PC DirSync: Information on the REQTRANS.GLB Transaction File

• Microsoft Mail for PC Networks, versions 3.2, 3.2a, and 3.5

SUMMARY

REQTRANS.GLB is the directory synchronization (Dir-Sync) transaction file that contains the transactions from that postoffice. Each transaction has a transaction number or sync number associated with it.

MORE INFORMATION

When you run REQMAIN -t, a requestor sends out the following:

• A status message with an attachment. The header on the status line reads

        Status report from NET/PO
  

  The attachment that goes with this message is the DSSERVER.LOG from the requestor postoffice. The information from this log is used to update the CENTRAL.LOG on the Dir-Sync server (this is why the information in the CENTRAL.LOG is always a day behind).

• If there are updates, another message is sent out with an attachment. The attachment contains actual transactions. The header from the message reads

        REQTX R=x(was y)....z sent
  

  The x is the sync number of the last transaction being sent (picked up from REQTRANS.GLB). The y is the last acknowledged number picked up from REQCONF.GLB. The z is the number of actual transactions being sent this cycle, thus, x=y+z.

If there are transactions in the REQTRANS.GLB with transaction numbers higher than the last confirmed REQSYNC number (recorded in REQCONF.GLB), it means that there are updates to be sent.

If there are transactions in the REQTRANS.GLB with transaction numbers lower than the last confirmed REQSYNC number (recorded in REQCONF.GLB), they are not deemed to be new updates because, according to the REQCONF.GLB, these transactions were sent and even acknowledged by the Dir- Sync server. Typically, this is when you would get a "No Updates to Send" message even when there are updates.

Initially, there is a zero byte REQTRANS.GLB. As users are added to Dir- Sync, the transactions are added to REQTRANS.GLB starting with transaction numbers 1, 2 and so on. If the updates are sent to the server and acknowledged by the server, the requestor processes the acknowledgment during T3, when REQMAIN -r is run. The REQCONF.GLB is updated, and all transactions in the REQTRANS.GLB with sequence numbers below the number in the acknowledgment are discarded. A 49 byte REQTRANS.GLB file is left, and all it contains is the last confirmed REQSYNC number.