CISIS Utilities Overview

Version 5.2 (2005-2007) - BIREME / PAHO / WHO

The CISIS Utilities are a suite of command-line programs developed in C that interact with CDS/ISIS databases. They are the engine "under the hood" of ABCD, handling data storage, indexing, sorting, and transformation.

Versions and Capacities

To check your version, run: <utility> what (e.g., mx what).

Version	Key Length	Max Record Size	Description
10/30	30	32,767 bytes	Compatible with standard CDS/ISIS.
16/60	60	32,767 bytes	Extended keys (Standard for ABCD).
FFI	60	1,048,576 bytes	Big File Support. Essential for full-text databases.

General Parameters

Most CISIS utilities (MX, MSRT, ISO, etc.) accept these standard arguments:

• tell=<n>: Displays a progress message every n records processed. Essential for long batch jobs.
• -all: Suppresses screen output (silent mode).
• now: Disables the "Press any key" prompt at the end of execution.
• log=<file>: Redirects error and status messages to a text file.

File Structures

Understanding the extensions is crucial for maintenance:

• MST (Master File): Contains the data (Control Record + Directory + Fields).
• XRF (Cross Reference): Pointers to active records in the MST.
• CNT, N01, N02, L01, L02, IFP: The 6 files that make up the Inverted File (Index).
• TAB (Tables): Character conversion tables (actab for alphabetic sorting, uctab for uppercase conversion).

Configuration (CIPAR)

Utilities use a parameter file (often cipar.par) to map logical names to physical paths, replacing the old SYSPAR.PAR.

Syntax: mx cipar=<file.par> ...