PDoc-System Registry

Created by: Lester Caine, Last modification: 12 Oct 2010 (12:47 BST)

System Registry Entries

These entries are used where common information is required for a particular machine. Currently some entries are duplicated in some program module registrys as well, and these will be tidied as the need arises.

LocalHub is controlled by these settings, and used to activate secondary programs which access key information from here, and suppliment this with additional information from their own registry sections also under the Postfield Key.

* [Tag] and [Station] are required entries, all other entries will be filled with default values if ommitted.

Source - System.reg

Base
Ftp
FtpMode
LocalListen
Logging
Messages
MulticastAddress
NetworkBase
NetworkListen
NetworkMode
NetworkSend
NetworkTime
Pass
Program
RecAhead
SiteTag
ServerBack
ServerMain
Station    *
Tag    *
Text
Timeout
TimeoutMode
Update
User
Pallette

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Postfield\System]

"Base"="c:\\data\\XXXXXXX\\"
  Base - Directory of base for database directories
  Entry must take format - <Server Computer Name>:<Drive letter on Server>:<Directory on Drive> to ensure TCP/IP protocol is used.
If the entry is omitted, then a default local connection is created to "c:\[Station]\Data\" using the station tiploc to identify the required directory set.

"Ftp"=dword:00000000
  TCP/IP port used as the port for FTP file transfer.
If set to 0, the FTP server is switched off which is the default.
The normal setting for this is 21  (0x15) which is the default FTP port address.
An address other that 21 will be used for FTP transfer to prevent conflict with other FTP packages using the network, and increase security.

"FtpMode"=dword:00000000
  Currently not being used, left as a handle to provide different types of FTP access.
Mode 0 - The FTP server provides unrestricted access to the hard disk, but limited to two user names and password.
The normal default username/password pair, and those set in the registry ( See User and Pass later ).

"LocalListen"=dword:00001f40
  TCP/IP port used as the listen port for local packet broadcast. Default is 8000.
The eight TCP/IP ports above this address are used as the Local send addresses for the program modules that are controlled from this local hub.

"Logging"=dword:00000007
  Logging information flags
0 = No Logging
+1 = Program Start and Stop
+2 = Stop time for record update.
+4 = Start time for record update
Start and Stop are included to allow network transit time to be monitored, but normal monitoring would just use the Stop time to reduce log length, and provide a local update time log ( if required ).
Log files are stored in the directory 'c:\<Station>\Logging\LocalHub\' if logging is enabled.

"Messages"=dword:00000000
  Entering a number in this key causes display of messages to assist fault finding.
  Implemented so far:-
  1 - Displays of the Timeout counter and scan clock on the status bar line. This assists monitoring of progress of information on the loop.
  2 - Displays progress of page generation on the status bar. This is used to track problems in the SEQUENCE and page lists.
  Numbers greater than 2 display other debug messages, these need to be organised properly.

"MulticastAddress"="238.240.0.1"
  This must be a Class D TCP/IP address ( top nibble = 0x0e ), and is supplied in normal decimal dot notation for TCP/IP addresses.

"NetworkBase"="<SERVER>:c:\\XXXXXXX\\data\\"
  Base - Directory of base for database directories to be accessed over the network
  Entry must take format - <Server Computer Name>:<Drive letter on Server>:<Directory on Drive> to ensure TCP/IP protocol is used.
  When this entry is added to the registry, there must also be a "NetworkMode" entry which defines actual network operation.
  "Base" entry can ( and normally would ) be set locally to the machine by leaving out the '<Server Computer Name>:' from that entry, so that all access is switched from TCP/IP to local.

"NetworkListen"=dword:00001771
  TCP/IP port used in conjunction with the network multicast address as the listen port for network multicast.
Default is 6001.

"NetworkMode"=dword:00000001
  This entry is only accessed if there is a "NetworkBase" entry in the registry.
  NetworkMode=1 causes a local copy of EQUIPMENT and RUNNING to be managed. The EQUIPMENT entries will be the "SiteTag" = 0 entries along with the selected "SiteTag" entries. See EQUIPMENT database for fuller information on configuration.
  NetworkMode=2 forces the local copies to be blanked before providing a clean copy. This can be selected by using the Rebuild function on Local Hub.
This is a required entry if NetworkBase is set, and has no default.

"NetworkSend"=dword:00001772
  TCP/IP port used in conjunction with the network multicast address as the send port for network multicast.
Default is [NetworkListen] + 1

"NetworkTime"=dword:00000014
  The timeout period for network updates. If 0, then 20 second update will be used, and the network connection will always be closed. Otherwise the network connection is left open and just closed periodically..
Default is 0

"Pass"="letmein"
  Password for the machine to use to access interbase database. If not supplied, the default 'letmein' will be used.
  Note that this is in plain text at present, and so can be read by anybody looking in the registry. For secure access later we may want to code the password in some way.

"Program"="c:\\program\\"
  Program directory contains copies of programs to be run.
  The directory should be local to the machine and updated programs need to be copied to all slave directories.

"RecAhead"=dword:0000000a
  Maximum number of records to be downloaded at any update. Used to spread the load of heavy updates over the following hours. Will result in periods when the full 20 hour look ahead

"SiteTag"=dword:00000001
  Station Number for the station entry in the EQUIPMENT table for this machine
  If not supplied, a default of 1 is assummed for single station systems.

"ServerBack"="BACKUP"
Alocated for future enhancements in automatic selection of a backup network server.

"ServerMain"="SERVER"
Identifies the machine name of the computer from which files will be transfered using FTP. This can be different to that set as the NetworkBase, allowing separate Database and file servers to be used if required.

"Station"="TIPLOC"
Identifies the name of the station for building the default directory set, and defining the TIPLOC of the remote copy of database to be built in Network Mode.
The machine name will be used where there are additional copies of local hub running on a station. This entry is used as part of the FTP file transfer package, and so should reflect the local [User] as well.
In order for FTP transfers to function correctly, the [Station] and [User] must match the TIPLOC entry in the LocalHub record of Equipment Manager.

"Tag"=dword:00000001
  Equipment Tag for the entry in the EQUIPMENT table for this machine
  This number is also used as the source on program entries in the equipment database managed by the local listener module that copy of the program.

"Text"="s:\\text\\"
  Location of text to be displayed on the displays as created by the CIS Operator program(s) or loaded manually.
If the entry is omitted, then a default local connection is created to "c:\[Station]\Text\" using the station tiploc to identify the required directory set.

"Timeout"=dword:00000009
Default is 9 for 90 seconds.
Values are limited between 0 and 120 for up to 1200 seconds.
The setting determines the wait following a network message before a network timeout is flagged.

"TimeoutMode"=dword:00000000
Default is 0 - Timeout is flagged but ignored.
1 - Close all programs after specified timeout period.
2 - Restart in local mode - Flagged by the generation of local messages
  HX is generated if timeout mode = 2 and indicates that network connection lost.
( It may be appropriate to generate the message anyway and allow local programs to decide what to do )
  HY is generated if the LocalHub has timed out, and then receives traffic.

"Update"=dword:00000001
Default is 1 - Local time is updated on reciept of a network poll.
0 - Local time is not updated - Mainly used for LocalHub copy running on EquipmentManager-Master which becomes the master time source.

"User"="LESTER"
  User name for the machine to use to access interbase database. If not supplied, the default 'LESTER' will be used.

[[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Postfield\System\Pallette]
A sub key with 16 entries that will override the default colour palette used by the system.
If the key is missing, the default set will be loaded, otherwise all 16 colours must be present in the sub key.

Issue b - Keys re-ordered to be in alphabetical listing.
Timeout, TimeoutMode and Update entries added.

Issue c - 20/6/00
Added NetworkBase and NetworkMode entries

Issue d - 29/9/00
Added User Name and Password
Updated NetworkMode functions
Updated TimeoutMode functions

Issue e - 5/10/00
Added keys for FTP server

Issue f - 22/1/01
Added Logging, ServerBack, ServerMain, and Station
Created Index section
Tidied Default information.

Issue g - 12/2/01
Additional Notes on Loging, Station