Local .ini files

The main .ini files for Zencrack and the GUI are located in the Zencrack install folder (tools\zencrack.ini and gui\zencrack_gui.ini respectively). The user home folder may now contain additional .ini files whose parameters take precedence over the files in the installation folder. This allows user-level control over settings without the need to modify files in the installation folder. Two levels of local .ini files are allowed:

• zencrack.ini and zencrack_gui.ini
  Values in these 'generic' files are used by any Zencrack version which supports local .ini files.
• zencrack_9X.ini and zencrack_gui_9X.ini
  Values in these 'versioned' files are used by the Zencrack 9.X-x version which they reference, as denoted by the upper case 'X'. For example, zencrack_92.ini could be used by versions 9.2-2, 9.2-3 etc.

When processing the .ini files the installation folder file is checked first. This is expected to contain a full set of parameters. The generic local file is checked next. Any entries in this file take priority over entries from the installation folder file. The versioned local file is checked last. Any entries in this file take priority over entries from the installation folder file and the generic local file.

New entries in the .ini files can be used to prevent or allow the use of subsequent local files. The entries are:

• zencrack.ini
  [MISC]ZCR_INI_USERHOME
• zencrack_gui.ini
  [SETTINGS]GUI_INI_USERHOME

Setting these options to 'No' in the installation folder files prevents any use of the respective local files. Setting the value to 'No' in the generic local files prevents use of the respective versioned local files.

Local GUI session files

For an interactive GUI session the GUI log, err and tmp files are now located, by default, in the user home folder rather than the gui folder of the Zencrack installation.

This allows the GUI to execute if the user has no write access to the Zencrack installation folder.

New parameter [SETTINGS]LOCATION in the zencrack_gui.ini file can be used to define the location of the files. The parameter allows changing the location to mimic earlier releases (in which the default was the gui folder of the Zencrack installation).

New GUI startup log file

The GUI execution now includes a new 'startup log'. This is intended to capture early events and configuration of the GUI prior to opening the main log file. Contents of the startup log file are moved into the main log file when the main log file is opened - the startup log file is then removed. For an interactive GUI session the startup log file is created in the user home holder with a timestamped name in the format:

zcrgui_log_startup_yyyy_mm_dd_hh_mm_ss.txt.

For a command line remeshing run the startup log is created in the job folder with a name based on the underlying Zencrack job output name e.g. testr_zcrgui_log_startup.txt.

The new startup log file contains:

• DISPLAY environment variable confirmation on Linux
• list of command line parameters for GUI execution
• list of all .ini file values and whether the values are from a local use home folder .ini file or the Zencrack install folder file
• list of important folders for the session

In addition, the log files include some new "Info" entries for important GUI operations.

The aim of this additional detail is to provide a fuller record of the GUI execution and options and to aid support queries.

Other changes

The initial tmp file, zencrack_gui.zcr1.tmp, created at GUI startup is no longer created.

When a command line remeshing fails, the error 3158 reported in the Zencrack .rep file is improved with additional checks and reports on the expected output files from the remeshing process.

The Process utility is upgraded to version 9.03 with inclusion of bug fix ZENCR542.

The Linux program installer is modified to improve the command line installation process which is used on Linux if the GUI installer cannot run.