There are two major limitations when running the FOH and BOH on the same computer: restarting the FOH after a refresh or after the End-of-Day process (refer to document ID 5985), and the location of the dated folders created after the EOD process.
Restarting the FOH
The FOH restarts after a refresh or after the EOD process. After a refresh is initiated in the BOH, the BOH creates a STOP file in the TMP folder on the file server. The STOP file instructs the FOH to restart. If the STOP file still exists after the FOH restarts, the FOH will not finish initializing until the STOP file no longer exists.
When a computer is only running the FOH, the AUTOEXIT variable (refer to document ID 6613) instructs the FOH to restart the operating system (OS). The OS subsequently starts the FOH from the Microsoft® Windows® StartUp folder.
A computer running the FOH and BOH together cannot use the AUTOEXIT variable, because the FOH might exit and restart Windows following a refresh before the Aloha application software completes the refresh process and deletes the STOP file. This will result in the FOH not restarting without use intervention.
Instead, run the FOH from a looping batch file utilizing the WAIT.EXE utility (refer to document ID 5982). This way, a batch file restarts the FOH without restarting Windows, and it properly compensates for the time required for the refresh to complete.
Label the batch file FOHSTART.BAT, place it in the root Aloha application software folder (for example, D:\ALOHA\FOHSTART.BAT), and include following lines in the batch file:
@ECHO OFF
:START
CLS
ECHO *** Do not close this batch file. ***
ECHO *** It is required to auto restart Aloha. ***
IF EXIST %LOCALDIR%\TMP\EXITING DEL %LOCALDIR%\TMP\EXITING
START /WAIT %LOCALDIR%\BIN\IBER.EXE
CLS
ECHO *** Waiting 10 seconds for refresh. ***
WAIT.EXE 10
GOTO START
This batch file performs the following functions:
1. Disables unneeded text from appearing on the screen.
2. Clears the screen.
3. Displays a warning to not close the batch file, since it is essential for restarting the FOH.
4. Deletes the EXITING file, if it exists.
5. Starts the FOH using the START /WAIT command. The START /WAIT command instructs the batch file to wait for the FOH to exit before proceeding to the next line in the batch file. '/WAIT' is in no way connected with the WAIT.EXE utility described later in this document. /WAIT is a standard Microsoft command-line variable, and WAIT.EXE is a utility supplied by Radiant Systems.
6. After the FOH exits, the batch file clears the screen.
7. The batch file uses the WAIT.EXE utility (refer to document ID 5982 for more information) to create ten-second pause while the BOH finishes the refresh procedure, and starts the batch file over again.
The batch file is always active on the FOH/BOH computer, and it continually restarts the FOH anytime it exits. Use shortcuts to the batch file (instead of shortcuts directly to IBER.EXE or IBERQS.EXE) in the Windows StartUp folder, desktop, Start Menu, or wherever else you place a shortcut to start the FOH.
EXITING File
The %IBERDIR%\TMP\EXITING file signals other FOH terminals that the local terminal is shutting down or is not currently running IBER.EXE or IBERQS.EXE. The file warns other terminals not to create a network connection since the terminal is restarting. IBER.EXE and IBERQS.EXE create a local copy of this file upon exiting and delete the local EXITING file when they start.
If you are not using a looping batch file as explained in the 'Restarting the FOH' section of this document, then you can end up with a stray EXITING file on the file server and the other FOH terminals will not start. To resolve this, use a batch file to start the FOH that initializes the FOH and then deletes the EXITING file after the FOH shuts down, rather than just running IBER.EXE or IBERQS.EXE directly. For example:
START /WAIT %LOCALDIR%\BIN\IBER.EXE
ECHO Y | DEL %LOCALDIR\TMP\EXITING
EXIT
Disabling the FOH on the File Server
If you disable or shut down the Aloha application software FOH on the FOH/BOH computer, the remaining FOH terminals will no longer recognize the FOH/BOH computer as the Aloha application software file server until you restart them. You can set the MASTERCAPABLE and SERVERCAPABLE system environment variables to FALSE in versions 5.026 and higher in order to prevent this from occurring, but this also disables the FOH from functioning on the FOH/BOH computer should the network become disabled.
If you set MASTERCAPABLE and SERVERCAPABLE to FALSE and you also require the ability to use the FOH/BOH computer in stand-alone mode following a network failure, you can create a secondary method to start the FOH via a batch file that enables the MASTERCAPABLE and SERVERCAPABLE variables. For example, create a batch file in the Aloha application software BIN folder labeled FOHXNET.BAT with the following information:
SET MASTERCAPABLE=TRUE
SET SERVERCAPABLE=TRUE
START %LOCALDIR%\BIN\IBER.EXE
Create a shortcut to the batch file on the Windows desktop (or wherever you deem appropriate), but make sure the user can differentiate this shortcut from the normal shortcut used to start the FOH. In the event they encounter network problems that require each terminal to enter stand-alone mode, they can start the FOH on the FOH/BOH computer using this batch file.
FSRECOVERYEOD in the ALOHA.INI
If you have FSRECOVERYEOD assigned a value of TRUE in the ALOHA.INI, a file server recovery results in deletion of the TRANS.LOG (transaction log). You must set this variable to FALSE on a FOH/BOH computer.
Cheers,
Coorsman
