Occasionally we get time to tidy things up and document what is essential to our system's operation.
A CorVu system evolves over time and documenting it can become a head-ache. Here are a couple of ideas, please suggest any you may have used successfully.
1: CORVU.INI : This is the essential properties file for any CorBusiness installation. It contains the files paths, preferences, licensing server and special settings used by a session as well as all the connection definitions for databases and their knowledge libraries. If this gets damaged then you are in a difficult place! Keep a safe copy of it before making any manual changes.
You can add commentary to it using a semi-colon at the start of the line and you can rearrange the sections in to a sequence to make more sense as new stuff usually gets added to the end of file. For example, I like to have the [Config] and [Environment] sections near the top of the file and group together all the related environment stuff.
e.g.
[Config]
PasswdDir=Z:\CORVU
CorVuDir=Z:\CORVU
DataDir=C:\CORVU\DATA
SharedDir=Z:\OBJECTS\SHARED
DictDir=Z:\OBJECTS\DICT
TmpDir=C:\CORVU\TABLES
EnvUACCMode=0
RebuildSQL=0
LocalDictDir=E:\Temp\mydict
;List of Environments
[Environments]
5.4Training=
MiniVu=
RTMetrics=
RTP=
SalesForce=
COTB=
; These are my servers for 5.4Training
[Servers-5.4Training]
Training=CVODBC32.EXE Server Training
KPISystem=CVWSKT32.EXE Server KPISystem
SQLDB=CVWSKT32.EXE Server SQLDB
; These are the Knowledge Library locations - keep a backup
[Dictionary-5.3Training]
Training=Z:\OBJECTS\DICT\Training
KPISystem=Z:\OBJECTS\DICT\KPISystem
SQLDB=Z:\OBJECTS\DICT\AnySQLDB
etc...
--
The corvu.ini can then become a useful reference, and easy to support and interpret.(Please backup your corvu.ini before making cosmetic alterations!)
And yes, there is a shared & a private corvu.ini so you can document both. The latter is primarily for personal preferences and is created for each user session, but it is the shared corvu.ini contains the essential installation config and file locations. (Where possible avoid putting essential server and directory definitions in the personal corvu.ini in case the user deletes it.)
However you may find it more understandable to run the Environment Manager (C:\CORVU\cvenvman.exe) and take screenshots of the display. Personally I find the text file easier to follow and search than screenshots.
2: SCHEDULES: This is usually the other critical component of a CorVu system, and thanks to a recent enquiry from our friends at Echo Managed Services, I took some time to look into how to document CorVu schedules. In the Scheduler there is a property window which displays the details of a selected task row - see pic below.
In version
5.40.R01.698 and later, this same info can be EXPORTED to an XML file, which you can view in a suitable text editor.
Here is the CorVu Schedule file (CSF) contents and properties window - showing the option.
And here is the same info exported to an XML file by using the
File>Export function in the Scheduler. Here I am using the excellent Notepad++ text editor to view it
I hope this gives you some ideas - please feel free to add your own favourite documentation tips - especially for complex queries or quick reports!!
#CorVu