Creating and Managing Your Model › Managing CA 2E Models › Checking a CA 2E Model

Checking a CA 2E Model

The Check Model (YCHKMDL) command is a housekeeping function that checks your model for inactive internal records and un-resolvable model object references. 

In CA 2E, whenever you create an object in the model, a corresponding model object reference called a surrogate number is created that the product uses to recognize the object.  When the object is deleted, the surrogate number should also be deleted.  At times the surrogate number may not be deleted.   When this happens the condition which occurs is known as a dangling surrogate.  This condition can be caused by such events as a power outage which results in an incomplete update; a developer makes an error when using YWRKF to change model file data; a session is closed without exiting the model properly by a developer or by network security; a model relation name is typed over or field exit is used rather than deleting the relation.

Work can be performed in a model for months without this condition being detected.  It most likely manifests itself when generating, coping or editing an object that references the deleted object surrogate number.

Consequently it is very important to use the YCHKMDL *Update action periodically to maintain a healthy model.  The YCHKMDL *UPDATE cleans up dangling references and produces a report of objects it was able to delete. For large models it is recommended to incorporate it with weekly backup procedures.  Using YCHKMDL *UPDATE once a month on smaller models will be sufficient. For details about the YCHKMDL command, see the Command Reference Guide.