HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

POLYCENTER Software Installation Utility Developer's Guide

A software product kit created in compressed format is a single file whose name is in the following format:

producer-base-product-version-kittype.PCSI$COMPRESSED

For example:

DEC-AXPVMS-DWMOTIF-V0102-6-1.PCSI$COMPRESSED

A software product kit created in reference format consists of a directory tree populated with product files used during installation. The directory structure mirrors the directory structure of the product on the user's disk after installation. The top-level directory contains the PDF and PTF. The presence of the PDF identifies this as a kit in reference format. There is no .PCSI container file for a kit in reference format. The PDF and PTF are named as follows:

producer-base-product-version-kittype.PCSI$DESCRIPTION
producer-base-product-version-kittype.PCSI$TLB

For example:

DEC-AXPVMS-DWMOTIF-V0102-6-1.PCSI$DESCRIPTION
DEC-AXPVMS-DWMOTIF-V0102-6-1.PCSI$TLB

The fields in a kit name are position-dependent and provide useful information about the kit. There are a few general naming rules:

• Each field in the file name is separated by a hyphen.
• The length of the file name string (including all required hyphens) cannot exceed 39 characters.
• The producer-base-product portion of the string must uniquely identify the software product.

The fields are defined as follows:

• producer is the legal owner of the software product. For Hewlett-Packard software products this component of the file name is usually HP, although it may be CPQ or DEC.
• base denotes the hardware and operating system combination that the product requires. For OpenVMS Integrity systems, use I64VMS; for OpenVMS Alpha systems, use AXPVMS; for OpenVMS VAX systems, use VAXVMS; for products that can be installed on any OpenVMS platform, use VMS.
• product is the name of the software product. For example, DWMOTIF.
• version identifies the version of the software product expressed in tmn-ue format. For example, V0102-6 denotes V1.2-6. See Table 2-1 for more information.
• kittype identifies a kit type specified as a value from 1 through 7, as shown in Table 2-2.

The POLYCENTER Software Installation utility uses the version field to determine which kit is the most recent and therefore which kit supersedes another kit for the same product. The version field is in the format tmn-ue. This format is described in Table 2-1.

When the utility compares the file specifications of two kits for the same product to determine the latest version of the product, it examines the version strings as follows:

1. Compares the components of the version field in the following order:
   1. Major version number (m)
   2. Minor version number (n)
   3. Update level (u)
   4. Maintenance edit level (e)
   5. Version type (t)
      It is important to note that version type (t) is the last component to be evaluated. Because it indicates the delivery status (internal, external, beta, and so on) of the product in the development cycle, it is considered the least important component.
2. Stops when it finds two components that are not equal, or determines that all five components are equal.
3. Evaluates alphabetic characters and numbers in ascending order.

Once you use an update level (u) or a maintenance edit level (e) in the product version field, that component must be carried throughout the release cycle of the product to ensure proper evaluation by the utility.

For example, if you release a test version of your product called E7.3-10 (expressed as E0703-10 in tmn-ue format) and then drop the update number in the final version V7.3, the utility will not recognize V7.3 as the latest version. This is what happens:

• The utility stops the comparison after it finds two components that are not equal. In this case, it stops at the update level.
• Because the update level is not present in V7.3, it is evaluated as 0. Ten (10), the update level in E7.3-10, is greater than zero (0).
• Since version type is evaluated last, it is not a factor here.

Once the update level is established, as in E7.3-10, do not omit it (causing it to default to zero (0)) until you increase the major or minor version. Any of the following examples of version numbers would supersede E7.3-10:

• D7.3-10A, because A is greater than the null string.
• V7.3-10, because V is greater than E.
• A7.3-11, because 11 is greater than 10.

The tmn-ue format used in file names is similar to the format used to display versions to OpenVMS users, or as entered by the OpenVMS user with the /VERSION qualifier.

However, when the POLYCENTER Software Installation utility displays a version to the OpenVMS user:

• Leading zeros are omitted in m and n.
• If neither u nor e is present, the hyphen (-) is omitted.

The following version information is contained in the OpenVMS System Manager's Manual. However, it is worth repeating the information here to make sure that you know how the product version is interpreted.

• If a hyphen is present and the first character after the hyphen is a digit, then the leading digits after the hyphen are the update level. If nondigit characters are present, the maintenance edit level consists of the first nondigit character and all following characters. If nondigit characters are not present, the maintenance edit level is blank.
• If a hyphen is present and the first character after the hyphen is a nondigit character, the update level is zero (0) and the maintenance edit level consists of all of the characters after the hyphen.
• If no hyphen is present, the update level is zero (0) and the maintenance edit level is blank.

The POLYCENTER Software Installation utility supports the seven kit types described in Table 2-2.