1.3.1 The cogsys program

This is a simplified syntax of the Cogsys program:

cogsys [ testlist [outfile]]

Cogsys needs to know four important things whenever it starts up:

1. Where to read its testlist (testlist name)
2. What to call its testlist (testlist label)
3. Where to write its outfile (outfile name)
4. What to call its outfile (outfile label)

At the top of the outfile, before any data is written, Cogsys will write the testlist label and outfile label. These labels may be simply the name of the file, but they need not be. In a networked installation, labels are important to distinguish the real, data-host names of the file from the local client names.

Without any arguments at all, Cogsys will use `COGSYS.IN' for the input file and `COGSYS.OUT' for the output file. Normally, these same names will be used for the testlist label and outfile label, respectively. See Invoking Cogsys, for exceptions.

A single argument specifies a testlist other than `COGSYS.IN' In this case, the outfile is written to `COGSYS.OUT'. It is written to the current directory, that is, the directory from which Cogsys was run, not the directory where the testlist is located. This was how the sample testlist was run above.

C:\COGSYS> cogsys sample\hello.in

Two arguments specify both a testlist and an outfile. Here, the outfile is written to wherever the user specifies. If Cogsys cannot open the file, it will give a runtime error.

C:\COGSYS> cogsys sample\hello.in data\hello.out

In all of these cases, the labels used in the outfile are simply the actual names of the testlist and outfile used.

For more details on how to specify labels and an explanation of other command line options, see Invoking Cogsys.