MDC - INI File Settings

The Crimestar Mobile Digital Controller/Mobile can work differently depending upon how various entries in the [MDC] section of the CRIMESTAR.INI file are set. This section will explain the available INI file settings that relate to the MDC and will explain what they do. The description of each INI file entry will be prefixed with a reference to indicate if the entry is relevant to the MDC Controller (Controller), Mobile (Mobile) or both (Controller & Mobile). Entries prefixed as (Dynamic) are entries that need not be configured directly within the INI file as they are dynamically changed by the program as a result of user selected preferences.

(Controller & Mobile) The Address entry holds the logical address of the MDC device. An MDC address can be any value from 0 to 9999. A device address of zero (0) is reserved for the MDC controller, and there can only be one controller in the MDC network. MDC addresses used need not be sequential however; no two field units should be configured to the same MDC address. All MDC addresses must be unique.

ADDRESS=1

The MDC Address is shown on the panel display immediately to the right of the console command buttons and just above the current unit status indicator display.

(Controller) The Alert Activation entry is used to flag certain messages as a cautionary message. When the MDC Controller processes query requests it scans the return results of that request searching for a specific keyword or phrase as defined by the alert activation entry. If that specific keyword or phrase is found in the result text the message is flagged as a cautionary and returned to the requesting user/MDC as a priority message. Multiple keywords or phrases can be defined by separating them with a comma

ALERT_ACTIVATION_STRING= keyword, keyword, keyword

Example: Setting the ALERT_ACTIVATION_STRING=WARRANT,GUN would result in any query return that contains the word “WARRANT” or the word “GUN” being flagged as cautionary and sent as a priority message.

(Controller & Mobile) By default when the MDC receives a message it displays the message waiting indicator and waits for the user to request the display of the next waiting message. In this circumstance even is the users display screen has been cleared no message will be displayed until the user specifically requests it by pressing the Next Message button. However, some agencies prefer that if the user screen in blank or clear when a message arrives that the message be displayed automatically. Use the following INI setting to turn on this automatic display when the users screen is blank or clear. (Default is OFF)

BLANKSCREEN_AUTODISPLAY=ON

(Controller & Mobile) The BUTTON_ INI settings can be used to change the unit status command buttons to reflect short (3-5 character) user defined labels for certain unit status commands.

BUTTON_DISPATCH=
BUTTON_ENROUTE=
BUTTON_ARRIVE=
BUTTON_CLEAR=
BUTTON_TRANSPORT=
BUTTON_VEHSTOP=
BUTTON_PEDSTOP=
BUTTON_FLDEVENT=
BUTTON_RADIOLOG=
BUTTON_MISC=
BUTTON_FREE=

(Controller) The following INI setting determines if, when an MDC logs off, the associated unit ID is also logged out of CAD. The default is ON

CAD_LOGOUT=ON/OFF

(Controller) The following INI setting determines if, when a unit clears an event and that unit is the last unit on the event, if the MDC controller will also close the event (providing all required fields for the event have been satisfied). If ON the MDC controller will attempt to clear the event. If OFF the event will be changed to a COMPLETE ‘C’ status and will require intervention by the dispatcher to close the event. The default is OFF

CLOSE_ON_CLEAR=ON/OFF

(Controller & Mobile) The Comtype entry in the INI file determines the type of communication backbone that the MDC is being used with:

COMTYPE=1 ( Serial RF Broadcast / Default )
COMTYPE=2 ( TCP – Connection Based Protocol)
COMTYPE=3 ( UDP –Connectionless Protocol)

(Controller & Mobile) The Controller_IP entry on the INI file is used for a few different operations within the program. How it is used and what it should be set to differs from the MDC Controller to the MDC Workstation. The default value is 192.168.1.1

CONTROLLER_IP=192.168.1.1

MDC Workstation/Mobile: When the COMTYPE=2 or 3, the Controller_IP setting should be set to indicate the TCP/IP address of the host MDC Controller. This is the TCP/IP address that the MDC Workstation must connect to in order to communicate with the Controller. In Circumstances where the MDC Controller is behind a router performing NAT (Network Address Translation) the Controller_IP address should be the public address of the Router and it shall then be the router’s responsibility to Forward the port (Port 777 default) traffic to the proper IP address (The internal network address of the MDC Controller) behind the router.

MDC Controller: In all cases, no matter what the COMTYPE setting is, the CONTROLLER_IP address should be set to the TCP/IP address for the controller machine on the internal department LAN segment. This should be the address on same LAN segment where the Crimestar CAD workstations are running. The MDC Controller communicates with the CAD Workstations by sending UDP data-grams on the LAN. By default UDP data-grams only live or exist within a single “C” class LAN segment (AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD). Under most circumstances setting this value would not be necessary, however, in some cases the MDC Controller machine may have multiple network cards installed where each network card is operating on a different network. Because of this possibility, it is necessary to identify which network the MDC Controller should use to both listen for and send UDP data-gram messages so that messages are both received from and delivered to CAD workstations.

(Controller & Mobile) The following INI entry can be used to cause the MDC to copy message text from an ADMIN message into your reply to that message. Copying admin message text can help maintain message subject continuity, but will increase message sizes and may impact system performance. The MDC will always truncate an Admin message to a maximum of 1K bytes. The default for this setting is off.

COPY_REPLY_TEXT=OFF

(Controller & Mobile) The following entries create DEFAULT values for some common input fields. These entries are dynamically set by the application via user input.

DEFAULT_AGENCY=
DEFAULT_AREA_CODE=
DEFAULT_PLATE_TYPE=
DEFAULT_RACE=
DEFAULT_REASON=
DEFAULT_SEX=
DEFAULT_CITY=
DEFAULT_COUNTY=
DEFAULT_STATE=
DEFAULT_CHECK_LOCAL=
DEFAULT_CHECK_STATE=
DEFAULT_CHECK_STATEPHOTO=

(Controller & Mobile) The following INI entries can be used to disable certain MDC functions from being available to the MDC system. If the setting is activated (“ON”) at the MDC Mobile, the corresponding command button and menu option for that function is disabled so the command cannot be transmitted to the MDC Controller. This setting merely controls the forms buttons and menus. In all circumstances the ability to actually submit a particular transaction is controlled via the MD Controller’s Security settings. The default setting for all the disable function command entries is ‘OFF’ (not disabled)

DISABLE_DISPATCH=OFF
DISABLE_ENROUTE=OFF
DISABLE_ARRIVE=OFF
DISABLE_CLEAR=OFF
DISABLE_FREE=OFF
DISABLE_RADIOLOG=OFF
DISABLE_SUBJECTSTOP=OFF
DISABLE_TRANSPORT=OFF
DISABLE_VEHSTOP=OFF
DISABLE_FLDEVENT=OFF
DISABLE_MISC=OFF
DISABLE_COMMANDLINE=OFF
DISABLE_QPERSON=OFF
DISABLE_QVEHICLE=OFF
DISABLE_QARTICLE=OFF
DISABLE_QBOAT=OFF
DISABLE_QGUN=OFF
DISABLE_QHAZMAT=OFF
DISABLE_QFREEFORM=OFF

(Controller) The following INI entry can be used on the MDC controller to disable the FREE Unit Alert function which sends a Digital Dispatch Warning message to units attached to an event when one or more units attached to the same event free from the event. The default setting for this disable function command entry is ‘OFF’ (not disabled).

DISABLE_FREE_UNIT_ALERT=ON

(Dynamic) The following entries are used to hold the status monitor and map filter preferences selected by the user.

FILTER_PRIORITY=
FILTER_AGENCY=
FILTER_BEAT=
FILTER_SECTOR=
FILTER_DISTRICT=
FILTER_AGENCY2=
FILTER_BEAT2=
FILTER_SECTOR2=
FILTER_DISTRICT2=
FILTER_AGENCY3=
FILTER_BEAT3=
FILTER_SECTOR3=
FILTER_DISTRICT3=

(Mobile) The GPS_PORT entry is used to indicate the physical RS-232 serial port # (or Virtual COM port) that the NMEA compliant GPS receiver is plugged into. Check your windows system configuration to confirm the proper port # to use for this setting. This port will be opened by the MDC software at 4800 Baud, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit.

GPS_PORT=

Setting GPS_PORT to a value of -1 will cause the software to scan through various com ports 1 thru 30 looking for the GPS signal. Scanning for GPS signaling can be beneficial if/when the com port used dynamically changes depending upon what other devices are plugged in at the time. If the GPS port used is fixed, then defining the port number directly will provide a quicker connect and GPS fix to the MDC unit. See GPS_SCAN_MIN and GPS_SCAN_MAX to set minimum and maximum port values for scanning.

(Mobile) The GPS_DISTANCE entry is used to indicate the physical distance that must be traveled by the MDC before it will automatically send a communication to the MDC controller updating its latitude and longitude position. GPS position broadcasts do not require the recipient MDC controller to acknowledge receipt and no retry transmissions will be made to help ensure delivery. The minimum value is 100 (100 feet). The default is approx. 300 feet.

GPS_DISTANCE=

* CAUTION setting this value too low can cause the MDC to transmit latitude and longitude position coordinates very frequently and cause excessive congestion on your radio/network communications channel. Remember a car traveling at an average speed of 30MPH is changing its lat/long coordinate position at a rate 44 feet per second.

(Mobile) The GPS_TIME entry is used to indicate the amount of minutes that must elapse before the MDC will automatically send a communication to the MDC controller updating its latitude and longitude position. GPS position broadcasts do not require the recipient MDC controller to acknowledge receipt and no retry transmissions will be made to help ensure delivery. The minimum value is 3 (3 Minutes). The default is 20 minutes.

GPS_TIME=

(Mobile) The GPS_SCAN_MIN and GPS_SCAN_MAX entry is used to indicate the minimum and maximum port values to use when scanning Com ports searching for the GPS Signal. By limiting the range of ports scanned the MDC software will be able to more quickly identify and lock onto the port providing GPS signalling. The valid range is between 1 and 96.

GPS_SCAN_MIN=1 (default)
GPS_SCAN_MAX=30 (default)

(Controller & Mobile) The following entries can be used to assign user definable function keys and key combinations to specific unit status commands, message display and panel display functions. Each of the following entries is directly associated with the task or command that corresponds with the INI entry name. The key sequence definitions to use in conjunction with these INI file entries are defined in Appendix “D”: Function Key Values.

KEY_ADMIN=
KEY_DISPATCH=
KEY_ENROUTE=
KEY_ARRIVE=
KEY_CLEAR=
KEY_TRANSPORT=
KEY_VEHSTOP=
KEY_MISC=
KEY_FREE=
KEY_TOGGLE_PANEL12=
KEY_PANEL_CLEAR=
KEY_NEXT_MESSAGE=
KEY_PREV_MESSAGE=
KEY_SAVE_MESSAGE=
KEY_RECALL_MESSAGE=
KEY_EMERGENCY= (Sends Emergency/Distress Broadcast)

(Dynamic) The following entry is used to hold the last known unit ID of the unit so that if the MDC is turned off or otherwise looses power, the Unit ID indicator can be resumed/set when the MDC comes back online or powers up. There is no need to do anything with this setting, as it is dynamically set by the software during normal operation.

LASTUNIT=

(Controller) The following entry is used to determine if administrative (car-to-car and car-to-dispatch) messages are logged to a text file on disk. Setting this value to ON turns admin message logging on. The log file is a simple text file named “MDCADMIN_ccyymmdd.LOG” (where ccyymmdd is the current date in Year, Month, Day format). Because these log files can become excessively large, a new log file is created each day as needed. The log file is located in the \LOGS\MDC\ADMIN directory of the MDC Controller installation folder. The default is OFF (No Logging).

LOG_ADMIN_MESSAGES= ON/OFF

This can be a very controversial issue, and many agencies that have had MDC systems for years deliberately do not log this data. The theory, right or wrong is that; you can't subpoena something that does not exist. For many agencies this logged information, has only served as evidence against them in court.

(Controller) The following entry is used to determine if administrative (car-to-car and car-to-dispatch) message logs are automatically erased/purged after a specified number of days. The value specified indicates the number of days to keep the logs. The default is 0 (No Purge, logs are kept indefinitely).

LOG_ADMIN_RETENTION=0

(Controller) The following entry is used to determine the frequency (represented in minutes) of MDC latitude / longitude logging to a text file on disk. Setting this value to zero (the default) turn latitude/longitude logging off. The log file is a simple text file named “MDCLL_ccyymmdd.LOG” (where ccyymmdd is the current date in Year, Month, Day format) and is located in the \LOGS\MDC\LATLNG directory of the MDC Controller installation folder. Because these log files can become excessively large, a new log file is created each day as needed. The file will only contain entries for MDC units where LAT/LNG information exists (even if the vehicles position has not changed for a considerable amount of time). The default is 0 (No Logging).

LOG_LAT_LNG_FREQUENCY=

(Controller) The following entry is used to determine if latitude and longitude logs are automatically erased/purged after a specified number of days. The value specified indicates the number of days to keep the logs. The default is 0 (No Purge, logs are kept indefinitely).

LOG_LAT_LNG_ RETENTION=0

(Controller) The following entry is used to determine the maximum number of records returned in a summary list from the Crimestar RMS database, when performing a Query Person, Query Vehicle or Query Article search. This setting can be any numeric value between 1 and 100. The default is 25.

MAX_SUMMARY_MATCH=25

(Controller & Mobile) This entry is used to determine the maximum size of a message packet sent by the MDC software. Setting the message packet size larger can improve performance because each message consists of fewer packets; however, longer/larger packets may be more susceptible to corruption/damage during transmission causing message packet retries to occur. Generally a value of 256 (Min) to 1024 should work well. The default is 512.

MAXPACKETSIZE=

(Controller & Mobile) This entry is used to determine the maximum number of retries that should be attempted by the MDC when it sends a message and fails to receive an acknowledgment. After MAXRETRYCOUNT if the message packet still has not been acknowledged the message is regarded as undeliverable. The default is 5.

MAXRETRYCOUNT=

(Controller & Mobile) This entry is used to determine how many seconds the MDC will wait for a response or acknowledgement before attempting to send the message packet again. The default is 5 seconds.

MAXRETRYDELAY=

(Controller & Mobile) This entry is used to turn encryption of message transferred by the MDC system ON/OFF. The MDC software provides Advanced Encryption Standard 256 Bit (AES-256) data encryption as defined by the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) publication 197 for all data transmissions (excluding packet headers). The default is ON

MSGENCRYPTION=ON

(Controller & Mobile) The following entries hold the Crimestar license information for the MDC system. This information is provided to you by Crimestar Corporation when you license the product.

MDC_LICENSE_COUNT=
MDC_KEY=

Crimestar Mobile Digital Controller software is licensed per car (or per ADDRESS) and not per concurrent users. Thus the MDC_LICENSE_COUNT value represents the maximum number of unique MDC addresses or devices the controller will recognize and allow to connect, regardless of whether any field unit is currently logged on to the MDC device(s). This licensing scheme is different from the concurrent user license methodology implemented by Crimestar RMS.

(Mobile) This entry is used to determine if and how often the normal message alert tone will repeat. The value of this entry represents the frequency in seconds that the normal message (not a priority message) alert tone will sound until the user presses the next message button to acknowledge that a message or messages are in queue. Unlike the Priority Alert Tone setting, this audible alert disables as soon as the user presses the next message button no matter how many normal messages are waiting in queue. When a NEW message is received in queue the normal audible alert is once again enabled. The minimum value is 10, meaning that the alert tone will resound every 10 seconds the user presses the next message button. Setting this value to zero (0) causes the normal message alert tone to not repeat. Zero (0) is the default.

NORMAL_ALERT_TONE=

(Controller & Mobile) This is the TCP or UDP port that the MDC will use to communicate when running with COMTYPE set to a value of 2 or 3. The default is port 777.

PORT_ID=

(Mobile) This entry is used to determine if and how often the priority message alert tone will repeat. The value of this entry represents the frequency in seconds that the priority message alert tone will sound until ALL the priority messages in queue have been read. The minimum value is 10, meaning that the audible alert tone will resound every 10 seconds until all priority messages in queue have been read. Setting this value to zero (0) causes the audible alert tone to not repeat. 10 Seconds is the default.

PRIORITY_ALERT_TONE=

(Controller & Mobile) This is the machines Serial port that the MDC will use to communicate when running with COMTYPE set to a value of 1. The default is 1.

SERIAL_PORT=

(Mobile) When MAC verification is used it is essential that the proper/authorized MAC ID be sent to the controller. Likewise, if the State Interface Message Switch Gateway (MSG) is being used, MAC Address verification is required. However, on computers where more than one Network Interface Card (NIC) is installed, more than one MAC address will exist. Thus Microsoft Windows may provide the MDC Workstation application with the wrong MAC address to send to the MDC controller for verification. If that happens the MDC workstation will fail the device security authorization. Sometimes you can configure Windows to always report a specific MAC ID however, in circumstances where you can’t configure MS Windows for consistent behavior, the STATICMAC entry in the INI file can be used to force the MDC Workstation to use a pre-defined MAC address.

STATICMAC=

(Controller & Mobile) This is the transmit delay that the MDC will use so as to prevent data from being sent to the serial port too fast for external modem devices to handle. The value of this setting is a representation of seconds or fractions of a second. Example: 1=One second; 2=Two seconds; 2.5 = 2 and one half seconds; etc. etc. When running in COMTYPE=2 or 3 this value should probably be zero (0). When running with COMTYPE=1 this value may need to be increased slightly. The default value is 0.

TX_DELAY=

(Controller) This is the interval, in minutes that the MDC controller will use to send unsolicited status monitor broadcasts to field units. These unsolicited broadcasts do not require the recipient MDC to acknowledge receipt and no retry transmissions will be made to help ensure delivery. Sending these unsolicited broadcasts to infrequently will result in the information displayed on the field unit status monitors being less timely. The default is 10 minutes.

SMBROADCAST_INTERVAL=

*CAUTION: sending these status monitor broadcasts too frequently may consume too much band width on your communication backbone and seriously impact system performance.

The status monitor and map page on the MDC controller are updated/refreshed every 15 seconds regardless of the SMBROADCAST_INTERVAL value.

(Mobile) This setting determines if the MDC Login Screen will provide prompts for a separate state interface login. The default is OFF.

STATE_INTERFACE_LOGIN=ON/OFF

(Mobile) This setting determines if the User ID and Password values provided via the separate state interface login prompts will be automatically shifted to upper case, lower case or will remain as mixed case values before being transmitted to the MDC Controller. Some state interfaces require upper case values. The default is Mixed Case.

STATE_INT_LOGIN_CASE=UPPER / LOWER / MIXED