All the parameters and settings chosen during an installation onto a hard drive are to be saved in the file 'LEGUMES.INI', which is then to be placed in the directory, where the was installation executed. The file LEGUMES.INI is also located on the CD, in the directory LEGUMES. This is intended for operation of the system directly from the CD, without a preliminary installation.

Knowledge of the internal structure of the INI-file will help you to solve most of the problems with installation and exploitation of our system, as well as allowing you to change its configuration without reinstallation, replace it into a second level directory on the hard drive, and to restore its efficiency without reinstallation if you change the configuration of the computer.

When starting, the program LEGUMES.EXE firstly searches for the file LEGUMES.INI in the current directory. If it fails to find or read this file, it will report INI-File Access Denied and abort operation. If the file is successfully read, the program will interpret each of its lines and thus store its internal variables. At the same time, the program will check the correctness of values stored in the INI-file. For example, after reading the letter of a CD-drive the program tries to find whether the CD "Legumes of Northern Eurasia" is installed there. If it does not find the CD, it will report the failure and eject the CD-drive. The checking parameters are described in more detail below.

If the system resource checking is completed successfully, the program opens the databases, loads the logo screen and the main screen and begins its work. The main procedures for working with the system are described in the file README, located on the CD.

The file LEGUMES.INI is a text ASCII-file, which can be changed with any text editor. The file is divided into lines in the MS-DOS format (CR/LF). The file begins with the line [BEGIN] and ends with the line [END]. Located between these two markers, are lines containing information on various settings of the system. Empty lines between [BEGIN] and [END] are not allowed. Each line consists of a parameter name and a parameter value, the former and the latter being split by an equals-mark (the case of the letters in both parameter names and values is ignored).

Given below is an example of a typical INI-file:

  *** This is samlpe LEGUMES.INI file ***
      system was installed to drive C:
      CD-Drive is drive H:
      Multycolor maps leaved on CD-ROM

[BEGIN]
  InterFaceLanguage =            Russian
  DataLanguage =                 English
  FullColorIllustrationViewing = On
  WorkDirectiory =               C:\LEGUMES
  CDRomDrive =                   H:
  MainDataPath =                 H:\LEGUMES\DATA
  AcceptedNamesSearchIDXPath =   C:\LEGUMES\DATA
  VernacularNamesSearchIDXPath = C:\LEGUMES\DATA
  FilterIDXPath =                C:\LEGUMES\DATA
  ColorMapDataPath =             H:\LEGUMES\DATA
  ExportDirectoryPath =          C:\LEGUMES\EXPORT
  ExportDefaultFileName =        LEGEXP
  HugeExportPassword =           Incorrect
  ShowLogo =                     Off
[END]

Let us describe in detail each line of the file LEGUMES.INI:

[BEGIN]

The first significant line of the file. Any data located in the file above this line will be ignored by the interpreter.

InterFaceLanguage =

Language of the program interface. The parameter can have the values Russian or English. To switch an interface language for individual work sessions without modifying LEGUMES.INI, use command line options, i.e. commands 'LEGUMES.EXE -RUS' and 'LEGUMES.EXE -ENG'.

DataLanguage =

Language of the data during startup. The parameter can have the values Russian or English. After starting the program, the language of the data can be easily switched using buttons "Eng." and "Pyc." in the top left corner of the main screen.

FullColorIllustrationViewing =

A flag of enabling a multicolor mode (can have values On or Off). If the flag is on, the program will allow the display of multicolor illustrations and allow the user to work with multilayer color maps. If your computer does not have enough hardware and/or software to work in the multicolor mode, enabling this flag can lead to fatal system failure when trying to display color illustrations and maps.

CDRomDrive =

DOS-name of a drive for reading compact discs (can have values C:, D: etc.) The letter should match the DOS name of the drive you intend to use when working with the CD. Changing this line is necessary if the letter of CD-ROM drive has been changed (e.g., if you have attached another hard disc). In some cases, this parameter can be allowed to be empty (as in the file LEGUMES.INI, located on the CD). In such a case, the program executes an automatic search for a CD-drive. If the computer has several CD-drives, it prefers the first of them. After getting the letter of a CD-drive, the program will find the file (C)RIGHT in the root directory of the drive and analyze its contents. If the file is not found, or results of the analysis are not satisfactory, the program will assume that another CD is inserted, and will eject the CD-drive with the display of an appropriate message. If you intend to copy the contents of the CD anywhere, make sure that the file (C)RIGHT is placed into the root directory of the target device. For the same reason, it is necessary to copy this file into the root of the drive C:, when installing a demo version of the system from our site.

WorkDirectory =

Path to the main data files on the CD. By default, the value \LEGUMES is stored. It is only necessary to change it if you have copied the contents of the CD onto the hard drive into a directory with another name. Sometimes, after installation, the letter of the drive which the installation was executed into appears as a value of this parameter. It does not disturb the normal working of the system.

MainDataPath =

Full path to the main data files. It is necessary to change this if you have changed the letter of the CD-ROM drive, or if the data are transferred from the CD to elsewhere. The correctness of this parameter is determined by the availability of the files LITER.DTX, PAGEIDX.DTX and PAGES.DTX in the directory specified.

AcceptedNamesSearchIDXPath =

Full path to the index file for searching species by Latin names. The content of this line depends on the location of the index during installation. Depending on this, it can take on the same value as a previous parameter, or a different one. The correctness of the value of the parameter is determined by the availability of the file FNDIDX.DTX in the directory specified.

VernacularNamesSearchIDXPath =

Full path to the index files for searching species by vernacular names. The contents of this line depend on the location of the indexes during installation. The correctness of the value of the parameter is determined by the availability of the files FNDLIDX.DTX and FNDRIDX.DTX in the directory specified.

FilterIDXPath =

Full path to the index file for filtering the list of species when executing queries to the database. The contents of this line depend on the location of the index during installation. The correctness of the value of the parameter is determined by the availability of the files FLT.DTX ¨ FLTS.DTX in the directory specified.

ColorMapDataPath =

Full path to the file containing information for working with multilayer color maps. The contents of this line depend on the location of the index during installation. The location of this file is extremely important if you do not have enough free space on the hard drive, or your computer cannot work in the multilayer maps mode. In these cases, it would better to leave this file on the CD, than to copy it onto the hard drive. The correctness of the value of the parameter is determined by availability of the file MAPLAYER.DTX in the directory specified.

ExportDirectoryPath =

Full path for dislocation of files to be created as a result of exporting data from the database. In some cases, it could be useful to change this path for a path to work in the directories of your text or graphics editor programs. The correctness of this parameter is not checked during startup, and this can lead to failures in the program when trying to export data, if the value of the parameter indicates a non-existing directory. In the version of the INI-file located on the CD, the value of this parameter indicates the root directory of the drive C:, so, if you export data after starting the program from the CD directly, without preliminary installation, you should look for its results there.

ExportDefaultFileName =

File name accepted by default for an export of text data. This name should have no extension. After starting the program, in the beginning of a session of a text export, you will have the possibility of changing the name of this file. The correctness of this parameter is not checked during startup, and this can lead to failures in the program working when trying to export data, if the value of the parameter contents a name illegal for DOS.

HugeExportPassword =

Password for an export of large check-lists. Its state by default is Incorrect. This means limitation of a user's access to an unauthorized export of large check-lists. When trying to export a large check-list, the program will display a special window with the BIOS number of your computer and ask you to enter the responsive code. Send your BIOS number by electronic mail to Yuri Roskov, with an indication of the aims of the data export, to receive special permission. Then you will receive a responsive code (e.g., DNDSARV1ZB1XBVX), which it is necessary to input into the INI-file as the value of the parameter in question, or in a special field of the main program, which will be displayed when trying to export a large check-list. After input of the code into the field, an export will be executed and the code will be saved in the INI-file. During next sessions of exporting large check-lists, other input of the code is not required, until you change the mainboard. By the way, an input of any, even incorrect, value as a response to the BIOS number, will automatically disable the logo screen display during each starting of the program.

ShowLogo =

Flag of displaying the logo screen during each starting of the program (can take on values On or Off). The logo screen will not be displayed, if the multicolor mode is disabled. Switching off this flag can serve as a way to solving problems with the start-up of the program. Display of the logo screen can be disabled by typing LEGUMES.EXE : in the command line when starting the program. Besides, the logo screen is disabled after input of the code for export of large check-lists (see above), so you can easily disable the logo from the main program, by typing in any incorrect responsive code for export.

[END]

Label of the file end. Any data located below this line will be ignored by an interpreter.

Sometimes, it is necessary to change the system parameters for one work session, without modifying the file LEGUMES.INI. For this, the program LEGUMES.EXE recognizes several command line options:

The case of the letters in the command line options is ignored.

The command line options can be combined in any sequence (e.g., 'LEGUMES.EXE L -RUS'). When using mutually exclusive options, the latter of them will work (e.g., when running the command 'LEGUMES.EXE -RUS -ENG', the program will start with the English interface).