Installation guide

Installing the AlphaNET Software Page 3-7
AlphaNET Installation Guide, Revision 05
Initializing the Remote Procedure Call System
The remote procedure call facility requires you allocate and initialize a support module, RPC.SYS,
within system memory. To do so, add the command SYSTEM RPC.SYS/N to the other SYSTEM
commands within the system initialization command file.
Defining a Network
For each network your computer connects to, you must define the network using the NETINI command.
The NETINI command must appear in your system initialization command file after the MSGINI
command, but prior to any SYSTEM commands. For example:
NETINI ETH101.NIN
The NETINI command takes as an argument the name of a network initialization command file. This
network initialization file defines to the computer the unique settings and parameters of a network. The
exact contents of this file will therefore differ from one type of network to another. However, much of the
content is the same regardless of network type and is explained below.
Here’s the format of a network initialization command file:
DRIVER = xxxxxx
NETWORK = x
GROUP = x
NODE = x
NODECHECK = xxx
NODECOUNT = xx
GROUPCOUNT = xx
NAME = Network Descriptive Name
To create a network initialization file, specify the network driver name for your specific network type in
the DRIVER statement. (For information on what Ethernet driver to use, consult the hardware installation
instructions accompanying the Ethernet network interface card you installed. For SerialNET, use the
SERIAL driver.) Then specify the network, group, and node numbers identifying your computer as a
node on a specific network. The network number can be from 1 to 254. Each line of the system
initialization command file can be up to 512 characters in length.
The NODECHECK statement tells AMOS whether or not to check for the existence of a node before
trying to communicate with it. If NODECHECK is set to ON, you will get an immediate error message
(
Node does not exist ) if the node you are trying to communicate with is not found. If
NODECHECK is set to OFF, or if the NODECHECK statement is not included in your network
initialization file, if the node is not found you will still get the error message, but it will take several
seconds longer.
The value defined in the NODECOUNT statement must be equal to, or greater than, the number of nodes
on your network. If you do not include a NODECOUNT statement in your network initialization file, the
NODECOUNT number defaults to 10. This is not a problem if you have 10 or less nodes defined on your
network, but if you have more than 10 nodes defined, you will not be able to communicate with all your
nodes and you will assorted network problems.