Patent Publication Number: US-7590836-B1

Title: Method and system for recovering the configuration data of a computer system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a divisional application of U.S. Pat. No. 7,117,348 filed on Jun. 27, 2003 and entitled “Method and System for Detecting the Validity of Configuration Data,” which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The present invention is related to computer system configuration. More particularly, the present invention is related to recovering configuration data in a memory device in a computer system. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Some computer systems have a type of non-volatile memory (“NVRAM”) for storing user-configurable settings governing the operation of a computer. For example, a user may configure a computer system to boot from the hard disk or boot from a network. The user-configurable settings for the computer system are typically provided in a firmware basic input/output system (“BIOS”). The BIOS contains basic routines which are accessed to boot the computer as well as to initialize and interface hardware with operating system software. 
   Occasionally, the BIOS may need to be updated to reflect changes in the hardware configuration of the computer system or to add new features. When the BIOS in a computer system is updated, the software that performs the update resets the configuration settings stored in the NVRAM to their default state requiring a user to reconfigure the previous settings in the NVRAM which were deleted as a result of the update. Historically, this reset has been done as a safety measure because different BIOS versions may have different configurable features whose current state is stored in the same locations in the NVRAM. Thus, the configuration reset is done to avoid a potentially serious system malfunction. However, rarely does an updated BIOS version include different configurable features which are stored in the same NVRAM locations as the features provided in a previous BIOS version. As a result, a user&#39;s previous configuration settings in the NVRAM are often reset unnecessarily due to a BIOS update and, as a result, many users are unnecessarily required to reconfigure their configuration settings. 
   It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made. 
   SUMMARY 
   In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problems are solved by methods for recovering configuration data stored in the NVRAM of a computer system. In accordance with aspects, the present invention relates to a method of recovering configuration data for a set of hardware devices in a computer system. A hardware device is selected from the set of devices as a current device. Next, a first map location is retrieved from a layout of present configuration data stored in the computer system. The first map location represents the location of present configuration data for the current device in the NVRAM. Next, a second map location is retrieved from a layout of updated configuration data stored in the computer system for the current device. The second map location represents the location of updated configuration data for the current device in the NVRAM. 
   Next, a determination is made as to whether the first map location matches the second map location for the current device. If it is determined that the first map location matches the second map location for the current device, then the next hardware device in the set of devices is selected as the current device. If it is determined that the first map location does not match the second map location for the current component, then the present configuration data is copied from the first map location to the second map location in the NVRAM, the present configuration data is erased from the first map location in the NVRAM, and the next hardware device in the set of devices is selected as the current device. 
   Aspects of the invention may be implemented as a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer program product or computer-readable medium. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. 
   These and various other features as well as advantages, which characterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a computer system architecture for detecting valid configuration data and recovering configuration data in a computer system utilized in embodiments of the invention; 
       FIGS. 2A-2B  illustrate tables showing illustrative layouts of the hardware configuration of the computer system of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the invention; 
       FIGS. 3A-3C  illustrate block diagrams showing configuration data stored in NVRAM in the computer system of  FIG. 1  according to various embodiments of the invention; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates logical operations performed in the computer system of  FIG. 1  for detecting the validity of configuration data according to an embodiment of the invention; and 
       FIG. 5  illustrates logical operations performed in the computer system of  FIG. 1  for recovering configuration data according to an alternative embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Embodiments of the present invention provide methods for detecting the validity of configuration data and recovering configuration data in a computer system. In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements through the several figures, aspects of the present invention and the exemplary operating environment will be described. 
     FIG. 1  and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. While the invention will be described in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an application program that runs on an operating system on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may also be implemented in combination with other program modules. 
   Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
   Turning now to  FIG. 1 , an illustrative computer architecture for a computer system  2  which was discussed briefly above, for practicing the various embodiments of the invention will be described. The computer system  2  includes a standard local or server computer operative to execute one or more application programs, such as update utility  29 . 
   Alternatively, the computer system  2  may include another type of computing device operative to access a network  18 , such as a personal digital assistant or other type of computer. The computer architecture shown in  FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional personal computer, including a central processing unit  4  (“CPU”), a system memory  6 , including a random access memory  8  (“RAM”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”)  10 , and a system bus  13  that couples the system memory  6  to the CPU  4 . 
   The ROM  10  comprises a memory device for storing a basic input/output system (“BIOS”)  11  containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer. These basic routines are accessed to boot the computer as well as to initialize and interface hardware with operating system software. One such routine is the power-on self test (“POST”) routine. The POST routine is executed after the computer system is turned on for performing diagnostics and initializing system components in the computer system. The ROM  10  further comprises a second memory device, such as a non-volatile random access memory device (“NVRAM”)  12 , for storing configuration data for the hardware in the computer system  2 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the NVRAM  12  may be, for example, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”) or a static random access memory (“SRAM”) device. In one embodiment, the configuration data stored in the NVRAM  12  may include a layout checksum  58 , which is a computed value representing a current hardware configuration or layout of the computer system  2 . The layout checksum  58  will be described in greater detail below with respect to  FIGS. 2-3 . The contents of the NVRAM  12  will be described in greater detail below with respect to  FIGS. 2-4  below. 
   The computer system  2  further includes a mass storage device  14  for storing an operating system  16 , an update utility  29 , an update file  31 , and other application programs  30 . The update utility  29  contains program code for updating an existing version of the BIOS  11  to an updated version with update code in the update file  31 . The update utility  29  is launched from the mass storage device  14  on the CPU  4  which executes code for updating the BIOS  11  with the update code. Upon launching the update utility  29  the update file  31  is loaded into the RAM  8 . In one embodiment, the updated BIOS code in the update file  31  may include a layout checksum  59 , which is a computed value representing an updated hardware configuration or layout of the configuration data stored in the NVRAM  12  of the computer system  2 . In another embodiment, the update file  31  may include updated configuration data describing the hardware configuration of the computer system  2 . The update utility  29  and the update file  31  will be described in greater detail with respect to  FIGS. 5-6  below. 
   The mass storage device  14  is connected to the CPU  4  through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus  13 . The mass storage device  14  and its associated computer-readable media, provide non-volatile storage for the computer system  2 . Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer system  2 . 
   By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer. 
   According to various embodiments of the invention, the computer system  2  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through the network  18 . The computer system  2  may connect to the network  18  through a network interface unit  20  connected to the bus  13 . It should be appreciated that the network interface unit  20  may also be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems. The computer system  2  may also include an input/output controller  22  for receiving and processing input from a number of devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown in  FIG. 1 ). Similarly, an input/output controller  22  may provide output to a display screen, a printer, or other type of output device. It should be understood that the input/output controller  22  may be a serial port interface (not shown) or other type of interface, such as a game port or a universal serial bus (USB), that is coupled to the bus  13 . 
     FIGS. 2A-2B  are tables showing illustrative layouts of the hardware configuration of the computer system  2  according to various embodiments of the invention. The table shown in  FIG. 2A  is a setup control database  50  illustrating the hardware configuration in the computer system  2  for a current version of the BIOS  11 . As shown in  FIG. 2A  the current BIOS version is version 1.0. The setup control database  50  is stored in the computer system  2 . The setup control database  50  allows a user to access the contents of the NVRAM  12  to setup or configure hardware devices in the computer system  2  (such as specifying a hard disk drive or memory configuration) during boot-up of the computer system  2  by the BIOS  11 . 
   The setup control database  50  includes a Handles column  51  which lists numbers assigned to each of the configurable hardware devices in the computer system  2 . As is known to those skilled in the art, a handle is a token, typically a pointer, that points a memory location. Each handle in the setup control database  50  points to memory addresses in the NVRAM  12  for each of the configurable hardware devices. The memory addresses for each of the devices are shown in Map Position column  56 . The setup control database  50  further includes a Setup Question column  52  which lists the configurable hardware devices for the computer system  2 . For example, in the setup control database  50  of  FIG. 2A , the configurable hardware devices are a boot device  52 A, a serial port  52 B, and a USB keyboard  52 C. 
   The setup control database  50  further includes an Options column  53  listing the number of options available for each of the configurable hardware devices listed in the Setup Question column  52 . For example, the Options column  53  indicates that the boot device  52 A has sixteen configurable options for booting the computer system  2 . For example, one option may be booting the computer from the hard disk while another option may be booting the computer from the CD-ROM drive. 
   The setup control database  50  further includes a Bits column  54  listing the number of binary bits in the NVRAM  12  allocated to each of the configurable hardware devices listed in the Setup Questions column  52 . It should be understood that the number of binary bits allocated for each device in the Bits column  54  corresponds to the number of options for each device in the Options column  53 . For example, the boot device  52 A is configured to have sixteen options and requires four binary bits to represent all sixteen options in the NVRAM  12 . 
   The setup control database  50  further includes a Setup Value column  55  listing a setup value for each of the configurable hardware devices in the computer system  2 . Each setup value may be a default value or a value selected by a user of the computer system  2 . For example, in the setup control database  50 , the serial port  52 B has a setup value of two indicating, for example, that the serial port in the computer system  2  is assigned the second communications port (i.e., “COM2”). 
   The setup control database  50  further includes a Map Position column  56  listing the memory addresses in a “map” of the NVRAM  12  for each of the devices listed in the Setup Questions column  52 . Each memory address in the Map Position column  56  corresponds to a byte and bit location in the map for each device. For example, the configuration data for the boot device  52 A, which is allocated four bits in the Bits column  54 , is located in byte  70 , bits  0 - 3  (70:0-3) in the map of the NVRAM  12 . The map of the NVRAM  12  will be described in greater detail below with respect to  FIGS. 3A-3B  below. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2B , the table shown in  FIG. 2B  is a setup control database  60  illustrating the hardware configuration for the boot device  52 A, the serial port  52 B, and the USB keyboard  52 C in the computer system  2  for an updated version of the BIOS  11 . As briefly discussed above, the update file  31  may include updated BIOS code and updated configuration data describing the hardware configuration of the computer system  2 . In this example, the updated version of the BIOS  11  is version 1.1. Similar to the setup control database  50  described above in  FIG. 2A , the setup control database  60  includes a Handle column  61 , a Setup Questions column  62 , an Options column  63 , a Bits column  64 , a Setup Value column  65 , and a Map Position column  66 . As shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , the number of options for the serial port  52 B has increased from five options in the setup control database  50  to nine options in the setup control database  60 . The increase in the number of options may be, for example, an increase in the number of COM ports assignable to the serial port  52 B in the updated BIOS version. As a result of the increase in the number of options, the number of binary bits allocated to the serial port  52 B has increased from three bits in the setup control database  50  to four bits in the setup control database  60 . As shown in  FIG. 2B , the memory addresses for the serial port  52 B in the Map Position column  66  have also changed from byte  70 , bits  4 - 6  (70:4-6) in the setup control database  50  to byte  71 , bits  0 - 3  (71:0-3) in the setup control database  60 . 
     FIGS. 3A-3B  are block diagrams illustrating the configuration data stored in the NVRAM  12  in the computer system  2  described above in  FIGS. 1-2 , according to various embodiments of the invention. Referring now to  FIG. 3A , the configuration data in the NVRAM  12  corresponds to a current version of the BIOS  11  (i.e., v 1.0) in the computer system  2 . As shown in  FIG. 3A , the NVRAM  12  includes 256 bytes of memory with the configuration data being stored in byte  70 . The byte  70  includes bits  70 A- 70 H for storing the current configuration for the hardware devices  52 A,  52 B, and  52 C in the setup control database  50  in binary format. For example, the Map Position column  56  in the setup control database  50  allocates the configuration data for the serial port  52  to byte  70 , bits  4 - 6  with a setup value of two. As shown in  FIG. 3A , the bits  70 E- 70 G in the byte  70  store the configuration for the serial port  52 B with a setup value (i.e., binary value) equal to two. In one embodiment of the invention and as briefly described above, the NVRAM  12  may also include a layout checksum  58 , which is a computed value representing the layout or contents of the NVRAM  12 . The layout checksum  58  may be stored in a fixed location in the NVRAM  12  such as the byte  38 . 
   It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the layout checksum  58  may be computed as a hash value generated from the records stored in the setup control database  50 . For example, the layout checksum  58  may be generated from the values in the Handles column  51  and the Map Position column  56  in the setup control database  50 . It should be understood that methods for computing hash values from data records are known to those skilled in the art and that other methods for computing the layout checksum  58  may also be utilized without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 3B , the NVRAM  12  is shown corresponding to an updated version of the BIOS  11  (i.e., v 1.1) in the computer system  2 . As shown in  FIG. 3B , the updated NVRAM  12  includes 256 bytes of memory with the updated configuration data being stored in the bytes  70  and  71 . The byte  70  includes bits  70 A-D and  70 H for storing the updated configuration for the boot device  52 A and the USB keyboard  52 C while the byte  71  includes bits  71 A- 71 D for storing the updated configuration for the serial port  52 B in binary format. For example, the Map Position column  66  in the setup control database  60  allocates the configuration data for the serial port  52 B to byte  71 , bits  0 - 3  with a default setup value of one. As shown in  FIG. 3B , the bits  71 A- 71 D in the byte  71  store the configuration for the serial port  52 B with a setup value (i.e., binary value) equal to one. As briefly described above, in an alternative embodiment, the update file  31  may only include the layout checksum  59  which may be a hash value generated from the values in the Handles column  61  and the Map Position column  66  in the setup control database  60 . 
     FIGS. 4-5  shows illustrative logical operations performed in the computer system  2  for detecting the validity of configuration data and recovering configuration data in the NVRAM  12  described above in  FIGS. 1-3  according to various embodiments of the invention. The logical operations of the various embodiments of the present invention are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance requirements of the computing system implementing the invention. Accordingly, the logical operations making up the embodiments of the present invention described herein are referred to variously as operations, structural devices, acts or modules. It will be recognized by one skilled in the art that these operations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention as recited within the claims attached hereto. 
   The logical operations  400  of  FIG. 4  begin at operation  402  where the update utility  29  is launched in the computer system  2  and retrieves the layout of the present configuration data for the computer system  2 . As described above in  FIG. 2A , the layout of the present configuration data is the setup control database  50  for the current version of the BIOS  11  (i.e., v. 1.0) which is stored in the computer system  2 . After the layout of the present configuration data has been retrieved, the operational flow  400  continues at operation  404  where the update utility  29  determines the layout checksum  58  from the records in the setup control database  50 . As described above with respect to  FIG. 3A , the layout checksum  58  may be determined by generating a one-byte hash value from the values in the Handles column  51  and the Map Position column  56  in the setup control database  50 . 
   After the first layout checksum has been determined at operation  404 , the operational flow  400  continues at operation  406  where the update utility  29  stores the layout checksum  58  in a fixed location, such as the byte  38 , in the NVRAM  12  as shown above in  FIG. 3A . It should be understood that, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, the layout checksum  58  may be determined prior to the BIOS  11  being compiled in the computer system  2 . In this alternative embodiment, the layout checksum is hard-coded into the NVRAM  12  when the BIOS code is compiled in the computer system  2 . 
   After the layout checksum  58  has been stored in the NVRAM  12 , the operational flow  400  continues at operation  408  where the update utility  29  retrieves the layout of the updated configuration data for the computer system  2  from the update file  31 . As briefly described above, the layout of the updated configuration data is the setup control database  60  for the updated version of the BIOS  11  (i.e., v. 1.1) which may be stored in the update file  31  in the computer system  2 . 
   After the layout of the updated configuration has been retrieved at operation  408  the operational flow  400  continues at operation  410  where the update utility  29  determines the layout checksum  59  from the records in the setup control database  60 . As described above, the layout checksum  59  may be determined by generating a one-byte hash value from the values in the Handles column  61  and the Map Position column  66  in the setup control database  60 . After the layout checksum  59  has been determined at operation  408 , the operational flow  400  continues at operation  412  where the update utility  29  stores the layout checksum  59  in the update file  31 . It should be understood that the layout checksum  59  may be stored in the code containing the updated configuration data for the NVRAM  12 . It should be understood that, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, the layout checksum  59  may be pre-determined and inserted into the updated BIOS code prior to launching the update utility  29 . 
   After the layout checksum  59  has been stored in the update file  31  at operation  412 , the operational flow  400  continues at operation  414  where the update utility  29  updates the BIOS  11  with the updated code in the update file  31  which contains the layout checksum  59 . After the BIOS  11  has been updated at operation  414 , the operational flow  400  continues at operation  416  where the layout checksum  58  stored in the NVRAM  12  is compared to the layout checksum  59  stored in the updated code in the BIOS  11 . In one embodiment, the comparison may be performed by the POST routine during a boot of the computer system  2  following the update of the BIOS  11 . As briefly discussed above, the POST routine performs diagnostics and initializes system components in the computer system including comparing data stored in the BIOS with data stored in the NVRAM  12 . 
   If at operation  416  it is determined that the layout checksum  58  is not equal to the layout checksum  59 , the BIOS update has caused a change in the configuration data and a layout checksum error is generated in the computer system  2  at operation  418 . Once a layout checksum error is generated the BIOS  11  clears the layout checksum  58  from the NVRAM  12  and resets the configuration options in the NVRAM  12  to their default state. The operational flow  400  then ends. If however, at operation  416  it is determined that the layout checksum  58  is equal to the layout checksum  59 , the BIOS update has not caused a change in the configuration data and the configuration data in the NVRAM  12  is left unchanged by the BIOS  11  at operation  418 . The operational flow  400  then ends. 
     FIG. 5  shows illustrative logical operations  500  performed in the computer system  2  for recovering configuration data in the NVRAM  12  described above in  FIGS. 1-3  according to an alternative embodiment of the invention. The logical operations  500  of  FIG. 5  begin at operation  502  where the update utility  29  is launched in the computer system  2  and retrieves the layout of the present configuration data for the computer system  2 . As described above in  FIG. 2A , the layout of the present configuration data is the setup control database  50  for the current version of the BIOS  11  (i.e., v. 1.0) which is stored in the computer system  2 . 
   After the layout of the present configuration data has been retrieved, the operational flow  500  continues at operation  504  where the update utility  29  selects a hardware device from the Setup Questions column  52  in the layout. After a hardware device has been selected at operation  504 , the operational flow continues at operation  506  where the update utility  29  retrieves the current position of the current device in the NVRAM  12  from the Map Position column  56  in the setup control database  50 . After the position of the current hardware device has been retrieved at operation  506 , the operational flow  500  continues at operation  508  where the update utility  29  retrieves the layout of the updated configuration data for the computer system  2 . As described above in  FIG. 2B , the layout of the updated configuration data is the setup control database  60  for the updated version of the BIOS  11  (i.e., v. 1.1) which may be stored in the update file  31 . 
   After the layout of the updated configuration data has been retrieved at operation  508 , the operational flow  500  continues at operation  510  where the update utility  29  retrieves the updated map position of the current device in the NVRAM  12  from the Map Position column  66  in the setup control database  60 . As discussed above, the setup control database  60 , which contains the updated configuration data for the NVRAM  12 , may be stored in the update file  31 . After the updated map position of the current hardware device has been retrieved from the setup control database  60 , the operational flow  500  continues at operation  512  where the update utility  29  compares the current map position for the current device as shown in  FIG. 3A  to the updated map position for the current device as shown in  FIG. 3B . 
   If at operation  512  it is determined that the current map position of the current hardware device is not equal to the updated map position of the current hardware device, then a change in the configuration of the current hardware device has occurred and the update utility  29  copies the setup value for the current hardware device from the current map position in the NVRAM  12  to the updated map position in the NVRAM  12  at operation  514 . In this manner, the current setup for the current hardware device is recovered into the updated configuration data for the NVRAM  12 . The operational flow then continues to operation  516  where the update utility  29  erases the current setup value for the current hardware device from the current map position in the NVRAM  12 . 
   For example, as shown in the setup control database  50  in  FIG. 2A , the serial port  52 B has a current map position of byte  70 , bits  4 - 6  (70:4-6) and a current setup value of 2, which may indicate, for example, that the serial port is currently assigned the second communications port (i.e., COM  2 ) in the computer system  2 . In this example, the serial port  52 B also has a map position of byte  71 , bits  0 - 3  (71:0-3) in the updated configuration data with a default setup value of 1 as shown in the setup control database  60  of  FIG. 2B . Since the current map position for the serial port  52 B is not the same as the updated map position, the update utility  29  copies the current setup value for the serial port  52 B from byte  70 , bits  4 - 6  in the NVRAM  12  (represented in binary number format as 010 in  FIG. 3A ) to the updated map position of byte  71 , bits  0 - 3  in the NVRAM  12  (represented in binary number format as 0010 in  FIG. 3C ). Thus, the current setup for the serial port  52 B is recovered into the updated configuration data for the NVRAM  12 . The operational flow then continues from operation  516  to operation  518 . 
   If at operation  512  it is determined that the current map position of the current hardware device is equal to the updated map position of the current hardware device, then no change in the configuration of the current hardware device has occurred and the NVRAM  12  is left unchanged. For example, as shown in the setup control database  50  in  FIG. 2A , the current map positions for the boot device  52 A and the USB keyboard  52 C are the same as the updated map positions for these devices. Therefore, the setup values for these devices are left unchanged in the NVRAM  12  by the update utility  29 . The operational flow then continues from operation  512  to operation  518 . 
   At operation  518 , the update utility  29  determines whether there are any additional devices to be selected in the setup control database  50 . If, at operation  518 , it is determined that there are additional devices to be selected in the setup control database  50 , the operational flow  500  continues to operation  520  where the update utility selects the next device listed in the Setup Questions column  51  in the setup control database  50 . The operational flow  500  then returns to operation  506  where the update utility retrieves the map location of the selected device from the setup control database  50 . If, at operation  518 , it is determined that there are no additional devices to be selected in the setup control database  50 , the operational flow  500  then ends. 
   Although the invention has been described in language specific to computer structural features, methodological acts and by computer readable media, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific structures, acts or media described. Therefore, the specific structural features, acts and mediums are disclosed as exemplary embodiments implementing the claimed invention. 
   The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the invention. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made to the present invention without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims.