NOVELL TECHNICAL INFORMATION DOCUMENT TITLE: Btrieve Requesters v6.1x DOCUMENT ID: TID000065 DOCUMENT REVISION: A DATE: 20SEP93 ALERT STATUS: Yellow INFORMATION TYPE: Issue README FOR: BTRREQ.EXE NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: NetWare Btrieve NLM 5.15 NetWare Btrieve VAP 5.15 NetWare Btrieve NLM 6.10 ABSTRACT: This file contains the latest Btrieve requesters for use with the 5.x versions of the Btrieve VAP and NLM and the 6.x versions of the Btrieve NLM. Included are the latest requesters for DOS, Windows, OS/2, and UnixWare workstations. _________________________________________________________________ DISCLAIMER THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. _________________________________________________________________ Contents ======== File Information Installation & Compatibility Upgrade File Descriptions Using the Requesters DOS Requester OS/2 Requester Windows Requester File Information ================ Self-Extracting File Name: BTRREQ.EXE Revision: A Files Included Size Date Time \ BTRREQ.TXT (This file) \DOS BREQUEST.MSG 1180 08-05-93 2:24p BREQUEST.EXE 58888 08-09-93 10:00a BREQUTIL.EXE 21775 01-30-93 12:32p BREQUTIL.MSG 974 01-30-93 12:32p \OS2 NDBCNVT.EXE 18192 01-29-93 1:40p NDBCOMM.DLL 20343 08-25-93 3:40p BTRCALLS.DLL 17944 06-11-93 9:32a NWLOCALE.DLL 34480 05-18-93 1:00p \UNIXWARE LIBBTRV.A 21432 02-05-93 6:08p LIBBTRV.SO 18268 02-05-93 6:08p LIBCOMM.A 19120 02-05-93 6:08p LIBCOMM.SO 18596 02-05-93 6:08p BTRUNIX.DOC 12231 06-23-93 10:08a UNXCBTRV.O 1420 11-30-92 11:40a BTRUNIX.TXT 12231 06-24-93 2:16p \WIN NOVDB.INI 2460 11-06-92 10:48a WNDBCNVT.EXE 30926 01-30-93 12:08p WBTRVRES.DLL 22912 01-30-93 12:16p WBTRCALL.DLL 13131 05-13-93 4:00p NWLOCALE.DLL 38800 05-18-93 1:00p Installation & Compatibility ============================ The Btrieve 6.1x Requesters can be used with the following NLMs and VAPs: Btrieve NLM v5.15 Btrieve VAP v5.15 Btrieve NLM v6.0x Btrieve NLM v6.1x To install the requesters, simply replace the existing requester with the new requester contained with this update. Upgrade File Descriptions ========================= BTRREQ.TXT This README file - Files related to DOS workstation operations: BREQUEST.EXE Btrieve Requester for DOS. BREQUEST.MSG Message file for BREQUEST.EXE. BREQUTIL.EXE Btrieve Requester utility that allows you to stop the Requester and to obtain the Requester's version number at a DOS workstation. BREQUTIL.MSG Message file for BREQUTIL.EXE. - Files related to Windows workstation operations: WBTRCALL.DLL Btrieve Requester for Windows. WBTRVRES.DLL Resource file for the Btrieve Windows Requester. WNDBCNVT.EXE Windows Conversion utility that converts the client-based Btrieve DLL (WBTRCALL.DLL) to WBTRLOCL.DLL. NOVDB.INI Btrieve initialization file for the Btrieve Windows Requester. NWLOCALE.DLL National Language Support DLL for the NetWare v3.11 environment. Note that the WIN and the OS2 directories each contain a different NWLOCALE.DLL. - Files related to OS/2 workstation operations: BTRCALLS.DLL Btrieve Requester for OS/2. NDBCOMM.DLL Communications handler for the Btrieve Requester for OS/2. NDBCNVT.EXE OS/2 Conversion utility that converts the client-based Btrieve DLL (BTRCALLS.DLL) to BTRLOCL.DLL. NWLOCALE.DLL National Language Support DLL for the NetWare v3.11 environment. Note that the WIN and the OS2 directories each contain a different NWLOCALE.DLL. - Files related to UnixWare workstation operations: LIBBTRV.A Archive Btrieve Interface Library. LIBCOMM.A Archive Communications Interface Library. LIBBTRV.SO Shared-object Btrieve Interface Library. LIBCOMM.SO Shared-object Communications Interface Library. UNXCBTRV.O C interface object file. BTRUNIX.TXT Readme document that describes the Btrieve Requester for UnixWare. Using the Requesters ==================== Btrieve provides Requesters for DOS, OS/2, and Windows applications. This section provides configuration options and instructions for loading and unloading the Requester in each operating environment. The Btrieve Requesters have changed (primarily in key definition) between previous versions and Btrieve v6.x. Therefore, all workstations accessing the Btrieve NLM must use the Btrieve v6.x Requesters. DOS Requester ------------- You must load the Btrieve DOS Requester, BREQUEST.EXE, at a workstation before that workstation can access network Btrieve files using the Btrieve NLM. The DOS Requester loads into a DOS workstation's memory as a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program. You can access local as well as remote files by running both client-based (local) Btrieve and the Requester at your workstation. DOS Requester Configuration Options There are two configuration options for the DOS Requester: Data Message Length (/D) and Help (/?). Previous versions of Btrieve supported the /S and /R options. Btrieve v6.x accepts the /S and /R options for backwards compatibility, but otherwise ignores them. Data Message Length (/D) Range: 532 through 57,000 bytes Default: 4,096 bytes Memory Required: 538 bytes + data message length This option specifies the length of the largest record you want to access through Btrieve. (If you omit this option, the Requester uses the default value, 4,096.) The Requester uses this value to calculate the length of the data message buffer reserved for passing records between Btrieve and your applications. The Requester maintains one copy of the data message buffer. The value you enter here should not exceed the largest record size you configure for Btrieve through the Setup utility since that is the maximum message that BSPXCOM can receive. NOTE: Specifying a higher value than you need for the /D option does not improve performance. Help (/?) The /? option lists the only other option that is used, /D, and mentions that although the /S and /R options are for backwards compatibility, Btrieve v6.x ignores them. Btrieve Requester for DOS -- This Requester has three new configuration options. For detailed information about this Requester, refer to Chapter 4 in the "Btrieve Installation and Operation" manual. - NetWare Runtime Server Support (/C) -- Enables or disables NetWare Runtime support. - DOS Session Load (/L) -- Allows you to load another instance of the Btrieve DOS Requester even if it is already loaded. This option is useful if you want to run Windows applications using the Btrieve DOS Requester while running DOS VM applications that are also using the Requester. - Real-Time Data Compression (/O) -- Helps reduce network traffic by reducing the number of packets required to complete a request to Btrieve. Loading the DOS Requester Load the DOS Requester at the workstation by entering the following command: [path] BREQUEST [/D:dataMsgLength] path The pathname to the directory where the DOS Requester is stored. You can omit the pathname if the DOS Requester is stored on the default drive or if it is located in a directory in your search path. For example, if the Requester is on the default drive and you want to specify a 2,048-byte data message length, enter BREQUEST /D:2048. NOTE: The forward slash (/) before the configuration option is the only valid character you can use. If you specify a dash (-) or a backslash (\), the Requester may load improperly. To ensure that the DOS Requester is always loaded with the /D option set to a particular value, place the BREQUEST command in the workstation's AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Unloading the DOS Requester At a DOS workstation, you can use two methods to unload the DOS Requester: - Your application can issue a Stop operation (Btrieve operation 25). - You can issue the stop command in the BUTIL utility from the workstation's command line. OS/2 Requester -------------- The following files must be loaded in a directory listed in an OS/2 workstation's LIBPATH before a Btrieve application can access the network from that workstation: BTRCALLS.DLL - the Btrieve dynamic link Requester for OS/2 workstations. NDBCOMM.DLL - the communications Requester for OS/2 workstations. NDBCOMM.DLL provides the necessary data communications between the workstation and the Btrieve NLM. You can access local as well as remote files by running both client-based (local) Btrieve and the Requester at your workstation. If you want to run both client-based Btrieve and the Requester, you must use the OS/2 conversion utility (NDBCNVT.EXE) to convert BTRCALLS.DLL to BTRLOCL.DLL. You must type NDBCNVT on the command line to use this utility. (By default, the Requester and the client-based Btrieve have the same name.) OS/2 Requester Configuration Options You are not required to specify any configuration options for the OS/2 Requester. Since the internal tables that control the options are not fixed, the tables will grow as needed. However, if you prefer to set the initial size of the tables, you can do so using the Data Message Length (/D) and the Number of Servers (/S) options. Data Message Length (/D) Range: 532 through 65,000 bytes Default: 4,096 bytes Memory Required: 538 bytes + data message length The /D option specifies the length of the largest record you want to access through Btrieve. The OS/2 Requester uses this value to calculate the length of the data message buffer reserved for passing records between Btrieve and your applications. The Requester maintains one copy of the data message buffer. The value you enter here should not exceed the value you specified for the Largest Record Size configuration option in the Setup utility. The value for this option represents the maximum message length that BSPXCOM can receive. NOTE: Specifying a higher value than you need for the /D option does not improve performance. Number of Servers (/S) Range: 1 through 255 Default: 8 Memory Required: 27 bytes per server The /S option specifies the number of servers that have the Btrieve NLM active on the network. NOTE: The forward slash (/) before the configuration option is the only valid character you can use. If you specify a dash (-) or a backslash (\), the Requester may load improperly. Btrieve Requester for OS/2 -- This Requester also provides Runtime Server support. For detailed information about the Btrieve OS/2 Requester, refer to Chapter 4 in the "Btrieve Installation and Operation" manual. Configuring the OS/2 Requester Set the Requester configuration options using the following command: SET BRQPARMS=/D:dataMsgLength /S:numberOfServers Do not include a space between BRQPARMS and the equal sign. You can, however, insert a space between each configuration option you specify. Loading the OS/2 Requester An application may load the Btrieve for OS/2 Requester in one of the following two ways: Implicitly - Your application can implicitly load the OS/2 Requester by either linking with the import library BTRCALLS.LIB or by specifying imported functions in the application definition file. If your application uses this method, the operating system loads the OS/2 Requester automatically when the application is started. Explicitly - Your application can load the OS/2 Requester explicitly using the operating system API functions. When the application loads the Requester explicitly, the operating system does not load the OS/2 Requester until notified to do so. Unloading the OS/2 Requester At an OS/2 workstation, the operating system removes the dynamic link routines from memory when the application terminates or when the application explicitly unloads the OS/2 Requester using the operating system API. Logging out of one or more servers from a workstation does not close Btrieve files or terminate the Btrieve SPX connection to the server. To close files and terminate the connection, you must either issue a STOP command or reboot the server. Windows Requester ----------------- In the Windows environment, you must load the DOS Requester, BREQUEST.EXE, before starting Windows. Windows-based Btrieve applications access the Requester by means of a DLL, WBTRCALL.DLL, which uses the DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) that Windows provides. The Windows Requester (that is, WBTRCALL.DLL) is the Btrieve interface DLL for Windows v3.x. The DLL provides the same API as client-based Btrieve and requires no modification to the application. You can access local as well as remote files by running both client-based (local) Btrieve and the Requester at your workstation. If you want to run both client-based Btrieve and the Requester, you must run the Windows Conversion utility (WNDBCNVT.EXE) to convert WBTRCALL.DLL to WBTRLOCL.DLL. You must type WNDBCNVT on the command line to use this utility. Windows Requester Configuration Options The following list describes the available configuration options for the Windows Requester. These options should be specified in the NOVDB.INI file under [brequestDPMI]. NOVDB.INI is the Novell initialization file for the Windows Requester. Tasks = # Specifies how many concurrent tasks may use the Windows Requester. The default value for this configuration option is 10. Local = Yes/No Instructs the Windows Requester to use client-based Btrieve for accessing files locally. The default value for this configuration option is No. Chkparms = Yes/No Instructs the Windows Requester to validate pointers passed to it. You should use this option only during development. The default value for this configuration option is No. Free Memory = Yes/No Allocates and frees real-mode memory on each request. The Windows Requester uses a buffer of real-mode memory to communicate with the DOS Requester. Since real-mode memory is a scarce resource in Windows, your application should not retain it long term.The default value for this configuration option is No. NOTE: Specifying Yes to the Free Memory option degrades performance. Loading the Windows Requester The DOS Requester must be loaded before the Windows Requester can load. An application may load the Windows Requester in one of the following two ways: Implicitly - Your application can implicitly load the Btrieve Requester by either linking with the import library WBTRCALL.LIB or by specifying imported functions in the application definition file. When an application loads a DLL implicitly, the operating system automatically loads the DLL when the application is started. Explicitly - Your application may load the Windows Requester explicitly using the operating system API functions. The operating system does not load the DLL until notified to do so. Unloading the Windows Requester At a Windows workstation, the operating system removes the dynamic link routines from memory when the application terminates or when the application explicitly unloads the DLLs using the operating system API. NOTE: Logging out of one or more servers from a workstation does not close Btrieve files or terminate the Btrieve SPX connection to the server. To close files and terminate the connection, you must either issue a STOP command or reboot the server. A Reset operation does not terminate the SPX connection. UnixWare Requester ------------------ For infomormation regarding the Btrieve UnixWare requester, see the file BTRUNX.TXT. ** End of BTRREQ.TXT ** ÿ