PICS Real Time Remote (rtRemote)

The RTRemote is almost an exact duplicate of RTDB, with two exceptions:

All data received from any source except the primary RTDB is forwarded to RTDB (both primary and backup, through a UDP/IP broadcast).
RTRemote can [optionally] synchronize the local machine clock to PICS time. This feature is provided to keep the time stamps in the local NT event logs close enough to have use in diagnosing system-wide problems, should any occur.

Informational Dialogs

Status

The RTRemote Status dialog shows some fundamental information about the operation of RTRemote. The PID Range and PIDs in use numbers show the complete range of PICS Point IDs and the actual number of existing points. When the top end of the range and the number of points are different, then there are 'holes' (IDs with no points assigned) in the point database. The number of subscriptions shows how many different client windows are subscribing to real time data. The active count is a historical relic and should be ignored. The RTDB IP address shows the IP of the current real time MASTER, the source of all PICS data. The UDP broadcast address shows the address being used to transmit data back to the real time master, and to listen for incoming data from the real time master. The last two items show the settings of the PICS time synchronization and independent RTDB master selection. These are command line options that were configured by EVI when PICS was installed.

Statistics

The statistics dialog has two display modes, Local and Network. Both modes show the essentially the same information, but local shows the record counts sent to/received from applications within the computer and network shows record counts sent to/received from the network. One of the most important items on this display is the LOCAL DROPPED count. If the number of records being dropped locally is increasing, then at least one of the applications in the machine needs tuning because it is unable to process real time data as fast as the data is being delivered. There are a number of different reasons why this might occur, but since they deal with software coding issues, they will be addressed in the software maintenance manual(s).

Subscribers

This dialog shows a list of the IPCAPI shared memory areas being used between RTRemote and its various partner applications. Applications subscribing (and listening) to real time data streams use an IPCAPI pipe to receive the data and an IPCAPI region to issue commands (like subscribe, cancel, add, remove, etc.). Applications providing new data to PICS use an IPCAPI queue. When developing new software, it is often important to use this dialog to 'clean up' broken IPCAPI areas if the new application crashes -- broken areas will typically be displayed with an Area Name of 'Invalid Window Handle' and should be manually closed before attempting to execute the new application again.

Command Line

Parameter Description

LogFile Only defined for the debug version of RtRemote, this activates a log file that will contain useful debugging information for the developer.

Force Primary These two word options force RtRemote into the specified state, as if the local Task Monitor has directed it. These exist for testing purposes and should not be used in a production system.

Force Backup

Force Standby

Independent Allows RtRemote to independently select the primary RTDB. Normally, RtRemote uses the Task Monitor's task table to determine the primary RTDB and then follows failovers to select a new primary, if necessary. This option bypasses the normal selection code for use when testing in environments without SysMon/TaskMon running.

SetClock Explicitly tell RtRemote to set the local clock to match PICS time (or not). If both options are specified, SetClock will be used.

NoClock

NoWatch Prevents the "Data not available" message from appearing.

Watch Causes RtRemote to enable the data watchdog function immediately rather than waiting for the TaskMonitor to indicate the node is completely loaded. This is useful in test situations when TaskMon may not be available.

Parameter	Description
LogFile	Only defined for the debug version of RtRemote, this activates a log file that will contain useful debugging information for the developer.
Force Primary	These two word options force RtRemote into the specified state, as if the local Task Monitor has directed it. These exist for testing purposes and should not be used in a production system.
Force Backup
Force Standby
Independent	Allows RtRemote to independently select the primary RTDB. Normally, RtRemote uses the Task Monitor's task table to determine the primary RTDB and then follows failovers to select a new primary, if necessary. This option bypasses the normal selection code for use when testing in environments without SysMon/TaskMon running.
SetClock	Explicitly tell RtRemote to set the local clock to match PICS time (or not). If both options are specified, SetClock will be used.
NoClock
NoWatch	Prevents the "Data not available" message from appearing.
Watch	Causes RtRemote to enable the data watchdog function immediately rather than waiting for the TaskMonitor to indicate the node is completely loaded. This is useful in test situations when TaskMon may not be available.