PostgreSQL Import/Query Settings

[equacode]

What are the specific settings/exceptions for connecting to and querying a Postgres db? I cannot get mine to connect and my settings are exactly like every other program we use at work to connect to our Postgres DBs.

The documentation treats Postgres and MysQL as the same, but there are connection and querying differences.

When attempting an import, my MBM program throws an error, but unfortunately it is useless/blank (see attached screenshot). I'm running MBMpro 8.4.3 on OS 10.7.5.

Without knowing the root of the error, the possible problems on that quickly come to mind are:

1. SCHEMAS. When querying Postgres with named schemas, you must supply the schema. The database structure is important when querying a specific table in a schema. It is unclear if or how the MaxBulk Mailer reads the schema.table syntax.

2. AUTHENTICATION. Our PG servers are set for MD5 authentication from any external host. Does MaxBulk Mailer send passwords as md5-hashed or clear-text?

3. PG VERSION. Perhaps MBMpro is only compatible with certain (older) releases of Postgres? We're running 9.2.4.

Any support and/or links to more clear and specific documentation about postgres imports would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stanbusk]

First of all, is your DB server set to accept external connections?

 

[equacode]

Yes, absolutely sure, or else we wouldn't be able to connect using any number of the external tools that we currently use: PGadmin3, SQLworkbenchJ, pgsql via command line, our remote web app servers, etc.

Our servers are wide open to the world - only requiring authentication that identifies a correct host, port, user, pwd (md5), and database.

And, it's not just our own remote pg servers that we can't connect to using MBM. We also cannot connect MBM to a PG server hosted on the same local devices as the MBM. We also cannot connect it to remotely managed PG servers (like Heroku, or EnterpriseDB)... all of which we can connect to using our other tools, and we have no control over their settings.

We aren't new to postgres - being a 100% pg shop - which is why this has been so baffling and frustrating. We are new to MBM, though, which is why we need help debugging.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[stanbusk]

All DB servers are set to not accept remote connections, this is why I ask. With remote I mean a software like MBM connecting directly from a remote place, different network. This is important. Have you checked the setting on the server and make sure it is set to accept direct connection with no web interface thru the internet from a remote network? Really sure?

 

[equacode]

Yep. 100%, absolutely, positively sure.

Checking the pg logs, the app (v 8.4.3) isn't even attempting to make a connection to postgres - the server receives no incoming port calls, so nothing to log. Out of curiosity, we attempted a connection to a remote mysql, which worked fine. So the problem is specifically with the app connecting to postgres.

Being absolutely convinced this is a bug within your app, and nothing to do with our local or remote pg servers, or local and remote firewalls, or basically anything external to the app, we downloaded older versions of MBM to see if this is a regression of code, and...

...both MBM 8.3.7 and 7.9.2 successfully connect to PG servers without any problem at all.

8.3.7 appears to be the most recent older version available for download. I don't see any earlier 8.4.x releases to test this against. We purchased a license for 8.4.x, so it would be nice to get the most recent working version before this regression appears.

 

[stanbusk]

The connection system is a plugin, it is not ours, actually MaxBulk Mailer just asks the plugin to connect. I have never heard of that problem and there is nothing about that in that plugin developer forum :-/

 

[equacode]

It may be the plugin of another development shop, but MaxProg chose to include it in MBM and released 8.4.3 with the plugin not working - whether that incompatibility is the fault of the plugin or the MBM code doesn't really matter to me, the consumer - the fact is that it's broken in the current release, and in previous releases it works. This regression was missed in your testing/QA. MaxProg needs to own that.

Also, please let "Sales" know that if this bug isn't slated for a fix in the next release, the website should be updated to accurately reflect the decreased functionality (remove "postgreSQL"):

Key Features
Pro version also adds:

• Full mySQL, postgreSQL and OBDC database support.

Thanks.

 

[hq_sysadmin]

I have the exact same problem.

When I was shopping for bulk mailers, there were two things that put MBM over the top. One of them was being a Mac app, the other was Postgres support because I knew were were converting our customer database from Oracle. Today was the first day I wanted to connect MBM to the Postgres DB. I got the same blank message box that the OP did.

I use Squirrel SQL to attach to the Postgres DB all the time and I copied the settings right from there into MBM.

 

[stanbusk]

I will have a look.