GemStone provides several sources for product information and support. The product-specific manuals provide extensive documentation, and should be your first source of information.
GemStone Web Site: http://support.gemstone.com
GemStone's Technical Support website provides a variety of resources to help you use GemStone products. Use of this site requires an account, but registration is free of charge. To get an account, just complete the Registration Form, found in the same location. You'll be able to access the site as soon as you submit the web form.
The following types of information are provided at this web site:
Documentation for GemStone products is provided in PDF format. This is the same documentation that is included with your GemStone product.
Release Notes and Install Guides for your product software are provided in PDF format in the Documentation section.
Downloads and Patches provide code fixes and enhancements that have been developed after product release, and past and current versions of GemBuilder for Smalltalk.
Bugnotes, in the Learning Center section, identify performance issues or error conditions that you may encounter when using a GemStone product. A bugnote describes the cause of the condition, and, when possible, provides an alternative means of accomplishing the task. In addition, bugnotes identify whether or not a fix is available, either by upgrading to another version of the product, or by applying a patch. Bugnotes are updated regularly.
TechTips, also in the Learning Center section, provide information and instructions for topics that usually relate to more effective or efficient use of GemStone products.
Community Links provide customer forums for discussion of GemStone product issues.
Technical information on the GemStone Web site is reviewed and updated regularly. We recommend that you check this site on a regular basis to obtain the latest technical information for GemStone products.
You may need to contact Technical Support directly for the following reasons:
Questions concerning product availability, pricing, keyfiles, or future features should be directed to your GemStone account manager.
When contacting GemStone Technical Support, please be prepared to provide the following information:
Your GemStone support agreement may identify specific individuals who are responsible for submitting all support requests to GemStone. If so, please submit your information through those individuals. All responses will be sent to authorized contacts only.
For non-emergency requests, the support website is the preferred way to contact Technical Support. Only designated support contacts may submit help requests via the support website. If you are a designated support contact for your company, or the designated contacts have changed, please contact us to update the appropriate user accounts.
Website: http://techsupport.gemstone.com
Telephone: (800) 243-4772 or (503) 533-3503
Requests for technical assistance may be submitted online, or by email or by telephone. We recommend you use telephone contact only for more serious requests that require immediate evaluation, such as a production system that is non-operational. In these cases, please also submit your request via the web or email, including pertinent details such error messages and relevant log files.
If you are reporting an emergency by telephone, select the option to transfer your call to the technical support administrator, who will take down your customer information and immediately contact an engineer.
Non-emergency requests received by telephone will be placed in the normal support queue for evaluation and response.
GemStone offers, at an additional charge, 24x7 emergency technical support. This support entitles customers to contact us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, if they encounter problems that cause their production application to go down, or that have the potential to bring their production application down. For more details, contact your GemStone account manager.
Consulting and training for all GemStone products are available through GemStone's Professional Services organization.
Contact your GemStone account representative for more details or to obtain consulting services.