_TCTAB when first starting Take Command

[Steve Pitts]

Folks,

I had a weird one when first starting Take Command after installing Windows updates today. Given that the effect is subtle (just a message really) and the knock-on effects are minimal, this might have been happening regularly and I've missed it. I always start TCMD from a Taskbar icon, generally as pretty much the first thing I do when starting the PC, and I have the following code in TCSTART.BTM:

@ECHO OFF
REM TakeCommand/32 startup batch script.
REM
ECHO Running %@NAME[%_BATCHNAME] batch file (from %@PATH[%_BATCHNAME])
ECHO %@NAME[%_BATCHNAME] {%_PID}: invoked %_ISODATE at %_TIME {%_TRANSIENT %_PIPE %_TCTAB %_TCTABACTIVE %_TCTABS %_SHELL} >>%@PATH[%_BATCHNAME]TCMD_AUTO.LOG
REM Check to see if we're running in a transient shell or a pipe
IFF %_TRANSIENT == 1 .OR. %_PIPE == 1 THEN
  ECHO %@NAME[%_BATCHNAME] - processing short-circuited for transient shell
  QUIT
ENDIFF
REM To avoid problems with TCC sessions started via the Windows scheduler
REM we bypass SHRALIAS processing unless running within Take Command
IFF %_TCTAB == 0 THEN
  ECHO %@NAME[%_BATCHNAME] - SHRALIAS processing short-circuited for stand-alone TCC
  SET TC32_LOAD_ALIAS=%_SHRALIAS
ELSEIFF "%@OPTION[localaliases]" = "No" THEN
REM Ensure that aliases and histories are globally available
  SHRALIAS
[...]

In this particular instance it would seem that _TCTAB was not set to 1 because the messages I see on startup are:

TCC  25.00.20 x64   Windows 10 [Version 10.0.18362.388]
Copyright 2019 JP Software Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Registered to [redacted]

Running TCSTART batch file (from D:\Users\Steve\AppData\Local\JPSoft\)
TCSTART - SHRALIAS processing short-circuited for stand-alone TCC
Running 4START batch file (from D:\Users\Steve\AppData\Local\JPSoft\)

The ECHO to TCMD_AUTO.LOG (added for historical reasons when debugging a long forgotten issue) seems to confirm that all of the _TCTAB related variable values were set to zero when they would normally be set to 1 for the first TCC instance within TCMD:

TCSTART {12068}: invoked 2019-10-04 at 10:23:15 {0 0 0 0 0 0}
TCSTART {12724}: invoked 2019-10-04 at 18:02:34 {0 0 1 1 2 0}
TCSTART {16936}: invoked 2019-10-04 at 19:53:19 {0 0 1 1 3 0}

(FWIW I have confirmed that 12068 is indeed the _PID of the session in which the messages above are displayed). The second and third tabs added to TCMD look normal.

 

[rconn]

Not reproducible here. How are you starting the tab windws (default, defined in TCMD.INI, or ??)?

If _tctab is not being set, then something has broken the named pipe connection between TCC andTCMD.

 

[Steve Pitts]

Rex,

I have not noticed this again since, so I guess it was just some strange environmental thing (although it seems odd that anything would break the named pipe during the period between starting TCMD and the first default TCC running). To answer the question above, the first tab window opens automatically with TCMD (as per default) and the others were added by clicking on the 'new tab tab' in the TCMD window. In case it helps, attached is my INI file.

Cheers, Steve