VAST ICX (runtime) Application not launching

[Dave Grems]

I have an application written in VAST 7.0 that has been in distribution for several years (with quarterly enhancements delivered).  About 3 months ago, a fairly isolated issue has surfaced where the splash screen displays, but the main application window never displays.  Task Manager shows the application consuming 99% of the CPU, and those users have to (Kill) End the Process.  Of the total distributed applications of the current version, 135 are working fine, 4 are not. The application does use ODBC to access a database, but it seems that the initial ICX code to read from the database never gets invoked.

The application has been distributed with all required DLL and CAT files, the EXE and ICX file names match.  I have thoroughly tested the distribution and launching of the application (installed from a common installer) on similar platforms (Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, with a mix of 32bit and 64 bit operating systems).   I have not been unable to find a common thread in the environments where the application does not work - 2 are running windows 7 32bit, and the other 2 are running Windows XP (also 32 bit).

I am at a loss as to what may be going on, or what to check.  Can anyone shed any light on what/where I should look next?

Thanks,
Dave Grems

[Marten Feldtmann]

Hello Dave,

I've seen this behaviour in a very special situation: when actively debugging a .NET program (means: VS2010 running and an active debugger opened and I do a single step through a C# program).

When I start a VA program in this situation, the splash screen appears - but that was it. After finishing the debugger, VA started without problems.