Installation

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Capital Gainz

· 1 year ago

Chapter 3 - Installation

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Be sure to make backup copies of your original Capital Gainz diskette(s). Electronic media such as diskettes are easily damaged, and a spare can become very valuable in a crisis situation.

This chapter describes the Capital Gainz installation procedure in detail. The installation program, INSTALL.EXE, is straight-forward, and you should not encounter any problems. So, unless you're having problems, or just want to know what's happening during installation, you can skip to the next chapter.

3.1 Installation
3.1.1 Set Parameters

[[Screen not in online version of documentation.]]

The Install Form accepts the following installation parameters:

Install From Drive, the letter of the drive you are installing from. This is probably A or B, but could be a hard drive. The default is A.
The Directory you are installing from. This is usually \, but may be another directory if you are installing from your hard disk. The default is \.
Install To Drive, the letter of the drive you are installing to. This is probably C or D, but could be F, G, or another network drive. The default is C.
Base Directory, the main directory you are installing to. This is where the main programs are installed. The default is \CAPGNZ. If the directory does not exist, you are asked if you want to create it.
Whether or not you want to Install the Program Files. This is usually the case, but you may be installing documentation after having already installed the programs. The default is YES.
Whether or not you want to Install the Program Data. These files include the Security Type File, the Password File, and the Error Message File. The Security Type File is only installed if it doesn't exist. You should install these if you install the Program Files. If you install these files, they are put in the Base Directory. The default is YES.
Whether or not to Install the Doc Files. If you ordered a bound manual, you can save disk space by not installing the online version of the manual. If you don't install it, you won't have online help and can't access the manual via the View Documentation function. The default is YES.

(If you specified YES to install the Doc Files.) The Directory to install the Doc Files to. The default is \CAPGNZ\DOC. If the directory does not exist, you are asked if you want to create it.

Whether or not to Install the Utility Files. The Utility Program includes some non-essential functions, such as copy/move securities. You can save disk space by not installing these files. If you install these files, they are put in the Base Directory. The installation program requires you to install these files if you are upgrading to a new version of Capital Gainz. The default is YES.
Whether or not to Install the Graphics Files. The Graphics Program lets you generate graphs based on your Capital Gainz data files. You can save disk space by not installing these files. If you install these files, they are put in the Base Directory. The default is YES.
Whether or not to Install the Demo/Tutorial. The demo/tutorial screen show is the best way to get aquainted with Capital Gainz. You should install it, especially if you're new to Capital Gainz. The default is YES.

(If you specified YES to install the Demo Files.) The Directory to install the Demo Files to. The default is \CAPGNZ\DEMO. If the directory does not exist, you are asked if you want to create it. For easy cleanup when you're done with it, install the demo in its own directory.

Whether or not to Install the Example Data. The example data consists of a portfolio of security information. Install these files if you'd like to play around with some data before recording your own investment information. Example data can't be installed if you've already run Capital Gainz and entered data. The default is YES.
The Registration Number. If you are installing an upgrade, then the default is your current version's registration number. Otherwise, you need to enter the registration number from the Capital Gainz diskette.
Your Name. This personalizes the startup screen.
Whether or not to Modify CONFIG.SYS. Capital Gainz can have many files (index and data) open at a given time, so the FILES line in CONFIG.SYS should be set to around 40. The installation program will scan your CONFIG.SYS file, and add or modify the FILES line so it's set to 40 or the current value, whichever is greater. The default is YES. If you specify NO, then the installation program tells you that the FILES line in your CONFIG.SYS must be set to 40. If this value is changed, you must reboot your computer for the new value to take effect.
Whether or not to Copy CG.BAT, the startup batch file, to the root directory. It's created in the program directory. By answering YES to this question, CG.BAT is also copied to the root (\) directory. The default is NO.
The Temporary Directory, where temporary files are created by Capital Gainz. The first thing CG.BAT does on startup is to delete any .TMP files in this directory. The default is \TMP. If the directory does not exist, you are asked if you want to create it.
Whether or not to Use Built-in Screen Blanker. Capital Gainz automatically blanks the screen after 10 minutes of inactivity. Sometimes this screen blanker conflicts with other screen blankers, so specify NO if you already have a screen blanker installed.
What the Current Installed Version is. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Capital Gainz, it's very important that you set this correctly. Otherwise, the upgrade process will fail. If you enter an invalid revision number, a list of valid revision numbers is shown. The default is NONE.
If you are upgrading to a new revision, you need to enter the directories to Upgrade Data In. The first directory is the same as the Program File Directory. The other directories are blank. If you previously installed Capital Gainz and always ran it from the program directory, only enter the first directory. However, you may have multiple directories set up with different data files, as this was the only way to maintain multiple portfolios before version 3.0. If so, enter the directories containing data files to be upgraded. Entry is completed when you leave a directory blank.

Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:

F1:Help - there is a special, online help file for the installation program (INSTALL.HLP).
F2:View README File - display the README.DOC file, containing important information and last minute changes. This file is displayed a screen at a time. Hitting Esc returns to the Install Form, and any other key displays the next page.

3.1.2 Installation Process

After answering all the questions, the installation process is executed:

The installation program checks if there is enough free disk space to install the requested files. If not, a message is displayed and you can proceed anyway.
The installation log, INSTALL.LOG, is created in the Base Directory. If it already exists, it is removed first. As installation progresses, messages are written to this log.
Any old files no longer used by Capital Gainz are removed.
The installation information file, INSTALL.INF, is read from the installation disk to determine archive names, types, and contents.
Based on your answers in the Install Form and the contents of INSTALL.INF, CGINST.BAT is built. This batch file contains the commands to install Capital Gainz. Also, INSTALL.UPG is created, containing information used by the Utility Program to upgrade your data files.
CGINST.BAT is executed after shelling to DOS. The last thing that CGINST.BAT does is call the Utility Program to upgrade your data files, if necessary.
When CGINST.BAT completes, the installation program deletes it and verifies that the correct files were installed.
If you said to modify your CONFIG.SYS file, then it is changed if necessary.
CG.BAT, the startup batch file, is constructed.
CAPGNZ.INF, the Capital Gainz information file, is created or updated based on the installation.
If any errors were encountered during installation, INSTALL.LOG is displayed. Installation ends, and you should fix the problems and try to re-install.

===>>> When installation is complete, you can look at the installation log, INSTALL.LOG, to see exactly what was done. This file will include messages indicating any files that had to be renamed. For instance, if CAPGNZBU.BAT existed before installation, it is copied to another file before the new CAPGNZBU.BAT is installed. This way, any changes you've made to files can be retrieved. Also, any files that could not be installed are listed. The installation program can be run as many times as needed. If you incorrectly entered your registration number, decided you would like to install the online documentation, or inadvertently deleted CAPGNZ.EXE, just invoke it again. Your data files will not be affected. Alternatively, you can make some changes simply by modifying CAPGNZ.INF and CG.BAT with a text editor.

3.1.3 Clean Up

After trying Capital Gainz for awhile, you may want to clean up a few files.

If you installed the demo, you can delete it when you're done with it:

        C:> CD \CAPGNZ\DEMO 
        C:> DEL *.* 
        C:> CD .. 
        C:> RMDIR DEMO

If you installed the example data files, you can delete them when you're done. First, delete the portfolio from Capital Gainz' Portfolio Table. This deletes all of the activity. To remove global data, such as global securities, prices, and brokers, execute the following from the DOS command line:

        C:> CD \CAPGNZ 
        C:> DEL GSEC.??? 
        C:> PRC_HST.??? 
        C:> BROKER.???

If you installed the documentation files, and use the manual rather than online help, you can delete them:

        C:> CD \CAPGNZ\DOC 
        C:> DEL *.* 
        C:> CD .. 
        C:> RMDIR DOC

3.2 Installation Failures

Installation failures can be classified as follows:

Failure before all of the files are installed. Try to fix any problems reported, and run INSTALL.EXE again.
Failure after the files are installed, but before the data file upgrade completes. In this case, you're left with old data files but new versions of the Capital Gainz executables. You need to manually execute the Utility Program, CGUTIL.EXE, to upgrade your data files. This program is described in Chapter 18.

Common installation problems include: bad diskettes, corrupt data caused by electronic transmission errors, incorrect composition of the archives on the diskettes, and an incorrectly constructed INSTALL.INF file. The result of these kinds of problems are installation errors indicating: invalid archive, invalid archive format, or disk read errors.