Starting QUEST

This section explains how to start QUEST from the desktop as well as from the Windows command prompt.

Starting QUEST from the Desktop

QUEST may be started either from the Start menu or from the Icam Portal.

To start QUEST from the Start menu, first locate the “Icam V27 x64” Start menu, then select “Quest V27”. To start QUEST from the portal, select the Products pane and click on the “Icam QUEST Developer” tile or icon.

You can drag-and-drop dedicated control emulators and exported control emulators onto a running portal application or the portal desktop icon. QUEST will load the control emulators into the default database (if one exists).

Starting QUEST from a Command Prompt

QUEST can be started from a Windows command prompt by first setting the current working directory to the Icam Productivity Tools V27 installation directory (i.e., C:\Program Files\ICAM\V27) and then typing the following command:

\textbf{quest } \Big[\,\mathit{file\text{-}name}\, \big[\,\mathit{file\text{-}name…}\,\big]\,\Big] \; \mathit{qualifiers}

You can optionally specify one or more files on the QUEST command line, to have QUEST perform special actions in a “batch” mode of operation. QUEST looks at the content of each file specified and then performs the appropriate action. The full QUEST interface is not activated when QUEST is run in a batch mode. The files that QUEST recognizes for batch operation are:

  • Dedicated control emulators (dp) are loaded into the default or specified database.

  • Exported control emulators (dmp) are loaded into the default or specified database.

If files are not specified on the QUEST command line, the full QUEST interface will be started, which you can use to maintain and create control emulators.

\boldsymbol{\mathit{qualifiers}}

The command line qualifiers are keyword value pairs separated by an = (equal sign). The qualifier keywords must be preceded with a / (forward slash). The following is an alphabetical list of optional command qualifiers and their usage:

\textbf{/dbf}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name}

Specifies the database file name. By default, the database is named campost.dbf and resides in the work subdirectory of the icam_appdata directory (see “Configuration Storage and Application Data”). The icam_dbf environment variable can also be used to define the database.

\textbf{/def}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name}

Specifies which DEF (i.e., definition) file to use. By default, the DEF file is named ICAM.DEF and resides in the icam_appdata directory. If a directory path is not specified with the file name, then QUEST will search for the file as described here.

\textbf{/ef}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name}

This qualifier specifies the name of a log file echoing the error messages generated during the execution of QUEST.

\textbf{/words}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name}

If specified, QUEST will use the words list supplied. The words list defines Major and Minor words and their associated codes. This list can be created and modified from the QUEST Tools»Words Manager menu-bar selection. By default, QUEST uses a file named dwords.dat in the icam_appdata directory.

This qualifier will override the words symbol if specified in the ICAM.DEF file.

Importing Control Emulators

QUEST can be used in a batch mode of operation to import dedicated control emulators (dp file type) and exported control emulators (dmp file type) into the default or specified database. Control emulators can be imported simply by dragging and by dropping the control emulator file (dp or dmp) onto a running portal application or the portal desktop icon.

The import operation can also be executed from a Windows command prompt by first setting the current working directory to the Icam Productivity Tools V27 installation directory (i.e., C:\Program Files\ICAM\V27) and then typing either of the following commands:

\textbf{quest } \, \mathit{file\text{-}name}\ \, \big[\,\mathit{file\text{-}name…}\,\big] \; \mathit{qualifiers}

\textbf{quest } \textbf{/dp}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name} \;\, \mathit{qualifiers}

The command line qualifiers are keyword value pairs separated by an = (equal sign). The qualifier keywords must be preceded with a / (forward slash). The dp qualifier is an older optional way of telling QUEST to import a control emulator. Do not mix the old and new methods on a single command line:

\textbf{/dp}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name}

Specifies the name of the control emulator file. If a file type is omitted, QUEST will assume a file type of dp.

See “QUEST Qualifiers” above for an alphabetical list of optional QUEST qualifiers and their usage.

Creating a Database Listing

QUEST can create a database listing, which you can use for your own purposes. The database listing contains the names of generated post-processors and control emulators, listed one per line with their associated titles. The listing also contains the names of any Virtual Machine models present in the database (models do not have titles). From a Windows command prompt first set the current working directory to the Icam Productivity Tools V27 installation directory (i.e., C:\Program Files\ICAM\V27) and then type the following command:

\textbf{quest } \textbf{/list}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name} \; \big[\,\mathit{match\_pattern}\,\big] \; \mathit{qualifiers}

\textbf{/list}\mathtt{=}\mathit{file\text{-}name}

The list qualifier must be specified to obtain a database listing. The optional file name specifies the name of the database listing output file. QUEST will add a file type of lis if missing from the file name. By default, the database listing is written to a scrolling window.

The match_pattern is a regular expression, in the same style as is used with the $FMATCH macro command, which can optionally be used to list only those objects whose database descriptors match the specified criteria. For example, a match pattern of M3 would list only generated post-processors and control emulators for 3-axis milling machines.

See “QUEST Qualifiers” above for an alphabetical list of optional QUEST qualifiers and their usage.