ATEUPDATE {switches}
The ATEUPDATE command can be used on the server, either manually or as part of the application startup, to help manage or trigger the update process. Its basic function is to check the web configuration file for the availability of a newer version of ATE online, to download it if so, and to optionally launch the update installer. This is an essential part of the Group update model, but can be useful in the Site and even the Workstation models as well.
The available switches are:
Switch |
Description |
|---|---|
/A |
Admin mode. Required if not running from within an ATE session (otherwise the program will just abort with a “Not ATE” message). |
/F |
Force the operation (ignoring the current version of the ATE client). Mainly useful for testing. |
/L |
Launches the update immediately on the workstation, if applicable. (Otherwise, it only downloads the latest update package into the atesetup directory, effectively delaying the update until the start of the next session.) Mainly useful for testing, although might also be useful to implement a check-for-updates feature at the application level. |
/Q |
Quiet mode. Recommended if running from a user command file, since the messages output would go by too quickly for the user to read anyway and thus would just be distracting. |
/S |
Synchronizes the local configuration file on the server (ateupdloc.cfg) to the client. This is only useful in conjunction with the Workstation model where you want to update the workstation configuration files. |
/S+ |
Same as /S but then proceeds with the rest normal operation (as if /S had not been specified). |
Operational details:
| • | First it checks to see of you are running in an ATE session. If not, unless you specified the /A switch, it exits. |
| • | The local update configuration file (ateupdloc.cfg) is processed. If not present, or there is no WebCfgURL definition, or neither of the MonoSetup or WebSetup options are specified, it exits. |
| • | The name of the web update control file (e.g. ateupdweb.cfg) is extracted from the WebCfgURL definition in the local configuration file. It then checks the OPR: directory to see if there is a local copy of that file, with a creation or modification date within the last 5 minutes. If so, the download operation is skipped, saving time on a site where the ATEUPDATE.LIT utility may be executed frequently. Otherwise, it downloads the web update control file from the specified URL. |
| • | The web update control file is then read, in order to get the Version, MinVer, and setup package specifications (and the information regarding the latest available version of ATEUPDATE.LIT). If a newer version of ATEUPDATE.LIT is available, it downloads it and restarts the operation with the new version. If the current version of ATE is less than the MinVer (if specified), and less than the Version defined in the control file (or the /F switch was used), then the file name is extracted from the relevant MonoSetupURL and/or WebSetupURL specifications, and checked to see if they are present already in the atesetup directory. If not, it/they is/are downloaded. |
| • | If the /L launch option specified and a new version is available and was successfully (or previously) downloaded, the update process is initiated on the workstation. Otherwise the update is effectively delayed until the start of the next session. |
Note that by inserting the ATEUPDATE.LIT command line into a common application startup file, it may get executed many times per day (especially on a large and active site), but in the vast majority of cases, the process will be extremely quick, since the load update control file will already be current on the local server, and so will the update packages. Only when an update package is actually being downloaded is there any significant delay, and in the case of the incremental package and a modern high-speed connection, that shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds.
