The Database Interface Routines must be initialised prior to entering data to the FEMVIEW database; this is done by calling routine DIINI. Any attempt to call a routine without first calling DIINI will result in an error message, and the call will be ignored.

When DIINI is called, the user specifies the following :

1. Whether to write to the database, output to a neutral character file, or both.

2. The channel numbers for:

the temporary file(s) (up to 10),

error messages (optional),

and : If outputting to a neutral character file, the channel number for the neutral file and the neutral file format indicator IFORMT. The default format is 5 digit node and element numbers but a 10 digit version of the file may be activated by setting IFORMT to 10.

and : If entering data to the database, the channel numbers for:

the FEMVIEW data file

the FEMVIEW/FEMVIEW index file

The temporary file(s) and neutral character file must be opened outside the Database Interface Routines, error messages may be directed to the terminal, a logging file, or be completely suppressed. See Appendix 4 for details.