Utilities and Documentation

This release of Pervasive.SQL includes the following changes to utilities and documentation:

Pervasive.SQL Control Center

This release adds a new set of Java-based GUI utilities that you can use on Windows platforms.

The core utility is Pervasive.SQL Control Center (PCC), a framework that replaces and extends functionality found in the following utilities of previous releases:

Pervasive Control Center (replaced by Pervasive.SQL Control Center)

Configuration Utility (replaced by properties within PCC)

SQL Data Manager (replaced by SQL Editor)

Table Designer (replaced by Table Editor)

Other utilities are not yet migrated to Java, but can be loaded as external tools. These include:

Function Executor

License Administrator

Monitor

Maintenance

Rebuild

Export

Note
PCC now identifies a database solely by the internal Database Name (DBNAME). Data Source Names (DSNs) do not have to associated with a database unless you want to access the database through ODBC.

To learn about the new PCC, see the chapter Using Pervasive.SQL Control Center in Pervasive.SQL User's Guide.

Command Line Interface Utilities

This release of Pervasive.SQL includes the following additional command line interface (CLI) utilities:

Configuration Properties: bcfg

Bulk Data Utility: bdu

Monitor Utility: bmon

SQL Utility: pvddl

bcfg

The Configuration properties Utility (bcfg) is a command-line utility that allows you to change your configuration.

To learn about bcfg, see the chapter Configuration Through CLI Utility in Advanced Operations Guide.

bdu

The Bulk Data Utility (bdu) is a command-line utility that allows you to load data from a delimited text file into a preexisting Pervasive.SQL table. BDU replaces the Import utility that was available with previous releases.

To learn about bdu, see bdu in Pervasive.SQL User's Guide.

bmon

The Monitor Utility (bmon) is a command-line utility that allows you to monitor database resources.

To learn about bmon, see the chapter Command Line Interface Monitor in Advanced Operations Guide.

pvddl

The Pervasive Data Definition Language (pvddl) utility allows you to execute one or more SQL statements from a command line interface.

To learn about pvddl, see pvddl in Pervasive.SQL User's Guide.

JavaHelp Documentation

JavaHelp replaces the HTML Help functionality found in previous releases in order to support the new Java-based Pervasive.SQL Control Center. This new help functions in much the same way as the previous HTML Help system. You can also customize the helpset to fit your needs.

JavaHelp is based on the concept of a helpset. A helpset is a definition of content, features and configuration that control the functionality of the documentation.

The previous help format (Microsoft HTML Help) is still installed by the PSA utility. This duplicate help format is installed so that it can support the utilities that have not yet been converted to the new Java platform for Pervasive.SQL Control Center. The content of this help system is identical to that of JavaHelp.

Structure of Pervasive JavaHelp

Pervasive JavaHelp is packaged in the same way and installed to the same folder location as the Pervasive.SQL Control Center.


Platform	Installation Location
Windows	C:\pvsw\bin\plugins
Linux	/usr/local/psql/bin/plugins

The structure of the Pervasive help system is as follows:


Help component	Package name in \bin\plugins	Description
Pervasive Help User Interface	com.pervasive.help.ui_1.0.0	Loads the Pervasive JavaHelp window. Controls the interface between PCC and the help system.
Pervasive.SQL documentation	com.pervasive.help.docs.psql.enus	Pervasive.SQL 9 documentation content.
Other Pervasive Software products	com.pervasive.help.docs.*	When you install another Pervasive Software product, the help will merge with that of Pervasive.SQL to form an integrated helpset.

Customizing the Help System

The help system can be customized by editing the file preferences.ini located in the package com.pervasive.help.ui_1.0.0. You must close and restart Pervasive.SQL Control Center and other open JavaHelp windows for the changes to preferences.ini to take effect. The following documentation settings can be customized:


preferences.ini setting	Possible values	Description
title	Any text. Default is `Pervasive Library'	Controls the title of the JavaHelp window.
helpset	psqldocs (default) pvswdocs (ALL Pervasive products) book/folder	This setting controls which helpset is the master helpset for the Pervasive platform. psqldocs includes Pervasive.SQL and companion products such as DDF Builder. It does not contain SDK docs. This is the default for Pervasive.SQL 9. pvswdocs includes all Pervasive documentation. As products are installed, they will merge with this master helpset. pvswdocs also includes the Pervasive.SQL SDK docs and a Glossary tab. Initial load time of the help system increases if you use pvswdocs because more content must be loaded.
helpset_plugins	com.pervasive.help.docs.*	Controls which plugins are scanned by JavaHelp during initial load. It is not recommended that you alter this setting.
default_topic	pvswdocs.welcome	Controls which topic in the helpset is loaded when the JavaHelp window is first displayed.
height	Any value in pixels	Height of JavaHelp window when first loaded.
width	Any value in pixels	Width of JavaHelp window when first loaded.
locationX	Horizontal pixel coordinate from upper left	Position of JavaHelp window when first loaded.
locationY	Vertical coordinate from upper left	Position of JavaHelp window when first loaded.

Configuration of JavaHelp

Pervasive JavaHelp assumes that the Java compiler is available in the PATH after installation of JRE. If JavaHelp is not loading, ensure that your environment is set correctly:

If JAVA_HOME environment variable is set, Pervasive JavaHelp assumes that the java executable is at <JAVA_HOME>\bin\java. JAVA_HOME is not set by the JRE install. Other vendors require a JAVA_HOME variable so it may be set on your system. If it is, then it takes precedence over any PATH statements. For example:

JAVA_HOME=c:\jre

JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/java

Without a JAVA_HOME, Pervasive JavaHelp assumes that the PATH environment variable contains the location of your JRE's bin directory. For example:

PATH=c:\jre\bin

PATH=/usr/local/java/bin

External HTML Links in JavaHelp

JavaHelp uses a Java browser to display help content. Since the Java browser is designed for compactness, it is not optimized for the wide variety of web components found in Web sites. Thus, external links (such as http://www.pervasive.com) are routed to a web browser on your machine.

In Windows, the default browser Internet Explorer is used. Pervasive JavaHelp does not attempt to find where Internet Explorer is installed, so you must ensure that Internet Explorer (iexplore.exe) is in the PATH. On most Windows machines, this is already the case.

In Linux, the htmlview script is used to find the default browser. This script is in the public domain, and may be part of your Linux distribution. For example, it is located in /usr/bin on Red Hat distributions.