Issues:

1) Sparse files are not considered a "bug" by Novell.  A Sparse
file is a legal condition on a Novell file server.  The ability
to write out a Sparse file is not by itself a bug (according to
Novell).

2) A Sparse file (when it is not created intentionaly) is a
SYMPTOM of a problem with either the application program or with
your network.

3) An application can create a Sparse file by seeking to an
incorrect address past the end of the file and doing a write
(someone has said in NETW3X in the past that a READ by itself
past the end of the file can create a Sparse file but I have not
been able to confirm that).

4) The problem that we are trying to track is a Netware bug that
shows up on some specific servers.  It does not seem to be
related to any specific hardware and we have not yet been able to
determine if it is related to a driver or setup or other
environmental conditions.  The problem can cause some application
programs to incorrectly write Sparse files.

The specific problem that the Test program set tests for is
Netware returning bad information on a read request.  The
programs that seem to have this problem are programs that can
have people accessing the same records from multiple workstations
at the same time.  The workstations that are reading the data may
sometimes get bad data back on a read request if that read
request immediatly follows a write request by another
workstation.

The way this causes problems is that Netware can (on some
specific systems under certain conditions) sometimes get
incorrect information back from a read request.  If that read
request is a read asking the database what the last record number
is so that a new record can be added to the end of the database
it can cause the database to become corrupt (either by making it
into a Sparse file or by poking a hole in the middle of it).

If you run the test program on your server you can find out if
your server suffers from the problem.  We would like you to
provide (E-Mail to 70007,3427 on CIS) the information displayed
when you type CONFIG and MODULES on your server so we can try to
track this problem down (We are working with some people at
Novell to try to isolate the problem).

If you run this test set on your server, please provide the
CONFIG and MODULES information along with the Date/Time and Size
information for your SERVER.EXE file and tell us if it Passed or
Failed on your server.

Let me know if you have any questions.


-Mark Oldham / NewsMaker Systems