Overview of using EASI

This section and ones that follow assume that EASI has been successfully installed and setup on your system. Once setup, EASI may be activated on UNIX systems from the command line by typing the command easi:

prompt> easi

It may also be activated by selecting the EASI icon from the CATALYST Professional toolbar. For Windows systems, EASI may be activated by selecting the EASI icon from the Start menu or from the CATALYST Professional toolbar. Once activated, an EASI prompt will appear:

EASI>

Commands are entered interactively at this prompt for two main purposes:

To manipulate parameters
To execute tasks.

Tasks are individual programs designed to accomplish specific jobs.

Parameters are special variables used for controlling the execution of tasks. They come in two forms:

string
numeric

Parameters are stored in a file called the parameter file. This file has the name:

PRM.PRM

The master parameter file is located in the PRO directory and a copy of it must be present in the current working directory before any parameters can be set. To get a copy of the master parameter file the following line must be used:

EASI>run copprm

The run command is used to execute a task. In this case, the COPPRM task copies to the local working directory a copy of the master parameter file. The command is entered and is followed by a carriage return (<cr>, Enter).

EASI is not case sensitive. Commands can be entered in upper, lower, or mixed case. To view the parameters that a specific task requires, use the STATUS command. Below is an example status for the program CDL (Channel Description Listing):

EASI>status CDL
CDL Channel Descriptor Listing 

FILE - Database File Name :irvine.pix
DBCL - Database Channel List }
DTYP - Description Type: SHORT/FULL :SHORT
REPORT - Report Mode: TERM/OFF/filename :TERM

The status command will display parameters required by a task along with their descriptions and current values. If a parameter must be set in order for a task to run, but is not yet set, it will be marked as MISSING. To view the value of a single parameter, use the PRINT command:

EASI>print file
irvine.pix

This will display the contents of the pre-defined string parameter FILE to the screen. There are many pre-defined parameters. An example of a numeric parameter is DBIC, which stands for Database Input Channel.

EASI>p DBIC
1

Notice here a special abbreviation of the print command was used, the single letter "p". Parameters can be modified by assigning values to them:

EASI>FILE = "irvine.pix"
EASI>DBIC = 1, 2

String parameters like FILE are assigned values by putting the value in quotes, and numeric parameters like DBIC are assigned values or multiple values by listing the values separated by commas.

After the parameters for a given task have been set, the task can be run:

EASI>r CDL

Here the abbreviation "r" is used for the RUN command. A task will typically produce output to the screen, or to data files on disk.

To exit EASI, use the command QUIT:

EASI>quit