[Zope] Data.fs - can't pack: Oversized int - HELP!!!

[sbabu@tnc.org]

Hello,

We've a production environment running
Zope 2.1.6 on WinNT4 sp5 (not front ended
with IIS). Data.fs is 60MB and growing at
the rate of 10MB per day - we are building
a site and quite a lot of people are adding
content simultaneously.

We pack the database daily. Yestderday afternoon
packing failed saying "Transaction #xxxx has
invalid headers". Then when I went through
UNDO tab list, from a particular earlier
transaction onwards, I couldn't see the
UNDO list also - says "Oversized int".
Well, since I was not sure of how well ZODB
will hold up I had programmed it in such a
way that we keep a copy of most important
textual content in an Oracle database as well.
So, I used the Data.fs.old, recreated all
the DTML documents and folders using a 
DTML script after reading data from Oracle.
However, images and other binary files are
stored only in ZODB, so I had to upload these
again. Again today afternoon the same problem
appeared. I've nailed it down to one particular
folder which zope interface shows, but can't
access. I can repeat my whole excercise tomorrow
morning too, but I really would like a better
solution because it becomes kind of unstable.

Q: I saw Jim's mail on fsrecover.py. Does this
   work on Zope 2.1.6 databases too?
 
   I'll try tomorrow, with a backup copy. But
   personal experience would be nice :-)

Q: The number of transactions (write/update) are 
   quite high on my site - atleast now, during the
   building phase. What would be a recommended pack
   frequency?

   Note: 95% of our updates are through anonymous
   user. This is because I'm (need to, asked to) using
   zope as purely an app server, not as a web platform.
   So, all my data goes into an Oracle database,
   then gets created on ZODB as a DTML document etc.
   It is really a round about way of doing things
   - like trying to write some ASP/PHP code to make
   things look 10% like Zope's content management
   abilities.


Q: Is there any particular reason why I really should
   upgrade to Zope 2.2? 


If someone in DC needs to take a look at the
Data.fs file for research, I can arrange that.

Many thanks in advance


V.Satheesh Babu   Web Technologies Group, (703)-841-5348    sbabu@tnc.org The Nature Conservancy http://www.tnc.org  http://vsbabu.csoft.net
"The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on." --- Jone's Law