Download REF Chapter 3: Windows NT System Specifics

Chapter 3
Windows System Specifics
Introduction
Although BASIS runs on different operating systems, examples in the documentation
have been designed to be valid for each of those systems. However, there are some
aspects of BASIS commands and file naming conventions that differ among the various
systems. To avoid unnecessary repetition in the documentation, information specific to
each system has been gathered in separate chapters of BASIS Reference, one for each of
the operating systems on which BASIS runs. This chapter covers Windows system
specifics.
Wherever an example in the BASIS documentation requires system-specific information,
a generic description is given (usually in italics: e.g., Host file descriptor for . . .) and a
boxed SS# icon in the left margin, like this
SS1
directs you to the relevant section of this chapter. Here you will find examples in which
generic descriptions have been replaced with system-specific information. Again, to
avoid redundancy, only as many examples are provided as are necessary to highlight what
is specific to your system. Each of these sections also contains notes which provide
additional explanation.
Windows System Specifics  71

The SS1 section explains the syntax of Windows file paths for BASIS files.
Additionally, Windows file naming conventions and the use of environment variables
are discussed. For more information, see “Environment Variables.” Examples of
typical BASIS files found on Windows operating systems and how they are used are
provided at the end of this section.

There is no SS2 section in this chapter, since the topic does not apply to Windows
operating systems. You may disregard references in the documentation to SS2.

There is no SS3 section in this chapter, since the topic does not apply to Windows
operating systems. You may disregard references in the documentation to SS3.

The SS4 section documents the specifics of routing files to the printer on your
computer system.

The last section presents “Other System-Specific Information” or refers you to where
such information can be found in other BASIS manuals. Included in this section is a
summary of what is unique to BASIS on Windows and how it differs from BASIS on
other operating systems.
Taken together, these examples and notes serve as an informal introduction to your
computer system. This chapter, however, should not be used as a substitute for your
Windows system’s more comprehensive operating manuals.
The typographical conventions of the examples here follow those of the BASIS manuals
they supplement. Where a command’s output is abbreviated, ellipses (. . .) represent the
omitted material.
SS1
File Descriptors
The following paragraphs discuss file descriptors, file symbols, and file naming
conventions for Windows operating systems.
Commands
The commands that reference SS1 are
DELETE/FILE
72  Windows System Specifics
SHOW/MODE
Syntax
The file descriptor in a BASIS command identifies the name and location of a file. The
contents of the file descriptor and the order of those contents are defined in syntax that
follows standard Windows conventions. The syntax for file descriptors is:
drive:\pathname\filename
or
\\nodename\sharename\pathname\filename
where
drive
is the hard disk (located on a PC or server) on which the file is stored.
pathname
consists of directories separated from each other (and from the
filename) by backslashes (\). If the path does not begin with a backslash
(i.e., if it is a relative pathname), the current path is concatenated to the
front of the specified file descriptor.
filename
is the file’s required name. It may end with an extension separated from
the rest of the filename with a period (e.g., 'trace.prc').
nodename
is the network computer (PC or server) that stores the DDB file.
sharename
is one of one or more hard disks on a node. It may also be one of many
aliases pointing to a drive or a portion of a drive. The use of aliases
allows the system administrator to limit access to the database.

The total file descriptor length is 1 to 128 characters.

The file descriptor is not case sensitive but is usually entered in lowercase.

Nodenames must be unique on a given network.

Sharenames must be known to all modules needing to open the files on whichever
node those modules are executed.

Users running a given module must have sufficient permissions and privileges for
that sharename.
Windows System Specifics  73
Using Defaults
In the examples at the end of this section, there is often a difference between the file
descriptors that you specify in the commands and the file descriptors the system displays
in the messages following each command. Example 4 illustrates this difference. In the
command that you enter, the file descriptor is abbreviated:
test2
But in the system message, the complete file descriptor is given:
drive:\path\test2.prc
Although you can provide all the information each time you specify a file descriptor in
BASIS, doing so is often unnecessary. The goal is to specify a file as briefly as possible
without being ambiguous or inaccurate.
One way to keep file descriptors short is to take advantage of the current defaults.
Defaults are settings that—unless you specify otherwise—are in effect “by default.”
There are two kinds of defaults: those specified by Windows operating systems and those
built into BASIS. Only those parts of the file descriptor that are not currently defaults
need to be specified.
Look again at Example 4:
FQM> @test2
File is absent - it does not exist in the system
FILE=drive:\path\test2.prc
In the command, the procedure file executed is referenced only as test2, not as
drive:\path\test2.prc. When you do not specify an extension, the @ command
supplies the default extension for procedure files. This is a BASIS default. The
Windows default comes into play with the path. When you do not specify a path in
Windows, you have in effect told the system to look for a file in the default path—what
Windows calls the current directory. The pathname can often be omitted in BASIS
commands because normally the files you access are in your working directory. Thus,
specifying the extension and the pathname in this case is not necessary.
74  Windows System Specifics
When you use one of the DELETE commands in BASIS on Windows, the system does
not tell you whether the file has been deleted. In Example 2,
FQM> delete/file salfil
the user tries to delete the file named salfil. Assuming that the user has not made a
typographical error, one of three conclusions may be drawn:
1.
The file exists and was deleted.
2.
The file does not exist and, therefore, could not be deleted.
3.
The file exists but was not deleted because it was not in the default path. When a file
is not in the default path, specifying no pathname has the same effect as specifying
the wrong pathname. Thus, if the file salfil actually has the pathname
c:\usr\herdir, specifying that file as salfil (i.e., c:\usr\mydir\salfil) is
as wrong as specifying it as, for example, c:\usr\hisdir\salfil.
If you determine that the file salfil does exist but in a subdirectory of your default
directory called salaries, you can delete it with the command
FQM> delete/file salaries\salfil.
(The period after salfil must be used to tell the system that the file salfil has no
extension. Otherwise, the system will look for a subdirectory called “salfil.”) Once
again, only what is needed is specified in the file descriptor. Although salfil’s
complete or absolute pathname is c:\usr\mydir\salaries Windows allows you to
specify only the relative pathname salaries. Note that there is no backslash (\) in front
of salaries in the file descriptor even though salaries is a subdirectory of mydir.
This is an important distinction. Specifying salaries\salfil. (without the initial
slash) tells the system to look for the file salfil in the subdirectory salaries of the
current directory c:\usr\mydir (i.e., three levels down from the root directory).
Specifying \salaries\salfil. (with the initial slash) would have instructed the
system to find the file salfil in the first-level directory c:\salaries.
Default Extensions
Specific filename extensions are recommended for many of the various BASIS files. In
fact, where you have not specified otherwise, some commands assume a default
extension. In Example 4,
FQM> @test2
File is absent - it does not exist in the system
FILE=drive:\path\test2.prc
the @ command is used to execute a procedure file. Because no extension was specified
for test2, BASIS uses the default procedure file extension of .prc.
Windows System Specifics  75
The recommended filename extensions in BASIS are:
.ddl
-
Data Definition Language source file
.err
-
Error file
.prc
-
Command Procedure file
.prm
-
Thesaurus print parameters file
.put
-
Put file
.set
-
Stored result set file
.sgs
-
Style Guide Source file
.sgo
-
Style Guide Object file
For more information regarding Windows file extensions for database files, see Database
Definition and Development, “File Qualifications.”
Wildcards
Another way to save time and keystrokes is to use special wildcard characters. Wildcards
can be used in many BASIS commands to stand for one or more characters in any part of
the file descriptor. You can use wildcards when you are unsure of the exact spelling of
part of a file descriptor or when you want to apply a command to a group of related files.
The Asterisk (*) Wildcard
The asterisk (*) is used to stand for any number of characters (including none). In
Example 1,
FQM> delete/file sal*,confirm=yes,log=yes
the system is asked to delete all files having filenames beginning with sal, no matter
what or how many characters follow. Thus, in addition to deleting sal101 and salfin,
this command also deletes salall, sal1101, sal301.txt, and just sal, if they exist.
The Question Mark (?) Wildcard
A second wildcard character—the question mark (?)—takes the place of a single
character in a file descriptor. Slightly altering the previous command enables us to
contrast the uses of these two wildcard characters. The new command
76  Windows System Specifics
FQM> delete/file sal?,confirm=yes,log=yes
deletes all files having filenames beginning with sal followed by one (and only one)
other character (i.e., sal1, sal2, and salx but not sal10, sal101, sal3.txt, or sal).
Environment Variables
A third way to abbreviate commands is to specify environment variables (also referred to
as logical names) in place of part or all of a frequently-used file descriptor. An
environment variable is used to achieve device/file independence by associating a
physical file on the operating system with some other name that is resolved at run time.
To accomplish this, Windows environment variables are enclosed by percent (%) signs.
For more information, see BASIS Reference, “Environment Variables.”
Environment variables and the names they represent can be used to form all or part of a
file descriptor. Therefore, even if only part of a file descriptor is an environment
variable, it still must be enclosed in percent signs (%).
The current value of an environment variable may be displayed by printing the
environment variable. For example the value of %DM_VOC% can be displayed using
the following command at the system prompt:
echo %DM_VOC%
Environment variables are established in the Windows registry by the BASIS installation
program. For information about making changes to environment variables, see “Other
System-Specific Information” below.
Windows System Specifics  77
Examples
1.
FQM> delete/file sal*,confirm=yes,log=yes
drive:\path\sal101
delete? (Y or N)> n
drive:\path\salfin
delete? (Y or N)> y
drive:\path\salfin
deleted.
2.
FQM> delete/file salfil
3.
FQM> show/mode,trace,tracefile
TRACE=No
TRACEFile='trace.prc'
4.
FQM> @test2
File is absent - it does not exist in the system
FILE=drive:\path\test2.prc
78  Windows System Specifics
SS4
Routing
Commands
The commands that reference SS4 are
ROUTE\FILE
SET\ROUTE
SHOW\ROUTE
Wildcards cannot be used in the ROUTE/FILE command: a single filename must be
specified (see Example 1).
Parameters
The following parameter descriptions and initial defaults are generally the same as for
your Windows print command and are available in FQM.
COPIES = integer
(Optional)
Specifies the number of copies of the file to print. The default is 1.
COPY_FILE = no | yes
(Optional)
Makes a copy of the file before printing it. If you have not specified COPY_FILE, be
careful not to remove or modify the file until it has finished printing. The default is no.
NOTIFY = no | yes
(Optional)
Instructs the system to send you mail after your file has been printed. If NOTIFY is not
specified, you will not receive mail upon normal completion of your print request. The
default is no.
Examples
1.
FQM> show/route
COPIES=1
COPY_FILE=no
NOTIFY=no
FQM> set/route copies=2,notify=yes
Windows System Specifics  79
FQM> show/route
COPIES=2
COPY_FILE=no
NOTIFY=yes
FQM> route/file
FILE= sample.txt
Change defaults (N\Y)? > n
Other System-Specific Information
As you use BASIS on Windows operating systems, you will find Windows specific
information throughout the BASIS documentation. The following paragraphs serve to
introduce and summarize what is unique to BASIS on Windows and how it differs from
BASIS on other operating systems.
Overview of the BASIS on Windows Interface
The BASIS on Windows interface is very similar to that of other Windows programs.
Once installed, BASIS on Windows has a program group icon in the Program Manager.
You can access the most commonly used BASIS modules by double clicking this icon.
Modules included as program items in the Basis program group are FQM, DMSA,
DMDBA, HVU, DMR, DMJ, and HELP.
Also available in the BASIS program group is the program item for the BASIS Command
Prompt. Double clicking the BASIS Command Prompt icon displays a console
application similar in appearance to the DOS command prompt. The BASIS Command
Prompt provides you with a comprehensive tool for BASIS database management on both
a user and an administrator level. It functions in a manner virtually identical to BASIS on
other operating systems by employing a typical command line interface.
The program items for Setup Kernels and Setup Kernel Directories are also available in
the BASIS program group. By double clicking these icons, your system administrator can
set up and manipulate BASIS Kernels and their directories.
Unique to BASIS on Windows is the BASIS Help program item, which accesses a
Windows Help file containing the online help provided on other operating systems via the
DMHELP facility. From the BASIS program group, double click the BASIS Help icon to
access BASIS Help.
Those modules that do not appear as icons in the program group can be accessed by
double-clicking the BASIS Command Prompt icon and entering the module name at the
prompt. In fact, you can access any BASIS module through the Command Prompt, even
if it has an icon in the BASIS program group.
80  Windows System Specifics
The Windows Registry
Also unique to BASIS on Windows is the use of the registry for manipulating and storing
environment variables used by the Kernel. Default values for several environment
variables are set during the installation of BASIS. When a Kernel module is initiated, the
environment variables are read from the registry and incorporated into the Kernel’s
execution environment.
The environment variables and their settings are stored in registry keys under
BASIS\release, where release is the BASIS release identifier (for example, V9). A
hierarchy of Environment registry keys can be established to further tailor the Kernel's
environment. You can access the environment variables in the registry with the
Configuration Resource Maintenance utility by clicking on the icon labeled
“Configuration Resource Maintenance” in the BASIS program group.
IMPORTANT: Unless you are an experienced BASIS and Windows system
administrator, we do not recommend customizing environment variables. Incorrect path
settings can keep BASIS from locating its own tools, thereby disrupting your access to the
database.
For information about the Windows registry, see your Windows documentation.
BASIS User Modules
At installation, a BASIS commands box is added to the Program Manager box. When a
BASIS module icon or the BASIS Command Prompt icon is double-clicked, the file
dm\bin\dmcmds.bat is run. This file sets environment variables for subsequent execution.
You can make changes to a user module's environment variables by editing the
dmcmds.bat file in the xx\dm\bin subdirectory, where xx is the BASIS release identifier
(for example, V9). Or you can set the environment variables manually from the BASIS
Command Prompt.
Note: When you reference environment variables on Windows, you must enclose them
with percent signs (%)—for example, %DM_ROOT%. (By contrast, when you reference
environment variables on UNIX, you must precede them with a dollar sign ($)—for
example, $DM_ROOT.)
Statement Mode
BASIS on Windows provides statement mode for defining and manipulating a database
and its components. Screen mode is not available. Therefore, these modules, which on
other operating systems have both a screen and a statement mode, are supported in BASIS
on Windows in statement mode only: DMDBA, Thesaurus Manager, and FQM. And
these modules, which use screen mode exclusively, are not supported in BASIS on
Windows: DMKMON and EXPRESS.
Windows System Specifics  81
Throughout the documentation, you should ignore screen mode instructions, but be
careful not to overlook statement mode instructions interspersed in sections that focus on
screen mode.
For more information, see Database Definition and Development, “Changing the
Definition Database.”
Record Styles
BASIS on Windows supports only conventional and continuous record styles. Sectioned
records and section-level fields are not supported on Windows operating systems.
Queue Functionality
On Windows, the only purpose of the queue is to keep track of records that have been
checked out of the database. When you check out a record, BASIS automatically creates a
Queue Status Record to store information about the status of the data record you checked
out. This Queue Status Record resides in the queue or queue area, but the data record
that you checked out is not placed in the queue. Because of this restricted queue
functionality, the DMQ module is neither required nor supported on Windows.
For more information, see Database Loading and Maintenance, “Using Queues.”
82  Windows System Specifics
Modules Not Supported
The following modules are not supported in BASIS on Windows:
BCL
DMCCF (DMCCF functionality has been replaced by the Windows registry; for
more information, see System Administration, “Communications.”)
DMCPC
DMDDBR
DMDHI
DMFORM
DMFPC
DMKBC
DMKMON
DMQ
DMRW
Express-D
Express-Q
For more information about which modules are supported in BASIS on Windows, see
Database Loading and Maintenance, “Preface.”
Commands/Parameters Not Supported
The following commands and parameters are not supported in BASIS on Windows:
COMMAND=KEEP
COMMAND=KEEP_save
COMPILE/REPORT
DELETE/PF
DELETE/RF
DELETE/SF
DM_COMMANDS
DM_KS
DMUSER TERM
EXECUTE/REPORT
FORMAT=Keypak_converter
FQM USE/SCREENS
SHOW/DIRECTORY
SHOW/FILE
SHOW/PD
SHOW/PF
SHOW/RD
SHOW/RF
UPDATE=DEFERRED
Windows System Specifics  83
System Syntax Conventions
You can use either upper- or lowercase characters in BASIS command syntax on
Windows.
Database File Names
For system-specific information on conventions for naming database files, see Database
Definition and Development, “File Qualifications.” Also see Thesaurus, “File Naming
Conventions.”
User Breaks
Occasionally you will need to interrupt the normal operation of the system. The
following is a list of the available user breaks. To execute these commands, press the
control key first, and while holding it down, press the other key. Release both keys at the
same time.
Keystroke
Description
[CTRL] / [C]
Interrupts the current command.
[CTRL] / [HOME]
Clears the command line.
[CTRL] / [BREAK]
Exits BASIS and returns to Windows.
[CTRL] / [S] or
[PAUSE]
Stops the scrolling of the display.
[ANY KEY]
Resumes the scrolling of the display after
stopping it with [CTRL] / [S] or
[PAUSE].
84  Windows System Specifics