FIX: Merge Subscriptions May Reinitialize Unexpectedly If Incremental Schema Change Fails (319691)

SYMPTOMS

Starting with SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2), the Merge Agent may suddenly mark subscriptions for reinitialization if the Merge Agent fails to deliver incremental schema changes. In these circumstances, the Merge Agent history for the subscription marked for reinitialization will have the following error message:

The process could not deliver the snapshot to the Subscriber.

CAUSE

Because of a code change in SQL Server 7.0 SP2, if a Merge Agent fails to apply incremental schema changes to the subscriber (a failure can be because of a well-timed network error) the subscription is marked for reinitialization. This causes a full snapshot to be re-delivered the next time the Merge Agent runs and causes non-uploaded data on the subscriber to be overwritten by data from the publisher.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301511 INF: How to Obtain the Latest SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack

NOTE: The following hotfix was created prior to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date       Time       Version    Size            File name
   -------------------------------------------------------------

   12/11/00   10:13 PM   7.00.922   225,552 bytes   Replprov.dll
   12/11/00   10:13 PM   7.00.922   131,344 bytes   Replrec.dll
   12/11/00   10:13 PM   7.00.922    78,096 bytes   Replres.dll

NOTE: Because of file dependencies, the most recent hotfix or feature that contains the preceding files may also contain additional files.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4.