User's Guide


Image component (IC) mapping

In order for a VisualAge image that is bound to image components to start properly, it must be able to find all the ICs on which it depends. The [Ic path] section of the abt.ini file is used to provide the location(s) of ICs. When the location of ICs is incorrect, VisualAge will not start up.

Within the [Ic path] section of the abt.ini file, you can specify an entry that identifies the default IC directory. You can also specify entries that designate exact mappings of logical IC names to directory locations. The entries cause the virtual machine to search in the specified directories for ICs. The search order is as follows:

  1. If the .ini file specifies an explicit mapping of a logical IC name to a path and file name, use that path and file name and no other.
  2. Look in the startup directory for an IC file named the same as the logical IC name.
  3. Look in the IC_ROOT directory for the an IC file named the same as the logical IC name.

All product ICs are shipped in the same directory. This directory is the default location in which to search for ICs. The abt.ini file provides an entry shipped with the product that identifies this default location as follows:

[Ic path]
IC_ROOT=c:\vast\icsrun\

The trailing separator is required on the IC_ROOT declaration as strings for the IC_ROOT and the logical IC name are simply concatenated.

Figure TIPS not displayed.
The IC_ROOT= value must have path delimiters appropriate to the execution platform.

You can place your ICs in the same directory as the product ICs, or you can keep your application ICs in separate directories (perhaps one directory per application). For example, if you want to keep your application ICs in separate directories from the product ICs, you can use the abt.ini file to identify the location of those application ICs by adding additional entries to the [Ic path] section that map logical IC names to physical path and file names as follows:

[Ic Path]
IC_ROOT=c:\vast\icsrun\
prereq.ic=c:\myapp\rel1\prereq1.ic
another.ic=c:\myapp\rel1\prereq2.ic

Based on this abt.ini file, the IC load operaton will look in the startup directory and then the c:\vast\icsrun directory for all IC logical names except prereq.ic and another.ic.


Figure TIPS not displayed.
The logical IC names specified in the .ini file section entries must be in lowercase. The path and file name information should be appropriate for the execution platform. In addition, the IC file name is not required to be the same as the logical IC name.

If you ship your software in ICs, you must do one of the following:

For more information on ICs, see Packaging with image components (ICs).


[ Top of Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Table of Contents | Index ]