DLM Dashboard Identifies changes but they cannot be acknowledged

Redshift

We've been doing a lot of work to apply some standards to our database.
This has resulted in a (planned) drift of 463 objects.
DLM Dashboard can identify the type of objects changed and the number of each but it will not let me Acknowledge the changes.
The orange orb graphic keeps spinning and it's not possible to place the cursor in either the 'Name this Schema' or 'Comment on these Changes' text boxes.
Eventually I'll get a Page Unresponsive dialog box (using latest version of Chrome).

Any suggestions how to get round this?
I've already tried rebooting the server but it has made no difference

Redshift

Is someone from Redgate going to respond or do I have to raise a support ticket?

RichardL

Hi @Redshift

Thanks for your posts. 

DLM Dashboard is not a product that we are developing or currently supporting. Hopefully the community can offer you some advice though. 

Kind regards

Richard Lynch. 

Redshift

Hi Richard,

This is an extremely poor state of affairs when for a couple of years or more Redgate were actively encouraging us all to monitor database drift with DLM Dashboard.

Indeed, on this page on your website, https://www.red-gate.com/products/dlm/dlm-automation/ you still mention DLM Dashboard, meaning that would be purchasers would not be aware that the product isn't supported.

I am flabbergasted that there has been no communication from Redgate about the change of status of DLM Dashboard and from a company whose products I respect and use daily I am deeply disappointed.

I'm now in a situation where DLM Dashboard doesn't function correctly and Redgate are effectively saying "tough".

Do you have a formal mechanism to raise a complaint to you CEO?

Edit: -
The DLM Dashboard product page at https://www.red-gate.com/products/dlm/dlm-dashboard/ makes no mention of the fact that the product is no longer under active development and is not being supported.
 
We have an active support package for all our Redgate products.
Section 5.4 of the EULA (taken from https://www.red-gate.com/products/dlm/dlm-dashboard) states "You accept that, although we will use reasonable endeavours to solve problems identified by purchasers of the Support Package, the nature of software is such that no guarantee can be provided that any particular problem will be solved."

I'd submit to you that Redgate haven't used reasonable endeavours to solve this problem as you haven't used any endeavours at all.

RichardL

Hi @Redshift

Thanks for your reply and concern. Apologies that you feel this way. 

Please view the Toolbelt products on the link below towards the bottom of the page. This confirms that the product is free and unsupported. 

https://www.red-gate.com/products/sql-development/sql-toolbelt/

We are doing our H2 planning and we re look into our products and visit our decisions I will pass on your comments and update you if that changes.

Kind regards

Richard Lynch.

DBATrollman

How about a way to increase the refresh time so we can get an acknowledgement completed? Someone has got to know where the code is that can change that either in a configuration or the registry.

way0utwest

The changes are stored in a RavenDB file. I'm trying to see if I can setup a method to read the db and just acknowledge things. I suspect that sometimes when a lot of changes go through, this causes some issues.

Redshift

This issue eventually resolved itself in that after I'd left DLM Dashboard running on a PC and came back to it some 90-120 mins later the UI was responsive and I could name the Schema and make a comment.
The appearance of the application hanging would definitely appear to be related to the number of objects contained within the change, mine was in excess of 400.
If you leave it long enough it will eventually sort itself out. To avoid the issue we're now updating the schema on a more regular basis which just adds more n.nn.nn versions prior to a full version upgrade being identified.

way0utwest

Glad to hear that. and again, my apologies that there hasn't been more work in this area. I'm trying to advocate for resources, since I think this is a good product that is both useful for customers and for our story.

Redshift

I concur with your thoughts Steve and have had the same email conversation with Simon Galbraith. For a product that Redgate promote as part of the automation suite it should be supported and developed further.

DBATrollman

I had a similar experience. The drift was caused by a third party vendor that made over 300 changes which basically hung the system for almost two days. Finally, it allowed us to make a version acknowledgement. This is a critical tool for a small shop without a lot of resources to follow up on a third party vendor that is known to make undocumented changes. Thanks Steve, you are a GREAT champion for causes like this that really do help with a better automation of processes.The DLMDashboard along with the SQL Monitoring has saved us hours of tracking down problems created by third party vendors. Our CIO has been excited to see the tremendous ROI this has provided to our non-profit company.