Experimental Physics and
Industrial Control System

Hi Michael,

On 2013-05-24 Michael Johnson wrote:
> > On 2013-05-24 Michael Johnson wrote:
> >> I'm seeing this error (warning?) when I load a new database.
> >>
> >> dbFreeLink called but link type unknown

> Running 3.14.11. I can narrow it down to this simple-ish test case.
>
> -->  load commands (loaded by dbLoadTemplate)<--
>
> file "insertablesV/db/inchannels.db"
> {
> pattern {cardname, devicetype, deviceaddr, description}
> {"E201B06C0943ADDR3", "VMIC0943", "#C3 S2 @MES", "limit switch"}
> {"E201B06C0943ADDR4", "VMIC0943", "#C4 S2 @MES", "limit switch"}
> }
>
> -->  db file<--
>
> record(ai, "$(cardname):ai") {
>    field(DESC, "$(description)")
>    field(DTYP, "$(devicetype)")
>    field(FLNK, "$(cardname):mux2")
>    field(INP, "$(deviceaddr)")
>    field(SCAN, ".2 second")
>    field(PINI, "YES")
> }

That error message implies that some record link field has its plink->type set
to a value that it shouldn't have.  This could be due to some code overwriting
memory it shouldn't, but there are other explanations which are probably more
likely.

I suspect you have an issue with incompatible database definition (dbd) files,
meaning that one or more of the IOC's record types or device support modules
is being built using a different and incompatible definition (dbd file) than
some other module.  This is a build-time problem which can be discovered if
your IOC sets the variable CHECK_RELEASE=YES or CHECK_RELEASE=WARN in its
configure/CONFIG_SITE file (or for older modules the variable may be set in
configure/Makefile instead).  Unfortunately some sites set CHECK_RELEASE=NO
because they don't want to see the errors or warnings that the check
generates, but then you have to be 100% sure that your modules are compatible
(if you're wrong this is the kind of problem that results, which can be tricky
to track down).

I suggest you set the IOC build to CHECK_RELEASE=YES and run make from the top
level.  If the build stops with an error in the configure directory, look very
closely at the error message it outputs which is fairly detailed, and talk to
the local owners of the relevant support modules about compatibility.  If the
build doesn't stop then something else is the problem; it might be related to
the VMIC0943 device support, but it might be some other code, so you'll have
to look back at the history of changes to the IOC to work out when it started.

HTH,

- Andrew
--
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary
depends upon his not understanding it. -- Upton Sinclair