Advanced FAQ (Deep Dive Cross-Refs)

Note

This FAQ complements the general FAQ. It links to modular deep dive sections (Context Menu, Reporting, Metadata) and surfaces operational, performance, and migration questions.

Context Menu

Q: Where did the context menu queue procedures go? A: Legacy queue (spMFSetContextMenuQueue / spMFUpdateContextMenuQueue) removed in Release 5.X. See deprecation note in Contextmenu queue (Removed) and current behavior in queue-and-logging.

Q: How do I troubleshoot a stalled context menu action now? A: Query recent ProcessBatch entries (Action context) and review messages; see troubleshooting-and-diagnostics.

Q: How do I add a new action type? A: Most scenarios reuse existing action types; confirm behavior mapping in action-types-and-behavior before extending.

Reporting

Q: Which procedure should I schedule for routine freshness? A: Use spMFUpdateAllIncludedInAppTables for broad sets; large/high‑churn single class -> spMFUpdateMFilesToMFSQL. See Initial Load and Scheduling.

Q: Incremental update seems slow—what first? A: Inspect ProcessBatch duration trend and change ratio; guidance in Performance and Optimization.

Q: How do I explode multi‑lookups cleanly? A: Use fnMFParseDelimitedString; examples in Tools and Examples.

Q: Event log table huge—how to control size? A: Purge/archive raw XML (MFEventLog_OpenXML) on retention schedule; see Event Log Reporting.

Metadata

Q: How often should full metadata sync run? A: Usually daily/weekly; high churn additive changes can use selective sync. See automation-and-operations.

Q: Property rename not reflected in class table column name—expected? A: Yes. Label changes reflect in metadata & downstream reporting labels; physical column persists unless regenerated. See change-management-and-vault-moves.

Q: Workflow state rename not showing in class rows—why? A: Requires remediation procedure spMFSynchronizeWorkFlowStateColumnChange. Details in change-management-and-vault-moves.

Q: Safe to run spMFDropAndUpdateMetadata in production? A: Avoid unless controlled maintenance window; prefer selective sync. Rationale in Selective and Advanced Synchronization.

Integration & Files

Q: Best pattern for file export with structured folder path? A: Use spMFExportFiles with property-based folder mapping; reference Working with files.

Q: How to push updated file binaries back? A: Use spMFSynchronizeFilesToMFiles or spMFUpdateExplorerFileToMFiles depending on source; see same file operations deep dive.

Performance & Operations

Q: What indicates need for batching large class updates? A: Duration spikes, lock contention, or >150k objects. Guidance in Initial Load and Scheduling.

Q: How to identify anomalous long-running metadata sync? A: Compare latest duration against historical mean+2*stdev (ProcessBatch); methodology similar to example in reporting performance page.

Security / Access

Q: How to restrict who can trigger heavy context menu actions? A: Scope user groups & action assignments; see Security and Permissions.

Migration / Upgrades

Q: Upgrading from Release 4—what about deprecated features? A: Transaction mode & queue removed; confirm no custom procedure references remain. Review release notes and deprecation stubs (queue pages + context menu hub).

Troubleshooting Quick Queries

Recent Non‑Success Batches .. code:: sql

SELECT TOP 15 ProcessBatch_ID, ProcessType, Status, CreatedOnUTC, LogText FROM MFProcessBatch WHERE Status <> 0 ORDER BY ProcessBatch_ID DESC;

Class Freshness Snapshot .. code:: sql

SELECT Name, LastUpdateOnUTC FROM MFClass WHERE IncludeInApp = 1 ORDER BY LastUpdateOnUTC ASC;

Event Volume (24h) .. code:: sql

SELECT COUNT(*) AS Events24h FROM MFilesEvents WHERE TimeStamp > DATEADD(DAY,-1,SYSUTCDATETIME());

See Also