Command Line Options

This help file applies to an out-of-date version of MainBoss.
The most recent version of MainBoss is MainBoss 4.2.4.
For the latest version of this help file can be found here.

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If you will frequently access different maintenance organization, you might want to create a set of desktop icons, each of which starts up MainBoss with a different organization. To create such icons, you need to use MainBoss command line options. These options are described in full detail in the online help, but this guide offers a quick overview.

You cannot specify command line options with ClickOnce deployment. If you think you'll need to use command line options on a particular computer, use manual installation on that computer.

When MainBoss starts, it usually opens your default database. To tell it to open a different database, use the command line:

mainboss /on:organizationname

For example,

mainboss /on:OurOrganization

opens the database that has the organization name OurOrganization.

Start Modes: The command line also lets you specify a particular mode in which you want MainBoss to operate. For example, you can start MainBoss in "requests only" mode—this lets the user view and enter requests, but nothing else. Help-desk personnel might run MainBoss in this mode so they can record problem reports but not use other MainBoss features.

To start in requests mode, use the command line

mainboss /mode:requests

You can also add options specifying an organization name, as shown previously.

Culture Information: The /CultureInfo option lets you specify Windows "culture" setting to be used when you execute MainBoss. A culture is a collection of information about language and other locale-based information, e.g. what monetary symbols are used in a particular place.

By default, MainBoss takes its culture information from your Windows Regional Settings; it then attempts to operate in the language given by those settings (e.g. MainBoss attempts to run in French if that's what your settings dictate). However, if you specify a /CultureInfo argument on the command line, the argument overrides the Regional Settings. This is particularly useful if you're creating a batch command file or shell script that you want to have work in a specific language, no matter what the user's Regional Settings might be.

The argument of /CultureInfo is the official Windows "CultureInfo" string name for the desired culture. For example, if you want generic Spanish, you'd specify /CultureInfo:es-ES; for U.S. English, you'd use /CultureInfo:en-US. See your Windows documentation for recognized "CultureInfo" string identifiers.

Options on the MainBoss command line are not affected by /CultureInfo. For example, the option /Mode:Requests does not change if you switch to a language where "requests" is translated to a different word.

Note: If you change the culture information with /CultureInfo, MainBoss makes the change after the command line arguments have been parsed. This means that if your command line has syntax errors, you may see error messages in the user's original preferred language, not in the language specified by /CultureInfo.

Compact Browsers: The +CompactBrowsers option invokes MainBoss in a mode that initially hides the details panel for records selected in table viewers. The -CompactBrowsers option tells MainBoss not to hide such panels.

Using Command Line Options: The easiest way to use command line options is to create a desktop icon that specifies the options. You can do this by following these steps:

  1. Right-click an open area of the Windows desktop. In the resulting menu, click New, then Shortcut.
  2. Windows asks you to specify the file to execute. Click the Browse button and use it to locate the MainBoss executable file (named mainboss.exe in the folder where you installed the MainBoss software—typically \Program Files\Thinkage\MainBoss\3.3).
  3. Click Next.
  4. Enter a descriptive name for the shortcut, then click Finish. This creates a new desktop icon with the name you specified.
  5. Right-click on the new desktop icon. In the resulting menu, click Properties. Windows will open a Properties window for the icon.
  6. The "Target" field contains the name of the MainBoss executable file in double quotes. After the closing double quote on the file name, add a space and whatever options you wish to specify.
  7. Click OK.

The icon that you just created will start up MainBoss with the command line options you specified. You can have multiple MainBoss desktop icons, each with a different command line. (Each such icon has to be given a unique name.)

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