RIMAS for UNIX Software Installation

 

To:                 Users of IMS/Basic for Windows

 

From:        The SHARED LOGIC Group, Inc.

 

Re:            Installation of IMS/Basic for (32-bit) Windows

 

Date:          July 10, 2000

 

Copying Distribution Media to Server

 

On a Windows/95 Client:

 

1.      Log in on the NT/Server.

 

2.      Using the Windows/95 BACKUP program, restore the diskette media.  The software will be restored to the directory C:\IMSWIN32 on the server.

 

Installing IMS/Basic on the NT/Server

 

These steps may be performed at the Server console:

 

1.      Run BA75AW32, which was restored to the IMSWIN32 directory in the above procedure.  This is an InstallShield installation program, which may be invoked in an MS-DOS window, or by simply double-clicking on it in an “Explorer” window.

 

2.      It is recommended that all defaults be accepted during the installation process, except that you should specify a “Custom” installation and check all products for installation.

 

3.      This installation process will create one more directory, “IMS”, in the root directory of the NT/Server.

 

4.      All of the IMS/Basic software will be installed on the server, which includes both the server software that will be used by all of the clients on your network, and the client software that will allow you to run Shared Logic applications on the server itself.

 

 

Using Shared Logic (SLG) Configuration Files on the NT/Server

 

There are several configuration files for IMS/Basic on Windows/NT that are installed in the IMS directory by the above procedure.  These include:

 

1.      IMSRUN.INI, which is the primary configuration file.  SLG has provided it’s version of this file in the IMSWIN32 directory.  After you rename the file that was created during installation, you can probably use SLG’s file without further modification.

 

2.      PRINTCAP, which is the print capabilities file.  The file that is provided by SLG in the IMSWIN32 directory contains samples of printers used at SLG.  The first entry in this file was supplied by IMS, but has been “commented out”.  Note that printers attached directly to the server can be referenced as “$LPT0”, for example, without being included in the PRINTCAP file.

 

3.      IMSERVER.BAT is a batch file that will be used to start the IMS/Basic Server software on the NT/Server.  This file should be copied to the IMS directory, and will be discussed in a later section of this document.

 

 

Install IMS Software Security on the NT/Server

 

Use of IMS software is controlled by a software security system.  The software security concept is based on a serial number that is linked to a specific NT/Server by an installation and activation procedure.  Perform the following steps to install your copy of IMS/Basic for Windows/NT:

 

1.      Obtain the basic serial number from SLG.  This will be an 8-character number, beginning with “IMBN” or “IDBN”.  This basic number permits the execution of IMS/Basic language programs on a Windows/NT network, in “InfoTerm” text mode windows.  This type of program typically originates on UNIX servers, or older IRIS timesharing systems.

 

2.      You may also obtain a second eight (8) character serial number, beginning with  “IMBC” or “IDBC”, which permits the execution of Visual Basic (or similar language) programs in a graphical (GUI), client-server, environment, on your Windows clients attached to the NT/Server.

 

Proceed as follows to install these serial numbers:

 

1.      Click “Start”, then “Programs”, then “IMS 32bit”, then “Sysval for WIN32”.  This will start the software security installation/activation process.

 

2.      Enter “IMS” as the Distributor.

 

3.      Enter “SLG” as the Dealer.

 

4.      Enter a 3-letter, uppercase, abbreviation for your company name as the User.

 

5.      Select “Install a New Product” from the menu bar.  Enter your serial number and record the “Installation Code”

 

6.      Fax the 3-letter abbreviation you used for your company name, the serial number and the installation code to SLG.  These will be needed when SLG calls into IMS’s computer to log the serial number and installation code then, and to obtain an “Activation Code”.

 

7.      SLG will fax the serial number and activation code to you.

 

8.      Select the “Activate an Installed Product:” from the menu bar.   (If you have closed the “sysval” window, you may reopen it by again clicking on “Start’, then “Programs”, then “IMS 32bit”, then “Sysval for WIN32”.)

 

9.      Enter the activation code (supplied by SLG) for the serial number that is displayed.  If you have more that one serial number to activate, be sure to enter the codes for the correct, matching serial numbers.  (If you enter a mismatched code, the system will automatically reject it.  You will then simply re-enter the correct activation code.)

 

10.  You may select “List Installed Products” to confirm that you have activated all of your serial numbers for the correct number of users.

 

11.  Close the “Sysval for WIN32” window.

 

 

 

Editing IMS/Basic for NT/Server Configuration Files

 

The following is only a “guide” to changing configuration files to match your installation requirements.  You may want to consult your documentation, or consult with SLG, when editing these files.

 

Suggested changes to IMSRUN.INI:

 

1.      In the “[patchrun]” section, set all options to zero (0), except set

“nsegs” to 3
“genport” to 1

Suggested changes to PRINTCAP:

 

1.      Add a section for each shared printer which your users will be using to print reports from IMS/Basic programs.  Notice that each section consists of three (3) lines:

The first line is a comment only, describing the printer being defined.

The second line associates a SLG standard name with the printer.  This line should always begin with “$LPTx”, where you may substitute 1 to 10 numbers or letters for the “x”.  The punctuation on this line (|, : and \) are required entries.

The third line provides the “address” of the printer.  The “:ad=”, the backward slants (all six of them!), and the final colon are all required.  You will enter the share name that you used when the printer was installed on the network client.

2.      You will add a separate section for each shared printer attached to clients on your network.  If you have a high-speed printer attached directly to the parallel port on your server, it does not have to be defined here.

3.      Entering a comment at the beginning of the lines supplied by SLG will “comment out” these lines.  You may also delete SLG lines after your first entry is working properly.

Suggested changes to IMSERVER.BAT:

 

Of the 3 configuration files discussed here, this file is most open to customization for your installation.  The content supplied by SLG, to get you started and to explain the concept, may be considered in three (3) sub-sections:

 

1.      The first four lines do the following in the MS-DOS window that runs the batch file:

Turns echo off, which suppresses the display of lines as they are executed.

Clears the window.

Changes to drive C.  If you plan to install your SLG application in a different partition, use the appropriate drive letter.  Note, however, that the drive letter is selected from the viewpoint of the NT/Server, as opposed to a share name on a client.

Changes to the directory that contains the SLG sub-directory structure.  You have a lot of flexibility here, but the batch file and this narrative are based on SLG’s recommended structure.

2.      The second set of lines will determine the “environment” under which the SLG programs will execute.  You may have different, or other, variables to set, but those provided by SLG are used as follows:

DEFLU must equal the directory containing your object programs.
OBJPATH must also equal the object program directory, and
SRCPATH must equal the source program directory.

PHAPORTS should equal the range of SPC(6) values that may be used as phantom ports.  In SLG software, only the Online Scale Receiving System uses these ports.
WINDOW should equal the screen size and video attributes that should be tracked by the SLG “EXEC”uctive Inquiry program.

All of the entries beginning with SLGMENU… are used by the SLG menu system.  Refer to your “User Configurable Menus” documentation for explanation of these, and other, menu related environment variables.

SLGEXECINQ is used by the SLG “EXEC”utive Inquiry program to allow each user, or user group, to have his own set of Inquiry Windows.

3.      The last command actually starts the runtime server.

 

Create ICONS on the NT/Server Desktop

 

Create two (2) icons in the following sequence on the desktop.  These icons are for convenience purposes only.

 

1.      Create a shortcut to “softdmn” in the “IMS for WIN32” group.

2.      Create a shortcut to the “IMSERVER.BAT” that we edited in the previous step.  The properties should be set to “run minimized”.  You may also set the font to the smallest possible, because nothing should appear in the window, if it is ever restored.

 

Creating the SLG Directory Structure on the NT/Server

 

1.      Create the directory “SLG” on the NT/Server partition referenced in your IMSERVER.BAT file.

2.      Create the sub-directories “0”, “1”, “2”, “99”, “BIN”, and “SRC” under the “SLG” directory.  Sub-directory “2” will contain your application data files.  Your installation may require additional numbered directories, in the range of 3 to 98, for data files.

3.                  These directories, including “SLG”, must be shared on all clients that will run SLG software.

 

Copying UNIX files to the NT/Server directory structure

 

This may be accomplished in a number of ways, but the following is provided as one functional method.  This method requires that the UNIX server be on the same TCP/IP network as the NT/Server.

 

1.      Open an MS-DOS window on the NT/Server.

2.      Change to the NT/Server directory that will receive the files from the UNIX server.

3.      Run “ftp -i” in the MS-DOS window.

4.      Connect to the UNIX server (“open scounix”, for example), enter your user name (“root” may be used to avoid file access limitations), and password.

5.                  Enter “binary” to allow data file and object program copying.

6.      Enter “status” to confirm that you are in “binary” mode, as this is critical.

7.      Change to the UNIX directory that contains the files that are to be copied to the NT/Server directory to which you changed before starting “ftp”.  You may enter “pwd” to confirm that you are in the expected UNIX directory.

8.      Enter “mget .” (there is a space and period after “mget”) to copy all of the files in the current UNIX directory to the current NT/Server directory.  “ftp” will try to copy the files “.” and “..”, as these are valid directory entries, but they will be rejected on the NT/Server.

9.      After the files for the current directory are copied, enter “bye” to leave ‘ftp” and return to the MS-DOS prompt on the NT/Server.

This procedure must be performed for each UNIX directory that is to be transferred to the corresponding NT/Server directory.

 

 

Starting the IMS/Basic Run-Time Server on the NT/Server

 

1.      You are now ready to initiate the IMS/Basic Run-Time Server, by doing the following:

Double-click on the “IMS Softdmn” shortcut ICON.  This will start the software security program, which must be done first.  A minimized entry will appear in your task bar.

 

2.      Double-click on the “IMSERVER.BAT” shortcut ICON.  This should only be started after “softdmn” is already running.  Two minimized entries will appear in your task bar.  One will be the batch file itself.  The other will be for “imsrsvr”, which is started by the batch file.

 

 

This completes the NT/Server installation.  You will now proceed with the installation and configuration of a Windows/95 client, on the NT/Server network.

 

 

Installing IMS/Basic on the Windows/95 Client

 

The following must be performed on each network client that will be used to run SLG IMS/Basic application software.

 

1.      Log into the NT/Server.

 

2.      Open an MS-DOS window.

 

3.      Run “IMSWIN16\BA75AW16” that was restored to the NT/Server from the SLG software distribution diskettes at the beginning of this procedure.

This is an “InstallShield” program that installs the client software.  You should accept all of the default responses, except that you should select a “Custom” installation.  When the list of software components are displayed, uncheck everything except “Universal Client”.

If you install more than “Universal Client”, you may be creating a security problem on your network, and will be wasting space on the client’s local drive.

 

4.      For convenience, SLG recommends that you create a shortcut ICON on the desktop to the “Universal Client” in the “IMS 16-bit” program group.  This will be used to connect to the NT/Server, when the operator wants to run an application program.

 

 

 

Configuring the Windows/95 Client

 

Shared Logic has provided a copy of the “IMSRUN.INI” file for the client configuration in the IMSWIN16 directory on the NT/Server.  You may use our file, after renaming the file that was installed on your client to “imsrun.old”.

You must then edit the file, as follows:

 

1.      In the “[patchrun]” section, set

“iris” to 0 (a zero)

“genport” to 1 (one)

2.      In the “[Client.Default]” section, set

“Hostname” to the name of your NT/Server.

“LogicalUnit” to 99

“PortNumber” to –1

3.      You may make additional changes to the “[Client.Default]” section, but consider the explanation of each change that is provided here:

“Username” may be set to the NT/Server login that will be used on the Windows/95 client that is being configured.  This will probably vary from client to client.

“Password” may be set to the NT/Server login password, but this will create a major security hole.  If you enter the “Username”, but leave the “Password” empty, the Connect procedure (described below) will request the password.

“Program” may be set to the first program that will be run on the client, after each successful login.  This may be a program such as “SP.STARTUP” or the user’s MENU.  SLG sets all of it’s client system’s to automatically start a program that requires entry of the Company Number, the Effective Port Date, and the Printer to be used by the client, and then the User’s specific menu is automatically started.

SLG recommends that you enter the “Username” and the “Program”, but leave the “Password” empty.  If you make these changes, the operator will be required to enter the “Password” only when connecting to the NT/Server.

 

Running an SLG IMS/Basic Application Program on the Windows/95 Client

 

To run an SLG application program, double-click on the “Universal Client” ICON.

 

1.      If the Windows/95 “IMSRUN.INI” file has been fully configured, except for the “Password” entry, a dialogue box will be opened to request the password.  A message box “Connecting to …” will be displayed while the connection, login, password checking, etc., are being performed by the NT/Server and the Windows/95 client.

The next thing the operator sees will be the InfoTerm window, in which the SLG Application program will be run.

2.      If other Windows/95 “IMSRUN.INI” configuration entries were left empty, they will be requested in a “Connect” dialogue box, before message box “Connecting to …” is displayed.  If acceptable entries are made in the “Connect” dialogue box, the connection will occur and the InfoTerm window will be displayed.

3.      The operator may choose to customize the InfoTerm window by changing the Font and/or the Colors, which may be accomplished by clicking menu bar selections.

Changes to the colors are retained and apply to all InfoTerm windows, but font changes are discarded when the window is closed.

4.      Once the InfoTerm window is displayed and the first program is running, the operation of SLG application software is the same as it is on any other supported system.

If the operator wants to open more than one window, simply click on the “Universal Client” for each additional window, and perform these same steps for each additional window.

 

 

This completes the Windows/95 Client installation and configuration procedure.