RPC Manager Configuration

There are two types of initialization data used by RPC Manager:

•      Configuration used to control the behaviour of the distributed system as a whole or a workstation within the distributed system; and

•      Configuration used to control a service.

Non-service configuration is held in the Setup.ini system-wide configuration file and has been designed to allow the identical specification of the non-service configuration for an entire distributed system on all workstations within the distributed domain.

Service configuration, on the other hand, can be specified in a number of different files, depending on the needs of the service:

•      The application's Config.ini configuration file (see Introduction to Config.ini);

•      A service.ini configuration file (obtained by suffixing the service name with ".INI") (see Introduction to Service.ini);

•      A workstation.ini configuration file (obtained by suffixing the WkStaInfo(0) return value with ".INI") (see Introduction to Workstation.ini).

The configuration file that a service uses is determined when a service instance calls \RPCManager\Register(), according to the following rules:

1.  If the InitFile parameter to the Register() call is valid, it is interpreted as the name of the configuration file to use.

2.  If the InitFile parameter to the Register() call is Invalid, the value of the system level variable RPCExternalConfig is examined and its value determines the configuration file to use:

a)  0 – the application's Config.ini configuration file.

b)  Invalid or 1 – a service.ini configuration file (named "<servicename>.INI"; e.g. Sample.ini for the service named "Sample"); or

c)  2 – a workstation.ini configuration file (named "<workstation>.INI"; e.g. FREDSPC.ini on workstation "FREDSPC").

The section that a service uses within the selected configuration file is also determined by applying a set of rules:

1.  If the Section parameter to the Register()Register call is valid, it is used, suffixed with a hyphen, as the root of the section name (e.g. "MyService-").

2.  If the Section parameter to the Register()Register call was Invalid:

d)  If the name of the configuration file is the service name suffixed with .INI (i.e. a service.iniIntroductionToServiceINI configuration file), a blank root is used for the section name; or

e)  If the name of the configuration file is other than the service name derivative, the service name is used, suffixed with a hyphen, as the root of the section name, e.g. "Sample-".

Suffixing this with "Servers" or "Clients" then generates the full Section name. In case 1, the sections would be [MyService-Servers] and [MyService-Clients]. In case 2a, the sections would be [Servers] or [Clients]. In case 2b, the sections would be [Sample-Servers] and [Sample-Clients].

If a section, so derived, cannot be located in the selected configuration file, the sections [RPCManager-Servers] or [RPCManager-Clients] are searched for in the same configuration file. If a section still cannot be located, the [RPCManager-Servers] or [RPCManager-Clients] section of the application's Config.ini file is used.

The sections that follow provide information on the following topics:

•      Config.ini [SYSTEM] Section Variables Related to RPC

•      Setup.ini [SYSTEM] Section Variables Related to RPC

•      Other Setup.ini Sections Related to RPC

•      Variables Available in \RPC Manager

•      Name Resolution

•      HOSTS file

•      Centralized Name Resolution

If you would prefer to review the next RPC-related section, please see RPC Protocol, or use the Contents button to view the complete table of contents for the VTS Programmer's Guide.