PRO3.EXE

Pro/3 directories

The usual path for the Pro/3 root directory is c:\pro3. You are free to use your own root directory, e.g c:\Program Files\pro3 - this is decided during the installation process. The following sub-directories are used:

DIRECTORY	CONTENTS
pro3/doc pro3/doc/xml	Pro/3 documentation files (HTML, JPG) [if included in the installation - these files are otherwise found on www.ligaya.net/p3]
pro3/exe	Pro/3 executable program (pro3.exe), help file and other
pro3/std	standard knowledge files

You always work with a knowledge base (KB) when using pro3.exe. The KB is either contained in a file with extension .3kb (Pro/3's native database solution), or alternatively contained in an SQL database. A KB stored in file xxx.3kb is known as xxx (i.e. xxx is the KB's name). An SQL-based KB is referred to as yyy.xxx.sql, where yyy is the name of an SQL database and xxx is the name of a knowledge base stored in yyy. See 3KB-type databases and SQL-type databases for more details.

Configuration settings file (.ini)

Pro/3 has several preference-type of settings which considerably impact the workings of the system. It is therefore important to be aware of these and know how to use them. Practically all settings can be changed in dialogs in the Preferences-menu, and are usually preserved between sessions with Pro/3 in two .ini-files - pro3.ini and xxx.ini (where xxx is the name of the KB). pro3.ini includes settings which are common to all KBs in your installation, while xxx.ini includes settings which are specific for one particular KB. The preferences broadly fall into three groups:

Directory, file and SQL preferences: Preferences regarding directories and files (file locations), Help-file locations besides some SQL-type KB preferences. Help-file location should normally be www.ligaya.net/p3 (Help-files are not included in the installation kit).
Processing preferences (preferences controlling the processing of knowledge)
Output preferences (preferences regarding output formats)

The preferences have a default value set by pro3.exe. These defaults are overridden by the corresponding settings in the applicable .ini-file. The preference settings are normally saved to file when exiting pro3.exe, i.e. if the Save preference settings at exit-option is selected. The settings are saved to xxx.ini or yyy.xxx.ini.

Files and file types

The Pro/3 executable program and related files are stored in /EXE directory:

pro3.exe - Pro/3 executable program file
A number of DLLs required by pro3.exe (these are standard Visual Prolog DLLs)
FileScanner.jar and Filelib.jar (the FileScanner java application invoked by pro3.exe is an optional utility for preprocessing of knowledge source files such as downloads from the Internet)
pro3.log - a log of the usage of KBs in your installtion
pro3.ini - Pro/3 general preference settings (these are maintained from within pro3.exe)
A number of VISIO header files used when exporting graphs to MS Visio

Note also the following files associated with a specific KB:

xxx.xml is a script-file used in multi-database KBs to specify the location of external chains. See KB internals for details.
xxx.ini stores the preference settings and accessed each time a KB is opened.

The following Pro/3 specific file types are used:

FILE TYPE	FILE NAME	FILE CONTENTS
3kb	KB name	3KB-type KB
3kc	KB name	3KB-type KB backup
3bc	any	complete KB backup (SQL-type database)
ini	KB name (there is also a Pro3.ini in the pro3\exe directory used for general settings)	preferences and settings
3nl	any	source knowledge in NL text format
3pr	any	source knowledge in PR text format
3dl	any	source knowledge in delimited NL text format
3ff	same as the file type of the scanned file(s)	scan-format syntax
3rp	any	reports, tabular format query output
3tc	KB name	execution trace
333	any	othe
3fg	KB name	semaphore file template
3op	KB name	open database semaphore file
3eq	KB name	database backup file semaphore
xml	any	XML-format source knowledge, scripts etc.
xmlc	any	Backup-file for certain XML-scripts (automatic backup)

The Pro/3 standard knowledge files are installed in the /STD directory:

FILE NAME	Versions	Contents
PRO3-B-ANN		Pro/3 standard annotations
PRO3-B-BASE.3PR		system files version level
PRO3-B-META.3PR		Pro/3 meta model
PRO3-B-RLM.3PR		realm descriptions for system realms and PRO3xxx realms
PRO3-B.FNS.3PR		data element types for built-in functions; declarations of built-in functions
PRO3-t-TERM.3PR	t=E:English t=N:Norwegian	terminology indicator
PRO3-t-LEX.3PR	t=E:English t=N:Norwegian	Pro/3 meta and standard terminology
PRO3-t-FNT.3PR	t=E:English t=N:Norwegian	terminology for built-in functions
PRO3-t-Q1.3PR	t=E:English t=N:Norwegian	Pro/3 standard queries
PRO3-F-MATH.3NL		Math function library
PRO3-tF-MATH.3PR	t=E:English	Math function terminology
PRO3-F-DATE.3NL		Date/time function library
PRO3-tF-DATE.3PR	t=E:English	Date/time function terminology

The standard knowledge files must always be loaded into a newly initialized KB!

Using pro3.exe

Get familiar with the Pro/3 MDI window, and also with the commonly used Table windows.

pro3.exe writes execution trace information to a file with type .3TC (and the same name as the KB - the file is reset each time the KB is opened). You select the amount of trace generated in the Trace options-dialog in the Preferences-menu (level 1 yields the smallest volume of trace, while level 5 yields the highest - this can be really high since the processing of the inference engine is traced in detail). There is presently no documentation explaining the information in trace files.

BROWSER REQUIREMENTS

Pro/3's documentation system is HTML-based and requires a browser.