The Error

This is also from my "Old Support Archives". Sometimes, it's not the user driving you crazy, but the tech support staff.

I had been moved up to Escalation Support after about four months on the front lines. At this point I would rarely be getting calls directly from users. The front line tech support team would take the initial calls and if they needed help they would call Escalation Support.
The supported software used a product called BTrieve to maintain its files. BTrieve was a very robust package and would handle just about anything you could throw at it. The developers had created a utility module for BTrieve to aid in troubleshooting as well as full documentation of all of the error messages BTrieve could produce. Remember that "full documentation" is the key here.

For the four months I worked on the front lines, my cubemate Bill and I took call after call after call. In between calls I poured over the documentation and readily absorbed the information. Bill wasn't so lucky. I'm really not sure what the deal was with Bill, but he was friendly enough and I didn't mind the occasional question from him. "PSST" was his favorite way of asking for anything. If you sat outside our cubicle you would probably assume my name was "Psst". "Psst, What's that command for a directory listing?" or "Psst, How much free memory should there be?" would be some of the most common questions. It never dawned on me that Bill might have some sort of memory issue. Maybe he did it on purpose. I'm not really sure.

So anyway, Bill was my first feeder call as a member of the Escalation Support team.

Bill> I've got this lady on the phone. She has a BTrieve 42 error.
GTG> Bill, that's easy. Have her rebuild the listed file with the utility. If that fails with an error, restore the file from backup.
Bill> Thanks. (click)

I took sixteen more calls in the next two hours when Bill calls again.

Bill> Hey, I'm talking to this guy and he's getting a BTrieve 42 error.
GTG> Have him rebuild the listed file with the utility. If that fails with an error, restore the file from backup.
Bill> Oh yeah. Thanks. (click)

Lunch time rolls around and as I make my way to the cafeteria I pass Bill coming out of the bathroom.

Bill> Psst. Where is that listing of all the BTrieve errors?
GTG> It should be in the red binder.
Bill> Thanks.

The rest of the day was no big deal. It was kind of nice taking calls from tech savvy people and not having to walk someone through each key press. The one drawback to Escalation Support is that you are on call after hours. Since I was the new guy, though, I shouldn't be getting any late night calls. But then there's Bill.

Bill> Hate to bug you so late, but I knew you'd know how to fix this.
GTG> Uh, yeah. No big deal. What is it?
Bill> Client has a BTrieve 42 error.
GTG> Bill. It's in your book. Have them rebuild the listed file with the utility. If that fails with an error, restore the file from backup.
Bill> Yeah. Right. Thanks. (click)

I'm starting to see a pattern here. Are you?

Bill didn't call me all the next day, but the following morning I get:

Bill> Hey. There's this guy on the phone. He's getting an error.
GTG> "An error"? Come on Bill, you can do better than that.
Bill> Yeah, I know. It's a BTrieve 42 error.

Can you say it with me?

GTG> Have them rebuild the listed file with the utility. If that fails with an error, restore the file from backup.

See, even you, the reader, know how to fix a BTrieve 42 error.

This goes on for about six weeks. It's always the same error, but I have to pat Bill on the back. He came up with some of the most ingenious ways to ask the question. My spouse even knows the answer. I overheard her on the phone early one morning tell Bill how to fix a BTrieve 42 error. How sad is that?
So after six weeks I'm talking to my supervisor and relating to him what has been going on. The supervisor tells me he will take care of it.

Sure enough, Bill doesn't call me for months. Months! I'm thinking they must have retrained him. I know they didn't can him. Maybe it finally stuck with him. It turns out the developers had put in a routine to automatically attempt the rebuild process and that stopped 99% of that type of call. Those developers can sure fix things.

Then one day Bill shows up at my desk.

Bill> Hey! How's it going?
GTG> Good, good. You?
Bill> I'm doing okay, but I've got a real puzzler of a problem.
GTG> Oh yeah? What kind of problem?

Can you hear it?

Bill> Well, about once a week this one client calls and it's always the same issue.
GTG> Ah, one of those repetitive things. Can you reproduce it?

Do you know what's coming?

Bill> No. It's just the same error.
GTG> What module?
Bill> BTrieve.

Yeah, you know. No fooling you at all.

GTG> BTrieve? What file is involved?
Bill> Oh it's the transaction file. It's damaged or something.
GTG> Damaged? Did you rebuild it?
Bill> I didn't have to. The system did that for me.
GTG> What's the error?

Do I even have to say it?

Bill> BTrieve 42. Do you know a fix for that?

I didn't think so.