- Configuration Problems

Any basic problems with the configuration of shared memory for PROIV usually results in the following error when PROIV, or any of the PROISAM utilities, is run:

/etc/isamdef: invalid argument

This is normally due to one of the following reasons:

1. One of the variable names in the PROIV configuration file (which is called /etc/isamdef) is missing, misspelled, or has a parameter that is non-numeric or out of range (see PROISAM Settings). The format of the file must be as follows:

- The variable name must start in column 1, and be in uppercase.

- The variable name must be followed by an equals character (=). Any characters between the end of the variable name and the equals character are ignored.

- Space or tab characters followed by a number may optionally follow the equals character,. The number may be specified in a general format (decimal, octal or hexadecimal), but normally only consists of decimal digits.

- Any non-numeric characters after the number is ignored.

- Variable names may be specified in any order. If a name occurs more than once, the last occurrence is used.

- Any line not starting with a valid variable name is ignored.

2. The size of the shared memory segment requested via the /etc/isamdef parameter file exceeds the PROIV imposed maximum limit of 32,000 bytes. See Shared Memory Segment Algorithm, for details of how to calculate this size.

3. The size of the shared memory segment exceeds the operating system maximum limit. This is defined when the user or the supplier) configures the operating system. It can normally be examined or changed: the method used varies depending on the version of Unix in use, but generally involves running a menu driven program which is normally called 'config' or 'configure'. You must be logged on as the super-user (user-id 'root') to run this routine. The administration/installation manuals for the machine explain the procedure.

4. The INFORMIXDIR Environment Variable is required if CISAM files are used in the PROIV environment. This Environment Variable must define the location of the 'gls' directory used by CISAM. The 'gls' directory is created by the PROIV install program as a subdirectory of the bootstrap directory. Define the location with the appropriate command. See Configure the C-ISAM Environment for more information.

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Topic ID: 720041