Auto update

A new auto update feature allows network administrators to have new charts, filters, configuration files, reports, schematics, GIS enhancements, etc. distributed automatically without interacting with any client computers.  These features are only needed, and therefore only work when the network installation type 2 is chosen.  That is, when the program is shared on the server, along with the database.

When the software is installed, it creates a "MASTER" directory under the main MAGIC directory.  This MASTER directory contains all the files and sub-directories that the program expects to find in each DATA directory.  (client system).  This includes, but is not limited to, charts, schematics, scripts, maps, etc.  Whenever a new version of the software is shipped, these files may need changing.

A new software install also includes a "GIS" directory.  This directory contains any files needed by the GIS system (currently ArcView).  Again, since an upgrade may require an updated ArcView extension, these files reflect the latest GIS extension files.

The final important directory on the server is the DATA directory.  Which, although not what its name describes, contains the configuration files for the system.  All users should have exact copies of these files on their system at all times.  These are the files that are unique to each installation.  They are the "custom configuration" files that you paid us to create.

So, how to update each of these directories including the ArcView directory?  Each of these directories contains a file with the extension ".upd"  They are named _Master.upd, _Config.upd and _GIS.upd.  Each of these files contains a line that indicates the last time that "source" directory was updated.  That line is in a section that looks like this:

[general]

lastupdate=07/01/2000

Whenever Intersection Magic starts up, it checks the dates on the files in these directories (if they exist) and if the file exists, and the date is new than a matching entry in the current imw.ini, the entire directory tree is scanned for newer, updated files.  The imw.ini will then update its date and look like this:

[Updates]

Master=07/01/2000

GIS=07/01/2000

Config=07/01/2000

The GIS section is especially interesting, because it updates into the arcview directory containing a BIN32 / LIB32 / and EXT32 sub directory structure.

Using this system can assure that everyone on the network using Intersection Magic stays current.  If problems arise from autoprocessing, there are command line parameters that can turn off all the options individually.  See command line options in the index.