How To Fix the 1969-12-31 Date Bug for User Record Fields

[BKG]

1969-12-31 Error. Is there some bug related to this date 1969-12-31 that results in forcing vB to put this date in any date fields under any conditions. I saw in another forum discussions where the earlier release of vB was giving the same date bug problem for user registered birthday dates.

After converting users from another board we find that all registered user records have automatically received a last visit date of 1969-12-31.

How do we re-set or re-initialize these dates for all registered users?

How do we fix this date bug?

Thank you in advance for your response. - bkg

[Scott MacVicar]

What board did you convert from? The forum software you were on might not have supported last visit time.

[Steve Machol]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=322346#post322346

[BKG]

Tried running the suggested script... Script not working...

When run from browser, the script aborts with message:

Fatal error: Unable to open /pathtoadmin/admin/fixboardnameupdate.php in - on line 0
No input file specified.

Do we need to change any parameters such as path etc. in the php script.

Thank you for your response. - BKG

[Scott MacVicar]

Does the file exists and have you tried chmod the file to 755?

[Steve Machol]

Re: Tried running the suggested script... Script not working...

Originally posted by BKG
Fatal error: Unable to open /pathtoadmin/admin/fixboardnameupdate.php in - on line 0
No input file specified.

First of all that's not the name of the file. It should be fixubbdate.php.

Second, make sure that you uploaded this to your admin directory in ASCII and there is no white space or extra lines before the <?php or after the ?>.

Third, make a backup of your database then run this script from your browser.

[BKG]

First of all that's not the name of the file. It should be fixubbdate.php

It is so. [Earlier, did not post the actual name on these forums but a generic name thinking that it may be relevant to variations of this script for other boards including ubb.]

Second, make sure that you uploaded this to your admin directory in ASCII and there is no white space or extra lines before the <?php or after the ?>.

Uploaded correctly in the right directory in ASCII format.

There is no code containing <?php
The first line just contains
<?
There is no white space or extra lines before that.

The last line contains
?>
There is no white space or extra lines before or after that.

Third, make a backup of your database then run this script from your browser.

Run after making backup from browser.

Correctly gives the following prompt on being run:

This script will correct the dates on threads which were imported from <boardname>. Make sure you backup your database before proceeding!
If you have a backup, click here to proceed.Done.

BUT, fails on the next step giving error:

<b>Fatal error</b>: Unable to open /<pathname to admin directory>/fixubbdate.php in - on line 0
No input file specified

Any inputs appreciated. - bkg.

[Steve Machol]

Another thought. Are you running this from your admin directory? If not, try that. If you are and it still doesn't work, attach the file you are using so we can take a look.

[BKG]

Yes, the script is resident within admin directory and is being run from right there.

Here is the code of the script as copied from the source and being used 'as is'(just copied and pasted):

<?
require("./global.php");
if (!isset($action)) {
echo("This script will correct the dates on threads which were imported from UBB5.4x. Make sure you backup your database before proceeding!<br>");
echo("If you have a backup, <a href=\"fixubbdate.php?action=doconvert\">click here</a> to proceed.");
}
if ($action=="doconvert") {
$threads=$DB_site->query("SELECT MIN(post.postid),post.dateline AS dateline,post.threadid AS id,thread.threadid FROM post,thread WHERE post.threadid=thread.threadid GROUP BY thread.threadid ORDER BY thread.threadid ASC");
echo("Line inserted on purpose<br>Rows in result: ");
echo(mysql_num_rows($threads));
while ($thread=$DB_site->fetch_array($threads)) {
$DB_site->query("UPDATE thread SET dateline='$thread[dateline]' WHERE threadid='$thread[id]'");
echo(mysql_affected_rows());
$i++;
if ($i = 50) {
echo("Updated another 50 threads...continuing<br>");
$i = 0;
}
}
} else {
echo("Done.");
}
?>

Thank you for helping. - bkg

[Steve Machol]

I meant post the file as an attachment.

[BKG]

Please find the file enclosed as .php attachment. - bkg

[Steve Machol]

Try this one.

[BKG]

No, this script did not work either.

This error seems to be a fatal error indicating that the script was not found [even though it is there]:

Fatal error: Unable to open /usr/www/users/net/forums/admin/fixubbdate.php in - on line 0
No input file specified.

A search on any search engine such as Google shows that this is a fairly common error. The question is if it is because of some php bug. Or if the php is unable to read the database files. Is there any option for furnning this by typing from the command line (instead of running from the browser).

Will appreciate your inputs. - bkg

[Steve Machol]

I just ran this exact script on my test forum and it worked perfectly. No 'line 0' errors or any other errors for that matter. (I'm running PHP 4.2.1) The only other thing I can think of is that the file permissions may be off. Try chmoding it to 644. If that doesn't work then it's got to be something wrong on the server level.

[BKG]

Permissions are ok - set to 644.

Quick question, would appreciate your reply.

How exactly does one run this script from the browser?

I am typing in the browser window:

http://www.mydomain.com/path/admin/fixubbupdate.php

and hitting enter. Does one need to pass any parameters by putting something after adding a ? to the URL end. - bkg