Progress DPSPR

PROGRESS
OPENEDGE 10
®
OpenEdge Deployment:
®
Startup Command and Parameter Reference

© 2009 Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All rights reserved.
These materials and all Progress® software products are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Progress Software Corporation. The
information in these materials is subject to change without notice, and Progress Software Corporation assumes no responsibility for any
errors that may appear therein. The references in these materials to specific platforms supported are subject to change.
Actional, Actional (and design), Allegrix, Allegrix (and design), Apama, Apama (and Design), Artix, Business Empowerment,
DataDirect (and design), DataDirect Connect, DataDirect Connect64, DataDirect Technologies, DataDirect XML Converters,
DataDirect XQuery, DataXtend, Dynamic Routing Architecture, EdgeXtend, Empowerment Center, Fathom, IntelliStream, IONA,
IONA (and design), Mindreef, Neon, Neon New Era of Networks, ObjectStore, OpenEdge, Orbix, PeerDirect, Persistence, POSSENET,
Powered by Progress, PowerTier, Progress, Progress DataXtend, Progress Dynamics, Progress Business Empowerment, Progress
Empowerment Center, Progress Empowerment Program, Progress OpenEdge, Progress Profiles, Progress Results, Progress Software
Developers Network, Progress Sonic, ProVision, PS Select, SequeLink, Shadow, SOAPscope, SOAPStation, Sonic, Sonic ESB,
SonicMQ, Sonic Orchestration Server, Sonic Software (and design), SonicSynergy, SpeedScript, Stylus Studio, Technical
Empowerment, WebSpeed, Xcalia (and design), and Your Software, Our Technology–Experience the Connection are registered
trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. AccelEvent,
Apama Dashboard Studio, Apama Event Manager, Apama Event Modeler, Apama Event Store, Apama Risk Firewall, AppsAlive,
AppServer, ASPen, ASP-in-a-Box, BusinessEdge, Cache-Forward, DataDirect Spy, DataDirect SupportLink, FUSE, FUSE Mediation
Router, FUSE Message Broker, FUSE Services Framework, Future Proof, GVAC, High Performance Integration, ObjectStore Inspector,
ObjectStore Performance Expert, OpenAccess, Orbacus, Pantero, POSSE, ProDataSet, Progress ESP Event Manager, Progress ESP
Event Modeler, Progress Event Engine, Progress RFID, PSE Pro, SectorAlliance, SeeThinkAct, Shadow z/Services, Shadow z/Direct,
Shadow z/Events, Shadow z/Presentation, Shadow Studio, SmartBrowser, SmartComponent, SmartDataBrowser, SmartDataObjects,
SmartDataView, SmartDialog, SmartFolder, SmartFrame, SmartObjects, SmartPanel, SmartQuery, SmartViewer, SmartWindow, Sonic
Business Integration Suite, Sonic Process Manager, Sonic Collaboration Server, Sonic Continuous Availability Architecture, Sonic
Database Service, Sonic Workbench, Sonic XML Server, StormGlass, The Brains Behind BAM, WebClient, Who Makes Progress, and
Your World. Your SOA. are trademarks or service marks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries in the
U.S. and other countries. Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S.
and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Third party acknowledgements — See the “Third party acknowledgements” section on page Preface–8.
December 2009
Last updated with new content: Release 10.2B Product Code: 4496; R10.2B
For the latest documentation updates see OpenEdge Product Documentation on PSDN (http://communities.progress.com/
pcom/docs/DOC-16074).
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preface–1
1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–1
About startup commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–2
About startup parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–3
Using parameter files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–4
Calling parameter files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–4
Creating and editing parameter files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–5
Parameter file format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–6
2. Client Startup Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–1

Client startup command syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–2
Tasks you can perform with startup and shutdown commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
Client startup command descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–4
BPRO command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–5
MBPRO command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–6
MPRO command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–7
PRO command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–8
PROWIN32 command (Windows only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–9
3. Startup Parameter Usage Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–1

Client Session parameters (CS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–2
Client performance parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–2
Client product-type parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–4
ABL parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–4
Client internationalization parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Session statistics parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10
Windows session parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10
Client Connection parameters (CC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–11
Client database connection parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–11
OpenEdge Database Server parameters (DBS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–15
Database server performance parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–15
Database server-type parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18
Database server internationalization parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18
Database server statistics collection parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19
Contents
Database server consistency check parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19

Database server network parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–20
DataServer parameters (DS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–22
OpenEdge SQL Broker parameters (SQL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–24
4. Startup Parameter Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–1

Single-user Mode (-1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–2
AdminServer Group (-admingroup) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–3
AdminServer Port (-adminport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–4
After-image File Management Archive Directory List (-aiarcdir) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–5
After-image File Management Archive Directory Create (-aiarcdircreate) . . . . . . . 4–6
After-image File Management Archive Interval (-aiarcinterval) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–7
After-image Buffers (-aibufs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–8
After-image Stall (-aistall) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–9
Area consistency check (-AreaCheck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–10
Assemblies (-assemblies) startup parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–11
Async Queue Size (-asyncqueuesize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–12
Blocks in Database Buffers (-B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–13
Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool (-B2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–14
Batch (-b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–15
ADE R-code Location (-baseADE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–16
Base Index (-baseindex) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–17
Registry Base Key (-basekey) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–18
Base Table (-basetable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–19
Before-image Buffers (-bibufs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–20
Threshold Stall (-bistall) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–21
Recovery Log Threshold (-bithold) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–22
Private Read-only Buffers (-Bp) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–23
Maximum Private Buffers per Connection (-Bpmax) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–24
Bleeding Record Lock (-brl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–25
Browse Column Type (-browcoltype) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–26
Number of Buffers for Temporary Tables (-Bt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–27
Index Cursors (-c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–28
Schema Cache File (-cache) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–29
Check Double-byte Enabled (-checkdbe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–30
Check Width (-checkwidth) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–31
SQL Server Java Classpath (-classpath) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–32
Clear Log (-clearlog) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–33
Client Logging (-clientlog) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–34
Cluster Mode (-cluster) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–36
Combo-box Font (-combofont) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–37
Conversion Map (-convmap) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–38
Communications Parameter File (-cp) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–39
Case Table (-cpcase) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–40
Collation Table (-cpcoll) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–41
Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–42
Log File Code Page (-cplog) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–43
Print Code Page (-cpprint) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–44
R-code in Code Page (-cprcodein) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–45
R-code Out Code Page (-cprcodeout) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–46
Stream Code Page (-cpstream) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–47
Terminal Code Page (-cpterm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–48
Cursor Size (-cs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–49
Connection Retry Attempts (-ct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–50
Compile Warning List (-cwl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–51
Directory Size (-D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–52
Contents–2
Contents
Date Format (-d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–53

DataService (-DataService) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–54
DataSet100 (-dataset100) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–55
Physical Database Name (-db) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–56
Database consistency check (-DbCheck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–57
Debugger (-debug) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–58
Debug Alert (-debugalert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–59
Enable Attachable Debugging (-debugReady) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–60
Disable Delete Trigger (-disabledeltrig) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–61
Dictionary Expressions (-dictexps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–62
Direct I/O (-directio) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–63
DataServer Logging (-dslog) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–64
DataServer (-Dsrv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–66
Database Type (-dt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–67
European Numeric Format (-E) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–68
Error Stack (-errorstack) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–69
Event Level (-evtlevel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–70
Expand Browse (-expandbrow) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–71
Force Access (-F) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–72
Schema Field Cache Size (-fc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–73
Filtering Asynchronous COM Events (-filterocxevents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–74
Field List Disable (-fldisable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–75
Before-image Truncate Interval (-G) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–76
Group Delay (-groupdelay) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–77
Host Name (-H) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–78
Number of Databases (-h) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–79
Hardlimit (-hardlimit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–80
Hash Table Entries (-hash) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–81
No Crash Protection (-i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–82
Dynamics Parameter (-icfparam) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–83
Index consistency check (-IndexCheck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–84
Index Range Size (-indexrangesize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–85
Initialization File (-ininame) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–86
Input Characters (-inp) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–87
Internet Protocol (-ipver) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–88
AS/400 Ignore Stamp (-is) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–89
Initial Value Segment No Convert (-isnoconv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–90
Keyword Forget List (-k) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–91
Key Alias (-keyalias) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–92
Key Alias Password (-keyaliaspasswd) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–93
Lock Table Entries (-L) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–94
Local Buffer Size (-l) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–95
Logical Database Name (-ld) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–96
Literal Question (-literalquestion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–97
Lock Table Hash Size (-lkhash) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–98
Lock release (-lkrela) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–99
Lock Timeout (-lkwtmo) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–100
Language (-lng) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–101
Log Entry Types (-logentrytypes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–102
Logging Level (-logginglevel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–106
Log Threshold (-logthreshold) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–107
Auto Server (-m1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–108
Manual Server (-m2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–109
Secondary Login Broker (-m3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–110
Maximum Clients Per Server (-Ma) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–111
Maximum Area Number (-maxAreas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–112
Maximum Dynamic Server (-maxport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–113
Contents–3
Contents
Maximum Dynamic DataServer (-dsmaxport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–114

Maximum JTA Transactions (-maxxids) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–115
Network Message Compression (-mc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–116
Memory consistency check (-MemCheck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–117
Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–118
Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–119
Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–120
Minimum Dynamic DataServer (-dsminport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–121
Message Buffer Size (-Mm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–122
Maximum Memory (-mmax) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–123
Maximum Servers (-Mn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–124
Servers Per Protocol (-Mp) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–125
Maximum Servers Per Broker (-Mpb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–126
VLM Page Table Entry Optimization (-Mpte) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–127
Record Buffer Size (-Mr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–128
User MUX Latches (-mux) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–129
Shared-memory Overflow Size (-Mxs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–130
Number of Users (-n) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–131
Nap Time Increment (-napinc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–132
Nap Time Steps (-napstep) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–133
Nested Blocks (-nb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–134
No Lock (-NL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–135
No Auto Result-list (-noautoreslist) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–136
No Check Temp-table Names (-nochkttnames) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–137
No Evaluation of Properties (-noevalprops) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–138
No Garbage Collection (-nogc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–139
No Host Verify (-nohostverify) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–140
No Inactive Indexes (-noinactiveidx) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–141
No Auto-Increment Warnings (-noincrwarn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–142
Index Hint (-noindexhint) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–143
No INT64 (-noint64) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–144
Server Join (-nojoinbysqldb) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–145
No Session Cache (-nosessioncache) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–146
No Session Reuse (-nosessionreuse) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–147
SELECT Pass Through Disable (-noSQLbyserver) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–148
No UDF in WHERE Clause (-noudfinwhere) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–149
Fractional Separator (-numdec) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–150
Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–151
Thousands Separator (-numsep) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–152
Printer (-o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–153
Outer-join Mode (-ojmode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–154
Storage Object Cache Size (-omsize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–155
Password (-P) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–156
Startup Procedure (-p) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–157
Parameter (-param) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–158
Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–159
Pending Connection Time (-PendConnTime) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–160
Parameter File (-pf) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–161
Database Service Communication Area Size (-pica) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–162
Pin Shared Memory (-pinshm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–163
PROLIB Memory (-plm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–164
PROLIB Swap (-pls) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–165
Fast Schema Change (-populate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–166
Preload CLR (-preloadCLR) startup parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–167
Configuration Properties File (-properties) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–168
Proxy Host (-proxyhost) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–169
Proxy Password (-proxyPassword) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–170
Contents–4
Contents
Proxy Port (-proxyport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–171

Proxy Userid (-proxyUserid) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–172
Quick Request (-q) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–173
Non-reliable I/O (-r) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–174
Alternate Random Number Generator (-rand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–175
Require Username (-requireusername) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–176
Reread Nolock (-rereadnolock) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–177
Re-usable Objects Cache (-reusableObjects) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–179
Run ABL Client (-rg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–180
Read-only Media (-RO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–181
Run Query Client (-rq) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–182
Run Run-time Client (-rr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–183
Encrypted Compiler Mode (-rx) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–184
Service Name (-S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–185
Stack Size (-s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–186
Screen-value Mode (-scrvalmode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–187
Semaphore Sets (-semsets) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–188
Server Group (-servergroup) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–189
Type of Server to Start (-ServerType) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–190
Session Timeout (-sessiontimeout) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–191
Shared memory segment size (-shmsegsize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–192
Show PPU Error (-showppuerr) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–194
AS/400 Server Program Name (-Sn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–195
Spin Lock Retries (-spin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–196
SQL Open Cursors (-SQLCursors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–197
SQL Stack Size (-SQLStack) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–198
SQL Statement Cache Size (-SQLStmtCache) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–199
SQL Sorting Memory (-SQLTempBuff) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–200
SSL-based Connection (-ssl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–201
Stash Area (-stsh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–202
Temporary Directory (-T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–203
Save Temp Files (-t) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–204
Table consistency check (-TableCheck) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–205
Table Range Size (-tablerangesize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–206
Speed Sort (-TB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–207
Time Stamp (-tstamp) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–208
Temp-table Schema Marshal (-ttmarshal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–209
Merge Number (-TM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–210
Temporary Table Database Block Size (-tmpbsize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–211
Token (-tok) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–212
Trigger Location (-trig) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–213
User ID (-U) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–214
Use OS Locale (-useOsLocale) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–215
Use Widget ID (-usewidgetid) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–216
Version 6 Colon (-v6colon) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–217
Version 6 Query (-v6q) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–218
Windows Passthrough Printing (-Wa -wpp) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–219
Windows Single Session (-wss) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–220
Windows Exit - No Dialog (-wy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–221
Statistics (-y) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–222
Statistics with CTRL+C (-yc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–223
Segment Statistics (-yd) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–224
Four Digit Year Default (-yr4def) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–225
Statistics With Cross-reference (-yx) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–226
Century Year Offset (-yy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–228
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index–1
Contents–5
Contents
Procedures
new_york.p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–5
new_york.pf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–6
Contents–6
Contents
Tables
Table 1–1: Control characters in parameter files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–6
Table 2–1: OpenEdge command components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–2
Table 2–2: UNIX and Windows startup and shutdown commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
Table 2–3: Windows-only startup commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–3
Table 3–1: Client performance parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–2
Table 3–2: Client product-type parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–4
Table 3–3: Client ABL parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–4
Table 3–4: Client internationalization parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–8
Table 3–5: Session statistics parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10
Table 3–6: Windows session parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–10
Table 3–7: Client database connection parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–11
Table 3–8: Server performance parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–15
Table 3–9: Server-type parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18
Table 3–10: Server internationalization parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–18
Table 3–11: Server statistics collection parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19
Table 3–12: Server consistency check parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19
Table 3–13: Server network parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–20
Table 3–14: DataServer parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–22
Table 3–15: SQL Server parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–24
Table 4–1: Cluster mode qualifier values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–36
Table 4–2: Log entry types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–103
Table 4–3: Logging levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–106
Table 4–4: Parameter interpretation with Service Name (-S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–185
Table 4–5: Values for -shmsegsize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–192
Table 4–6: Schema marshaling parameter values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–209
Table 4–7: Attributes set by Use OS Locale (–useOsLocale) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–215
Table 4–8: Century setting and date format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–228
Contents–7
Contents
Contents–8
Preface
This Preface contains the following sections:
• Purpose
• Audience
• Organization
• Using this manual
• Typographical conventions
• Examples of syntax descriptions
• OpenEdge messages
• Third party acknowledgements

Preface
Purpose
This book provides a comprehensive reference to the startup and shutdown commands and
startup parameters for OpenEdge®.
Audience
The primary audiences for this book are OpenEdge business application developers and system
administrators. The secondary audiences are OpenEdge developers and technical support
engineers.
Organization
Chapter 1, “Introduction”
Introduces the commands and parameters you can use to start up and shut down OpenEdge
client processes. It also describes how to use a parameter file (.pf) to maintain startup
parameters for a particular database startup, client session startup, or database connection.
Chapter 2, “Client Startup Commands”
Describes the OpenEdge client startup commands that you can enter at the command line.
It describes the syntax of each client startup command, summarizes the tasks you can
perform with the startup commands, and then describes each command and its parameters
in detail.
Chapter 3, “Startup Parameter Usage Categories”
Provides an overview of the OpenEdge startup parameters organized by usage category.
Chapter 4, “Startup Parameter Descriptions”
Provides a detailed reference description for each of the OpenEdge startup parameters,
organized in alphabetical order by syntax.
Using this manual

Refer to Chapter 1 for an introduction to startup commands and parameters. Use Chapter 2 to
locate the appropriate startup commands to use, and refer to the detailed description of each
command. Use Chapter 3 to locate the appropriate startup parameters to use, and then refer to
Chapter 4 for a detailed description of each startup parameter.
Preface–2
Preface
OpenEdge provides a special purpose programming language for building business

applications. In the documentation, the formal name for this language is ABL (Advanced
Business Language). With few exceptions, all keywords of the language appear in all
UPPERCASE, using a font that is appropriate to the context. All other alphabetic language content
appears in mixed case.
For the latest documentation, see the OpenEdge Product Documentation Overview page on
PSDN: http://communities.progress.com/pcom/docs/DOC-16074.
References to ABL compiler and run-time features

ABL is both a compiled and an interpreted language that executes in a run-time engine. The
documentation refers to this run-time engine as the ABL Virtual Machine (AVM). When the
documentation refers to ABL source code compilation, it specifies ABL or the compiler as the
actor that manages compile-time features of the language. When the documentation refers to
run-time behavior in an executing ABL program, it specifies the AVM as the actor that manages
the specified run-time behavior in the program.
For example, these sentences refer to the ABL compiler’s allowance for parameter passing and
the AVM’s possible response to that parameter passing at run time: “ABL allows you to pass a
dynamic temp-table handle as a static temp-table parameter of a method. However, if at run time
the passed dynamic temp-table schema does not match the schema of the static temp-table
parameter, the AVM raises an error.” The following sentence refers to run-time actions that the
AVM can perform using a particular ABL feature: “The ABL socket object handle allows the
AVM to connect with other ABL and non-ABL sessions using TCP/IP sockets.”
References to ABL data types

ABL provides built-in data types, built-in class data types, and user-defined class data types.
References to built-in data types follow these rules:
• Like most other keywords, references to specific built-in data types appear in all
UPPERCASE, using a font that is appropriate to the context. No uppercase reference ever
includes or implies any data type other than itself.
• Wherever integer appears, this is a reference to the INTEGER or INT64 data type.
• Wherever character appears, this is a reference to the CHARACTER, LONGCHAR, or CLOB data
type.
• Wherever decimal appears, this is a reference to the DECIMAL data type.
• Wherever numeric appears, this is a reference to the INTEGER, INT64, or DECIMAL data type.
References to built-in class data types appear in mixed case with initial caps, for example,
Progress.Lang.Object. References to user-defined class data types appear in mixed case, as
specified for a given application example.
Preface–3
Preface
Typographical conventions
This manual uses the following typographical conventions:
Convention Description
Bold Bold typeface indicates commands or characters the user types,

provides emphasis, or the names of user interface elements.
Italic Italic typeface indicates the title of a document, or signifies new

terms.
SMALL, BOLD Small, bold capital letters indicate OpenEdge key functions and
CAPITAL LETTERS generic keyboard keys; for example, GET and CTRL.
KEY1+KEY2 A plus sign between key names indicates a simultaneous key

sequence: you press and hold down the first key while pressing the
second key. For example, CTRL+X.
KEY1 KEY2 A space between key names indicates a sequential key sequence:
you press and release the first key, then press another key. For
example, ESCAPE H.
Syntax:
Fixed width A fixed-width font is used in syntax statements, code examples,

system output, and filenames.
Fixed-width italics Fixed-width italics indicate variables in syntax statements.
Fixed-width bold Fixed-width bold indicates variables with special emphasis.
UPPERCASE Uppercase words are ABL keywords. Although these are always
fixed width shown in uppercase, you can type them in either uppercase or
lowercase in a procedure.
This icon (three arrows) introduces a multi-step procedure.
This icon (one arrow) introduces a single-step procedure.
Period (.) All statements except DO, FOR, FUNCTION, PROCEDURE, and REPEAT
or end with a period. DO, FOR, FUNCTION, PROCEDURE, and REPEAT
colon (:) statements can end with either a period or a colon.
[] Large brackets indicate the items within them are optional.
[] Small brackets are part of ABL.
{} Large braces indicate the items within them are required. They are
used to simplify complex syntax diagrams.
Preface–4
Preface
Convention Description
{} Small braces are part of ABL. For example, a called external

procedure must use braces when referencing arguments passed by
a calling procedure.
| A vertical bar indicates a choice.
... Ellipses indicate repetition: you can choose one or more of the
preceding items.
Examples of syntax descriptions

In this example, ACCUM is a keyword, and aggregate and expression are variables:
Syntax
ACCUM aggregate expression
FOR is one of the statements that can end with either a period or a colon, as in this example:
FOR EACH Customer NO-LOCK:

DISPLAY Customer.Name.
END.
In this example, STREAM stream, UNLESS-HIDDEN, and NO-ERROR are optional:
Syntax
DISPLAY [ STREAM stream ] [ UNLESS-HIDDEN ] [ NO-ERROR ]
In this example, the outer (small) brackets are part of the language, and the inner (large) brackets
denote an optional item:
Syntax
INITIAL [ constant [ , constant ] ]
A called external procedure must use braces when referencing compile-time arguments passed
by a calling procedure, as shown in this example:
Syntax
{ &argument-name }
Preface–5
Preface
In this example, EACH, FIRST, and LAST are optional, but you can choose only one of them:
Syntax
PRESELECT [ EACH | FIRST | LAST ] record-phrase
In this example, you must include two expressions, and optionally you can include more.
Multiple expressions are separated by commas:
Syntax
MAXIMUM ( expression , expression [ , expression ] ... )
In this example, you must specify MESSAGE and at least one expression or SKIP [ (n) ], and
any number of additional expression or SKIP [ ( n ) ] is allowed:
Syntax
MESSAGE { expression | SKIP [ ( n ) ] } ...
In this example, you must specify {include-file, then optionally any number of argument or
&argument-name = "argument-value", and then terminate with }:
Syntax
{ include-file
[ argument | &argument-name = "argument-value" ] ... }
Long syntax descriptions split across lines

Some syntax descriptions are too long to fit on one line. When syntax descriptions are split
across multiple lines, groups of optional and groups of required items are kept together in the
required order.
In this example, WITH is followed by six optional items:
Syntax
WITH [ ACCUM max-length ] [ expression DOWN ]

[ CENTERED ] [ n COLUMNS ][ SIDE-LABELS ]
[ STREAM-IO ]
Complex syntax descriptions with both required and

optional elements
Some syntax descriptions are too complex to distinguish required and optional elements by
bracketing only the optional elements. For such syntax, the descriptions include both braces (for
required elements) and brackets (for optional elements).
Preface–6
Preface
In this example, ASSIGN requires either one or more field entries or one record. Options
available with field or record are grouped with braces and brackets:
Syntax
ASSIGN { [ FRAME frame ] { field [ = expression ] }

[ WHEN expression ] } ...
| { record [ EXCEPT field ... ] }
OpenEdge messages
OpenEdge displays several types of messages to inform you of routine and unusual occurrences:
• Execution messages inform you of errors encountered while OpenEdge is running a

procedure; for example, if OpenEdge cannot find a record with a specified index field
value.
• Compile messages inform you of errors found while OpenEdge is reading and analyzing
a procedure before running it; for example, if a procedure references a table name that is
not defined in the database.
• Startup messages inform you of unusual conditions detected while OpenEdge is getting
ready to execute; for example, if you entered an invalid startup parameter.
After displaying a message, OpenEdge proceeds in one of several ways:
• Continues execution, subject to the error-processing actions that you specify or that are
assumed as part of the procedure. This is the most common action taken after execution
messages.
• Returns to the Procedure Editor, so you can correct an error in a procedure. This is the
usual action taken after compiler messages.
• Halts processing of a procedure and returns immediately to the Procedure Editor. This
does not happen often.
• Terminates the current session.
OpenEdge messages end with a message number in parentheses. In this example, the message
number is 200:
** Unknown table name table. (200)
If you encounter an error that terminates OpenEdge, note the message number before restarting.
Preface–7
Preface
Obtaining more information about OpenEdge messages

In Windows platforms, use OpenEdge online help to obtain more information about OpenEdge
messages. Many OpenEdge tools include the following Help menu options to provide
information about messages:
• Choose Help→ Recent Messages to display detailed descriptions of the most recent
OpenEdge message and all other messages returned in the current session.
• Choose Help→ Messages and then type the message number to display a description of a
specific OpenEdge message.
• In the Procedure Editor, press the HELP key or F1.
On UNIX platforms, use the OpenEdge pro command to start a single-user mode character
OpenEdge client session and view a brief description of a message by providing its number.
To use the pro command to obtain a message description by message number:
1. Start the Procedure Editor:
OpenEdge-install-dir/bin/pro
2. Press F3 to access the menu bar, then choose Help→ Messages.
3. Type the message number and press ENTER. Details about that message number appear.
4. Press F4 to close the message, press F3 to access the Procedure Editor menu, and choose
File→ Exit.
Third party acknowledgements

OpenEdge includes AdventNet - Agent Toolkit licensed from AdventNet, Inc.
http://www.adventnet.com. All rights to such copyright material rest with AdventNet.
OpenEdge includes ANTLR (Another Tool for Language Recognition) software Copyright ©
2003-2006, Terence Parr All rights reserved. Neither the name of the author nor the names of
its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without
specific prior written permission. Software distributed on an “AS IS” basis, WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific
language governing rights and limitations under the License agreement that accompanies the
product.
OpenEdge includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation

(http://www.apache.org/). Copyright © 1999 The Apache Software Foundation. All rights
reserved (Xerces C++ Parser (XML) and Xerces2 Java Parser (XML)); Copyright © 1999-2002
The Apache Software Foundation. All rights reserved (Xerces Parser (XML); and Copyright ©
2000-2003 The Apache Software Foundation. All rights reserved (Ant). The names “Apache,”
“Xerces,” “ANT,” and “Apache Software Foundation” must not be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this software without prior written permission. Products derived from
this software may not be called “Apache”, nor may “Apache” appear in their name, without
Preface–8
Preface
prior written permission of the Apache Software Foundation. For written permission, please
contact [email protected]. Software distributed on an “AS IS” basis, WITHOUT
product.
OpenEdge includes Concurrent Java software Copyright 1994-2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All
Rights Reserved. -Neither the name of or trademarks of Sun may be used to endorse or promote
products including or derived from the Java Software technology without specific prior written
permission; and Redistributions of source or binary code must contain the above copyright
notice, this notice and the following disclaimers: This software is provided "AS IS," without a
warranty of any kind. ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR
NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED. SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. AND
ITS LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES SUFFERED BY
LICENSEE AS A RESULT OF USING, MODIFYING OR DISTRIBUTING THE
SOFTWARE OR ITS DERIVATIVES. IN NO EVENT WILL SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.
OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOST REVENUE, PROFIT OR DATA, OR
FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE
DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED AND REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF
LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE SOFTWARE,
EVEN IF SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES.
OpenEdge includes DataDirect software Copyright © 1991-2007 Progress Software

Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All Rights Reserved. (DataDirect Connect for
JDBC Type 4 driver); Copyright © 1993-2009 Progress Software Corporation and/or its
subsidiaries or affiliates. All Rights Reserved. (DataDirect Connect for JDBC); Copyright ©
1988-2007 Progress Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All Rights
Reserved. (DataDirect Connect for ODBC); and Copyright © 1988-2007 Progress Software
Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates. All Rights Reserved. (DataDirect Connect64
for ODBC).
OpenEdge includes DataDirect Connect for ODBC and DataDirect Connect64 for ODBC
software, which include ICU software 1.8 and later - Copyright © 1995-2003 International
Business Machines Corporation and others All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted,
free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and/or sell copies of the Software,
and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, provided that the above
copyright notice(s) and this permission notice appear in all copies of the Software and that both
the above copyright notice(s) and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.
OpenEdge includes DataDirect Connect for ODBC and DataDirect Connect64 for ODBC
software, which include software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL
Toolkit (http:/www.openssl.org/). Copyright © 1998-2006 The OpenSSL Project. All rights
reserved. And Copyright © 1995-1998 Eric Young ([email protected]). All rights reserved.
OpenEdge includes DataDirect products for the Microsoft SQL Server database which contain
a licensed implementation of the Microsoft TDS Protocol.
OpenEdge includes software authored by David M. Gay. Copyright © 1991, 2000, 2001 by
Lucent Technologies (dtoa.c); Copyright © 1991, 1996 by Lucent Technologies (g_fmt.c); and
Preface–9
Preface
Copyright © 1991 by Lucent Technologies (rnd_prod.s). Permission to use, copy, modify, and
distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire
notice is included in all copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of
this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software. THIS
SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTY. IN PARTICULAR, NEITHER THE AUTHOR NOR LUCENT MAKES ANY
REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE
MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR
PURPOSE.
OpenEdge includes software authored by David M. Gay. Copyright © 1998-2001 by Lucent

Technologies All Rights Reserved (decstrtod.c; strtodg.c); Copyright © 1998, 2000 by Lucent
Technologies All Rights Reserved (decstrtof.c; strtord.c); Copyright © 1998 by Lucent
Technologies All Rights Reserved (dmisc.c; gdtoa.h; gethex.c; gmisc.c; sum.c); Copyright ©
1998, 1999 by Lucent Technologies All Rights Reserved (gdtoa.c; misc.c; smisc.c; ulp.c);
Copyright © 1998-2000 by Lucent Technologies All Rights Reserved (gdtoaimp.h); Copyright
© 2000 by Lucent Technologies All Rights Reserved (hd_init.c). Full copies of these licenses
can be found in the installation directory, in the c:/OpenEdge/licenses folder. Permission to use,
copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without
fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both
that the copyright notice and this permission notice and warranty disclaimer appear in
supporting documentation, and that the name of Lucent or any of its entities not be used in
advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior
permission. LUCENT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS
SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL LUCENT OR ANY OF ITS ENTITIES BE LIABLE
FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY
DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS,
WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS
ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE
OF THIS SOFTWARE.
OpenEdge includes http package software developed by the World Wide Web Consortium.
Copyright © 1994-2002 World Wide Web Consortium, (Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, Keio
University). All rights reserved. This work is distributed under the W3C® Software License
[http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2002/copyright-software-20021231] in the hope
that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty
of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
OpenEdge includes ICU software 1.8 and later - Copyright © 1995-2003 International Business
Machines Corporation and others All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted, free of
charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, provided that the above copyright notice(s)
and this permission notice appear in all copies of the Software and that both the above copyright
notice(s) and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation.
OpenEdge includes Imaging Technology copyrighted by Snowbound Software 1993-2003.

www.snowbound.com.
OpenEdge includes Infragistics NetAdvantage for .NET v2009 Vol 2 Copyright © 1996-2009
Infragistics, Inc. All rights reserved.
Preface–10
Preface
OpenEdge includes JSTL software Copyright 1994-2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. Software distributed on an “AS IS” basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing rights and
limitations under the License agreement that accompanies the product.
OpenEdge includes OpenSSL software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the
OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/). Copyright © 1998-2007 The OpenSSL
Project. All rights reserved. This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric
Young ([email protected]). This product includes software written by Tim Hudson
([email protected]). Copyright © 1995-1998 Eric Young ([email protected]) All rights
reserved. The names "OpenSSL Toolkit" and "OpenSSL Project" must not be used to endorse
or promote products derived from this software without prior written permission. For written
permission, please contact [email protected]. Products derived from this software may
not be called "OpenSSL" nor may "OpenSSL" appear in their names without prior written
permission of the OpenSSL Project. Software distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
product.
OpenEdge includes Quartz Enterprise Job Scheduler software Copyright © 2001-2003 James
House. All rights reserved. Software distributed on an “AS IS” basis, WITHOUT
product. This product uses and includes within its distribution, software developed by the
Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).
OpenEdge includes code licensed from RSA Security, Inc. Some portions licensed from IBM
are available at http://oss.software.ibm.com/icu4j/.
OpenEdge includes the RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm. Copyright
©1991-2, RSA Data Security, Inc. Created 1991. All rights reserved.
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes software developed by Apache Software
Foundation (http://www.apache.org/). Copyright © 1999-2000 The Apache Software
Foundation. All rights reserved. The names “Ant”, “Axis”, “Xalan,” “FOP,” “The Jakarta
Project”, “Tomcat”, “Xerces” and/or “Apache Software Foundation” must not be used to
endorse or promote products derived from the Product without prior written permission. Any
product derived from the Product may not be called “Apache”, nor may “Apache” appear in
their name, without prior written permission. For written permission, please contact
[email protected].
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes software Copyright © 1999 CERN -
European Organization for Nuclear Research. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and
sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided
that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this
permission notice appear in supporting documentation. CERN makes no representations about
the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without expressed or
implied warranty.
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes software developed by ExoLab Project
(http://www.exolab.org/). Copyright © 2000 Intalio Inc. All rights reserved. The names
“Castor” and/or “ExoLab” must not be used to endorse or promote products derived from the
Products without prior written permission. For written permission, please contact
[email protected]. Exolab, Castor and Intalio are trademarks of Intalio Inc.
Preface–11
Preface
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes software developed by IBM. Copyright ©
1995-2003 International Business Machines Corporation and others. All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and/or
sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
provided that the above copyright notice(s) and this permission notice appear in all copies of the
Software and that both the above copyright notice(s) and this permission notice appear in
supporting documentation. Software distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT
product. Except as contained in this notice, the name of a copyright holder shall not be used in
advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior
written authorization of the copyright holder.
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes the JMX Technology from Sun
Microsystems, Inc. Use and Distribution is subject to the Sun Community Source License
available at http://sun.com/software/communitysource.
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes software developed by the ModelObjects
Group (http://www.modelobjects.com). Copyright © 2000-2001 ModelObjects Group. All
rights reserved. The name “ModelObjects” must not be used to endorse or promote products
derived from this software without prior written permission. Products derived from this
software may not be called “ModelObjects”, nor may “ModelObjects” appear in their name,
without prior written permission. For written permission, please contact
[email protected].
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes code licensed from Mort Bay Consulting
Pty. Ltd. The Jetty Package is Copyright © 1998 Mort Bay Consulting Pty. Ltd. (Australia) and
others.
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes files that are subject to the Netscape Public
License Version 1.1 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in compliance with the
License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/NPL/. Software
distributed under the License is distributed on an “AS IS” basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing
rights and limitations under the License. The Original Code is Mozilla Communicator client
code, released March 31, 1998. The Initial Developer of the Original Code is Netscape
Communications Corporation. Portions created by Netscape are Copyright 1998-1999
Netscape Communications Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
OpenEdge includes Sonic software, which includes software developed by the University
Corporation for Advanced Internet Development http://www.ucaid.edu Internet2 Project.
Copyright © 2002 University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, Inc. All rights
reserved. Neither the name of OpenSAML nor the names of its contributors, nor Internet2, nor
the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, Inc., nor UCAID may be used
to endorse or promote products derived from this software and products derived from this
software may not be called OpenSAML, Internet2, UCAID, or the University Corporation for
Advanced Internet Development, nor may OpenSAML appear in their name without prior
written permission of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development. For
written permission, please contact [email protected].
OpenEdge includes the UnixWare platform of Perl Runtime authored by Kiem-Phong Vo and
David Korn. Copyright © 1991, 1996 by AT&T Labs. Permission to use, copy, modify, and
Preface–12
Preface
distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire
notice is included in all copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of
this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software. THIS
SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTY. IN PARTICULAR, NEITHER THE AUTHORS NOR AT&T LABS MAKE
ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE
MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR
PURPOSE.
OpenEdge includes Vermont Views Terminal Handling Package software developed by

Vermont Creative Software. Copyright © 1988-1991 by Vermont Creative Software.
OpenEdge includes XML Tools, which includes versions 8.9 of the Saxon XSLT and XQuery
Processor from Saxonica Limited (http://www.saxonica.com/) which are available from
SourceForge (http://sourceforge.net/projects/saxon/). The Original Code of Saxon
comprises all those components which are not explicitly attributed to other parties. The Initial
Developer of the Original Code is Michael Kay. Until February 2001 Michael Kay was an
employee of International Computers Limited (now part of Fujitsu Limited), and original code
developed during that time was released under this license by permission from International
Computers Limited. From February 2001 until February 2004 Michael Kay was an employee
of Software AG, and code developed during that time was released under this license by
permission from Software AG, acting as a "Contributor". Subsequent code has been developed
by Saxonica Limited, of which Michael Kay is a Director, again acting as a "Contributor". A
small number of modules, or enhancements to modules, have been developed by other
individuals (either written especially for Saxon, or incorporated into Saxon having initially been
released as part of another open source product). Such contributions are acknowledged
individually in comments attached to the relevant code modules. All Rights Reserved. The
contents of the Saxon files are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.0 (the "License");
you may not use these files except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ and a copy of the license can also be found in the
installation directory, in the c:/OpenEdge/licenses folder. Software distributed under the
License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either
express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
under the License.
OpenEdge includes XML Tools, which includes Xs3P v1.1.3. The contents of this file are
subject to the DSTC Public License (DPL) Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this
file except in compliance with the License. A copy of the license can be found in the installation
directory, in the c:/OpenEdge/licenses folder. Software distributed under the License is
distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or
implied. See the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations under the
License. The Original Code is xs3p. The Initial Developer of the Original Code is DSTC.
Portions created by DSTC are Copyright © 2001, 2002 DSTC Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
OpenEdge includes YAJL software Copyright 2007, Lloyd Hilaiel. Redistribution and use in
source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the
following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form
must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 3. Neither the name
of Lloyd Hilaiel nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS
PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
Preface–13
Preface
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES

OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Preface–14
1
Introduction
This chapter introduces the commands and parameters you can use to start up and shut down
OpenEdge® client processes. The following sections describe the commands and parameters,
as well as how to use a parameter (.pf) file to maintain startup parameters for a particular
database startup, client session startup, or database connection:
• About startup commands
• About startup parameters
• Using parameter files

Introduction
About startup commands

OpenEdge provides startup commands that support its client/server architecture and a wide
range of configuration options. In client/server configurations, the client application and
database server are separate processes. OpenEdge applications execute in a client session,
sending requests to the OpenEdge server. The OpenEdge server accesses the database on behalf
of each client session.
Consequently, the startup commands fall into two general categories:
• Commands to startup and shutdown database processes, such as database servers, database
brokers, and background writer.
• Commands to start up and shutdown client sessions that connect to databases, such as an
ABL (Advanced Business Language) client, AppServer™, and DataServer client.
After setting up your database, you are ready to run OpenEdge. In general, you start clients and
servers as follows:
• Start a database server or broker for a database. Starting a server or broker for a database
is distinct from connecting to a database. For more information on starting these processes,
see OpenEdge Getting Started: Installation and Configuration.
• Start the client applications.
For more information about the startup commands, see Chapter 2, “Client Startup Commands.”
For information about commands to startup and shutdown database processes, see OpenEdge
Data Management: Database Administration.
1–2
About startup parameters
About startup parameters

You use startup parameters with the startup commands to help define the context in which the
database processes and client sessions run. The requirements and use of parameters varies with
the different operating systems and network environments. For example, you can use the startup
parameters to control how a client connects to a database and enhance database server and client
performance. Startup parameters are organized within the following usage categories:
• Client session
• Client connection
• OpenEdge database server
• DataServer
• SQL
For more information about the startup parameter usage categories, see Chapter 3, “Startup
Parameter Usage Categories.” For details on the individual startup parameters, see Chapter 4,
“Startup Parameter Descriptions.”
You can access the list of startup parameters defined at startup for the current OpenEdge session
by reading the STARTUP-PARAMETERS attribute on the SESSION system handle from an ABL
procedure. For more information about the STARTUP-PARAMETERS attribute, or the SESSION
system handle, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
1–3
Introduction
Using parameter files

A parameter file is an operating system file that contains one or more startup parameters. The
primary reason to use a parameter file is to avoid typing commands each time you want to start
OpenEdge. Instead of repeatedly typing a series of parameters and other arguments, type them
once and place them in a parameter file. You can also use a parameter file to maintain the startup
parameters for a particular database, group of users, or system configuration. A parameter file
has a .pf extension.
Every OpenEdge executable invokes a parameter file named startup.pf by default. This file
is located in the DLC directory. It must exist for OpenEdge to execute properly. You can modify
startup.pf to add parameter definitions. You can also create one or more additional parameter
files and direct OpenEdge to invoke them after it invokes startup.pf.
Note: In Windows, you can specify the name of the OpenEdge startup file using the
PROSTARTUP environment variable in the progress.ini file and the Registry. See
OpenEdge Deployment: Managing ABL Applications for more information on the
progress.ini file.
Calling parameter files

To call an additional parameter file, use the Parameter File (-pf) startup parameter in the
OpenEdge startup command line or in a CONNECT statement.
Calling a parameter file in a startup command
From the startup command line, use the Parameter File (-pf) startup parameter to call the
parameter file, as shown in the following table:
Operating system Syntax
UNIX pro sports -pf filename.pf
Windows prowin32 -1 sports -pf filename.pf

(Specify in the Command Line field of a Shortcut
Properties dialog box.)
The filename can be any valid filename. OpenEdge combines all parameters on a command
line with those in the parameter file. If the same parameter is mentioned more than once, the last
occurrence takes precedence. For more information on startup parameters, see Chapter 4,
“Startup Parameter Descriptions.”
Calling a parameter file in a CONNECT statement
Use the following syntax to specify a parameter file in a CONNECT statement in an ABL
procedure:
Syntax
CONNECT -pf sports.pf
1–4
Using parameter files
For example, the new_york.p procedure connects using a parameter file called new_york.pf.
new_york.p
UPDATE ny_user ny_password BLANK.

CONNECT -pf new_york.pf
-U VALUE(ny_user) -P VALUE(ny_passwd)
NO-ERROR.
IF NOT CONNECTED("new_york") THEN
MESSAGE "Connection to New York office failed".
Calling multiple parameter files
You can use the -pf parameter as many times as you like on a command line. This lets you
specify application-specific parameters in one parameter file, database-specific parameters in a
second parameter file, and user-specific parameters in yet another parameter file. It also allows
you to connect to multiple databases from the same command line or CONNECT statement.
When connecting to more than one database, the startup parameters must appear after the
corresponding Physical Database Name (-db) parameter and database name. If connecting to
more than one database, consider putting all the database-related parameters in a parameter file,
then add the -db parameter to the top of the file. To support earlier releases, OpenEdge assigns
any startup parameters that precede all database names to the first database on the command
line.
OpenEdge processes parameters from left to right. Each -pf parameter encountered is
processed first before the next top-level parameter is evaluated. If a parameter file specified by
-pf contains another -pf parameter, the nested parameter file is evaluated before resuming the
top-level processing.
Note: If the same parameter is mentioned more than once, the last occurrence takes
precedence.
Creating and editing parameter files

You can use any text editor to create a file containing startup parameters. Follow the format
explained in the “Parameter file format” section on page 1–6. You can also use OpenEdge tools
to create and edit parameter files.
To create and edit parameter files:
1. Access the Data Administration tool or Data Dictionary.
2. Choose Utilities→ Editor for Parameter Files.

OpenEdge prompts you for the file you want to create or edit.
3. Specify the filename. OpenEdge alphabetically lists all available startup parameters.
4. Specify which of the parameters you want in the file by choosing the parameter and
entering yes, no, or the appropriate value.
5. Enter any comments you want to include in the parameter file.

After creating the parameter file, OpenEdge returns you to the Data Administration or
Data Dictionary main window.
1–5
Introduction
Parameter file format

new_york.pf is a sample parameter file:
new_york.pf
-db /usr/disk0/newyork # new york central db
-B 200 # database buffers

-H nysystem -S nyserver # host, service
-L 10000 # lock table entries
# All other parameters receive their default values.
The format of the parameter file is the same for all operating systems. Follow these rules when
creating a parameter file:
• Place a parameter and its argument on the same line.
• Use a maximum of 40 tokens per line in a parameter file.
• Specify parameters with the UNIX syntax.
• Use a pound sign (#) to begin a comment. OpenEdge ignores the rest of the line.
• Enclose a value in single (’) or double (“) quotes. Any white space inside the quotes is
treated as part of the token.
• Any parameter not named in a parameter file receives a default value. To remind yourself
of the default values, consider specifying all parameters and their values in the parameter
file and adding the comment “# default” to those values that do not change.
• Use a tilde (~) to suppress the special meaning of the single (’) or double (“) quotes or
tilde (~). A tilde also prefixes the control characters that OpenEdge can recognize in a
parameter file, as listed in Table 1–1.
Table 1–1: Control characters in parameter files
Character Description Octal code
~nnn The character having octal code nnn –
~b BS character ~010
~t HT (horizontal tab) character ~011
~n LF (line feed) character ~012
~r VT (carriage return) character ~013
~f FF (form feed) character ~014
~E ESC character. ~033
On UNIX, use the backslash (\) in place of a tilde.
1–6
2
Client Startup Commands
This chapter describes the OpenEdge client startup commands that you can enter at the
command line. It describes the syntax for each client startup command, summarizes the tasks
you can perform with the startup commands, and then describes each command and its
parameters.
This chapter contains the following sections:
• Client startup command syntax
• Tasks you can perform with startup and shutdown commands
• Client startup command descriptions

Client startup command syntax
Client startup command syntax

The conventions used in command syntax descriptions are as follows:
command [ db-name ] [ parameter ] [ value ] ...
For example, you can use the following command to allow 100 users to access the sports
database and then set values for the database connection, performance, and network parameters:
prowin32 -db sports -n 100 -B 30000 -L 1000 -S sprtsv -H sys27
Table 2–1 describes each command component.
Table 2–1: OpenEdge command components
Component Description
command On UNIX, the command runs a script that executes an OpenEdge

executable with appropriate parameters.
In Windows, some commands run a batch file that executes an OpenEdge
executable with appropriate parameters. Other commands run an
OpenEdge executable directly.
db-name Name of the database to which you want to connect.
parameter Operating criteria for the command.
value Numeric value or file specification for the parameter.
Observe the following conventions when entering a command:
• On UNIX, commands are lowercase. In Windows, commands are not case sensitive.
• On UNIX and Windows, enter parameters exactly as shown in the syntax descriptions.
• On UNIX, values can be case sensitive; for example, UNIX filenames are case sensitive.
In addition, in Windows using the NT File System (NTFS), values can be case sensitive.
In Windows using the File Allocation Table (FAT or FAT32) file system, values are not
case sensitive.
2–2
Tasks you can perform with startup and shutdown commands
Tasks you can perform with startup and shutdown

commands
Startup commands startup and shut down OpenEdge database or client processes. Table 2–2
summarizes the tasks you can perform on UNIX and Windows systems and the related startup
and shutdown commands.
Table 2–2: UNIX and Windows startup and shutdown commands
Task Command
Start a character Procedure Editor and pro db-name

connect to a single-user database.
Start a character Procedure Editor and mpro db-name

connect to a multi-user database. -S service-name
-H host-name
-N network-type
Start an OpenEdge character client session bpro db-name -p procedure-name

in batch mode and connect to a single-user
database.
Start an OpenEdge character client session mbpro db-name -p procedure-name

in batch mode and connect to a multi-user -S service-name
database. -H host-name
-N network-type
Table 2–3 summarizes tasks and their related startup commands for Windows only. You can use
these commands in the Command Line field of a Shortcuts Properties dialog box.
Table 2–3: Windows-only startup commands
Task Command
Start a GUI Procedure Editor and connect to prowin32 -1 db-name

a single-user database.
Start a GUI Procedure Editor and connect to prowin32 db-name

a multi-user database. -S service-name
-H host-name
-N network-type
Start the ADE Desktop and connect to a prowin32 -p _desk.p -1 db-name

single-user database.
Start the ADE Desktop and connect to a prowin32 -p _desk.p -1 db-name

multi-user database. -S service-name
-H host-name
-N network-type
Start an OpenEdge batch session and prowin32 -b -1 db-name -p procedure

connect to a single-user database.
Start an OpenEdge batch session and prowin32 -b db-name

connect to a multi-user database. -p procedure
-S service-name
-H host-name
-N network-type
2–3
Client startup command descriptions
Client startup command descriptions

This section contains a description of each of the following OpenEdge startup commands:
• BPRO command
• MBPRO command
• MPRO command
• PRO command
• PROWIN32 command (Windows only)
Note: In general, if the database is not in your current directory, you must specify the full
pathname of the database. There are a few exceptions. See the description of the
command you want to use for more information.
For information about commands to startup and shutdown database processes, see OpenEdge
Data Management: Database Administration.
2–4
BPRO command
BPRO command
Starts a single-user OpenEdge client session in batch or background mode.
Syntax
bpro [ db-name ] -p procedure-name [ parameters ] [ > output-file ]
Parameters db-name
Specifies the database you want to connect.
-p procedure-name
Specifies a procedure to run at startup.
parameters
Specifies the OpenEdge startup parameters you want to use.
output-file
Specifies the name of the file where messages are sent.
Notes • For UNIX, the BPRO command runs the following executable:
_progres -1 -b &
The & character causes an OpenEdge batch session to run in the background, and returns
control to the terminal once the session starts. When the & character is not present (for
example, when you simply use the (-b) startup parameter), OpenEdge initiates a batch
session in the foreground without terminal interaction and control does not return to the
terminal until the session completes.
• On UNIX and in Windows, you can redirect batch job input and output with the < and >
redirection symbols. You also can use the pipe symbol (|) to put an OpenEdge batch run
in a command pipeline.
2–5
MBPRO command
MBPRO command
Starts a multi-user OpenEdge client session in batch or background mode.
Syntax
mbpro [ db-name ] -p procedure-name [ parameters ] [ > output-file ]
Parameters db-name
Specifies the database to which you want to connect. If you are connecting to a database
through shared memory and the database is not in your current directory, you must specify
the path of the database. On the other hand, if you are making a client/server connection
to the database, you do not need to specify a path.
-p procedure-name
Specifies the procedure to run at startup.
parameters
Specifies the startup parameters you want to use.
output-file
Specifies a file where output messages are sent.
Notes • On UNIX, the MBPRO command runs the following executable:
_progres -b &
• On UNIX and in Windows, you can redirect batch job input and output with the < and >
redirection symbols. You also can use the pipe symbol (|) to put an OpenEdge batch run
in a command pipeline.
2–6
MPRO command
MPRO command
Starts a multi-user mode character OpenEdge client session.
Syntax
mpro [ db-name ] [ parameters ]
Parameters db-name
Specifies the database to which you want to connect. If you are connecting to a database
through shared memory and the database is not in your current directory, you must specify
the path of the database. On the other hand, if you are making a client/server connection
to the database, you do not need to specify a path.
parameters
Specifies the startup parameters you want to use.
Notes • The MPRO command runs the following executable:
_progres
• The server must be running before you issue this command with the db-name parameter.
If the server is not running, OpenEdge displays the following error message:
There is no server for database db-name (1423)
2–7
PRO command
PRO command
Starts a single-user mode character OpenEdge client session.
Syntax
pro [ db-name ] [ parameters ]
Parameters db-name
Specifies the database you want to start.
parameters
Specifies the parameters you want to use. You can use any single-user startup parameter
with the PRO command.
Note The PRO command runs the following executable:
_progres -1
2–8
PROWIN32 command (Windows only)
PROWIN32 command (Windows only)

Starts a graphical OpenEdge session.
Syntax
prowin32 [ db-name ] [ parameters ]
Parameters db-name
Specifies the database you are using.
parameters
Specifies the session or connection parameters you want to use.
Note See OpenEdge Deployment: Managing ABL Applications for more information about starting
OpenEdge sessions and connecting to databases.
2–9
Client Startup Commands
2–10
3
Startup Parameter Usage Categories
This chapter provides an overview of the OpenEdge startup parameters organized within the
following usage categories:
• Client Session parameters (CS)
• Client Connection parameters (CC)
• OpenEdge Database Server parameters (DBS)
• DataServer parameters (DS)
• OpenEdge SQL Broker parameters (SQL)
This chapter is a a quick reference to locate the appropriate startup parameters to use. Note that
some parameters are listed in multiple categories. For detailed descriptions of the startup
parameters, see Chapter 4, “Startup Parameter Descriptions.”
Note: You can specify one or more startup parameters on the command line or incorporate
them into a .BAT file or a UNIX script file. You can also specify startup parameters
using an OpenEdge startup parameter file. For more information on startup parameter
files, see Chapter 1, “Introduction”.
Client Session parameters (CS)
Client Session parameters (CS)

Use the Client Session parameters when starting a session for an ABL (Advanced Business
Language) client or an AppServer™ (as client). The parameters are organized alphabetically by
syntax in the following subcategories:
• Client performance parameters
• Client product-type parameters
• ABL parameters
• Client internationalization parameters
• Session statistics parameters
• Windows session parameters
Client performance parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–1 to control client performance.
Table 3–1: Client performance parameters (1 of 2)
Syntax Parameter Purpose
-asyncqueuesize n Async Queue Specifies the total number of bytes allowed for
Size asynchronous request buffers allocated for a
client
-Bt n Number of Specifies the size of the buffer pool for blocks or
Buffers for records from the temporary table
Temporary
Tables
-D n Directory Size Changes the number (soft limit) of compiled

procedure directory entries
-fc num-entries Schema Field Changes the number (soft limit) of entries in the
Cache Size schema field cache
-hardlimit Hardlimit Forces OpenEdge to adhere to set limits
-l n Local Buffer Specifies the size (soft limit) of the local record
Size buffer
-mc Network Compresses messages between an OpenEdge

Message client and the OpenEdge AppServer
Compression
-mmax n Maximum Sets the initial amount (soft limit) of memory

Memory allocated for r-code segments
-Mr n Record Buffer Specifies the standard record buffer size in bytes
Size
3–2
Client performance parameters
Table 3–1: Client performance parameters (2 of 2)
-noautoreslist No Auto Avoids building result-lists for static

Result-list non-scrolling queries
-plm PROLIB Memory Allocate a 512-byte cache for the OpenEdge

library directory
-pls PROLIB Swap Stores r-code files locally in temporary sort files
-q Quick Request Directs the ABL Virtual Machine (AVM) to

search PROPATH directories only on the first use
of a procedure
-s n Stack Size Specifies the stack size
-stsh n Stash Area Specifies the number of 1KB blocks to allocate

in the stash area
-T dirname Temporary Specifies the directory for temporary files

Directory
-t Save Temp Files Makes temporary file entries visible

(UNIX only)
-TB blocksize Speed Sort Specifies the block size in kilobytes to allocate
when sorting records for reports or rebuilding
indexes
-TM n Merge Number Specifies the number of blocks or streams

simultaneously merged during a sort
-tmpbsize n Temporary Specifies the temporary table database block size

Table Database
Block Size
3–3
Client product-type parameters
Client product-type parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–2 to control the nature of a client session.
Table 3–2: Client product-type parameters
-noevalprops No Evaluation of Disables evaluation of ABL properties by the

Properties OpenEdge Debugger
-rg Run ABL Client Limits access or functionality of the session to the
ABL client
-rq Run query Client Limits access or functionality of the session to the
Query client
-rr Run Run-time Limits access or functionality of the session to the

Client run-time client
-rx Encrypted Enables a query or run-time OpenEdge version to

Compiler Mode compile encrypted source code and access the Data
Dictionary to manage schema (for example: for
security management and to dump or load the .df
file)
ABL parameters
Use the parameters listed in Table 3–3 to modify ABL behavior.
Table 3–3: Client ABL parameters (1 of 5)
-assemblies Assemblies Specifies the path to the directory containing the

assemblies-path Assembly References File (assemblies.xml)
and any third-party assemblies
-b Batch Initiates a batch process with no terminal

interaction
-baseADE ADE R-code Specifies the ADE r-code directory to the client
Location so the client can add this directory and all
procedure libraries contained in the directory to
the PROPATH
-browcoltype Browse Column Overrides the TYPE attribute for browse columns,
Type and always return “BROWSE-COLUMN” regardless
of the actual column type
-checkwidth n Check Width Specifies whether ABL compares CHARACTER,

DECIMAL, and RAW field data against the
metaschema _width field value before updating
a database record
3–4
ABL parameters
-clearlog Clear Log File Deletes any file that matches the name of the
specified client log file identified by the
-clientlog parameter
-clientlog Client Logging Allows an application to automatically write all

error and warning messages to the specified log
file
-cwl filename Compile Flags instances of statements listed in filename

Warning List during compilation
-combofont Combo-box Changes the default font of DECIMAL values

Font displayed in combo-boxes with LIST-ITEMS or
LIST-ITEM-PAIRS
-D n Directory Size Changes the number (soft limit) of compiled

procedure directory entries
-dataset100 DataSet100 Has no effect—it is supported only for backward

compatibility.
Compiles r-code containing ProDataSet objects
run in both OpenEdge 10.1 and 10.0
-debug Debugger Starts a session by running the Debugger in

stand-alone mode
-debugalert Debug Alert Makes ABL stack trace and .NET stack trace
information available during a session, either in
an Alert dialog box or a log file
-debugReady Enable Enables an OpenEdge process (that is, an ABL

{0|port-number} Attachable client or a single WebSpeed agent) to attach to
Debugging the attachable Debugger
-dictexps Dictionary Directs ABL to use dictionary and help

Expressions validation for all fields in all frames when
compiling
-disabledeltrig Disable Delete Disables the delete trigger when

Trigger ALLOW-REPLICATION is enabled for the
DISABLE TRIGGERS statement or the
DISABLE-LOAD-TRIGGER() buffer method
-errorstack Error Stack Allows error objects to save the ABL call stack
in the CallStack property of an error object at
the time the AVM generates the error object
-expandbrow Expand Browse Sets the EXPANDABLE and FIT-LAST-COLUMN

option to on for all browsers created in the
current session
-filterocxevents Filtering Controls the conditions under which you want

Asynchronous asynchronous COM events handled
COM Events
3–5
ABL parameters
-fldisable Field List Directs ABL to ignore field lists in the r-code
Disable and fetch complete records
-h n Number of Specifies the maximum number of databases that

Databases can be connected
-icfparam Dynamics Specifies a character string that can be accessed

Parameter from ABL procedures within the Dynamics
framework
-inp n Input Characters Expands the available buffer space for a single
statement
-k filename Keyword Forget Disables the keywords listed in filename

List
-literalquestion Literal Question Changes the default value of the

LITERAL-QUESTION attribute to TRUE
-lkwtmo seconds Lock Timeout Specifies a different “lock wait timeout”
-logentrytypes Log Entry Specifies one or more types of log entries to

string Types write to the log file
-logginglevel n Logging Level Specifies the level at which log entries are
written to the log file
-logthreshold n Log Threshold Specifies the file size threshold of log files
-nb n Nested Blocks Sets the maximum number (soft limit) of nested
procedure blocks
-NL No Lock Makes all record retrieval statements default to

NO-LOCK record access
-noautoreslist No Auto Avoids building result-lists for static

Result-list non-scrolling queries
-nochkttnames No Check Suppresses the limited checking of temp-table

Temp-table column names when passing temp-tables as
Names parameters to procedures
-nogc No Garbage Disables automatic garbage collection of

Collection class-based objects
-noinactiveidx No Inactive Excludes inactive indexes from the compilation

Indexes of WHERE clauses, as well as LIKE clauses in
DEFINE TEMP-TABLE statements
-noincrwarn No Suppresses messages (5407) through (5410)

Auto-Increment
Warnings
-noint64 No INT64 Executes Release 10.1B code with Release

10.1A executeables (to avoid using the INT64
data type and associated functionality)
3–6
ABL parameters
-noudfinwhere No UDF in Restricts the invocation of user-defined

WHERE Clause functions and methods from WHERE clauses
-numlogfiles n Number of Log Specifies the number of rolled over log files to
Files to Keep keep on disk at any one time
-o printername Printer Identifies the printer to use when processing

OUTPUT TO PRINTER statements
-ojmode Outer-join Specifies the mode in which mixed inner and left
Mode outer joins, in queries of three or more joined
tables, are processed
-p filename Startup Specifies a procedure that executes when

Procedure OpenEdge starts
-param string Parameter Supplies information in a character string or

comma-separated list of files to open in
Procedure Editor buffers
-preloadCLR Preload CLR Loads the .NET Common Language Runtime

(CLR) into the ABL session at startup
-proxyhost Proxy Host Specifies the name of the host or the IP address
of the host at which the HTTP-based proxy
server is located
-proxyPassword Proxy Password Authenticates the AppServer client to the

HTTP-based proxy server
-proxyport Proxy Port Specifies the port on which the HTTP-based

proxy server is listening
-proxyUserid Proxy Userid Authenticates an AppServer client to the

HTTP-based proxy server
-rand n Alternate Specifies a different random number generator.

Random Use the value 1 for the old generator or the value
Number 2 for a new one
Generator
-rereadnolock Reread Nolock Directs the AVM to re-read a record from the
database, if the record is already in a buffer
-reusableObjects Re-usable Specifies the number of deleted class objects

Objects Cache that the AVM stores for later re-initialization.
-scrvalmode Screen-value Specifies the mode in which the SCREEN-VALUE

Mode attribute indicates that the selected item in a
combo-box item list is empty
3–7
Client internationalization parameters
-showppuerr Show PPU Error Starting with Release 10.1B, this startup
parameter has no effect; it is supported only for
backward compatibility
In earlier releases, it restores the warning for
message 4132 (“Invalid character unit value <N>.
Changed to 320.”)
-ttmarshal n Temp-table Specifies the amount of schema information to

Schema marshal for temp-table parameters during an
Marshall OpenEdge client session
-tok n Token Specifies the maximum number of tokens

allowed in an ABL statement
-usewidgetid Use Widget ID Enables application-defined widget IDs for ABL

widgets in OpenEdge GUI applications
-v6colon Version 6 Colon Directs the AVM to use colon alignment of

unlabeled fields (as in Version 6)
-v6q Version 6 Query Directs the OpenEdge database server to use

only a single index to resolve FOR EACH
statements (as in Version 6)

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–4 to control the format in which data appears.
Table 3–4: Client internationalization parameters (1 of 2)
-checkdbe Check Displays compile-time warnings on ABL

Double-byte statements and functions that may impact the
Enabled handling of double-byte or extended-character
data
-convmap Conversion Map Identifies the conversion map file

filename
-cpcase Case Table Identifies the case table that establishes case
tablename rules for the code page
-cpcoll Collation Table Identifies a collation table to use with the code
tablename page
-cpinternal Internal Code Identifies the code page that the AVM uses in
codepage Page memory
-cplog codepage Log File Code Identifies the code page used for writing
Page messages to the log file
-cpprint Print Code Page Identifies the code page used for printer output
codepage
3–8
Table 3–4: Client internationalization parameters (2 of 2)
-cprcodein R-code in Code Identifies the code page used for reading r-code
codepage Page text segments
-cprcodeout R-code Out Code Identifies the code page used for writing r-code
codepage Page text segments
-cpstream Stream Code Identifies the code page used for stream I/O
codepage Page
-cpterm codepage Terminal Code Identifies the code page for character terminals
Page
-d dateform Date Format Specifies the format for displaying dates, using
the three-character string of d, m, y in any order
-E European Displays in European numeric format

Numeric Format
-isnoconv Initial Value Disables a code page conversion that was not
Segment No provided in earlier releases of OpenEdge
Convert
-lng Language Identifies the language with a character string, in

languagename quotes
-numdec Fractional Changes the character that represents a number’s

numeric-value Separator decimal point in formatted text
-numsep Thousands Changes the character that represents a number’s

numeric-value Separator thousands separator in formatted text
-yr4def Four Digit Year Outputs a four-digit year from EXPORT, MESSAGE
Default and PUT UNFORMATTED statements that may use a
two-digit year
-yy n Century Year Specifies the start of the 100-year period used to
Offset define the two-digit DATE value
3–9
Session statistics parameters
Session statistics parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–5 to collect statistics about client session activity and
performance.
Table 3–5: Session statistics parameters
-y Statistics Collects procedure access and usage statistics
-yc Statistics with Substitutes CTRL+C for executing the SHOW-STATS

CTRL+C statement
-yd Segment Statistics Writes segment statistics to the client monitor file
(client.mon by default)
-yx Statistics with Collects procedure call statistics and write them to an
Cross-reference output file (proc.mon by default)
Windows session parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–6 to control a Windows session.
Table 3–6: Windows session parameters
-basekey name Identifies the registry basekey to use for

Registry Base Key1
environment information
-evtlevel value Event Level Specifies the level of information written to

the Windows Event Log
-ininame name Identifies the initialization registry sub-key or

Initialization File1
the application’s initialization (.INI) file
-Wa -wpp Windows Enables Windows Passthrough Printing mode

Passthrough
Printing1
-wss Windows Single Limits a Windows GUI user to running one

Session client session at a time
-wy Windows Exit - No Prevents prompt for confirmation when

Dialog Windows shuts down while OpenEdge is
active
1. You can use this parameter only on the command line. It is not supported in a parameter (.pf) file.
3–10
Client Connection parameters (CC)
Client Connection parameters (CC)

Use the Client Connection parameters when connecting to an OpenEdge Database Server,
AdminServer, AppServer, or a non-OpenEdge DataServer. The parameters are organized
alphabetically by syntax. For more information on connecting to a database, see OpenEdge
Deployment: Managing ABL Applications.
Client database connection parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–7 to control how you connect to a specified database.
If you use the Physical Database Name (-db) parameter to specify more than one database when
you start a session, specify the connection parameters for each database after the database name
to which they apply and before the next -db parameter. OpenEdge applies database connection
parameters only to the previously specified database. For example:
mpro [ -db] db1-name [ db1-parameters ] -db db2-name [ db2-parameters ]
Note: OpenEdge implicitly specifies the -db parameter for the first database.
You can specify all other parameters anywhere on the command line. If you specify the same
parameter more than once, OpenEdge uses the value you provide for the last instance of the
parameter.
Table 3–7: Client database connection parameters (1 of 3)
-1 Starts OpenEdge in single-user mode

Single-user Mode1
-B n Blocks in Database Specifies the number of database buffer

Buffers1 blocks
-B2 n Blocks in Alternate Specifies the number of buffers in the

Buffer Pool1 database Alternate Buffer Pool
-Bp n Private Read-only Requests a number of private read-only

Buffers buffers
-brl Bleeding Record Holds a share lock on a released record

Lock used by more than one buffer
-cache filename Schema Cache File Reads the database schema from a local
file instead of the database
-cp { com-parms | Communications Overrides preset connection parameters

filename } Parameter File for auto-connect databases
-cs n Cursor Size Changes the maximum number of index

levels
3–11
-ct n Connection Retry Defines the number of retries when

Attempts connecting to a database
-db physical-dbname Physical Database Identifies one or more databases to

Name connect to at startup
-DataService DataService Connects through a NameServer to an

data-service ODBC or ORACLE DataServer
-directio Direct I/O1,2 Opens all files in unbuffered mode
-dt db-type Database Type Identifies the database type
-F Force Access Allows access to a damaged database.

Call Technical Support before using -F
TCP: -H host-name Host Name Identifies a remote host

SNA: PLU= plu-name
-hash n Hash Table Entries1 Specifies the number of hash table

entries for the buffer pool
-i No Crash Protection1 Runs OpenEdge without database

integrity or recovery
-ipver Internet Protocol Specifies the Internet Protocol version
-is AS/400 Ignore Stops a client from comparing time

Stamp stamps when connection to an AS/400
database
-ld logical-dbname Logical Database Assigns the logical database name

Name
-Mf n Delayed BI File Delays writing the last before-image

Write1, 2 (BI) file records
-Mm n Message Buffer Size Specifies the message buffer size for
network client/server protocols
-nohostverify No Host Verify Turns off host verification for a Secure

Sockets Layer (SSL) connection
-nosessionreuse No Session Reuse Avoids the reuse of a Secure Sockets

Layer (SSL) session ID
-P password Specifies a user password

Password3
-Passphrase Prompt for When connecting to a database enabled

Passphrase1 for Transparent Data Encryption,
specifies that the user must be prompted
for the key store passprase
-populate Fast Schema Change Turns off Fast schema change
3–12
-ct n Connection Retry Defines the number of retries when

Attempts connecting to a database
-db physical-dbname Physical Database Identifies one or more databases to

Name connect to at startup
-DataService DataService Connects through a NameServer to an

data-service ODBC or ORACLE DataServer
-directio Direct I/O1,2 Opens all files in unbuffered mode
-F Force Access Allows access to a damaged database.

Call Technical Support before using -F
TCP: -H host-name Host Name Identifies a remote host

SNA: PLU= plu-name
-hash n Hash Table Entries1 Specifies the number of hash table

entries for the buffer pool
-i No Crash Protection1 Runs OpenEdge without database

-ipver Internet Protocol Specifies the Internet Protocol version
-is AS/400 Ignore Stops a client from comparing time

Stamp stamps when connection to an AS/400
database
-ld logical-dbname Logical Database Assigns the logical database name

Name
-Mf n Delayed BI File Delays writing the last before-image

Write1, 2 (BI) file records
-Mm n Message Buffer Size Specifies the message buffer size for
network client/server protocols
-nohostverify No Host Verify Turns off host verification for a Secure

Sockets Layer (SSL) connection
-nosessionreuse No Session Reuse Avoids the reuse of a Secure Sockets

Layer (SSL) session ID
-P password Specifies a user password

Password3
-Passphrase Prompt for When connecting to a database enabled

Passphrase1 for Transparent Data Encryption,
specifies that the user must be prompted
for the key store passprase
-populate Fast Schema Change Turns off Fast schema change
3–13
-r Non-reliable I/O1 Enables buffered I/O to the

before-image file
-requireusername Require Username Requires users starting servers of the

AdminServer to provide a valid
username and password
-RO Read-only Media Opens a database for read-only access
-S { servicename | Service Name Identifies the service and port number to

use on the host machine when
port-number } connecting to a broker process
-Sn AS/400 Server Specifies that the Server program on an

Program Name AS/400 start with an OpenEdge
connection request (SNA only)
-ssl SSL-based Specifies a Secure Socket Layer

Connection connection
-tstamp Time Stamp Uses time stamp information rather than

cyclic redundancy (CRC) to enforce
consistency between r-code and a
schema
-trig { dir-name | Trigger Location Identifies the directory or library

containing the ABL triggers for a
lib-name } database
-U userid User ID3 Specifies the user ID
1. Single-user database connections only; otherwise, use only for server startup.
2. UNIX, Windows only.
3. Different meaning for non-OpenEdge databases.
3–14
OpenEdge Database Server parameters (DBS)

The OpenEdge Database Server parameters are organized alphabetically by syntax in the
following subcategories:
• Database server performance parameters
• Database server-type parameters
• Database server internationalization parameters
• Database server statistics collection parameters
• Database server network parameters
Database server performance parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–8 to optimize server performance.
Table 3–8: Server performance parameters (1 of 4)
-aiarcdir After-image File

dirlist
Specifies the directories where the AI File
Management
Management utility writes the archived
Archive Directory
List after-image files
-aiarcdircreate After-image File Directs the AI File Management utility to

Management create the specified directories
Archive Directory
Create
-aiarcinterval n After-image File Specifies on-demand mode archiving or the

Management extent switch interval for timed-mode
Archive Interval archiving
-aibufs n After-image Buffers Specifies the number of after-image buffers

when running AIW
-aistall After-image Stall Suspends database activity when an empty

after-image (AI) file is unavailable
-B n Blocks in Database Specifies the number of blocks in the database

Buffers buffers
-B2 n Blocks in Alternate Specifies the number of buffers in the

Buffer Pool database Alternate Buffer Pool
-Bpmax Maximum Private Controls the number of private buffers a

Buffers per connection can request through the Private
Connection Read-only Buffers (-Bp) parameter
-bibufs n Before-image Specifies the number of before-image buffers

Buffers when running BIW
3–15
-bistall Threshold Stall Sends a message to the log file when the
recovery log threshold is reached. Use with
-bithold.
-bithold n Recovery Log Specifies the maximum size of the recovery

Threshold log files
-cluster Cluster Mode Starts up a cluster-enabled database

qualifier
-directio Direct I/O Opens all files in unbuffered mode

(UNIX, Windows
only)
-G n Before-image Specifies the number of seconds before

Cluster Age OpenEdge reuses a before-image cluster
-groupdelay n Group Delay Specifies the number of milliseconds a

transaction waits before committing
-hash Hash Table Entries Specifies the number of hash table entries for
the buffer pool
-i No Crash Protection Runs OpenEdge without using database

-L n Lock Table Entries Specifies the number of entries in the record

locking table
-lkhash n Lock Table Hash Specifies the size of the hash table controlling
Size access to the lock table
-lkrela Lock Release Uses the original lock release mechanism

installed from previous OpenEdge versions
-maxAreas n Maximum Area Specifies the maximum area number available

Number
-maxxids n Maximum JTA Controls the number of JTA transactions

Transactions simultaneously allowed
-Mf n Delayed BI File Delays writing the last before-image (BI) file
Write (UNIX, records
Windows only)
-Mm n Message Buffer Specifies the message buffer size for network
Size client/server protocols
-Mpte VLM Page Table Allocates shared memory in multiples of

Entry Optimization 8MB for VLM64 support
(digital UNIX only)
-mux n User MUX latches Specifies the granularity of access to large

database resources in shared memory
3–16
-Mxs n Shared-memory Replaces the default value of the

Overflow Size shared-memory overflow area
(UNIX, Windows
only)
-n n Number of Users Specifies the maximum number of users

connected to the database
-napinc n Naptime Increment Specifies the nap time increment
-napstep n Naptime Steps Specifies the steps between the nap

increments
-omsize n Storage Object Specifies the size of the object cache for all
Cache Size database objects
-Passphrase Prompt for When connecting to a database enabled for

Passphrase Transparent Data Encryption, specifies that
the user must be prompted for the key store
passphrase
-PendConnTime n Pending Connection Specifies the amount of time a client has to

Time connect to a server before the broker clears the
client’s reservation
-pica Database Service For OpenEdge Replication, specifies the size

Communication of the database service communications area
Area Size in KB
-pinshm Pin Shared Memory Prevents the database engine from swapping
shared memory contents to disk
-semsets n Semaphore Sets Changes the number of semaphore sets

(UNIX only) available to a broker
-shmsegsize n Shared Memory Specifies the maximum shared memory

Segment Size segment size
-spin n Spin Lock Retries Specifies the number of times a process tries
(UNIX, Windows to acquire a latch before pausing
only)
-SQLCursors SQL Open Cursors Specifies the maximum number of cursors

value open at any one time
-SQLStack n SQL Stack Size Specifies the size, in KB, of the SQL Stack
-SQLStmtCache SQL Statement Specifies the number of statements allowed in

num-entries Cache Size the SQL statement cache
-SQLTempBuff SQL Sorting Defines the size of the temporary table buffer
value Memory in memory
3–17
Database server-type parameters
-SQLTempDisk SQL Sorting on Defines the size of the temporary table for
value Disk backup storage
-SQLTempPgSize SQL Temp Table Defines the size of the temporary table data
value Data Page page
Database server-type parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–9 to start a particular type of server.
Table 3–9: Server-type parameters
-m1 Auto Server Starts an auto server; used internally by

the database broker
-m2 Manual Server Manually starts a remote user server

(UNIX, Windows only) after you start a broker
-m3 Secondary Login Broker Starts a secondary broker

(UNIX, Windows only)
-ServerType Type of Server to Start Specifies whether to start an OpenEdge

[4GL|SQL|Both] server, SQL server, or both
Database server internationalization parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–10 to control the format in which data appears.
Table 3–10: Server internationalization parameters (1 of 2)
-convmap filename Conversion Map Identifies the conversion map file
-cpcase tablename Case Table Identifies the case table that establishes
case rules for the code page
-cpcoll tablename Collation Table Identifies a collation table to use with

the code page
-cpinternal code-page Internal Code Page Identifies the code page that the AVM
uses in memory
-cplog code-page Log File Code Page Identifies the code page used for writing
messages to the log file
-cpprint code-page Print Code Page Identifies the code page used for printer
output
3–18
Database server statistics collection parameters
Table 3–10: Server internationalization parameters (2 of 2)
-cprcodein code-page R-code in Code Identifies the code page used for reading
Page r-code text segments
-cpstream code-page Stream Code Page Identifies the code page used for stream
I/O
-cpterm code-page Terminal Code Identifies the code page for character
Page terminals
Database server statistics collection parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–11 to collect statistics for table and index access.
Table 3–11: Server statistics collection parameters
-baseindex n Base Index Specifies a range of indexes for which

you want to collect statistics; use with
-indexrangesize
-basetable n Base Table Specifies a starting table number in a

range of tables for which you want to
track access statistics; use with
-tablerangesize
-indexrangesize n Index Range Size Specifies the number of indexes to

track for access statistics
-tablerangesize n Table Range Size Specifies the number of tables for

which you want to collect statistics
Database server consistency check parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–12 to enable consistency checking.
Table 3–12: Server consistency check parameters (1 of 2)
-AreaCheck area-name Area consistency Area consistency check enables

check consistency checking for all record
and index blocks in the specified area
-DbCheck Database consistency Database consistency check enables

and index blocks in the entire
database
3–19
Database server network parameters
Table 3–12: Server consistency check parameters (2 of 2)
-MemCheck Memory consistency Memory consistency check enable

check memory overwrite checking for the
buffer pool
-IndexCheck index-name Index consistency Index consistency check enables

check consistency checking for all index
blocks in the specified index
-TableCheck table-name Table consistency Table consistency check enables

blocks of the specified table
(excluding BLOBS)
Database server network parameters

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–13 to supply OpenEdge with network information.
Table 3–13: Server network parameters (1 of 2)
-adminport AdminServer Connects a servergroup and an

{ service-name| port } Port AdminServer
-classpath pathname SQL Server Identifies the Java classpath to use when
Java™ Classpath starting an SQL server
TCP: -H host-name Host Name Specifies a remote host

SNA: -H PLU= plu-name
-keyalias Key Alias Specifies the alias name of a Secure

key-alias-name Sockets Layer (SSL) private key/digital
certificate key-store
-keyaliaspasswd Key Alias Specifies the encrypted Secure Sockets

key-alias-password Password Layer (SSL) key alias password
-Ma n Maximum Specifies the maximum number of

Clients per remote users per database server
Server1
-maxport n Maximum Specifies the highest accessible port

Dynamic Server1 number in a specified range
-Mi n Minimum Clients Specifies the number of remote users on

per Server1 a server before a broker starts another
server
-minport n Minimum Specifies the lowest accessible port

Dynamic Server1 number in a specified range
3–20
Table 3–13: Server network parameters (2 of 2)
-Mn n Maximum Specifies the maximum number of

Servers1 remote client servers that a broker can
start
-Mp n Servers per Specifies the maximum number of

Protocol1 servers to serve remote users for a
protocol
-Mpb n Maximum Specifies the maximum number of

Servers per servers that multiple brokers can start to
Broker1 serve remote users for a protocol
-nosessioncache No Session Disables the Secure Sockets Layer

Cache (SSL) session caching
-properties filename Configuration Identifies the properties file an

Properties File AdminServer uses when starting a
database server or servergroup
-S { service-name | Service Name Specifies the service or port number to

be used by a broker process
port-number }
-servergroup name Server Group Identifies a logical collection of server
processes to start
-sessiontimeout n Session Timeout Specifies the length of time a SSL

session is held in SSL session cache
-ssl SSL-based Specifies a Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

Connection to all database and client connections
1. UNIX, Windows only.
3–21
DataServer parameters (DS)

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–14 when starting an ODBC, ORACLE, or MS SQL Server
DataServer. The parameters are organized alphabetically by syntax.
Table 3–14: DataServer parameters (1 of 2)
-c n Index Cursors Specifies the number of index

place holders or cursors
-cpinternal code-page Internal Code Page Identifies the code page that the
AVM uses in memory
-cplog code-page Log File Code Identifies the code page used for
Page writing messages to the log file
-cpprint code-page Print Code Page Identifies the code page used for
printer output
-cprcodein code-page R-code in Code Identifies the code page used for
Page reading r-code text segments
-cpstream code-page Stream Code Page Identifies the code page used for
stream I/O
-cpterm code-page Terminal Code Identifies the code page for

Page character terminals
-dslog filename DataServer Allow an application to

Logging automatically write server error
and warning messages, and other
server log messages, to the
specified log file (MS SQL
Server only)
-Dsrv keyword ( , value ) [ DataServer Identifies keywords as

parameters for the ODBC,
, keyword2 ( , value2 ) ... ]
ORACLE, or MS SQL Server
DataServer
TCP: -H host-name Host Name Specifies a remote host

SNA: -H PLU= plu-name
-is AS/400 Ignore Stops a client from comparing

Stamp time stamps when connecting to
an AS/400 database
3–22
DataServer parameters (DS)
Table 3–14: DataServer parameters (2 of 2)
-noindexhint Index Hint Stops an ORACLE DataServer

from providing index hints to the
ORACLE DBMS
-nojoinbysqldb Server Join Makes a client evaluate and

perform queries that have joins
-noSQLbyserver SELECT Pass Turns off SELECT pass Through

Through Disable for OBDC and ORACLE
DataServers
-Sn AS/400 Server Starts a Server program on an

Program Name AS/400 with a OpenEdge
connection request (SNA only)
3–23
OpenEdge SQL Broker parameters (SQL)

Use the parameters listed in Table 3–15 to control spawned OpenEdge SQL processes when
connecting to a OpenEdge SQL server. The parameters are organized alphabetically by syntax.
Table 3–15: SQL Server parameters
-classpath SQL Server Java Identifies the Java classpath to use when
Classpath starting an SQL server
-ServerType Type of Server to Limits the type of server the broker can
Start start
-SQLCursors SQL Open Cursors Defines the maximum number of cursors

open at any one time
-SQLStack SQL Stack Size Changes the size of the SQL stack
-SQLStmtCache SQL Statement Cache Sets the number of statements that can be
stored in the SQL cache
-SQLTempBuff SQL Sorting Memory Defines the size in K-bytes of the

temporary table buffers in main memory
cache
3–24
4
Startup Parameter Descriptions
This chapter provides a detailed reference description for each of the OpenEdge startup
parameters, organized in alphabetical order by syntax.
Note: Unless otherwise indicated, startup parameter syntax is the same for both UNIX and
Windows.
Single-user Mode (-1)
Single-user Mode (-1)

Use Single-user Mode (-1) with an OpenEdge executable module to start OpenEdge in
single-user mode. In this mode, only one user can access the database.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -1
Use Maximum Minimum Single-user Multi-user

with value value default default
Client – – – –
Connection
The PRO command invokes the OpenEdge executable with -1 by default, but only for the first
database named on the command line. Each additional database must already have a server
running in multi-user mode, unless -1 is added to its parameter list. In the following example,
db1 and db3 are connected in single-user mode; db2 is connected in multi-user mode:
pro db1 -db db2 -db db3 -1
4–2
AdminServer Group (-admingroup)
AdminServer Group (-admingroup)

Use AdminServer Group (-admingroup) to authorize OpenEdge AdminServer access and
operational privileges for one or more user groups. To perform AdminServer functions, a user
must use a valid user account that appears in at least one of the user groups.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -admingroup user-group[:user-group]

Connection
user-group
The name of the group of users. There must be a minimum of one valid group or the
AdminServer will not start. If multiple groups are listed, they are separated by a colon. The
user starting the AdminServer must be a valid account in one of the groups.
On UNIX, you can specify a user group as any local group name or NIS group name. Subgroups
are not supported. In Windows, you can specify a user group as any local group name or Domain
group name. Global groups as members of local groups are supported.
If, during the OpenEdge installation process, you accepted the default installation and did not
choose to use authorization, you can use this parameter when starting the AdminServer to select
authorization for one or more user groups. Otherwise, no group authorization is defined and all
users have authorization.
4–3
AdminServer Port (-adminport)
AdminServer Port (-adminport)

Use AdminServer Port (-adminport) to establish communication between a servergroup and an
AdminServer.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -adminport service-name port

Database – – – –
Server
service-name
The name of the service to be used by the AdminServer.
port
The port number the AdminServer uses to communicate with servergroups.
The AdminServer uses this parameter internally. The default is none, and the server does not
attempt to connect to an AdminServer. You do not usually use this parameter directly. The
-adminport setting must match the -admin setting specified when the AdminServer was started.
4–4
After-image File Management Archive Directory List (-aiarcdir)
After-image File Management Archive Directory List

(-aiarcdir)
Use After-image File Management Archive Directory List (-aiarcdir) to specify the
directories where the AI File Management utility writes the archived after-image files.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -aiarcdir dirlist

Server
dirlist
A comma-separated list of directories where archived after-image files are written by the
AI File Management Utility. The directories cannot have any embedded spaces in their
names.
The directories must exist, unless you also specify After-image File Management Archive
Directory Create (-aiarcdircreate) to direct the utility to create the directories.
Note: This parameter is useful only when running the AI File Management utility.
For information on using the AI File Management utility, see OpenEdge Data Management:
Database Administration.
4–5
After-image File Management Archive Directory Create (-aiarcdircreate)
After-image File Management Archive Directory Create

(-aiarcdircreate)
Use After-image File Management Archive Directory Create (-aiarcdircreate) to direct the
AI File Management utility to create the specified directories.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -aiarcdircreate

Server
4–6
After-image File Management Archive Interval (-aiarcinterval)
After-image File Management Archive Interval

(-aiarcinterval)
Use After-image File Management Archive Interval (-aiarcinterval) to specify the extent
switch interval for timed-mode archiving. For on-demand archiving, do not specify this
parameter.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -aiarcinterval n

Database 86400 120 – 120

Server
The number of seconds between mandatory extent switches by the AI File Management
utility.
If you specify timed-mode, set the elapsed time between forced AI extent switches with a value
indicating the number of seconds between the switches. The minimum time is 2 minutes, the
maximum is 24 hours. You can modify the interval on a running system by using the RFUTIL
utility.
In both timed and on-demand modes, the AI File Management utility archives full AI extents
every 5 seconds.
4–7
After-image Buffers (-aibufs)
After-image Buffers (-aibufs)

Use After-image Buffers (-aibufs) to specify the number of after-image buffers.
Note: Starting in Release 10.1C, the OpenEdge RDBMS expands the range of internal
validations used to ensure database consistency in both index and data blocks during
forward processing. Validations using PROUTIL can be run online as part of routine
health checks. For more information, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -aibufs n

Database – 1 – 20
Server
The number of after-image buffers to use.
This parameter is useful only when running the after-image writer (AIW) because the AIW
writes the filled After-image Buffers to disk, making the buffers available to other client and
server processes. Progress Software Corporation recommends you set After-image Buffers
(-aibufs) to the same value specified for the Before-image Buffers (-bibufs) parameter, or a
minimum of 20.
Without the AIW writing the buffers, any gain from increasing the number of buffers is
negligible.
4–8
After-image Stall (-aistall)
After-image Stall (-aistall)

Use After-image Stall (-aistall) to suspend database activity if all AI files are filled.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -aistall

Server
Wait until the next AI file is backed up and marked empty, then send the following message to
the database log file:
Can’t switch to after-image extent filename it is full. (3775)

Backup ai extent and mark it as empty (3776)
This way you can empty an AI file instead of shutting down the database.
When using after-image (AI) files, you monitor the status of the files to ensure that you do not
attempt to reuse an unavailable file. If all the AI files are filled and OpenEdge cannot switch to
an empty one, by default the database shuts down. See OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration for information on using the after imaging feature.
4–9
Area consistency check (-AreaCheck)
Area consistency check (-AreaCheck)

Use Area consistency check to enable consistency checking for all record and index blocks in
the specified area.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -AreaCheck areaname

Connection,
Database
SErver
areaname
Specifies the name of the area for consistency checking.
When enabled, this option applies consistency checks to all index blocks and record blocks for
record and index write operations. You can only specify one area with -AreaCheck. To check
multiple areas, you must apply consistency checking to the entire database with Database
consistency check (-DbCheck).
Area consistency check validates a block is still physically correct after an operation has been
performed. For example, after an index key is inserted into an index block, the consistency
check validates that the block still laid out correctly.
Area consistency checking can be enabled or disabled while your database is online with
PROMON. See OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration for more information.
Area consistency check can be enabled for a single user client or for any offline utility. If the
utility is read-only, such as DBANALYS, the -AreaCheck parameter is ignored. Online utilities
determine whether or not to perform area consistency checking during execution based on the
use of -AreaCheck at broker startup or by the enablement/disablement of the database
consistency checking in PROMON.
4–10
Assemblies (-assemblies) startup parameter

Use Assemblies (-assemblies) to specify the path to the directory containing the Assembly
References File (assemblies.xml) and any third-party assemblies. By default, these files are
expected to be in the current working directory of the ABL session. If you specify an invalid
directory, the AVM raises an error at startup and halts.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -assemblies assemblies-path

Client Session – – – –
assemblies-path
The absolute or relative path to the directory containing assemblies.xml and any
third-party assemblies. A relative path is relative to the working directory for the
OpenEdge session.
ABL applications using the OpenEdge GUI for .NET must have an assemblies.xml file. If the
-assemblies directory does not contain the file, the AVM raises an error at startup and halts. If
you do not specify -assemblies and the current working directory does not contain the file, the
AVM starts but code that accesses .NET objects generates errors at compile and run time.
If you specify -assemblies and the client machine does not have an appropriate version of the
.NET framework installed, OpenEdge raises an error and shuts down.
4–11
Async Queue Size (-asyncqueuesize)
Async Queue Size (-asyncqueuesize)

Use Async Queue Size (-asyncqueuesize) to specify the total number of bytes allowed for all
buffers allocated when asynchronous requests are queued on behalf of a client. This number
determines how many buffers to allocate for each client connection. Each buffer is at most 8KB.
If you do not specify -asyncqueuesize, the default size for all buffers is 64KB.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -asyncqueuesize n

Client Session 2,147,483,647 1 – –
The total number of bytes allowed for all asynchronous request buffers allocated for a
client.
As each client connects, request buffers are generated and the size of each buffer determined.
Both send and receive requests can be queued on a client depending how the program is
implemented. When the buffers are filled, additional queued requests are stored in a temporary
table associated with that client session. If you set the value of -asyncqueuesize to 0, all
requests are placed in the temporary table.
Performance may vary based upon whether requests are stored in memory or in the temporary
table. So you may want to choose this value based upon how much data you expect to flow
between the client and the AppServer for asynchronous requests.
Note: You can use -asyncqueuesize only when a client making asynchronous requests is
connecting to an AppServer. The client may be an AppServer.
The following example shows how to start a multi-user mode OpenEdge client session using
-asyncqueuesize:
mpro -asyncqueuesize 135000
4–12
Blocks in Database Buffers (-B)
Blocks in Database Buffers (-B)

Use Blocks in Database Buffers (-B) to specify the number of blocks in the database buffers.
The optimum value depends on your application.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -B n

with value value default default1
Client 1,000,000,000 10 20 Maximum

Connection, or value of 3000
Database 125,000,0002 or 8 * users,
Server whichever is
higher
1. The users value is specified by the Number of Users (-n) parameter.

2. The maximum value of the sum of -B + -B2: 1,000,000,000 for 64-bit platforms; 125,000,000 for 32-bit platforms.
The maximum is system dependent and limited by available memory.
The number of blocks in the database buffers.
Blocks in Database Buffers (-B) can be changed while the database is online with the PROUTIL
INCREASETO utility.
Notes: On the AIX platform, when starting a database with large shared memory requirements
(for instance, when the -B exceeds the allotted system paging space), the system may
become unstable if the PSALLOC=early environment variable is not set. For more
information, see OpenEdge Getting Started: Installation and Configuration.
Release 10.1C and forward, the OpenEdge RDBMS expands the range of internal
Administration.
4–13
Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool (-B2)
Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool (-B2)

Use Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool (-B2) to specify the number of blocks in the alternate buffer
pool. The optimum value depends on your application.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -B2 n

with value value default default1
CC, DBS 1,000,000,000 10 0 0

or
125,000,0002
1. The users value is specified by the Number of Users (-n) parameter.

2. The maximum value of the sum of -B + -B2. 1,000,000,000 for 64-bit platforms; 125,000,000 for 32-bit platforms.
The maximum is system dependent and limited by available memory.
The number of blocks allocated in the alternate buffer pool.
The Alternate Buffer Pool is a collection of buffers in shared memory that are logically separate
from the primary buffer pool. Management of the buffers in the Alternate Buffer Pool is
independent of the primary buffer pool. Assigning specific database areas or objects to occupy
buffers in the Alternate Buffer Pool may improve your buffer hit rate, thereby reducing the need
to read and write buffers to and from disk, possibly improving performance.
You cannot specify Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool for a Replication target database.
Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool (-B2) can be changed while the database is online with the
PROUTIL INCREASETO utility.
For more information on the Alternate Buffer Pool and PROUTIL, see OpenEdge Data
Management: Database Administration.
4–14
Batch (-b)
Batch (-b)
Use Batch (-b) to initiate a batch session, with no terminal interaction.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -b

When ABL (Advanced Business Language) procedures run in batch mode, the ABL Virtual
Machine (AVM) does not display any messages produced by those procedures on the terminal
screen. However, AVM error messages are displayed to the terminal screen. To suppress these
messages, redirect standard output as shown in this Windows example:
prowin32.exe -p test.p -b > nul
4–15
ADE R-code Location (-baseADE)
ADE R-code Location (-baseADE)

Use ADE R-code Location (-baseADE) to specify where the client should look for another
version of ADE r-code on the same machine at the same time.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -baseADE directory

directory
Identifies where the client should look for the ADE r-code.
You can have different versions of ADE r-code on the same machine at the same time. As a
result, you need a way to specify the ADE r-code directory to the client so that the client can
add this directory and all of the procedure libraries contained in the directory to the PROPATH.
The -baseADE startup parameter lets you specify the location of the ADE r-code directory.
At session startup, OpenEdge automatically adds $DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty for character mode
clients) and all procedure libraries in $DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty) to PROPATH.
When you specify -baseADE, the $DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty) directory and the procedure libraries
in $DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty) are not added to PROPATH. Instead, the directory specified using the
-baseADE startup parameter is added to PROPATH followed by all of the procedure libraries in the
directory. For example, if you use -baseADE to specify the following:
-baseADE c:\maint\gui
And c:\maint\gui contains the procedure libraries adecomm.pl, adeuib.pl, and protools.pl,
then PROPATH looks like the following:
...,c:\maint\gui,c:\maint\gui\adecomm.pl,c:\maint\gui\adeuib.pl,c:\maint\gui
\protools.pl,...
If $DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty) or any of the procedure libraries from the directory already are part
of PROPATH (environment variable, .ini file, or registry setting), OpenEdge does not remove
them.
OpenEdge allows you to specify an empty string for <directory>, -baseADE "". In this
situation, OpenEdge does not add $DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty) or the procedure libraries in
$DLC/gui (or $DLC/tty) to PROPATH.
You also can specify the ADE R-code Location with the BASE-ADE attribute of the SESSION
system handle. For more information about this SESSION attribute, see OpenEdge Development:
ABL Reference.
4–16
Base Index (-baseindex)
Base Index (-baseindex)

Use Base Index (-baseindex) with Index Range Size (-indexrangesize) to specify the range of
indexes for which you want to collect statistics.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -baseindex n

Server
The starting index number in the range of indexes for which you want to track access
statistics.
Access to the statistics is handled through the Virtual System Tables (VSTs). Index statistics are
stored in the _IndexStat VST. To obtain index numbers, use the following ABL code:
FOR EACH _file:

DISPLAY _file._file-name.
FOR EACH _index WHERE _index._file-recid = RECID(_file):
DISPLAY _index._idx-num _index._index-name.
END.
END.
Running the preceding code results in the following output:
File-Name
filename
idx-num Index-Name
n1 index name1
n2 index name2
n3 index name3
For more information on virtual system tables, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
4–17
Registry Base Key (-basekey)
Registry Base Key (-basekey)

Use Registry Base Key (-basekey) to identify the registry basekey in which to look for
environment information.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -basekey name

name
The name of the registry basekey. The following are the valid registry basekey values:
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• HKEY_USERS
• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
• HKEY_DYN_DATA
• INI
You can force OpenEdge to bypass the registry search by specifying INI.
Note: You can use the -basekey startup parameter only at the command line. It is ignored
when used in a parameter (.pf) file.
For more information on using the Registry Base Key (-basekey) startup parameter, see
OpenEdge Deployment: Managing ABL Applications.
4–18
Base Table (-basetable)
Base Table (-basetable)

Use Base Table (-basetable) with Table Range Size (-tablerangesize) to specify the range of
tables for which you want to collect statistics.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -basetable n

Database Server – – – –
The starting table number in the range of tables for which you want to track access
statistics.
Access to the statistics is handled through the Virtual System Tables (VSTs). Table statistics are
stored in the _TableStat VST. To obtain table numbers, use the following ABL code:
FOR EACH _file:

DISPLAY _file._file-num _file._file-name.
END.
Running the preceding code results in the following output:
_File-Number File-Name
n1 table name1
n2 table name2
n3 table name3
For more information on virtual system tables, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
4–19
Before-image Buffers (-bibufs)
Before-image Buffers (-bibufs)

Use Before-image Buffers (-bibufs) to specify the number of before-image buffers. This
parameter is useful only when running the Before-image Writer (BIW).
Administration.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -bibufs n

Server
The number of before-image buffers.
The BIW continually writes the filled before-image buffers to disk, making the buffers available
to other client and server processes. Without a BIW writing the buffers, any gain from
increasing the number of buffers is negligible.
4–20
Threshold Stall (-bistall)
Threshold Stall (-bistall)

Use Threshold Stall (-bistall) with Recovery Log Threshold (-bithold) to quiet the database
when the recovery log threshold is reached, without performing an emergency shutdown. When
you use -bistall, a message is added to the database log (.lg) file stating that the threshold
stall is enabled.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -bistall

Server
4–21
Recovery Log Threshold (-bithold)
Recovery Log Threshold (-bithold)

Use Recovery Log Threshold (-bithold) to set the maximum size to which recovery log files
can grow.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -bithold n

Database System System – –

Server dependent1 dependent1
1. Limited by available disk space.
An INTEGER specifying the threshold, in MB.
The recommended threshold is between 3% and 100% of the largest possible recovery log file
size, rounded to the nearest cluster boundary. If the threshold is set above 1000MB, OpenEdge
issues a warning message to the display and the database log (.lg) file. Once the threshold is
reached, the database performs an emergency shutdown. See OpenEdge Data Management:
Database Administration for more information about recovery logs.
4–22
Private Read-only Buffers (-Bp)
Private Read-only Buffers (-Bp)

Use Private Read-only Buffers (-Bp) to request a number of private read-only buffers.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Bp n

Client 64 1 – –
Connection
An INTEGER value greater than 1 but less than 64.
The request remains active for the entire session unless it is changed or disabled by an
application. Each user of private read-only buffers reduces the number of public buffers, which
is set with Blocks in Database Buffers (-B). The total number of private read-only buffers for
all simultaneous users is limited to 25% of the total blocks in database buffers.
4–23
Maximum Private Buffers per Connection (-Bpmax)
Maximum Private Buffers per Connection (-Bpmax)

Use Maximum Private Buffers per Connection (-Bpmax) parameter to control the number of
private buffers a connection can request through the private read-only buffers (-Bp) parameter.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Bpmax n

Database 25% of -B 1 64 64
Server
An INTEGER specifying the maximum number of private buffers.
The number of blocks in the database buffers is controlled by the blocks in database buffers (-B)
parameter. Up to 25% of the blocks created may be allocated for use as private buffers. When
a client connects to an OpenEdge database, the connection requests -Bp n private buffers. Prior
to 9.1C, the maximum value of -Bp was 64. With the -Bpmax parameter, the broker may override
this limit by allowing the value of -Bp to be up to 25% of -B.
Note: Each use of a private read-only buffer reduces the number of public buffers. The total
number of private buffers for all simultaneous users is limited to 25% of the total
blocks in database buffers.
4–24
Bleeding Record Lock (-brl)
Bleeding Record Lock (-brl)

Use Bleeding Record Lock (-brl) to let the AVM hold a share lock on a record used by more
than one buffer, even after the buffer using the record releases it.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -brl

Connection
4–25
Browse Column Type (-browcoltype)
Browse Column Type (-browcoltype)

Use Browse Column Type (-browcoltype) to override the TYPE attribute for browse columns,
and always return “BROWSE-COLUMN” regardless of the actual column type (that is, “COMBO-BOX”,
“FILL-IN”, or “TOGGLE-BOX”).
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -browcoltype

For more information on the BROWSE widget or the TYPE attribute, see OpenEdge Development:
ABL Reference.
4–26
Number of Buffers for Temporary Tables (-Bt)
Number of Buffers for Temporary Tables (-Bt)

Use Number of Buffers for Temporary Tables (-Bt) to specify the number of buffers in the
temporary table database pool.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Bt n

Client Session 50,000 10 255 255
An INTEGER that specifies the number of blocks in the buffer for temporary tables.
OpenEdge uses the value you specify for temporary databases used during the session the same
way it uses Blocks in Database Buffers (-B) for permanent databases. The default value is 255.
Use Temporary Table Database Block Size (-tmpbsize) to specify the temporary table database
block size, which dictates the size of each buffer in the temporary table database buffer pool for
the current OpenEdge session.
If you do not have enough free memory (virtual or physical) for the buffer pool, reduce the value
of -Bt. To approximate the amount of memory required (in kilobytes) for the buffer pool, use
the following formula:
1.1 * (the value of -Bt) * (the value of -tmpbsize)
See OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL Essentials for more information on temporary tables.
4–27
Index Cursors (-c)
Index Cursors (-c)

Use Index Cursors (-c) to specify the number of index place holders, or cursors, for an
OpenEdge session.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -c n

DataServer – – – –
The number of index cursors allowed.
Each active FOR EACH and FIND NEXT loop uses one index cursor for each index the AVM is
using. A cursor takes 64 bytes. If you need more index cursors, the AVM displays the following
error message:
SYSTEM ERROR: Too few index cursors. Increase -c parameter.
Note: The -c parameter has a different meaning when you connect to an ORACLE database.
For more information, see OpenEdge Data Management: DataServer for Oracle.
4–28
Schema Cache File (-cache)
Schema Cache File (-cache)

Use Schema Cache File (-cache) to read the database schema from a local file instead of the
database. You must have previously built the schema cache and stored it as a binary file.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cache filename

Connection
filename
The pathname of a binary schema cache file.
To perform database activities, the OpenEdge client keeps a copy of the database schema called
the schema cache in memory. By default, OpenEdge creates the schema cache by reading the
database schema stored in the database file. The time required to read the schema usually is
minimal; however, under the following conditions, the time required to read the schema might
be unacceptable:
• If the client connects to the database over a wide-area network (WAN)
• When a large number of clients connect to a database simultaneously, for example, after a
database shutdown or crash
Connection time depends on several factors, including schema size.
To reduce connection time, OpenEdge lets you store the schema cache as a binary file, called a
schema cache file, on a local disk. The client can then read the schema directly from the schema
cache file.
To write the schema cache file, you build the desired schema cache and save it to a binary file
using the ABL SAVE CACHE statement. The schema cache file is portable across systems, so you
can create the file once and distribute it across a heterogeneous network of systems. For
information on building and saving the schema cache file, see OpenEdge Development:
Programming Interfaces.
If you specify schema cache file (-cache) when you connect to a database and the local schema
is valid, the AVM reads the schema from the local file instead of from the database. The schema
cache is valid if the time stamp of the schema cache file matches the time stamp in the database
master block. If the time stamps do not match, or for some reason the AVM cannot read the file,
the AVM issues a warning message and reads the schema from the database.
Note: If you are generating the local binary schema cache, do not connect to the database
using Trigger Location (-trig) and Schema Cache File (-cache) together.
4–29
Check Double-byte Enabled (-checkdbe)
Check Double-byte Enabled (-checkdbe)

Use Check Double-byte Enabled (-checkdbe) when you modify an OpenEdge application to
support double-byte characters or extended character data.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -checkdbe
Maximum Minimum Single-user Multi-user

The -checkdbe parameter specifies that ABL generate compile-time warning messages
whenever it finds a LENGTH function, SUBSTRING function, SUBSTRING statement, or OVERLAY
statement without a CHARACTER, COLUMN, RAW, or FIXED option.
4–30
Check Width (-checkwidth)
Check Width (-checkwidth)

Use Check Width (-checkwidth) to specify whether the AVM compares CHARACTER, DECIMAL,
and RAW field data against the metaschema _width field value before updating a database record.
The _width field value specifies the maximum width of the data allowed in a field.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -checkwidth n

The check-width mode. Valid check-width modes are:
• 0 — Ignore the _width field value and store the data. This is the default mode.
• 1 — Store the data, and generate a warning message if the data exceeds the size
specified in the _width field.
• 2 — Do not store data that exceeds the size specified in the _width field, and generate
an error. Specify this mode if you want ABL to behave like SQL.
ABL allows for variable length data; SQL does not. This startup parameter lets you impose the
SQL requirement that data cannot exceed the size specified in the _width field.
Note: The _width field value for array fields is the size of all array elements after the AVM
converts the array element values to CHARACTER. This means that even with the
-checkwidth startup parameter enabled, array fields can still surpass the _width field
value.
4–31
SQL Server Java Classpath (-classpath)
SQL Server Java Classpath (-classpath)

Use SQL Server Java Classpath (-classpath) to identify the Java classpath to use when starting
an SQL server.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -classpath pathname

SQL – – – –
pathname
Specifies the pathname of the classpath.
SQL database brokers use this parameter when launching the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to
execute stored procedures. The default is to use the current environment variable CLASSPATH
setting. You do not use this parameter directly.
4–32
Clear Log (-clearlog)
Clear Log (-clearlog)

Use Clear Log (-clearlog) to delete any file that matches the name of the specified client log
file identified by the Client Logging (-clientlog) parameter.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -clearlog

Note: This parameter is valid only for interactive or batch clients. WebSpeed agents and
AppServers will silently ignore it.
In the following example, the client will delete the log file debug.log, if it exists, and then open
debug.log as the client log file:
prowin32.exe -p myprog.p -clientlog debug.log -clearlog
In the following example, the client will delete all the log files matching the name debug.log;
such as debug.000001.log through debug.000003.log. Then the client will open
debug.000001.log as the client log file, as shown:
prowin32.exe -p myprog.p -clientlog debug.log -clearlog -logthreshold 1000000
WebSpeed agents and AppServers will silently ignore the Client Logging (-clientlog)
parameter. The broker handles the clearing of the WebSpeed and AppServer server logs,
through the srvrLogAppend property in the ubroker.properties file.
For more detailed information about enabling logging, see OpenEdge Development: Debugging
and Troubleshooting.
4–33
Client Logging (-clientlog)

Use Client Logging (-clientlog) to allow an application to automatically write error and
warning messages to the specified log file.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -clientlog filename

filename
The pathname and filename of the log file OpenEdge uses for messages, ABL stack trace,
and .NET stack trace information.
If the filename you supply is a relative pathname, then a file is accessed relative to the current
working directory. If the filename is an absolute pathname, then the specified file is accessed.
Note: Do not include a numbered sequence in the filename. This might conflict with the
rolled over log files OpenEdge creates based on your Number of Log Files to Keep
(-numlogfiles) and Log Threshold (-logthreshold) startup parameter settings.
Use the Log Entry Types (-logentrytypes) startup parameter to specify one or more types of log
entries you want to write to the log file. Use the Logging Level (-logginglevel) startup parameter
to specify the level at which log entries are written to the log file.
When you use the -clientlog startup parameter, and you also specify the Debug Alert
(-debugalert) startup parameter or set SESSION:DEBUG-ALERT to TRUE, the log file includes an
ABL stack trace for error messages (ABL errors and .NET Exceptions) and Alert-box messages.
The top of the stack (most recent call) is displayed at the top of the trace listing.
.NET Exceptions can be thrown when working with .NET objects in ABL. When you do not
handle these Exceptions—there is no CATCH or NO-ERROR logic present—and Debug Alert is on,
the AVM adds the .NET stack trace to the Debug Alert information after the ABL call stack.
The ABL stack trace and the .NET stack trace are added both in the Debug Alert Help dialog
box and in the client log (when -clientlog is specified).
If an error message is diverted to the ERROR-STATUS system handle, and client logging is
enabled, then no information is written to the log file.
In a non-interactive session, the application is configured so that the output device is associated
with a file (or another device). In this configuration, when an ABL statement encounters an
error, it writes the error to the output device. If client logging is enabled, then this message is
also written to the specified log file. Errors are written to the output device at logging
level 1 (Error) and up.
You can use the MESSAGE statement with the VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX option to write application
specific information to the screen and the log file. In this case, you must specify an entry type
of “4GLMessages” and a logging level of 2 (Basic), at least.
4–34
Note: When you specify a non-zero value for the Log Threshold (-logthreshold) startup
parameter, only one client process at a time can open the log file. Therefore, consider
specifying a different log file for each client session.
For more information about logging levels, see the Logging Level (-logginglevel) startup
parameter reference entry. For more information about specifying log entry types, see the Log
Entry Types (-logentrytypes) startup parameter reference entry.
You can also use attributes on the LOG-MANAGER system handle to specify log entry types and
logging levels.
For more information about the ABL elements previously referenced above, see OpenEdge
Development: ABL Reference.
4–35
Cluster Mode (-cluster)
Cluster Mode (-cluster)

Use Cluster Mode (-cluster) to startup a cluster-enabled database.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cluster qualifier

Server
qualifier
Direct a broker to start a cluster-enabled database directly, or to instruct the cluster

manager to perform the startup.
Note: All cluster-enabled databases require the Cluster Mode (-cluster) parameter. If used
with a database that is not cluster-enabled, the parameter is ignored.
Table 4–1 describes the cluster mode qualifier.
Table 4–1: Cluster mode qualifier values
Value Description
startup Instructs the broker to redirect the startup request to the OS cluster
manager. The cluster manager will start the database using the
information supplied when the database was enabled for cluster
protection.
protected Instructs the broker to start a cluster-enabled database. This

qualifier value for -cluster is specified within the database .pf file
used by the cluster manager, and indicates that the database will be
protected by the cluster manager in the event of a failover.
Note: This qualifier value must only be used by the cluster
manager. It should not be used on the command line or a directly
executed script.
For more information on the cluster manager, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
4–36
Combo-box Font (-combofont)
Combo-box Font (-combofont)

Use the Combo-box Font (-combofont) startup parameter to change the default font of decimal
values displayed in combo-boxes with LIST-ITEM-PAIRS.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -combofont [ FIXED ]

FIXED
Specifies that the default font for decimal combo-boxes with LIST-ITEM-PAIRS is fixed.
In Release 9.1D, a combo-box representing a decimal field or variable with LIST-ITEM-PAIRS

displays values using a fixed font, by default. Starting with Release 9.1D07, you can use the
-combofont startup parameter (without the FIXED option) to change the default font to a
proportional font.
Starting with Release 10.0A, a decimal combo-box with LIST-ITEM-PAIRS displays values
using a proportional font, by default. To change the default font back to a fixed font, specify the
-combofont startup parameter with the FIXED option.
A decimal combo-box with LIST-ITEMS displays values using a fixed font, by default. If you
change a decimal combo-box with LIST-ITEMS to LIST-ITEM-PAIRS, after it is realized, the
font automatically changes from fixed to proportional (unless you specified the -combofont
startup parameter with the FIXED option).
Note: If you specify a font in the FONT attribute for a combo-box, specifying this startup
parameter has no effect on the combo-box font.
4–37
Conversion Map (-convmap)
Conversion Map (-convmap)

Use Conversion Map (-convmap) to identify the CONVMAP file to use for code page conversions,
collation orders, and case conversions.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -convmap filename

Client Session, – – – –
Database
Server
filename
Pathname of your CONVMAP file.
By default, OpenEdge uses the convmap.cp file in the DLC directory. You can create a CONVMAP
file by using the PROUTIL utility with the CODEPAGE-COMPILER qualifier. See OpenEdge
Development: Internationalizing Applications for more information on CONVMAP files.
4–38
Communications Parameter File (-cp)
Communications Parameter File (-cp)

Use Communications Parameter File (-cp) to override preset connection parameters for
auto-connect databases.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cp { com-parms | filename }

Connection
com-parms, filename
The database connection parameters or parameter file.
Communications parameters supplied with the -cp parameter override any connection
information stored in the OpenEdge metaschema field _Db-comm in the _Db file record for the
database.
4–39
Case Table (-cpcase)
Case Table (-cpcase)

Use Case Table (-cpcase) to specify the case table.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cpcase tablename

Client Session, – – Basic Basic

Database
Server
tablename
Name of a case table in the convmap.cp file.
This table establishes case rules for the code page that the AVM uses in memory. The code page
is specified by the Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) parameter. The case rules are used by the
CAPS and LC functions. Also, in a character field format, you can use an exclamation point (!)
to tell the AVM to convert all characters to uppercase during input.
To retrieve the value of this startup parameter at runtime, use the SESSION system handle.
4–40
Collation Table (-cpcoll)
Collation Table (-cpcoll)

Use Collation Table (-cpcoll) to identify a collation for the AVM to use with the code page in
memory. The code page is specified by the Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) parameter.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cpcoll collation-name

Client Session, – – Basic Basic

Database
Server
collation-name
The name of a collation table within the convmap.cp file, or the name of a collation in the
International Components for Unicode (ICU) library.
The AVM uses the collation rules that you specify to compare characters and sort records if a
BY clause cannot be satisfied by an index. The collation rules specified with the -cpcoll
parameter take precedence over the collation specified for any database the AVM accesses
during the session, except when the AVM uses or modifies pre-existing indexes. When you
update or rebuild a database’s indexes, the AVM uses the collation rules originally defined for
that database.
If you do not use -cpcoll, the AVM uses the language collation rules defined for the first
database on the command line. If you do not specify a database on the command line, the AVM
uses the collation rules with the name “basic.”
See OpenEdge Development: Internationalizing Applications for more information on

collations.
4–41
Internal Code Page (-cpinternal)
Internal Code Page (-cpinternal)

Use Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) to identify the code page that the AVM uses in memory
and for graphical clients.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cpinternal code-page

Client Session, – – iso8859-1 iso8859-1

Database
Server,
DataServer
code-page
Name of the code page that the AVM uses in memory.
For graphical clients, the -cpinternal code page should be the same code page that the
operating system uses. If you do not use -cpinternal, the AVM defaults to the iso8859-1 code
page.
Note: Do not use a 7-bit table with -cpinternal. Only use 7-bit tables for converting data
from a 7-bit terminal to another code page. Do not use them for character conversion
in memory, or for the database.
To retrieve the value of this startup parameter at runtime, use the CPINTERNAL attribute of the
SESSION system handle.
4–42
Log File Code Page (-cplog)
Log File Code Page (-cplog)

Use Log File Code Page (-cplog) to identify the code page that OpenEdge uses to write
messages to the log (.lg) file. If you do not specify a value, the default is the code page specified
by Stream Code Page (-cpstream).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cplog code-page

Client Session, – – -cpstream -cpstream

Database
Server,
DataServer
code-page
Name of the code page for messages written to the log file.
To retrieve value of this startup parameter at runtime, use the CPLOG attribute of the SESSION
system handle.
4–43
Print Code Page (-cpprint)
Print Code Page (-cpprint)

Use Print Code Page (-cpprint) to identify the code page OpenEdge uses when it prints. When
you print a file, the code page specified by -cpprint overrides the code page specified by
Stream Code Page (-cpstream).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cpprint code-page


Database
Server,
DataServer
code-page
Name of the code page used for printer output.
4–44
R-code in Code Page (-cprcodein)
R-code in Code Page (-cprcodein)

Use R-code in Code Page (-cprcodein) to read the r-code text segments, as if they were written
in the code page specified by -cprcodein, and convert them to the Internal Code Page
(-cpinternal) code page. Usually when OpenEdge reads r-code, it converts text segments to the
code page specified by Internal Code Page (-cpinternal).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cprcodein code-page

Client Session, – – -cpinternal -cpinternal

Database
Server,
DataServer
code-page
Name of the code page for reading r-code text segments.
Caution: This parameter is for use during very rare situations and in general should not be
used. OpenEdge reads text segments as if they are written in the code page specified
by R-code in Code Page (-cprcodein), even if the text segments were written with a
different code page. For example, if you use the following startup parameters and run
a .r file written with code page IBM850, OpenEdge converts the text segments from
ISO8859-1 to ibm861. This can produce incorrect results, if the .r file was correctly
labeled internally as IBM850: -cprcodein ISO8859-1 -cpinternal ibm861
To retrieve the value of this startup parameter at runtime, use the SESSION system handle. To
determine the code page of an r-code file, use the RCODE-INFO handle.
4–45
R-code Out Code Page (-cprcodeout)
R-code Out Code Page (-cprcodeout)

Use R-code Out Code Page (-cprcodeout) to direct OpenEdge to use the code page you specify
to mark and convert text segments (any translatable text) when it writes r-code. If you do not
specify -cprcodeout, OpenEdge uses the code page you specify with Internal Code Page
(-cpinternal) to write r-code.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cprcodeout code-page

Client Session – – -cpinternal -cpinternal
code-page
Name of the code page for writing r-code text segments.
Typically, you do not need to specify this parameter since OpenEdge converts the text segment
to the -cpinternal code page when reading r-code. However, if the code page of the intended
user is known, you can use this parameter to provide r-code in the user’s code page.
Performance savings are not significant.
4–46
Stream Code Page (-cpstream)
Stream Code Page (-cpstream)

Use Stream Code Page (-cpstream) to identify the code page OpenEdge uses for stream I/O.
Character terminals use the code page you specify for -cpstream unless you also specify a value
for Terminal Code Page (-cpterm), Print Code Page (-cpprint), or Log File Code Page (-cplog).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cpstream code-page

Client Session, – – ibm850 ibm850

Database
Server,
DataServer
code-page
Name of the code page for stream I/O.
Stream I/O consists of the following elements:
• Terminals (includes character terminals and DOS Protected mode, but does not include
graphical interfaces or the Windows character interface)
• Data (.d) files
• READ-FILE, WRITE-FILE, and INSERT-FILE methods for the EDITOR widget
• INPUT FROM and OUTPUT TO statements
• All compilable files, such as: .p, .w, .i
• Compiler-generated LISTING, XREF, and PREPROCESS files
Note: Do not use a 7-bit table with -cpstream. Use 7-bit tables for converting data from a
7-bit terminal to another code page only. Do not use them for character conversion in
memory or for the database.
4–47
Terminal Code Page (-cpterm)
Terminal Code Page (-cpterm)

Use Terminal Code Page (-cpterm) to identify the code page of your character terminals. This
parameter allows you to specify a different code page for character terminals than used by the
rest of stream I/O, which is set by Stream Code Page (-cpstream).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cpterm code-page


Database
Server,
DataServer
code-page
Name of the code page for character terminals.
Note: You can use a 7-bit table with -cpterm.
4–48
Cursor Size (-cs)
Cursor Size (-cs)

Use Cursor Size (-cs) to change the maximum number of index levels. You seldom need to use
this parameter.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cs n

Client 256 1 6 6
Connection
The cursor size, which is the number of index levels.
OpenEdge indexes have a tree structure. Even large indexes typically are no deeper than three
or four levels. Index cursors, which act as place holders during file access, have size 6 by
default; that is, they support up to five levels of indirect access. Therefore, few users ever
require the cursor size (-cs) parameter. However, in rare cases involving large index keys,
increase -cs in response to the following error message:
Index index-number has at least n levels. Increase -cs parameter.
Increasing -cs by 2 should be sufficient.
4–49
Connection Retry Attempts (-ct)
Connection Retry Attempts (-ct)

Use Connection Retry Attempts (-ct) to define the number of retries for a database connection
attempt.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -ct n

Client - 1 50 -
Connection
The number of database connection retry attempts. Specify a value greater than 0.
4–50
Compile Warning List (-cwl)
Compile Warning List (-cwl)

Use Compile Warning List (-cwl) to alert users to the occurrence of specified statements in the
source code. For example, you might want to flag the occurrence of deprecated statements, to
discourage their use in favor of new alternative statements.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -cwl filename

filename
The name of a file that contains ABL statements that are to trigger a warning if they are
found in the source code at compile time. Each statement must use a single line in the file.
OpenEdge uses the PROPATH variable to locate filename. If it cannot find filename, it
displays an error message and does not start.
When source code containing one or more instances of the specified statements is compiled,
OpenEdge displays a message box containing a warning for each such instance, in the following
format:
The flagged_statement statement from the compile warning list was found in
file file_name at line line_number.
Where:
• flagged_statement is the statement matching an entry in the Compile Warning List file
• file_name is the source file containing the flagged statement
• line_number is the line in the source file where the flagged statement occurs
The user can click OK in the message box to continue. Compilation occurs normally
You can specify that a warning should occur only if the statement includes specific phrases or
options. To do so, add those phrases or options to the entry in the list. For example, the following
entry results in a warning only for instances of the DEFINE FRAME statement that include the
SHARED option:
DEFINE SHARED FRAME
In the preceding example, simple DEFINE FRAME statements do not raise a warning message.
However, the statement DEFINE NEW SHARED FRAME does result in a warning; even though the
syntax does not exactly match the list entry, OpenEdge recognizes it as an instance of the
flagged DEFINE SHARED FRAME statement.
Statements found in comments do not trigger warning messages.
4–51
Directory Size (-D)
Directory Size (-D)

Use Directory Size (-D) to change the number of compiled procedure directory entries.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -D n

Client Session 2,147,483,647 5 100 100
The number of compiled procedure directory entries.
Each compiled procedure executed during an OpenEdge session requires a directory entry. A
compiled procedure can be a session-compiled version of a procedure or a precompiled r-code
version.
When the AVM creates a session-compiled version of a procedure and there is no available
space in the directory, it discards the oldest inactive compilation of a procedure. The next time
the discarded procedure is run, the AVM must recompile it if it was a session compile, or reopen
and reread it if it was a precompiled r-code version.
The -D limit is a soft limit. If your application needs to exceed the limit, OpenEdge
automatically increases the number of directory entries by 50 percent and dynamically allocates
memory for the expanded array. (Use the Statistics (-y) parameter to check the current directory
size (-D) value.) When the limit is reached, OpenEdge issues a WARNING message, which is
written to the current output (if there is current output) and to the log file (LG).
You can force OpenEdge to adhere to the specified directory size (-D) limit by starting the
session with the Hardlimit (-hardlimit) startup parameter. When you use the -hardlimit startup
parameter, OpenEdge issues a WARNING message when you exceed the directory size limit. It
also issues a message that a resource limit was reached and raises an untrappable STOP
condition. Note that -hardlimit also enforces the limits set by the Local Buffer Size (-l), the
Maximum Memory (-mmax), and the Nested Blocks (-nb) startup parameters, so the STOP
condition is raised when any of the specified limits are reached.
4–52
Date Format (-d)
Date Format (-d)

Use Date Format (-d) to specify the format used to display dates in an application using a
three-character string of the letters: d, m, and y in any order. This startup parameter provides the
same functionality as the SESSION:DATE-FORMAT attribute.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -d dateform

Client Session – – mdy mdy
dateform
The format used to display dates in an application.
Notes • The -d sets the display format not the storage format. The storage format is fixed.
• The date constants entered in procedures, or as initial values in the Data Dictionary, are
always specified in month/day/year format.
4–53
DataService (-DataService)
DataService (-DataService)
Use DataService (-DataService) to connect through a NameServer to an ODBC, ORACLE, or
SQL Server DataServer.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -DataService data-service

Connection
data-service
The name of the DataService.
The value for data-service must be a valid name from the DataService list registered to this
NameServer, as defined by your appServiceName List entry in the broker properties file. If a
default DataService has been defined for your broker instance, you can omit this parameter and
connect using the default service.
This parameter must be used in conjunction with the DataServer Logging (-dslog) startup
parameter.
Note: Using the -DirectConnect parameter on the CONNECT statement will override the
-DataService parameter.
For more information on the CONNECT statement, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–54
DataSet100 (-dataset100)
DataSet100 (-dataset100)
Use DataSet100 (-dataset100) when you have r-code containing ProDataSet objects that you
want to compile in OpenEdge 10.1, and run in both OpenEdge 10.1 and 10.0. This startup
parameter directs ABL to compile references to ProDataSet objects in an OpenEdge 10.0
manner, which results in r-code that will run in both 10.1 and 10.0 environments without error
(providing you have not used any new OpenEdge 10.1 features).
Note: This startup parameter has no effect; it is supported only for backward compatibility.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -dataset100

4–55
Physical Database Name (-db)
Physical Database Name (-db)

Use Physical Database Name (-db) to connect one or more OpenEdge databases.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -db physical-dbname

Connection
physical-dbname
The database to connect to when an OpenEdge session is started. Specify the physical (not
the logical) database name. If you are connecting in single-user mode or through shared
memory, and the database is not in your current directory, you must specify the full path
of the database.
Use Single-user Mode (-1) after the name of the database to connect in single-user mode. You
do not have to precede the first database on the command line with -db; however, for all
subsequent databases that you want to connect, precede the database name with -db. For
example, the following command connects two databases, abc and xyz:
pro abc -B 30 -db xyz -B 40
4–56
Database consistency check (-DbCheck)

Use Database consistency check to enable consistency checking for all record and index blocks
in the entire database.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -DbCheck

Connection,
Database
Server
When enabled, this option applies consistency checks to all index blocks and record blocks for
record and index write operations. Database consistency check validates a block is still
physically correct after an operation has been performed. For example, after an index key is
inserted into an index block, the consistency check validates that the block still laid out
correctly.
You can limit the scope of consistency checking by specifying one area with Area consistency
check (-AreaCheck), one table with Table consistency check (-TableCheck), or one index with
Index consistency check (-IndexCheck).
Database consistency checking can be enabled or disabled while your database is online with
Database consistency check can be enabled for a single user client or for any offline utility. If
the utility is read-only, such as DBANALYS, the -DbCheck parameter is ignored. Online
utilities determine whether or not to perform database consistency checking during execution
based on the use of -DbCheck at broker startup or by the enablement/disablement of the database
4–57
Debugger (-debug)
Debugger (-debug)
Use Debugger (-debug) to start an OpenEdge session by running the Application Debugger in
stand-alone mode.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -debug

This makes the Debugger (not the Procedure Editor) the point of entry for all application
procedures to run. The Debugger begins by allowing breakpoints before using the Debugger RUN
command to execute the startup procedure. Also, the AVM automatically sets a breakpoint on
the first executable line of the startup procedure before it runs.
For more information on the Debugger, see OpenEdge Development: Debugging and
Troubleshooting.
4–58
Debug Alert (-debugalert)
Debug Alert (-debugalert)

Use Debug Alert (-debugalert) to access ABL and .NET stack trace information during a
session. Its major use is for error alert boxes, so you can figure out where an error has occurred
in your code.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -debugalert

Alternately, you can set the DEBUG-ALERT attribute on the SESSION system handle to TRUE in your
application. The advantage of the DEBUG-ALERT attribute is that its value can be modified during
a client session.
When an unhandled ABL error or .NET Exception occurs—there is no CATCH or NO-ERROR logic
present—in an interactive session for any ABL client, the AVM displays an Error message box.
When Debug Alert is TRUE, the message box also includes a Help button. Clicking on the Help
button produces a Stack Trace dialog box containing ABL stack trace and .NET stack trace
information. The ABL stack trace and the .NET stack trace are written to the client log when
the Client Logging (-clientlog) startup parameter is specified. The top of the stack (most
recent call) is displayed at the top of the trace listing.
To retrieve or reset the value of this parameter at runtime, you use the DEBUG-ALERT attribute of
the SESSION system handle. For more information on the DEBUG-ALERT attribute or the SESSION
system handle, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–59
Enable Attachable Debugging (-debugReady)
Enable Attachable Debugging (-debugReady)

Use Enable Attachable Debugging (-debugReady) to enable an OpenEdge process (that is, an
ABL client, a single WebSpeed agent, or single AppServer process) to be attached to by the
Debugger.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -debugReady { 0 | port-number }

port-number
The port on which the AVM opens a socket for connecting to the attachable Debugger. If
you want the AVM to find an available port, enter 0 (zero). The default value is 0.
An ABL developer can attach the attachable Debugger to any OpenEdge session running locally
or remotely in a LAN environment. This allows the developer to run the Debugger on one
machine and debug an OpenEdge process running on another machine.
You cannot specify both the Debugger (-debug) and Enable Attachable Debugging
(-debugReady) startup parameters on the command line at the same time. If you do, the AVM
generates an error and shuts down.
For more information about the attachable Debugger, see OpenEdge Development: Debugging
4–60
Disable Delete Trigger (-disabledeltrig)
Disable Delete Trigger (-disabledeltrig)

Use Disable Delete Trigger (-disabledeltrig) to disable the delete trigger when
ALLOW-REPLICATION is on for the DISABLE TRIGGERS statement or the
DISABLE-LOAD-TRIGGER() method of a buffer. In this case the replication triggers run, but
the delete trigger does not.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -disabledeltrig

4–61
Dictionary Expressions (-dictexps)
Dictionary Expressions (-dictexps)

Use Dictionary Expressions (-dictexps) to specify that ABL use dictionary and help validation
for all fields in all frames when you compile an application. ABL continues compiling even
after it encounters a validation error.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -dictexps

This parameter serves as a temporary step to close possible validation holes in existing
applications. It has the effect of adding a USE-DICT-EXPS option to every frame in the
application, including those that are not used for input. This parameter closes all possible
validation holes, but it is highly inefficient.
You can override this functionality for a particular frame by using the NO-VALIDATE keyword
for that frame. See the Frame Phrase reference entry in OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference
for more details on the NO-VALIDATE option.
If you do not specify -dictexps, ABL uses dictionary and help validation for a field only if that
field is used in an UPDATE, SET, PROMPT-FOR, or ENABLE statement. In addition, ABL does not use
dictionary and help validation when compiling if you specify only the widget:SENSITIVE=YES
construct to make a widget sensitive. ABL stops compiling when it encounters a validation
error.
4–62
Direct I/O (-directio)
Direct I/O (-directio)

Use Direct I/O (-directio) to open all files in unbuffered mode, which enables OpenEdge to
use an I/O technique that bypasses the operating system buffer pool and transfers data directly
from a buffer to disk.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -directio

Client – – Not enabled Not enabled

Connection,
Database
Server
This technique has several advantages over buffered reads and writes, such as avoiding the
overhead of maintaining the operating system buffer pool and eliminating competition for
operating system buffers between OpenEdge programs and other programs. The operating
system buffer-pool algorithms are designed for efficient sequential file access; the OpenEdge
buffer-pool algorithms are more efficient for access to an OpenEdge database.
You might improve OpenEdge performance by using the direct I/O feature. To use direct I/O,
use Blocks in Database Buffers (-B) to increase the size of the OpenEdge buffer pool, since
OpenEdge I/O does not pass through the operating system buffer pool. Also, decrease the size
of the operating system buffer pool to compensate for the additional memory allocated to
OpenEdge.
Note: Use asynchronous page writers (APWs). They improve database performance by
performing overhead operations in the background.
4–63
DataServer Logging (-dslog)

Use DataServer Logging (-dslog) to allow an application to automatically write server error
and warning messages, and other server log messages, to the specified log file. The -dslog
logging parameter currently applied to the DataServer for MS SQL Server only.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -dslog filename

Session
filename
The name of log file the DataServer uses for log messages.
The –dslog startup parameter specifies the DataServer log file name.
If you do not specify a log file name at startup, then the default dataserv.lg file will be used
for logging server information.
The dataserv.lg file is the default value for the -dslog parameter. For non-interactive sessions
that encounter errors, warnings or other messages that need to be logged, it writes to this log file
by default.
If the filename you supply is a relative pathname, then a file is accessed relative to the current
working directory. If the filename is an absolute pathname, then the specified file is accessed
unless the $DSLOGDIR environment variable is set to specify a directory path for the -dslog file
name. The $DSLOGDIR setting overrides the current working directory in search for the -dslog
file name.
Note: Do not include a numbered sequence in the filename. This might conflict with the
rolled over log files OpenEdge creates based on your Number of Log Files to Keep
(-numlogfiles) and Log Threshold (-logthreshold) startup parameter settings.
Use the Log Entry Types (-Dsrv LOGENTRYTYPES) DataServer connection parameter to specify
one or more one or more types of log entries you want to write to the server context log file. Use
the Logging Level (-Dsrv LOGGINGLEVEL) DataServer connection parameter to specify the level
at which log entries are written to the log file.
ABL clients, including the client component of the DataServer, write their logging to the file
specified by the –clientlog startup parameter. Refer to the “Client Logging (-clientlog)”
section on page 4–34 for more information.
4–64
The OpenEdge client, including the client component of the DataServer, to which the
-clientlog switch applies, can be thought of as the “client log context.” Similarly, the server
component of the DataServer, to which the -dslog switch applies, can be considered the “server
log context.” When the OpenEdge DataServer runs self-service (i.e., not client/server), the
OpenEdge client’s log context and the OpenEdge DataServer’s log context can be merged into
a single log file by selecting the same file name with the -clientlog and -dslog log file
specifications in both log contexts. Note that the -logtheshold, -logappend and -numlog files
parameters specified at client startup apply to both client and server log contexts in this case..
Note: If the -numlogfiles startup parameter is used without a specification for

the
-logthreshold, then the -numlogfiles startup parameter is ignored. Seethe “Log
Threshold (-logthreshold)” section on page 4–107 and the “Number of Log Files to
Keep (-numlogfiles)” section on page 4–151 for more details.
The -dslog, -logthreshold,logappend, and -numlogfiles parameters affect the

DataServer’s log file when specified as startup parameters to an OpenEdge client or a probrkr
broker process starting a remote DataServer server process. You can also specify these
parameters in the srvrDSLogFile, srvrLogThreshold, srvrNumLogFiles and srvrLogAppend
properties, respectively, of a DataServer broker instance defined to the Unified Broker and
manage server log files for an AppServer agent connected to a DataServer. All the server
processes affected by these parameters will write to the same -dslog or srvrDSLogFile log
file and switch to the next log file when the logthreshold is reached.
All the server processes affected by these parameters will write to the same -dslog log file and
switch to the next log file when the logthreshold is reached.The code page used for the log file
is -cpinternal and no conversions are performed for these log files.
Fore more information about logging for the client context, see OpenEdge Development: ABL
Reference.
For more about logging for the server context, see the OpenEdge DataServer guides.
4–65
DataServer (-Dsrv)
DataServer (-Dsrv)
Use DataServer (-Dsrv) to tell OpenEdge that the specified keywords are parameters for the
ODBC, ORACLE, or MS SQL Server DataServer.
Operating
-Dsrv keyword ( , value)
system UNIX
and syntax Windows [, keyword2 ( , value2 ) ... ]

keyword ( , value) [ , keyword2 ( , value2 ) ... ]
Parameters, with optional values, for DataServers.
These parameters are specific to ODBC data sources or are required to connect to certain data
sources using the OpenEdge DataServers. You can specify up to 50 keywords with the -Dsrv
parameter.
There are three types of DataServer parameters:
• OpenEdge DataServer for ODBC parameters
• ODBC SQL connection and statement parameters
• OpenEdge DataServer for ORACLE parameters
For more information about the parameters, see the OpenEdge DataServer guides.
4–66
Database Type (-dt)
Database Type (-dt)

Use Database Type (-dt) to specify one of the following database types: Progress, ODBC,
ORACLE, and AS/400.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -dt db-type

Client – – Progress Progress

Connection,
DataServer
db-type
The database type.
The value is not case sensitive. When connecting to a non-OpenEdge database, use Database
Type (-dt) to specify the type of database.
4–67
European Numeric Format (-E)
European Numeric Format (-E)

Use European Numeric Format (-E) parameter to tell the AVM to display thousands separators
as periods and decimal points as commas (for example: 1.234.567,89) when displaying or
prompting for numeric values.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -E

Client Session – – AMERICAN AMERICAN
AMERICAN is the default value, in which periods are displayed as decimal points and commas as
thousands separators (for example: 1,234,567.89).
When you specify EUROPEAN, continue to use periods as decimal points and commas as
thousands separators in your source files. Note there is no command line parameter to specify
AMERICAN, or reset EUROPEAN.
Numeric format specifications in the Data Dictionary and the decimal constants in procedures
always must use the period to represent the decimal point.
You can also use the NUMERIC-FORMAT attribute on the SESSION system handle to get or set the
numeric format.
4–68
Error Stack (-errorstack)
Error Stack (-errorstack)

Use Error Stack (-errorstack) to allow error objects to save the ABL call stack in the
CallStack property of an error object at the time the AVM generates the error object.
When -errorstack is specified, the ERROR-STACK-TRACE attribute of the SESSION handle is set
to TRUE. The default value for this attribute is FALSE. While saving the call stack is a useful
debugging feature, it can also consume resources and can potentially affect performance.
Enabling ERROR-STACK-TRACE with this startup parameter is not recommended in a production
environment.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -errorstack

4–69
Event Level (-evtlevel)
Event Level (-evtlevel)

Use Event Level (-evtlevel) to specify the level of information that OpenEdge writes to the
Windows Application Event Log.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -evtlevel value
Maximum Minimum Single-user Multi-user

Use with value value default default
Client Session, – – Normal Normal

Database Server
value
• None — No OpenEdge events are written to the Event Log.
• Brief — OpenEdge Error and Warning messages are written to the Event Log.
• Normal — OpenEdge Error and Warning messages are written to the Event Log
along with any OpenEdge message that is normally written to the log file (.lg). This
is the default.
• Full— OpenEdge Error, Warning, and Informational messages are written to the
Event Log along with any messages generated by the Message Statement.
For more information about OpenEdge and the Windows Event Log, see OpenEdge Getting
Started: Installation and Configuration.
4–70
Expand Browse (-expandbrow)
Expand Browse (-expandbrow)

Use Expand Browse (-expandbrow) to turn on the EXPANDABLE and FIT-LAST-COLUMN options
for all browsers created in the current session.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -expandbrow

The EXPANDABLE attribute has the same behavior as the FIT-LAST-COLUMN attribute. Therefore,
if the -expandbrow parameter is specified at startup, the FIT-LAST-COLUMN attribute is set to
TRUE for each browse in that session.
Note: Progress Software Corporation recommends that you use the FIT-LAST-COLUMN
attribute instead of the EXPANDABLE attribute. This recommendation includes replacing
EXPANDABLE with FIT-LAST-COLUMN in your current code.
For more information on these attributes, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–71
Force Access (-F)
Force Access (-F)

Use Force Access (-F) with the PROSHUT command to invoke an emergency shutdown of a
shared-memory database.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -F

Connection
Note: The PROMON and PROUTIL utilities also use a -F parameter; however, the results
are not the same. In addition, using -F with PROUTIL might compromise the integrity
of the database. For more information, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
4–72
Schema Field Cache Size (-fc)
Schema Field Cache Size (-fc)

Use Schema Field Cache Size (-fc) to change the number of entries in the schema field cache.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -fc num-entries

Client Session – 0 128 128
num-entries
The number of entries in the schema field cache.
For example, you might increase the size if you retrieve large numbers of fields from your
database. The schema field cache reduces the time required to compile SQL queries by storing
schema field information in memory. For best results, set this parameter to the total number of
fields retrieved from the database.
OpenEdge uses approximately 150 additional bytes of memory per schema field cache entry
used. Because memory is allocated when required, unused entries produce minimal overhead.
If you set the value to 0, OpenEdge disables schema field caching.
4–73
Filtering Asynchronous COM Events (-filterocxevents)
Filtering Asynchronous COM Events (-filterocxevents)

Use Filtering Asynchronous COM Events (–filterocxevents ) to control the conditions under
which you want asynchronous COM events handled.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -filterocxevents

An asynchronous COM event is one that is sent by an ActiveX control or Automation object
because of an external event, rather than in response to user input. One example of this is the
Tick event from the PSTimer. Another is an event signalling the receipt of a message from an
external source, such as a control that implements a mail notification system.
By default, asynchronous COM events are handled when any of the following conditions occur:
• While an application is waiting for user input, such as during a WAIT–FOR or UPDATE
statement
• While an alert box from a MESSAGE statement is on the screen
• During trigger processing, if the MultitaskingInterval parameter is set to a number

greater than 0
Handling COM events during the second and third conditions might cause random problems in
your application, depending on what ABL code is executed in the event trigger. You use the
–filterocxevents startup parameter to prevent asynchronous COM events from being handled
during the second and third conditions.
4–74
Field List Disable (-fldisable)
Field List Disable (-fldisable)

Use Field List Disable (-fldisable), which is a run-time parameter, to cause the AVM to
ignore field lists in the r-code and fetch complete records.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -fldisable

For more information about using field lists, see OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL Essentials.
4–75
Before-image Truncate Interval (-G)
Before-image Truncate Interval (-G)

Use Before-image Truncate Interval (-G) to specify the number of seconds before OpenEdge
reuses a before-image cluster.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -G n

Database – 0 0 0
Server
The number of seconds OpenEdge waits.
Note: This parameter was previously known as Before-image Cluster Age.
4–76
Group Delay (-groupdelay)
Group Delay (-groupdelay)

Use Group Delay (-groupdelay) to increase performance when Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) is
set to zero.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -groupdelay n

Database Server 1,000 0 0 1
The number of milliseconds a transaction waits before committing.
When the Group Delay is set greater than zero (0), OpenEdge uses a technique known as Group
Commit. When using Group Commit, a transaction spools its end note to the BI buffer and waits
a short time until the buffer becomes full and is written to disk, or waits for other transactions
to end and store their end notes in the BI buffer so that several transactions are committed by
the same synchronous write. In this manner, Group Commit benefits overall performance,
although each individual transaction might take slightly longer.
4–77
Host Name (-H)
Host Name (-H)

Use Host Name (-H) to identify the host name.
Operating UNIX
system Windows
and syntax (TCP) -H { host-name | localhost1 }
Client Connection, – – – –
Database Server,
DataServer
1. Localhost does not apply to DataServers.
host-name
The name (address) of the database server machine. This name is assigned to the machine
in your TCP/IP hosts file.
localhost
A reserved word that specifies that the database server communicate only with clients on
the database server machine.
4–78
Number of Databases (-h)
Number of Databases (-h)

Use Number of Databases (-h) to connect to more than five databases during a single OpenEdge
session.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -h n

Client Session 240 1 5 5
The maximum number of databases that can be connected during an OpenEdge session.
OpenEdge automatically allocates enough space to allow the connection of five databases.
4–79
Hardlimit (-hardlimit)
Hardlimit (-hardlimit)
Use Hardlimit (-hardlimit) to force OpenEdge to adhere to the set limits for Directory Size
(-D), Local Buffer Size (-l), Maximum Memory (-mmax), and Nested Blocks (-nb).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -hardlimit

Use Hardlimit (-hardlimit), Directory Size (-D), Local Buffer Size (-l), Maximum Memory
(-mmax), and Nested Blocks (-nb) are by default soft limits; that is, OpenEdge tries to manage
system resources within the limits given, but when it cannot, OpenEdge increases the exceeded
limit.
When -hardlimit is specified and one of the limits is exceeded, OpenEdge generates a WARNING
message that is written to the current output (if there is current output) and to the log file (LG).
In addition, OpenEdge issues a message that a resource limit was reached and raises an
untrappable STOP condition.
4–80
Hash Table Entries (-hash)
Hash Table Entries (-hash)

Use Hash Table Entries (-hash) to specify the number of hash table entries to use for a buffer
pool.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -hash n
Use Maximum Minimum

with value value Default
Client – 13 Approximately 1/4 of the -B value

Connection,
Database
Server
The number of hash table entries to use for the buffer pool.
Caution: Do not use this parameter unless directed to do so by Progress Software Corporation
Technical Support.
4–81
No Crash Protection (-i)
No Crash Protection (-i)

Use No Crash Protection (-i) to tell OpenEdge to run without using database integrity or
database recovery.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -i

Connection,
Database
Server
When running OpenEdge without database integrity, it writes fewer data and before-image
blocks to the disk. In this mode, some ABL procedures (such as those that create and delete large
numbers of records) run significantly faster than if they are running with database integrity.
When running OpenEdge with the -i parameter, transaction undo is supported. Therefore, there
will still be a before-image file, which might grow quite large during very long transactions.
Use this parameter to do bulk data loading or for large batch runs. It reduces the number of disk
input or output operations. Loading a database for the first time is a good example of a use for
this parameter.
Caution: If you run OpenEdge with the -i parameter and OpenEdge fails for any reason, you
cannot recover the database.
Do not use the -i parameter unless you have a complete backup of the database and can rerun
procedures in case of a system failure. If the system fails during an OpenEdge session started
without crash protection, restore the backup copy and rerun the necessary procedures. For
information about restoring a database, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
The following messages might appear when starting an OpenEdge session after a system failure:
• After a system failure while a full-integrity OpenEdge session was running:
**The last session was abnormally terminated.

**Any incomplete transactions are being backed out.
**Database recovery is complete. You must rerun all active transactions.
• After a system failure while a no-integrity OpenEdge session was running:
**The last session was abnormally terminated.

**The last session was run with the -i no integrity option.
**Your database cannot be repaired, you must restore a backup copy.
4–82
Dynamics Parameter (-icfparam)
Dynamics Parameter (-icfparam)

Use Dynamics Parameter (-icfparam) to specify a character string that can be accessed from
ABL procedures within the Progress Dynamics framework.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -icfparam string

string
A character string that supplies dynamics procedures with Dynamics-related data.
You can access this string within an ABL procedure by reading the ICFPARAMETER attribute of
the SESSION system handle.
Note: This parameter is reserved for use by Dynamics and procedures that have been
integrated with Dynamics. Using this parameter for any purpose other than operating
within the Dynamics framework will interfere with your ability to integrate your
application with that framework at a later time.
For more information about the ICFPARAMETER attribute or the SESSION system handle, see
OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–83
Index consistency check (-IndexCheck)
Index consistency check (-IndexCheck)

Use Index consistency check to enable consistency checking for all index blocks in the specified
index.
Operating
system UNIX -IndexCheck
and syntax Windows [owner-name.]table-name.indexname

Connection,
Database
Server
owner-name
Specifies the owner of the table containing the index you want to check. You must specify
an owner name unless the table’s name is unique within the database, or the table is owned
by PUB. By default, ABL tables are owned by PUB.
table-name
Specifies the table containing the index to be checked.
indexname
Specifies the name of the index for consistency checking.
When enabled, this option applies consistency checks to all index blocks and index write
operations.
Index consistency check validates a block is still physically correct after an operation has been
performed. For example, after an index key is inserted into an index block, the consistency
check validates that the block still laid out correctly.
You can only specify one index with -IndexCheck. To check multiple indexes, you can apply
consistency checking to the entire database with Database consistency check (-DbCheck), or if
multiple indexes are in one area, you can apply consistency checking to an entire area with Area
consistency check (-AreaCheck).
Index consistency checking can be enabled or disabled while your database is online with
Index consistency check can be enabled for a single user client or for any offline utility. If the
utility is read-only, such as DBANALYS, the -IndexCheck parameter is ignored. Online
utilities determine whether or not to perform index consistency checking during execution
based on the use of -IndexCheck at broker startup or by the enablement/disablement of the
index consistency checking in PROMON.
4–84
Index Range Size (-indexrangesize)
Index Range Size (-indexrangesize)

Use Index Range Size (-indexrangesize) to specify the number of indexes for which you want
to collect statistics.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -indexrangesize n

Server
The number of indexes for which you want to track access statistics.
For more information about tracking index statistics, see OpenEdge Data Management:
4–85
Initialization File (-ininame)
Initialization File (-ininame)

Use Initialization File (-ininame) to specify the location, in the registry, for the application's
initialization information.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -ininame name

name
Name of the initialization registry subkey or the application's initialization (.INI) file.
When the Registry Base Key (-basekey) parameter is not specified at startup, the AVM searches
the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key followed by the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key for the specified name.
If no registry key of the specified name is found, the AVM searches for a .INI file that matches
name.
You can only use this startup parameter at the command line. It is ignored when used in a .pf
file.
Note: The -ininame parameter replaces the -name option for the Windows Attributes (-Wa)
parameter for Version 7.3B and later.
4–86
Input Characters (-inp)
Input Characters (-inp)

Use Input Characters (-inp) to expand the available buffer space for a single ABL statement.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -inp n

Client Session 32000 1 15000 15000
The number of characters allowed in a single ABL statement. The default is 15000
characters.
If not specified and you exceed 15000 characters in a single statement, the AVM displays a
message indicating that the statement is too long and advises you to increase the number of input
characters per statement using this parameter.
4–87
Internet Protocol (-ipver)
Internet Protocol (-ipver)

Use Internet Protocol (-ipver) to identify the IP version for network connections.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -ipver { IPv4 | IPv6 }

Client Session, - - - IPv4

Database
Server
IPv4
Specifies Internet Protocol Version 4. Only network connections with IPv4 are allowed.
IPv6
Specifies Internet Protocol Version 6. IPv6 allows network connections with IPv6
addresses and mapped IPv4 addresses. OpenEdge supports V4 mapped addresses where
underlying operating system support exists: UNIX, Linux, and Windows Vista.
Note: The -ipver startup parameter is case sensitive and must be specified in all lower case.
The values IPv4 and IPv6 are not case sensitive, and can be specified in any case.
4–88
AS/400 Ignore Stamp (-is)
AS/400 Ignore Stamp (-is)

Use Ignore Stamp (-is) to stop an OpenEdge client from comparing timestamps when
attempting to connect an AS/400 database.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -is

Connection,
DataServer
When connecting to the schema holder database and the AS/400 database, OpenEdge compares
the timestamps on the files in the schema holder and the AS/400 physical and logical files. If
the timestamps do not match, the login attempt is rejected.
Note: Whenever any change to the AS/400 database structure is made (whether or not the
change is saved), the AS/400 data dictionary time stamp changes.
OpenEdge checks the timestamp at the initial connection. If an AS/400 user modifies the file
definitions after a successful OpenEdge connect, the user might get unpredictable results.
4–89
Initial Value Segment No Convert (-isnoconv)
Initial Value Segment No Convert (-isnoconv)

Use Initial Value Segment No Convert (-isnoconv) to disable a code page conversion that
Version 9.1A provides and that previous versions do not.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -isnoconv

Consider using -isnoconv when all of the following conditions occur:
• An ABL program contains character variables initialized from text literals.
• The text literals contain international characters (whether or not the literal is flagged as
untranslatable using the :U attribute).
• The code page of the r-code (-cprcodein) does not match the code page of internal
memory (-cpinternal).
• This is a compile-time option, not a run-time option, and affects the generation of r-code,
not its execution.
When you run earlier versions of OpenEdge under these conditions, and the AVM reads text
literals from r-code into internal memory, it does not convert the code page. To compensate for
this, programmers often pre-convert international characters in text literals to -cpinternal.
When you run Version 9.1A under these conditions, and the AVM reads text literals from r-code
into internal memory, it converts the code page from -cprcodein to -cpinternal. This code
page conversion might cause international characters you have pre-converted to -cpinternal
to be converted again to -cpinternal, which garbles them.
Note: Progress Software Corporation recommends that you avoid preconverting text literals.
4–90
Keyword Forget List (-k)
Keyword Forget List (-k)

Use Keyword Forget List (-k) to disable ABL keywords. The keyword forget list is provided to
ease migration from one release of OpenEdge to the next.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -k filename

filename
The name of a file that contains ABL keywords to disable. Each keyword must use a single
line in the file. If the AVM encounters a word that is not an ABL keyword, it returns a
warning message but continues processing the file. OpenEdge uses the PROPATH variable
to locate filename. If it cannot find filename, it displays an error message and does not
start.
Do not use keywords in procedures as ABL user-defined element names (tables, fields, frames,
variables, streams, and so on). If necessary, disable new keywords (and the features they
implement) until they can be removed from the application.
The directory where OpenEdge is installed contains the following keyword files:
• newkywd — Lists all keywords that are new in the most recent release of OpenEdge
• newkw810— Use instead of newkywd, if you are converting from Progress Version 8 to
OpenEdge Release 10
OpenEdge Release 10
OpenEdge Release 10
4–91
Key Alias (-keyalias)
Key Alias (-keyalias)

Use Key Alias (-keyalias) to identify a SSL private key/digital certificate key-store other than
the default.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -keyalias key-alias-name

Database – – – default_server
Server
key-alias-name
Specifies the alias name of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) private key/digital certificate
key-store entry to use.
4–92
Key Alias Password (-keyaliaspasswd)
Key Alias Password (-keyaliaspasswd)

Use Key Alias Password (-keyaliaspasswd) to allow access to the Key Alias when you use a
Key Alias other than the default.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -keyaliaspasswd key-alias-password

Database – – – password1
Server
1. The actual value used is the encrypted value of the string “password.”
key-alias-password
Specifies the encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Key Alias Password to use to access
the server’s private key/digital certificate key-store entry. The default is password.
The key-alias-password value must be encrypted. You can use the genpassword utility,
located in your installation’s bin directory, to encrypt the password.
4–93
Lock Table Entries (-L)
Lock Table Entries (-L)

Use Lock Table Entries (-L) to change the limits of the record locking table.
Administration.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -L n

Database System 32 – 8192

Server dependent1
1. Limited by available memory.
The number of entries in the record locking table. If you specify a value that is not a
multiple of 32, OpenEdge rounds the value you specify to the next highest multiple of 32.
Each record that is accessed by any user takes one entry. This is true whether the record is
accessed with SHARE-LOCK or EXCLUSIVE-LOCK.
Increase the size of the lock table if the following message appears:
SYSTEM ERROR: Record lock table too small. Increase -L parameter.
This message also might indicate that a particular procedure should be restructured into smaller
transactions or should be run in single-user rather than multi-user mode. When lock table limits
are exceeded, check to make sure transactions are not too large before increasing the lock table
size.
If a user process tries to acquire a lock and the lock table overflows, the user's program is
aborted, but the server continues to operate. Any partial transactions are undone.
Note: The two record locks are acquired when records are accessed with the BREAK BY option
(in DO, FOR EACH, or REPEAT statements).
Each lock table entry takes 18 bytes on typical systems.
4–94
Local Buffer Size (-l)
Local Buffer Size (-l)

Use Local Buffer Size (-l) to change the size of the local record buffer in which the AVM stores
all variables, work files, and records that are in use at one time for a user.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -l n

Client Session 4,000,000,000 1 200 200
The size of the local record buffer in 1KB units.
The maximum size of the local record buffer is 4GB for most systems. If you get one of the
following error messages, you must increase the size of this buffer:
SYSTEM ERROR: bfget: No space. Increase -l parameter.

SYSTEM ERROR: bfxpnd: No space. Increase -l parameter.
The Local Buffer Size (-l) limit is a soft limit; so if your application needs to exceed the limit,
OpenEdge automatically increases it and issues a WARNING message. The WARNING is written to
the current output (if there is current output) and to the log file (LG).
You can force OpenEdge to adhere to the specified -l limit by starting the session with the
Hardlimit (-hardlimit) startup parameter. When you use the -hardlimit startup parameter,
OpenEdge issues the WARNING message when you exceed the Local Buffer Size limit. It also
issues a message that a resource limit was reached and raises an untrappable STOP condition.
Note that -hardlimit also enforces the limits set by the Directory Size (-D), the Maximum
Memory (-mmax), and the Nested Blocks (-nb) startup parameters, so the STOP condition is
raised when any of the specified limits is reached.
4–95
Logical Database Name (-ld)
Logical Database Name (-ld)

Use Logical Database Name (-ld) to assign the logical name to a database. If you omit this
parameter, OpenEdge uses the physical database name (without the path or .db suffix).
Operating
system UNIX,
and syntax Windows -ld logical-dbname

Connection
logical-dbname
The logical database name.
The name must be a valid identifier, which means:
• It can be up to 32 characters long.
• It can be any combination of English letters and numbers, underscore (_), and dash (-)
characters.
• The first character must be an uppercase or lowercase letter.
A logical database name cannot include ABL reserved words, a space, any accented letters, or
any of the following special characters:
\ " ' * ; | ? [ ] ( ) ! { } < >
For more information on logical database names, see OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL
Essentials and OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration.
4–96
Literal Question (-literalquestion)
Literal Question (-literalquestion)

Use Literal Question (-literalquestion) to change the default value of the LITERAL-QUESTION
attribute to TRUE (which would otherwise be FALSE).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -literalquestion

The LITERAL-QUESTION attribute lets you specify how the AVM interprets a quoted character
value during assignment into the BUFFER-VALUE attribute for a character BUFFER-FIELD object.
That is, whether the AVM treats the quoted character value as a literal or non-literal character
value.
When TRUE, the new default value, the AVM treats a quoted character value as a literal character
value. That is, it does not remove enclosing quotes, trailing blanks, or formatting insertion
characters.
When FALSE, the AVM treats a quoted character value as a non-literal character value. That is,
it removes enclosing quotes, trailing blanks, and formatting insertion characters. For example:
• The AVM treats "abc " as "abc".
• The AVM treats a quoted question mark character ("?") as the Unknown value (?).
For more information about ABL objects and attributes, see OpenEdge Development: ABL
Reference.
4–97
Lock Table Hash Size (-lkhash)
Lock Table Hash Size (-lkhash)

Use Lock Table Hash Size (-lkhash) to specify the size of the hash table that controls access to
the lock table.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -lkhash n

Database – – – –1
Server
1. The default is variable based on the size of your lock table (-l).
Progress Software Corporation recommends changing the value of Lock Table Hash Size
(-lkhash) only after contacting Technical Support.
4–98
Lock release (-lkrela)
Lock release (-lkrela)

Lock Release (-lkrela) uses the original lock release mechanism installed from previous
OpenEdge versions.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -lkrela

Client Session - - - -
Using this parameter instructs the database to use the original lock release mechanism installed
in previous versions of OpenEdge (versions 10.1A and higher).
Note: When using this parameter, keep in mind that the database engine may search all lock
chains to be released at transaction end and disconnect time. As a result, you may see
a degradation in performance.
4–99
Lock Timeout (-lkwtmo)
Lock Timeout (-lkwtmo)

Use Lock Timeout (-lkwtmo) to specify a different wait time (in seconds).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -lkwtmo seconds

Client Session – 60 18001 18001
1. The default wait time for WebSpeed is 10 seconds.
seconds
The wait time, in seconds.
An OpenEdge process encountering a locked resource waits for a limited time before continuing
execution. If the resource is still locked, the process times out and the wait is canceled. This
feature is called “lock wait timeout.”
The default wait time is 1800 seconds (30 minutes). The minimum value is 60 seconds. If a user
specifies a value less than 60 seconds, OpenEdge silently sets the value at 60 seconds.
Note: The wait time is accurate to within one minute of the value specified.
Lock timeout applies to interactive and batch clients. The client gets a STOP condition if this
value is exceeded on the AppServer. For more information, see the sections on client/server
conflicts in OpenEdge Application Server: Developing AppServer Applications.
Lock timeout affects WAIT-FOR record locks, schema locks, and transaction commit locks. Lock
timeout does not affect internal locks used inside the database manager, such as buffer locks.
4–100
Language (-lng)
Language (-lng)
Use Language (-lng) to specify the initial return value for the CURRENT-LANGUAGE function. This
setting determines from which r-code segment the AVM reads character-string constants.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -lng language-name

Client Session – – ? ?
language-name
A character string that contains the name of the current language.
The default value for the Language parameter is a character string that contains the question
mark (?) character, which is not to be confused with the Unknown value (?). This tells the AVM
to use the default language for the application.
For more information on the Language startup parameter, see OpenEdge Development:
Internationalizing Applications and OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–101
Log Entry Types (-logentrytypes)

Use Log Entry Types (-logentrytypes) to specify one or more types of log entries to write to
the log file specified by the Client Logging (-clientlog) startup parameter.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -logentrytypes string

string
A character string that specifies a comma-separated list of log entry types.
By default, the logging level you specify using the Logging Level (-logginglevel) startup
parameter applies to all log entry types specified. However, you can specify a different logging
level for each entry type, as follows:
log-entry-type[:level]
log-entry-type
A log entry type listed in Table 4–2.
level
A logging level value (between 0 and 4).
Table 4–2 describes the log entry types.
4–102
Table 4–2: Log entry types (1 of 3)
Log entry type Executable Description
4GLMessages ABL (GUI and character Turns on logging of ABL

mode). AppServer and messages. OpenEdge writes all
WebSpeed do not require ABL VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX
this log entry type for messages to the log file,
ABL messages to be together with the ABL stack,
written to the log file when you turn on Debug Alert,
using either the Debug Alert
(-debugalert) startup parameter
or the DEBUG-ALERT attribute on
the SESSION system handle.
4GLTrace ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on logging for the

and WebSpeed agents execution of internal
procedures, user-defined
functions, persistent
user-interface triggers, and
named events (generated by the
RUN, FUNCTION, PUBLISH, and
SUBSCRIBE statements,
respectively). It also logs the
instantiation and use of classes,
including execution of
constructors (invoked by the
NEW phrase and also by the
SUPER and THIS-OBJECT
statements), the execution of
methods defined within classes
(including those invoked using
the SUPER system reference), the
execution of property accessor
methods (invoked by accessing
a property of a class), and the
execution of destructors
(invoked by executing the
DELETE OBJECT statement).
4GLTrans ABL clients Turns on logging for the

processing of transactions and
subtransactions in ABL
procedures.
AiaMgmt AIA Turns on logging for the AIA

AiaProp component.
AiaRqst
AiaUbroker
AiaDefault
ASDefault AppServer agent Combines the ASPlumbing and

DB.Connects log entry types. It
is the default value for
AppServer agents.
ASPlumbing AppServer agent Turns on logging for different

actions, depending on the
logging level specified.
4–103
DB.Connects ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on logging of database

and WebSpeed agents connections (connects and
disconnects). The log messages
include database name and user
ID number.
DS.CURSOR DataServer Turns on logging for

DataServer client-side
processing for cursors used to
position the OpenEdge client
against the foreign data source.
DS.QUERY DataServer Turns on logging for

DataServer client-side
processing for queries sent to
the foreign data source.
DynObjects.DB ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on logging of dynamic

DynObjects.XML and WebSpeed agents object creation and deletion.
DynObjects.Other
DynObjects.Class
DynObjects.UI
ABL clients and
WebSpeed agents
FileID ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on logging of file access

and WebSpeed agents operations (opening and closing
files), and any file access error
messages that might occur.
MsgrTrace WebSpeed Messengers Turns on logging for WebSpeed

Messengers. The information
logged depends on which
Messenger is running and the
logging level specified.
NSPlumbing NameServer Turns on logging for the

NameServer component.
ProEvents.UI.Char ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on event logging for

ProEvents.UI.Command and WebSpeed agents different categories of events.
ProEvents.Other
QryInfo ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on logging of queries

and WebSpeed agents (each open query and FOR EACH
block) executed in an
application.
SAX ABL clients, AppServer, Turns on logging for the SAX

and WebSpeed agents parser.
4–104
UBroker.Basic Unified Broker Turns on logging for the

UBroker.ClientFSM Unified Broker component.
UBroker.ServerFSM
UBroker.ClientMsgStream
UBroker.ServerMsgStream
UBroker.ClientMsgQueue
UBroker.ServerMsgQueue
UBroker.ClientMemTrace
UBroker.ServerMemTrace
UBroker.ThreadPool
UBroker.Stats
UBroker.AutoTrim
UBroker.All
WSADefault Web Services Adapter Turns on logging for the Web

(WSA) Services Adapter component.
For more information about log entry types, see OpenEdge Development: Debugging and
Troubleshooting.
The following example shows how to specify one or more individual log entry types:
-logentrytypes DB.Connects,4GLTrace:2,DynObjects.UI:3
The following example shows how to specify all log entry types within a category:
-logentrytypes DynObjects.*
For more information about logging levels and log entry types, see OpenEdge Development:
Debugging and Troubleshooting.
You also can turn on logging at run-time by using the LOG-ENTRY-TYPES attribute on the
LOG-MANAGER system handle. For example, you can include the following line in your ABL
code:
LOG-MANAGER:LOG-ENTRY-TYPES = "DynObjects.UI"
You can turn off logging in your ABL code by setting this attribute to the Unknown value (?).
For example:
LOG-MANAGER:LOG-ENTRY-TYPES = ?
For more information about the LOG-ENTRY-TYPES attribute or the LOG-MANAGER system handle,
see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–105
Logging Level (-logginglevel)
Logging Level (-logginglevel)

Use Logging Level (-logginglevel) to specify the level at which log entries are written to the
log file specified by the Client Logging (-clientlog) startup parameter. Each logging level
specifies a different amount of information.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -logginglevel n

A logging level value (between 0 and 4).
Logging level represents the amount of logging information written to the log file, as shown in
Table 4–3.
Table 4–3: Logging levels
Logging level Description
0 (None) Log no entries. This is equivalent to turning logging off.
1 (Errors) Log OpenEdge error messages. This includes all error messages
and is unrelated to the entry types specified. Errors continue to
be logged at all higher levels.
2 (Basic) Log entry types determine the logged information. Each entry
type will generate at least some output. This is the default.
3 (Verbose) Log entry types determine the logged information.
4 (Extended) Log entry types determine the logged information.
By default, the logging level you specify applies to all log entry types. However, you can specify
individual log entry types with a different logging level using the Log Entry Types
(-logentrytypes) startup parameter.
You can also use attributes on the LOG-MANAGER system handle to specify log entry types and
logging levels. For more information, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–106
Log Threshold (-logthreshold)
Log Threshold (-logthreshold)

Use Log Threshold (-logthreshold) to specify the file size threshold of log files.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -logthreshold n

A log file size threshold in bytes.
When the current log file becomes equal to or greater than the specified size, OpenEdge
renames and saves the log file and creates a new log file. Valid values are:
• 0 — This means there is no limit other than what the operating system imposes. Specify 0
to ignore the Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles) startup parameter setting. This
is the default.
• Between 500,000 and 2,147,483,647 — Values are in bytes (one byte typically holds one
character). You can specify a file size up to 2GB, inclusive, but not lower than 500,000.
If you specify a number lower than 500,000, a run-time error occurs and the OpenEdge
process terminates.
OpenEdge names log files based on a sequence number using the following format:
<filename>.999999.<extension>
For example, if you specify a log file named my.log, OpenEdge renames the log file to
my.000001.log before creating a new log file.
Use the Client Logging (-clientlog) startup parameter to specify a log file name for ABL clients.
Note: When a non-zero value is specified for -logthreshold, only one client process at a
time can open the file specified by the Client Logging (-clientlog) startup parameter.
In this case it is recommended that each client session specify a different file name.
Use the DataServer Logging (-dslog) startup parameter to specify a log file name for the server
context of a DataServer client or agent. Use the Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles)
startup parameter to specify the number of log files to keep.
You can also can use the LOG-THRESHOLD attribute on the LOG-MANAGER system handle to specify
the file size threshold of log files. For more information, see OpenEdge Development: ABL
Reference.
4–107
Auto Server (-m1)
Auto Server (-m1)

Use Auto Server (-m1) to start an auto server.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -m1

Server
The OpenEdge broker uses the auto server internally to start a remote user server. This is the
default. You will never have to use this parameter directly.
4–108
Manual Server (-m2)
Manual Server (-m2)

Use Manual Server (-m2) to manually start a remote user server after you start a broker (servers
are generally started automatically by the broker process).
Operating
system UNIX

Server
Use this parameter in the following cases:
• For debugging purposes, to start servers directly and observe their behavior
• On systems where automatic server generation is not possible
4–109
Secondary Login Broker (-m3)
Secondary Login Broker (-m3)

Use Secondary Login Broker (-m3) to start each secondary broker in a network environment
where more than one broker is using the same protocol.
Operating
system UNIX

Server
The secondary broker logs in clients and starts remote user servers.
4–110
Maximum Clients Per Server (-Ma)
Maximum Clients Per Server (-Ma)

Use Maximum Clients per Server (-Ma) to specify the maximum number of remote users per
database server.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Ma n

Database Server 2048 1 – 5 users/server
The maximum number of remote users per database server. The default is the Number of
Users (-n) parameter value, divided by the Maximum Servers (-Mn) parameter value.
The Maximum Clients Per Server (-Ma), Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi), and Maximum
Servers (-Mn) startup parameters pertain only to versions of OpenEdge that use shared memory.
In addition, these parameters apply only to databases that are accessed from remote network
nodes.
In most cases, the default behavior is desirable. Note that the default calculation is usually high
because it assumes that all users are remote users, while the number specified with -n includes
local users. If servers become overloaded with clients, reset the -Mn parameter to increase the
number of servers. If experience proves that a given number of remote clients overloads a server
or exhausts the file descriptors on the system, set the Maximum Clients Per Server (-Ma)
parameter to limit clients per server below that level. A file descriptor is an object UNIX uses
to identify a particular file. The file descriptors might be exhausted because OpenEdge uses
them to identify sockets.
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Maximum Area Number (-maxAreas)
Maximum Area Number (-maxAreas)

Use Maximum Area Number (-maxAreas) to specify the highest area number available.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -maxAreas n

Database Server 32000 Variable1 32000 32000
1. The minimum value is the current maximum area number in use for the database.
The maximum area number.
Maximum Area Number specifies the highest area number available for use during the time the
database is online. Increase the highest area number by shutting down and restarting the
database with a higher value, or remove the -maxAreas parameter to have the maximum number
available.
At database startup, the maximum area number specified with -maxAreas is compared to the
areas defined in the database. If any defined area has a higher area number, the database will not
start.
If the database is expanded with PROSTRCT ADDONLINE, the area numbers specified for any
new areas must be lower than the maximum area number specified with -maxAreas, or the
PROSTRCT ADDONLINE command will fail.
For more information, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration.
4–112
Maximum Dynamic Server (-maxport)
Maximum Dynamic Server (-maxport)

Use Maximum Dynamic Server (-maxport) to specify the highest port number in a specified
range of port numbers accessible to a client.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -maxport n

Database System System – 2000

Server dependent dependent
The port number that is the highest in a specified range.
You specify the lowest port number with the Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport) parameter.
The range of port numbers defined by the Maximum Dynamic Server (-maxport) and Minimum
Dynamic Server (-minport) parameters provides client access to an OpenEdge server that is
behind a firewall. Some operating systems choose transient client ports in the 32,768-to-65,535
range. Choosing a port in this range might produce unwanted results.
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Maximum Dynamic DataServer (-dsmaxport)
Maximum Dynamic DataServer (-dsmaxport)

Use maximum Dynamic DataServer Port (-dsmaxport) when starting ProBroker to specify the
highest port number in a specified range of port numbers used to start DataServer servers.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -dsmaxport n
Unix Unix Windows Windows

Use Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum
with value value value value
DataServer 2000 1025 5000 3000
The port number that is the highest in a specified range.
You specify the lowest port number with the Minimum Dynamic DataServer Server
(-dsminport) parameter. The range of port numbers defined by the Maximum Dynamic
DataServer Server (-dsmaxport) and Minimum Dynamic DataServer Server (-
port) parameters provides client access to an OpenEdge server that is behind a firewall. Some
operating systems choose transient client ports in the 32,768-to-65,535 range. Choosing a port
in this range might produce unwanted results.
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Maximum JTA Transactions (-maxxids)

Use Maximum JTA Transactions (-maxxids) to specify the number of simultaneous JTA
transactions allowed.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -maxxxids n

with value value1 default default
Database 32,000 0, (users)/2 – 100

Server
1. For a JTA-enabled database, the minimum value is (users)/2 where users is the value of the Number of Users
(-n) startup parameter. For a database not enabled for JTA, the minimum is 0.
The maximum number of simultaneous JTA transactions allowed.
JTA transactions rely on an external transaction manager to control transaction commit and
rollback. OpenEdge SQL supports the Java Transaction API (JTA) thus enabling the database
to function as a resource manager as defined in the J2EE framework architecture. Because the
transactions are controlled by an external transaction manager, they may take a long time to
complete.
For more information on distributed transactions with JTA, see OpenEdge Data Management:
4–115
Network Message Compression (-mc)

User Network Message Compression (-mc) to compress messages between an OpenEdge client
and the OpenEdge AppServer.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -mc

Use Network Message Compression (-mc) only between OpenEdge clients and compatible
servers. If the client and server are not compatible, a communication error occurs. For more
information on specific compatibilities, contact Progress Software Corporation Technical
Support.
When a compression-enabled client connects to an AppServer that is not compression-capable,

compression is disabled for the network connection. When a compression-capable AppServer
receives a compressed message from a compression-enabled client, it can decompress messages
from the client and will respond to the client with a message in a compressed form.
Message compression can improve message throughput by reducing network overhead within
the lower communication layers. This is more common on slower topologies, such as dial-up
and WAN configurations. Progress Software Corporation recommends that you proceed with
caution on faster, more optimized networks where network performance is higher. The high
per-packet processing cost of enabling compression can increase network latency as it improves
throughput. The net result could degrade the overall performance of the application.
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Memory consistency check (-MemCheck)
Memory consistency check (-MemCheck)

Use Memory consistency check to enable memory overwrite checking for the buffer pool.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -MemCheck

Client — — – —
Connection,
Database
Server
Memory consistency check detects illegal operations in memory movement, such as a buffer
copy with a negative length of data, or a memory move to an incorrect location. The purpose
Memory consistency check is to prevent memory corruption.
Index and record block operations are checked prior to before-image note writing and the
subsequent database block write. The length of the intended operation is checked to prevent
operations that exceed database the block size.
Index block splits and index insert operations are checked at strategic points to monitor
consistency.
Memory consistency checking can be enabled or disabled while your database is online with
Memory consistency check can be enabled for a single user client or for any offline utility. If
the utility is read-only, such as DBANALYS, the -MemCheck parameter is ignored. Online
utilities determine whether or not to perform memory consistency checking during execution
based on the use of -MemCheck at broker startup or by the enablement/disablement of the
memory consistency checking in PROMON.
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Delayed BI File Write (-Mf)
Delayed BI File Write (-Mf)

Use Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) to improve performance on a heavily loaded system.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mf n

Database 32,768 0 01 3
Server
1. Default is 3 for batch jobs.
Any positive value delays OpenEdge from synchronously writing out to disk the last
before-image (BI) file records at the end of each transaction. On UNIX systems using
shared memory, it also specifies the interval that the broker process wakes up to make sure
all BI file changes have been written to disk. The default is 3 for single-user batch jobs and
for multi-user databases using shared memory. Otherwise, the default is 0.
Using the Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) parameter does not reduce database integrity. However,
if there is a system failure, it is possible the last few completed transactions will be lost (never
actually written to the BI file).
When running with full integrity, at the end of each transaction OpenEdge does a synchronous
write to disk of the last BI file block. This write guarantees that the completed transaction is
recorded permanently in the database. If the user is notified that the transaction has completed
and the system or database manager crashes shortly afterwards, the transaction is not lost.
Do not set the Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) parameter on a lightly loaded system with little
database update activity. Under these conditions, the extra BI write is very important and does
not impact performance. On a heavily loaded system, however, the BI write is less important
(the BI block will be written to disk very soon anyway), and has a significant performance
penalty. Setting the Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) parameter to delay this extra BI write saves
one write operation per transaction, which can significantly improve performance. The extra BI
file write is delayed by default for batch jobs.
If the Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) parameter is set to a positive value, the last BI file record is
only guaranteed to be written out to disk when a user logs out, or when the server or broker
process terminates normally. On multi-user systems, the n argument determines the maximum
length of time in seconds during which completed transactions can be lost.
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Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi)
Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi)

Use Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi) to specify the number of remote users on a server before
the broker starts another server (up to the maximum number of servers).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mi n

Server
The number of remote users on a server before the broker starts another server. See also
the Maximum Servers (-Mn) startup parameter.
This parameter pertains only to multi-user versions of OpenEdge that use shared memory. In
addition, -Mi and -Mn apply only to databases accessed from remote network nodes.
As remote users enter the database, the broker process starts just one server process for each n
remote users, until the maximum number of servers (specified by the Maximum Servers (-Mn)
parameter) is started. If you specify a value of 1, the broker starts a new server for each of the
first -Mn remote users. Subsequent remote users are distributed evenly among the servers until
the maximum number of users (-n) or maximum clients per server (-Ma) limits are reached.
Typically, you can leave -Mi and -Mn at their default values. If you significantly increase -Mn,
you should also increase -Mi. For example, if you set -Mn to 10 to accommodate up to 40 or more
remote users, increase -Mi to 3 or 4 to prevent a situation where 10 servers were started for just
10 remote users.
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Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport)
Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport)

Use Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport) to specify the lowest port number in a specified
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -minport n

Database – 1,025 – 1,025

Server
The port number that is the lower in a specified range.
You specify the higher port number with the -maxport parameter. Ports below 1025 are usually
reserved for system TCP and UDP. The range of port numbers defined by the -maxport and
-minport parameters provides client access to an OpenEdge server that is behind a firewall.
This communication is possible only when the access to the server can be limited.
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Minimum Dynamic DataServer (-dsminport)
Minimum Dynamic DataServer (-dsminport)

Use Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport) to specify the lowest port number in a specified
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -dsminport n
Unix Unix Windows Windows

Use Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum
with value value value value
DataServer 2000 1025 5000 3000
The port number that is the lowest in a specified range.
You specify the highest port number with the Maximum Dynamic DataServer Server
(-dsmaxport) parameter. The range of port numbers defined by the Maximum Dynamic
DataServer Server (-dsmaxport) and Minimum Dynamic DataServer Server (-dsminport)
parameters provides client access to an OpenEdge server that is behind a firewall. Some
operating systems choose transient client ports in the 32,768-to-65,535 range. Choosing a port
in this range might produce unwanted results.
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Message Buffer Size (-Mm)
Message Buffer Size (-Mm)

Use Message Buffer Size (-Mm) to specify the standard message buffer size, in bytes. This
parameter is relevant only for network client/server connections.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mm n

Client 32,600 350 – 1,024

Connection,
Database
Server
The message buffer size.
OpenEdge uses message buffers to move records (messages) between servers and remote
clients. Records (plus 40-byte headers) larger than the message buffer size are fragmented into
multiple messages. If your database records are large, increase this parameter to avoid record
fragmentation. However, if the network works more efficiently with small messages, reduce
-Mm and fragment larger records.
Note: On a given database, you must specify the same message buffers size when starting the
server or broker (using PROSERVE) and multi-user clients (using MPRO) and when
shutting down the database (using PROSHUT). That is, if you change the -Mm value on
any database command, you must change all PROSERVE command, MPRO command, and
PROSHUT commands accordingly. For more information, see OpenEdge Data
Management: Database Administration.
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Maximum Memory (-mmax)
Maximum Memory (-mmax)

Use Maximum Memory (-mmax) to change the initial amount of memory allocated for r-code
segments, in kilobytes.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -mmax n

Client Session 65,534 1 3,096 3,096
The amount of memory allocated for r-code segments.
The AVM dynamically allocates space for r-code segments in the execution buffer as needed.
When memory allocation reaches the value specified by the Maximum Memory (-mmax) value,
the AVM writes nonactive segments to the sort file to make room for new active procedures.
(the AVM writes library-stored r-code to the sort file only if you specified the PROLIB Swap
(-pls) startup parameter.) If you have large procedures or deeply nested procedure calls, you
can use -mmax to increase the initial size of the execution buffer to reduce disk I/O activity
required to swap segments to the sort file.
The -mmax value does not limit the amount of memory available for r-code segments. If the
AVM requires more space in the execution buffer and cannot regain enough space by swapping
inactive segments to the sort file, the AVM allocates more memory.
The -mmax limit is a soft limit; so if your application needs to exceed the limit, the AVM
automatically increases it and issues a WARNING message. The WARNING is written to the current
output (if there is current output) and to the log file (LG).
You can force OpenEdge to adhere to the specified -mmax limit by starting the session with the
Hardlimit (-hardlimit) startup parameter. When you use the -hardlimit startup parameter,
OpenEdge issues the WARNING message when you exceed the Maximum Memory limit. It also
issues a message that a resource limit was reached and raises an untrappable STOP condition.
Note also that -hardlimit also enforces the limits set by the Directory Size (-D) the Local
Buffer Size (-l), and the Nested Blocks (-nb) startup parameters. The STOP condition is raised
when any of the specified limits is reached.
Use Statistics (-y) and Segment Statistics (-yd) to see segment allocation information.
4–123
Maximum Servers (-Mn)
Maximum Servers (-Mn)

Use Maximum Servers (-Mn) to limit the number of remote user servers that can be started by
the broker process.
Note: The maximum value for the number of servers that may be started for a database is
limited by available resources of the operating system.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mn n

Database –1 1 – 4
Server
1. Limited by available resources.
The maximum number of remote client servers that can be started on the system. The value
specified is always incremented by 1 to provide a server for the primary login broker.
The performance tradeoff to consider is swapping overhead for many servers versus
overloading (slowing down) a server with too many clients. For more information on
controlling memory use, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration.
This parameter pertains only to multi-user versions of OpenEdge that use shared memory. In
addition, this parameter applies only to databases that are accessed from remote network nodes.
Also, use Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi) to adjust the actual number of servers in use. See
the Maximum Clients Per Server (-Ma) and Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi) startup
parameters for more information.
4–124
Servers Per Protocol (-Mp)
Servers Per Protocol (-Mp)

Use Servers per Protocol (-Mp) with Secondary Login Broker (-m3) in database networks that
use more than one network protocol.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mp n

Database value of -Mn 1 – value of -Mn

Server
The number of servers a broker can start.
This parameter limits the number of servers that the broker can start to serve remote users for
any one protocol. The total number of servers for all protocols is still limited by the Maximum
Servers (-Mn) parameter.
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Maximum Servers Per Broker (-Mpb)
Maximum Servers Per Broker (-Mpb)

Use Maximum Server Per Broker (-Mpb) to specify the maximum number of servers that
multiple brokers can start to serve remote users for any one protocol.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mpb n

Server
The number of servers multiple brokers can start.
For more information, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration.
4–126
VLM Page Table Entry Optimization (-Mpte)
VLM Page Table Entry Optimization (-Mpte)

Use VLM Page Table Entry Optimization (-Mpte) to allocate shared memory in multiples of
8MB at server startup for VLM64 support.
Operating
system
and syntax Digital UNIX -Mpte

Server
This function is a binary switch that is off by default. The -Mpte startup parameter turns the
function on.
4–127
Record Buffer Size (-Mr)
Record Buffer Size (-Mr)

Use Record Buffer Size (-Mr) to improve performance by varying the standard record buffer
size.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mr n

Client Session 32,000 96 – 1,012
The standard record buffer size in bytes. The default value of 1,012 bytes is appropriate in
nearly all cases.
On some systems, you can use Record Buffer Size (-Mr) to improve performance by varying the
standard record buffer size. However, the default value of 1,012 bytes is appropriate in nearly
all cases.
This parameter determines the maximum size of a record buffer the ABL client can hold in its
buffer cache. If you need to fetch a row that is larger than this value, then the AVM allocates a
new record buffer to hold the larger record and frees the buffer after the record buffer goes out
of scope. If you set this parameter too low, the client will spend more time allocating and freeing
memory. Set this parameter to be larger than the average size record the application will read
from the database.
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User MUX Latches (-mux)
User MUX Latches (-mux)

Use User MUX Latches (-mux) to control the granularity of access to large database resources
in shared memory.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -mux n

Database 1 0 – 1
Server
Client
Connection
Do not use this parameter unless directed to do so by Progress Software Technical Support.
4–129
Shared-memory Overflow Size (-Mxs)
Shared-memory Overflow Size (-Mxs)

Use Shared-memory Overflow (-Mxs) to replace the default value of the shared-memory
overflow area; it does not increase it.
Administration.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Mxs n

Database Varies1 1 – Varies

Server
1. The maximum is limited only by the size of the signed integer data type on the system. If your system uses a 4 byte
integer, then the formula is: 16KB + (n*300). For all other systems, the formula is: 16KB + (n*400).
The size of the shared-memory overflow area in kilobytes.
The overflow area is appended to the shared-memory area. This parameter is relevant only on
shared-memory systems.
If the overflow area is too small, OpenEdge exits with the following message:
SYSTEM ERROR: Out of free shared memory. Use -Mxs to increase.
Depending on the operating system, OpenEdge rounds the shared-memory area size to the next
512-byte or 4K boundary.
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Number of Users (-n)
Number of Users (-n)

Use Number of Users (-n) to limit the total number of users below the level that overloads the
database server on systems that do not use shared memory.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -n n

Database 10,000 – – 20
Server
The maximum number of OpenEdge users on the system. After n users have connected to
the OpenEdge database, additional user startup attempts are rejected.
Note: The actual number of allowed users might be smaller than the value of this
parameter. The actual number of allowed users must be equal or less than the result
of the Maximum Servers (-Mn) multiplied by the Maximum Clients Per Server
(-Ma), using whole number values for those parameters.
On systems that do not use shared memory, use Number of Users (-n) to limit the total number
of users below the level that overloads the database server.
On shared-memory systems, -n must be high enough to include local and remote users as well
as background writers (APWs, BIWs, and AIWs), PROWDOG processes, and PROMON
sessions. For more information, see the Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi) and Maximum
Servers (-Mn) startup parameters.
4–131
Nap Time Increment (-napinc)
Nap Time Increment (-napinc)

Use Nap Time Increment (-napinc) to specify the nap time increment for Enterprise database
licenses only.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -napinc n

Database – – – 10
Server
4–132
Nap Time Steps (-napstep)
Nap Time Steps (-napstep)

Use Nap Time Steps (-napstep) to specify the steps between the nap increments for Enterprise
database licenses only.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -napstep n

Server
4–133
Nested Blocks (-nb)

Use Nested Blocks (-nb) to limit the maximum number of nested procedure blocks allowed.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -nb n

The maximum number of nested blocks.
By default, the maximum number of nested blocks is 50. Nested block entries are allocated in
memory; each requires 16 bytes. Therefore, decrease -nb only if memory is severely limited.
The -nb limit is a soft limit. If your application needs to exceed the limit, the AVM issues a
WARNING message and automatically increases the number of nested procedure blocks allowed.
The WARNING is written to the current output (if there is current output) and to the log file (LG).
You can force the AVM to adhere to the specified -nb limit by starting the session with the
Hardlimit (-hardlimit) startup parameter. When you use the -hardlimit startup parameter, the
AVM issues the WARNING message when you exceed the Nested Blocks (-nb) limit. It also issues
a message that a resource limit was reached and raises an untrappable STOP condition. Note that
-hardlimit also enforces the limits set by the Directory Size (-D), the Local Buffer Size (-l),
and the Maximum Memory (-mmax) startup parameters, so the STOP condition is raised when
any of the specified limits is reached.
4–134
No Lock (-NL)
No Lock (-NL)
Use No Lock (-NL) to have all record retrieval statements default to NO-LOCK record access.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -NL

In order to get the NO-LOCK default for any procedure, it must be compiled in an OpenEdge
session started with -NL. Running OpenEdge with -NL has no affect on precompiled procedures.
When a transaction ends, EXCLUSIVE locks are downgraded to SHARE-LOCK, regardless of the -NL
parameter.
4–135
No Auto Result-list (-noautoreslist)

Use No Auto Result-list (-noautoreslist) to avoid building result-lists for static non-scrolling
queries.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noautoreslist

A static non-scrolling query is one that is:
• Defined using the DEFINE QUERY statement without the SCROLLING option
• Opened using the OPEN QUERY statement (but not previously defined using the DEFINE
QUERY statement)
• Not associated with a browse widget (and has not been changed into a scrolling query by
the DEFINE BROWSE statement)
When you specify this startup parameter, you cannot use the GET PREV, GET LAST, REPOSITION,
or BROWSE methods or statements with static non-scrolling queries. If you do, the AVM
generates an error. You can use the GET-FIRST( ) method and GET FIRST statement only on
newly opened queries, and you can use the GET NEXT statement and GET-NEXT( ) method freely.
If you specify this startup parameter and you open a static non-scrolling query with preselect or
sort, the AVM still builds a result-list in order to resolve the query.
Specifying this startup parameter has no affect on dynamic queries, since they are scrolling
queries by default.
Specifying this startup parameter can improve the performance of operations on queries.
4–136
No Check Temp-table Names (-nochkttnames)
No Check Temp-table Names (-nochkttnames)

Use the No Check Temp-Table Names (-nochkttnames) parameter to suppress the limited
checking of temp-table column names when passing temp-table as parameters to procedures.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -nochkttnames

When passing temp-table as a parameter to a procedure, the calling procedure’s temp-table and
the called procedure’s temp-table must match with respect to the number of columns, the data
type of each column, and the number of extents of each column (for columns with extents).
The AVM provides limited checking of temp-table column names when passing temp-tables as
parameters to procedures. That is, for any given column:
• If the name of a column in the calling procedure’s temp-table does not match any column
defined in the called procedure’s temp-table, the AVM processes the column.
• If the name and position of a column in the calling procedure’s temp-table matches a
column defined in the called procedure’s temp-table, the AVM processes the column.
• If the name of a column in the calling procedure’s temp-table matches a column defined
in the called procedure’s temp-table, but the positions do not match, the AVM reports an
error and the called procedure does not run.
Use the No Check Temp-table Names (-nochkttnames) parameter when you want the AVM to
process the temp-table without verifying column names.
Note: Temp-table column names are case-insensitive.
4–137
No Evaluation of Properties (-noevalprops)

Use the No Evaluation of Properties (-noevalprops) parameter to prevent the OpenEdge
Debugger from evaluating ABL properties during a debugging session.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noevalprops

Connection
The reason for using this parameter is to avoid errors that can occur in the Debugger when it
executes the property’s accessor (GET) method. Such errors might occur, for example, if the
Debugger attempts to evaluate the property before the object is fully constructed. Certain side
effects of the property’s GET method can also lead to Debugger errors.
If you use this startup parameter, the Debugger displays “** Property evaluation
disabled **” for any property that has a GET method with an implementation. The parameter
has no effect on ABL properties with empty GET methods, which are always evaluated.
If property evaluation is disabled, you can use the Dataview dialog box to inspect the value of
a property. For more information, see OpenEdge Development: Debugging and
Troubleshooting.
4–138
No Garbage Collection (-nogc)
No Garbage Collection (-nogc)

Use No Garbage Collection (-nogc) to disable automatic garbage collection of class-based
objects. By default, the AVM automatically deletes .NET objects and ABL objects when there
are no remaining references to the object. When -nogc is specified, the application assumes the
responsibility of deleting .NET objects and ABL objects explicitly, using the DELETE OBJECT
statement. If -nogc is specified, .NET objects and ABL objects that are not explicitly deleted
are deleted when the session ends, and the AVM does not invoke any destructors for the class.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -nogc

For more information on garbage collection, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference and
OpenEdge Development: Object-oriented Programming.
4–139
No Host Verify (-nohostverify)

Use No Host Verify (-nohostverify) to turn off host verification for a Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) connection to a database server.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -nohostverify

Connection
Without this parameter specified, the client compares the host name specified in the connection
with the Common Name specified in the server certificate, and raises an error if they do not
match. With this parameter specified, the client never raises the error.
For more information, see OpenEdge Getting Started: Core Business Services.
4–140
No Inactive Indexes (-noinactiveidx)
No Inactive Indexes (-noinactiveidx)

Use No Inactive Indexes (-noinactiveidx) to exclude inactive indexes from the compilation of
WHERE clauses, as well as LIKE clauses in DEFINE TEMP-TABLE statements.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noinactiveidx

4–141
No Auto-Increment Warnings (-noincrwarn)

Use No Auto-Increment Warnings (-noincrwarn) to suppress messages (5407) through (5410).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noincrwarn

The auto-increment messages, messages (5407) through (5410), warn about the automatic
resource usage increases by the Maximum Memory (-mmax), Nested Blocks (-nb), Local
Buffer Size (-l), and Directory Size (-D) startup parameters.
Note: Using the SESSION:SUPPRESS-WARNINGS attribute will suppress all warning messages
during a session, including auto-increment warnings. By using the No Auto-Increment
Warnings (-noincrwarn) startup parameter without the SESSION:SUPPRESS-WARNINGS
attribute, all normal warning messages display except the auto-increment warning
messages.
Caution: The auto-increment warnings may indicate a memory leak in your application,
resulting in excessive resource usage. The No Auto-Increment Warnings
(-noincrwarn) startup parameter does not stop this excess resource usage; it stops the
reporting of this condition.
4–142
Index Hint (-noindexhint)
Index Hint (-noindexhint)

Use Index Hint (-noindexhint) to stop a DataServer for ORACLE from providing index hints
to the ORACLE DBMS, which the DataServer does by default.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noindexhint

Generally, index hints improve performance, but ORACLE's responses to hints varies among
releases. This parameter is valid only when using the DataServer for ORACLE.
4–143
No INT64 (-noint64)
Use No INT64 (-noint64) to execute Release 10.1B code with Release 10.1A executables.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noint64

If you specify the -noint64 startup parameter:
• The functions that are compiled as INT64 in Release 10.1B (CURRENT-VALUE,

DYNAMIC-CURRENT-VALUE, DYNAMIC-NEXT-VALUE, ETIME, GET-POINTER-VALUE, GET-SIZE,
INTERVAL, NEXT-VALUE, and SEEK) are compiled as INTEGER.
• INT64 constants are compiled as DECIMAL.
• ABL source code references to INT64 variables and fields generate errors.
• Code that subtracts two DATETIMEs generates a compile-time error.
• The XML schema long data type (64-bit signed integer) maps to the ABL DECIMAL data
type rather than the INT64 data type. This mapping applies to:
– The bprowsdldoc and bproxsdto4gl command line utilities
– The Web Services Client runtime product
Notes: Using the -noint64 startup parameter does not guarantee that your r-code will run in
Release 10.1A. You must first make sure that your code does not include any 10.1B
features. However, if you have procedure (.p) files that run in Release 10.1A and you
recompile them without any changes in Release 10.2B with the -noint64 startup
parameter, the procedures still run in Release 10.1A.
The -noint64 startup parameter does not affect performance. The arithmetic
operations in Release 10.1A and earlier code are calculated using the INTEGER data
type while those in Release 10.1B and higher are calculated using the INT64 data type.
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Server Join (-nojoinbysqldb)
Server Join (-nojoinbysqldb)

Use Server Join (-nojoinbysqldb) to specify that the client evaluate and performs queries that
have joins.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -nojoinbysqldb

This might slow performance, but provides results that are consistent with OpenEdge behavior.
It also allows you to run DataServer applications on Version 9 clients with Version 8 servers. It
overrides the DataServer default behavior, which is to instruct the non-OpenEdge server to
perform the join.
Note: Use -nojoinbysqldb at compile time. It has no effect at run time.
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No Session Cache (-nosessioncache)

Use No Session Cache (-nosessioncache) to disable SSL session caching.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -nosessioncache

Server
Session caching allows a client to reuse a previously established session if it reconnects prior to
the session cache timeout expiring. Use No Session Cache (-nosessioncache) to disable this
feature. Session caching is enabled by default.
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No Session Reuse (-nosessionreuse)
No Session Reuse (-nosessionreuse)

Use No Session Reuse (-nosessionreuse) when you do not want to reuse a Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) session ID to reconnect to the same SSL-enabled database server.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -nosessionreuse

Connection
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SELECT Pass Through Disable (-noSQLbyserver)

Use SELECT Pass Through Disable (-noSQLbyserver) to turn off SELECT Pass Through for
the current OpenEdge session.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noSQLbyserver

Use with DataServers for ODBC and ORACLE.
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No UDF in WHERE Clause (-noudfinwhere)
No UDF in WHERE Clause (-noudfinwhere)

Use No UDF in WHERE Clause (-noudfinwhere) to restrict the invocation of user-defined
functions and methods from within WHERE clauses. When specified, invoking a user-defined
function or method from within a WHERE clause generates a compiler error.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -noudfinwhere

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Fractional Separator (-numdec)

Use Fractional Separator (-numdec) to change the character that represents a number’s decimal
point in formatted text. The default decimal point is the period (.).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -numdec numeric-value

Client Session – – . (period) . (period)
numeric-value
The numeric value of the character that represents the decimal point.
The AVM converts numeric-value to its character equivalent using the code page
corresponding to the Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) startup parameter.
The decimal point cannot be represented by any of the following:
• The characters B C D R Z z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + - < > ( ) * ?
• The space character
• Any multi-byte character
In the following example, -numdec is used to change the decimal point in formatted text to a
comma (which, in the ISO8859-1 code page, has a numeric value of 44):
-numdec 44
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Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles)
Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles)

Use Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles) to specify the total number of rolled over log
files to keep on disk at any one time, across OpenEdge sessions, including the current log file.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -numlogfiles n

Client Session – – 3 3
The number of log files to keep. Valid values are:
• 0 — This means there is no limit on the number of log files to keep.
• 2 or greater — The default is 3.
If you specify a value of 1, a run-time error occurs and the OpenEdge process terminates.
Use the Log Threshold (-logthreshold) startup parameter to specify the file size at which
OpenEdge renames and saves log files.
Use the Client Logging (-clientlog) startup parameter to specify a log file name for ABL clients.
Use the DataServer Logging (-dslog) startup parameter to specify a log file name for server
context of a DataServer client or agent.
You also can use the NUM-LOG-FILES attribute on the LOG-MANAGER system handle to specify the
number of log files to keep. For more information, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
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Thousands Separator (-numsep)

Use Thousands Separator (-numsep) to change the character that represents a number’s
thousands separator in formatted text. The default thousands separator is the comma (,).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -numsep numeric-value

Client Session – – , (comma) , (comma)
numeric-value
The numeric value of the character that represents the thousands separator.
The AVM converts numeric-value to its character equivalent using the code page
corresponding to the Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) startup parameter.
The thousands separator cannot be represented by any of the following:
• The characters B C D R Z z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + - < > ( ) * ?
• Any multi-byte character
Note: You can represent the thousands separator with the space character.
In the following example, -numsep is used to change the thousands separator in formatted text
to an apostrophe (which, in the ISO8859-1 code page, has a numeric value of 39):
-numsep 39
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Printer (-o)
Printer (-o)
Specifies the printer to use.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -o printername

Client Session – – System System

dependent1 dependent1
1. See defaults listed below.
printername
Identifies the printer to use when processing the OUTPUT TO PRINTER statement in
procedures.
In Windows, use Printer (-o) followed by the name of the printer port. For example:
-o LPT1
If you do not use the -o parameter, the AVM uses the printer specified as the default printer.
On UNIX, use Printer (-o) followed by the name of the spooler and any necessary parameters.
If you do not use the -o parameter, the AVM defaults to lp (System V) or lpr (BSD). If you are
passing arguments with this parameter and are using a script such as PRO or one of your own,
enclose the entire string in quotes so the argument to -o is returned as a single value when
passed to the OpenEdge module. For example:
-o "lp -s"
The AVM uses the spooler or printer port named at execution time rather than using the name
at compile time. That way, precompiled procedures work regardless of which spooler or printer
port is in effect.
To use a print spooler with spooler parameters, use OUTPUT TO PRINTER and specify the spooler
parameters with -o, as in the following commands:
OUTPUT THROUGH lp spooler-parameters PAGED.
OUTPUT THROUGH lpr spooler-parameters PAGED.
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Outer-join Mode (-ojmode)

Use the Outer-join Mode (-ojmode) parameter to specify the mode in which mixed inner and
left outer joins, in queries of three or more joined tables, are processed.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -ojmode n

An INTEGER specifying the join mode.
Mixing inner and left outer joins lets you filter and reduce the amount of data you see on the left
side of your left outer joins. When mixing these two types of join, inner joins take precedence
over left outer joins. That is, the last inner join in a query causes the results of a prior outer join
in the query to be like an inner join. This is because any rows that contain missing data from a
prior left outer join are eliminated by the following inner join, if the data from that inner join is
also missing. If the subsequent inner join has data, rows containing missing data from the prior
left outer join are not eliminated.
If you set the value of -ojmode to 1, mixed inner and left outer joins in queries of three or more
joined tables are processed as described above. Use this join mode when you want to see rows
that contain missing data from a prior left outer join and existent data from a subsequent inner
join. This is the default join mode.
If you set the value of -ojmode to 2, left outer joins take precedence over inner joins. That is,
any rows that contain missing data from a prior left outer join are not eliminated by a subsequent
inner join, whether the data from that inner join is missing or not. Use this join mode when you
want to see rows that contain missing data from both a prior left outer join and a subsequent
inner join.
Note: In any query, keeping your inner joins contiguous on the left with any left outer joins
contiguous on the right will produce the same result in either join mode.
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Storage Object Cache Size (-omsize)
Storage Object Cache Size (-omsize)

Use Storage Object Cache Size (-omsize) to specify the size of the object cache for all database
objects.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -omsize n

Database 65535 0 – 1024

Server
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Password (-P)
Use Password (-P) together with the User ID (-U) to specify the user password.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -P password

Connection
password
The password of the user connecting to the database.
OpenEdge checks the _User table for the user ID supplied with the -U parameter. When it finds
that user ID, it compares the password supplied with the -P parameter with the password in the
_User table. If the two passwords match, OpenEdge establishes the database connection.
With certain DataServers, the -P and -U parameters pass DataServer login information to the
non-OpenEdge database. For information, see your DataServer documentation.
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Startup Procedure (-p)
Startup Procedure (-p)

Use Startup Procedure (-p) to specify a procedure that executes at the start of an OpenEdge
session.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -p filename

Client Session – – _edit.p _edit.p
filename
The name of the procedure to run when starting OpenEdge.
A common use for the -p parameter is to run an ABL procedure that displays a main application
menu. The user can then choose options from the menu to run other ABL procedures. As a
built-in security measure, when users press CTRL+C while running a procedure specified by -p,
the AVM prevents the users from accessing the Procedure Editor by rerunning the specified
procedure (unless the application explicitly allows Procedure Editor access).
If you use the Batch (-b) startup parameter (MBPRO or BPRO), also use the -p parameter.
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Parameter (-param)
Use Parameter (-param) to specify a character string that can be accessed from ABL procedures.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -param string

string
A character string that supplies information to an ABL application. Can also be a

comma-separated list of files to open in Procedure Editor buffers.
You can also use this parameter to specify one or more files to load into Procedure Editor
buffers. The Procedure Editor only loads the specified files when you use this parameter with a
startup command that places you directly in the Procedure Editor. The files are not loaded when
you use the parameter with a startup command that places you in the OpenEdge Application
Development Environment (ADE) desktop. Within an ABL procedure, you can access the
string by reading the PARAMETER attribute of the SESSION system handle.
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Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase)
Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase)

Use Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase) to open an encryption-enabled database that is
configured for manual start or to override the autostart passphrase configuration
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -Passphrase

Server
Client
Connection
Database utilities and servers, and non-networked self-service clients indicate that they require
a prompt for key store authentication by adding Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase) to the
command line. Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase) prompts for the key store passphrase. If
you cannot successfully authenticate the key store, you can not open the database.
For more information on Prompt for Passphrase, and Transparent Data Encryption in general,
see OpenEdge Getting Started: Core Business Services and OpenEdge Data Management:
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Pending Connection Time (-PendConnTime)

Use Pending Connection Time (-PendConnTime) to prevent connection errors caused by
network problems.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -PendConnTime n

Database Server – – – 0
Time, in seconds, allowed the client to connect to a server.
When a client attempts to connect to an OpenEdge database, the RDBMS assumes that if the
client can reach the broker, it can also reach the server. Network problems or incorrect
configuration of network devices can prevent the client from reaching the server. In such an
instance, the broker, unaware that the client’s connection failed, continues to increment its count
of connected users. To prevent this problem, OpenEdge brokers use a “reservation” count on
each server and they increment this count whenever they redirect a client to that server.
When -PendConnTime is used, the servers examine the timestamp on the latest reservation and,
if the Pending Connection Time period has elapsed, the broker assumes that the client has failed
to connect. The broker then clears the reservation, making the server available for new clients.
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Parameter File (-pf)
Parameter File (-pf)

Use Parameter File (-pf) to name a parameter file that includes any number of startup
parameters to run OpenEdge.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -pf filename

Client Session,
Database Server,
DataServer
filename
The name of a parameter file that contains startup parameters to run OpenEdge.
This parameter is especially useful if you regularly use the same parameters to start OpenEdge,
or if more parameters are specified than can fit on the command line. This parameter can be
included within the parameter file itself to reference another parameter file.
Use multiple instances of -pf to name multiple parameter files. This allows you to specify
application-specific parameters in one parameter file, database-specific parameters in a second
parameter file, and user-specific parameters in yet another file.
See Chapter 1, “Introduction,” for more information about parameter files.
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Database Service Communication Area Size (-pica)

Use Database Service Communication Area Size (-pica) to set the size of the database service
communications area in Kb.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -pica n

Database 8192 4 – 16
Server
The database service communications area is used to store after-image block write notifications
intended for OpenEdge Replication.
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Pin Shared Memory (-pinshm)
Pin Shared Memory (-pinshm)

Using the Pin Shared Memory (-pinshm) parameter prevents the database engine from
swapping shared memory contents to disk, which can help improve performance.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -pinshm

Server
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PROLIB Memory (-plm)

Use PROLIB Memory (-plm) to allocate a 512byte cache for a standard library directory.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -plm

Otherwise, when using a standard library, the library’s internal directory is loaded into memory.
The directory is used to access the r-code files stored in the library. This parameter slows the
library’s speed of access but increases available memory. If you specify -plm with
memory-mapped libraries, the AVM ignores it. For more information on r-code libraries, see
OpenEdge Deployment: Managing ABL Applications and OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL
Essentials.
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PROLIB Swap (-pls)
PROLIB Swap (-pls)

Use PROLIB Swap (-pls) to direct the AVM to store r-code segments from a standard
procedure library locally in the r-code swap file, rather than the usual behavior.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -pls

Usually, OpenEdge opens the library file and loads the required r-code segments into the r-code
execution buffer. When OpenEdge needs to make space, the segment is removed from the
execution buffer. Later, if that segment is needed again, OpenEdge re-reads the segment from
the open library which remains in the execution buffer until the end of your OpenEdge session
or until you remove the library from the PROPATH.
This process is generally faster than loading the r-code segment from the r-code swap file.
However, if the procedure library is accessed over a network, reading r-code segments once and
storing them locally in the r-code swap file might be more efficient.
Note: Codepage-converted text segments from a standard procedure library are always
swapped to the r-code swap file, whether or not you specify -pls.
If you specify -pls with memory-mapped procedure libraries, the AVM ignores it. For more
information on procedure libraries, see OpenEdge Deployment: Managing ABL Applications
and OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL Essentials.
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Fast Schema Change (-populate)

Use Fast Schema Change (-populate) to turn off fast schema change when you are adding
fields to a table. Fast schema change is the default behavior.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -populate

Connection
In earlier versions of OpenEdge, adding a field to an existing database table is a time-consuming

process for large databases. The DBMS updated the data in each row of the table to reflect the
newly added field. Now OpenEdge provides a fast schema change when you are adding fields
to a table when all qualifying conditions are met. If all conditions are not met, adding a field
causes OpenEdge to update every row in the table.
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Preload CLR (-preloadCLR) startup parameter
Preload CLR (-preloadCLR) startup parameter

Use Preload CLR (-preloadCLR) to load the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) and any
specified assemblies into the ABL session at startup. This provides for deterministic loading of
the CLR and assemblies when the application is started.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -preloadCLR

If you do not specify -preloadCLR, the AVM loads the CLR the first time ABL refers to, or uses,
a .NET type or object either at compile time or runtime. The individual assemblies are loaded
as needed.
If you specify -preloadCLR and the client machine does not have an appropriate version of the
.NET framework installed, OpenEdge raises an error and shuts down.
For more information on accessing .NET objects using the ABL, see OpenEdge Development:
GUI for .NET Programming. For information on the .NET CLR, refer to the Microsoft .NET
Framework documentation.
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Configuration Properties File (-properties)

Use Configuration Properties File (-properties) to identify the properties file that the
AdminServer uses internally to specify startup parameters when starting a database server or
servergroup.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -properties filename

Server
filename
The name of the properties file.
The default is $DLC/properties/conmgr.properties. This is an internal parameter, you

should not use this parameter directly.
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Proxy Host (-proxyhost)
Proxy Host (-proxyhost)

Use the Proxy Host (-proxyhost) parameter to specify the name of the host or the IP address of
the host at which the HTTP-based proxy server is located.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -proxyhost { host-name | IP-address }

Connection
host-name
The name of the host at which the HTTP-based proxy server is located.
IP-address
The IP address of the host at which the HTTP-based proxy server is located.
Note: If you specify the Proxy Host (-proxyhost) parameter, you must also specify the
Proxy Port (-proxyport) parameter.
When binding to a WSDL file via the server object’s CONNECT( ) method, all connections
made using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol connect to the proxy server at the specified host and
port.
When you specify this parameter, all connections made by an AppServer client using the HTTP
or HTTPS protocol connect to an AppServer Internet Adapter (AIA) instance using the proxy
server at the specified host and port.
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Proxy Password (-proxyPassword)

Use Proxy Password (-proxyPassword) when -proxyhost and -proxyport are specified and
the Proxy server requires authentication.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -proxyPassword password

password
Password used to authenticate the AppServer client to the HTTP-based Proxy server.
password can be a string of up to 512 printable ASCII characters.
You can access -proxyPassword using the SESSION:PROXY-PASSWORD attribute.
If -proxyhost and -proxyport are not specified on the command line to the OpenEdge client,
any value for -proxyPassword, whether specified with the startup parameter or with the
SESSION attribute, is ignored.
password is validated during the AppServer CONNECT() method. If the password is invalid, the
CONNECT() method fails and the AVM issues an error message.
If -proxyUserid is not specified or SESSION:PROXY-USERID is not set, the CONNECT() method

ignores any value for -proxyPassword.
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Proxy Port (-proxyport)
Proxy Port (-proxyport)

Use the Proxy Port (-proxyport) parameter to specify the port on which the HTTP-based Proxy
server is listening.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -proxyport { port-number }

Client 65536 1 – –
Connection
port-number
The port number of the HTTP-based proxy server.
When you specify this parameter, all connections made by an AppServer client using the HTTP
or HTTPS protocol connect to an AppServer Internet Adapter (AIA) instance using the proxy
server at the specified host and port.
When binding to a WSDL file via the server object’s CONNECT( ) method, all connections
made using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol connect to the proxy server at the specified host and
port.
Note: If you specify the Proxy Port (-proxyport) parameter, you must also specify the Proxy
Host (-proxyhost) parameter.
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Proxy Userid (-proxyUserid)

Use the Proxy Userid (-proxyUserid) to authenticate an AppServer client to the HTTP-based
Proxy server.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -proxyUserid user-id

user-id
user-id used to authenticate an AppServer client to the HTTP-based proxy server. The
user-id can be a string of up to 512 printable ASCII characters, including the space
character.
You can access -proxyUserid using the SESSION:PROXY-USERID attribute.
If -proxyhost and -proxyport are not specified on the command-line to the OpenEdge client,
any value for the -proxyUserid, whether specified with the startup parameter or with the
SESSION attribute, is ignored.
The user-id is validated during the AppServer CONNECT() method. If user-id is invalid, the
CONNECT() method fails and the AVM issues an error message.
If -proxyPassword is not specified or SESSION:PROXY-PASSWORD is not set, and -proxyUserid

is specified, a blank proxy password is used by the AppServer CONNECT() method.
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Quick Request (-q)
Quick Request (-q)

Use Quick Request (-q) to tell the AVM to search PROPATH directories only on the first use of a
procedure.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -q

Ordinarily in an ABL procedure, when the RUN statement is used to run a subprocedure, the
AVM searches the directories named by the PROPATH environment variable, looking for a
procedure of the same name with a .r extension. If it finds a file with a .r extension (an r-code
file), it checks to make sure the r-code file has not changed since that r-code file was created.
This search is very useful in a development environment where procedures change regularly and
you want to make sure you are always running the most current version of your application.
However, in a production environment, you might want to bypass this search.
With Quick Request (-q), after the initial search, if the procedure still resides in memory or in
the local session-compiled file, the AVM uses that version of the procedure rather than
searching the directories again. However, the AVM always checks whether Data Dictionary
definitions related to a procedure were modified. If they were modified, the AVM displays an
error when it tries to retrieve the procedure.
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Non-reliable I/O (-r)

Use Non-reliable I/O (-r) to enable buffered I/O to the before-image file. In most cases, avoid
using this parameter because it might put database integrity at risk.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -r

Client Connection – – Unbuffered I/O Unbuffered I/O
Caution: If you run OpenEdge with the -r parameter and your system fails because of a system
crash or power failure, you cannot recover the database. You must restore the
database from a backup and restart processing from the beginning. If you are
updating a database using buffered I/O and there is an OpenEdge system failure, but
no hardware failure, OpenEdge can recover the database.
In general, you always want complete database integrity or you want fast performance for large
tasks, such as loading large amounts of data or doing fiscal year-end processing. The -r
parameter does not guarantee complete database integrity, and No Crash Protection (-i) is faster
in terms of performance.
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Alternate Random Number Generator (-rand)
Alternate Random Number Generator (-rand)

Use Alternate Random Number Generator (-rand) to specify whether to use the original
random number generator or the alternate one.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -rand n

The type of random number generator. A value of 1 (the default) indicates that OpenEdge
should use the original generator; specify a value of 2 to use the alternate.
The original number generator always generates the same random sequence; that is, the
numbers that it generates are random, but each time a session starts, it gives you the same set of
numbers from the last session. If you have to generate a different sequence of random numbers,
specify the alternate generator. This generator returns a number from a pseudorandom
sequence of numbers rather than a truly random sequence.
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Require Username (-requireusername)

Use Require Username (-requireusername) to require a username and password from the
ubroker.properties file for each user starting servers of the AdminServer (AppServer,
SonicMQ, and WebSpeed).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -requireusername

Connection
This parameter ensures that only valid users are able to start an AdminServer.
4–176
Reread Nolock (-rereadnolock)
Reread Nolock (-rereadnolock)

Use Reread Nolock (-rereadnolock) to tell the AVM how to decide between multiple copies
of a cached record that were read from the database using NO-LOCK. By default, the AVM
chooses the oldest of the NO-LOCK copies. When you start a session with -rereadnolock, the
AVM chooses the most recently cached NO-LOCK copy.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -rereadnolock
Use Maximum Single-user Multi-user

with value Minimum value default default
The AVM stores records read from the database in internal buffers that are linked to the record
buffers of your ABL application. When two internal buffers for the same record exist, the AVM
decides which to keep and use by rules based on the locking level and age of each copy. This
parameter only affects how the decision is made when both of the following conditions are true:
• A record is read from the database with NO-LOCK.
• The AVM finds an older NO-LOCK copy of that same record already in memory.
For more information on record locking, see the chapter on data handling and record locking in
OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL Essentials.
Note: This parameter causes no extra database activity; it simply determines whether to keep
the older or newer of the copies already in memory.
You use this parameter to resolve client-server currency conflicts. You also use it to resolve
server-to-server currency conflicts by using it as an AppServer startup parameter through the
Progress Explorer or by setting the srvrStartupParam property in the ubroker.properties
file for the appropriate AppServer. When applications use record buffers with a large scope,
such as default buffers scoped to the main block of long life persistent procedures as you might
have on an AppServer, using -rereadnolock is strongly advised.
Remember the following when using -rereadnolock:
• It has no affect on records that are retrieved through RECID or ROWID. In that case, the
AVM will not re-read the record. Instead, it uses the copy of the record already stored in
the buffer. If you need the most current version of the record, use the RELEASE statement
on all buffers that contain a copy of the record before reading the record, or use the FIND
CURRENT or GET CURRENT statement to re-read the record.
• It has no affect on the behavior of the query cache used for a query with NO-LOCK that
is specified through the CACHE phrase of the DEFINE QUERY statement. To force the
AVM to always re-read the record, set the cache size to zero (0). However, this may
significantly degrade performance if the database is accessed across a network. Set the
cache size to zero only when it is critical to retrieve the most current version of a record.
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• It has no affect on the behavior of the prefetch cache that is used by default when retrieving
records NO-LOCK across the network. By default, when executing a CAN-FIND function
or a FIND, FOR, or OPEN QUERY statement on a database that is accessed across a
network, the AVM fetches several records at a time and stores them in a prefetch cache.
The AVM will only send a request to the database server to fetch more records if the
requested record is not in the current prefetch cache. If the record is in the current cache,
the AVM will not read a new copy of that record even if -rereadnolock is set. To eliminate
this cache so that the most current version of the record is always read, use the
NO-PREFETCH keyword in the appropriate statements. However, using the
NO-PREFETCH keyword may significantly degrade performance. Set NO-PREFETCH
only if it is critical to retrieve the most current version of a record.
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Re-usable Objects Cache (-reusableObjects)
Re-usable Objects Cache (-reusableObjects)

Use Re-usable Objects Cache (-reusableObjects) to specify the number of deleted class
objects that the AVM stores for later re-initialization.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -reusableObjects cache-size

Client Session 2147483647 0 25 25
cache-size
Number of deleted class objects to store for later re-initialization.
This parameter can improve the performance of applications that use ABL classes. When a class
object is deleted, either by the DELETE OBJECT statement or through garbage collection, the
AVM caches the object. When the AVM instantiates the same class later, the stored object is
re-initialized and removed from the cache. This re-use saves much of the overhead of
instantiating a class.
Note: The cache only stores class-based objects. However, it does not store .NET classes,
.NET-derived ABL classes, classes with STATIC elements, or session-compiled
classes.
The cached class objects continue to hold some resources. You might want to modify the
settings of Directory Size (-D) and Maximum Memory (-mmax) to account for the number of
cached objects. For more information on the re-use of objects, see the DELETE OBJECT
statement in OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference and the section on object life-cycle in
OpenEdge Development: Object-oriented Programming.
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Run ABL Client (-rg)

Use Run ABL Client (-rg) to indicate that you want to run the ABL client.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -rg

Use this parameter if you have more than one type of OpenEdge client and want to limit
access/functionally of the session to the ABL client.
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Read-only Media (-RO)
Read-only Media (-RO)

Use Read-only (-RO) to open a database for read-only access or to access a database stored on
read-only media (a read-only optical disk, for example).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -RO

Connection
Note: Do not run servers for a read-only database. OpenEdge does not support servers for
read-only users.
If you use the -RO parameter when other users are updating the database, you might see invalid
data, such as stale data or index entries pointing to records that have been deleted.
A read-only session is essentially a single-user session. Read-only users do not share database
resources (database buffers, lock table, index cursors). However, unlike a normal single-user
database, a read-only database can be simultaneously accessed by multiple -RO users.
When a read-only session starts, it does not check for the existence of a lock file for the database.
Furthermore, a read-only user opens the database file, but not the log or before-image files.
Therefore, read-only user activity does not appear in the log file.
If a database is opened with -RO, the string returned by the DBRESTRICTIONS function includes
the keyword READ-ONLY.
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Run Query Client (-rq)

Use Run Query Client (-rq) to indicate that you want to run the Query client.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -rq

Use this parameter if you have more than one type of OpenEdge client and want to limit access
or functionality of the session to the Query client.
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Run Run-time Client (-rr)
Run Run-time Client (-rr)

Use Run Run-time Client (-rr) to run the Run-time Client.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -rr

Use this parameter if you have more than one type of OpenEdge client and want to limit access
or functionality of the session to the Run-time Client.
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Encrypted Compiler Mode (-rx)

Use Encrypted Compiler Mode (-rx) to enable query or run-time OpenEdge clients to compile
encrypted source code and access the Data Dictionary to manage schema (for example: for
security management and to dump or load .df files).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -rx

If OpenEdge is started with -rx, you can only compile encrypted source code. Use -rx when
you are shipping an application in the form of encrypted source code to end-user sites having
query or run-time versions of OpenEdge. You must prepare a tool that end users can run to
compile your code, and this tool must include a command that invokes OpenEdge with -rx.
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Service Name (-S)
Service Name (-S)

Use Service Name (-S) to specify the service or port number to be used when connecting to a
broker process or used by a broker process on the host machine.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -S { service-name | port-number }

Database Server
service-name
The name of the service to be used by the broker process.
port-number
The port number of the host; if using Progress Explorer, the port number of the
NameServer.
You must use this parameter when starting:
• A broker or server on a machine that will serve remote users
• Multi-user OpenEdge session as a remote user
The system administrator must make an entry in the services file that specifies the server or
broker name and port number.
When the broker spawns a server, the server inherits all of the network parameters (except the
Service Name parameter) from the broker. Because there is no restriction on the number of
brokers you can start, you can have multiple brokers running with different network parameters.
See also the Server Group (-servergroup) startup parameter description.
Table 4–4 shows how the broker, server, and remote client interpret each of their parameters
when you use the -S parameter.
Table 4–4: Parameter interpretation with Service Name (-S)
Module Interpretation
Broker Parameters apply to the connections on which the broker is listening for
connection requests from remote clients
Server Parameters apply to the connection between the server and the remote
client
Remote Client Parameters identify the connection parameters to the broker or the server
To run multi-user OpenEdge from a remote network node, use both the Host Name (-H) and
Service Name (-S) parameters.
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Stack Size (-s)

Use Stack Size (-s) to change the size of the stack (an internal memory area used by ABL
program modules).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -s n

Client 5,242,8781 9 40 40
Session
1. Actual maximum value is limited only by available memory
The size of the stack in 1KB units.
Note: It is recommended that the -s session startup parameter be set to 128. Setting this
startup parameter to a smaller value may result in runtime errors in some
environments.
Increase the stack size if one of the following messages appears:
SYSTEM ERROR: stkpush: stack overflow. Increase -s parameter.

SYSTEM ERROR: stkditem: stack overflow. Increase -s parameter.
Stack overflow errors are most likely when data definitions are loaded for very large tables or
use recursive procedures.
Note: If your application passes array parameters to procedures or functions, your stack size
requirements can increase significantly.
4–186
Screen-value Mode (-scrvalmode)
Screen-value Mode (-scrvalmode)

Use Screen-value Mode (-scrvalmode) to specify the mode in which the SCREEN-VALUE
attribute indicates that the selected item in a combo-box item list is empty.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -scrvalmode n

Client – – 0 0
Session
The screen-value mode. Valid modes are:
• 1 — If the selected item in the combo-box list is empty, the SCREEN-VALUE

attribute for the combo-box returns the empty string (""). Note that if no item in the
combo-box list is selected, the SCREEN-VALUE attribute returns the Unknown
value (?). In either case, the INPUT-VALUE attribute returns the empty string ("").
• 3 — The same as mode 1, with the following exception: if the SCREEN-VALUE

attribute for the combo-box returns the Unknown value (?), the INPUT-VALUE
attribute also returns the Unknown value (?).
Prior to OpenEdge R10.0, the SCREEN-VALUE attribute for a combo-box returns the empty
string ("") if the selected item in the list is empty. Starting with Release 10.0, the
SCREEN-VALUE attribute for a combo-box returns the Unknown value (?) if the selected item
in the list is empty. In either case, if no item in the combo-box list is selected, the
SCREEN-VALUE attribute returns the Unknown value (?).
This startup parameter does not apply to combo-box browse columns.
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Semaphore Sets (-semsets)

Use Semaphore Sets (-semsets) to change the number of semaphore sets available to the
OpenEdge broker.
Operating
system
and syntax UNIX -semsets n

Database Maximum 1 – 3
Server Number of
Users +1
An INTEGER specifying the number of semaphore sets available to the OpenEdge broker.
When more than 1,000 users connect to a single database, there might be high contention for the
semaphore set. If there is a lot of semaphore contention on a system, using multiple semaphore
sets helps alleviate this contention and improve performance on high user counts.
For more information on using semaphore sets, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
4–188
Server Group (-servergroup)
Server Group (-servergroup)

Use Server Group (-servergroup) to identify the logical collection of server processes to start.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -servergroup name

Server
name
Specifies the name of the logical collection of server processes.
The name you specify must match the name of a servergroup in the conmgr.properties file.
Use the Progress Explorer tool to create servergroups and save them in the conmgr.properties
file. Do not edit the conmgr.properties file directly. To start a database configuration use
Progress Explorer or the DBMAN utility.
Note: You can use the mergeprop utility installed with OpenEdge to edit the
conmgr.properties file. For information on using mergeprop, see OpenEdge Getting
Started: Installation and Configuration.
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Type of Server to Start (-ServerType)

Use the Type of Server to Start (-ServerType) parameter to limit the type of server the broker
can start.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -ServerType [4GL|SQL|Both]

Database – – Both Both

Server
SQL
4GL
Indicates the broker supports only OpenEdge servers.
SQL
Indicates the broker supports only SQL servers.
Both
Indicates the broker supports both OpenEdge and SQL servers.
To change the value of -ServerType, use the config.properites file or the command line.
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Session Timeout (-sessiontimeout)
Session Timeout (-sessiontimeout)

Use Session Timeout (-sessiontimeout) to change the length of time that a SSL session will
be cached.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -sessiontimeout n

Server
Specifies in seconds the length of time a SSL session will be held in the SSL session cache.
The default is 180 seconds.
SSL session caching allows a client to reuse a previously established SSL session if it
reconnects prior to the SSL session cache timeout expiring.
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Shared memory segment size (-shmsegsize)

Use Shared memory segment size (-shmsegsize) to specify the size of the largest shared
memory segment the server can allocate.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -shmsegsize n

Database System 128 for 32-bit – Configuration and

Server dependent1 systems, 1024 for system
64-bit systems. dependent.2

2. If not specified, the first attempt is to allocate one segment for all the required memory. If the required memory
exceeds the operating system maximum segment size, the system maximum size is used.
The maximum number of bytes, specified in MB or GB, in a shared memory segment.
Table 4–5 lists the supported values by platform.
Table 4–5: Values for -shmsegsize (1 of 2)
Platform Values in MB Values in GB1
32-bit platforms 128 –
256 –
512 –
1024 1g
2048 2g
4096 4g
4–192
Shared memory segment size (-shmsegsize)
Table 4–5: Values for -shmsegsize (2 of 2)
Platform Values in MB Values in GB1
64-bit platforms 1024 1g
2048 2g
4096 4g
8192 8g
16384 16g
32768 32g
1. You must include the “g” if you specify the value in gigabytes.
The shared memory segment size can impact performance. Increasing the segment size
decreases the number of segments allocated and reduces the resources needed to manage the
segments. See OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration for more information.
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Show PPU Error (-showppuerr)

Use Show PPU Error (-showppuerr) to restore the warning message 4132 (“Invalid character
unit value <N>. Changed to 320.”)
Note: Starting with Release 10.1B, this startup parameter has no effect; it is supported only
for backward compatibility.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -showppuerr

Prior to Release 10.1B, the AVM and the compiler raise warning message 4132 when an ABL
program tries to set a column or width attribute to a value greater than 320. The AVM or the
compiler resets the column or width attribute value to 320 and suppresses the associated
warning message.
Starting with Release 10.1B:
• At compile time, the compiler raises warning message 4132 when an ABL program tries
to set a column or width attribute to a value greater than 320. The AVM resets the column
or width attribute value to 320 and the compiler generates the associated warning message
(for example: Invalid character unit value 200,000. Changed to 320.).
• At run time, the AVM raises warning message 13734 (“Invalid character unit value
%|<value>. Changed to %|<max>.”) when an ABL program tries to set a column or width
attribute to a value greater than 131,072. The AVM resets the column or width attribute
value to 131,072 and the AVM generates the associated warning message (for example:
Invalid character unit value 200,000. Changed to 131,072.).
Note: The AVM stores column and width values in the internal storage format called
Progress Portability Units (PPU).
4–194
AS/400 Server Program Name (-Sn)
AS/400 Server Program Name (-Sn)

Use Server Program Name (-Sn) with SNA to specify that the Server program start on the
AS/400 with an OpenEdge connection request.
UNIX
Operating Windows
system
and syntax (SNA Only) -Sn

Connection
4–195
Spin Lock Retries (-spin)

Use Spin Lock Retries (-spin) to set a value to use the spin lock mechanism or a system of
semaphores and queues.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -spin n

Database – 0 0 10,000, or
Server 6000 * # CPUs1
1. For single CPU systems, the default is 10,000. For multi-CPU systems, the default is 6000 * # of CPUs
The number of times a process tries to acquire a latch before pausing.
If the value of n is greater than 0, then a spin lock algorithm is used for shared-memory data
structures. When a process has to lock a shared-memory structure, the process tries up to n times
to acquire the latch for that structure. If it has not acquired the latch in n tries, the process pauses,
or naps. The length of the pause increases gradually if the process repeatedly fails to acquire a
latch. After the allotted nap time, the process wakes up and tries to acquire the lock again. If it
fails to acquire the lock, it will retry up to the number of tries specified by n.
If the value of n is 0, a system of semaphores and queues is used instead of spin locks. The spin
lock algorithm is much more efficient than using semaphores when you have multiple
processors.
On multi-processor machines, the default value is 6000 * # of CPUs. If this causes too much
CPU usage, reduce the value. If you have fast processors, a value as high as 10,000 * # of CPUs
might be effective.
You can evaluate the -spin values through the OpenEdge Monitor (PROMON utility) R&D
options. See OpenEdge Data Management: Database Administration for more information on
the PROMON utility. The -spin parameter controls the performance indicator called resource
waits. By setting the -spin value higher, you can reduce the resource waits. Note that when
setting the -spin value higher ceases to reduce the resource waits, continuing to set it higher
can adversely effect CPU utilization. To view the resource waits value:
• Access PROMON and enter R&D at the main menu.
• Choose option 3. Other Displays, then choose option 1. Performance Indicators to view
the resource waits. Resource waits is the last item reported in the listing.
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SQL Open Cursors (-SQLCursors)
SQL Open Cursors (-SQLCursors)

Use SQL Open Cursors (-SQLCursors) to define the maximum number of cursors open at any
one time.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -SQLCursors value

SQL 512 10 – 50
value
Number of cursors open at one time.
4–197
SQL Stack Size (-SQLStack)

Use SQL Stack Size (-SQLStack) to change the size of the SQL stack (an internal memory area
used by SQL program modules). Use the command line to change the value of -SQLStack.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -SQLStack n

SQL System 1 1 1
Dependent
The size of the stack in 1KB units.
4–198
SQL Statement Cache Size (-SQLStmtCache)
SQL Statement Cache Size (-SQLStmtCache)

Use SQL Statement Cache Size (-SQLStmtCache) to set the number of statements that can be
stored in the SQL cache.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -SQLStmtCache n

SQL – – – 100
The number of statements to be stored in the SQL Statement Cache.
Use the command line to change the value of -SQLStmtCache.
4–199
SQL Sorting Memory (-SQLTempBuff)

Use SQL Sorting Memory (-SQLTempBuff) to define the amount of memory to use as a data
buffer for each SORT operation.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -SQLTempBuff value

SQL – 8 1000 1000
value
Size in K-bytes of memory to use for each SORT operation.
This is a performance-tuning parameter and is not ordinarily required.
Note: Each connection allocates one temporary table buffer.
4–200
SSL-based Connection (-ssl)
SSL-based Connection (-ssl)

Use SSL-based Connection (-ssl) to specify a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection to all
database and client connections for data privacy.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -ssl

Connection,
Database
Server
SSL provides an authenticated and encrypted peer-to-peer TCP/IP connection.
Note: Be sure you need SSL before using this parameter. SSL incurs more or less heavy
performance penalties, depending on resources and load.
4–201
Stash Area (-stsh)

Use Stash Area (-stsh) to specify the number of 1KB blocks to allocate to the stash area, which
OpenEdge uses as temporary storage for modified index fields.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -stsh n

The number of 1KB blocks for the stash area.
The default size is sufficient for most index fields, but large character fields with a word index
might require more space.
You can calculate an appropriate stash size by taking the size in bytes of the largest field with a
word index, doubling that value, and adding 1KB. For example, if the largest word indexed field
is 2,000 characters long, set -stsh to 5 to create a stash area of 5KB. If you do not allocate
enough space, OpenEdge terminates with a fatal error. If this occurs, restart OpenEdge with a
larger stash area.
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Temporary Directory (-T)
Temporary Directory (-T)

Use Temporary Directory (-T) to specify a directory for temporary files.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -T dirname

Client Session – – Working Working

directory directory
dirname
The directory in which to create temporary files.
If you do not use this parameter, OpenEdge creates these temporary files in the current working
directory. On UNIX and Windows, these filenames begin with a prefix of lbi, dbi, pge, srt, or
trp, followed by a number. On UNIX, the number is the process ID of the user’s OpenEdge
session. Windows uses a random number.
Note: Access the -T parameter using the SESSION:TEMP-DIR attribute. This attribute is
read-only.
The following table shows descriptions of these prefixes:
Temp file Usage
LBI Local before-image (subtransaction undo)
DBI Stores temporary tables
PED Edit buffer contents
RCD Cache of r-code being run in a session
SRT Temporary sort space
TRP Stores Data Dictionary changes until they are saved
On UNIX, OpenEdge names these files uniquely for each user to avoid filename conflicts.
Furthermore, OpenEdge stores these files as “unlinked” with no visible name in the UNIX file
system (unless you use Save Temp Files (-t).
In Windows, if two or more users share the same working directory and there is a conflict of
temporary files, the following message appears:
Unable to open or create filename, error 3
4–203
Save Temp Files (-t)

Use Save Temp Files (-t) to make temporary files visible on UNIX.
Operating
system
and syntax UNIX -t

Typically, temporary files (LBInumber, SRTnumber, PGEnumber, DBInumber, RCDnumber, and

TRPnumber) are invisible (unlinked on UNIX) when OpenEdge is running. In these filenames,
number is the process ID of the user’s OpenEdge session. The -t parameter also makes the
entries visible after OpenEdge aborts. However, if OpenEdge aborts, delete the temporary files
yourself.
With or without the -t parameter, OpenEdge always deletes the temporary files when it
terminates normally.
If you are running a Windows ABL client against a database with transparent data encryption
enabled, be aware that encrypted table data is stored in decrypted form inside the OpenEdge
temporary files. Protect the OpenEdge temporary files, as well as any application-generated
temporary files, using operating system security such as built-in file encryption or a third party
products.
You cannot use Save Temp Files (-t) with an encryption-enabled database. If you try to start
an encryption-enabled database with -t, the following error occurs:
Connection to an encrypted database is not permitted with -t. (15389)
4–204
Table consistency check (-TableCheck)
Table consistency check (-TableCheck)

Use Table consistency check to enable consistency checking for all record blocks of the
specified table (excluding BLOBS).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -TableCheck [owner-name.]tablename

Client — — – —
Connection,
Database
Server
owner-name
Specifies the owner of the table you want to check. You must specify an owner name
unless the table’s name is unique within the database, or the table is owned by PUB. By
default, ABL tables are owned by PUB.
tablename
Specifies the name of the table for consistency checking.
Table consistency check validates a block is still physically correct after an operation has been
performed.
You can only specify one table with -TableCheck. To check multiple tables, you must apply
consistency checking to the entire database with Database consistency check (-DbCheck) or if
multiple tables are in one area, you can apply consistency checking to an entire area with Area
consistency check (-AreaCheck).
Table consistency checking can be enabled or disabled while your database is online with
Table consistency check can be enabled for a single user client or for any offline utility. If the
utility is read-only, such as DBANALYS, the -TableCheck parameter is ignored. Online
utilities determine whether or not to perform table consistency checking during execution based
on the use of -TableCheck at broker startup or by the enablement/disablement of the table
4–205
Table Range Size (-tablerangesize)

Use Table Range Size (-tablerangesize) to specify the number of tables for which you want
to collect statistics.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -tablerangesize n

Server
The number of tables for which you want to track access statistics.
For more information on tracking table statistics, see OpenEdge Data Management: Database
Administration.
4–206
Speed Sort (-TB)
Speed Sort (-TB)

Use Speed Sort (-TB) primarily to improve sort performance, particularly during index rebuild
operations.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -TB blocksize

Client 31 1 8 8
Session
blocksize
The block size in kilobytes, to allocate when sorting records for reports and when
rebuilding indexes. The default block size is 8K but can be reset anywhere from 1KB to
31KB.
If you increase the block size beyond 8KB, OpenEdge sorts records faster but uses more
memory and disk space in the process. If system memory is severely limited, you might actually
choose to lower the block size.
Sort space is allocated in the SRT file, a temporary session file having a system-generated unique
name with the prefix srt. OpenEdge uses the SRT file to store session-compile modules, to swap
r-code segments into and out of the in-memory execution buffer, and as temporary work space
during sorting (including rebuilding indexes). Use -TB to set the SRT file block size (that is, the
increments by which the SRT file grows).
In summary, increase -TB to at least 8 to improve index rebuild operations by 15 percent or

more. Or, decrease -TB to 1 to relieve severe Windows memory shortages during sort
operations.
See also the Merge Number (-TM), Maximum Memory (-mmax), and PROLIB Swap (-pls)
startup parameters.
4–207
Time Stamp (-tstamp)

Use Time Stamp (-tstamp) to direct the AVM to use time stamp information rather than cyclic
redundancy (CRC) values to enforce consistency between r-code and schema.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -tstamp

Connection
Note: Progress Software Corporation recommends that you use CRC instead of time stamp.
When precompiling a procedure, the AVM inserts in the r-code file a list of referenced tables
and their cyclic redundancy code values (CRCs) by default. At run time, OpenEdge compares
the CRCs in the r-code to those in the database being run against. If the CRCs do not match,
OpenEdge returns an error message.
Notes: To use time stamp values rather than CRC values, specify Time Stamp (-tstamp) for
the process that compiles the procedures.
The Time Stamp (-tstamp) parameter only applies to a single database.
For more information on time stamp and CRC values, see OpenEdge Deployment: Managing
ABL Applications.
4–208
Temp-table Schema Marshal (-ttmarshal)
Temp-table Schema Marshal (-ttmarshal)

Use Temp-table Schema Marshal (-ttmarshal) to specify the amount of schema information to
marshal for temp-table parameters during an OpenEdge client session (that is, for an ABL
client, a single WebSpeed agent, or single AppServer agent). The temp-table may be an
independent temp-table or a member of a ProDataSet object.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -ttmarshal n

A value between 0 and 4 representing the amount of schema information to marshal for
temp-table parameters. The default value is 0 (which includes all schema information for
all temp-table parameters).
Table 4–6 lists the possible schema marshaling parameter values.
Table 4–6: Schema marshaling parameter values
Value Description
0 Includes all schema information for all temp-table parameters
1 Minimizes schema information for static temp-table parameters
2 Minimizes schema information for all temp-table parameters
3 Excludes schema information for static temp-table parameters
4 Excludes schema information for all temp-table parameters
You can override this startup parameter setting for an individual temp-table parameter by setting
one of the following attributes on the Temp-Table object handle:
• SCHEMA-MARSHAL attribute
• MIN-SCHEMA-MARSHAL attribute
• NO-SCHEMA-MARSHAL attribute
Note: If you specify more than one of these attributes for an individual temp-table, the AVM
uses the attribute you most recently specified. The MIN-SCHEMA-MARSHAL and
NO-SCHEMA-MARSHAL attributes are supported only for backward compatibility. Use the
SCHEMA-MARSHAL attribute instead.
For more information about these attributes, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference.
4–209
Merge Number (-TM)

Use Merge Number (-TM) to increase the speed of the merge phase of the sort process (at the
cost of increased temporary memory usage).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -TM n

The number of blocks or streams to be simultaneously merged during the sort process.
See also the description of the Speed Sort (-TB) startup parameter.
4–210
Temporary Table Database Block Size (-tmpbsize)
Temporary Table Database Block Size (-tmpbsize)

Use Temporary Table Database Block Size (-tmpbsize) to specify the temp-table block size.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -tmpbsize n

Client Session – – 4 4
An INTEGER that specifies the temp-table database block size. Valid values are:
• 1 — Sets the block size to 1024 bytes.
• 4 — Sets the block size to 4096 bytes. This is the default value.
• 8 — Sets the block size to 8192 bytes.
The temp-table database block size dictates the size of each buffer in the temp-table database
buffer pool for the current OpenEdge session.
Use Number of Buffers for Temporary Tables (-Bt) to specify the number of buffers in the
temp-table database buffer pool.
Note: With the changes made in Release 10.1B to provide support for expanded keys and
temp-tables, the default block size for temp-tables has increased from a 1KB block size
to a 4KB block size on all platforms. If you are creating very small temp-tables, you
might notice a performance degradation with this change.
See OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL Essentials for more information on temp-tables.
4–211
Token (-tok)
Use Token (-tok) to specify the maximum number of tokens allowed in a single ABL
statement.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -tok n

Client Session System 1 3000 3000

dependent1
The number of tokens allowed in an ABL statement. The default is 3000 tokens.
If you exceed 3000 tokens in a single statement, the AVM displays a message advising you to
increase the number of tokens per statement using this parameter.
4–212
Trigger Location (-trig)
Trigger Location (-trig)

Use Trigger Location (-trig) to identify the name of the directory or library that contains the
database ABL triggers for a database.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -trig { dir-name | lib-name }

Connection
dir-name, lib-name
The location of the database ABL triggers.
Library names must have a .pl extension. the AVM interprets all other extensions as directory
names. If you do not use Trigger Location (-trig) when connecting to the database, the AVM
searches the PROPATH for the triggers.
Note: If you are generating the local binary schema cache, do not connect to the database
using Trigger Location (-trig) and the Schema Cache File (-cache) together.
4–213
User ID (-U)
Use User ID (-U) with Password (-P) to specify the user ID.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -U userid

Connection
userid
The user ID of the user.
OpenEdge checks the _User table for the user ID supplied with the -U parameter. When it finds
that user ID, it compares the password (after it has encoded the password) supplied with the -P
parameter with the password in the _User table. If the two passwords match, OpenEdge assigns
the user ID to the OpenEdge session. Otherwise, the user is not allowed to connect to the
database.
With certain DataServers, the -U and -P parameters pass DataServer login information to a
non-OpenEdge database. For more information, see your DataServer documentation.
4–214
Use OS Locale (-useOsLocale)
Use OS Locale (-useOsLocale)

Use the Use OS Locale (-useOsLocale) parameter to set certain default localization options for
OpenEdge clients.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -useOsLocale

Session
This parameter causes the AVM to set certain SESSION system handle attributes based on the
current Windows locale settings.
Table 4–7 lists these SESSION system handle attributes and shows the startup parameters that
individually affect the value of each attribute.
Table 4–7: Attributes set by Use OS Locale (–useOsLocale)
SESSION system handle attribute Associated startup parameters
DATE-FORMAT Date Format (-d)
NUMERIC-DECIMAL-POINT Fractional Separator (-numdec)
NUMERIC-FORMAT European Numeric Format (-E)

Fractional Separator (-numdec)
Thousands Separator (-numsep)
NUMERIC-SEPARATOR Thousands Separator (-numsep)
If any of the startup parameters shown in this table appear on the same command line
with the -useOsLocale parameter, any that follow -useOsLocale override the setting
from -useOsLocale and any that -useOsLocale follows are overridden by the setting from
-useOsLocale.
For more information on these SESSION system handle attributes, see OpenEdge Development:
ABL Reference.
In a session accessing .NET objects, Progress Software Corporation recommends that you use
this startup parameter to resolve potential discrepancies between localization settings in your
ABL session and the embedded .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR). Using this
parameter makes your ABL session conform to Windows (and therefore .NET) settings. If you
want to override these settings in your ABL session, you can also propagate these overrides to
the CLR by instantiating a .NET System.Globalization.Cultureinfo class and making the
appropriate settings using the properties and methods of this instance.
4–215
Use Widget ID (-usewidgetid)

Use the Use Widget ID (-usewidgetid) startup parameter to enable application-defined widget
IDs for ABL widgets defined in your OpenEdge GUI application.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -usewidgetid

Specifying application-defined widget IDs for ABL widgets defined in your OpenEdge GUI
application allows you to identify those widgets at runtime while testing your application with
a third-party automated test tool. When specified, the AVM uses any application-defined widget
IDs when creating the widgets at runtime, instead of using the widget IDs it normally generates
by default. The widget ID value of any given widget remains the same across OpenEdge
sessions, unless you purposely change the value using the WIDGET-ID attribute for that widget.
This allows a third-party automated test tool to identify the same widget consistently each time
you run the tool with your application.
For more information about specifying application-defined widget IDs using the WIDGET-ID
attribute with ABL widgets, see OpenEdge Development: ABL Reference. For more
information about using application-defined widget IDs when testing OpenEdge GUI
applications with third-party automated test tools, see OpenEdge Development: Programming
Interfaces.
4–216
Version 6 Colon (-v6colon)
Version 6 Colon (-v6colon)

Use Version 6 Colon (-v6colon) to direct the AVM to perform colon alignment for unlabeled
fields, as in Version 6.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -v6colon

If you do not specify this parameter, the AVM moves the field two characters to the right.
4–217
Version 6 Query (-v6q)

Use Version 6 Query (-v6q) to direct the OpenEdge server to use only a single index when
resolving FOR EACH statements.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -v6q

If you do not use this parameter, the server might use more than one index. Using more than one
index is more efficient, but might change the order in which records are returned.
The -v6q parameter also causes cursor repositioning with FOR EACH statements, as in Version 6.
4–218
Windows Passthrough Printing (-Wa -wpp)
Windows Passthrough Printing (-Wa -wpp)

Use Windows Passthrough Printing (-Wa -wpp) to enable WPP mode for the session.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -Wa -wpp

You can only use this startup parameter at the command line. It is ignored when used in a .pf
file. It must be the last parameter in the command.
4–219
Windows Single Session (-wss)

Use Windows Single Session (-wss) to limit a user to running only one OpenEdge client session
at a time.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -wss

This parameter applies only to a Windows GUI client. If an existing OpenEdge session is
running on the machine when -wss is specified, the new session terminates and the windows of
the existing session are brought forward to alert the user. To avoid unnecessary processing of
other parameters, use the -wss parameter first on the command line.
If more than one OpenEdge application is installed on a user’s machine, do not use the -wss
parameter else it will prevent a user from running two or more applications at the same time. In
addition, the -wss parameter does not recognize versions of OpenEdge prior to Version 9.0.
4–220
Windows Exit - No Dialog (-wy)
Windows Exit - No Dialog (-wy)

Use Windows Exit - No dialog (-wy) to prevent OpenEdge from prompting you for confirmation
when Windows is shut down with OpenEdge active.
Operating
system
and syntax Windows -wy

4–221
Statistics (-y)
Use Statistics (-y) to collect procedure access and usage statistics throughout the OpenEdge
session.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -y

At session end, the AVM writes these statistics to the default output file client.mon. For
detailed information on the output written to the client.mon file, see OpenEdge Deployment:
Managing ABL Applications.
At startup, the -y parameter sends a report of all the startup parameters to the output file. This
report includes all default values, overridden values, and values you set at startup. Unlike the
other statistics that the -y parameter collects, this report is not written at session end and is not
affected by the SHOW-STATS statement.
Note: The specific statistics displayed might change periodically as new OpenEdge features
are implemented.
The edit buffer map statistics are written each time a user exits from OpenEdge or uses the
SHOW-STATS statement. These lines list the procedures currently in the edit (or execution) buffer
and their r-code sizes.
Note: If you cannot execute SHOW-STATS from the Procedure Editor or cannot add the
statement to your ABL code (for example, if while using Run-time OpenEdge), you
can specify Statistics with CTRL+C (-yc) instead of the -y parameter. Both parameters
behave the same way, except -yc lets you use CTRL+C as a substitute for the
SHOW-STATS statement.
The program-access statistics are written to the output file when the session ends or when you
use the SHOW-STATS statement. In the output, temp file reads and writes are reads and writes to
the SRT file, which stores each user’s session compiles and active r-code files. The Bytes column
is a cumulative total. The Stat file checks are recorded because they represent a relatively
time-consuming system call. Unless you invoke Quick Request (-q), the AVM makes a stat call
each time a precompiled subprocedure is called with the RUN statement.
The AVM places the default output file (client.mon) in the current working directory;
however, you can specify a different output file by using the CLIENTMON environment variable.
Simply set CLIENTMON to point to the file you want to use. For example, in a UNIX environment,
if you wanted to use a file named stats in the /usr/tmp directory, enter the following command
at the system prompt:
CLIENTMON=/usr/tmp/stats; export CLIENTMON
4–222
Statistics with CTRL+C (-yc)
Statistics with CTRL+C (-yc)

Use Statistics with CTRL+C (-yc) to allow you to press CTRL+C as a substitute for executing
the SHOW-STATS statement.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -yc

Use this parameter if you cannot execute SHOW-STATS from the Procedure Editor or if you cannot
add the statement to your ABL code (for example, if while using run-time OpenEdge).
When you specify this parameter, it disables CTRL+C as an interrupt signal. In addition, pressing
CTRL+C only emulates SHOW-STATS without the CLEAR option.
4–223
Segment Statistics (-yd)

Use Segment Statistics (-yd) to write segment statistics to the client monitor file (client.mon,
by default).
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -yd

Segment statistics provide:
• A breakdown of an r-code file by segment type, including the number of segments and
their total size
• Read and write access to the sort file by segment type and access type, including the
number of times the sort file was accessed and the number of bytes read from/written to
the sort file
4–224
Four Digit Year Default (-yr4def)
Four Digit Year Default (-yr4def)

Use Four Digit Year Default (-yr4def) to output a four-digit year from the EXPORT, MESSAGE
and PUT UNFORMATTED statements that may use a two-digit year.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -yr4def

This option causes all dates to use a four-digit year, regardless of what is specified by the
Century year Offset (-yy) startup parameter.
If you do not use this parameter, the EXPORT, MESSAGE and PUT UNFORMATTED statements produce
a two-digit year for the date if it is within the 100 year period defined by the Century Year Offset
(-yy) startup parameter. If the date is outside of that 100 year period, these statements produce
a four-digit year for the date.
Using -yr4def does not affect statements such as DISPLAY, UPDATE and PUT (without
UNFORMATTED), nor any default schema or program variable date formats, which continue to use
the default format 99/99/99. These statements have the FORMAT phrase where an overriding date
format can be given, if the 4-digit year is desired, or the fields and variables can be defined with
the explicit 99/99/9999.
4–225
Statistics With Cross-reference (-yx)

Use Statistics with Cross-reference (-yx) to collect procedure call statistics and write them to
an output file.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -yx

With this parameter, you can monitor information to answer questions:
• How many calls were made in a given period of time?
• How long did a procedure spend executing?
• How often was a procedure swapped to and from the temporary file (SRT file)?
The AVM places the default output file for the -yx parameter, proc.mon, in your current
working directory. However, you can specify a different output file by using the PROCMON
environment variable. Simply set PROCMON to point to the file you want to use.
For example, in a UNIX environment, if you want to use a file named stats in the /usr/tmp
directory, enter the following on the command line:
PROCMON=/usr/tmp/stats; export PROCMON
Use the SHOW-STATS statement to write the procedure call statistics to the output file. The CLEAR
option sets all counters and timers (such as Calls and Time) to 0. When you exit OpenEdge, the
-yx parameter writes the procedure call statistics to the output file whether or not you use
SHOW-STATS.
The following example shows sample procedure call statistics as they appear in the output file:
Wed Feb 6 16:19:05 2002
Procedure call statistics: 16:19:21
Caller Callee Load Size Calls Rd Bytes Reread Time

<top> _edit 3789 1 3789 0 16
_edit _adeload 9542 1 9542 0 10
_edit _prostar 6931 1 6931 0 23
_prostar _login 5087 1 5087 0 73
_edit _setcurs 562 2 562 0 20
_edit _proedit 181029 1 181029 0 12180
_proedit _toollic 2570 1 2570 0 268
_proedit _tmpfile 1510 2 1510 0 140
_proedit _kvlist 2624 2 2624 0 26
_proedit _setcurs 562 4 0 0 63
_proedit _adehelp 3279 1 3279 0 97
4–226
Statistics With Cross-reference (-yx)
The fields that appear in the output file proc.mon are as follows:
• Caller — The names of any calling procedures. The word <top> indicates there was no
calling procedure, and you ran the called procedure directly from the Procedure Editor.
• Callee — The names of the called procedures.
• Load Size — The size, in bytes, of each called procedure as the AVM loads it into
memory. If you see a load size of 0, the called procedure is an uncompiled source
procedure (.p file), or an r-code file (.r file) that was previously loaded into memory.
• Calls — The number of times the Caller procedure calls the Callee procedure.
• Rd Bytes — Generally, the called procedure’s load size. However, if the procedure is
swapped out of memory and later restored, Rd bytes equals the procedure’s Load Size
added to the number of bytes read from the SRT file. Rd Bytes grows larger each time the
procedure is swapped out of memory and restored from the SRT file.
• Reread — The number of bytes the AVM reads from the SRT file to restore a Caller
procedure that was overwritten. The AVM restores only what is necessary to continue
executing the Caller procedure. In some cases, this is less than the amount swapped to the
SRT file.
• Time — The total execution time of the called procedure, in milliseconds.
4–227
Century Year Offset (-yy)

Use Century Year Offset (-yy) to determine the start of the 100-year period in which a date with
a two-digit year is valid.
Operating
system UNIX
and syntax Windows -yy n

Client Session, – – 1950 1950

Database
Server
A four-digit year (1990, for example). The default is 1950.
Some OpenEdge applications reserve only two-digits for the year in the date format. When, for
example, -yy is set at 1950, the AVM determines if the two-digit year value is greater or less
than 50. If the year is greater than 50, the AVM assumes that the date is in the twentieth century.
If the year is less than 50, the AVM assumes that the date is in the twenty-first century.
Table 4–8 shows some examples of -yy.
Table 4–8: Century setting and date format
-yy Year (as supplied in DATE format) Result of year function
1900 50-99 1950-1999
00-49 1900-1949
1950 50-99 1950-1999
00-49 2000-2049
1980 80-99 1980-1999
00-79 2000-2079
Notice that all two-digit year values expand into the 100-year period beginning with -yy.
To test the effect of -yy, start OpenEdge with a different -yy value and run the following
procedure:
DEFINE VARIABLE dDate AS DATE NO-UNDO.

DISPLAY "Enter date or Press F4 to end." WITH FRAME msg.
REPEAT:
SET dDate LABEL "Date" WITH SIDE-LABELS.
DISPLAY YEAR(dDate) FORMAT "9999" LABEL "=> Year" WITH SIDE-LABELS.
END.
4–228
Century Year Offset (-yy)
If you use a hard-coded date containing a two-digit year in a .p file, the AVM honors the -yy
parameter and expands the two-digit year to a four-digit year during compilation. However, this
may not match the runtime -yy. For this reason, Progress Software Corporation recommends
that you use four digit years for hard-coded dates in programs. For example:
DEFINE VARIABLE hdate AS DATE INITIAL 01/01/2001.
Note: When you dump or load any database, the -yy setting you load with must match the
-yy setting that was used for dumping, unless you use the Four Digit Year Default
(-yr4def) startup parameter for dumping.
This startup parameter provides the same functionality as the SESSION:YEAR-OFFSET attribute.
4–229
4–230
Index
Numbers After-image Stall (-aistall) startup
parameter 4–9
-1 startup parameter 4–2
aiarcdir startup parameter 4–5
aiarcdircreate startup paramter 4–6

A
aiarcinterval startup parameter 4–7
ABL parameters
client 3–4 aibufs startup parameter 4–8
ADE Desktop aistall startup parameter 4–9
startup commands
Windows 2–3 Alternate Random Number Generator
(-rand) startup parameter 4–175
ADE r-code location (-baseADE) startup
parameter 4–16 Area consistency check (-AreaCheck)
startup parameter 4–10
-admingroup startup parameter 4–3
-AreaCheck startup parameter 4–10
-adminport startup parameter 4–4
AS/400 Host Name (-H) startup parameter
AdminServer Group (-admingroup) startup 4–78
parameter 4–3
AS/400 Ignore Stamp (-is) startup parameter
AdminServer Port (-adminport) startup 4–89
parameter 4–4
AS/400 Server Program Name (-Sn) startup
After-Image Buffers (-aibufs) startup parameter 4–195
parameter 4–8
After-image File Management Archive 4–11
Directory Create (-aiarcdircreate) startup
parameter 4–6 -assemblies startup parameter 4–11
After-image File Management Archive Async Queue Size (-asyncqueuesize)

Directory Llist (-aiarcdir) parameter 4–5 startup parameter 4–12
After-image File Managment Archive -asyncqueuesize startup parameter 4–12

Interval (-aiarcinterval) parameter 4–7
Index
Auto Server (-m1) startup parameter 4–108 -Bp startup parameter 4–23
Auto Server server type 4–108 -Bpmax startup parameter 4–24
BPRO command 2–5

B
-brl startup parameter 4–25
-B startup parameter 4–13 -browcoltype startup parameter 4–26
-b startup parameter 4–15 Browse Column Type (-browcoltype)
-B2 startup parameter 4–14 startup parameter 4–26
Base Index (-baseindex) startup parameter -Bt startup parameter 4–27

4–17 Buffered I/O (-r) startup parameter 4–174
Base Table (-basetable) startup parameter Buffers
4–19 after-image
-baseADE startup parameter 4–16 specifying 4–8
before-image
Basekey (-basekey) startup parameter 4–18 specifying 4–20
blocks in database buffers 4–13
Batch (-b) startup parameter 4–15 changing size of local record 4–95
edit 4–222
Batch startup commands message 4–122
BPRO 2–5 private read-only 4–23
MBPRO 2–6 server startup parameters 3–15
single-user 2–3
Windows 2–3
C
Before-Image Buffers (-bibufs) startup
parameter 4–20 -c startup parameter 4–28
Before-Image Cluster Age (-G) startup -cache startup parameter 4–29
parameter 4–76
Case Table (-cpcase) startup parameter 4–40
Before-Image Truncate Interval (-G) startup
parameter 4–76 Century (-yy) startup parameter 4–228
Before-image writer Check Double-byte Enabled (-checkdbe)

starting 4–20 startup parameter 4–30
Before-imaging 4–20 Check Width (-checkwidth) startup

-Mf startup parameter 4–118 parameter 4–31
-bibufs startup parameter 4–20 -checkdbe startup parameter 4–30
-bistall startup parameter 4–21 -checkwidth startup parameter 4–31
-bithold startup parameter 4–22 Clear Log (-clearlog) startup parameter

4–33
Bleeding Record Lock (-brl) startup
parameter 4–25 -clearlog startup parameter 4–33
Block sizes Client Connection startup parameters 3–11

sorting 4–207
Client Internationalization startup
Blocks in Alternate Buffer Pool (-B2) parameters 3–8
Client Logging (-clientlog) startup
Blocks in Database Buffers (-B) startup parameter 4–34, 4–64
parameter 4–13
Client Performance startup parameters 3–2
Index–2
Index
Client Session startup parameters 3–2 -cpcase startup parameter 4–40

ABL 3–4
performance 3–2 -cpcoll startup parameter 4–41
product-type 3–4
-cpinternal startup parameter 4–42
Client startup parameters
-cplog startup parameter 4–43
database connection 3–11
session statistics 3–10 -cpprint startup parameter 4–44
windows session 3–10
-cprcodein startup parameter 4–45
-clientlog startup parameter 4–34, 4–64
-cprcodeout startup parameter 4–46
Clients
defined 1–2 -cpstream startup parameter 4–47
Cluster Mode (-cluster) startup parameter -cpterm startup parameter 4–48
4–36
-cs startup parameter 4–49
-cluster startup parameter 4–36
-ct
Code page startup parameter 3–12, 3–13
establishing case rules 4–40
for printer output 4–44 CTRL-C statistics 4–223
for reading r-code text segments 4–45
for writing r-code text segments 4–46 Cursor Size (-cs) startup parameter 4–49
identifying 4–42
-cwl startup parameter 4–51
identifying collation table 4–41
used to write log messages 4–43
Collation Table (-cpcoll) startup parameter D
4–41
-D startup parameter 4–52
Colon alignment
-v6colon startup parameter 4–217 -d startup parameter 4–53
Combo-box Font (-combofont) startup Data

parameter 4–37 bulk loading 4–82
-combofont startup parameter 4–37 Database

connecting to 4–56
Commas over a wide area network 4–29
ABL interpretation 4–68
Database connection
Communications Parameter File (-cp) client startup parameters 3–11
Compile Warning List (-cwl) startup startup parameter 4–57
parameter 4–51
Database integrity 4–82
Compiling
Database names
encrypted source code 4–184
logical 4–96
Configuration Properties File (-properties) physical 4–56
Database Server parameters 3–15
Connecting
Database Service Communication Area Size
over a wide area network 4–29
(-pica) startup parameter 4–162
to non-OpenEdge databases 4–67
Conversion Map (-convmap) startup Database shutdown
parameter 4–32, 4–38 avoiding 4–9, 4–21, 4–22
Database Type (-dt) startup parameter 4–67
-convmap startup parameter 4–32, 4–38
DataServer (-Dsrv) startup parameter 4–66
-cp startup parameter 4–39
Index–3
Index
DataServer startup parameters 3–22 -dt startup parameter 4–67
DataServers Dynamics Parameter (-icfparam) startup

connecting through a NameServer 4–54 parameter 4–83
Join by SQLDB 4–145
ODBC 4–54, 4–66, 4–148
ORACLE 4–54, 4–66, 4–145, 4–148 E
ORACLE index hints 4–143
specifying keywords 4–66 -E startup parameter 4–68
startup parameters 3–22
using Server Join (-nojoinbysqldb) 4–145 Edit buffers 4–222
DataService (-DataService) startup Editing parameter files 1–5

parameter 4–54
Enable Attachable Debugging
-DataService startup parameter 4–54 (-debugReady) startup parameter 4–60
DataSet100 (-dataset100) startup parameter Encrypted Compiler Mode (-rx) startup

4–55 parameter 4–184
-dataset100 startup parameter 4–55 Encrypted source code 4–184
Date format (-d) startup parameter 4–53 Error messages 4–82
-db startup parameter 3–11, 4–56 Error Stack (-errorstack) startup parameter
4–69
-DbCheck startup parameter 4–57
-errorstack startup parameter 4–69
Debug Alert (-debugalert) startup parameter
4–59 European Numeric Format (-E) startup
parameter 4–68
-debug startup parameter 4–58
Event-Level (-evtlevel) startup parameter
-debugalert startup parameter 4–59 4–70
Debugger (-debug) startup parameter 4–58 -evtlevel startup parameter 4–70
-debugReady startup parameter 4–60 Expand Browse (-expandbrow) startup
Decimals parameter 4–71
ABL interpretation 4–68 -expandbrow startup parameter 4–71
Delayed BI File Write (-Mf) startup
parameter 4–118 F
-dictexps startup parameter 4–62
-F startup parameter 4–72
Dictionary Expressions (-dictexps) startup
Fast Schema Change (-populate) startup
parameter 4–62
parameter 4–166
Direct I/O (-directio) startup parameter 4–63
-fc startup parameter 4–73
-directio startup parameter 4–63
File descriptors 4–111
Directories
Files
for temporary files 4–203
client.mon 4–222
Directory entries keyword 4–91
compiled procedures 4–52 parameters 1–4
saving temporary 4–204
Directory Size (-D) startup parameter 4–52 searching 4–173
startup.pf 1–4
Double-byte characters
check 4–30 Filtering Asynchronous COM Events
(-filterocxevents) startup parameter 4–74
-Dsrv startup parameter 4–66
Index–4
Index
-filterocxevents startup parameter 4–74 Index Hint (-noindexhint) startup parameter

4–143
Force Access (-F) startup parameter 4–72
Index Range Size (-indexrangesize) startup
Four Digit Year Default (-yr4def) startup parameter 4–85
parameter 4–225
-IndexCheck startup parameter 4–84
Four-digit year 4–228
-indexrangesize startup parameter 4–85
Fractional Separator (-numdec) startup
parameter 4–150 -ininame startup parameter 4–86
Free space Initial Value Segment No Convert

consolidation of 4–128 (-isnoconv) startup parameter 4–90
Initialization File (-ininame) startup

G parameter 4–86
-G startup parameter 4–76 -inp startup parameter 4–87
Group Delay (-groupdelay) startup Input Characters (-inp) startup parameter

parameter 4–77 4–87
-groupdelay startup parameter 4–77 Integrity

database 4–82, 4–174
H Internal Code Page (-cpinternal) startup

parameter 4–42
-H startup parameter 4–78
Internet Protocol (-ipver) startup parameter
-h startup parameter 4–79 4–88
Hardlimit (-hardlimit) startup parameter -ipver startup parameter 4–88

4–80
-is startup parameter 4–89
-hardlimit startup parameter 4–80
-isnoconv startup parameter 4–90
-hash startup parameter 4–81
Hash Table Entries (-hash) startup J

parameter 4–81
Java classpath
Help button identifying 4–32
adding to alert boxes 4–59
Host Name (-H) startup parameter 4–78 K
-k startup parameter 4–91
I
Key Alias (-keyalias) startup parameter
-i startup parameter 4–82 4–92
-icfparam Dynamics startup parameter 4–83 Key Alias Password (-keyaliaspasswd)
Index Base (-baseindex) startup parameter
4–17 -keyalias startup parameter 4–92
Index consistency check (-IndexCheck) -keyaliaspasswd startup parameter 4–93
Keyword Forget List (-k) startup parameter
Index Cursors (-c) startup parameter 4–28 4–91
Index–5
Index
L M
-L startup parameter 4–94 -m1 startup parameter 4–108
-l startup parameter 4–95 -m2 startup parameter 4–109
Language (-lng) startup parameter 4–101 -m3 startup parameter 4–110
Large transactions -Ma startup parameter 4–111

effect on lock table 4–94
Manual Server (-m2) startup parameter
-ld startup parameter 4–96 4–109
Literal Question (-literalquestion) startup Manual Server server type 4–109
parameter 4–97
-maxAreas startup parameter 4–112
-literalquestion startup parameter 4–97
Maximum area number (-maxAreas) startup
-lkhash startup parameter 4–98 parameter 4–112
-lkrela Maximum Clients per Server (-Ma) startup
startup parameter 3–16 parameter 4–111
-lkwtmo startup parameter 4–100 Maximum Dynamic Server Port (-maxport)
startup parameter 4–113, 4–114
-lng startup parameter 4–101
Local Buffer Size (-l) startup parameter
4–95
Maximum Memory (-mmax) startup
Lock Table Entries (-L) startup parameter
parameter 4–123
4–94
Maximum Private Buffers per Connection
Lock Table Hash Size (-lkhash) startup
(-Bpmax) startup parameter 4–24
parameter 4–98
Maximum Servers (-Mn) startup parameter
Lock Timeout (-lkwtmo) startup parameter
4–124
4–100
Maximum Servers per Broker (-Mpb)
Locking
-NL startup parameter 4–135
Log Entry Types (-logentrytypes) startup -maxport startup parameter 4–113, 4–114
parameter 4–102 -maxxids startup paramter 4–115
Log File Code Page (-cplog) startup MBPRO command 2–6
parameter 4–43
-mc startup parameter 4–116
Log files
setting maximum size 4–22 -MemCheck startup parameter 4–117
Log Threshold (-logthreshold) startup Memory

parameter 4–107 server startup parameters 3–15
shared 4–130
-logentrytypes startup parameter 4–102 startup parameter 4–123
Logging Level (-logginglevel) startup Memory consistency check (-MemCheck)
parameter 4–106 startup parameter 4–117
-logginglevel startup parameter 4–106 Merge Number (-TM) startup parameter
4–210
Logical Database Name (-ld) startup
parameter 4–96 Message Buffer Size (-Mm) startup
parameter 4–122
-logthreshold startup parameter 4–107
Index–6
Index
Messages No Check Temp-table Names

system failure 4–82 (-nochkttnames) startup parameter 4–137
-Mf startup parameter 4–118 No Crash Protection (-i) startup parameter
4–82
-Mi startup parameter 4–119
No Evaluation of Properties (-noevalprops)
Minimum Clients per Server (-Mi) startup
parameter 4–119
No Garbage Collection (-nogc) startup
Minimum Dynamic Server (-minport) parameter 4–139
startup parameter 4–120, 4–121
No Host Verify (-nohostverify) startup
-minport startup parameter 4–120, 4–121 parameter 4–140
-Mm startup parameter 4–122
No Inactive Indexes (-noinactiveidx) startup
-mmax startup parameter 4–123 parameter 4–141
-Mn startup parameter 4–124 No Incremental Warning (-noincrwarn)

-Mp startup parameter 4–125
No INT64 (-noint64) startup parameter
-Mpb startup parameter 4–126 4–144
MPRO command 2–7 No Lock (-NL) startup parameter 4–135
-Mr startup parameter 4–128 No Session Cache (-nosessioncache) startup
parameter 4–146
-mux startup parameter 4–129
No Session Reuse (-nosessionreuse) startup
-Mxs startup parameter 4–130 parameter 4–147
No UDF in WHERE Clause

N (-noudfinwhere) startup parameter 4–149
-n startup parameter 4–131 -noautoreslist startup parameter 4–136
Nap Time Increment (-napinc) startup -nochkttnames startup parameter 4–137
parameter 4–132
-noevalprops startup parameter 4–138
Nap Time Steps (-napstep) startup
parameter 4–133 -nogc startup parameter 4–139
-napinc startup parameter 4–132 -nohostverify startup parameter 4–140
-napstep startup parameter 4–133 -noinactiveidx startup parameter 4–141
-nb startup parameter 4–134 -noincrwarn startup parameter 4–142
Nested Blocks (-nb) startup parameter -noindexhint startup parameter 4–143

4–134
-noint64 startup parameter 4–144
-nojoinbysqldb startup parameter 4–145
-nosessioncache startup parameter 4–146
Networks
connecting over wide area 4–29 -nosessionreuse startup parameter 4–147
server startup parameters 3–20
-noSQLbyserver startup parameter 4–148
newkywd file 4–91
-noudfinwhere startup parameter 4–149
-NL startup parameter 4–135
NT Event Log
No Auto Result-list (-noautoreslist) startup specifying level of information 4–70
parameter 4–136
Index–7
Index
Number of Buffers for Temporary Tables Performance

(-Bt) startup parameter 4–27 -noautoreslist startup parameter 4–136
server startup parameters 3–15
Number of Databases (-h) startup parameter
4–79 -pf startup parameter 4–161
Number of Log Files to Keep (-numlogfiles) Physical Database Name (-db) startup
location 3–11
Number of Users (-n) startup parameter
4–131 -pica startup parameter 4–162
-numdec startup parameter 4–150 -pinshm startup parameter 4–163
Numeric format -plm startup parameter 4–164

changing 4–68, 4–150, 4–152
-pls startup parameter 4–165
-numlogfiles startup parameter 4–151
-populate startup parameter 4–166
-numsep startup parameter 4–152
Preload CLR (-preloadCLR) startup
parameter 4–167
O -preloadCLR startup parameter 4–167
-o startup parameter 4–153 Print Code Page (-cpprint) startup parameter
4–44
-ojmode startup parameter 4–154
Printer (-o) startup parameter 4–153
-omsize startup parameter 4–155
Private Read-only Buffers (-Bp) startup
Outer-join Mode (-ojmode) startup
parameter 4–23
parameter 4–154
PRO command 2–8
OUTPUT TO PRINTER statement
startup parameter 4–153 Procedure Editor startup commands
UNIX and Windows 2–3
Windows 2–3
P
PROLIB Memory (-plm) startup parameter
-P startup parameter 4–156 4–164
-p startup parameter 2–5, 2–6, 4–157 PROLIB Swap (-pls) startup parameter
4–165
-param startup parameter 4–158
Prompt for Passphrase (-Passphrase) startup
Parameter (-param) startup parameter 4–158
parameter 4–159
Parameter File (-pf) startup parameter 1–4,
-properties startup parameter 4–168
4–161
PROWIN command 2–9
Parameter files 1–4
creating 1–5 Proxy Host (-proxyhost) startup parameter
editing 1–5 4–169, 4–171
format 1–6
invoking 1–4 Proxy Password (-proxyPassword) startup
specifying 1–4 parameter 4–170
-Passphrase startup parameter 4–159 Proxy Port (-proxyport) startup parameter
Password (-P) startup parameter 4–156 4–171
Pending Connection Time Proxy Userid (-proxyUserid) startup

(-PendConnTime) startup parameter parameter 4–172
4–160 -proxyhost startup parameter 4–169, 4–171
Index–8
Index
-proxyPassword startup parameter 4–170 Run Run-time client (-rr) startup parameter
4–183
-proxyport startup parameter 4–171
-rx startup parameter 4–184
-proxyUserid startup parameter 4–172
S
Q
-S startup parameter 4–185
-q startup parameter 4–173
-s startup parameter 4–186
Quick Request (-q) startup parameter 4–173
Save Temp Files (-t) startup parameter
4–204
R
Schema Cache File (-cache) startup
-r startup parameter 4–174 parameter 4–29
-rand startup parameter 4–175 Schema Field Cache Size (-fc) startup
parameter 4–73
R-code In Code Page (-cprcodein) startup
parameter 4–45 Screen-value Mode (-scrvalmode) startup
parameter 4–187
R-code Out Code Page (-cprcodeout) startup
parameter 4–46 -scrvalmode startup parameter 4–187
Read-only (-RO) startup parameter 4–181 Search for files
speeding up 4–173
Record Buffer Size (-Mr) startup parameter
4–128 Search path
limiting 4–173
Record fragmentation 4–122
Secondary Login Broker (-m3) startup
Recovery Log Threshold (-bithold) startup parameter 4–110
parameter 4–22
Secondary Login Broker server type 4–110
Require Username (-requireusername)
startup parameter 4–176 Segment Statistics (-yd) startup parameter
4–224
-requireusername startup parameter 4–176
SELECT Pass Through Disable
Reread Nolock (-rereadnolock) startup (-noSQLbyserver) startup parameter
-rereadnolock startup parameter 4–177, Semaphore Sets (-semsets) startup
4–179 parameter 4–188, 4–189
Re-usable Objects Cache (-reusableObjects) -semsets startup parameter 4–188, 4–189
Server Join (-nojoinbysqldb) startup
-rg startup parameter 4–180 parameter 4–145
-RO startup parameter 4–181 Server startup parameters
buffers 3–15
-rq startup parameter 4–182
networks 3–20
-rr startup parameter 4–183 performance 3–15
server type specification 3–18
Run ABL Client (-rg) startup parameter statistic collection specification 3–19
4–180
Servers
Run Query Client (-rq) startup parameter controlling number spawned for one
4–182 protocol 4–125
defined 1–2
types 4–108, 4–109
Index–9
Index
Servers per Protocol (-Mp) startup SQL startup parameters 3–24

parameter 4–125
SQL Statement Cache Size
-ServerType startup parameter 4–190 (-SQLStmtCache) startup parameter
4–199
Server-type startup parameters 3–18
-SQLCursors startup parameter 4–197
Service Name (-S) startup parameter 4–185
-SQLStack startup parameter 4–198
Session Timeout (-sessiontimeout) startup
parameter 4–191 -SQLStmtCache startup parameter 4–199
-sessiontimeout startup parameter 4–191 -SQLTempBuff startup parameter 4–200
Shared memory -ssl startup parameter 4–201

overflow area 4–130
SSL-based Connection (-ssl) startup
Shared memory segment size (-shmsegsize) parameter 4–201
Stack
Shared-memory Overflow Size (-Mxs) defined 4–186, 4–198
startup parameter 4–130 overflow errors 4–186, 4–198
-shmsegsize startup parameter 4–192 Stack Size (-s) startup parameter 4–186
Show PPU Error (-showppuer) startup Starting OpenEdge

parameter 4–194 graphical mode 2–9
multi-user 2–7
-showppuerr startup parameter 4–194 batch mode 2–6
single-user 2–8
Single-user Mode (-1) startup parameter 4–2 batch mode 2–5
-Sn startup parameter 4–195 Startup
.pf file 1–4
Sorting
block size 4–207 Startup commands
merge number parameter 4–210 about 1–2
syntax 2–2
Source code tasks you can perform 2–3
encrypted 4–184
Startup parameters
Spawning servers about 1–3
manually 4–109 buffers 3–15
Speed Sort (-TB) startup parameter 4–207 changing defaults 3–1
client connection 3–11
Spin Lock Retries (-spin) startup parameter client database connection 3–11
4–196 client international 3–8
client session parameters 3–2
-spin startup parameter 4–196 client session statistics 3–10
database server 3–15
Spooling database server international 3–18
startup parameters 4–153 for spooling output 4–153
memory 3–15
SQL Open Cursors (-SQLCursors) startup networks 3–20
parameter 4–197 performance 3–15
server type specification 3–18
SQL Server statistic collection specification 3–19
startup parameters 3–24 windows session 3–10
SQL Sorting Memory (-SQLTempBuff) Startup Procedure (-p) startup parameter
startup parameter 4–200 4–157
SQL Stack Size (-SQLStack) startup Stash area
parameter 4–198 defined 4–202
Index–10
Index
Stash Area (-stsh) startup parameter 4–202 Thousands Separator (-numsep) startup
parameter 4–152
Statistic Collection startup parameters 3–19
Threshold Stall (-bistall) startup parameter
Statistics 4–21
tracking access 4–17, 4–22
Time Stamp (-tstamp) startup parameter
Statistics (-y) startup parameter 4–221,
4–208
4–222
-TM startup parameter 4–210
Statistics with Cross-reference (-yx) startup
parameter 4–226 -tmpbsize startup parameter 4–211
Statistics with CTRL-C (-yc) startup -tok startup parameter 4–212
parameter 4–223
Token (-tok) startup parameter 4–212
Storage Object Cache Size (-omsize) startup
parameter 4–155 -trig startup parameter 4–213
Stream Code Page (-cpstream) startup Trigger Location (-trig) startup parameter
-stsh startup parameter 4–202 -ttmarshal startup parameter 4–209
System failures Type of Server to Start (-ServerType)

message for full-integrity OpenEdge startup parameter 4–190
session 4–82
message for no-integrity OpenEdge
session 4–82 U
-U startup parameter 4–214
T
Usage reporting
-T startup parameter 4–203 statistics with CTRL-C (-yc) parameter
4–223
-t startup parameter 4–204 -y startup parameter 4–222
Table Base (-basetable) startup parameter Use OS Locale (-useOsLocale) startup

4–19 parameter 4–215
Table consistency check (-TableCheck) Use Widget ID (-usewidgetid) startup

Table Limit (-tablelimit) startup parameter -useOsLocale startup parameter 4–215

4–206
User ID (-U) startup parameter 4–214
-TableCheck startup parameter 4–205
User MUX Latches (-mux) startup
-tablerangesize startup parameter 4–206 parameter 4–129
-TB startup parameter 4–207, 4–208 Users

maximum number 4–131
Temporary Directory (-T) startup parameter
4–203 -usewidgetid startup parameter 4–216
Temporary files 4–204

V
Temporary Table Database Block Size
(-tmpbsize) startup parameter 4–211 -v6colon startup parameter 4–217
Temp-table Schema Marshal (-ttmarshal) -v6q startup parameter 4–218

Validation
Terminal Code Page (-cpterm) startup using dictionary and help 4–62
parameter 4–48
Index–11
Index
Version 6 Colon (-v6colon) startup Windows session

parameter 4–217 client startup parameters 3–10
Version 6 Query (-v6q) startup parameter

4–218 Y
VLM Page Table Entry Optimization -y startup parameter 4–221, 4–222
(-Mpte) startup parameter 4–127
-yc startup parameter 4–223
W -yd startup parameter 4–224
-Wa -wpp startup parameter 4–219, 4–220 Year

two-digit 4–228
Wide area networks
-yr4def startup parameter 4–225
connecting 4–29
Windows Passthrough Printing (-Wa -wpp) -yx startup parameter 4–226
startup parameter 4–219, 4–220 -yy startup parameter 4–228
Index–12

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PROGRESS

Startup Command and Parameter Reference

2. Client Startup Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2–1

3. Startup Parameter Usage Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–1

Database server consistency check parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–19

4. Startup Parameter Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–1

Date Format (-d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–53

Maximum Dynamic DataServer (-dsmaxport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–114

Proxy Port (-proxyport) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4–171

This Preface contains the following sections:

• Using this manual

• Examples of syntax descriptions

• Third party acknowledgements

Chapter 2, “Client Startup Commands”

Chapter 3, “Startup Parameter Usage Categories”

Provides an overview of the OpenEdge startup parameters organized by usage category.

Chapter 4, “Startup Parameter Descriptions”

Using this manual

OpenEdge provides a special purpose programming language for building business

References to ABL compiler and run-time features

References to ABL data types

• Wherever decimal appears, this is a reference to the DECIMAL data type.

Bold Bold typeface indicates commands or characters the user types,

Italic Italic typeface indicates the title of a document, or signifies new

KEY1+KEY2 A plus sign between key names indicates a simultaneous key

Fixed width A fixed-width font is used in syntax statements, code examples,

Fixed-width italics Fixed-width italics indicate variables in syntax statements.

Fixed-width bold Fixed-width bold indicates variables with special emphasis.

This icon (three arrows) introduces a multi-step procedure.

This icon (one arrow) introduces a single-step procedure.

[] Large brackets indicate the items within them are optional.

[] Small brackets are part of ABL.

{} Small braces are part of ABL. For example, a called external

| A vertical bar indicates a choice.

Examples of syntax descriptions

ACCUM aggregate expression

FOR EACH Customer NO-LOCK:

In this example, STREAM stream, UNLESS-HIDDEN, and NO-ERROR are optional:

DISPLAY [ STREAM stream ] [ UNLESS-HIDDEN ] [ NO-ERROR ]

INITIAL [ constant [ , constant ] ]

PRESELECT [ EACH | FIRST | LAST ] record-phrase

MAXIMUM ( expression , expression [ , expression ] ... )

MESSAGE { expression | SKIP [ ( n ) ] } ...

Long syntax descriptions split across lines

In this example, WITH is followed by six optional items:

WITH [ ACCUM max-length ] [ expression DOWN ]

Complex syntax descriptions with both required and

ASSIGN { [ FRAME frame ] { field [ = expression ] }

• Execution messages inform you of errors encountered while OpenEdge is running a

After displaying a message, OpenEdge proceeds in one of several ways:

• Terminates the current session.

** Unknown table name table. (200)

Obtaining more information about OpenEdge messages

• In the Procedure Editor, press the HELP key or F1.

To use the pro command to obtain a message description by message number:

1. Start the Procedure Editor:

2. Press F3 to access the menu bar, then choose Help→ Messages.

Third party acknowledgements

OpenEdge includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation