Applies to:  eMIMS Classic

Internet updates are provided every month in between DVDs.

Normal Mode: Running eMIMSupd.exe

The functionality of discovering new Downloadable Updates is provided by eMIMSupd.exe. This is located in the same directory as eMIMS.exe. When this is run in the normal way (by selecting Check for Updates from the Help menu within eMIMS), it:

• Presents a display of the versions of currently installed components;
• Offers the option to Check Updates;
• When the user clicks on the Check Updates button, the program downloads an XML file from our website using FTP;
• It then checks this file against a local copy;
• If there are new updates listed, they are added to the local copy;
• This is then displayed to the user.

The User then goes to the eMIMS Download Page and selects which distribution files they want to retrieve and install. After successfully running the installer, the local copy of the XML file is adjusted to indicate that this update has been applied.

 

Automatic Mode: Running eMIMSupd.exe with the /silent command line option

When run with the /silent command line option from within a script or batch file, the program operates without user input. It:

• downloads the XML file from our website using FTP;
• It then checks this file against the local copy;
• If there are new updates listed, it generates a simple text file in the same directory as the program called eMIMS Update Available.txt.
• The script or batch file can then check for the existence of this file and alert an operator if it is present.

Note that the local copy of the XML file is not changed by the program in this mode. This means that subsequent checks using the command line option will continue to return the information that a new Downloadable Update is available. When you next run eMIMSupd.exe in the normal way and physically see the downloads that are available, the local copy of the XML file will be altered. These updates will no longer be detected as “new” by the program in silent mode. In other words, it assumes that you already know about the updates, even if you have chosen not to download and apply the them.

 

Sample batch file

In the following trivial example, the operator is alerted that a new downloadable update is available by an ECHO. You would normally do something a little more useful, such as sending an email or other notification mechanism.

Code:

ECHO OFF

C:

CD "C:\eMIMS\EMIMS"

eMIMSupd.exe /silent

if not exist "eMIMS Update Available.txt" goto END

ECHO New downloads are available

PAUSE

:END