missing language files

[rickeltswd]

Hello,

we want to use ZoomSearch V6 run on WinServer 2008 R2. At start of Zoom Indexer we get the message: "Could not find expected language files (.zlang) in "lang" folder. ..."

I've searched in forum and found some information, but all looks like ok.

The folder "C:\ProgramData\Wrensoft\Zoom Search Engine Indexer\lang" exist and my account have all perrmissions on this folder and the folder above.

Also I've try to delete the file zoom.cfg on C:\ProgramData\Wrensoft\Zoom Search Engine Indexer and restart Zoom Search Indexer to get a new default zoom.cfg file.
This file was created, but if I restart Zoom Search Indexer next time I have same problem.

Whats wrong?
We use V6 build 1028.

Best regards

Sven

[Ray]

First, make sure to let us know if you have modified the .zcfg file manually (in a text editor or any program outside of Zoom).

Second, you need to make sure that you have permission to list the contents of that folder and not just read/write access.

Right click on the folder, Properties->Security.

There is a specific permission to "List folder contents".

If you click Advanced, there are more permissions to further define "Traverse folder", etc.

This can be affected by parent folder permissions as well.

[rickeltswd]

Hello Ray,

thanks for your answer.

First, make sure to let us know if you have modified the .zcfg file manually (in a text editor or any program outside of Zoom).

I've don't edited the default zoom.zcfg in extern editor.
But I opend an zcfg-File of V5 in V6. Is this the problem?
I also renamed default zoom.zcfg and start Indexer, the error message was displayed and a new default zoom.zfcg was created. After restart Indexer the error message still was displayed .

Second, you need to make sure that you have permission to list the contents of that folder and not just read/write access.

Right click on the folder, Properties->Security.

There is a specific permission to "List folder contents".

If you click Advanced, there are more permissions to further define "Traverse folder", etc.

This can be affected by parent folder permissions as well.

I'm sure. I've checked the "effective permissions" of my account for folder "C:\ProgramData", "C:\ProgramData\Wrensoft", "C:\ProgramData\Wrensoft\Zoom Search Engine Indexer" and "C:\ProgramData\Wrensoft\Zoom Search Engine Indexer\lang". Always there are allowed: "Full control", "traverse folder/ execute file", "list folder / read data" and the other one also.

I'm at a loss for sth.

Best regards

Sven Rickelt

[David]

What language do you have selected in the "Languages" configuration window?

[rickeltswd]

there is nothing to select, the dropdown-box is disabled.

[David]

In the folder lang folder how many files do you have?
C:\ProgramData\Wrensoft\Zoom Search Engine Indexer\lang

There should be about 24 .lang files of around 6KB each in this folder.

[rickeltswd]

There are 23 items in the folder:

12.09.2008 15:18 5.252 Arabic.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 4.206 Chinese.zlang
12.09.2008 16:09 5.848 Croatian.zlang
12.09.2008 16:09 5.890 Danish.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 5.798 Dutch.zlang
12.09.2008 15:17 5.328 English.zlang
02.02.2009 17:22 5.736 French.zlang
19.06.2009 12:55 5.800 German.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 5.120 Hebrew.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 5.778 Hungarian.zlang
12.09.2008 15:17 5.800 Indonesian.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 5.462 Italian.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 4.578 Japanese.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 4.436 Korean.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 5.126 Norwegian.zlang
12.09.2008 15:17 5.710 Polish.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 5.870 Portuguese.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 5.926 Romanian.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 5.822 Russian.zlang
01.04.2009 13:21 5.674 Slovak.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 5.592 Spanish.zlang
12.09.2008 15:18 5.122 Swedish.zlang
12.09.2008 15:19 5.818 Ukrainian.zlang
23 File(s) 125.692 bytes

[Ray]

Are you using any anti-virus or internet security product? If so, which one?

Webroot runs some applications within a "sandbox" with limited access (despite your Windows specified permissions). Check if ZoomIndexer.exe is running as a protected application if this is the case.

Besides that, also check if the behaviour is the same when you are logged in as the Administrator or otherwise on your server.

[rickeltswd]

We will check this.

I found out, a user-defined zlang-File (f.e. german-copy.zlang) in this folder can be selected in ZoomIndexer...

[rickeltswd]

I've found the bug.

if archiv-attribute of zlang-files is not set, the error has occurred.
if archiv-attribute of zlang-files is set, Zoom Indexer starts without errormessage and languages can be selected.

[David]

Do you have some backup software running on this server that might be changing the attributes of the files after they get installed?

[rickeltswd]

Yes, there is running a backup software that is changing the archiv attribute of the files.

[rickeltswd]

and now ??

[Ray]

I've found the bug.

if archiv-attribute of zlang-files is not set, the error has occurred.
if archiv-attribute of zlang-files is set, Zoom Indexer starts without errormessage and languages can be selected.

We have reproduced this behaviour.

We're using the standard Windows (Win32) API "CB_DIR" which instructs Windows to populate the combo box with the contents of that folder. It is called with the parameter to list all "read/write files with no additional attributes". We did not specify to include archive attribute files, so the above behaviour doesn't really make sense. Then when we tried every combination of parameters, we were still unable to get it to list the files without the archive attributes.

As you may or may not know, the archive attribute is specified for every file at creation and modification. Some very old backup programs will unset the archive attribute to mark a file as having been archived, and not needing to be archived (until the next modification). But it is not a common way of doing this any more because it is no longer reliable for many reasons (some reasons why here).

It would seem to me that this is a bug in Windows, and the CB_DIR feature in the Win32 API. Given the uncommon situation of files to be marked without the archive attribute (since no modern backup method uses this anymore), it was not well tested by the Microsoft teams and this bug has persisted.

Given the above, we will change our code to not use the CB_DIR feature in Windows, and write our own code to manually populate the dropdown box with the files available. This will be in the next release.

In the meantime, you may want to check why it is necessary for your files to be marked without the archive attribute (in most cases, it is not practical). To workaround it for now, you can exclude the "lang" folder from your backup process.

[rickeltswd]

Hello Ray,

thanks for the very detailled answer.

I think, we don't use a very old backup software (must ask our admins), but it's good to know, that you will fix it in next release.
Our workaround is to exclude the lang-folder from backup.

I think, problem is solved.

Many thanks.