Mike Munhall

In our ongoing quest to finish the ColdFusion 4.5 to MX 7.01 upgrade, we ran into another snag that had our heads spinning for a while. As we were migrating servers from 4.5 to 7.01, we were getting more and more frequent “unable to create new native thread” errors and complaints from customers about servers being unavailable or just general latency.

During this time, we also had reports of two particular pieces of functionality that were not working at all. The two pieces of functionality that were not working had one thing in common: they were both instantiating objects from the MSXML API. We were using Microsoft’s XML API in ColdFusion 4.5 because 4.5 obviously doesn’t have an XML API of it’s own.

Well, as it turns out, the MSXML API was reaking havoc on the system. Essentially, if MX attempted to instantiate an object from the MSXML API, all operating system threads would immediately get eaten up and the MX server would just hang or die. What’s worse is that a restart of the CF services would not alleviate the problem. The OS threads would remain unavailable until the entire machine was restarted.

We didn’t bother trying to find out why CF wasn’t playing well with the MSXML API. The solution, as you would guess, was simple. We just had to rewrite the XML routines using the native ColdFusion MX tags and functions. We were using the TorchXML 3rd-party XML parser (which leverages the MSXML API) to parse XML documents. The TorchXML API is similar to the ColdFusion XML tags and functions in the fact that you work with a complex structure to access and work with the data in the XML. We simply had to replace a few strings in each implementation of the parser to get it working in MX:

We finally got it done. Last week (Thursday, July 20, 2006, to be precise), Cowboy Moving & Storage picked up our stuff from the condo and drove it 1.3 miles to our house. Our day began at 6:00 a.m. when we woke up to pack away the last remaining household items. The movers arrived around 8:15 and began right away. There were three guys that did the move, and each one of them was spectacular. They wouldn’t stop for a break, and got everything in the new house by around 2:00. Amazing. We tipped them well.

While the truck was being unloaded, Comcast showed up to install cable, phone and internet, and Sears showed up with the new washer, dryer and refrigerator. It got a bit hectic there for a bit. But it all got done with only one little problem involving a brand new washer tumbling down the basement stairs. (A replacement will be delivered this weekend.)

Dorrie and I really dig our new pad, but we have a lot of work to do. The yard was ignored for more than four months, and as a result we have a weed-infested back yard and nothing but brown matted grass in the front. We planned on relandscaping next spring, but now we are wondering if we are going to need to sod, as well. Also, the A/C froze up the first day we were in the house. I’m sitting here right now waiting for the A/C serviceman to take a look at it. Since that first night, we’ve been running the A/C very lightly and it hasn’t had any problems, so I imagine that we were just running the A/C too hard after the doors had been open all day while the movers moved our stuff in. It probably didn’t help that we didn’t have the temporary blinds installed or any fans running, either.

Our next tasks are to install the three ceiling fans we purchased yesterday and order blinds for every room. Somewhere in the next few weeks I’ll be puttering in the yard, pulling weeds and trying to revive the dying tree in the front lawn.

I haven’t written anything in a while. I’m too busy. Here are some things that are keeping me on edge:

• We’ve sold our condo. We close next week. We have to finish packing.
• We bought a house. We close on the house right after we close on the condo. The seller has promised to have the sprinkler system in the front and back yards operational and has assured as that there actually is a sprinkler system in the front, yet there isn’t a sprinkler system in the front. There could be a nasty battle with the seller and I’m not looking forward to it.
• I have a calculus test next week and about 20 hours of calculus homework to finish by then.
• While not responsible for this particular problem at work, I am responsible for getting it fixed. And if I don’t get it fixed, the business could fail.
• While not responsible for this other problem at worik, I am also responsible for getting it fixed. And if I don’t get it fixed, the business could fail.
• There is big change coming up with my job, but I cannot disclose details just yet. But it’s big.
• My best friends are moving out of state.

Things far less critical, but still bothering me:

• I was out of town this weekend. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s put me behind in my calculus work.
• I’m supposed to be studying and learning WebObjects but I haven’t had time to really dig in.
• I haven’t had the time to study chess. I’ve barely had enough time to play.
• I haven’t had time to ride my bike an a long while.

Things preventing me from going nuts:

• Dorrie
• My chess rating on Red Hot Pawn keeps climbing
• We’re about to be in a house with a basement and a loft and a yard and many other things to be excited about in a house.

Oh, how I long to write something at least “quasi-” technical. Well, no time. Too busy trying to keep up with the calculus class, plan our move out of the condo, and plan our move into the house.

I finished Prisoner of Azkaban yesterday. Hey, this was a fun book. I need the easy reads right now, and this was certainly easy and entertaining. I particularly liked the ending in this one. I wasn’t expecting it. I can’t wait to see how Sirius plays out in the rest of the books. For sure he has to play a role somehow.

OK… that’s all. Must study math.