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# 3. Vortex OpenSplice Basics

Vortex OpenSplice is configured using an XML configuration file. In this file, the user specifies the architectural model and the Vortex OpenSplice services that are to run when the DDS infrastructure is started.

The `OSPL_URI` environment variable refers to the specific XML configuration file that is used for the current deployment. The default value refers to the `ospl.xml` file located in the `etc/config` directory of the Vortex OpenSplice installation. The installation directory itself can be referred to by the `OSPL_HOME` environment variable. Please see The Vortex OpenSplice Environment for details of how to set up the Vortex OpenSplice environment.

A number of other sample configuration files that can be used when benchmarking Vortex OpenSplice are also provided in the `etc/config` directory.

The `OSPL_URI` variable is of the form:

  `OSPL_URI=file://$OSPL_HOME/etc/config/ospl.xml`
  `OSPL_URI=file://%OSPL_HOME%\etc\config\ospl.xml`

You can refer to the `OpenSplice_DeploymentGuide.pdf` later for more details of the `OSPL_URI` variable; for now, let us see what aspects of the OpenSplice deployment are controlled by this file.

  The Vortex OpenSplice Launcher tool assists with the selection of the `OSPL_URI` variable. There is a Configurations menu that lists the sample configuration files that are available.

The Launcher tool

The Vortex OpenSplice Launcher tool is also able to run the examples and performance tests that are described later in this document.

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