Using
SYSGEN
The following menu is displayed when you run the SYSGEN program:
1. BUILD SYSTEM CFG FILE FROM AN INI FILE
2. BUILD SYSTEM INI FILE FROM OLD/NEW STYLE
CFIG
3. EDIT SYSTEM INI FILE
4. CFG FILE HAS BEEN CHANGED, RESTART COMET
If you are running SYSGEN for the first time, and converting from an old CFIG file (or multiple CFIG files), select Option 2. This step creates an INI file that contains the configuration information for one or more Comet nodes.
To edit an existing INI file, select Option 3.
To process the INI file and create the CFG files for the nodes in your Comet enterprise, select Option 1.
After your have built a new CFG file, select Option 4 to restart Comet.
Note
The above process can be automated to a certain extent. If you run SYSGEN and include the name of the INI file, SYSGEN will automatically execute option 1 followed by option 4. For example, if your INI file is named COMET.INI, you could type the following at the READY prompt:
SYSGEN COMET.INI
Option 1 – Processing the
INI File
When you select Option 1, the following prompt is displayed:
COMET INI
FILE:
Enter the name of the INI file that you want to process. The SYSGEN program will then read the entire INI file and create the CFG file(s). Please note that one CFG file is created for each [NODE] group in the INI file.
Option 2 – Making an INI file from existing CFIG or
CFG Files
When you select Option 2, the following prompt is displayed:
COMMAND
FILE:
If you want to use a command file to build an INI file from old/new style configuration files, enter the name of the command file. To skip this step, press the Enter key.
You can create a command file in the Comet Editor (CED) that lists a group of configuration files. SYSGEN reads this command file and creates one INI file with all of the information from the group of configuration files. This feature can sped up the process of creating an INI file for an existing Comet enterprise that is using old style CFIG files.
Here’s a sample command file:
100 ... NODE1, F:\COMET\STARTUP\CFIG
200 ... NODE2, F:\COMET\STARTUP\NODE#2.CFG
300 ... NODE3, \\FS1\SYS\COMET\STARTUP\CFIG
400 ... NODE4, C:\COMET\CFIG
500 ... NODE5, C:\COMET\NODE#5.CFG
.
.
.
900 ... SALES, D:\COMET\SALES.CFG
The first parameter on each line is the node name for each Comet node.
The second parameter on each line is the path where the existing configuration file resides. Please notice that the configuration file can be an old style (CFIG) or new style (CFG) file.
SYSGEN will accumulate all configuration information and then perform a comparison between each configuration to automatically determine what is global and what is local. For any valid configuration option, if it's found to exist in each node's configuration (it's identical), that entry is considered global. If at least one node's entry is different, then it will be declared as local. A single INI file is built which contains all configuration options for all nodes listed in the command file.
If you skipped the command file step, the following prompt is displayed:
COMET INI
FILE:
Enter the name of the INI file you want to create. This prompt supplies a default path and name for the INI file. You may wish to change the path and the file name. The file name can be any eight characters followed by the ".INI" extension. We recommend that you use COMET.INI.
The following prompt is displayed:
COMET CFG
FILE:
Enter the name of the CFIG or CFG file that contains the current configuration. This prompt supplies a default path and name for the existing CFIG file (that was created by the QCFIG configuration utility program). You may need to change the path and file name to specify the exact location for the new CFG file (we recommend the Comet startup directory).
The following prompt is displayed:
Comments?
(S)imple, (V)erbose, (N)one:
Enter S, V, or N, depending on the type of comments you want to add to the new INI file. When the INI file is created, SYSGEN optionally adds comments for clarity. These comments are derived from the CFIGDOC file located on the REL directory. The CFIGDOC file can be edited, using the Comet Editor (CED), to suit your purposes. However, if you edit the CFIGDOC file, do not change any of the line numbers.
Option 3 – Editing the INI File
When you select Option 3, the following prompt is displayed:
Comet INI
File:
Enter the name of the INI file that you want to edit.
The following prompt is displayed:
Use Editor:
_________ (DOS Edit, Notepad, Wordpad)
Enter the name of the program you want to use to edit the INI file.
Option 4 – Restarting Comet
When you select Option 4, SYSGEN exits from Comet and restarts Comet. This allows the new or revised CFG file to take effect.