[TriLUG] *nix consulting gig

[Jason Tower]

i need some assistance on a client job.  they are having a problem with their 
business app that needs to be resolved ASAP, and i have not been successful 
thus far.  in no particular order, here are some of the details:

- the server is a reasonably new x86, about two years old
- OS is Unixware 7 (no SCO jokes please, it wasn't my choice)
- i have copied all of the relevent directories over to my server so they can 
reviewed offline
- end user interaction is performed through serial terminals, text only

the application is a fairly typical business application, it handles 
inventory, invoices, accounts receivable, payment posting, that kind of 
thing.  it is a closed source proprietary app for which support is 
outrageously expensive, which is why i have been asked to find a solution.  
having seen it in action, it clearly uses a database of some sort as the 
backend but i do not know which one.  i've tried poking around the system but 
the shell, command set, and syntax are sufficiently different from linux that 
my attenpts to fully understand what is going on are stymied.

the problem is that they try to run a "daily close" routine it returns the 
following message: "WARNING DAILY CLOSE RUNNING OR YOU ARE IN A RESTART" and 
the routine fails.  this "daily close" routine is very important to them 
because without it they cannot properly process invoices and payments.  i 
assume there is some sort of database glitch but do not know how to fix it.  
the server recently suffered a large number of dirty shutdowns due to 
hardware failure (that has been fixed) which may have contributed to the 
problem.  i believe the app itself is quite solid as they have had no other 
problems with it.

so here's the deal: if someone can help me fix this one particular "daily 
close" problem they'll earn a nice little consulting fee (exact amount TBD, 
but probably between $250 and $400).  prerequisites:

must know old school unix reasonably well
know a thing or two about databases
be available on monday to visit customer site (in raleigh)

if anyone is interested, please email me offline.  thanks, jason