Updates/ utilities

[trubino]

We are currently on version 17.1.1  we are having to run a utilities almost 1-2 times a month because things stop working.  Like today if we try to do any charting an error occurs and we are shut out of softdent.  We have lost about 2 hours trying to get this repaired already and its still not working.  Is it worth it to update to the newer versions of the program?  Trying to figure out if a newer version will stop this from occuring.  

[drcavola]

@trubino Keep in mind that the "go to" solution to fix many of the issues of Softdent is .... get ready ... run utilities.  Once in a while you'll get a support rep who will guide you to solutions other than "run utilities".

As you can tell, it's a VERY long process to even run a single or multiple file utility.  That's because Support knows that you better back up those files ... in case something goes south.  

You're gunna hear both sides of the Utilities argument.  Some say "yes, maintenance all the time, or on a regular basis".  Others say ... only when absolutely needed.

BTW - the longer you have Softdent, the larger the files, and the longer those utilities take to run.

[trubino]

does running on cloud fix this or is this something that happens either way

[ianjonesvb]

@trubino I would go ahead and update to the latest version to follow the process of elimination for the issues you are having, doing the upgrade will have little daily impact on your practice as the 2 versions are very similar and they have 2 8 or so minute videos on YouTube detailing the changes in version 18 and 19. When these updates are installed I believe the installer runs a full set of utilities and verifies everything is all set with your data. Something I would talk to your IT person about is making sure you have SSDs in your server, this makes a big difference in speed and reliability.

[ianjonesvb]

@trubino I forgot to mention that the updates are free and the time it takes is less than what you have lost in running the utilities our practice has about 20 workstations to give you an idea of size and we rarely have to run utilities (only for specific reasons like a fee change or orphan patient, etc.)

[bccarestreamrep]

Hello @trubino 

Updating to newer versions of SoftDent is not a guarantee that your particular errors get resolved. However, this depends on the error(s). 

What is the exact error you're getting when charting?

[trubino]

today when I tried to chart existing charting as soon as I pressed save error file number 360 chartcondition error = 31 error attempting to create new record.  then the next screen says next record in delete chain of fixed record length data file does not have 1st byte set to ff (hex).  Data file header record ma.  then we get shut down.  

As soon as this happened the first time the front desk could not post any transactions or create a tx plan. 

last month it was just not able to post or create tx plan.  

[bccarestreamrep]

It sounds to me like support is running utilities on individual files as your problems occur. I would suggest calling into support to setup a time to have a FULL set of utilities (support knows it as an ACB) run that covers all files (not just one or two).

[trubino]

they ran a full utilities today. Should I request that they run a full one every time we get errors rather then patching it

[bccarestreamrep]

That's up to you...This is an option, but takes longer. SD Utilities are not a proactive solution; they're a reactive solution. This means running utilities one week doesn't guarantee that errors won't occur the next.

I would make sure that whoever is running them deletes invalid records when possible, and has incorrect max IDs corrected.