Provided your system meets the installation prerequisites detailed in NetQuestion Prerequisites, NetQuestion is usually installed automatically whenever DB2 product documentation is installed, and the search server is started whenever your Windows system is booted. To search the DB2 product documentation all you have to do is open the HTML search form (named db2srch.htm, located in x:\sqllib\doc\html where x:\ is the DB2 installation drive) in a browser such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, enter your search criteria, and click on the Search button.
The following prerequisites are required to install and work with NetQuestion:
For Windows 95 and Windows 98, TCP/IP must be enabled as follows:
| Note: | These configuration options will apply to all TCP/IP adapters even though they have only been changed for this one. You will not be able to use both LAN and Dial-Up without reconfiguring. |
| Note: | Do not enable DNS or set an IP address in the Dial-Up Adapter TCP/IP properties as this will interfere with the DUN configuration for the ISP. |
For Windows NT 4.0, either TCP/IP configurations (for DUN or Dial-Up Adapter) detailed above will work. If you are running a stand-alone system not connected to a network, you can also enable the MS Loopback Adapter without the other two adapters.
If NetQuestion was previously installed with another product (for example, IBM VisualAge for Java), the search server must be stopped before you install DB2 with product documentation selected. To stop the search server, enter one of the following commands:
imnss stop server //for SBCS versions imqss -stop dbcshelp //for DBCS versions
NetQuestion is stored in its own directory because it may be used by other products. For example, if you installed DB2 Universal Database along with NetQuestion on G:\, and later you installed IBM VisualAge for Java on H:\, only one search system is installed--the one that was installed first.
Some instructions in this section require you to specify the location of the NetQuestion directory. To locate this directory enter one of the following commands:
echo %IMNINSTSRV% //for SBCS versions echo %IMQINSTSRV% //for DBCS versions
The search server is assigned to port 49213, a number beyond the public ports assigned for TCP/IP. If you have another product that uses this port, you should change the search server port by performing the following steps:
step 1. | Edit the httpd.cnf file in the NetQuestion directory and change the port number to one you know is available, preferably one above 49000. |
step 2. | Determine where your db2path is by entering the db2set db2path command. |
step 3. | Go to the db2path/doc/html directory and use a text editor to edit the db2srch.htm file. In the line with the <form> tag, change the value for localhost:49213 to reflect the port number you selected in step 1. |
step 4. | Stop and re-start the search server. To stop the search server, click on Start->Programs->DB2 for Windows->Stop HTML Search Server. To start the search server, click on Start->Programs->DB2 for Windows ->Start HTML Search Server.
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If you install DB2 on a LAN-connected drive on Windows 9x and the drive is not reconnected before autoexec.bat executes, NetQuestion environment variables are not set. NetQuestion sets environment variables through a batch file (imnenv.bat for SBCS or imqenv.bat for DBCS) that resides in the NetQuestion directory. To bypass this problem, copy imnenv.bat or imqenv.bat from the NetQuestion directory to another drive/directory that is connected before autoexec.bat is executed. Then, modify autoexec.bat to call this batch file on startup. For example, if you copy imnenv.bat to C:\WINDOWS\IMNNQ, you can add the following line to autoexec.bat:
IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\IMNNQ\IMNENV.BAT CALL IMNENV.BAT
If you received error messages while installing NetQuestion, perform the following steps to diagnose and fix the problem:
step 1. | Look in the <temp>\imnnq\install directory, where <temp> is your system's %TEMP% directory, to find the imnnq.err file. If it does not exist, reboot and try installing the product again. If imnnq.err does exist, here are the possible contents: 1 - This indicates that the current PATH is too long and adding the search
server into the PATH will cause the entire PATH to be erased.
Note: The limit on Windows NT 4.0 is 512; on Windows 95 it is 255.
It is recommended that you perform the following steps:
a) Rename the PATH variable in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (PATHGOOD), save
changes and reboot.
b) Remove the IMNNQ.ERR file from <temp>\imnnq\install.
c) Run the product install again to install the search system properly.
d) Merge the PATHGOOD variable with the PATH variable that was created
by the latest installation.
2 - Miscellaneous error, please contact IBM service.
3 - Out of disk space error. Please ensure that there is at least 4.5MB
of disk space for the search system plus enough space for AUTOEXEC.BAT
to be changed for Windows 95.
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step 2. | If imnnq.err contains a message saying <file_name>.EXE DOES NOT EXIST, the NetQuestion executables could not be found. Try installing DB2 product documentation again. For more information see If Search Does Not Work (ERROR 500 when trying to search).
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After you install NetQuestion, the search server will start automatically when you reboot your system.
If the search server starts without any errors but you encounter the following error message when you attempt to search the DB2 product documentation:
A network error occurred: unable to connect to server. The server may be down or unreachable. Try connecting again later.
then stop and then re-start the search server by clicking on the appropriate icon in Start->Programs->DB2 for Windows.
If you run low on memory, stop the search server to reclaim the memory it used. To stop the search server, click on Start->Programs->DB2 for Windows ->Stop HTML Search Server.
To stop and start the SBCS search server from a command prompt, enter the following commands:
imnss stop server imnss start server
To stop and start the DBCS search server from a command prompt, enter the following commands:
imqss -stop dbcshelp imqss -start dbcshelp
If you use Netscape or Internet Explorer with proxies enabled manually, you can speed up search significantly by modifying your proxy information.
In Netscape 3, perform the following steps to modify your proxy information:
step 1. | Select Options->Network Preferences. |
step 2. | Click on the Proxies tab. |
step 3. | Click View at the Manual Proxy Configuration selection. |
step 4. | In the No proxies for box, type: localhost:49213 If you have other entries here, separate them with commas. |
step 5. | Click OK until all dialog boxes are closed.
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In Netscape 4, perform the following steps to modify your proxy information:
step 1. | Select Edit->Preferences. |
step 2. | Double-click Advanced in the Category tree. |
step 3. | Click Proxies in the Advanced sub-tree. |
step 4. | Click View at the Manual Proxy Configuration selection. |
step 5. | In the Exceptions...Do not use proxy servers for domains beginning with box, type localhost:49213 If you have other entries here, separate them with commas. |
step 6. | Click OK until all dialog boxes are closed.
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In Internet Explorer 3, perform the following steps to modify your proxy information:
step 1. | Select View->Options. |
step 2. | Select Connection. |
step 3. | In the Exceptions...Do not use proxy servers for domains beginning with box, type: localhost:49213 If you have other entries here, separate them with commas. |
step 4. | Select the Do not use proxy server for local (intranet) addresses box. |
step 5. | Click OK to close the Options window.
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In Internet Explorer 4, perform the following steps to modify your proxy configuration:
step 1. | Select View->Internet Options. |
step 2. | Select the Connections tab. |
step 3. | Select the Bypass proxy server for local addresses box. This check box is available only if you are using a proxy or socks connection and you have selected the Use a proxy server box. |
step 4. | Click on Advanced. |
step 5. | In the Exceptions...Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with box, type localhost:49213 |
step 6. | Click OK until all dialog boxes are closed.
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In Internet Explorer 5 (beta), perform the following steps to modify your proxy configuration:
step 1. | Select Tools->Internet Options. |
step 2. | Select the Connections tab. If you are connected to a Local Area Network (LAN), click on LAN Settings. If you use Dial-Up Networking, click on Settings. |
step 3. | Select the Bypass proxy server for local addresses box. This check box is available only if you are using a proxy or socks connection and you have selected the Use a proxy server box. |
step 4. | Click on Advanced. |
step 5. | In the Exceptions...Do not use proxy server for addresses beginning with box, type localhost:49213 |
step 6. | Click OK until all dialog boxes are closed.
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If you use a laptop that is normally connected to a LAN as a disconnected development platform, you may run into difficulty searching the DB2 product documentation. To search successfully, you need to disable your nameserver IP address in your TCP/IP configuration. In other words, you need two separate TCP/IP configurations--one for connected operations and another for disconnected ones.
Windows 9x only allow you to have a single TCP/IP configuration. However, there are shareware utilities available on the internet that let you specify more than one setting, and then change them according to your connection status (connected or disconnected from a LAN). TCPSwitch is one of these programs.
If you are using Netscape 3 and you dial-in to a secure site to access the internet with a proxy or socks server, you will need to delete these settings in Netscape before you can search. This is a limitation in Netscape 3.
If the DB2 product installation was successful, but searching the product documentation with NetQuestion does not work, perform the following steps to diagnose and fix the problem:
step 1. | Check that NetQuestion was properly installed. The environment variables IMNINST and IMNINSTSRV should be set and IMNINSTSRV should point to the NetQuestion directory. For more information on locating the NetQuestion directory see Locating the NetQuestion Directory. |
step 2. | The NetQuestion directory should contain these files:
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step 3. | Ensure that the product documentation indexes are registered with NetQuestion. To list all registered indexes enter one of the following commands: nqmap -a //for SBCS tmmap -a //for DBCS The documentation indexes for DB2 is called DB2SR6xx or DB2CC6xx where xx is a two-character identifier of the language in which the documents are written. One or more of these names should appear in the list of names that NQMAP (or TMMAP) returns. With the list of indexes the NQMAP (or TMMAP) command provides, you can get additional details on each index with the following command: imnixsta <index_name> //for SBCS imqixsta <index_name> //for DBCS where <index_name> is the name of one of the indexes returned by the nqmap -a (or tmmap -a) command. This command provides details such as the status of the index and the number of documents in the index. If any of the above commands reveal an error, you can run the DB2 Universal Database product installation program again. If the only problem is that the files DB2SRCH.EXE, DB2HEAD.HTM or DB2FOOT.HTM are missing, then you can copy them from the directory <db2path>\misc to the NetQuestion directory, (for example, C:\IMNNQ_NT). The product installation program will run the search server's installation and initialization again.
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NetQuestion searches predefined indexes (not the actual HTML documentation installed with your DB2 product) and displays a list of ranked hits in a Search Results page. All of these indexes are installed with NetQuestion, regardless of the DB2 products you install.
However, depending on the DB2 product you installed, some of the HTML documentation may not be present. Therefore, the links generated from the predefined indexes may, if followed, return "File not found" errors.
You can select the most commonly installed sets of books: administration, application programming, and DB2 Connect. You can also search some individual books, such as the SQL Reference. For example, you install DB2 Universal Database Personal Edition with product documentation selected. You load the NetQuestion search page and search for "Embedded SQL". Most of the hits returned in the Search Results page will (if you "mouse over" the links) point to URLs like FILE:///D:\SQLLIB\DOC\HTML\db2a0/db2a093.htm, which is a file in the HTML version of the Application Development Guide. However, this book (db2a0) is not installed with DB2 Universal Database Personal Edition. Therefore, the links in the Search Results page will, if followed, produce "File not found" errors.
You can determine which HTML books are installed by clicking on Start->Programs->DB2 for Windows ->Information Center and selecting the Books tab. You can also look in x:\sqllib\doc\html (where x: is the drive on which you installed DB2) and comparing the five-character folder names (such as db2s0 and db2h1) to the list of books in the "How the DB2 Library is Structured" appendix in your Quick Beginnings manual.
Before uninstalling NetQuestion, make sure the search server is stopped. For information on how to stop the search server, see Starting and Stopping the Search Server.
NetQuestion is normally uninstalled when you uninstall DB2 Universal Database by selecting Start->Programs->DB2 for Windows ->Uninstall. If NetQuestion is still present after properly uninstalling DB2 and rebooting your system, go to Diagnosing NetQuestion Uninstall Problems diagnose and fix the problem.
If NetQuestion is not uninstalled after properly uninstalling DB2 and rebooting your system, it could mean that DB2 (or other products) are still registered with NetQuestion. To determine which products are still registered with NetQuestion, issue one of the following commands:
nqmap -a //for SBCS tmmap -a //for DBCS
If this command lists no indexes, go to Manually Uninstalling NetQuestion.
If this command lists indexes that do not belong to DB2 Universal Database (that is, the index names begin with something other than DB2), other products on your system are using NetQuestion. In this case you cannot remove NetQuestion.
If the list contains any of the DB2 index file names (DB2SR6xx or DB2CC6xx), DB2 could not unregister the indexes therefore causing the NetQuestion uninstall to fail. This occurs if DB2 was incorrectly uninstalled (for example, the SQLLIB folder was deleted). In this case, you need to manually unregister the indexes one at a time by performing the following steps:
step 1. | Issue one of these commands to ensure that the search server is running: imnss start server //for SBCS imqss -start dbcshelp //for DBCS |
step 2. | Issue one of these commands for each of the index files: nqmap -d <index_name> //for SBCS tmmap -d <index_name> //for DBCS where <index_name> is the name of one of the indexes returned by the nqmap -a (or tmmap -a) command. |
step 3. | Issue one of these commands for each of the index files: nqdelet <index_name> //for SBCS tmdelet <index_name> //for DBCS where <index_name> is the name of one of the indexes returned by the nqmap -a (or tmmap -a) command. |
step 4. | Stop the search server: imnss stop server //for SBCS imqss -stop dbcshelp //for DBCS |
step 5. | Issue nqmap -a (or tmmap -a) and verify that there are no DB2 indexes remaining. If there are, please contact IBM service. |
step 6. | Issue one of following commands to verify that no other indexes are active. nqcounti <NetQuestion directory> //for SBCS tmcounti <NetQuestion directory> //for DBCS where <NetQuestion directory> is the fully qualified path under which NetQuestion is installed. See Locating the NetQuestion Directory if you do not know the directory under which NetQuestion is installed. Caution:
If the nqcounti (or tmcounti) command return data that indicate no indexes are active, go to Manually Uninstalling NetQuestion.
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If the nqmap -a (or tmmap -a) command does not list any active indexes, you can try removing NetQuestion manually by performing the following steps:
step 1. | From a command prompt, enter the uninstnq command. |
step 2. | Remove the registry entries that are under \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\NetQuestion. Remove this entry including all of its subtrees. |
step 3. | Remove the NetQuestion directory and all of its subtrees. For example, if you installed NetQuestion on the C: drive, remove the C:\imnnq_nt directory. |
step 4. | Remove the environment variables IMNINST and IMNINSTSRV and remove the NetQuestion path from the PATH environment variable.
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If you still can not uninstall NetQuestion, call IBM service for assistance.
After a DB2 Universal Database uninstall, it is very important to reboot before doing another DB2 install. Some NetQuestion DLLs can be held by the operating system and are not removed until the next reboot. If a NetQuestion install happens before the reboot, the newly installed NetQuestion DLLs will be deleted on the next reboot, rendering NetQuestion unusable.