A prerequisite to using REGINA3 is that the RENI program, version 2.12 or later, has to be installed on your computer, since REGINA3 needs access to several RENI files.

The following topics are covered in this document:

• Installing REGINA3
• Starting REGINA3
• Notes for Version 3.10 and later
• General Notes

Installing REGINA3

All necessary files for REGINA3 are located on the REGINA3 floppy disks. The installation is performed by running the installation program RESETUP as explained below:

• identify the disk and directory where RENI (version 2.12) is installed (the "default" is C:\RENI)
  
  
• move to your RENI root directory (C:\RENI) by typing the following commands (note: each command is executed by pressing the ENTER key):
  
        C:
        cd \RENI
  
  
• now put the REGINA disk into your floppy disk drive and start the installation program (in the example below, it is assumed that "A:" is your floppy disk drive; if the name of your disk drive is "B:" instead of "A:" substitute it in the command below):
  
        A:RESETUP A: /RG
  

All necessary files will be copied automatically to the related directories and the license for using REGINA3 will be installed. The installation program should give a final message that the installation process has been successfully completed.

Starting REGINA3

Starting the REGINA3 program is performed by typing

      REGINA3

at the DOS prompt.

Since REGINA3 is closely associated with the RENI system, you can run REGINA3 from any directory, if your AUTOEXEC.BAT file has been customized during the installation of RENI (for more details, please refer to the RENI Installation Guide). If you get an error message (like "file not found") when issuing the above command, you have to move to the RENI directory first before starting REGINA3.

Notes for Version 3.10 and later

The format of some data files has been changed in version 3.10 and therefore a conversion program, named "C30X_31X.EXE", is copied to the RENI directory during installation. This program is automatically called up later by REGINA3, whenever REGINA3 detects data in the "old" (= pre Version 3.1x) format. A message box appears on the screen to notify the user that a conversion is necessary. After you have acknowledged this message by pressing the ENTER key, the conversion program is started. C30X_31X writes information on the converted files to a log file (named "C30X_31X.LOG"), which is stored in the REGINA3 directory. Please note: C30X_31X is a stand-alone DOS program. This means that you have to start REGINA3 again after the conversion process is finished. REGINA3 then usually re-creates the organ-specific findings file for the current study. For other studies this operation will take place once you access them for the first time after running the conversion program.

General Notes

Some users of REGINA3 have had problems in the past with "corrupt" data files: It appeared that findings entered for specific animals could no longer be retrieved (e.g. for editing or reporting) and REGINA3 crashed with an error message like

"Bad record number in module ...".

The reason for this behavior was always related to the fact that the REGINA3 program was not terminated in the "regular" way (by pressing ESC on the main screen and answering the question "Do you really want to stop REGINA3" with Yes). Instead, the computer was switched off when REGINA3 was still running or was shut down due to a power failure.

REGINA3 tries to immediately write data entered by the user to disk just to prevent such behavior. However, many users today have installed the "SMARTDrive" program and have configured "SMARTDrive" with the "write cache" option. This may speed up operation but it prevents an immediate physical write operation of the data to the hard disk. In the case of a power failure for example, data may have been written by REGINA3, but only to the cache memory and not physically to the disk.

Solution:

• To avoid such problems, it is strongly recommended to switch OFF the "write cache" option of SMARTDrive at least for the hard disk on which the REGINA3 data are stored (usually drive C:).

• To check whether SMARTDrive is installed and is configured for write cache do the following:
  • At the DOS prompt type SMARTDRV /S and press the ENTER key.
  • You receive a table showing your drives in the left column, in the next column the read cache option (YES or NO) and in the third column the write cache option (YES or NO).

• To switch the write cache OFF (for drive C: in this example) do the following:
  • At the DOS prompt type SMARTDRV C and press the ENTER key.
  • Please note that the drive letter (C in this example) is not followed by the colon (:). You may check the result of this command by typing SMARTDRV again.

• To switch the write cache back ON (for drive C: in this example) do the following:
  • At the DOS prompt type SMARTDRV C+ and press the ENTER key.

• Please note: the instructions given above apply to DOS version 6.22, SMARTDrive version 5.01. If you are using a different DOS or SMARTDrive version, please check your DOS manual or ask your system administrator. You should also consider storing the SMARTDRV command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

Download this document:    (10 kB)