Richard Harding wrote:

> I am not sure what you mean by "create them".  There is only one Configuration File associated to a session.
>
[snip]
> If the Configuration File  does not exist, it creates a new Configuration File
> ...
> If the database catalog file is absent, a new database catalog file is created.

Sounds like "create them" to me!

Like I say, I'm not completely unfamiliar, but I do think that the UI could help this process better with a more comfortable "create session to existing catalog" or whatever option..

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Matthew Jones

Matthew


>Like I say, I'm not completely unfamiliar, but I do think that the UI could help this process better with a more comfortable "create session to existing catalog" or whatever option..

I'm making an assumption here that UI refers to EDBManager's UI. If that is correct it does do exactly what you say you want.

When you create a session in EDBManager page 1 is its name and the administrative details necessary to carry on (local/remote, ansi/unicode). EDBManager helps out as much as it can here filling in the latter two decisions.

Page 2 depends on the local/remote decision and that is where you essentially say "use this configuration".

NOTE: I say configuration because catalog by itself is meaningless. A given session can point to many databases (most of mine point to one disk based and one memory based). If you try and backwards create the configuration from the catalog you're in for a world of woe. You've lost Jobs, Roles, Users, and Stores. All you've left is a (possibly partial) Databases.

Roy Lambert

Roy Lambert wrote:

> If you try and backwards create the configuration from the catalog you're in for a world of woe. You've lost Jobs, Roles, Users, and Stores. All you've left is a (possibly partial) Databases.

I'm obviously not making myself clear. I'm talking only about the feeling that the UI gives me, not what actually happens. The key is that it starts off with "Create a session". But I don't want to create anything, it is already there! Now, yes, the session is just within EDB Manager and I'm connecting to an existing config etc, but my point is that the wording could be improved to provide comfort. Even as simple as starting off with "connect to existing data or create new" so that you know you are configuring a connection to the existing rather than "creating" something and overwriting.

But I'll not drag it on any further.

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Matthew Jones

Matthew


Aaahhhh - he says as the penny drops


Roy Lambert

Matthew

I think the source of the confusion with your enthusiastic helpers is that your view of a session is different to EDB's view of a session.

The first two posts contains the following statements.

* I don't want to create anything new and break the existing database or anything
* I want to access it (that is, an existing DB) using the database manager.
* I don't understand why I'm not "opening an existing session". Why can't I point at the location of the EDBCfg file and enter a password and all done?

An EDB Session is a connection between any application (in this case EDB Manager) and a configuration database.

You are not opening an existing session (or connection) between the application (EDB Manager) and the configuration file.  The entity that exists is the the Configuration File - the session does yet not exist so you need to create it.

Creating and deleting sessions will not break the existing DB because all you are doing is creating and deleting the connections between the EDB Manager and a Configuration DB.

When you create a session, you specify the Configuration File (which contains the Configuration DB) and other parameters such as is it a remote or local session.  You can have many sessions pointing to the same Configuration File.  One session could be a remote session and another a local session.  When these sessions are created, you can open the sessions.

Richard

Richard Harding wrote:

> your view of a session is different to EDB's view of a session.

Indeed - it is all about "feel" and wording.

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Matthew Jones

Matthew,

<< I'm obviously not making myself clear. I'm talking only about the feeling that the UI gives me, not what actually happens. The key is that it starts off with "Create a session". But I don't want to create anything, it is already there! Now, yes, the session is just within EDB Manager and I'm connecting to an existing config etc, but my point is that the wording could be improved to provide comfort. Even as simple as starting off with "connect to existing data or create new" so that you know you are configuring a connection to the existing rather than "creating" something and overwriting. >>

Two issues with this description:

1) You *are* creating something when you create a new session, it's just not what you think it is.

2) Not all situations involve connecting to existing configurations/databases.  A lot of the time someone is creating a new configuration by creating the session that points to an existing configuration folder, and then opening it.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Tim


>1) You *are* creating something when you create a new session, it's just not what you think it is.

Hmmm - my logic says that you're modifying something (the ini file) and configuring an instantiated session component which, since its transitory, I don't regard as created in the sense Matthew is using. Or have I missed something as is so often the case.

>2) Not all situations involve connecting to existing configurations/databases. A lot of the time someone is creating a new configuration by creating the session that points to an existing configuration folder, and then opening it.

This one made my brain ache. On initial reading I made the erroneous assumption that "existing configuration folder" meant that there would be a config file there. I eventually realised that just because the folder exists is no reason the config file should also exist. Nice one - at my age its good to get some brain exercise!

Roy

Roy Lambert wrote:

> A lot of the time someone is creating a new configuration

And some of the time you aren't. My posting of this was just to raise the issue that there is a wording/naming/whatever issue here that might be worth considering sometime. Maybe it doesn't need a change, but if I can fall over it, I suspect I am not alone. I do understand what is happening, but that doesn't make it feel any better.

Feel free to ignore if you want or are happy with it as-is. 8-)

--

Matthew Jones

Roy,

<< Hmmm - my logic says that you're modifying something (the ini file) and configuring an instantiated session component which, since its transitory, I don't regard as created in the sense Matthew is using. Or have I missed something as is so often the case. >>

You're getting down into the implementation details, which just confuse the issue.  The logical operation is that you're creating a new session in the EDB Manager, one that can be edited/deleted just like a row in a table.  The implementation details of how a row is inserted or deleted is not considered when one inserts or deletes a row - it's just a logical operation.

<< This one made my brain ache. >>

Yeah, I typed that quick, and it could have been worded better.  The point is that a configuration folder must exist, but there may or may not be a configuration file present in the folder.  But, again, the auto-creation of configuration files is an implementation detail. If you create a new session in the EDB Manager, and there aren't any databases defined for the session, then whether EDB just created the configuration file or the configuration file already existed is somewhat irrelevant.  You either have the correct configuration folder, or you don't.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com