VisBuild.exe - Application Error

[mkscott98]

I am using VisualBuild 3.6a and I get the attached error periodically on more then one machine when using Visual Build. I have a Win2K professional and Win2K server that I have used recently with this problem. This is becoming a big issue mainly because the error causes Visual Build to lock up then drop out completely. Also, this has broken the build on more then one occasion.
Each time the error occurs it is logged in the application log and consistently has the memory reference of 0x00439523 as seen in the attachment. For some reason the error occurs more often on Win2K server and is hard to reproduce other then leaving VisualBuild open for some period of time. Nothing I have seen on Kinook's website or on the web references this problem and I cannot believe that it has not been encountered before.


Any information would be much appreciated to fix this problem.

Regards,
Kevin

[kinook]

That isn't something that we've ever seen or had reported before. Are you using a legitimate (non-cracked) version of Visual Build? At any rate, Visual Build 3.x is no longer being supported or enhanced.

[mkscott98]

Yes, I am using a legitimate (non-cracked) version of Visual Build. This problem is really the only one that I have had with Visual Build and I see no immediate reason to upgrade.

This problem is obviously caused by the application and I have not been able to find a workaround. Its unbelievable that no one else has encountered this. I am just looking for any solution and from what your saying there is none.

Regards,
Kevin

[pieterse]

Hi,

My problem looks like above one. I always get the following error with the same addresses (see attachment). We use a complex nmake command, which starts a shell somewhere. It looks like Visual Build doesn’t reserve enough memory or something.
Starting nmake with or without %DOSCMD% doesn’t matter.
Starting it with an remote shell like psexec from sys-internals works but has some other disadvantages.

What do I need tot built this within a normal step?
Is there a memory limit?

I'm using visual build successful in other projects and builds.
And yes, it's a legal for sure.

Who can help me?

[kinook]

In mkscott98's situation, it appears to be VisBuild.exe itself that is experiencing an error. In your case it's tclsh.exe, which isn't part of Visual Build. So they appear to be distinct problems.

Visual Build doesn't reserve memory for a process that it invokes, it simply call CreateProcess to start it. But as mentioned before, Visual Build 3.x is no longer being supported or enhanced.

[pieterse]

This error doesn't occur when I copy the default step property and paste it to the command line.

The operating System I use is XP professional.

And... I use Visualbuild 5.5 so thats not the problem.

Where to look first ? Can it have something to do with the redirection or amount of output produced by the process?

[kinook]

Possibly. You can determine that by changing the 'Read program output from' to None on the Program tab of the Run Program action. Although I'm pretty sure VBP is properly handling redirection; this particular program may just not be correctly handling the way VBP does redirection. One workaround if this is the case would be to redirect the step's output to a file (%DOSCMD% <command> > c:\path\to\file.ext) and read output from that file. Otherwise, boil it down to a reproducible case that we can run here to investigate.

[mkscott98]

I have found out that the error was caused by Internet Explorer (I am running IE6) even though the error plainly pointed at Visbuild.exe. The error occurred randomly and while the machines were unattended because of an automatic update to IE that is run across my company network. When this automatic update runs it generates a log file that corresponds consistently with the occurance of the errors.
Oddly, I found that I eliminated this issue after applying a virus fix by adding extra.dat to my IE folder. After the update the error went away. This is still an issue if IE is opened while visbuild is running. My company updates do not seem to be running anymore and if they do I know where the problem is.
The solution to my problem clearly is to not run IE when visbuild is running. There is no reason why IE should run when the build is running anyway, so this is not an issue. I have to ask whether in fact the error is caused by IE or visbuild? I lean towards IE because Kinook puts out decent software. At this point I do not care so long as visbuild works without interuption. I believe you will be able to reproduce the error by opening up a visbuild script then open IE.

Regards,
Mkscott98