Workstation Mgr

WorkStation Manager

The WorkStation Manager is a core component of VIP 4.01. All messaging between the workstation and the host is processed through the WorkStation Manager. All VIP and TbredComm options are maintained by the WorkStation Manager.

The WorkStation Manager will be added to your Start Menu and can be started in the same manner as any Windows program. When using an Autologon, it will be started automatically. When running, the WorkStation Manager is represented by an icon (Thoroughbred Swash) in the system tray.

Clicking on the WorkStation Manager will bring up the WorkStation Manager menu with the following options.

Options

When selected the Thoroughbred WorkStation Options Tab Screen will be displayed. Some of the options controlled from the tab screen can also be set directly from the WorkStation Manager Menu.

VIP Tab

AutoSave View Layout. When enabled modifications to a view control will be saved on the workstation. This allows you to resize the width of a view and the columns in the view.

Status Bar Position. The status bar replaces the Help Panel used in VIP 3.21. All prompt messages are displayed in the Status Bar. This can be positioned at the top or the bottom of the GUI Server Window.

Message Trace. When enabled, all messaging between the workstation and the host will be logged in a trace file VIP4Trace.txt located in ..\Tsi\Temp. This is useful for TSI to debug problems in VIP.

OCX Message Trace. When enabled, all messaging between the graphical screen ocx and VIP4 will be logged in a trace file OCXDebug.txt located in ..\Tsi\Temp. This is useful for TSI to debug problems in VIP.

Message Objects. For now, use only the Status Bar.

Menu Width Options. Controls how the width of a graphical menu is determined, by menu content or menu title width.

Browser Home Page. Controls the URL to be used when the TSI web browser is invoked from the GUI Server menu bar.

Screen,Menu, and Help Fonts Tab

This allows you to set the default font for screens, menus and help objects.

View Font and Colors Tab

This allows you to set the default font and colors for view objects.

Object Locations Tab

This allows you to save on the workstation the location of menu, help, screen and view objects.

WorkStation Manager Tab

Host Connection Type. Controls the host type, remote or workstation. This can also be set directly form the WorkStation Manager Menu.

Application Mode. Controls if your application is run in Character mode or graphically using VIP. This option eliminates the need to start your application graphically from within the Basic environment. This can also be set directly from the WorkStation Manager Menu.

Toolbar Position. Controls the location of the floating toolbar, including a setting of None. This can also be set directly from the WorkStation Manager Menu.

Version Manager Tab. This selection will display the version numbers of the various executables that make up the VIP product. This information is useful when reporting problems to customer support.

TbredComm Tab. This selection allows you to define the Autologons to be used when running your application on a remote host.. This option allows you to Add, Delete, and change the Autologon definitions. It will also allow you to select an Autologon to be used as a default, eliminating the host login dialog for the user. It is important to carefully review the documentation in the following links: Autologon Command Arguments, Autologon Timeouts, Autologon Scripts.

The following are the parameters for an Autologon entry.

AutoLogon Key. This is a three character field used to construct a unique entries in the Tbred.ini file. You will be prompted to enter this only when creating a new autologon. Once an entry has been created, this field is disabled for editing.

Description. A description of the autologon. The description is displayed by TbredComm during the remote connection dialog.

Connection Type. Enable either TCP/IP or Serial. See also TbredComm: Remote Host Connections.

Serial Configuration. See also TbredComm: Remote Host Connections, Serial Connections.

Host Name. Enter a valid IP address to remote host name.

User Name. Enter a valid user name defined on the host. This field is encrypted and saved in Tbred.ini. If you require an operator to enter a user name each time they logon to the host, leave this field blank. If you have existing autologons defined in your Tbred.ini, edit the file and remove the "username=" tag. See also Autologon Scripts.

Password. Enter a valid password for the user name on the host. This field is encrypted and saved in Tbred.ini. If you require an operator to enter a password each time they logon to the host, leave this field blank. If you have existing autologons defined in your Tbred.ini, edit the file and remove the "password=" tag. If the entered password is invalid for the host, TbredComm will simply exit after it detects the host has not performed a valid login. See also Autologon Scripts.

Logon Timeout Seconds. The default timeout is 120 seconds (2 minutes), this is indicated by a timeout value of 0. See also Autologon Timeouts.

Script File. Select this to create a new script file, select an existing script file or edit an existing script file. Each autologon configuration must be associated with a script file. Script files are simple ASCII text files that may be maintained with Notepad or any text file editor. Script files must be located in <vip4_installpath>\Tsi\Scripts and should have (but are not required to have) an extension of .tcl. Two default scripts are provided. These allow backward compatibility with early beta releases.

TBDefaultLoginPassword.tcl: This script will use the User Name and Password specified in the Autologon Dialog Box. This script can not be used as a Desktop Logon, (execute applications from the the WorkStation Manager, Desktop, or Start Button).

TBAppPromptCmd.tcl: This script will use the User Name and Password specified in the Autologon Dialog Box. This script is used to perform a Desktop Logon (execute applications from the WorkStation Manager, Desktop, or Start Button). See also Desktop Application Menus.