Client Command Lines

 

PLBCLIENT, PLBCLICON, PLBCLINET, and PLBCLIUNX are program viewers that are executed on a client workstation and interface with a server. The PLBCLIENT and PLBCLICON client module can only be executed on supported Windows OS systems. PLBCLILinux is a character-based Linux client. PLBCLINET is a .NET Windows client.

 

 Communication between the client and the server uses the TCP/IP protocol. A program information file defines the required IP address of the server. During the logon processing, a status message window identifies the operations being performed.

 

The client command line contains parameters that are specific to the operation of the client viewer. It may also contain parameters that are passed to the server.

 

The command line format and options are as follows:

 

plbclient {client options} {runtime options} [{plc}] [args]

or

plbclicon {client options} {runtime options} [{plc}] [args]

or

plbclinet {client options} {runtime options} [{plc}] [args]

or

plbcliunx {client options} {runtime options} [{plc}] [args]

Note the following:

  1. {client options} may be any of the following and must be preceded by either a hyphen (-) or a backslash (/):

    2.  

    Option

    Meaning ...

    clear

    Delete all of the client's cached items.

    deb

    Invoke debug logging.

    delete

    Remove NT Service.

    idefault

    Install NT Service using default OS settings.

    ilocal

    Install NT Service using 'NT AUTHORITY\\LocalService'.

    inetwork

    Install NT Service using 'NT AUTHORITY\\NetworkService'.

    ini <ininame>

    The program information file containing the client configuration keywords.

    iuser=name;pass

    Install NT Service using specified username/password.

    host <hostname>

    A URL hostname or IP address (nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn) used when logging on to a server.

    key <publickey>

    The key used to encrypt messages between the client and the server. If the server task specifies the keyword PLBCS_PUBLIC, the PLBCLIENT client must specify the same public key to allow it to logon to server. The <publickey> string must be composed of up to sixteen (16) hexadecimal digits. If neither the server nor the client have specified a public key, a default public key is automatically used.

    local <localname>

    A URL local name or IP address (nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn) of a local network to bind with before connecting to the <hostname>. This option is helpful when a client workstation has multiple independent networks available.

    port <portnumber>

    The port number assigned to the server task being accessed during the logon process. If this option is not specified, a default port number value of 3933 is assumed.

    quiet[={mode}]

    This command line option prevents all client administrative data displays at the client workstation. In this case, a quiet error log file named 'plbclient_quiet.log', 'plbclicon_quiet.log', or 'plbclinet_quiet.log' is created in the same directory where the executable is located. Any error messages generated by the client is stored into the quiet error log file. The '-quiet' command line option is required to eliminate any unwanted display data when using a web server CGI interface.

     

    The optional {mode} is a numeric value that should be specified as 0 or 1.

    1.   If the {mode} is not specified, the default behavior of the client does not show any administrative or information dialogs and is the same behavior as 9.5B and earlier.

    2.   If the {mode} is specified with a value of one (1), the client behavior is to show all information dialogs and to not show the communications error dialogs. This has the effect of forcing child programs to the forefront.

    3.   When the {mode} is specified with a value greater than zero (0) or the {mode} is not specified, the quiet mode creates a log file named 'plbclient_quiet.log' that receives logged data for any dialog errors that occur at the client.

    ver

    The version, serial number and license information is displayed.

    ?

    Display the command line syntax help screen.

     

  2. The {runtime options} may be specified the same as any other Sunbelt runtime. These options are passed to and processed by the server task. The most common runtime options that are specified are the '-d' option to invoke program debugging or the '-d3' option to cause the server to output internal debug log file. The '-i' runtime option specifies the ini file for the server as opposed to the 'ini' client option that specifies the ini file for the client. If the '-dr' option invokes a GUI debug session, see the PL/B Runtime Reference keyword named 'PLBDBG_LOGON' for keyword setup details.

  3. The {deb} option invokes debug logging for client that can help resolve execution issues. When this option is specified, a log file is created in the same directory that contains the client program. The log file has the same name as the client module being executed with an extension of '.log'.

  4. The {plc} parameter is optional and specifies a PL/B target program. Additional parameters for the user program are passed into the S$CMDLIN common program variable. If {plc} is not specified, the server runtime will execute the ANSWER program.

  5. The client task may use a program information file (.INI) file to specify parameters required to logon to a server. If the command line option "/ini <ininame>" is specified, the <ininame> should contain the client keywords. If the program information file name is not specified, {client name}.INI is used.

  6. The following keywords are the minimum required to connect to the server. Additional keywords may be specified to further alter the client's behavior:

    7.  

    Keyword

    Specifies ...

    PLBCS_HOSTNAME={url|ip}

    the URL name or the IP address of the server. This keyword must be provided.

    PLBCS_PORTNUM={portnum}

    the port number assigned to the PLBSERVE task on the server. If neither this keyword nor a command line option is provided, a default port number value of 3933 is assumed.

     

  7. In addition to the basic keywords described above, the following keywords may be included in the client program information file to allow the client to logon to more than one server when a logon failure is detected. The client will scan in sequential numeric order the following keywords until a logon is successful or until an expected numerical key sequence is not found. In each case below, the 'nn' value should start with one (1) and can be incremented by one for each sequential entry.

    8.  

    PLBCS_HOSTNAMEnn={url|ip}

    PLBCS_PORTNUMnn={portnum}

    PLBCS_LOCALIPnn={url|ip}

 

  1. The client executable module supports internal keyword settings. A specialized utility named EMBEDINI embeds all of the program information file data into the client executable. This allows a client to execute with a complete set of user-defined internal parameters.

  2. The PLBCLIUNX only supports character-based applications that use DISPLAY and KEYIN operations.

  3. The PLBCLINET adds support for the NETOBJECT data type.

  4. Any of the install service command line options must appear as the last option on the command line.

 

 

See Also: PL/B Client Configuration Keywords, Manifest Files


PL/B Application Server PLBCLIENT Configuration Keywords