Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Getting Started:
Installation and Configuration

File protection

OpenEdge incorporates specific file-protection measures to accommodate files associated with OpenEdge add-on products, which are OpenEdge products released independently of a point or major OpenEdge product release. Add-on products provide functionality that enhances the OpenEdge software product set and ensures that you have the most recent PROMSGS files. All OpenEdge products use one centralized method to display OpenEdge messages contained in the PROMSGS file. With each OpenEdge add-on product you install, an updated PROMSGS file is installed into the destination directory. Add-on installation processes ensure that if the add-on product contains a newer PROMSGS file than the associated release, the following activities occur:

Details about the installation and update of PROMSGS files

During the OpenEdge installation process, you select the languages that can be used during the product’s execution. It is possible to have several translated PROMSGS files installed into the OpenEdge destination path\prolang subdirectory due to this selection process. During the installation process, the PROMSGS files for the language identified as the default language are copied from the OpenEdge destination path\prolang subdirectory to the DLC directory.

The PROMSGS files contain the most up-to-date messages at the time the OpenEdge product is released. However, the PROMSGS files are constantly being updated. Consequently, add-on products and OpenEdge install service packs that are released after the product release date can contain even more recently updated PROMSGS files. As each OpenEdge add-on product is installed, the installation program checks to ensure that the newest copy of the PROMSGS file is being used by all products; all products use the centrally located copy of the PROMSGS file stored in the DLC directory.

Procedures to protect PROMSGS files from being overwritten

OpenEdge protects PROMSGS files and any associated files, and ensures that you always have the most recent PROMSGS files:

Procedures to ensure PROMSGS files are synchronized

In OpenEdge, PROGMSGS files are considered to be either in synchronization or out of synchronization. These terms reflect the status of the date stamp associated with a PROMSFGS file when the date in the header of the PROMSGS files located in the add-on directory is compared with the date in the header of the PROMSGS files currently installed in the installation’s DLC directory.

In OpenEdge, the installation processes are designed to compare and evaluate the date stamp information. A PRMSGS file is considered synchronized if, at the conclusion of any product installation process, the OpenEdge installation contains the PROMSGS file with the most current, or latest, date stamp. A PROMSGS file is considered out of synchronization, and therefore invalid, when the date stamp associated with the PROMSGS file does not display the most current date.

Table D–4 identifies the general installation sequence that can occur at a customer site when OpenEdge products and add-on products are installed. It illustrates how the PROMSGS files are compared, evaluated, and updated to ensure that the PROMSGS files are always synchronized.

Table D–4: PROMSGS file synchronization process
Install sequence
When. . .
Then. . .
1.
OpenEdge products are initially installed.
The PROMSGS files associated with the languages selected by the user during the install process are installed to the DLC directory.
2.
An OpenEdge add-on product is installed.
Date stamp information in the header of the existing PROMSGS file in the DLC directory is compared with the date stamp information in the header of the add-on product’s PROMSGS file.
If the PROMSGS file’s date is later than the add-on product’s PROMSGS file’s date, the file is already synchronized and no changes occur.
If the PROMSGS file’s date is earlier than the add-on product’s PROMSGS file’s date, the add-on PROMSGS file replaces the existing PROMSGS file.
3.
OpenEdge products are re-installed to add a new product and a new PROMSGS file.
Two comparisons and their associated activities occur:
  • If the re-installation process finds that a PROMSGS file exists, the existing PROMSGS file is not overwritten.
  • If, during the re-installation process, a new language is added, the PROMSGS file associated with that new language is installed into the DLC directory.
4.
Another OpenEdge add-on product is installed.
The date stamp information in the header of the existing PROMSGS file in the DLC directory is compared with the date stamp information in the header of the add-on product’s PROMSGS file.
If the PROMSGS file’s date is later than the add-on product’s PROMSGS file’s date, the file is already synchronized and no changes occur.
If the PROMSGS file’s date is earlier than the add-on product’s PROMSGS file’s date, the add-on PROMSGS file replaces the existing PROMSGS file.

Table D–5 illustrates another example of how this process works, using more detailed data for you to review.

The first column of Table D–5 elaborates on the installation sequence outlined earlier in this section. In Step 1, the user initially installs OpenEdge Studio with a PROMSGS file for American English. The file header date of this newly installed PROMSGS file is 04/14/2007. In Step 2, when the user installs an add-on product, the add-on product installation compares the header date of its American English PROMSGS file, 04/15/2007, with the header date of the existing American English PROMSGS file, 04/14/2007. Since the header date of the PROMSGS file associated with the add-on product is later than the existing PROMSGS file, the PROMSGS file is updated or synchronized.

This example helps to illustrate the criterion for updating PROMSGS files. Only PROMSGS files associated with languages that are currently installed in the OpenEdge will be updated by the add-on installation process.

In Step 3, when the user installs another OpenEdge product, the OpenEdge AppServer, and identifies the Spanish PROMSGS file, the PROMSGS file with the date of 04/14/2008 is installed. This latter part of the example illustrates how the PROMSGS files can become out of sync per the date information in the respective headers.

Table D–5: Example of PROMSGS files being out of sync
Installation step order
Install...
And the PROMSGS file is...
Which contains this header date...
1.
A product such as OpenEdge Studio.
Installed for American English.
04/14/2008
2.
An add-on product.
Updated for American English.
04/15/2008
3.
A product such as Application Server.
Installed for Spanish PROMSGS.
04/14/2008

As Table D–5 indicates, the installation of previously non-existing Spanish PROMSGS file dated 04/14/2008 into the OpenEdge installation is now out of synchronization with the updated American English PROMSGS file dated 04/15/2008, which updated the original American English PROMSGS file.

When an additional OpenEdge installation is performed and the OpenEdge Installation program detects that a PROMSGS language has been installed that did not previously exist as illustrated by Step 3 in Table D–5, the OpenEdge installation program displays a message. This message indicates the following information:

The OpenEdge installation message only displays this message when it detects that add-on products have been installed and it reads a new file called addons. The addons file is a text file defined as a Windows initialization (.ini) file. This file is created and/or updated in the OpenEdge destination directory by the add-on installation program. To resynchronize your PROMSGS file, you must reinstall your add-on product.

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