The SYSTEM Dictionary is used for control of the entire system. In it are held several different types of files and items:
Account Definition items.
User-IDs.
Special operator accounts.
Message items.
System level files.
Each of these types is defined briefly in the following sections.
Account Definition Items
These are items that define all accounts on the system, along with their associated passwords, security codes, and system privileges. They function as pointers to each account’s Master Dictionary. See Database Architecture in the mvBase System Administration Manual for the format of Account Definition Items.
User-IDs
A user-ID is an Account Synonym Definition item that points to the account a user actually logs on to. User-IDs can have passwords, security codes, and system privileges that are different from those of the Account Definition item. See the Creating and Deleting Accounts section in the mvBase System Administration Manual for more information.
Special Operator Accounts
These are special accounts that operators can log on to in order to perform specific backup functions or to coldstart the system. These accounts are:
COLDSTART
FILE-SAVE
INCR-SAVE
The items that define these operator accounts are Account Synonym Definition items (Q-pointers) that point to the SYSPROG account and invoke a Logon Proc. Operator accounts are discussed in Backing Up Files in the mvBase System Administration Manual.
Message Items
The SYSTEM Dictionary contains three items that store system messages: LOGON, MAXUSERS, and LOCKOUT. The messages contained in these items are displayed on terminals when they are not logged on to a process. LOGON contains the normal Logon Please message. MAXUSERS contains the message that is displayed when the maximum number of users that are allowed to log on at any one time has been reached. LOCKOUT contains the LOCKOUT in progress message that is displayed whenever a user has reached the limit of the number of permissible invalid logon attempts.
System Level Files
The SYSTEM Dictionary also contains pointers to special system files which are essential to the operation and maintenance of the mvBase system. They are described as follows:
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ACC |
The ACC file, or Accounting History file, contains data about users who are actively logged on to the system, as well as usage statistics for each user, recording when users log on and off. |
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BASICLIB |
The BASICLIB file contains all common mvBASIC programs. Each Master Dictionary on the system contains a Q-pointer to BASICLIB. |
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BLOCK-CONVERT |
The BLOCK-CONVERT file contains items that define the characters displayed when the BLOCK-PRINT command is used. It also contains items that are used to print a descriptive message. Each Master Dictionary on the system contains a Q-pointer to BLOCK-CONVERT. |
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ERRMSG |
The ERRMSG file contains system messages. Some of these messages simply provide useful information, others provide warnings or indicate error conditions. Each Master Dictionary on the system contains a Q-pointer to ERRMSG. A list of the system messages can be found in the System Messages section in the mvBase System Administration Manual. See the next section for a discussion of the format of ERRMSG items. |
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PROCLIB |
The PROCLIB file contains all common Procs, such as LISTU, LISTFILES, CT, etc. Each Master Dictionary on the system contains a Q-pointer to PROCLIB, as well as items that link to the Procs stored in PROCLIB. |
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RUNTIME-ERRORS |
The RUNTIME-ERRORS file logs mvBasic Run-Time errors when set via the System Switch SET-RUNTIME-ERROR-LOGGING. |
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SECURITY-LOG |
The SECURITY-LOG file contains items that record invalid logon attempts, system privilege violations, file access protection violations, etc. |
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SYSTEM-ERRORS |
The SYSTEM-ERRORS file logs all disk errors and Group Format Errors. |
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TERMTABLE |
The TERMTABLE file stores default terminal definitions. See SET-TERM Command. |
See Also