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Typical error message found in the LUSAS Solver text output file (*.out) or in the Modeller text output pane

***DATABASE ERROR*** Master Index Table is full Increase number of index entries

Most common causes & links to solutions 

This message typically occurs during a nonlinear or dynamic analysis where many sets of results are being created.  The remedy is to increase the system parameter NIDX for both LUSAS Modeller and LUSAS Solver.  This is called the Master Index and is a system parameter "NIDX" which can be changed prior to running the solution, and for opening a model and results, prior to starting Modeller

For Solver this can be set via the Modeller user interface before solving the model:

File > Model Properties... > Solver System Variables tab 

On the Solver System Variables tab "NIDX" is listed and can be changed as required. 

For Modeller this parameter is set by inserting the following lines into the global LUSAS Modeller startup file, or via a lusasm.str in your current working directory (for all models in this location only).  This is a text file created and saved with the extension ".str" rather than ".txt":

system
nidx=15000
end

The value 15000 is a suggestion which may not be sufficient to eliminate the error in certain models.  The parameter may be incremented in steps of 5000 until the error is eliminated.


More on cause & theory 

During a nonlinear or dynamic analysis it is typical to request a number of Modeller results to be written ("dumped") to the results file at various points during the solution. To enable our software to manage each of these result sets effectively, a master index table is used which simply records the presence of each result set that is written to the results file.

This error message occurs when the number of result sets written requires a master index table size greater than the default size. The size is configurable by the system parameter, NIDX. There is not a direct correlation between the number of dumps to the results file (.mys) and the size of the parameter required, but our experience would suggest that an approximate value of NIDX would be equal to 10*(Number Of Dumps Required)


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