Application INI file description (Application.ini)

By the term "INI application file" it is meant the INI file located in the application folder with the same name as the PRA file. For example, if the application file is named "BoilerPlant.pra", then the PROMOTIC system creates the "BoilerPlant.ini" file automatically.

The application INI file can be edited as a plain text file. It can also beopened and edited directly in the PROMOTIC system in the menu " > Edit application ini file".

Basic settings are being stored in the INI application files that are necessary for the development environment or runtime environment. The basic useful parameter settings description can be found below.

Description of keys in the [Promotic] section

Global parameter settings of the application are located in this section.

[Promotic]

Running=0

RtStartDelay=0

ErrRedir=0

MultipleRun=0

VerifyName=1

XmlClientTimeout=10

Running: =0 runtime is not running, =1 runtime is running. It is used for setting the pEvent.Reset parameter in the PmaRoot.onAppStartBegin event. User modification of this parameter is not allowed, it can only be set by the PROMOTIC system.

RtStartDelay: (default: 0). Time delay in seconds of the PROMOTIC application launch. This option is used if the runtime PROMOTIC application is depending on other programs (databases, communication server, etc.). It prevents the PROMOTIC application to be launched before necessary software is running thus avoiding errors.

For another option of launch delay: see RunLater program.

ErrRedir: In case an error occurs in the application, the error description is always registered in the INFO system in the Errors item. By this setting it is possible to achieve that the error (repeated error too) is recorded into the Debug item of the INFO system:

=0 (default) - the error is not recorded

=1 - the error is recorded into the "Debug1" tab

=2 - the error is recorded into the "Debug2" tab

MultipleRun: =1/0 (default: 0), Enable/disable the possibility of running one application more than once simultaneously. It means that the PRA file is released after the application is loaded (option available while running the runtime key only).

VerifyName: System names verification (names of objects and names of variables in data objects):

=1 (default) Verification

=0 No verification. Can be set only exceptionally for existing applications where non-system names are already present.

XmlClientTimeout: (default: 10) Specifies the maximum waiting time for finishing communication with the Web server in seconds. The system waits until the IP address is obtained from domain name, then waits for the established connection with the Web server and than waits for the reply from Web server.

Description of keys in the [Licence] section

In this section, there are the parameters of licence carrier settings, see PROMOTIC licence carrier types.

[Licence]

Medium=hwkey:k1234

Medium: This key contains the list of licence carriers. The data is separated by "comma" character (,). The licence is searched in the licence carrier list from left to right. The first licence found is used. If the key is not specified, then the default setting Medium=hwkey is used, in order to read the possible licence from Hardware (USB) licence key.

=none - No licence carrier. The freeware licence PmFree - Free development environment and a runtime licence of the PROMOTIC system is used.

=hwkey - The licence carrier is Hardware (USB) licence key or Licence file SWK extending the content of licence key. It is also possible to specify the licence type (development/runtime), or even refer to an individual licence (by licence number). This way you can first search for development licence (or specific individual licence) and after that load the runtime licence or network runtime licence (or another defined sequence) etc. This way you can solve the situation when the application uses the runtime licence by default (from any carrier), but if you connect the development HW Key the application will use the development licence preferentially.

=hwkey - Key with development or runtime licence (not further specified).

=hwkey:dev - Key with development licence.

=hwkey:rt - Key with runtime licence.

=hwkey:k-XXXX - Key with licence number other than XXXX.

=hwkey:kXXXX - Key with licence number XXXX. This is the only functional option for reading hardware key via local licence server PmLicServer. This option is preferred especially for solving the RDP problem. It can also be used for direct reading of the licence. This is recommended option for applications with runtime licence in hardware key.

=swkey - The licence carrier is Software licence key (.swk) bound to specific components of the WINDOWS operating system. For example: swkey:Pm1234.swk

=netkey - The licence carrier is Network licence key. For example: netkey:http://192.168.1.2:5656/Pm1234.swk

Example:

Several examples of sequential available licence search:

Medium=hwkey:k1234

or

Medium=swkey:Pm1234.swk

or

Medium=netkey:http://192.168.1.2:5656/Pm1234.swk

or

Medium=hwkey:dev,hwkey

or

Medium=hwkey:dev,netkey:http://192.168.1.2:5656/Pm1234.swk

or

Medium=hwkey:dev,swkey:Pm1234.swk

or

Medium=hwkey:k1234,hwkey:k4321,hwkey:rt

or

Medium=hwkey:k1234,hwkey:k1111

MediumDt: This key contains the list of licence carriers for the development environment. The syntax is the same as for the Medium key. The key allows setting another licence for the development environment and for runtime environment. The procedure of obtaining the list of licences is based on continuous searching of the Medium type key. Development environment gradually searches the key in the following order:

- MediumDt: in the application INI file

- Medium: in the application INI file

- Medium: in the INI file of the development environment PromoticDt.ini

MediumRt: This key contains the list of licence carriers for runtime environment. The syntax is the same as for the Medium key. The key allows setting another licence for the development environment and for runtime environment. The procedure of obtaining the list of licences is based on continuous searching of the Medium type key. Runtime environment gradually searches the key in the following order:

- MediumRt: in the application INI file

- Medium: in the application INI file

- Medium: in the INI file of the runtime PromoticRt.ini

UseLicServerHwk: This key defines whether the licence carrier hwkey will be read directly or via the local PmLicServer.

0 (default) - hwkey will be read directly

1 - hwkey will be read via the local PmLicServer

Description of keys in the [InfoSystem] section

It can be set the method of saving the state of the INFO system in this section. If the StoreType key value is set to 2 or 3 (i.e. saving enabled), then the new keys with the state values of the window are created in this section when closing the INFO system window. The position and the size of the window, the refresh rate of the INFO system and the last viewed tab including column widths are being saved.

The [InfoSystem] section with the key StoreType=0 is created automatically when opening the INFO system for the first time (if this key has not been included there previously).

[InfoSystem]

StoreType=0

StoreType: Specifies whether additional keys can be read and written in this section:

=0 reading and writing is disabled

=1 only reading the settings from the INI file is enabled

=2 only writing into the INI file is enabled

=3 reading and writing is enabled

Other keys of this section are reserved for storing the system state values; these are created automatically and will not be described here.

Description of keys in the [Log] section

It can be set the parameters for application "logging" in this section. It means that the application logging mode can be activated, causing that certain operations will always be written to disk into the Application.log text file" (for example if there is the "BoilerPlant.pra" project, then the logs go into the "BoilerPlant.log" file). It is recommended to activate this mode while developing the application, in order to have an overview of the development progress and more detailed information about the software crashes, etc. It is recommended to switch the logging mode of the application to default values (i.e. one key: EnableBase=2) for common continuous operation.

The PROMOTIC system only reads the key values in this section, not setting any. In order to enable the logging options the section must be created and the keys set by the designer manually.

[Log]

DeleteOnSize=1000

AfterWrite=2

EnableBase=2

EnableGlobErr=0

EnableDebug=0

EnableObject=0

EnableSql=0

DeleteOnSize: Size of the log text file in kB (default 1000). If the size of the log file reaches this value, then the original file "Application.log" is renamed to "Application.log.old" and new empty file "Application.log" is created while the application is being launched. This is a simple security procedure preventing the unlimited growth of the log file.

AfterWrite:

=0 the log file is not closed after writing a record

=1 the file is not closed after writing, but a flush is done (i.e. data is stored from the memory buffer to disk)

=2 (default) the file is closed after each writing

This is a simple way of data writing optimization because some settings may allow writing of large record volumes.

EnableBase:

=0 All logging disabled

=1 Logging enabled (i.e. log according to setting EnableGlobErr, EnableDebug, EnableObject)

=2 (default) Logging is enabled (the same as 1) but more: basic system events will be logged (start and stop of the application, the onTimeChange event, calling Pm.AppStop, Pm.ShutDown methods, etc.)

EnableGlobErr:

=0 Global error logging disabled

=1 (default) Logging only new errors (i.e. only errors appearing for the first time)

=2 Log all global errors (not recommended for continuous operation because the records may grow continually resulting in unlimited size of log files)

It is also possible to set error loging into the Debug item of the INFO system simultaneously. See ErrRedir key in Description of keys in the [Promotic] section for more details.

EnableDebug:

=0 disable logging (default) of the Debug_info item of the INFO system.

=1 enable the "Debug1" tab logging

=2 enable the "Debug2" tab logging

=3 enable "Debug1" and "Debug2" tab logging

EnableObject:

=0 disabled (default), otherwise sum of values:

=1 when object is created (i.e. when object is read from a pra file and created in PC memory)

=2 when object closes (i.e. when object is removed from PC memory)

=4 when object is started in the runtime mode - when the onStart event

=8 when object is stopped in the runtime mode - when the onStop event

EnableSql:

=0 SQL query logging forbidden (default), otherwise the value 1 or a sum of 2, 4 or 8:

=1 log SQL queries of all components

=2 log SQL queries of PmaAdo and PmaDatabase objects

=4 log SQL queries of the PmaTrendGroup object

=8 log SQL queries of the PmaAlarmGroup object

Description of keys in the [Info] section

In this section the most important information about the application and the PROMOTIC version can be found. The most important info listed in this section is the PROMOTIC version used for running the application for the last time. When looking into the application backup file you can see the PROMOTIC version used for creating this backup. It is handy also for the remote connection to existing application (e.g. by means of the VPN) or if multiple applications are running simultaneously on one PC in different PROMOTIC versions See: How to find PROMOTIC version.

The information in this section are to be considered only as general information, generated each time the application is launched. Possible modification of this info does not affect the application.

[Info]

AppLastRunVer=Promotic7.3.4

AppLastEditVer=Promotic7.3.3

AppLastEditTime=2008.04.16 14:00:33.468

AppCreatedVer=Promotic7.2.1

AppLastRunVer: The PROMOTIC version used last time for launching the application.

AppLastEditVer: The PROMOTIC version the application was last edited with.

AppLastEditTime: Date and time, when the application was last edited.

AppCreatedVer: The PROMOTIC version used for creating the application (this value is permanent in each application).

Other sections

The sections [MainFrame], [Settings], etc. contain parameters setting for the development environment (size of adjustable windows, etc.), runtime environment, fonts, etc.

Changing these keys is not recommended and therefore not described here.