freechain for Linux

[Bruce Easton]

I recently received the error:

-bash: /appl/fp/lib/freechain.org: cannot execute binary file

when I tried running freechain on a file on two  different 
Linux systems with filePro 5.0.14.  (The first time I 
received the error, filePro itself had tried to run the 
freechain program when I tried to add a record after I had 
cleared the key, data and lockfile via ddir.)

I noticed that on one of our newer Linux systems, the
size of freechain was noticeably larger:

-rwsr-xr-x 1 filepro group 521884 Oct 14  2004 freechain

verses (the problem one):
-rwsr-xr-x 1 filepro group 257360 Nov 30  2009 freechain.org
[I mistakenly used just cp to copy the file, so I lost
the original date on this file.  But I'm guessing it must 
have been prior to the date for the one noted below.]

I also have another Linux site where the freechain program 
size is 395228 - Mar 22 2001.

Replacing the smaller program with the newer larger 
program gets rid of the error and allows adding records 
into the file.

Finally to my question.  Does anyone have a quick way 
to actually test that freechain is working OK?  I can 
easily test adding, deleting and then adding new 
records, but I guess I'n wondering if someone knows 
a way to easily 'break' a file to put it in the 
condition where it would be obvious before and after 
a run of freechain that things were 'wrong' and then 
'right'.  

My concern is that, even though I am no longer getting 
an error message, and because I've now been playing 
fPSorcerer with these freechain programs, that when 
filePro does run freechain on its own, that it may 
not be properly doing what it was intended to do.

I searched through my forum email and also looked at 
fptech's online manual and I don't see any history of 
this type of error or a major update for the freechain 
program during 5.0.14 - but maybe I missed something.

Bruce

Bruce Easton
STN, Inc.