, 25 Sep 2012 Chinese, 28 Mar 2013 Japanese Docs (HTML/PDF) 28 Mar 2013 11.0.1.3113 (EBF 22624 SP100) *** 18 Mar 2014 *** End of Life 31 May 2014

Other Stuff... Older Updates Free support! Q&A forum ...or, call Tech Support SQL Anywhere... ...Sybase home page ...SAP home page ...SAP Developer Center Buy SQL Anywhere Developer Edition... [16.0] [12.0.1(?)] [11.0.1] Download the Educational Edition Supported Platforms... SQL Anywhere Linux OnDemand ODBC Drivers for MobiLink

The asterisks "***" show which items have appeared on the Sybase website since the previous version of this page.

• Only the latest fully-supported versions of SQL Anywhere (11.0.1, 12.0.1, 16.0 and On Demand) are shown here.
  

• The "EBF 21788 SP60" numbers are the new SAP-specific codes associated with the build numbers "12.0.1.3894".
  

• Just because an older version or different platform isn't "fully supported" any more doesn't mean you can't download files (or ask questions, or get help), it just means there won't be any more new Updates released.
  

One Month 'til Techwave

Techwave 2014, also known as the 2014 ISUG-TECH conference, will be held April 14-17 at the Hilton, Atlanta in Atlanta, GA.

Question: Will it be worth it for people primarily interested in SQL Anywhere?

Maybe Not

Techwave 2014 is a creation of ISUG which was (and still is, primarily) a Sybase SQL Server user group. Pick a random ISUG member and ask what they think of SQL Anywhere and they'll say "Toy!"

Maybe Yes

Techwave 2014 is sponsored by SAP whose flagship software didn't even run on SQL Server until Sybase added (!) row-level locking... yes, for many years the official Sybase company line was "Page-level locking is all anybody needs!"

Maybe Not

The Big Noise at Techwave 2014 will be ASE 16. Then PowerBuilder, which was the reason Sybase bought PowerSoft in the first place... not SQL Anywhere. And of course, there will be Hana, and IQ... those are modern databases, so maybe this is a "yes".

Maybe Yes

Folks from Waterloo will be there, talking about SQL Anywhere and MobiLink... and unlike other conferences Techwave 2014 won't be an all-employee affair, there will be a bunch of outsiders as well. That's a good thing, a very good thing, a much improved thing, having outsiders like Jeff Gibson.

Maybe Not

You won't be able to fill every waking minute with SQL Anywhere and MobiLink sessions.

Maybe Yes

Talks on ERP won't be sucking all the air out of the room, the reception won't feel like a party at Kaan & Associates, and won't need Buzzword Bingo on your 'droid.

Maybe Not

Techwave 2014 isn't free.

Maybe Yes

Compared with TechEd, Techwave is free.

Maybe Not

Sadly, I can't make it.

Maybe Yes

I won't be there :)

Is it worth your time to read the agenda?

Oh, yes, definitely.

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Product Suggestion: Stop calling them "Bug Fixes"!

The last thing any seller wants is more paperwork. At the same time, however, the last thing any buyer wants is more confusion.

Take the case of SQL Anywhere EBF releases, where EBF stands for "Express Bug Fix" or "Emergency Bug Fix" depending on how old you are.

There's a problem with "EBF" and it isn't the "E", it's the "B". Here's the story: There ain't no more point releases coming from SAP: no 12.0.2, no 16.0.1, not even any 16.1 (if there was going to be a 16.1 it would have been here already). What's happening instead is that new features are being released in EBFs.

Which means EBFs are not just "Bug Fix" releases any more. They aren't "Emergency" or "Express" either, they are now "New Stuff" releases that include both fixes and enhancements.

So either

• change EBF to something else,
  

• or spell it "Ebf" and declare "IT IS NOT AN ACRONYM!" ...like Hana is just a word and not an acronym,
  

• or rectify the E, declare that EBF means has always meant "Enhancement and Bug Fix" :)
  

While we're nitpicking...

...let's make it clear that the build number range in the readme files is not inclusive of the first end point. For example, although a recent readme said this...

SQL Anywhere Bug Fix Readme for Version 12.0.1, build 3994 Choose a range of build numbers for which to display descriptions. For example if you want to see what was fixed since the last build you applied then change 3152 to the build number of that last Support Package. Click Update Readme to make those changes take effect. 3152 to 3994 Update Readme

...the range "3152 to 3994" does not work like the BETWEEN clause we all know and love, it works like BETWEEN 3153 AND 3994.

For example "3994 to 3994" eliminates all content even though one change was made in build 3994, you have use "3993 to 3994"... and that eliminates the one other change made in 3993.

Kinda like counting from zero instead of 1, isn't it?

Once you know how it works, you can (kinda) see what the words are saying, "if you want to see what was fixed since the last build you applied then change 3152 to the build number of that last Support Package"... but not really :)

For the record, the readme does not include any changes made for build 3152; that was the GA build for 12.0.1 and you have to look in the docs to find "What's New In 12.0.1".

Latest SQL Anywhere Updates: 16.0.0.1823 For Windows

Current builds for the active platforms... HP-UX 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22263 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 Itanium 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22137 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21793 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 IBM AIX 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22262 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22136 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21792 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Linux 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 21981 SP6) 31 Oct 2013 On Demand 1.0.4613 (SP3) 13 Sep 2013 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22111 SP66) 27 Nov 2013 12.0.1 Chinese, 16 Apr 2013 Japanese Docs (Eclipse) 16 Apr 2013 11.0.1.3027 (EBF 21786 SP98) 13 Sep 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Mac OS 16.0.0.1785 (EBF 22412 SP8) 04 Feb 2014 12.0.1.4006 (EBF 22318 SP67) 24 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2449 Update 29 Jun 2010 End of Life 31 May 2014 Solaris 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22267 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 SPARC 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22138 SP66) 03 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21794 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Solaris 16.0.0.1691 (EBF 22265 SP6) 11 Dec 2013 x64 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22139 SP66) 02 Dec 2013 11.0.1.2958 (EBF 21750 SP96) 08 Apr 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014 Windows 16.0.0.1823 (EBF 22519 SP9) *** 10 Mar 2014 *** On Demand 1.0.4613 (SP3) 13 Sep 2013 12.0.1.3994 (EBF 22109 SP66) 27 Nov 2013 12.0.1 French, 25 Sep 2012 English, 25 Sep 2012 German, 25 Sep 2012 Chinese, 28 Mar 2013 Japanese Docs (HTML/PDF) 28 Mar 2013 11.0.1.3069 (EBF 22299 SP99) 19 Dec 2013 End of Life 31 May 2014

Other Stuff... Older Updates Free support! Q&A forum ...or, call Tech Support SQL Anywhere... ...Sybase home page ...SAP home page ...SAP Developer Center Buy SQL Anywhere Developer Edition... [16.0] [12.0.1(?)] [11.0.1] Download the Educational Edition Supported Platforms... SQL Anywhere Linux OnDemand ODBC Drivers for MobiLink

The asterisks "***" show which items have appeared on the Sybase website since the previous version of this page.

• Only the latest fully-supported versions of SQL Anywhere (11.0.1, 12.0.1, 16.0 and On Demand) are shown here.
  

• The "EBF 21788 SP60" numbers are the new SAP-specific codes associated with the build numbers "12.0.1.3894".
  

• Just because an older version or different platform isn't "fully supported" any more doesn't mean you can't download files (or ask questions, or get help), it just means there won't be any more new Updates released.
  

Product Suggestion: Give The Arbiter A Database

In most cases a SQL Anywhere server without a database is a singularly useless entity. A High Availability Arbiter server, however, is an example of a server-without-a-database that performs a singularly useful role... why, then, does it not feel that way to a database administrator?

Sure, you can use ISQL to connect to an arbiter server using the phantom "utility_db"...

"%SQLANY12%\bin32\dbisql.com"^ -c "SERVER=arbiter_demo; DBN=utility_db; UID=dba; PWD=sql; HOST=localhost:55400; CON=Arbiter"

but you can't DO much except ask "What version of the software is running?"...



You can't even do something as simple as "Show me all the SET options"...



Sybase Central also lets you connect to an arbiter server, but it too screams "Keep your hands to yourself!" when you ask for the simplest thing...



The problem is, SQL Anywhere needs a database to do anything at all... the difference between "empty database" and "no database at all" is vast.

Please, Mr. SQL Anywhere, give the arbiter a database!

Then the administrator can check on the arbiter's health and status, beyond the basic question "Can I connect?"

Maybe even check on the performance of the arbiter, who knows? You can't do anything without a database.

Case Study: Intra-Query Parallelism

There have been several articles in this blog on the subject of Intra-Query Parallelism (using more than one CPU to handle a single request simultaneously) in SQL Anywhere... there has even been a fRiDaY File on the subject.

This article is about a real-world client experience with

• unusually high CPU peaks accompanied by reports of
  

• "very, very slow" application performance; e.g., 2 minutes to login instead of fractions of a second
  

using a SQL Anywhere 10.0.1.3831 database.

The server-level performance statistics displayed by Foxhound did not reveal any clues, nor did a cursory examination of the connection-level statistics... no obvious runaway connections, no apparent "Queries From Hell".

A more boring, laborious thorough examination of connection history revealed that from time to time, some (not all) of the peaks were accompanied by the appearance of exactly four internal or "temporary" connections; no connection names or other identifying data, just four large consecutive connection numbers like 1002046681, 1002046682, 1002046683 and 1002046684.

The "Temporary connections are named" enhancement in SQL Anywhere 12.0.0 introduced CONNECTION_PROPERTY ( 'Name' ) values like 'INT:Exchange' to help identify what each internal connection is doing, plus the 'ParentConnection' property to help identify the connection that started each internal connection. However, those properties weren't available in the SQL Anywere 10.0.1.3831 database being studied, so Foxhound could only show these connections as nameless standalone entries in the connection section at the bottom:

• The top line at "1:29:21 PM" shows a CPU Time peak of 50.8%, and the bottom section shows four connections that were active when the top sample was recorded.
  

• The "Conns 57" number in the top section disagrees with the "61 connections" title in the bottom section because the database-level ConnCount property doesn't include temporary connections.
  

• The bottom section was sorted by "Conn #" in decreasing order to force the large-numbered internal connections to the top.
  

• The "CPU %" values in the bottom section are wildly exaggerated (they add up to more than 100%) even though Foxhound has adjusted the numbers to account for the fact 4 CPUs were in use. The next version of Foxhound will do a better job at showing believable numbers (the problem lies with SQL Anywhere) . . . but it doesn't matter here . . . what matters is these four connections were sucking all the air out of the room.
  

• Experience showed that intra-query parallelism was the likely reason these four connections exist, which meant that somewhere among the other connections there was a parent responsible for all the activity... the fact that the number of internal connections always exactly matched the number of CPUs was a helpful clue.
  

• Not shown in the image above is the fact that finding the parent connection among 57 others was virtually impossible because the "CPU %" column offered no clue; the peaks only showed up for the internal (child) connections, not the parent that was living off child labor managing the work effort.
  

• Also not shown in the image above is the fact that no "Last Statement" values showed up in the bottom section because "RememberLastStatement" was not turned on, so even if the parent connection could have been determined there was no way to tell what it was doing.
  

Nevertheless, experience (also) showed that intra-query parallelism was the likely culprit, and that doing this

SET OPTION PUBLIC.MAX_QUERY_TASKS = '1';

would make make it all better.

And verily forsooth, such was the case!

That was the good news (for the client)... the bad news (for the consultant) was that no more work was required. Perhaps further study would have revealed a Quey From Hell or two, and even more billable hours that could be spent on query tuning, but that would have violated The First Rule Of Program Optimization: Don't do it.

Or in other words, if it's running OK, leave it alone.

Or, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Not something you would ever hear from Marty Kaan :)

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The fRiDaY File - We Are Sorry We can't help you at this time

We Are Also Sorry . . .

• We didn't let you save your work.
  

• We aren't responding to the browser Back button.
  

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