DECUS_LUG_News_1988 DECUS LUG News 1988

DECUS_LUG_News_1988 DECUS_LUG_News_1988

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1988 Compendium of DEC US LUG Newsletters

Compiled by
Paula Sharick
National LUG Council Publications Coordinator
and
Kata McCarville Weber
Rocky Mountain VAX LUG Newsletter Editor

1988 Compendium of DECDS LUG Newsletters

Compiled by
Paula Sharick
National LUG Council Publications Coordinator

and
Kata McCarville Weber
Rocky Mountain VAX. LUG Newsletter Editor

LUG NEWS Compendium

1988

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LUG News: A Gathering ......................................... 2
Field Guide: National DECUS Support for LUGs .. 2
Hints for Successful Newsletters ............................ 4
List of Contributing Editors .................................... 7
In the compendium, newsletters are grouped by
region, and the sections are alphabetical by region
name. Within each section, the newsletters are
more or less randomly organized, due to the inconsistencies encountered when attempting to alphabetize by LUG name, newsletter name, and
everything else we could think of.
In addition to the newsletters, each section includes information about the NLC Regional LUG
Coordinator, other regional volunteers (if any
exist), and a list of all LUGs and LUG Chairs in the
region.

SECTIONS
(in the order they appear)
Central Region
Mid-Atlantic Region
Northeast Region
South Region
Southwest Region
West Region

LUG News: A Gathering
by Paula Sharick
National LUG Council Publications Coordinator

Welcome to the 1988 Compeiullum of LUG
Newsletters! As you page through this publication,
you'll get a glimpse of the diversity of Local User
Groups (LUGs) around the country. Some meet
once a month, some once a quarter. Attendees
range between 20 and 200 per meeting, and meetings vary from two hours to all day long. Membership varies from 30-600. Some LUGS publish
one-page meeting announcements, and others publish incredibly professional newsletters with fancy
masthead, regular columns, quality technical information, and great computer humor.
At any given time, there are approximately 150 active LUGs in the US, with new ones forming and
old ones going away almost on a weekly basis. We
at the National LUG Council (NLC), don't really
know how many newsletters are published, but
there certainly are more than the 30 or so included

in this compendium. If you are publishing a
newsletter, we'd love to get a copy. Add one of
these two names to your master mailing list, and
next year your newsletter will appear in this collection!
Anne Foley
DECUS
219 Boston Post Rd.
BP02
Marlboro MA 01752

Paula Sharick
NLC Publications
Coordinator
1490 Wildwood Lane
Boulder CO 80303

Later in this section, you will find a list of all the
newsletter editors whose pUblications are included
here. As a new recruit, you may want to contact
editors for information or to get a copy of other
newsletters. Sharing material is a widely-established practice, and a great way to collect humor
and other fun tidbits. We've tried to pick and
choose among the newsletters we receive and show
you some of the best examples. The Wichita Area
LUG regularly publishes great computer humor!
And look in the Northeast Region section for the
ConnecticutjRhode Island/Massachusetts LUG
(CRIMLUG) newsletter. "The Crime" is one of the
most professional newsletters in our collection this
year.
In the interest of brevity, we tried to eliminate
redundancy and left out mailing pages, DECUS
membership forms, and meeting announcements,
although these are important parts of a LUG
newsletter. We hope this compendium will give
you ideas for improving your own LUG newsletter,
or give you the courage to start one now that you
know you aren't alone.

Field guide to
national DEeUS
support for LUGS
by Pa ula Sharick
National LUG Council Publications Coordinator

Before being recruited to work on the National
LUG Council, I was involved with the Rocky Mountain VAX LUG. We worked fairly independently,
and until a couple of years ago, I was unaware of
most of the National DECUS structure. In particular, I had no idea that a national committee existed to help LUGs all around the country. As far
as I knew, the only DECUS involvement was to approve the license for my LUG from year to year.
Well, in the last nine months, I have found out a
great deal about DECUS and the National LUG
Council. I'd like to share some of what I discovered

Page 1

LUG NEWS Compendium

with you... First off, as you will notice from the
cover, LUGS are divided into 6 regions across the
US. If the regional boundaries seem a bit unusual
to you, they are! They were originally created to
conform to DEC sales regions--as we all know,
those change every June. The boundaries don't
make much sense, but that's the way it is! They do
serve to divide LUGs fairly equitably as far as
regional support issues go, because LUGs tend to
proliferate in areas of dense population or where
high tech industries settle.
The first-quarter 1988 breakdown of LUGs by
region is as follows:
Northeast
Mid-Atlantic
South
Southwest
Central
West

25
25
38
25
22
20

Each region has a representative on the National
LUG Council. Representatives are elected for twoyear terms by the LUG chairs from that region.
One of the requirements for a Regional LUG Coordinator is serving on the "steering committee" of a
LUG for at least one year.
This Compendium is divided into six sections, one
for each LUG region in the country. There is a
short biography of each Regional Coordinator at
the beginning of each section, along with contact information.
Regional LUG Coordinators (called RLCs in the
famous DECUS acronym fashion) are there for
you--to help you form a LUG, restart a failing
LUG, offer suggestions on newsletters, help liaison
with the closest DEC office, and help you obtain a
DECUS license, find funding for your newsletter
and meeting announcements and recruit speakers.
RLCs also provide guidelines on the activities that
conform best with DECUS policies, and are
charged with gathering input when LUG policies
and procedures are being updated. They are your
collective voice to National DECUS!

National LUG Council
The, NLC exists to foster the growth and sense of
community among LUGs across the US. A complete list of the NLC Executive Committee appears
elsewhere in this volume. All LUG Chairs are also
non-voting members of the NLC. Feel f!oee to contact anyone listed for advice and assistance with
your LUG's activities.

Page 2

1988

NLC
Executive Committee
DECUS LUG Activities Coordinator
Anne Foley
DECUS
219 Boston Post Road BP02
Marlboro MA 01752
617-480-3289
Chair
Joe Sciuto
U.S. Army
Alexandria VA
202-692-6903
202-692-0810

Vice Chair
Dave Johnson
Lockheed
Mountain View CA
408-756-4544

Northeast RLC
Gary Griswold
Anitec Image Corp.
Webster NY
607-774-3333

Mid-Atlantic RLC
John Engle
Ohio on Gathering Corp.
Frazeysburg OH
614-828-2891

CentralRLC
Southern RLC
John Livengood
Dennis Clark
Boeing Computer Svcs. Oak Ridge National Lab
WichitaKS
Kingston TN
316-526-9380
615-576-7384
Southwest RLC
J.D. (Dave) MacPherson
Glendale CA
213-616-2519

Western RLC
Steve Lorentzen
Unicomp Corp.
Seattle WA
206-284-4816

Tape Copy Librarian
Bob (Sky Scum) Perry
Tektronix, Inc.
Beaverton OR
503-627-5410

Publications Coordinator
Paula Sharick
Wildwood Associates
Boulder CO
303-499-5700

Using DCS for
intra-DECUS
communication
All LUG Chairs are authorized to use toll-free access to the DECUS All-in-One communication system (DCS). As of early 1988, LUG Steering
Committee members may also be authorized on
DCS. DCS is one of the primary vehicles for communication among DECUS leaders. Your Regional
LUG Coordinator sends out mail on a regular basis
asking for opinions on policy issues before the
NLC. You can also use DCS to communicate with
other LUG leaders.

1988
DCS is the master control center for all communication, and can be valuable to LUGS in
several ways. Special budget requests can be handled electronically--a nice short cut. Information on
NLC members is available through the IU function. You can communicate with your BLC via EM
or EMSHRT. You can submit sessions for national
symposia, change your mailing address for DECUS
publications, and Kermit files up and down if necessary.
Training in using DCS is available at the Fall and
Spring DECUS Symposia. You don't have to
register, just show up for a quick lesson and a copy
of the primerl
LUG SESSIONS AT NATIONAL SYMPOSIA
At each DECUS symposium, there are several sessions targeted specifically for LUG steering committees and LUG members. A meeting for LUG Chairs
is always scheduled to give you the opportunity to
meet other LUG Chairs and NLC members, ask
questions, and get upd~ted on the latest LUG issues. An agenda is usually prepared for the one- to
two-hour semiformal meeting. Almost 100 LUG
Chairs attended this session at the Fall 1987
DECUS in Anaheim. A LUG Chair can designate
an alternate representative to attend the meeting,
and I encourage you all to attendl
The NLC also sponsors a LUG Clinic, which lasts
two or three hours. It's an informal, walk-in
gathering and a place to meet both NLC members
and other leaders. You can pick up lists of contacts
for all LUGS in your region or the US, get answers
to questions about LUG licensing, newsletter funding, find out where the closest LUG is, and get
some "how-to" information about starting your own
LUG. The LUG Clinic is a way to get plugged-into
the broader community of the National LUG network.
Once a year, the NLC also presents a LUG N ewsletter Editor Session at a national symposium. This
session addresses issues specific to newsletter
editors, and features a formal presentation on
hints and kinks for a successful newsletter. The
presentation is followed by an open forum, in
which all attendees are invited to contribute. As
our newsletter editor mailing list grows, it will be
made available at this session. Latest copies of the
Compendium will also be made available.
DECUS SYMPOSIUM RIBBONS
At DECUS, there are ribbons for everything!
Purple is the color designated for LUGS (no, we're
not all Minnesota Viking fans!). LUG Chairs and

LUG NEWS Compendium
Newsletter Editors can pick up a purple ribbon at
registration or at one of the NLC sponsored sessions. When you see someone wearing a purple ribbon, you know s/he is involved in LUG activities,
and you just may have something in common1
LUG CLUSTER DINNERS
At each DECUS symposium, the Regional LUG
Coordinators usually sponsor a LUG Cluster Dinner immediately following the LUG Chairs meeting. These dinners are a way to meet other LUG
Chairs in your region and to establish a rapport
with your regional NLC representative. Typically
both business and fun appear during dinner conversation, along with input on future plans, changes
in LUG bylaws, and many computer jokes!
REGIONAL CONFERENCES
The NLC is busy working on a set of guidelines for
Regional Conferences, which have been held at the
local level for several years now. Regional Conferences are sponsored by one or more LUGs in the
same area of the country, and are generally attended by 200 to 400 people. You may have seen
mailings from the four LUGs that held Regional
Conferences during first quarter of 1988.
These "mini" DECUS symposia provide an important and very well received service to the local community. Because the cost is significantly
lower--registration fees range from $65 to $200-and no travel expenses are involved, companies
often send many (up to 10!) of their technical staff
to a local conference. Regional Conferences are an
excellent opportunity to receive training at a fraction of the cost of formal seminars and provide an
opportunity for networking with people in your
area that may be involved in similar applications.
Some Regional Conferences have one track, others
have up to 6 tracks in parallel, with sessions
scheduled every hour of the day. LUGs in Minnesota, New Mexico, San Francisco, Seattle, and
Rocky Mountain (Denver) have sponsored very successful Regional Conferences within the last two
years. Others have been held in the Northeast,
and interest in Regional Conferences continues to
grow.
The NLC has a Regional Conference Coordinator
to act as interface for the NLC, affected DECUS
committees and staff, and sponsoring LUGS. A
Regional Conference "Cookbook" is available from
the DECUS office, and additional information on
Regional Conferences can be obtained through the
NLC and/or your Regional LUG Coordinator.

PageS

1988

LUG NEWS Compendium

LUG AWARDS
Every year one LUG may be chosen by LDEC, the
DECUS leadership organization, as the LUG of the
YEAR. Nomination forms are mailed out about
three months before the Spring DECUS Symposium and anyone can return the form. It's a nice
way to be recognized for your volunteer efforts and
the efforts of your dedicated steering committee
,·members!
REGIONAL SEMINARS
The Seminars Committee within DECUS is
making the Pre-Symposium Seminar (PSS)
program available to LUGs. You can schedule one
or more PSSs to coincide with a regularly
scheduled meeting, in conjunction with a Regional
Conference, or as a special LUG event. Once the initial contact is made with DECUS, you have only to
give suggestions on a place and estimate probable
number of attendees. The Seminars committee,
through a Regional Seminar representative, will
carry the ball from there.
TO SUM IT UP
These are just some of the activities and support
services that NLC offers to the LUGs. There are
several positions open for volunteers at the
regional level. If you are interested in volunteering, need help with your LUG program, or have
suggestions for services NLC could offer in the future, don't hesitate to contact your Regional LUG
Coordinator.

HINTS FOR
SUCCESSFUL
NEWSLETTERS
compiled by Kata McCarville Weber, Computing
Center, Colorado School ofMines, Golden, Colorado

included in the group even w-h,en they may not be
able to attend all the meetings. The difficulties in
producing such a document are many. None of the
panel pretended to have all the answers, but they
offered the benefit of their collective experience.
The tasks involved in producing a newsletter include:
--collecting or writing information to be included
--editing for content and proofreading
--merging text and illustrations in a master copy
--duplicating the newsletter
--maintaining the membership list
--distributing the newsletter to LUG members
Try to share the work by separating some of the
tasks. Have the LUG appoint or elect volunteers to
carry out these functions. You may also be able to
get help from the local DEC office.
BOLD BODY = WHAT DO I PUT IN THE
NEWSLETTER?
The most frustrating aspect of putting together a
LUG newsletter is probably thinking of things to
print and attempting to get submissions from sources besides yourself. The panel had several suggestions.
First, make some decisions about the purposes of
your newsletter. Is it to announce meetings, or
summarize the previous meeting, to publish technical information, or what? Also pay attention to the
character of your LUG. Is it a very professional organization, or very informal? Humorous or
serious? Answers to these questions will help you
make your newsletter a viable part of your organization.
--Use a logo or masthead to make your newsletter
recognizable in a LUG member's mailbox.
--Always clearly label and date your newsletter.

This is a condensation of hints, tips and advice
from three LUG newsletter editors, namely Earl
Corey, Santa Barbara-Ventura-San Luis Obispo
LUG; Ray Kaplan, Tucson Users Group (TUG);
and Kata McCarville Weber, Rocky Mountain VAX
Local Users Group (RMVLUG). Most of the information is taken from a panel discussion on how to
do a LUG newsletter, given at the Fall 85 DECUS
symposium. The session is available on tape
(LUG002).

--Include an issue number, or use some naming system, so that people can be sure they have not
missed a newsletter, especially if publication is
somewhat irregular.

There is much work and energy expended in the
production of a newsletter for any group. The
payoff comes when the newsletter serves as the
"glue" in your organization, making members feel

Make the newsletter a little bit spicy, fun to read,
and informative. Strive for accuracy and timeliness. You might try special theme issues on topics
of particular interest to LUG members.

Page 4

--Number the pages.

--Always include a list of contacts for SUbscription
information and membership applications.

1988
Try to have a number of regular items in the
newsletter. These might include a Question-andAnswer Column, Hints and Kinks, or a column
from the LUG Chair. Information about broken
software is ALWAYS of interest, whatever the
source.
Hold a question-and-answer session at a LUG
meeting to identify some of the knowledgeable technical people in your LUG. People with special expertise (for example, in Fortran, DCL, Datatrieve,
RSX...) can sometimes be flattered into authoring a
regular column, and serving as a "resource" to
members of the LUG--try printing a list of these
people and their telephone numbers. People may
protest modestly, but most of them like to see their
names in print. Make sure articles are printed with
by-lines. Local DEC people or other vendors may
be willing to contribute articles of interest, but
with the DECUS Commercialism Policy in mind,
keep such articles strictly technical in nature.
An active LUG program supplies lots of material
for newsletter articles. You can announce future
LUG meetings, including background information
on speakers and their topics. You can summarize
past LUG meetings for those members who did not
attend, helping your group stay in touch. Use as
many names as you can, including folks who may
be working behind the scenes with little recognition. Include thanks to sponsors who may supply
meeting space, audio-visual equipment, or refreshments.
Ask at every LUG meeting for submissions to the
newsletter, and print instructions on how to submit an article in each newsletter. Encourage submissions on magnetic media, or investigate using
an electronic bulletin board or other centrallocation to collect and assemble newsletter material via
telephone file transfer. Telephone access to a
central assembly area also allows more than one
person to share the editing burden.
Keep an eye on who is doing what in the LUG. For
example, if someone is putting in a new system,
suggest that he or she might write an article about
how things go, what works and what doesn't. You
may need to cultivate people for some time before
you start to get articles from them.
Other possibilities are reports from DECUS national or regional symposia aimed at readers who can't
or don't attend the symposia and authored by those
who can and do. Try to designate reporters and assignments before people go off to DECUS. Reviews
of the software available on the DECUS SIG tapes
make good newsletter articles. You can also include
a calendar of coming events in your newsletter.
Keep the focus narrow, either regionally or by sub-

LUG NEWS Compendium
jed matter, so the calendar is particularly useful to
LUG members.
Anything that generates interest in the LUG may
generate newsletter material. Contests may work,
depending upon your readership. Try a contest to
name your LUG, or the newsletter itself, or a competition to design a distinctive logo for your LUG.
The logo might be used on t-shirts or coffee cups to
be sold as a fundraising activity~ as well as on the
newsletter. Make up some stationery with the logo
and use it to send professional-looking thank-you
letters to speakers and others who contribute to
the LUG, and their bosses. Use the logo to design a
"Certificate of Appreciation" and use it.
Humorous articles help get the reader's attention,
and make your newsletter stand out from the dry,
technical material most of us must slog through.
Cartoons are good, as are short pieces in the same
vein as you might see at a DECUS Magic session.
Some LUGs use a "Dear Abby" format for a
humorous column. DEC trivia is another possibility. Watch for cartoons and humorous items
posted on bulletin boards and in people's offices.
Every company has a corporate joke monger--find
him or her. Scavenge what you can from other
sources, but don't violate copyrights.
Get someone on your editorial staff who doesn't
know too much about computers. This will help
keep down the level of jargon. Make technical articles understandable even to novices, if possible.
These are the people to whom the newsletter
material and LUG program can be of greatest value.
People are always interested in the dirty laundry.
Try to dig up rumors and raw random data (as one
national publication calls it). As long as you state
that these are entirely unsubstantiated in fact, you
may safely print them. Poke a little fun at things. A
touch of the "dragonslayer" attitude can be helpful
in making readers aware that your newsletter's
purpose is truth and beauty, not advertising.
HOW DO I MAKE ALL THAT
STUFF INTO A NEWSLETTER?
New possibilities open up every day in the world of
graphics and publishing. For example, it is now
possible to produce good xerographic reproductions
of photographs very inexpensively, which could
make a big difference in the look of your newsletter. Public-domain artwork ("clip art") is available
for the cost of a photocopy at public libraries or in
electronic form over many bulletin boards. illustrations and text may be cheaply and easily reduced in
size so more information can fit on one page. This
helps cut duplication and mailing costs.

Page 5

1988

LUG NEWS Compendium

New desktop publishing techniques can help with
newsletter production, too, but remember that the
hardest work is getting the material together.
Desktop publishing doesn't help with that, except
that it can give you more time to work on content.
It can also give you a more professional looking
product at a much lower cost than typesetting.
Try to get some understanding of the capabilities
that exist in the rapidly changing field of publishing, rather than struggling with outdated, labor-intensive methods. Find other newsletter editors in
your area and get help from them. Search the LUG
membership list for people who work in publications, and ask them for help. Ask at LUG meetings
for volunteers who may have done publications
work in the past. Hang out in art-supply stores and
cultivate friendships with graphic artists and
printers.
Your choice of duplication method may depend
upon what is available to your LUG through donations, your budget, and the number of newsletters
you must produce. Two. common options are
photocopying and offset printing. Some laser
printers may have a lower per-copy cost than
photocopy machines, and the output is nearly
typeset qUality.

Maintain your membership list by asking members
to send back a reply or contact you in some way
every few years. Give them a reasonable amount of
time to respond, then purge the list to keep mailing
costs down. Your local DEC office may be willing to
assist you with keeping a membership list, producing mailing labels, duplication of the newsletter
and mailing. They will almost certainly be willing
to distribute a LUG contact name and address to
prospective new members through their sales organization. Encourage cooperation from DEC, and
perhaps other vendors, by stressing the networking opportunity that the LUG represents, but keep
the DECUS Commercialism Policy clearly in mind.
FUNDING
Try to solicit newsletter funding from corporations.
This need not be directly in the form of money--you
might ask for supplies or the use of a photocopier.
A service company might make electronic bulletin
boar..d space available free to your LUG. In some
cases it may be valid for people to work on LUG
business on company time, as it is a professional
society, after all. Your local DEC office may be willing to assist with production or distribution, but
this dependence could compromise the editorial
content of your newsletter.

The duplication method you choose will affect how
you will put your master copy together. You might
do old-fashioned paste-ups on boards, or you may
be able to use one of the nifty new desktop
publishers. Laser-printer or letter-quality dot
matrix or daisywheel output may be suitable for
master-copy text, or typesetting can be done inexpensively from your diskette, after you finish editing and proofreading.

LUGs may use other means to raise funds, including t-shirt sales, which can be bankrolled on fairly
limited cash. Charging a subscription fee has been
successful for some LUGs, but does increase the
work for those coordinating the membership list.
DECUS funds may be available to supplement
these sources.

You might want to look at electronic distribution,
thus avoiding entirely the problem of duplication.
Consider using a bulletin-board format for distribution of articles and other material, and then use
just a postcard for notifying members of LUG meetings. Some service companies may be willing to
sponsor such a bulletin board.

It is difficult, but rewarding, to produce a highquality LUG newsletter. The newsletter can be an
important component in a smoothly functioning
LUG organization. It can serve to announce meetings, to disseminate written information that is of
interest to LUG members, and to keep members in
touch with the group even though they may miss a
meeting or two. Investigate the resources that may
be available. Be creative. And good luck!

You can use regular mail to distribute your
newsletter if it is duplicated on paper. Remember
that only first-class mail is forwarded, and that
third-class mail can be held for some time before
delivery. Bulk-rate mailing can save money on
postage, but requires a minimum of 200 pieces per
mailing and considerable sorting and bundling (although it is a simple-minded process and some upfront work on how the mailing labels are printed
can make it much easier). Investigate the many options for distribution by checking with companies
in your area that do mail distribution for a ~ving.

Page 6

BEST WISHES

1988

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Hats off to these brave souls who essay forth to
produce LUG newsletters. Their work is the heart
of this compendium. If you like what they did, no
doubt they will welcome your call asking how they
did it. In some cases, newsletter editors are not
credited by name--where this occurs, we have
listed the LUG Chair.

Central Region

LUG NEWS Compendium
Findlay College
Director of Computer Services
FindlayOH
419-424-4503
Ohio Licking and Muskingum Area (LAMA) LUG
John Engle
Ohio Oil Gathering
P.O. Box 377
Frazeysburg OH 43822
800-282-2470

DECUS Wichita
Bill Stephans
14230 Spring Creek Drive
Wichita KS 67230
316-681-8266

VAXTOLEDO LUG
In The Queue
Bob Dilworth
NFO Research, Inc.
P.O. Box 315
Toledo OH 43691
419-666-8800 extension 3219

Chicago Area Microcomputer Personal and Professional Users Society
(CAMPPUS)
Readme. 1st
Jim Christine
SPSSlnc.
444 N. Michigan
Chicago IL 60611

West Virginia LUG
WVLUG DECUS Newsletter
Richard Hudson
Director, Computing Center
Alderson-Broaddus College
Philippi WV 26416
304-457-1700 extension 309

St. Louis LUG
The Event Flag
John Roman
Monsanto Company
Mail Stop GG 31
700 Chesterfield Village Parkway
Chesterfield MO 63198
314-537-7044

Washington Office Automation LUG (WOALUG)
LUG NOTES
Deborah T. Jones
Washington DC
202-939-9369

Kansas City LUG
KCLUG Newsletter
Lon Amick
Resource and Development Group, Inc.
9054 Parkerhill Rd.
Lenexa KS 66210
913-888-6222

Northeast Regional LUG Coordinator
DECUS Northeast Memorandum
Gary Griswold
Northeast Regional LUG Coordinator
1187 Severn Ridge
Webster NY 14580
716-872-3522

Mid-Atlantic Region
Central Ohio LUG (COLUG)
Central Ohio LUG Newsletter
Rob Lindsey

S.E.D.V.E.C.
221 N. Columbus Rd.
Athens OH 45701
614-593-7663
OHVAXIOLUG
OHVAXIO VIEW
Dick Corner

Northeast Region

New York Metro LUG
NL: Bit Bucket
Christopher Thorn
Elias Sports Bureau
500 Fifth Avenue 2114
New York NY 10110-0297
212-869-1530
Stamford Connecticut LUG
Stamford LUG News
Jerry Oberle
General Signal
P.O. Box 10010
Stamford CT 06904
203-357-8800 extension 261

Page 7

LUG NEWS Compendium

ConnecticutJRhode IslandfMassachusetts LUG
The Crime
Production Editor
Karen Goldsmith
American Mathematical Society
401-272-9500
Central New York LUG
LUGNUTS
Paul DeBenedictis
Educational Communications
SUNY Health Science Center
766 Irving Avenue
Syracuse NY 13210
315-473-5719 or 315-473-4818
Hartford Rainbow Users Group
Kim Karath
P.o. Box 1202
Farmington CT 06032-1202
203-677-7701 extension 11
Greater Boston LUG
LUG LOG
Dave Chin
617-929-8633
Twin-Tier LUG
The Guru
Ginger Frongillo
Corning Glass Works
HP-AB-2-5
Corning NY 14831
607 -97 4-8974
DEC Users Group--Maine Chapter
All Hands on DEC
Gary Clement
S.D. Warren Paper Co.
Westbrook ME 04092
207-856-6911

South Region
Atlanta Area LUG
ATALUG Newsletter
Trina S. Jackson
Atlanta Regional Commission
100 Edgewood Ave. NE Suite 1801
Atlanta GA 30335
404-656-7730
Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex VAXfVM.S LUG
(DFWLUG)
Longwords
Kevin Klughart
Dattas Semiconductor
4350 Beltwood Parkway South
Dallas TX 75244

Page 8

1988

214-450-0400
Research Triangle LUG
Triangle DECUScan
Marie Felder
Research Triangle Institute
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park NC 27709

Alamo LUG
Alamo LUG Newsletter
Stanley Schaefer
H.B. Zachry Co.
527 Logwood Blvd.
San Antonio TX 78221
512-922-1213

Southwest Region
LA Inland Empire PC LUG
Terry Postlewait
331 West Palm
Monrovia CA 91016
818-357-1564
Albuquerque RT LUG
ARTLUG Newsletter
Albuquerque, NM
Joe Madrid
sandia National Laboratories
P.o. Box 5800 Org. 7483
Albuquerque NM 87185
505-844-7129

West Region
Seattle LUG
SEALUGNews
Dave Van Wieringen
206-623-3256
Sacramento Valley LUG
SVLUG Newsletter
Pat Winton
5010 EI Cemonte
Davis CA 95616
916-752-7421 or 916-752-0350
Pikes Peak Area LUG
PPALUG Newsletter
Jim Lind
Honeywell, Inc.
Colorado Springs CO
303-632-7324

1988

LUG NEWS Compendium

Contributing editors
(continued)
Rocky Mountain VAX LUG
LUG· notes
Kat&. McCarrille Weber
Colorado School of Mines
Computing Center·
Golden CO 80401
303-273-3448

Beth Pridgen
Foxley Cattle Co.
Denver CO
303-292-0500
Portland/Vancouver Area VAX LUG
PAVLUG Newsletter
Ron Nesbitt
PAVLUG Newsletter Editor
P.O. Box 1990
Beaverton OR 97075-1990
503-226-4692 extension 2754
Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group
Silicon Valley Rainbow
Carl N eiburger
169 N. 25th Street
San Jose CA 95116
408-294-6497

Page 9

Central
Region

CENTRAL REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
John Livengood
Boeing Computer Services
Wichita, Kansas
316-526-9380
DCS: LIVENGOOD
John Livengood lives in Wichita, Kansas and has been active in DECUS for four years. He
helped form the Wichita Area LUG in 1984, served as LUG Vice-Chair for two years and Chair
for one and one-half years. He resigned the LUG Chair position in September 1987 to become
the Central Region LUG Coordinator.
The Central Region has 24 LUGs, the newest of which is forming in South Dakota. Central has
started planning for a Regional Conference, to be held in Kansas City, tentatively scheduled for
1989.
John met several of the Central LUG Chairs and/or their designated representatives at the LUG
Cluster Dinner in Anaheim, Fall 1987. John organized a LUG Cluster meeting in Chicago attended by three LUG steering committees, and staffed a DECUS booth at the Wichita Users
Fair. Keep up the good work, John!
REGIONAL TAPE COpy COORDINATOR
John Livengood
Boeing Computer Services
4645 North Hillcrest
Wichita, KS 67220
316 526-9380
REGIONAL SEMINARS REPRESENTATIVE
Mark Olson
STerling Software
1404 Fort Crook Road, South
Bellevue, NE 68005
402 291-8300

CENTRAL REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
Illiriois
-:----~=-=:-::-:;;~=-

•

Argonne LSI-11 LUG
Chair: Dale Travis, Argonne, 312-972-6964
Central Dlinois LUG
William L. Wa1Iace, East Peoria, 309-699-2682
Chicago Area Microcomputer Personal/professioDal Users Society
Chair: Tom Heuer, Westchester, 312-865-0300
Chicago Area Digit8l Users Society
Chair: Eugene W. Alpern, Morton Grove, 312-998-5950
Chicago Area Local Users Group (CHGALUG)
Chair: Osman Ahmad, Chicago, 312-567-3627 or 312-567-3604
Chicago Area Reat-Time Society
Chair: David Gudewicz, Abbott Park, 312-937-8227

Indiana
"'MiFrc-h-rian-a~L"""'U""'G""

Chair: Alan Hunt, South Bend, 219-232-3992

Iowa
Bi-State LUG
Chair: James Freeman, Mount Vernon, 319-895-8811
. Central Iowa LUG
Chair: Terry Sward, West Des Moines, 515-225-6030
Skunk River LUG
Chair: Dennis Jensen, Ames, 515-294-7909 or 515-383-2258

Kansas
•
•

K8Jisas City WG
Chair: Lon Amick, Lenexa., 913-888-6222
Wichita Area DECUS LUG
Chair: Charles Tollett, Wichita, 316-684-6883

Michigan
=G;--re-a-:-t-er--..,I;-.a8.-D-s......in-g--..,L;-U=G;--(=-=G....LL,.-;-:U.....,G~)
Chair: Michael McPherson, East Lansing, 517-353-9769
Michigan VAX LUG (MIVAXtUG)
Chair: James B. Fischer, Troy, 313-524-8887
Mid-Michigan LUG (MIDLUG)
Chair: Peter J. Sivia, Midland, 517-636-6656
South East Michigan WG
Chair: James Downward, Ann Arbor, 313-769-8500
West Michigan LUG
Chair: Hank Vander Waal, Grand Rapids, 616-957-3353

Minnesota
~Mi=·n-n-e-s-o-:-ta-.,V=AX-r-=;-:;L;-:;U,.,..,G=-

Chair: David Meile, Minneapolis, 612-625-3694

Missouri
•

=St..,....."'"='L-O-UlT"·s-=L=-=U.-;"G=Chair: Ken Denson, St. Louis, 314-362-3353

Nebraska
:-lMi--·d-==lan~d-=-s-"L""'U=-=-G=-

Chair: Mark Olson, Bellevue, 402-291-8300

Wisconsin
=N;r-o-rt~h-e-ast-:-;;W:;::-is-co-n-s......
in--=-LO;:;U"""'G=-(-::NE=WL=-=-U"'""G~)

Chair: Kevin J. Kurek, Fond du Lac, 414-921-7100
Southeastern Wisconsin LUG (SEWLUG)
Chair: Michael Hanus, Milwaukee, 414-778-3780

•

indicates LUG newsletters contained in this volume

K C LID NEWSLEITER

DEaJS

APRlL 1987
DIGITAL EQUIPMENr CORroRATION USER SOCIETY'
KANSAS CITY LOCAL USERS GRClJP

MEETING
Date:

Thursday February 19, 1987

Time:

7 :30 pn

Place:

Digital Equipnent Coq;oration
1300 East 104th Street
Kansas City, ID 64131

NOTICE
Directions:
Take I-435 to the Hobmes exit.
Go South on Holmes to 104 th and
tUIn East. Continue about 4 blocks
East to the new office complexes.
Digital is located at 1300 east.

Jon Rickman of ~rthwest Missouri State will talk on their plans for
creating an "Electronic campus" of over 2000 workstations throughout
the campus. This will be suPPJrted by a VAXcI uster •

'IOPIC:

ELECI'IONS -- Election of officers for the LtG will be corx1ucted at the April
meeting. '!here was underwhebming enthusiasm for naninations in March. The
LOOs needs your supp:>rt and input. Consider if you might be willing
to serve as one of the officers. The three p:>s itions are:
Chairman: Coordination with with the National DEOJS and nms meetings.
Vice-Cl"lainnan: Arranges for utX=orning programs and meeting sites •
Secretaty: Keeps the list of rrembers and prepares the monthly nailings.

-----------------------------------------

The SIG tapes from the National LUG Distribution Center are in the hands of the
various librarians. If you want ont of the tapes contact the librarian and get
a tape to him. It will be copied and then you can pick them up.
Rl'-11: (Fall 86) Harvey Cbhen 753-7600
VMS: (86 A,B,C,D) Mike Mueller 926-6064
RSX: (S F 86) Steve Harrison 272-4579
RSl'S: Fall 86
II

------------------------------------

Spring DEaJS Syptosium April 27 - May 1 N:ishville, TN.
The deadline for registration is April 8, 1987.

The LID is planning a sul::mission for the Spring Syrrp:>siun tapes. If you have
a program or two for sul:mission, bring the program on magnetic tape to the
April meeting. The programs will be collected and put on a single tape and
delivered to Nashville.

DIGITAL ANNJUNCES NEIWORK INI'EX3RATION PACXX;ES FOR IBM PC'S
The IBM PC Network Integration Package allcws selected IBM personal canputers
to participate in local area networks using VAC/VMS services for MS-OOS and
other Personal Ccxnputing Systems Architectures (PCSA) products. '!Wo variations
of the package are available. The first provides full PCSA capability including
MS-W:indows, the on-line user info:r:mation system, and tenninal arrulator. The
second variation provides Ethernet connections and network services, such as
file services and print services.
Digital has designed configurations to provide rcaximum flexibility while
adding new features and ftmctions for IBM PC's.

For more detailed infonnation about--this product or pricing, contact your
local Digital Equipment Cbrporation Sales representative. (816)-941-3830
KCLtG OFFICERS: : Chainnan -- --, -,- --- ,- Lon Amick

.

-

;-

- Vice-Chainnan
-;-, Secretal:y •

..:....,

I."

~.

~

~

Martin Van Swaa:¥
Mike Mueller

888-6222
.' 913-532-6350
926-4064

K C LtG NEWSIErTER

JULy 19f57
DIGrI'AL EQUIPMENr CORroRATION USER OOCIE'IY
KANSAS CITY I.DCAL USERS GROOP

DECUS
Date:

MEETING

NOTICE

Thursday July 16, 1987

Directions: From 1-435 South tum SOUTH
on Holmes Road and procee:i to Red Bridge
Road (About 1 mile). Tum left (EAST) on
T:iIre: 7 :30 pn
Red Bridge and continue past the red stone
Place: Holyland Christian Mission bridge (about 1 mile). The mission is
located on the Nol='th side of Red Bridge
2000 Fast Red Bridge Road
near Blue river Road. There is parking for
Kansas City, M) 64131
visitors along the circular driveway located
in front. The meeting will be in the lunch
I'OCIn.

Larry Blackwell will be our host for a site visit. They are running an
11n 50 and MicroVAX II nebtJorked together and have a very large database.
Larry will explain his configuration and operations.

'IOPIC:

Future Meetings:

August 20 -- United Micro Graphics

---,----------------------------------------------------For the next school year, Mike Mueller will be going on sabbatical. This nakes
it necessary for sorceone else to produce the newsletter and the nailing labels
for the nonthly neetings. If you are interested in serving the LUG as the
secretary, contact Lon Amick.
DEC ANNXJNCEMENrS

Digital announces MIRA (Microsystans ~lementation of a Reliable Architecture)
This features two duplicate master/standby MicroVAX II carputer systems with
no single point of failure. The system is designed for applications that
danand continuty of operation.
Digital Educational Services is offering more VAX/VMX courses in August at the
Kansas City Training Facil ity • The courses depend on interest and enrollment
and cover basic topics like System Managanent, Utilities and Camands, etc.
For mor information or to enroll contact Educational Services at (312) 640-5520.
For more detailed information about these products or pricing, contact yoor
local Digital Equipment Corporation Sales representative. (816)-941-3830
KCLOO OFFICERS:

Chainnan

------------------------------

Vice-Chairman
Secretary

Lon Amick

Martin Van Swaay
Mike Mueller

888-6222
913-532-6350
926-4064

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY
WICHITA I.JOCAL USER GROUI>
VOL 5-, NO. 1

t\NUARY 1988

It is assumed that all the articles submitted to the editor of this
publication are with the author's permission to publish in any DECUS
publication. The articles are the responsibility of the authors and
therefore, DECUS, Digital Equipment Corporation, and the editor assume no
responsibility or liability for articles or information appearing in the
document. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not
necessarily express the views of DECUS or Digital Equipment Corporation.
NEXT LUG MEETING

The next meeting of the Wichita Local User Group will be held:
Thursday, January 28, 1988, at 7:00 p.m.
at the Cessna Training Center
Wallace plant (see map)
The program will be a review of the Fall Symposium and
notification of the coming election for steering committee members.

Dr.

Debug:

Why is there a quota on ASTs7
Sincerely,
ASTounded
Dear ASTou.nded:
All of the ASTs for a single process are queued by mode (Kernel,
Executive, etc.) and then by order of arrival. Each AST is
represented by an AST Control Block (ACB). The ACB is actually the
first part of a larger structure (I/O request packet, lock block,
etc.). These structures are allocated from the nonpaged memory pool.
This pool is used by the operating system for its memory needs. So an
ACB, and the AST it represents, is a system resource.
Since an AST is a system resource it is controlled via quotas.
In
general, quotas prevent processes from using up all of the system
resources.
In short, there is a quota on ASTs to keep resource hogs
from crippling the system.
If you would like to know (too much) about things like ACBs and the
nonpaged pool, I would suggest getting a copy of VAX/VMS InternalS-and
Data structures (latest edition) from Digital Press.
Sincerely,
Dr. Debug

PAGE 1

The nomination of steering
committee members for the next
election, as proposed by the
current steering committee, is as
follows:
Chair:
Vice-chair:
Secretary:
Librarian:
Newsletter:

Dar Schumann

Yichita LUG Steering Committee
Chair - Charles Tollett
9003 E. HArry #110
Vichita, KS, 67207
(H) 684-6883
(V) 526-9394

Ji.m Fullerton

Sister Susan Yelsby
Dale Lutes
Bill Stephans

Remarks from the chair:
Vith the start of a new year, we
can look forward to some challenges
from DEC in the way of new software
and from the LUG in the form of
scheduling interesting meetings and
the need for some new officers.
Early '88 should see the release of
the "next version" of VMS and the
introduction of Phase V DECnet.
Yhile VMS changes will affect only
those who use VAXes, the DECnet
changes will affect almost all of
the DEC operating systems.
Hopefully some of our members who
~ere able to attend DECUS in
December will be able to enlighten
the rest of us on the coming
:!hanges.
lue to other committments, I plan

stepping down from the
!hairman's posi tion after the next
!lection. In addition to my
)osition, one or two other
)ositions may also be vacant.
~herefore anyone interested in
:erving as a member of the steering
~ommi t tee should con tac t me or
mother committee member to have
lis/her name placed on the ballot.
'he deadline for being placed on
he ballot is February 28, 1988.

)0

incerely,
Charles Tollett

Vice-chair - Tom Stegman
1111 NY Parkway
V!chita, KS, 61212
(8) 721-6821
(V) 266-5627
Secretary - Joe Dunlavy
8721 Arthur Circle
Vichita, KS, 67207
(8) 688-0761
(\1) 946-7108
Librarian - Dale I.utes
1213 N. Brunswick
Vichi ta, KS,. 67212
(8) 721-0835
(V) 946-.,109
Newsletter - Bill Stephans
14230 Spring Creek Dr.
Vichita, KS, 67230
(8) 733-2221
(V) 681-8266
At-large - Dar Schumann
15 Son Court
Valley Center, KS, 67147
At-large - Tom Roberts
1806 N. Ylnstead
Vichita, KS, 61206
(8) 682-7811
Reg. LUG Coord~ -John Livengood
4645 N. Hillcrest
Vichita, KS, 67220
(8) 744-2348
(V) 526-9380

New SIG tapes from the Fall, 1987
symposium are now available from
the LUG Librarian, Dale Lutes.
Contact him for your copy now!!!
Available tapes are:
TEX,KERHIT, and LN03 Fonts

PAGE 2

The Event Flag
Newsletter of the
5t Louis Local Users' Group

OECUS

5t Louis
Local Users'
Group

Meeting
The next meeting of the LUG:

5.30 PM

Tuesday,

Janu~,ry

11, 1988

at the Salad Bowl Restaurant
3949 Lindell Boulevard
LUG Elections • Edward 0 Jones Networking Project
The firm of Edward 0 Jones and Company is breaking new g round in the area of
distributed office networking, and this month Michele Liebman will give us a description of exactly what they are dOing - their plans, their hopes, and their strategies.
Since their project involves hundreds to thousands of VAX processors all networked
together, it should be a very interesting description indeed.
January is traditionally the month when the LUG elections are held. The positions
that compose the steering committee have grown considerably beyond what's liste,d in
our LUG charter, and so elections will be held for all positions found on the last page
except that of Digital Liaison. Each pOSition requires from four to twelve hours a month
of volunteer effort.

Library
Please contact the LUG Secretary for a list of software tapes available to LUG
members. As a rule, the complete list will no longer be printed in this newsletter, only
announcements of new acquisitions.

LUG News 1
Please post Page 3 conspicuously in your workplace so your associates can find
out about the LUG meeting. Permission is granted to duplicate it, so feel free to really
spread it around!
1The Event Flag is distributed once a month to all persons on the lUG mailing list. There is
no charge for membership in the lUG; to get on the list, contact the Secretary at the address
and/or telephone number listed at the back of this issue. Submissions to The Event Flag are
subject to editing, and may be reprinted in other newsletters without notice. The Event Flag
is prepared using Microsoft Word™ on a Macintosh Plus™ and LaserWriter Plus™.

Page 1

January 1988

The Event Flag
Future Meeting Topics
Topics for the next couple of meetings:

!M~H·©h

AprU
May

System Management and Security (a repeat of October's ifIfated topic)
Workstations (Tom Kelley, Digital)
PDP Topics (possibly a case history of a migration from PDP to
VAX given by Ken Denson)
Digital picnic and Open House (at the Digital branch office, not
the Salad Bowl)
The Spring 1988 National ..Symposium

AN Materials for LUG Meetings .
The Salad Bowl restaurant has an extremely limited supply of AudioNisual aids
that we can make use of; in fact, all they have is a single projection screen. For this
reason, would you consider chipping in a donation of, say, a dollar or two so that the
LUG can buy some supplies to be owned in common? Or perhaps your firm might
donate an old ov.erhead or slide projector to the LUG? For on-line demonstrations,
we'll still probably convene at the Washington University Medical School auditorium.
LUG Bulletin Board System
The probability of aSt Louis LUG Bulletin Board system is getting greater all the
time. So far, we have an offer of a system with ·dial-in lines, and software to run
thereon (VAXnotes). Administrative details are all that remain to be worked out. (Such
as what conference topics there should be, whether there's enough interest to do it at
all, moderators for the conferences, whether each member gets a separate account that sort of thing.) If you would participate in a LUG bboard system if it gets set up,
please let the Steering Committee knowl If no-one says they're interested, the project
will be dropped.

An Example of T EX (Jon Elson. Washington University)
[Ken Coar says, "Well, I didn't get in touch with Jon in time this month to get a
new copy of his article for inclusion. Stay tuned .. .'1
To find out more about T EX, contact TuGBoat (the TEX users' group) at
T EX Users' Group
P.O. Box 9506
Providence, RI 02940-9506
(401) 272.9500 x232

Page 2

The Event Flag

January 1988

St Louis
Local Users'
Group

DECUS
Meeting
5.30 PM

Tuesday, January 12, 1988·
at the Salad Bowl Restaurant
3949 Lindell Boulevard
LUG Elections. • Edward 0 Jones Networking Project
Social hour starts at 5.30, and dinner informally begins at 6.00 .. After dinner, any
LUG business is discussed, and then the floor is thrown open to allow attendees to ask
questions or provide insights to the group at large. The meeting proper begins after
this; we try to wrap things up by 9.00 PM.
Salad Bowl

.s::.
~
ctS

en

Barnes Hospital

to meet

Highway 40

Drawing is most definitely not to scale

·rage 3

January 1988

The Event Flag
SLLUG Software Library

Several of the DEC US Special Interest Groups generate tapes containing
software donations from their members. These tapes are built, as a rule, twice a year,
at the DECUS Symposia, and distributed through the National LUG Organisation to
interested LUGs, which then make them available to their memberships. If you wish to
have a copy made of one or more of them, bring one or more blank tapes to a LUG
meeting - they will be returned at the following meeting with the requested data on
them. Alternatively t you may send them direct to the LUG Librarian.
In any event, certain identifying documentation rn.u..s1 accompany each tape to
ensure it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Tspes which are not adequately
documented become the property of the LUG. The required .information must
be affixed to the tape reel in the form of an adhesive· label, and consists of:
Your name
Your telephone during working hours
Your mailing address
The year of the symposium tape desired
The season of the symposium (Spri ng or Fall)
The SIG which produced the tape (VAX, RSX, &c.)
The desired tape format (BRU, DOS, VMS Backup, &c.)
The desired density (800, 1600, or 6250 bpi)
The reel number (1 of 3, 2 of 3, &c.)
Tapes which aren't properly labeled will not be accepted at the LUG meetings; if
sent through the mail, they become the property of the LUG. Requesting data which is
not on the library list also causes the tape to become LUG property.
If you want your tape(s) to be mailed to you when completed, you must include
enough postage to cover the shipping costs. If shipping instructions are given, but no
postage, the tapes will be brought to the LUG meetings for pickup instead. Please
note: Tapes which are not picked up within three meetings will become
LUG property!
Washington University has facilities to copy tapes from and to many different
formats, including ASCII - EBCDIC conversion, density changes,' and disk/diskette
generation. For more information, please contact Mark Freeman at the Washington
University Medical School.

Page 4

January 1988

The Event Flag
LUG Steering Committee
President

Program Chair

Digital Liaison

Ken Coar
Digital Equipment Corporation
P.O. Box 27320
721 Emerson Road
St Louis, MO 63141
(314) 991.6540
Beverly Fay
City of St Louis
Department of Pe~sonnel, Room 100
1200 Market Street - City Hall
.cSt Louis, MO .. ·631-03
(314) 622.4445
Tom Kelley
Digital Equipment Corporation
721 Emerson Road
P.O. Box 27320
St Louis, MO 63141
(314) 991.6211

Librarians
Recent SIG -Tapes

Jon Elson
Department of Chemistry - Box 1134
Washington University
Lindell and Skinker
St Louis, MO 62130
(314) 889.6547

Archiyes

Mark Freeman
Washington University Medical School
660 S Euclid, MS 8094
St Louis, MO 63110
(314) 362.3354

secretary I Newsletter Editor
John Roman
Monsanto Company
Mail Stop GG31
700 Chesterfield Village Parkway
Chesterfield, MO 63198
(314) 537.7044

Page 5

The Event Flag
Newsletter of the
St Louis Local Users' Group

DECUS

St Louis
Local Users'
Group

Meeting
The next meeting of the LUG:
5.30 PM

Tuesday, August 11, 1987
at the Salad Bowl Restaurant
3949 Li ndell Bou levard
.
Local Area V AXclusters
Results of Last Autumn's Membership Survey (really!)
Selection of a new Secretary
Tom Kelley of Digital Equipment Corporation will be our speaker this month. He
has prepared a presentation on Ethernet VAXclusters, otherwise known as Local Area
VAXclusters or LAVe's (pronounced 'Iav-SEE').
Unfortunately, ·Ken Coar (who has the data) was unable to attend the July meeting,
so the membership survey results will be made available at this meeting instead.
With the election of the secretary to the presidency in June, we need someone to
be the Secretary until January. If you're interested in the job, mention it at the meeting;
if multiple people are interested, there'll be a quick special election. If no-one speaks
up, someone will be appointed unless ev.eryboc;fy really doesn't want it, like with a
vengeance.
Library
Please contact the LUG Secretary for a list of software tapes available to LUG
members. As a rule, the complete list will no longer be printed in this newsletter, only
annou ncements of new acquisitions.
LUG News
Please post Page 5 conspicuously in your workplace so your associates can find
out about the LUG meeting. Permission is granted to duplicate it, so feel free to really
spread it around!

Page 1

The Event Flag

August 1987

President's Message (Ken CQar)
I have resigned from my job with General Dynamics, and I am taking a position
with the St Louis district office of Digital. Ordinarily, you might say 'So what?' (in fact,
you might say it yet!), but this change may have an impact on the LUG.
DECUS pOlicies currently state that DEC employees may not be DECUS leaders;
the intent of the policy is to avoid 'conflicts of interest,' which might result in DECUS
being steered by Digital rather than by the user community at large.
However, I was a user long before I was a DEC employee, and this seems rather
discriminatory to me. I'm told that the policy will be reviewed by the DECUS Board of
Directors in August, so maybe there will be a change. Ralph Stamerjohn, as our local
Board member, would like to hear from you if you have an opinion on this subject.
There appear to be three basic alternatives:
a) We might hold another special election, and select a new president to finish
the current term
b) I might complete the rest of this term, and just not stand for re-election in
January
c) The DECUS Board might decide that DEC users are 'real' users, and the
problem will go away.
Just for the record, I'd like to remain 'at my post,' as it were. I'm proud that you
thought highly enough of me to elect me, and I'd like the chance to live up to it.
However, the botto'm line is really what (and whom) you, the members, want, so please
think about it so it can be discussed at the August meeting.
Future Meeting Topics
Topics for the next few meetings:
Sep~8mber

Oct(O)lber
~ov.mb.r

December

ALL-IN-1 System Management, and an update on the
DECUServe project
VAXNMS System Management Seminar (by Digital)
Artificial Intelligence ... possibly
open

This schedule is tentative, and may easily be changed if more popular topics are
requested. November and December's meetings are sti II wide open, so if you have a
favourite topic that you'd like to talk about, hear about, or (more specifically) hear
Digital talk about, please let the Program Chair know about it. The. meeting topics are
driven by what you want to hear!

Page 2

The Event Flag

August 1987

Call for Submissions

See your name in Printl
Any articles or notices that you would like to see included in The Event Flag
should be sent to the LUG secretary (see the last page for the address) no later than
the 15th of the month before the next scheduled LUG meeting.
Machine-readable submissions are vastly preferred, and may be in the form of
RUNOFF source, raw text, or Macintosh diskette. Please include your name,
telephone number during working hours, and (if you want the media back) sufficient
postage (no cash, please) to return the submission. Submissions are subject to
editing, and may be reprinted in other newsletters.

Editor's Lament
I'll bet that I'd get more submissions to The Event Flag if authors were bought
dinner at the next LUG meeting... How do you feel about that? Would you write a
brief article if your fellow members would buy you a dinner as thanks? What would it
take to get your input? Think about it.

Articles
TeX (Jon Elson, Washington University)
I continue to await Jon Elson's article on TeX with bated breath. Perhaps if I bait
my breath rather than bating it, I'll catch something ... like the article, maybe?
Legal Protection Against Crackers (Ken Coar, General Dynamics)
At a computer security conference in Philadelphia this month [July], something
interesting came up in terms of legal recourse against people who penetrate your
system. Apparently, several locations have found it advisable to put up a message
before, or immediately after, someone logs on:
This is a private system.
prohibited.

Unauthorised access or use is

Some would-be penetrators have evidently gotten out of charges by claiming that
they 'didn't know,' or that they 'thought it was another system.' Hence the suggestion
to put the warning right up front, in order to nullify such claims. It is highly
recommended that you consult legal counsel concerning the presentation and content
of such a message before putting one up.

Page 3

August 1987

The Event Flag

St Louis
Local Users'
Group

DECUS
Meeting
5.30 PM
Tuesday, August 11, 1987
at the Salad Bowl Restaurant
3949 Lindell Boulevard

Local Area VAXclusters - Survey Results - New Secretary
Social hour starts at 5.30, and dinner informally begins at 6.00. After dinner, any
LUG business is discussed, and then the floor is thrown open to allow attendees to ask
questions or provide insights to the group at large. The meeting proper begins after
this; we try to wrap things up by 9.00 PM.

Salad Bowl

Barnes .Hospital

to meet

Highway 40

Drawing is most definitely not to scale

Page 5

The Event Flag

August 1987

SLLUG Software Library
Several of the OECUS Special Interest Groups generate tapes containing
software donations from their members. These tapes are built, as a rule, twice a year,
at the OECUS Symposia, and distributed through the National LUG Organisation to
interested LUGs, which then make them available to their memberships. If you wish to
have a copy made of one or more of them, bring one or more blank tapes to a LUG
meeting - they will be returned at the following meeting with the requested data on
them. Alternatively, you may send them direct to the LUG Librarian.
In any event, certain identifying documentation m..u.s1 accompany each tape to
ensure it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Tapes which are not adequately
documented become the property of the LUG. The required information must
be affixed to the tape reel in the form of an adhesive label, and consists of:
Your name
Your telephone during working hours
Your mailing address
The year of the symposium tape desired
The season of the symposium (Spring or Fall)
The SIG which produced the tape (VAX, RSX, &c.)
The desired tape format (BRU, DOS, VMS Backup, &c.)
The desired density (80Q, 1600, or 6250 bpi)
The reel number (1 of 3, 2 of 3, &c.)
Tapes which aren't properly labeled will not be accepted at the LUG meetings; if
sent through the mail, they become the property of the LUG. Requesting data which is
not on the library list also causes the tape to become LUG property.
If you want your tape(s) to be mailed to you when completed, you must include
enough postage to cover the shipping costs. If shipping instructions are given, but no
postage, the tapes will be brought to the LUG meetings for pickup instead. Please

note: Tapes which are not picked up within three meetings will become
LUG property!
Washington University has facilities to copy tapes from and to many different
formats, including ASCII - EBCDIC conversion, density changes, and disk/diskette
generation. For more information, please contact Mark Freeman at the Washington
University Medical School.

Page 7

August 1987

The Event Flag
LUG Steering Committee
President

Ken Coar
General Dynamics
12101 Woodcrest Executive Drive
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
(314) 851.4003

program Chair

Beverly Fay
City of St Louis
Department of Personnel, Room 100
1200 Market Street - City Hall
St Louis, MO 63103
(314) 622.4445

Digital Liaison

Gib Hecker
Digital Equipment Corporation
721 Emerson Road
P.O. Box 27320
St Louis, MO 63141
(314) 234.2201

Librarians
Recent SIG Tapes

Jon Elson
Department of Chemistry - Box 1134
'IJashington University
Lindell and Skinker
St Louis, MO 62130
(314) 889.6547

Archives

Mark Freeman
Washington University Medical School
660 S Euclid, MS 8094
St Louis, MO, 63110
(314) 362.3354

secretary I Newsletter Editor
Ken Coar
General Dynamics
12101 Woodcrest Executive Drive
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
(314) 851.4003

Page 8

~he Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users
iroup is holding a regional conference
.n Denver on March 31 through April 1,
L988 at the Sheraton Denver Tech
:enter. This two day conference will
~over VMS, Networks, Systems
1anagement, Languages & Tools,
~usiness, and Wizardry.
If anyone is
interested in attending, registration
forms are available either from 'your
steering committee or the RMV LUG P.O.
Box 13963, Denver Co 80201, Attn: Kata
~eber.
Spend a fun two days in Denver
and another fun two days at Stapleton
trying to get home.

Wichita DECUS LUG Newsletter
Editor - Bill Stephans
Contributors - Charles Tollett
Jim Fullerton
Dr. Debug
Published monthly for DECUS
WICHITA LOCAL USER GROUP
P.O. Box 85
Wichita, KS, 67201

From an UPDATE.DAILY at a recent Symposium
With apologies to the Victim, and the RSX PAC, herewith we present
the PURPVAX theme song -to the tune of uHe's got the whole world in His hands"
He's got lotsa crud, on his VAX,
He's got lotsa crud, on his VAX,
He's got lotsa crud, on his VAX,

He's got gigundo disks, on his VAX,
He's got max warp speed, on his VAX,
He's got unlimited POOL, on his VAX.

He's got lotsa crud on his VAX.

He's got some decent stuff on his VAX.

He's got DEC star couplers, on his VAX,
He's got Briton Lee, on his VAX,
He's got full DECservice, on his VAX.

He's got Hurkle and Adventure,
on his VAX,
He's got Haunt and Dungeon, on his VAX,
He's got Rogue and Moria, on his VAX.

He's got expensive crud on his VAX.
He's got production problems on his VAX
He's got VMS, on his VAX,
He's got Datatrieve, on his VAX,
He'~ got real-time, on his VAX.

He's got FORTRAN II, on his VAX,
He's got TOPS-lO emulation, on his VAX,
He's got Findonet, on his VAX.

He's got slow crud on his VAX.
He's got bizarre crud on his VAX.
He's got office automation, on his VAX,
He's got All-in-fun, on his VAX,
He's got security up the ying-yang,
on his VAX.

He's got 1000 users, on his VAX,
He's got 40 LAT servers, on his VAX,
He's got the King James Bible,
on his VAX.

He's got Management on his VAX.
He's got the whole world on his VAX.
He's got VAXElan, on his VAX,
He's got ANSI DIBOL, on his VAX,
He's got RPG, on his VAX.

He's got lotsa crud, on his VAX,
He's got lotsa crud, on his VAX,
He's got lotsa crud, on his VAX.

He's got useless crud on his VAX.
He's got lotse crud, on his VAX.

L'l\UE J

WICHITA AREA DECUS LUG
NOMINATION FOR LUG OFFICER
1988-1989

I nominate
(please print)
for the office of:
Chairman

(circle one)

Librarian

secretary

Vice-Chairman
Newsletter Editor

AUTHORIZIED ENDORSEMENTS {Three required}
Endorsements must be from current LUG members.

Signiture

Member ID Number

Signiture

Member ID Number

signiture

Member lD"-Number

FOLD AND MAIL BEFORE 28 FEBRUARY 1988
Joe Dunlavy, Secretary
Wichita Chapter DEeus
P40. Box 780373
Wichita, KS 67278-0373

DIGITAL IQJIININT CUFUfFR USERS SOC I ElY
WIUIITA lOCAL USER QUJP
NOVEMBE~ECEMBER

1987

VOL 4, ·NO. 9

It is assumed that all the articles submitted to the editor of this
publication are with the author's permission to publish in any DECUS
publication. The articles are the responsibility of the authors and
therefore, DECUS, Digital Equipment Corporation, and the editor assume no
responsibility or liability for articles or information appearing in the
document. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not
necessarily express the views of DECUS or Digital Equipment Corporation.
NEXT WG MEETIt«;

The next meeting of the Wichita Local User Group will be held:
Thursday, December 3, 1987, at 7:00 p.m.
at the NCR facility
3718 N. Rock Road
The program will be a presentation on various programming languages and their
relative suitability for certain applications.
'Twas the night before implementation and all through the house,
Not a program was working, not even a browse.
The programmers all hung by their tubes in despair,
with hopes that a miracle soon would be there.
The users were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of inquires danced in their heads.
When out in the computer room there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
And what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a super programmer (with a six pack of beer).
His resume glowed with experience so rare,
he turned out great code with a bit-pusher's flair.
More rapid than eagles, his programs they came,
and he cursed and muttered and called them by name.
On update! on add! on inquiry! on delete!
on batch jobs! on closing! Ofi functions complete!
His eyes were glazed over, his fingers nimble and lean,
from weekends and nights in front of a screen.
But a wink of his eye and a twitch of his head,
soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
turning specs into code; then turned with a jerk;
And laying his finger upon the "ENTER" key,
the system came up and worked perfectly.
The updates updated; the deletes, they deleted;
the inquires inquired, and closings completed.
He tested each whistle, and tested each bell
with nary a glitch; it all had gone well.
The system was finished, the tests were concluded.
The last minute changes were even included.
And the users exclaimed with a snarl and a taunt,
"It's just what we asked for, but not what we want!"

PAGE 1

Wichita LUG Steering Comndttee
Chair - Charles Tollett
9003 E. Harry i110
Wichita, KS, 67207
(H) 684-6883
(W) 526-9394

We still need articles of
information for future newsletters!
So, please - pick up your pen, or
put your fingers on the keyboard,
and send in YllTER lTSERS SOCIEIY
WIQlITA lOCAL USFR  .
Enhancing Your Rainbow: The IDRlVE
J2y Tom Heuer
Running out of space on my trusty
old 5MB hard disk, and finding that
I needed to read big blue diskettes
after all,
I began looking into
upgrading my Rainbow.
The solution
I decided, was to ask Santa to get
me a neat gizmo called an IDrive
Combo
(sounds like
an
Italian
sandwich).
Santa must have been in
a good mood because a large box was
found under the tree containing the
IDrive
combo unit.
On
close
inspection the device was found to
be well made, consisting of a 20MB
hard disk (Seagate ST22S)
and IBM
format half-height 360Kb floppy disk
drive.
A cable for the diskette
diskette containing
drive and a
executable files and
a Dskpart3
formatting
program were
also
provided.
Installation was fairly easy, since
the documentation was well thought
out.
The unit slides into the slot
where the second RX50 unit or DEC
hard disk would mount.
If you have
a DEC hard disk subsystem that you
are replacing, as in my case, the

• . .

. . • . . . . • . . 7

• 7

9

cables connect to the new disk drive
without a problem. Be sure that you
check the connections before closing
up the system box, an improperly
seated cable will return an error
condition.
The IDRIVE unit mounted
on top of the hard disk, uses a
special ribbon cable to connect to
the C:/D: diskette drive connector.
The entire assembly process went
smoothly.
After reassembling and booting the
system,
you may use the Dskpart3
installation program
provided to
partition
your hard
disk,
or
reformat and partition the hard disk
with another program.
I selected
the second option, since I wanted to
reformat the disk to verify the
presence of bad blocks.
I had also
heard that the Diskpart3 program was
not as effective as other programs.
Since the 20MB
ST225 hard disk
provided by Suitable Solutions is
the same device as that sold by DEC
(RD31) , one may wish to use the DEC
disk utility.
However, unless you
can borrow this from a friend, be
aware that DEC will not provide
their program unless you buy their

Page 3

README. 1ST
hard disk system (at an incredible
price). This situation has spawned
the development of several third
party formatting programs.
The one
I selected is supposed to be one of
the best available, and amazingly
it's (free)
in the public domain.
Known as WUtil,
(for Winchester
utility)
its creator must be a
genius. It can format and partition
hard
disks
with
a
capacity
approaching 117MB, with as many as
15 partitions. For the disk doctors
out there, it also allows the user
to interactively examine contents of
any disk sector,
providing full
information about
disk operating
characteristics
and
bad
sector
addresses.
The utility is easy to
operate, since it is menu driven.
The most recent· version (2.0) last
dated September 1986,
is available
from a number
of FIDO bulletin
boards or as part of the Rainbow
Freeware software
distributed by
Documentary Research. Based upon my
experience, I highly recommend WUtil
for use with your hard disk.
After formatting my hard disk, I had
no block errors, which according to
the people at Suitable Solutions can
be expected since they are very
selective about the disks they sell.
I
then
partitioned
the
disk,
restored the programs from the back
up of myoId hard disk, and was back
in business.
The entire process
took nearly three hours, largely due
to
the formatting
and
restore
operations.
Installation of the IDRlVE floppy
disk drive, was much simpler.
You
just copy a IDRlVE.SYS file from the
floppy provided,
to your
root
directory on your hard disk,
and
modify your
config.sys file
to
include
a DEVICE
= IDRlVE.SYS
statement.
Also it is important
that your config.sys file include
BUFFERS
= 8
and
FILES =
20
statements.
Although I am not sure
why this is necessary,
the DOS

default settings cause
an error
which defeats drive I:. I also found
that it was necessary to have the
MS-DOS mediacheck feature turned on
so that non-Rainbow disks can be
read.
So how does it all work?
Super!
The hard disk is faster than the old
5MB, and holds four times the data.
The IDRIVE recognized as drive I: by
the Rainbow, operates so quietly
that I have to look at the indicator
light to see if it is working (quite
a contrast with the RX50).
How much will it cost to install
such a system
in your Rainbow?
Santa tells me that the same system
will cost normal folk about $750.
If you also need a controller board,
the same 20MB/IDRIVE configuration
will cost about $1250.
It is my
understanding that this cost may be
come down slightly, so check with
Suitable Solutions when ordering to
get the most current price.
It
should also be noted that Suitable
Solutions will now offer CAMPPUS
members a slight discount,
so you
may wish to
check for details.
Suitable
Solutions,
Inc.,
467
Saratoga
Avenue,
San
Jose,
California, 95129, (408) 725-8944.

! Call for Questions
In the coming monts, the CAMPPUS LUG
will be holding a joint meeting of
the Chicago and Suburban groups-it has been a long time since we've
had one. One thing we're going to do
is answer
your questions
about
anything relating to the use of DEC
PCs, DECUS, and DEC. Rather than
trying to bring order to what may be
a chaotic meeting, here's what we'd
like you to do: in a letter or on a
postcard, write down your question,
whatever it may be and send it to
the following address:
CAMPPUS Q &
A;
C/O Jeanne
Luptak;
Digital
Equipment
Corporation;
1207
E.
Remington Rd. Suite B; Schaumburg,

Page 4.

README. 1ST
IL 60195.
Your question will be
referred to whoever we can find to
answer it and the answer will be
placed along with the answer to
other questions in a journal to be
distributed at the meeting. Some of
the more interesting questions and
their solutions will be discussed at
the meeting while others will be put
in README. 1ST,
but we will try to
find an answer for every question we
get. Expect the meeting to be held
in late April or May.
The more
questions
we
get,
the
more
informative the meeting will be for
all of us. By the way, the deadline
for the questions is March 31, 1987.
Enhancing Your Rainbow
CLIKCLOK

~

Part

~:

~ Tom Heuer
Have you ever wanted to be rid of
the time and date entry detail when
starting MS-DOS?
Well you now can
with the use of a nifty product from
Suitable Solutions of
San Jose,
California (408 - 725-8944). Called
the CLIKCLOK, this device consists
of a special clock chip and battery
mounted on
a unique
integrated
circuit socket.
The high quality
device is provided with very clear
documentation
that
"walks"
you
through the installation.

Installation is a snap I
Taking
normal handling precautions,
just
remove your motherboard from your
Rainbow,
remove a chip from its
socket, insert the Clikclok device
into the socket,
and reinstall the
removed chip on top of the Clikclok,
in a piggy-back fashion. Reassemble
your Rainbow,
power up,
add an
instruction
line
to
your
autoexec.bat file,
and load the
provided executable file to your
root DOS directory.
Setting time
and date requires
the following
command: CLIKCLOK mmjdd/yy hh:mm:ss,
filling
in
the
appropriate
information, of course.
Although
the battery is supposed to be good

for ten years, Suitable Solutions
also warrants the device for the
lifetime of your Rainbow.
So how much is this gizmo, you ask.
It normally sells for only $62 plus
shipping, but for CAMPPUS members
the cost is only $55.
A corporate
rate of $50 each is also offered for
firms that purchase ten or more. In
this instance, however only one copy
of the documentation· and diskette
containing the executable file is
provided.
To order yours,
send a letter
explaining your
affiliation with
CAMPPUS, and a check for $55 plus $2
for shipping expense to suitable
Solutions,
467
Saratoga Avenue,
Suite 319, San Jose,
California
95129.
No. -1
The --James Letters: --~ Jim Christine
Copyright (C)
1987 by James
Christine. All rights reserved.

R.

Dear Ken,
I just thought I'd drop you a line
to tell you about the Rainbow. It's
really a great machine. I've got two
diskette drives, a monitor, and an
LA50 printer. It was a real bargain,
too. It made me feel all warm inside
knowing
that I
got a
quality
computer for twice as much as the
guy in the office next to me paid.
It only came with 128K, but I bought
a memory expansion board and a few
chips. Now I've got 512K of RAM. One
thing I should warn you about, the
peripherals and upgrades
cost a
fortune
damned
closed
architecture! (As an aside, I hear
IBM .is coming out with a closed
architecture machine.
Seems like
they've only got a 42 percent share
of
the
market
(according
to
InfoWorld) Poor them! Now IBM users
will know how Rainbow users feel.)

Page 5

README. 1ST
Anyway,
I got a whole horde of
diskettes
data
files
and
application programs -- in no time
flat.
Seems that there's alot of
public domain software out there for
the Rainbow, if you can find it. But
that's another matter.
The fact is
the Rainbow is so expensive that I
don't have any money left to buy a
hard disk. What a shamel I'm saving
my nickels and dimes.
It'll take a
while, but in the mean time, I'm
using something that I thought up in
order to manage my diskettes and get
access as fast as (if not faster
than) a Winchester drive.
You see,
whoever put together the
operating system for MS-DOS included
a program called MDRIVE. It allows a
person to turn a chunk of their RAM
into what the Rainbow thinks is a
diskette drive. Pretty neat, huh?
One of the things I had to learn was
writing BAT programs, 'but it's not
all that hard, really.
If you're going to try this,
I'd
suggest you use a new diskette.
First,
format the
diskette and
transfer the operating system to it.
I found "FORMAT B: /S" works just
fine. Next, use the MDRlVE command
to create yourself a RAM drive. What
I'd
do
is place
the
freshly
formatted disk in drive A, and the
MS-DOS disk in drive B. Then while
the A drive is the default, give the
command "B :MDRlVE" . MDRIVE will ask
you how much memory to allocate and
will
place
a
file
called
"MDRlVE.SYS" on the A disk.
This
file
contains
the
necessary
information to create the RAM drive,
and the operating system will be
looking for this file.
Now that you've got the RAM disk set
up, copy any application program you
want onto the A disk. Since I hate
the ED editor, I used RDCPM to copy
over the RED editor from CP/M over
to MS-DOS and I
use the AME86

public-domain utility to execute RED
-- it works just fine I
Once the application is transferred,
it's time to create an AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.
This is a
file that is
executed at the system boot time.
Mine looks something like this:
date
time
load
What this is doing is setting the
date and time,
as always,
and
executing another BAT file called
LOAD. LOAD.BAT looks like this:
copy ame86.* e:*.*
copy red*.* e:*.*
This BAT file copies over the AME86
utility,
and
all
the
files
associated with the RED editor over
to the RAM disk called E:.
I've
also got a BAT file called UNLOAD
which deletes the files from the RAM
drive. I'm in the process of doing
this for all my applications.
What all this stuff buys me is
speed. You see, if I transfer the
applications that I am running over
to the RAM drive, then all the files
are in one place -- memory.
This
means that they
get loaded and
executed faster than if they were on
a diskette. Another nice benefit is
the machine is quieter
there's no
"ee-aw-ee-aw"
coming
from
the
diskette drive.
In any case, I've probably taken up
enough of your time. I know you're a
busy
guy.
If
you've got
any
questions for me, drop me a line in
care of SPSS Inc., 444 N. Michigan,
Chicago, IL 60611.
Next time,
conversion
you about
catalog my

I'll let you know how the
is doing,
and I'll tell
the program I wrote to
videotapes.

Page 6

README. 1ST

Until next time, your buddy, Jim.
Enhancing Your Rainbow ~ Part 1:
"Rainbow Freeware"
~ Tom Heuer
Rainbow sometimes
Enhancing your
requires
the
use
of
software
utilities
to
improve
system
performance
and
add
operating
features not
available in
most
commercial packages. With many such
useful utilities available in the
public domain, the Rainbow owner has
the opportunity to acquire software
without significant cost.
However
for those users new to the public
domain world,
and new to bulletin
boards where
most programs
are
available,
finding and selecting
useful progr~s
can be
a very
frustrating experience. Most public
domain programs appear with cryptic
names and vague descriptions which
will scare off all but the most
adventuresome user.
This situation has improved, thanks
to the efforts of Bruce Jackson, a
Rainbow enthusiast
on the
east
coast.
In his recently completed
book entitled fI RAINBOW FREEWARE",
he
has
compiled
a
detailed
assessment of over 160 public domain
programs that
will benefit
the
Rainbow community.
Every serious
user should obtain a copy for their
reference library.
It is designed
as a practical working manual with
detailed
program
descriptions,
operating instructions,
and user
comments.
The programs are divided
into
several sections
including
communications programs, disk and
file managers, file archiving, text
editors, games and graphics,
and
miscellaneous utilities.
Freeware
also includes a fairly extensive
section on the use of FIDO boards,
and the MSDOS operating system. All
in all it is a very complete and
useful work.
RAINBOW FREEWARE

is published

ina

spiral bound format by the New South
Moulton Press,
96
Rumsey Road,
Buffalo, New York, 14209.
It sells
for
$20 plus
$2 for
shipping
expense,
a bargain
given
the
extensive
amount
of
useful
information contained in the book.
Copies of the programs described in
Freeware
are
available
from
Documentary
Research,
Inc.,
a
nonprofit research and educational
organization. For $50 including all
shipping costs, DRI will send a set
of eight diskettes in a plastic
library case,
containing the most
recent versions of
the programs
reviewed in Freeware, and a few
programs not reviewed as well.
I
found this to be an excellent value,
saving time and expense in downloading files
from the
boards.
Incidently
the
WUtil
program
discussed in my review of the IDRIVE
unit was obtained from this source.
A request for these diskettes should
be sent with check or money order to
Documentary Research, Inc. P.O. Box
163, Bidwell Station, Buffalo, New
York 14222.

RAINBOW COMMENTARY
~ Tom Heuer
Thanks to the brilliant marketing
gurus' at DEC,
fewer and fewer
software developers are supporting
the Rainbow with new products. This
long lamented situation,
is due to
DEC's decision to
dismantle the
Rainbow
engineering
group
and
abandon
future
hardware
enhancements,
which might
have
improved compatibility with other
machines
and
offered
increased
processing power.
Once DEC pulled
the plug,
the software developers
abandoned ship in droves,
leaving
only a few firms with compatible
products.
So what do Rainbow users
do about it?
Work as a group to
establish a
recognizable market.
Rally around the few remaining firms

README. 1ST

by buying their products (instead of
using bootlegged copies,
although
I'm sure nobody does thatl),
and
even if your not in position to
purch4se
these products,
write
letters
to the
software
firms
anyway, encouraging their continued
support of
the Rainbow.
This
approach has worked in the case of
WordPerfect
Corp. ,
which was
recently considering the abandonment
of the Rainbow.
I would like to
encourage our user group members to
express their
feelings on
this
issue,
by
sending the
CAMPPUS
steering committee your comments.
Provide the name of your favorite
program which you would like to be
supported.
We will try to obtain
names
and
addresses
of
the
responsible
. firms,
for
the
membership to write to,
and maybe
prepare and distribute a form letter
to make it easier.
Please leave a
message
on
the
CAMPPUS
Fido
(490-9206)
or
write to
Jeanne
Luptak, our DEC coordinator, at 1207
East Remington
Road,
Suite
B,
Schaumburg, Illinois 60173.
WordPerfect
~ Tom Heuer
I have always been amazed at the
number of word processing programs
being sold on the market.
Many
operate poorly and are limited in
capability.
Even WPS,
the system
promoted
by
DEC is
slow
and
cumbersome (and overpriced), despite
the gold key editing.
If you are
dissatisfied
with
your
current
processor, or have simply out-grown
its capabilities, then I would like
to recommend
that you
consider
WordPerfect. This program functions
almost
as
its
name
suggests;
perfectly.
There will always be

Page ·~7
enhancements that will expand its
capabilities,
but
even in
its
current form, it has got to be one
of the
best available
for the
Rainbow. Many who use it claim that
it seems to have been written for
the Rainbow's keyboard since the
keystroke operation is so efficient.
This package contains a wide range
of features that are easy to use.
One of my favorites is the spelling
checker.
In most word processing
programs the spelling check feature
is an external operation requiring
that you exit the current document
to begin the spell feature.
It
tends to be slow and cumbersome and
consequently is even avoided by some
users.
Not so with WordPerfect,
where spelling is
checked while
within the document.
When invoked,
a one line menu appears at the
bottom of the screen providing for a
word by word, selected page, or an
entire
document to
be
checked
interactively.
When a incorrect
spelling is detected,
the screen
splits with the text shown in the
upper screen and alternative word
choices shown in the lower screen.
By
pressing
a
letter
key
corresponding to a displayed word,
the misspelled word is automatically
corrected and the check continues.
The process
is extremely
fast,
unlike many other packages on the
market.
I have summarized some of the many
features of
WordPerfect in
the
following list.
I expect the list
will get longer as they continue to
improve and expand the capabilities
of this package. In future articles
I will discuss the use of some of
these features in greater detail.

Page ... _..a

README. 1ST

WordPerfect Feature Highlights
-

Operates in an insert mode with typeover capability
Color monitor capability
Document outline creation
10,000 word thesaurus feature containing both synonyms and
antonyms
100,000 plus word dictionary for spelling
Indexing and Concordance
Footnotes and endnotes
Table of Authorities
Redline and strike-out
Paragraph numbering
Math calculation capabilities
Data record sorting
Line drawing
Newspaper style and parallel column page formatting
Extensive macro capability
Document merge and list processing
Automatic hyphenation and formatting
DOS shell for running utilities and programs external to WP
Allows switching between two screens for editing two documents
simultaneously
Document summary reports
Block manipulation functions
On screen bolding and underline
Converts documents to seven other word processing text formats
Six separate printers and eight possible fonts are selectable
from the print menu.
Over 100 different printer characteristics included in a
definition library for use in setting up print menu.


CAMPPUS, the Chicago Area Microcomputer Personal and Professional Users
Society, is devoted to providing general information concerning the use of
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) personal computers (PC) and word
processors (WP).
Meetings are held at different locations in the suburban and downtown
Chicago areas. For more information, call Jeanne Luptak at 312-490-2466

STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman . . . . . . . . .
· Tom Heuer
Vice Chairman (Suburban) . . . . George· Green
Vice Chairman (Chicago)
· Margaret Murphy
Secretary . . . . .
· Roy Sears
FIDO System Operator .
· Chuck Garrett
LUG Coordinator
· Jeanne Luptak
Newsletter Editor . . . .
· Jim Christine
This Local

Users Group

(LUG)

is

affiliated with

the Digital

Equipment

Page g.

README. 1ST

Computer Users Society (DECUS). LUG members need not be members of DECUS.
Membership is, however, strongly encouraged.
Membership in OECUS is free.
For more information on joining DECUS,
write: DECUS U.S.
Chapter;
Membership Processing Group; 249 Northboro Road, BP02j Marlboro, MA 01752
README. 1ST, The CAMPPUS Newsletter, is provided free to all LUG members as
well as OECUS membership and the general public. DECUS directives prohibit
paid advertising in this publication
Correspondence to this newsletter should be directed to the editor:
Christine; C/O SPSS Inc.j 444 N. Michigan; Chicago, IL 60611

Jim

Submissions to README. 1ST are
following forms:

the

-

always welcome

and are

acceptable in

Electronic Mail (FIDONET or other BBSs)
5-1/4" diskette (CP/M or MS-DOS ASCII files)
Hardcopy (typed, pleasel)
Sent via usenet to ihnp4Ipyrchi!spsspyr!jimc

Items included in this newsletter are subject./to editing;
opinions
expressed are not necessarily those of CAMPPUS, O~~S, or Digital Equipment~
Corporation. Items may be used freely in any ot~r publication under the
following provisions: 1) The source, including the author (if given) must
be cited, and 2)
a copy of the publication containing fhe items must be
sent to the editor of this newsletter.

Mid-Atlantic
Region

MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
John Engle
Ohio Oil Gathering
Frazeysburg, Ohio
614-828-2891
DCS:ENGLE
John Engle was eleeted Mid-Atlantic RLC in Apri11987 and has been a DECUS member for five
years. Before assuming his RLC position, John was active with the Licking and Muskingum
Area (LAMA) LUG, where he held the Chair position for two years.
The Mid-Atlantic LUG Coordinator position is up for election as of March 1988, and John has
volunteered to run again. Election results should be available at the 1988 Spring Symposium.
Good Luck, John.
REGIONAL TAPE COpy COORDINATOR
Rick Sharpe
Toledo Edison
300 Madison, MS: 3180
Toledo, OH 43652
419 249-5000 ext. 7470
REGIONAL SEMINARS REPRESENTATIVE

Claude Thompson, Jr.
Babcock and Wilcox - NNFD
PO Box 785 - MS: 60
Mount Athos Road
Lynchburg, VA 24505
804 522-6512

I
I
I

MID-ATLANTIC REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
District of Columbia
National Capitol Area RT-ll LUG
Chair: Ned Rhodes, Arlington, Virginia, 703-534-2297
Washington DC NetworkS LUG
Chair: Major Gene LeClair, Arlington, Virginia, 202-695-5172 or 708-243-3752
Washington DC Office Automation LUG
Chair: Tom Orlowski, Washington, 202-939-9371
Washington DC Rainbow WG
Chair: Dennis Fitzgerald, Seabrook, Maryland, 301-286-9584 or 301-459-1247
Washington DC UNILUG
Chair: Karl A. Nyberg, Vienna, Virginia, 703-281-2194
Washington DC Area VAX LUG
Chair: David I. Keller, Reston, Virginia, 703-264-8900

Maryland
-B,-.,atr:-tiZ-Om-o-r-e-rA-re-a--.t
......U
....G': iD'
Chair: Judith A. Leasure, Sparks, 301-771-4950
Patuxent River LUG (PAXLUG)
Richard R. White, Hollywood, 301-373-2360

New Jersey
=-~--~==~~~~==

Seaboard PDP-llfVAX LUG
Chair: Tom Gerhard, Kingston, 609-799-4600

Ohio
•

•
•

•

'Central Ohio LUG
Chair: Laurence Owens, Dublin, 614-764-2300
Dayton LUG
Chair: David Hittner, Dayton, 513-890-1800
Licking and Muskingum Area LUG (LAMALUG)
Chair: Jim Freeman, Granville, 614-587-0810
Ohio VAX LUG (OHVAXIO)
Chair: William A. Fleck, Findlay, 419-424-4143
Tri-State LUG
Chair: Harry Atherton, Cincinnati, 513-872-5341

VAXTOLEDO LUG
Chair: David H. Anderson, Northwood, 419-666-8800
Western Reserve LUG_
Chair: Ron Beach, Cleveland, 216-581-5685

Pennsylvania
DEAD CPU LUG
Chair: Karen A. Startzenbach, Hershey, 717-534-9321

Lake Erie VAXjPc LUG
Chair: Tim Cordell, Edinboro, 814-732-2647
Penn State LUG
Chair: John F. Stitzinger, State College, 814-238-4311
Pittsburg Area LUG (PALUG)
Chair: Robert M. McFarland, Warrendale, 412-776-7556
Three Rivers VAX LUG
Chair: David Schmidt, Pittsburgh, 412-683-9533 extension 111
University of Pennsylvania LUG (UPENNLUG)
Chair: William H. Magill, Philadelphia, 215-898-4707

Virginia
-PiT"e-.a-m-o-n-:-t-rA-re-a--.V-AX-r-.......t....UMr:G.........",(P--A'T"'Vt-.U"""GOT")
...
Chair: Keith Chambers, Charlottesville, 804-978-6132
Southwest Virginia LUG
Chair: Mark Reynolds, Roanoke, 703-989-3301

MID-ATLANTIC REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
(continued)
Virginia PeninsuIa VAX LUG
Chair: John Young, Hampton, 804-865-4456

West Virginia
•

•

West Virginia DEenS LUG
Chair: Marcus Hamden, Dellslow, 304-296-1473

indicates LUG newsletters contained in this volume

1

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'\'---"IV-

\

,

/

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\ DECUS /
\
/
Central \
I Ohio
\

\/

- - - - - - -/*\- - - - - Local I
I

\

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\

UseTS \

,-

-----v-

Oh:i.o

,

Loca.:l..

1

Group

I
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February

Newsle~ter

Users
Volume 8, Number 1

I\

r

~

\

Gro~p

\

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Cen.. t,ra~

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MARCH

MEETING

3/4/87

MeL Cafeteria, 2491 E. Granville/Dublin Road
Capacity Planning, Tuning, Evaluation, and Performance

7he first meeting of 1987 fer the Central Ohio Local User's Group will be held
on Wednesday, March 4 at the MeL Cafeteria, 2788 Dublin-Granvill~ Road, in the
Ra~~tr~~ Center.
We have had seve~a~ meetings there in the pas~.
The meeting
room i~ ~e5erved for us until 10:0:.
Since the meating will be held at 6:30
pm I ~.::;.
·.r:t plan t·o re.la:t and en.jc·1.inner beforehand,.
The CQ.fe~eria provides
t . he W{;-.:
"lg room free of charge, :.: '.'le should patronize ti'H~m wr.e.l'l possible.
Rafizadeu of MBA System Automation, \-lill be the fea..tured s!ieake~1!".
\.·2.1k or! "Capacity Pl~lnning, Tunin-g, Evaluation, ~,.:>:.i Perio:cmancr:. u
This
i3 a topic that hits each or ~s in our jobs and you may
~~t find a trick or
't\,.,o to apply 3.t your site.
~:_~!~ you 'there!
S-=~~~~m~nn

My.
J-1F!

~;:ll

announced in the last News!~tter, Dicital has implemen~ed a jiscQunt program
Rainbow, Professional, aLd DECmate software (and some nardwaye)~
Softw~~~
i~ dividad in~o two catagories (A and B), with each catagory having a separ~\~
disccun~ schedul~.
Quantities may be combined·to maximize ~he di5coun~o

~s

fc~

The catch? Simple: all sof'tware must be consolidated in~o one order, shipped
to a 5inql~ address, mi~imum order 10 packages (not all the same software), an~
the order mus~ be accompanied with a check for the full amount of the order.
An upda~ed listing is included with the Newsletter showing the software, lisb
price, and'?~scoun~ schedule.
For lack of a be~ter system to handle the crders that will {no doubt) pour in
fram ~ll af YOG, I will accept your checks (made out to ~ROBERT LINDSEY, DEC
SOFTHA.RE PLAN u, f or the discounted amount) f or any i terns you \Jiant.
! .must,
receive the order before March 19 in order to get it to Digital.
Shipping
cDarges or additional ciscounts will be adjusted upon delivery of the items
from DEC and invoices/refunds sent out to those who ordered.
If there is not
enough interest to place an order, ! will (cheerfully) refund your money.
will keep you informed of future c~anges in the program as r receive them
DEC.
Digital is reviewing the program (and price structure) quarte~ly an<
continuing it as long as there is interest to justify it to Corporate.
!

f~om

DEC~JS/COLUG

Ne'VV'=~etter,

DECUS

Volume B, Number 1, Page 2

Syrnposi..LlIn

The Spring DECUS Symposium will be held a~ ~he Opryland Hotel, Nashville,
Tennesee, from April 27 thru May 1, 1987.
Plan to attend if at all possible.
Nashville is just a short drive from Ohio (compared to Orlando or Anaheim!),
and others from the LUG will be attending.
If you plan to attend, call Larry
Owens at 764-2300 and he will help coordinate any car-pools.

The Symposium are packed full of hundreds (yes, I said HUNDREDS) of sessions or.
'topics ranging from IIUNIX Generic File Systems" ~o "Small Business Accounting
Products", "Software Licensing Approaches" to uPDP-l1 Diagnotics", nQ-Bus Tape
Choices" to "Data Management for VAX Clust~rs", and on and on
If you have.
the chance, Nashville is so close, don't miss it!
f

Ne~

••

lvfembers

Welcome to the following new members to COLUG:
David 'Ramey from Blacklick
Michael Hecht, Graphic Development Corporation, in Dublin
~ay Chose, Ohio Precious Metals, in Jackson
Kurt Sanders, Discovery Systems, in Dublin
Steve Zeoli, Oracle Corporation, in Birmingham, Michigan
Welcome back to Emerson Payne, Cooper Energy Service, in Mount Vernon
Ed:i.to:l;;.-

No{,:,e:s

Sev~ral

months ago, Lancaster City Schools helped out a fellow RSTS/E user who
You kr~c\<; \41ho you \vere (I have iorgo'tten!) and you
weri interested in Lancaster's PDP 11/70 $ystem.
We:l, I have a mirror-image
of ~hat 11/70 for sale and am interested in talking with you (or anyone else).
Contact me ASAP at the address below!

had .. 'a bad RSTS Updat.e 'tape.

~ffective

March Z, i have accepted a the position as Director or Compu~er
Services for the South Eastern Ohio Voluntary Education Cooperative (SEOVEC,
for short~), based in At.hens.
I 'will continue as the Newsletter Editor for
:OLUG as long as feasible, so keep sending in any items tor the Newsletter, but
note the new address and phone number at the end of the Newsletter.

Digital has just released a new publication, "RSX: A Guide for Users."
If you
ire interested, the flyer states that it is t1a coherent, easy-to-read, user)riented in~roduction to RSX,It.
For more information, contact Digital Press,
L2 Crosby Drive, BUO/E94, Bedform, MA 01730.
A copy of par~··of the flyer is
~eproduced in this Newsle~~er.

DEGUS/ COLUC3

Ne~=.J.etter,

::tn

Sea.rch

Of

Volume

a,

tlumber 1, Page

a

...

Jay Chose, of Ohio Precious Metals, is looking for people wi~h software for thE
PDP-8 systems. In particular, any ideas for spreadsheetinq, laboratory,
plotting, graphics, and office programs.
Any informa~ion on software (for
free, or even for sale), contact him at 305 Water Street, P. O. Box 605,
Jackson, .Ohio 45640.
Anyone out there working with a VT-180, the ROBIN micro? Dave Ramey is having
a problem with some software and would like contacts that have experience with
the Robin.
I'm sure he's interested in software that is available, also. Any
information, drop a line to 1253 North Wagoner Road, Blacklick, Ohio 43004.
MicroVax II users, Michael Hecht is interested in Kermit or other transfer
scftwar~ for the M/V II to other micro's.
Other interests include crOS5assemblers for chips, PC board layout/design software, and office programs or
accounting/inventory packages.
Know of any of these? Contact Mike a~ Graphic
Development Corporation, 6175-W Shamrock Court, Dublin, Ohio 43017.

DECUS

Ca..~~i.ng

Jim Noonan informs me that DECUS has electronic conferencing 5·oftware running
on a MicroVax II in the Marlboro office, with 5 phone lines supporting dial-in
capability.
This service, called DECUServe, is just getting started ano shoulc
act as a clearinghouse for discussion on DECUS topics.
The service will be
divided into c~tagories, along SIa interest lines, I assume, to help prcmot~
the use of the service to· the. membership.
There is an immediate need for "seed" user::. and mode~:-a..bors f'o-:.: 'thf~ se::·'}'i·::e.
The early us~rs will help provide feedback to DECUS about use of the service
and benefits. Moderators will assure that only appropriate material is put
on~o the service and that it is properly catagorized.
Interes~ed?
The ini~ial user base will be limited so th~ service can be
evaluated and "tuned." Cost will be $25 for the balance of the year plus the
phone call to Marlboro. Contact the Nation~l LUG for more infoT~~tioD.
Fi.n.a.~

Notes

If you have submissions for the Newsletter (articles, requests, items for sale
or trade, help, notices), send them to me! Make the Newsletter what you expec'
by par~icipating.
Rob Lindsey, COLUG Editor, S.E.D.V.E.C., 221 North Columbus Road, Athens, OH
45701
(614)593-7663.

See

You

At

The

Meeti.ng

On

March

4

FROM THE PAGEFILE

-

Tt.is i.ior.tt.'s me:etir.9 will be .a

e-resent.at.ion by Jay Dee Harris f"rore1 Clyde
Oigit.a1 Syst.eMs. He will be discussin9 Many
security issues including or-.e that IS of"ten
TOrgot. ten,. The insider t·hreat. .Ja~ Dee I.oJi11
be showing us how to avert such problems
a long with how their sof'tware products
can help with this iralPortar.t task. We will
be ho ld.ng t.he Meeti'-'9 at Ohio Oil
Gathering Corporation .:)f'f'ice in
Fr azeysburQ at 7:00 p.r.... on Thursday:o
Sept.eMber :3, 1987. IT you are in need '';IT
directions please call at 1-800-282-2470
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Ask Tor
Johr. Er'91e.

Com.puter .a.n c:alendar:

- Septe:w.bel·· --> Sept 3,. 1987 7:00 P.»l.
Cl~~de Digit-al. l~eetir.Lg At. OOGe.
- Octo.f.:eer --> TENTATIVE JCC

If· YOU l,-.Leed LUG m.e:Olbership
ir.Lrorxa.ation, Ca.ll JO RICE" our LUG
secretary at. 427-2244. She cal~ help
YOU l-:ri th tr.a.e nam.es and t.elephone
num..bers of' our LUG m.embers.

IF

;,-90U

need more inf'or!aa tion

con.::erl-.Lil-.1Q· DECUS O.l~ m.eeth-.L9·S" '::.31.11
zo.e (Jor.Lr'.L li::ngle) at 1-800-282-2470
MOl-...da.~" thru Friday between 8:00 a~-...d
4:00 p.m..
Meet.il'l.9:.. tixa.e and pI.ace:

Where: Chio Oil Ga. tr.Lerinsc CO.l"P. in
Fraze-:3r·s.burg OhlO.
'W'hen: Sept.el>l.ber 8rd" i8B7 7:00 p.m.
Need Directions call
1-800-2e:2~24'10.
Elec:tions are c:om.in ':1 upU!!!n So ;t0l...a:
need to be thil'-;a.king .about
whicr.L
or som..Dod y you know
would like to run £·or. There will be 2
.ore sessiol.-"'s e.f' nom.ina.tions :for
orf'icers Hi t·h ele.::t.iol"lS .being held. il."l
Dec:elab~r at the Dec:em.ber m.eeting_
The of:f1ces that we will be nominatingfor- 'R1U· be tr.Le :f'ollo'Rinq: 1) LUG
Cha.ir" 2) Uic:e-Chair 3) Secret-ary ,.treasurer" and 4) L G Librarian.
None or these of·rices ta.ke :.:o.uch more
t.ha t 1 or 2 hours a m.on th. Certainly
o:fE'i~. Y.9U

tr

not an incredible am.Ol...cn t Or tim.e_ .A.n "!l'
of' t.he of'f'ices ca.n be r'u:n in a-

m. ul ti t.ude or R ayes. Tl:-.Le L 1-'9' Chairdoesn t have to be the O:L.Le t.o wl··i te
the newslet. t.ers a.nd ril.~d t:he
speakers,. Th.a..t's t:he Ray I c::bose to do
it.!!!!

Sl-7apped

o l..t t"

.,John Engle

LAt-1A

LUG

Welco:.:tie t.c, a l...ct. u:s:.:..:c... a:c... d all c.f t.r.le
bluster"5:o' l'l'ea.ther. It seElltls like a g"J,:)d.
t.i:ro.e t.c. st.a.~..'" ir... side a:c... d t.ype at. t.he
)1' T..1A.X ·9. while. Tr...is »:a.ont.h we 'H'ill be
F·in.ish.i:n.g· l,..[P t.r.a.e :a.-:a.c'li.a.ir.a.a.tions f'or'
::t.eeri:'i."'l!;;;;' cOl.'Ui t.t.ce of'ficers in plans
f·,::.r· e1ecti,::.:..-... ::. i:&.-... DECEl'lBEF.:.. Tl:-... e
tia t.ic.:..-... al L LTG C':''l~:c... cil has sc.:ro.e :c... ea t.
pl.:u·.1S f'or t.r.1e LT_1Gs in l,..[P a:a.-.1d co»:a.il."lg·
:o.ontr... s SCI don't. m.iss: e.ut. c,r.1 beir.&.Q'
.
.r.1 ~."I:'''I:.''led. wi t·h DECT_TS. .A.na.hie:m
::;,:o'));I.PCI 5i ''''())1 is '::':'Xtli1-::";;;" ' •.[}:' irJ. DECMEBEF.:..
rl::'1..l all :sr.lo1..~ld r . . a"=..1e l··ecei".."ed YO'\.ll""
:-'e9·istr.~.tio:a.-... l=,.;:'.cl-::ets b~" n01'l'. If' :t'.&.ot
.et :a.'(a.e l::::"'-",CIl-f a:C.1d I lolill g'et or.le zipped
)'...ct to '5':.;),." ....risc·r.1t .9.:a:'I'.a.y. HI~e to see
rei'll all 1:C.1 L-ahr·orr.lla. ar.1d Dis:c... e~"'ICt.r... d.

COXQ.}:'ut.er :£tJ.·9.X"J. ca.ler... d..9.r:

:t-tove:ro.ber- 5th~ 7:00 p.m..
I::er... ~"'o:a.-.1 CCllleg'e - RS"'-l

If' '5!"Ol...l n.eed. LTJG lt1elt1ber·sr... il='
i:a."l:for-xtia. tio:a.-... , Ca.ll ...TO RICE, c'ur- L LTG
se.:::ret..ar!>" a. t 427-56SE:. She ca.r... l-... el:p
~;rc.u "fi t.r.l t.:be na.li.1eS a:c... d t.elepr... o:c"... e
n l...c:»:a.bers of' CI'..c]:'"' LUG m.em..oers.
If' YC.t.[ need mO.re irl.:fc'l"la:a.a. t.ior..L
,:::ol"lce:t··nin..9· DECTJS or' Xf... eetil"l9·S:o c.31.11
ltie ( ....T.:.r. . :c.&. E:a.-... Q·le:. at. 1-800-282-2470
l'!c'tr... d.a.-:V" t.hr'~ Fl··id.a.~:r between 8:00 a.l"ld.
4:00 p.Ii.L.

This lXLCIl"l t.hs l.'Q.eet.inq 'R'il .be held at.
: e1"ly.:.:n. C011eg·e. tole 1'l'i11 be r... a~Ti:..-... l'· a.
>rese:..-.1 t.a. t.io:..-.1 clr... a. Pl··od,1...[ct. calle.;;;\
~S ....·L It. is a. st..a t.ist.i.:=a.l a.nd 9·1··~.F.':hics
).:C.cl-:::a.Q"e t.r... a t. II:" a v :ro.a.ke yc,ur 11f'e a
:dCtr~t. -e.9.sier. I 'H'111 also lia.'It.7e
t.f.:.e 1.9.t.est. ir,.f·c'r-x(a..Et.tior~ f·O]:--lf... t.1-... e
l.at.ic':L"l.a.l LT_TG C'=IU:L'l.cil a:a.-:a.d ~o:tQ.e or t.he
··esl..d ts ,';}f' t.r... e »11:' st. l··e,~e:.:-:..t WOODS
:a.eet.irJ.g· t.J:-J.a.t. I at.te:C.1ded. If' an~" o~
"01.4 a.re il-:L terest.ed. il.'l. hea.rin'3· abcl'..ct
Lr... or... lir.1e DISI( DEFR.A.Gl:'lENT~R:o F,lease
:r.!.c'H '.-!P .~.t. t·he xt).eet·inq· .. I 1=of11! lia.~!'e
:c.:ro.e pr-e1in:..in.9.r-y st.a.t.s- f·r-o'ln. tr. . is
1.1:):rJ. t.r.i.::' r'l.tl".i.nin:;;;( of' t.he pacl-:::ag'e •.;-6:
L.:'.'t..T€! up ':11-... t.h.e :U:"':'.cr... ir.l.ce at. OOGC.
'r.ds is a. T..:rer--:;.!" e:>::ci t.i:..-:a.g· pl··od u.:::t. a:..-... d
':·o.ba.b~ -::.." ~IX ~ll. rig'h !.s sr.&.ould. .becol)l.e
'.:::t.rt of r..r:H.::.. It. IS t.:ha t. Q"c.od.
I hClpe a.ll (:Ir' "'.;"c'u ,l-.a.a y.7e .been able tc.
·et. YC!'l~ r.l.·:;t.:£i.l.e .o.9.c1-:: OX"J. t.1-J.e :£Q..:t.ilirJ.o;( list
.S per- O'l.cr- r-eql...[est. a.s of' t.he lasf.
LeT·:rslet tel-·. I r....::.:pe ::,~.:.,.l .:,.11 i-iel··e d.ole
CI p l ...ct dCIl-f:"'-... sc.:oo.e sUQ":::a·est.ior.ls c.r
Leet.i1-... g· t";)pi.:::s th.3.t. ~"o,,..[ would. like t.o
Lea.r aJ:.IO'.lt...

See

'!i"C'U

iT... l-tc.T..7e:s:o.ber a. t. Ken !>"or....

Uolurne 3

R~lue

3

WAllO VIER'

January 1, 1988

1"10RE FREE SOFTWAREI
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
$ From the Chair••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2
$ HELP! ••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 2

S Fall '81 DEeOS lopes .................... 2
$ IILL -I N-l Multiple New Mall ••••••• 3

$ RLL -I N-l PrIority TO DO's •••••••••••• 3
$ Member$hlp List •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4
S January Meeting ........................ 11
OHVAXIO DECUS local Users Group
Minutes
November 12) 1987
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company

Findlay, Ohio
The n1nth meeting of the OHVAXIO
DECU5 Local Users Group was held at
O.H. Materials Corporation at 6:30 p.m.
There
were
twenty-four members
present, 1ncluding representat1ves from
Bow11ng Green State Un1vers1ty, Cooper
Tire and Rubber Company. The Cour1er.
F1ndlay College. Marathon 011 Company,

There was an article
in the
December
SIG
Newsletter/OA
51G
section that announced the avai1abiJ ity
of an OA SIG Symposium tape. Larry
Gundy our LUG Tape L1brari an has a
J

copy of this tape. Contact Larry for
deta11s on how you can get a copy of
this FREE software. The files on this
tape were submitted before the Fall '87
5rmpOSlum but are written for V2.2 of
A L -iN-l. There wi 11 be another tape
created wIth flles from the Fall '87
Symposium and Larry will get a copy as
soon as 1t 1s avai lable.

.

Some of the programs on this tape
are:
•

•
•
•

•

•

•
•

An ALL -I N- 1 Phone Message

ut 111 t

Flles ¥or WPS-PLUS/VMS file
sharing
Printer Table for the HP Laser
Jet
Mod1fled Printer Tables for
. the LN03
Tracking changes to ALL-IN-l
with an ALL -IN-l utility
Lots of utillties for ALL-IN-l
Users
Lots of utilities for ALL -IN-l
Managers
MANYMORE PROGRAMS AND
TEXT FILES.

continued on page 10

''"-------------_.,;-...-""1

VAlJ
(

l

---

----.....,....
.•..

-

l··-.

....... ........-........

_r

J'..'

O"VMIOV/EIY

January 1, 1988

OECU~ Filii ·87 Symposium
SessIon Tapes

From the Chair
The tili rd tattion of the OHVAXIO lUG for the
1988 uear 18 bej no hosted bV TERRA
TECHNICAL COLLEGE of Fremont Ohio. We 'Will have
8 presentation by Jon Krehbel1 of Cooper Ti re &
Rubber Co. on his experiences at OECUS West along
WUh some good Netwrk Mag1c. Th18 session ¥in
be follwed by t...o extensive afterglo....
pr~ent8t1ons by Terra Techn1cal Conege; Computer
Integrated Msnufacturi ng and Fourth Generation
languages 1n the manufacturi ng env1 ronment. 1 am
10010 ng fONard to these subjects as -well as the
DECUS presentation.
The attendance has been lacki ng at the fi rst t ...o
meet1 Rgs; please accept the challenge to br1 ng one
nev member 88 your guest to the January meeti "9.
Kae has publ1shed the list of all members revteW'
this Usn no and see W'ho is not attendi ng that should
be and get them registered. The OHVAXIO is a high
quality users group ..nth a strong core of charter
members. We must encourage and support ib
growth.
We have just fl nished the celebration of the
Joyous Holiday season and the hopes for an
improved future in the new year are bright. MaV
you be a part of the 11Qht that brlQhtens the neW'
year for the LUG.
Hope to see ~u at Terra Technical Colleoe on
January 14.. 1988 at 6:30 pm.
1987 -

#

Bill Fleck

Cooper Tt re & Rubber'*' the fo11wi ng tapes of
DECUS Fall "87 Symposium sessions. Contact Kae
Sobczyk at 424- 4283 if you \Y'Ould 1i Ice to borroy
any of the3e tapes.
Session 10 Title
DA017

DA019
DM068

NOOB
NOO9
NOlO
N015
N018
N091

0003
0023
0055
0057
0061

January 5,. 1988

Helpl

0075
P030

Yes, I do need HELP with the OHVAXJO
VIEW. In this issue, Trace Roth has
given me the kind of help which I need:
ARTICLES!

U011
V015
Y019
V054

When you solve a particularly hard or
interesting problem, take an extra 10
minutes to write an article" about" your
solution. sition} )
Using this type of tool not only leads to more error-free <:ooe, bu~ will also:
1) Help maintain a coding standard across the programming department.
2) Help inexperienced programmers learn a language.
~

3) Allow programmers working in unfamiliar languages to save time normally spent searching the pertinent manuals.
Another of the advantages of the LSE editor is that it allows the user to defme his own language. In-house procedures and their
syntax can be captured in LSE templates and be available to all users. As I further explain the development of language
templates, two issues come to bear.
First, one must choose the type of in-house programs/procedures that will benefit most from LSE templates. Such procedures
should have one or more of the following characteristics:
1) They should have a structured format that would lend themselves to modelling. (This is because the more common the text
.
needed for statements, the more LSE can aid by filling in text for the user.)
2) The frequency of its use and number of users. As this number increases, the more the LSE templates help enforce a common
structure among users. Additionally, with a large group of users, LSE becomes more of a teaching and training aid.
-8-

3) rmaIly, due to LSE's ability to document variables, the in-house package should have some need of clarification of fields or
user input. Any of these three reasons could be reason enough to create a language template for an in-house package.
The second issue is a basic knowledge of the building blocks of the template. In addition to defming the language statements,
there are two main LSE units that also need definition. The frrst three units are types of placeholders, and the second are units
called tokens. These four units, working in conjunction with each other, allow the user the flexibility to create a variety of
templates from a sophisticated language to a simple memo sheet.
PLACEHOLDERS
As stated earlier, there are three major types of placeholders. The frrst is the nonterminal placeholder. This placeholder, when

expanded, will place text into the current editing buffer. This text could be any length and could contain other placeholders
which could also be expanded (such as the "[ELSE {else-part})" in the!'IF condition above).
The second placeholder type is the terminal placeholder. This placeholder, when expanded, will not deposit text into the buffer
but will give an explanation at the top or bottom of the screen as to what type of information is expected. For example, in the
STR$POSmON example above, expanding"{start.J>OSition}" with a CNTRL "E" would produce the following LSE prompt: the
actual data you want to pass to parameter START-PosmON.
The last type of placeholder is the menu type. When expanded, this placeholder will display list of options from which the user
may select. In our "IF" condition example at the beginning of this article, if the placeholder"{then-clause}" were expanded with a
CNTRL "E," a list of every COBOL statement would be at the users reach. Upon selection, the option chosen would be inserted
into the user's text buffer.
TOKENS

"n

Tokens are expandable words that are not bounded by either or {}." The "IF statement at the beginning of the article is an
example of a token. Expanding a token with a CNTRL "E" gives you a choice of multiple statements that match the portion of
the token you entered. The STRSPOS example mentioned above demonstrated how a token was used to provide a choice of two
calls. On the same note, expanding STR$ alone would make the entire range of STRS library ca1Is available.
MERGING THE PIECES
The last part is the definition of the language statement which Iinlcs all the tokens and placeholders together. Take for example a
language called "XCOM" that we will use as an example. After examining the following language defInition of "XCOM," several
of the language's parameters will be discussed. XCOM was chosen as the language name because the example templates will
involve some DCL statements.
- DEFINE LANGUAGE XCOM !IDENTIFY_CHARACTERS = "ABCDEFGHUKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzl234567890" -!INITIAL_STRING =
"[XCOM-START]" !FILE_TYPES = (.COM,.CMD)trAB_INCREMENT = 8/REO = ("{","}")/REOL = ("{","} ...")/OPT =
("[","]")
/OPTL = ("[","] ...") IPUNCUTATION_CHARACTERS = ".,' + - =/*"

-

The above statements defme the language called "XCOM." Let me give a quick overview of the parameter statements used.
/IDENTIFY_CHARACTERS Tells the system what characters may be used in token & alias names.
IFILE_TYPES Is used to control what language should be used in conjunction with LSE editing session. In this example, any fIle .
with the type of .com or .cmd will automatically use these templates.
!INITIAL_STRING This is only used when the ftle is being created. It will deposit the text "[XCOM-START]" in the text buffer.
/OPT & OPTL These are the delimiters for the piaccholders "[J" & "[J .. " that are optional in nature. The trailing 3 periods on the
second example instructs to repeat the option again after expanding.
-9-

/REO & REOL Like the optional, these delimit placeholders but are mandatory.
/PUNcruATION_CHARACTERS These are used to control what are bounds for the next word.
A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE
Now that we have the language defined, it is time to set up a few templates. The fust will be for our initial string "XCOMSTART". It will be defmed as a nonterminal type, as we wish to have the ability to expand it further.
DEFINE PLACEHOLDER XCOM-START /LANGUAGE XCOM /fYPE NONTERMINAL
/DESCRIPTION = "STARTUPOFTHEXCOMLANGUAGE"
"$! {NAME-OF-COM-FIL}"
"$! {DATE-CREATED}"
"$! {AUTHOR}"
"$!"
"$ [STATEMENT]"
ENDDEFINE
When "[XCOM-START)" is expanded with a CNTRL "E," it will look like this:
$! {NAME-OF-COM-FIL}
$! {DATE-CREATED}
$! {AUTHOR}
$!
$ [STATEMENT]

Now what is needed is to create placeholders for each of the informational fields that need to be filled.
DEFINE PLACEHOLDER NAME-OF-COM-FIL/LANGUAGE = XCOM /fYPE = TERMINAL
"NAME OF THE COMMAND FILE"
ENDDEFINE
DEFINE PLACEHOLDER DATE-CREATED /LANGUAGE = XCOM/fYPE = TERMINAL
"DATE THE FILE WAS CREATED"
ENDDEFINE
DEFINE PLACEHOLDER AUTHOR/LANGUAGE = XCOM/fYPE = TERMINAL
"NAME OF THE INDIVIDUAL"
ENDDEFINE
As with all terminal type placeholders, they will print the'text at the top of the screen as an aid to the user when expanded with a
CNTRL "E." These could be multiple lines if necessary, as there is no limit to the number of informational lines that can be
displayed. It should also be noted that expanding these types of placeholders will not deposit any text in the user's current buffer.
This leaves the last expandable field, "[STATEMENT]," from the original expansion. We'll make this placeholder a menu type
via:
DEANE PLACEHOLDER STATEMENTLANGUAGE = XCOM /fYPE = MENU
"SET-VER" = rrOKEN
"SET-NOVER = rrOKEN
ENDDEFINE
DEFINE TOKEN SET-VER LANGUAGE = XCOM -10-

/DESCRIPTION
"S SET VERIFY"
ENDDEFINE

= "TURN ON VERIFICATION DURING RUN"

DEFINE TOKEN SET-NOVER LANGUAGE = XCOM /DESCRIPTION = "TURN OFF VERIFICATION DURING RUN"

"S!"

"S SET NOVERIFY"
"S!"
ENDDEFINE

For reasons of brevity, I'll only show two options in the menu, but be advised that there is no limit to the amount of choices
allowed. If this placeholder were expanded, it would give the user either the choice of the contents of the set-ver token or the
set-nover token. Also note that more than one line can be inserted into the text buffer from the token. It should be remembered
that because these last two choices are tokens, they can be expanded directly from the text buffer without the placeholder
"[statement]."
SAVING THE TEMPLATE

To save and utilize this newly created template, the user must follow these steps:
1) Create your template in a file with the extension ".LSE". For this example, the name of our rtle will be XCOM.LSE.
2) Put your tokens and placeholders in that file. Note that there may be many languages in this rtle not just the one you created
this time.
3) At the LSE command line"enter the string "DO." This will compile your language. At this time, it is possible to go to another
buffer and after setting language to the new language, test your variables.
4) To save this language, a "save environment" command must be issued before ending the editing session. This will create a
binary file with the same name as your rue, but a rue type of".ENV". This rtle is necessary to have your language available for
general use.
S) The final step to make this language available for all users is to create a system logical that replaces the system logical LSE
with:

lsedit/environment = device:[directory]XCOM.ENV.
Now when ever any user evokes LSE and is editing a .com or .cmd rtle, the new templates will be available in that session.
There remains features not mentioned in this report that should be noted from the manual before trying to build templates.
Hopefully, this article will give you a basic understanding and an appreciation for LSE.

-11-

VAXTOLEDO LUG INTEREST INQUIRY QUESTIONNAIRE
Please check the type of topics in which you have an interest •.
UNIX

Desktop Publishing

VMS Hints and Kinks

Systems Security

Networking Hardware

Programming Tools

Networking Management Systems

All-In-l Tips

Personal Computing

Mass Storage

Capacity Planning Strategies

Graphics

Software Change Control

Real-Time Processing

Others

Please tell us if you'd like to present any topic.
Yes, I can present a topic on
No, I cannot present a topic now.
Name

Title

Company
Address
Phone
Return to:

Benny Wong
.,
Sterling Engineered Products, Inc.
1715 Indian Wood Circle
Maumee, Ohio 43537

Or simply bring to the next VAXTOLEDO LUG meeting.

LUG NOTES
Newsletter of the Washington Office Automation Local Users Group (WOALUG)

Sept. 30, 1987

OASIS
Many of you who came to the Nashville Symposium
DECUS MICROVAX which combines the Notes and
had the opportunity to hear about a new service
Videotext products so that subscribers can carrv
for DECUS members interested in Office Automation
on information exchanges on a variety of topics.
- the Office Automation SIG Information System
OASIS is now available for your use. The majority
(OASIS). OASIS is a way for you to ask OA related
questions of other users, and share your experof the introductory information and documentation
iences or expertise with others. OASIS is a free
'will be found on-line once you have successfully
(you pay for the phone call) service located on a
logged in. applied for and received your account.
(This is a painless process).
THE EXPERTS BOOK
It's in the mail! TheExpertsBook,alisting of your WOALUG colleagues and their areas of expertise, is now ready
for distribution. You should be receiving your copy, if you haven't already, any day now.

The WOALUG Steering Committee Needs You!
Editor's Note: In an effort to recruit new steering committee members we would like to give
you an idea of the kinds of things the current members do, and still have time to participate. We will continue to print short biographies of the committee members in the issues to
come. Please feel free to call current members with questions if you are interested in
joining the group. .
Tom Orlowski
Tom is the WOALUG Chainnan. in addition to his position as the Director of Information
Resource Management for the American Council on Education (ACE). At ACE, Tom is
responsible for consulting, infonnation system planning, as well as all data processing,
office automation, and electronic network resources and support. He began his work in
computers as a programmer in 1967.
Tom retired from the Anny as a lieutenant colonel in 1985.
WOALUG STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman
Thomas J. Orlowski 202 939-9371
Vice Chairman
Anita Russell 202 477-2557
Program Chairman
Gene leClair 202 695-2240
Newsletter Editor
Deborah T. Jones 202 939-9369

Membership List
Cathy Hotka 202 682-8381
Steering Committee Representatives
Jack Best 202-566-7963
Marc Nod~ll 202 473-2044
DEC Representative
Pat Falco 202 383-5600
Sherry Goldstein 301 459-7900

2

COUNTERPART'S CORNER
NEWLY ANNOUNCED
WPS-PLUS/DOS Version 2.0
In July. Digital announced a new version of
WPS-PLUS/DOS which brings it's Gold Key style
editing to the level of functionality found in the
feature-rich WPS-PLUSALL-IN-l andWPS-PLUS/VMS
software for the VAX environment. WPS-PLUS/DOS is
now available for users of VAXmate. Rainbow. IBM
PC/XT and IBM PCI AT.
New Features at a Glance:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Spell checker and verifier
Footnoting
Redlining
Change bars
Automatic paragraph numbering
Table of contents generation
Wide document edit and print capabilities
Improved terminal emulation ,(that includes LAT
and DECnet support)
File cabinet drawers and menu
Enhanced print capabilities
Access to other MS-DOS applications from the
WPS-PLUS/DOS Main Menu

DECmate/WPS Version 2.3
Also announced in July. the newest version of
DECmate/WPS has many enhancements to existing
features. as well as new features!
With this
latest release. you will be able to edit text and
retain
previously defined character attributes.
For example, if you need to edit a bolded word,
bolding will be applied to corrections. Automatic
footnoting included automatic pagination,
full
control block control from within the main text
and footnote text. as well as automatic numbering.
The footnoting feature provides full support for
LN03 printers.
Automatic UDK Creating captures keystrokes as you
use them. This is done by placing the keystrokes
in a temporary holding area.
Once you are
satisfied the UDK is to your liking', transfer the
stored keystrokes to the UDK of your choice. You
can use this feature from either within the Main
Menu or within a document.
DECmate II users with a hard dis'k. and DECmate III
Plus users can now perform a full system search
for a particular title or even words within
titles.
With this feature the system will produce
a subindex of all documents containing the title.
word or words you requested. And it will do it
system-wide.

A brand new' feature is included in this release' of
software: user definable "widow and orphan"
control.
This will allow you to define standards
for paragraph endings and beginnings providing you
with a more polished final document.
Other features/enhancements include short-cuts at
the Main Menu to by-pass submenus. a list processing GO-TO-RECORD comma~d, line drawings displayed
on screen. and editable. and DEC Multinational
Character Set displayed. edited and printed.
WPS-PLUS/VMS V2.1 and DECpage V2.1 will now
support the PrintServer 40 (LPS4O) using the ANSI
translator, which translates ANSI format into
PostScript format. The PrintServer 40 is a
PostScript printer, but with the 'aid of the ANSI
translator will produce virtually the same output
as that of an LN03.
These products DO NOT
currently support PostScript.
WPS-PLUS/VMS Support
When printing a WPS-PLUS/VMS document on a
PrintServer 40, the document destination must be
an ANSI queue and the printer type must be LN03.
WPS-PLUS' uses the default input tray and output
bin when printing to the PrintServer 40.
DECpage Support
DEC page • an option to WPS-PLUS/VMS and ALL-IN -I.
is a high-quality text formatter which produces
output to Digital's laser printers.
When printing
DECpage documents on a PrintServer 40. via the
ANSI translator. there are a few exceptions where
the output will not be exactly that of an LN03.
o

When printing literal text that is too wide
for the page, the LN03 truncates the line.
dropping the extra characters.
The PrintServer 40 automatically wraps the line of text
so that the extra characters appear on the
next line.

o

The PrintServer 40 positions text 3 picas
higher (112") on the page than with the LN03.
Users can modify the placement of the text on
the . page using the User Definable Styles
Option of DECpage.

o

LN03 logos CAN NOT be output. to
PrintServer 40 using the ANSI translator.

the

The 29 resident PostScript typefaces in the
PrintServer 40 are not usable with DEC page .
DEC page utilizes the default input tray and output
bin when printing to the PrintServer 40.

3

WOALUG BULLETIN BOARD

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
WOALUG Classifieds

Company in McLean, VA has 15 positions, clearable to secret, using two VAX networks with
All-In-I. Position responsibilities will include programming, customizing off the shelf
software, network installation, design and maintenance. For more information contact Bill
Russell at 301-883-0886

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
OCTOBER
29

Washington Area Network Local User"s Group (WANLUG) meeting. DEC's
Corporate Offices in Landover from 12:30 P.M. to 2:00 P.M.

NOVEMBER

3

Washington Office Automation Local User's Group (WOALUG) meeting. DEC"s
Corporate Offices in Landover from 12:30 P.M. to 2:00 P.M.

24

Washington, DC Area VAX Local User's Group. Location to be determined.

DECEMBER
7-11 DECUS US Fall 87 Symposium, Anaheim, CA.
Q&A
DECMATE TO IBM PC DOCUMENT TRANSFER
Q. How do I connect my DECmate to an IBM PC, in order to transfer a document?

A. A DECmate/WPS user can send and receive documents to and from an IBM PC user running
WPS-PLUS/DO~. The same cable that is used for DECmate to DECmate transfer is required - a
BC22D cable. The following script, called an EZCOM script on the DECmate, will enable the
connection for you.
1.

Create a document called "script" on the DECmate. Type in the following (exactly as it
appears):
NOSCREEN
TYPE HOST 33'[2r"
SCREEN
TYPE SCREEN LF&LF&'The IBM/PC is now in AX
mode, type OX at the Main Menu to start the transfer.' &CR&LF
TYPE SCREEN LF&'Retuming to Main Menu,
please wait ... '
WAIT 12
MENU

4

Q & A cont'd ...
2.

After the script has been created on the DECmate, put the PC in CO mode, just like you
would for the VAX AX transfer.

3.

Then type "LG script" on the DECmate. The PC will be put into AX mode, and the
instruction message will be displayed on the DECmate.

4.

"The IBM/PC is now in AX mode, type OX at the Main Menu to start the transfer.
Returning to Main Menu, please wait. .. "

S.

The script will pause for you to read the message, then return to Main Menu, where you
type OX. The OECmate will then be ready for you to initiate the transfer.

***
DISKETI'ES & DOCUMENTS
Q.

What does it mean to initialize a
diskette?

Q.

What are some tips for handling
diskettes?

A.

Before a diskette can be used, it must
be appropriately formatted for the
system on which it is to be used.
Initializing erases any previous
information or formatting on the
diskette and provides the format
required by the system being used. It
is during this initialization process
that you are prompted to give your
diskette a name.

A.

Never write on the diskette label with
anything but a soft tip pen.

Q.

I verified a brand new diskette and it
has errors. What happened?

A.

You must first initialize the diskette,
then verify it.

Q.

I created a document on my
diskette and called it 87 Fiscal Chart.
but aftel' I Gold-Filed it, it
disappeared from my index and my
diskette. What happened?

A.

Don't begin document names with
numbers in DEC mate WPS. Problems.
like losing the document, may occur if
you do.
Note: Don't begin document names in
WPS-PLUS with numbers either -- if
you transfer the documents from
WPS-PLUS to diskette you'll have
problems.

Never lay diskettes down without first
putting them in their e~velopes.
Keep diskettes away from all magnetic
objects (including paper clips and
paper clip holders).
Q.

When copying a diskette onto a brand
new floppy, do I have to initialize the
new floppy?

A.

No·. Copying will overwrite (erase)
anything that is on the new diskette.
• Although it is not necessary, it is
recommended that you initialize your
diskette to avoid possible diskette
errors in the future.

Q.

Can I copy to more than one diskette at
a time?

A.

No.

Q.

How can I see an index of my system
diskette?

A.

At the Main Menu type I 0 (type I
followed by a zero -- not the letter 0)
to see the index of the system
diskettes.

LUG NOTES
Newsletter of the Washington Office Automation Local Users Group (WOALUG)

June 12, 1987

DECUS a Perspective
by Joe Sciuto, Area LUG Coordinator
Editor's note: The following economic rationalization was assembled
by one organization in its attempt
to justify sending employees to
participate at a DECUS Symposium.
The results of the analysis was an
increase of 300% in symposium
attendees from the organization. We
have included it here as an aid to
you in increasing your organizations
participation.
Our Organization has established a
substantial economic commitment to
Digital equipment and software with
its acquisition of our current computer system. In addition to the
equipment we have purchased. the
equipment we will be purchasing will
be Digital compatible. Further. we
have acquired, with the system
several compilers. software and
communications packages which are
Digital specific. Essentially what
this implies is that we are very
much a Digital shop.

Having made this commitment. it is
in our best interest to become as
knowledgeable and proficient in the
environment as we possibly can. The
semi-annual Digital Equipment Computer Users Society
(DECUS)
symposia are by far the most cost
effective and efficient means to
acquire this knowledge and proficiency.

center. Additionally. the symposium
is physically managed in such a way
as to promote the interaction of
users with common interests. This
interaction is conductive to the
formation of informal mutual
assistance relationships that are
continued through the coming years
providing a lasting benefit to both
the attendee and the organization.

The symposia consists of five days
(8-14 hr. per day) of continuously
running multiple presentations.
given primarily by either products
developers or users who have extensive experience. and open discussions between Digital users and
Digital representatives. Topics span
the entire spectrum of user interest
including current hardware features
and capabilities. planned developments. software applications and
common user problems and solutions.
It is possible to get the functional
equivalent of about three formal
courses taken at a training

The cost of a DECUS symposium is
$400.00 plus travel costs totaling
approximately $IOOO/per person.
Compared to the average cost of
Digital
training
locally
of
$1300/person/class. which only deals
with subject area and only lasts 6
hr.lday, the DECUS symposia is
extremely cost effective as far as
benefits derived.
Any person
intending to manage or utilize ADP
resources in our current operating
environment would be well advised to
attend a minimum of one symposium
per year.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Mira Bengen (Price Waterhouse) is the winner of the "Name the Newsletter Contest." Thank you
Mira for submitting the winning entry "LUG NOTES". To all of you who submitted entries
"We thank you for your support."
WOALUG STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman
Thomas J. Orlowski 202 939-9371
Vice Chairman
Anita Russell 202 477-2557
Program Chairman
Gene leClaire 202 695-2240
Newsletter Editor
Deborah T. Jones 202 939-9369

~embership list
Cathy Hotka 202 682-8381

Steering Committee Representatives
Jack Best 202-566-7963
Mark Nodell 202 473-2044
DEC Representatives
Pat Falco 202 383-5600
Sherry Goldstein 202 459-7900

CORNER
What is DECUS?
DECUS is an acronym derived
from the full name: Digital Equipment Computer Users Society.
The purpose of DECUS is to
promote the exchange of information among users of Digital
Equipment Corporation products.

graphic area with the means to
communicateamongthemselvesand
with Digital. LUGs sponsor meetings. and provide an information
exchange mechanism among local
users and between users and the
local Digital office.

DECUS was established in March
of 1961. four years after the
founding of Digital. Since those
early days. DECUS has grown
into an international organization with over 70.000 members
worldwide. Currently the U.S.
membership is approximately
50,000.

Symposia -- DECUS conducts two
major symposia each year. Information exchange is the underlying
reason for any service or activity offered under DECUS auspices.
DECUS symposia are the most
intense forms of this exchange. A
symposium is a 5 day event
consisting of formal presentations, tutorials, clinics, and
one-on-one hallway discussions.

SIGs -- SIGs are Special Interest
Groups, and each is formed
around an area of common
interest. SIGs exist for a
variety of hardware. operating
systems, languages, application
and marketing areas. SIGs publish
newsletters, organize meetings at
symposia and provide an effective, focused communication
channel between Digital and the
users. The U .S. Chapter publishes
a monthly newsletter containing
newsletters from all of the
Special Interest Groups.
LUGs -- LUGs are Local Users
Groups that are formed to provide
DECUS membersinaspecificgeo-

The old adage "you get what you
put into it" is definitely true
when speaking of DECUS symposia. At symposia, attendees can
seen and find help to solve
current problems. learn from
other people. exchange information with peers and have access
to the largest technical resource
available under one roof. Digital
demonstrates its support for
DEeUS by sending many of their
top technical and marketing folks
from every product area.

today users of Digital products.
They are people like yourself:
analysts.
system
managers,
operations personnel, programmers. department managers and
others. People' from single cpu
sites to multi-cpu and multivendor sites. They are people
who. in using systems every day,
have learned or developed better
ways to use the tools at their
disposal. All of the speakers are
volunteers, acting in the true
spirit of DEeUS -- exchange of
information to benefit all.
This year, Spring DEeUS was
held April 27 to May I in
Nashville, Tennessee. Fall
DEeUS will be held December 7
to 11 in Anaheim, California.
Program Ubrary - DECUS also
maintains a Program Library
which contains over 1,300 active
software packages. The Library
distributes programs submitted by
members like yourself who are
willing to invest a little extra
time in order to share their accomplishments with other DEeUS
members. Their efforts have made
the DECUS Library a valuable
source of a wide range of useful
programs.

It is important to note that many
of the symposia speakers are day

The WOALUG Steering Committee Needs You!
Editor's Note: . In an effort to recruit new steering committee members we would like to give
you an idea of the kinds of things the current members do, and still have time to
participate. We will print short biographies of the committee members in the issues to
come. Please feel free to call current members with questions if you are interested in
joining the group.

Cathy Hotka
Cathy is WOALUG's Membership Chair. She is Coordinator of the Infonnation Center at the
American Petroleum Institute, where she is responsible for the training program, tenninal
support, software support, new hardware acquisition, and user outreach. Her first exposure
to computers was in December of 1983, when someone put a DECmate II on her desk and said
"Here. Learn this."
Cathy is on her second career, after working in politics for six years.

3

WOALUG BULLETIN BOARD

••••••••••••••••••••••••• ***.**************** •••••• *** ••••••••••••••••••••••••••
WATCH THIS SPACE!
WOALUG Classifieds
In future editions we will feature a listing of Washington area OA position openings. If
you have any openings. or know of any. please submit brief job descriptions and pertinent
infonnation and we will print them in the newsletter .

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ** ••••• ** •••• *•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ANNOUNCEMENTS
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! .. .is the name of the next WOALUG meeting. The
meeting will be a panel discussion by WOALUG members who attended DECUS, in Nashville.
Tennessee, last April. Each panel member has information on a different area of DEC
products discussed in DECUS symposia. Office Automation, VAX Networks, Publishing, and
small stuff (VAXmates, DECmates, Rainbows, etc). If you, also, attended DECUS please
bring copies of helpful procedures, printer tables, etc. to hand out to the audience.

***
THE EXPERTS BOOK
Need to make your Xerox 3700 work with WORD-II? Need advice on the best way to do
multicolumn printing in WPS? Looking for suggestions for streamlining All-In-l?
WOALUG is putting together a listing of your WOALUG colleagues and their areas of
expertise; PHONE A FELLOW WOALUG MEMBER AND ASK FOR ADVICE! We would like to
you in the book. A survey sheet will be circulated at the next WOALUG meeting on July,
7. If you cannot attend please call Cathy Hotka at 682-8381 and a survey will be
mailed to you.

***
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
JUNE
23 Corporate Electronic Publishing seminar. Third and fmal session. To be held at
the DEC's Applications Center for Technology in Landover from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M.
25

Washington Area Network Local Users Group (WAN LUG) meeting. To be held at DEC's
Corporate Offices in Landover from 12:30 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. Working Lunch.

JULY
7
WOALUG MEETING. "You Should Have Been There." To be held at DEC's Corporate
Offices in Landover from 12:30 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. Bring your lunch.
Deadline for newsletter entries. Bring them to the WOALUG meeting.

Q&A
Q. Is it possible for me to use my IBM/PC, or PC clone with All-In-l and not use WPS+/PC.
A. Yes. If you have a terminal emulation package which allows you to access a VAX you can
log into All-In-l and use its features. The GOLD-Key is F J and the GOLD functions are
the same keys you use on a DEC keyboard. You will need to experiment with the cursor
movement keys and record which keys do what. Some of the functions on the movement
keys will require that you hold down the SHIFT key and some will not. Contact
Deborah Jones 939-9369 for a list of WPS keys on the IBM keyboard.

Q. In DECmate WPS, is there a limit to what the paste buffer will hold?
A. Yes. The paste buffer wilJ hold up to 7,500 characters (or about two pages). If you
select more than 7,500 characters to be cut. DECmate moves only the first 7,500
characters into the paste buffer and leaves the rest of the text in the document.
DECmate then sounds the beeper and removes the select marker.

HELPFUL HINTS
•

How to remove more than two pages of text using DECmate WPS.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

•

Press the SEL key. then the SPACE BAR, then the CUT key.
Position the cursor at the beginning of the text to be removed.
Press SEL again.
Position the cursor after the last character of. the text to be removed.
Press GOLD REPLC (the apostrophe key). The specified text will be removed and
replaced with the space from step 1.

GOLD HALT stops most WPS GOLD functions.

Example GOLD HALT will stop GOLD ADVANCE, GOLD BACKUP, searches, list processing.
.
and pagination. However. it will not stop GOLD TOP (T) or GOLD BOTTOM (B).
In WPS+ All-In-I. GOLD HALT will stop GOLD T or GOLD Band, CTRL-C is used in place
of HOLD HALT to stop list processing.
.
•

Exiting Rainbow Office Workstation.
When using your Rainbow you can exit and reenter Rainbow Office Workstation (ROW)
without having to give your Usemame and Hostkey each time.
1.
2.
3.

Edit the second screen of your User profile and enter the word COMMAND for
your Business Application.
Enter E: for your Drive under Business Application.
Press the DO key to exit your User Profile and save your changes.

When you want to exit the ROW to use DOS or other software type BA and press RETURN
at the Main Menu. To reenter ROW just type EXIT and press RETURN at your PC prompt
. .. Example: E > EXIT < CR > .

zzz::z:z

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

zz

WVLUG DEeUS Newsletter
September 21, 1987

vol. ??, no. 1

October Meeting

to

Feature

"Desktop Publishing"
Calendar of Events

Contents
\VVL UG Still Exists •.••••••••••••••••_........................................._......
\VVL UG Meeting: "Desktop Publishing" ....._........................_~..
Business Meeting Agenda .............__....._ ...___._•••_ ••___•••
DECUS Tapes: How Do I G~t Them? ••_......................._ ••._•••
TECH-TIPS ..................................._•••__......_......._ ••__._••__
News from Otller LUGs .................................._ •••_......_ ............
i\tlcmbership Audit .........................._ ••••_.........................._ ........
Joining D ECUS.............................................................................

1

Sep21

1
1

Octn

2
2
2
2
2

WVLUG Still Exists
Just when you thought it was time to start a DECUS chapter in
\Vest Virginia ..., it so happens that the existing WVLUG has
been working on reorganizing and reactivating. Under the
direction of tile current Steering Committee, the WVLUG
charter has been saved and the group is being resurrected for
your benefit. It's impossible to be all things to the diversity of
members in agencies/corporations/academic institutions out
there all across this State, but'if we can at least get you
interested. we11 see where things head from there •••.

WVLUG Meeting: "Desktop Publishing"
\Vhat's all this about 'Desktop Publishing'm The WVLUG
Steering Committee asked th~elves this same question at a
recent meeting and realized that, with our limited knowledge of
the topic, we all had a lot to learn. So, here's our (and your)
opportunity. A meeting has been organized for Tlrursdlly,
October 221id, 1987, at the Holida, 1l1li in Bridgeport (rougbly
the central part of the State, and enough - two - major roads
intersect there, so we all should be able to get there reasonably
easily).
In the morning session, papers will be presented on the software
that drives desktop publishing. A business meeting will be held
during lunch, which will be hosted by DEC. During the
afternoon, presentations will be held on tile printers and other
hardware. along with- a question-and-answer panel and a handson scssion to really get you enthused.

Pittsburgh VMS/RSXllM DECUS LUG meeting
WVLUG DECUS meeting on 'Desktop
Publishing"
DECUS U.s. Winter Symposium in Anaheim, CA
Dec 7-11
West Vu-ginia Mountain State Computer Fair in
Apr 8-9
Morgantown, WV; sponsored by WYNET.
May 16-20· DECUS U.s. Spring Symposium in Qncinnati. OH

Details are presented on the attached announcement.
Preregistration is requested (and expected). so that you may be
accommodated for lunch. There will be a small registration fee
(S2.oo) to cover incidentals. Please return the preregistration
form to the .address listed by Tuesday, October 13th. See you
there!!!!

Business Meeting Agenda
While we have you as a captive audience during lunch, we intend
to conduct a relatively short business meeting of the WVLUG.
We really will attempt to. keep it short because we don't want to
take much time from your getting acquainted with other
. WVL UG members at your table.
•

A major topic of discussion will be the possibility of splitting
WVL UG into northern and southern chapters. This is based
on a sufficient core of individuals interested in maintaining
and supporting (i.e., read: "working. on') two separate
chapters. The big&est problem that we face as a single
chapter is geographic in nature: it is so difficult to assemble a
membership in which nearly everyone is facing a I-to-4-hour
drive to attend a meeting. What do you think?? How willing
are you to get involved and take on some responsibility?

•. Election of officers will be held. Consider beforehand
nominating interested individuals for the positions
(Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Tape Librarian, and two
Members-at-Large), which serve for two-year terms. Rich
Hudson has indicated that he will not run again for

Membership Audit

Chairman. Contact him if you are interested in serving on
the Steering Committee in one of these positions or if you
wish to nominate one of your colleagues.

The existing mailing list for the WVLUG was archaic. at best,
considering -the mobility of people in the computing profession.
So, we obtained from the National LUG Organization a more
recent list that includes all DECUS members with West Virginia
addresses (Plus some in other states with West Virginia zip codes
...). Unfortunately, we still know of several people who have
moved and not changed their addresses with 0 ECUS. This new
version was used to mail out this newsletter.

DECUS Tapes: How po I Get Them?
Well, those DECUS tapes about which you've been reading are
:urrently available through the WVLUG of DECUS. We have
apes from recent meetings in D ECUScope through the Winter
iymposium of 1986. Contact Verne Britton ofWVNET (837
:hestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, WV 26505; phone:
~93-5192) to make arrangements for copying the tapes you
iesire. We'd like to thank Tom Williams for obtaining the tapes
rom DECUS for the WVLUG but he now feels that WVNET
las far better facilities for copying the tapes than he could do.
)0. he's transferred that responsibility to Verne Britton.

If the address by which this newsletter ultimately reached you
needs to be corrected, please send the correction to Chapter
Secretary Mary Behling. Don't delay -- do it today!! After all.
we do want you to receive the next newsletter in a timely fashion
prior to the meeting in October. If we have missed someone who
should'be on our mailing list to receive announcements ot
activities, contact Mary about that. too.

rECH-TIPS

Joining DECUS

["his column of the "Newsletter is designed for technical tips of
lny type that might be of interest to a number of our members.
rom Williams at Alderson-Broadd~s College has vQlunteered (!!)
o prepare/screen/edit subject material for this column. If you
~ish to send him some suggestions or copy, he will be glad to
'erify your "tip" and select one or more'to feature in this column.

Membership in DECUS (as all of you know) is one of the last
great bargains around; what can be better than free? But do
your colleagues/associates know that?'? Why not encourage them
to join??

~ews

Chapter Secretary Mary Behling has a supply of membership
application forms that she's dying to clear out of her file cabinet
(she needs the space for current projects ... ). So. help Mary
(and your associates) out: encourage your colleagues to contact
her for a membership· form. You all will benefit!

from Other LUGs

~

joint meeting of the Pittsburgh VMS and RSXll M L VGs will
e held on Tuesday. September 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the, Holiday
nn an Brinton Road in Braddock Hills. ·Disk Fragmentation
nd Management of Disk Storage and Related ,Performance
!iSues" will be presented by Qay Prestia of RAXCO. Anyone
lterested in attending should contact Darlene Miletic
n 2/244-7851).

WVLUG Steering Committee Members
Chairman:
Richard Hudson
Director. Computer Center
Alderson·Broaddus Collep
Philippi. WV 26416
phone: 451-1100. ext. 309

Secretary:
Mary C. Behllnc

Member-,t-Large:
Eileen Tavaglione
WVNET
831 Chestnut Ridge Road
Morpntown. WV 26SOS
phone: 293-5192

Member-at-Large:
Linda Wellinp
MPL Corporation
P.O. Box 2226
Buckhannon. WV 26201
phone: 412-9520

Treuure~

Phil Loftis
President
MPL Corporation
P.O. Box 2226
Buckhannon. WV 26201
phone: 412-9520

Head. Geoloaic Data Section
West Virainia Geoloaic:aJ Survey
P.O. Box 819
Morpntown. WV 26S01
phone: 594-2331

DEC Representative:
Rod Rushford
DigitaJ Equipment Corporation
16 Commerce Drive
Westover. WV 26SOS
phone: 296-2116

2

Tape Librarian:
Tom Williams
Aldenon-Broaddus Collep
Box 396. A-B Collep
Philippi. WV 26416
phone: 451-1100. ext. 308

Northeast
Region

NORTHEAST REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
Gary Griswold
Anitec Image Corp.
Webster, New York,
607 -774-3333

DCS: GRISWOLD

Gary Griswold has held the Northeast RLC position for two years and maintains excellent communication with the Northeast Region LUGs through his quarterly newsletter. Prior to becoming RLC, Gary helped form the Greater Rochester Area LUG and held the Chair position for two
years. Gary also served as Program Chair for the Northeast Regional Conference held in 1986.
Gary is looking to :fill the positions of Assistant Regional LUG Coordinator and Regional
Newsletter Editor. Contact Gary if you are interested. Gary has offered to serve another term
at Northeast RLC and is running for re-election at the time of this pUblication. Good Luck,
Gary!
REGIONAL TAPE COpy COORDINATOR

Dennis Costello
Cornell University
National Submicron Facility
G02 Knight Lab
Ithaca, NY 14853
607 255-2329
REGIONAL SEMINARS REPRESENTATIVE

David Straitiff
University of Buffalo
Dept. of Psychology
Park Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260
716 689-8093

An Open Letter to Northeast Region LUGs
DECUS membership within the Northeast Region exceeds 10,000. Of these members, 25% work for a
single, large corporation based in the Boston area. A significant percentage of the remaining "public" members belong to LUGs. There are 25 licensed LUGs in the region, ranging in membership from 40 to over
500, for a total of 5300 LUGgies in the Northeast region.
Not all LUGs publish a newsletter. Publication of a newsletter requires commitment from one or more
people to publish on a regular basis. Many LUGs publish a one-page meeting notice, or postcard, which is
sufficient for most LUGs. Two Northeast LUGs don't even publish a meeting notice. They are sufficiently
well connected that members check a local bulletin board for meeting notices.
All LUGs in the region have between two and twelve meetings per year. Some LUGs are very technically
oriented, and all cover a good variety of management issues. You will find an incomplete sampling of the
topics covered in Northeast LUG meetings in 1987 in the June 87 Regional Newsletter.
This list was intended as an addition to the "1001 Suggestions for a Good LUG Meeting," a pUblication of the
National LUG Council. There are a number of suggested meeting topics in this letter. Sharing these with
your Steering Committee usually generates enough ideas to plan meetings for a whole year!
One of the outstanding NLC projects within this region (or any region) is the SIG tape distribution. At each
symposium, the SIGs assemble a large collection of user software and distribute the resulting tape(s)
through the National LUG Council and the DECUS Program Library. The Northeast Region Tape Coordinator, Dennis Costello, distributed 31 tapes from the Nashville Symposium to LUGs. LUGs participating
in the distribution now just send Dennis a box of tapes with necessary labels. He is able to turn a copy back
to the LUG within 48 hours of receipt. Good job, Dennis!
There are tentative plans for a Regional Conference next year in New England. The last one, held in 1986
in Boston, was very satisfying to all attendees. The next conference is planned to include at least one
Regional Seminar. Kate Emery, the Northeast Seminar Representative, currently has plans for two other
seminars in our region.
The Northeast region consists of New England and New York State. You will recall from junior high school
social studies that the folks who lost their way to Virginia settled this area. This experience may have engendered a dislike of travel in Northeasters. To this day, most people who live within the region consider 50
miles to be a LONG trip. The Regional LUG Coordinator has a goal of supporting an effective LUG every 50
miles, to accommodate the wishes of the local population. A look at the list of existing LUGs in the region
shows there is a lot of spadework and support to be provided!
I hope this has given you some idea of what constitutes the Northeast LUG Region. Check out the sample of
newsletters from our region, and don't forget to send me a copy if you aren't doing so now. Look for my
Regional Newsletter every quarter, and call if you aren't getting a copy. I'll put YOU on my mailing list!
Sincerely,

Gary Griswold
Northeast Regional LUG Coordinator
National LUG Council

NORTHEAST REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
Connecticut

•

•

CONLUG
Chair: Winston Tellis, Fairfield, 203-254-4000
Connecticut yaney LUG
Chair: DebmA. Barberi, Hartford, 203-273-1104
Hartford Rainbow Users Group
Chair: Kimon N. Karath, Farmington, 203-677-7701 extension 11
New Haven Rainbow LUG
Chair: William B. Leng, Hamden, 203-397-4625 or 203-865-3553
South Eastern Connecticut VAX LUG
Chair: Larry Hayden, Groton, 203-441-4280
Stamford LUG
Chair: Jerry Oberle, Stamford, 203-357-8800 extension 261

Maine
•

Maine LUG
Chair: Penny M. Peterson, Westbrook, 207-856-6911

Massachusetts
BARE LUG
•

Chair: Mark Bornstein, Marblehead, 617-631-1030
Greater Boston Area VAX LUG
Chair: Ronald McKenna, Milton, 603-885-4493
MIT LUG
Chair: Michael Patton, Cambridge, 617-253-6061
New England Territory LUG
Chair: Richard Epstein, Arlington, 617-643-1375

New York
•

•

-=C,--en-t.,.....ral--=-=NY=.....L,. . ,U"="G='"
Chair: Jim English, Syracuse, 315-477-6380
Eastern New York DECUS LUG (ENYLUG)
Chair: Leo D. Geoffrion, Saratoga Springs, 518-584-5000 extension 2208
Greater Rochester Area LUG
Chair: James W. Wilson, Rochester, 716-475-6241
Ithaca Minicomputer LUG (IMLUG)
Chair: Wade Schuette, Ithaca, 607-255-6300
Long Island LUG
Chair: Bill Person, Stony Brook, 516-246-8283
New York Commerei81 Cluster LUG (NYCCLUG)
Chair: Stanley M. Rose, New York, 212-250-2320
State University of New York LUG (SUNYLUG)
Chair: John R. Pope, Canton, 315-386-7420
TWin-Tier LUG
Chair: Stan Schultes, Coming, 607-974-6865
Upton LUG
Chair: Zohreh Parsa, Upton, 516-282-4748
Western New York LUG
Chair: Dave Straitiff, Amherst, 716-689-8093

Rhode Island
•

Conneeticut/Rhode IslandJM8Bsachusetts LUG (cRIMLUG)
Chair: Samual B. Whidden, Providence, 401-272-9500
Naval Underwater Systems Center LUG
Chair: Nancy M. Wright, Newport, 401-841-4236

Vermont
:-'U"-p-pe-r-""C=-=T=-=Vr-al=-le-y--'L""'U='=G
Chair: Paul Hurst, Chester, 802-875-2156
Vermont In8t811ations and ASsociates tUG
Chair: JoyVeronneau, Winooski, 802-655-2000 extension 2226
•

indicates LUG newsletters contained in this volume

Digital Equipment Computer Users' Society
lJ. S. Art.ivili.,,, (Ill 7) 4~O-:'2rl!J nr :~:m2
Finnnrl' & A(lmin. (ftl7) ·U~CI.:'f;:U
I.ihrllry flB7) 4NII.:t!l21

DECUR. U. S. Chapter
219 Bo~ton PORt Roal'l. (RRl2)
MIlrlhoro. MA 01752

DEC USN

0

r thE a s t

To: NorthEast DECUS Leaders

S~~ject:

Me m

0

r a n dum

From: G. L. Griswold
Date: 0 1-lv1A R- 3 :
Dept: National L~G Council
1187 Severn Ridge
Web=~er NY 14580
(i16) 8-'2-2522
DECUS #: 1163'75

Thoughts for the Last Quarter ...

=••••••••• =.......----..

Management Council •• __ ==_=m==_•• ========

The Me liked the· 'LUG Acti vi ties Policy, now i'tis up to the NLC
Executive Committee to- push it out the door'
(Yes, we're working

Thanks'much for .your input to the draft pro=ess! The
ratio~al@ behin~ the ~61icy is to give LUG Chairs greater la~itude
in running a LUG. The f~llowing from a r~port ~c the MC:
it!)

The NLCEC discussed the subject of LUG AUTONOMY during the Oc~ober
Woods Meeting in =~~~a Barbara. Basically, we are trying ~~
e~tabli~h th@ LUGs a~ pro!~~sional groups within the computer
industry who hav@ d~finite r~spon~ibilitie5 to bo~h DECUS and their
m~mbership.
We want to encourag~ ~heir independ~n~~, as well a~ to
develop a healthy inter-dependen~e with DECUS.

LUG

Brainstorming
1.
2.

3.
4.
S.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

13.
14.

15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

23.

~OLICIES

Freedom to raise funds
Make NLC known t6 LUGs
~Let LUGs know what is available
Improve recognition of local efforts
Newsletters for NLC
Speak@r Bureau
Money for LUG~ to g@t speakers
Identify LUG members by their membership pr~file
Usefulness of R~gional Coordinators' meetings
Freedom to 5p~nd money
Advertising in LUG Newsletters
Help LUGs with PR
Promote @xisting bECUS Products
Direct interaction between SIGs and LUGs
Communications => Interl LUG
R@qional Seminars =) for stronger LUGs
Local DEC Support for LUGs
National recognition of LUG Chair~
Free and open membership
Free services for LUG membership
Autonomy of LUGs
"Real work passed to LUGs from DECUS. 'Jse L'...:Ss 3S
ta.sk f c'rce
LUGs keep local focus
II

DE~',",'3

~~

-2-

1)

ISSUES RE: BRAINSTORMING ITEMS
"FREEDOM TO RAISE & SPEND FUNDS"
-

Taxes 

PROBLEM
with LUG Advances:
- slow expense reporting by LUG
- large outstanding balances from DECUS treasury
That's some of the thought behind LAP. Keep watching for

resul~s!

=•••••••••••••••••••••••••

N@w LUGChairs! ========================
Bill Person has taken the leadership of Long Island LUG from Fred
Scholldorf. Thanks for great leadership, Fred! Y:u'll bs greatly
missed. Fred was the chair of LILUG for the last two years. His
budget for the last two years has been accurate within tsn dollars~
It really takes that long to be an efficient Le.
There is a
learning curve .•.

========================

•••••••••••••••••••••••• Other New People
The press of business and other things have caused Kate Emery to
resign as our Regional Seminars re~.
She has done a great job in
getting the Seminars process moving in our Region. We now have
Seminars scheduled for Burlington, Buffalo, Hartford and Boston
over the next year. Thank you, Kate, for a job well-:cne.

The Seminars rep is responsible for main~aining ~Qmmunica~ion wi~h
the LUGs, aSSisting them in presenting Seminars and assisting in
the running of the Seminars Committee.
It is not a small job! I
am pleased to announce that the responsibility of representing this
Region will be immediately adopted. Dave Straitiff, the Chair
of WNVLUG, will be attending to the job as of this month.
Dave is
currently the Comput@r Facilities Manager for the Speech Research
Laboratories at SUNY Buffalo.
He has been profeSSionally involved
with DEC computers for about the last five years and a DECUS member
for four years.
He has been actively involved with WNYLUG for
three years and is also the owner of a consulting firm which
specializes in VAX systems management assistance.
David M. Straitiff
!Speech Research Laboratory
Department of Psychology
State University of New York at Buffalo
Park Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260
(716) 689-8093

-3-

••••••••••••••••••••••••• "Old" LUGChairs! ••••••••••••••••••••••••
A few job changes have occurred or will occur shortly within the
Region. neb Barberi, CVLUG Chair, is now employed in the
Advanced Technology Center of Aetna. Jerry Oberle, Stamford LUG
Chair, will shortly begin a new positon at Survey Sampling, Inc.
The best wishes to you both in your new positions! Use DeS IV for
new 'phone numbers and addresses.

•••••••••••••••••••••••• "Old" Phone Numbers =======================
For your convenience and reference, here, in one place, are all the
leadership 'phone numbers you should need .•.
Dennis COSTELLO
Anne FOLEY
Gary GRISWOLD
Shelli KEISLING
Dave STRAITIrr

Regional Tape Copy Coor.
LUG Council & LDEC
NorthEast Reg. LUG Coor.
NLC Administrator
Reg Seminar rep, SympCom

Ithaca NY
Marlboro MA
Webster NY
Marlboro MA
716-689-8093 Buffalo NY

607-255-2329
617-480-3289
716-872-3522
617-480-3288

•••••=••••••••••••••••••••••

Tape Copy! ••••••• ======== •• ====~======
The latest rumor for SIG tapes from Anaheim is as follows:

VMS

- 3@1600 or 1@6250: [vaxOOO ••• ), (vax87c •.• ), [vax87d ... ],
[vax87e ••• J
RSX
- 1@1600
Kermit - 2@1600 or 1@6Z50: 120,000 blocks'
L&T
- will be present, details still unknown
RT
- unknown
< OA
- maybe)
OA86 is available ...
The VMS, RSX, and Kermit should show up here about mid-March.
Please send blanks ahead of time for the tapes you'll be interested
in, with all the usual accouterments: return address label(s) and a
note listing what you want and at what densitv.
-dpc
Later than latest rumor:
From:
Beb (Sky Scum) Perry

25-Feb-1988 12:58 EST

Subject: First Fall '87 SIG tapes are in the mail
1) newest KERMIT distribution tape (1)
2) the RSX distribution tape (1)
3) the VMS distribution tapes (2).
6 savesets: VAXQOO,VAX87C,VAX87D,VAX87E,RSX87B, and GCPP.
The last two are the RSX SIG contributions in VMS BACKUP format
and the GNU C++ compiler sources that Glenn Everhart was so kind as
to include.
Please direct all inquiries, questions, compliments, complaints to:
Dennis Costello
National Nanofabrication Facility
GDZ Knight Lab
Cornell University
Ithaca, NV 14853
(607) 255 2329

-4•••••••••••••••••••••••••: Cincinatti Plans
The NLC'is trying a slightly different format this Symposium.
Instead of scheduling the LUG Clinic in some Campground, we will
have it in the NLC Suite. The Clinic has always been an informal
affair and a suite looks like it is more suitable to the kind of
activity that ~akes place.
In addition, we hDpe~o have some open
hours for the Suite so you can drop in and ~ake a load off your
chests, minds and teet for some chat-time with your RLC. "Read
Update*Daily for meeting times, locations ...

========================

The Wednesday LUG Chairs' meeting, in response to overwhelming
requests, has been expanded to ~ hours, somehot,..:. This not only
gives us more discussion time, but will allow for some additional
material as well. Bob Perry, NLC Tape Copy Coor., will present a
quick, tutoria-l on getting the info' off the tapes onto your syst.em.
I expect to see a good turnout from NorthEast.
This is the
geographically closest Symposium to us in four years. A NorthEast
Leadership dinner meeting will follow the LUGChairs' meeting.
Reservations for that dinner are solicited herein. Just hang onto
the sheet of p~per until your plans are definite ...
No other
invitation will be forthcoming~

••••••••••••••••••••••••• IIM%NAR NIW ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
.I

suspect the first item is no news to anyone, but ...
Burlington (VT) Seminars March 7&8, 1988
Interfacing Your Device to VMS:
Device Drivers, CONINTERRS and other means ...
Instructor: James McGlinchey
AND
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Instructor: Art Beane

Registration closed February 17th.
Item 2: Buffalo, NY Seminars
Seminars are tentatively scheduled for June 6,

7

& 8.

Local Area Vax cluster Update for Vaxcluster Managers
Instructor: David MacArthur
Concepts of Site and System Management: A discussion and Overview
Instructor: Tim Frazer
Tuesday,
June 7th
Planning a Campus Network
Instructor: Michael Greene
Wednesday.
June 8th
Rules of Thumb
Instructor: Daniel Esbensen
VMS Tuning:

The avail-ability of the above, of course, depends on registration.
This is the first opportunity we've had in WHY to take advantage of
the RE~ional Seminars Program.
Please support it!

-5-

==============

••••••••••••

Addendum to Weetings of the NorthEast
Last Spring, I published all the NorthEast meeting topics of which
I was aware.
I have since become aware of others ...

BARELUG
Dos Tips & tricks, Art Worsh, Sigma Corp.
The Vaxmate, DEC PC Group
Wutil and hard disk usage/tech tips, Tony Camas
Secret Guide To Computers, author Russ Walter
DECUS SIGS, Fritz Howard
Msdos tips and Traps, Part Two, Art Worsh

===========================

•••••••••••••••••••••••••• Library News
Vou all received a Mid-year Library Catalog a month or two ago.
Since that time, there have been some changes ...

V-SP-S9 DATATRIEVE/4GL SIG Library Collection has been revised with
additional material in the All-in-l and System Management areas.
SC Code: MC, VMS Backup format
_
V-SP-69 AMIGA Utilities Collection 2, new, from the prolific Glenn
Everhart. SC Code: PC, TC, VMS Backup format
PRO-17i DSKDIR: Diskette Directory Utility produces a searchable
database of diskette directories. se Code: JA, P/OS format
UX-i0Z KICZ vZ interactive ZD color graphics editor.
SC Code: ED, MA, TAR format
UX-SP-i0i OCT Tools vi libraries for VLSI design. se C~de: EC, ED, PC,
TC, TAR format
Note: EC refers to BDSYN-E:SIM User's Guide,
ED refers to Berkeley CAD Tools User's Manual.
The above information is extracted and SEVERELY abstracted from a
Library Status Report. These also list the annota~~d content of S:G
tapes submitted to the Library. Library Status Reports are published about twice a month. They are sent out via ~he Internet (an
umbrella network that covers ARPAnet, CSnet, MILnet, BITnet, and
some others) and usenet.
I am sure there is SOMEONE in your LUG
that has access to one of these services.
Perhaps you could help
your LUG members who use the DECUS Library as a source of material,
keep up to date by distributing this material at meetings? Thanks
to Dave Straitiff for the idea!

-========-=========-========

============================

DECUScope
On the 18th of last month, I began to receive 'phcne calls out of
the blue. I receive many phone calls, so not much was made of the
experience that day. Friday morning I received three more telephone
calls, all from Massachusetts, all wanting information on the
·nearest LUG.
I asked the last of three what had prompted the call.
Aha!
I was able to track the delivery =! DECVSccpe ~~ite closely.
Just as Bill Hancock's phone became attached to a NETWORK, mine had
become attached to DECUScope delivery.
DECUSccpe hit Rochester on
Monday . . I received mine Wednesday~ ..
more ...

-6It was gratifying to know that there were all t~ose people out
there who were interested enough in finding a L~G, they took t~e
immediate initiative to call, given a resource.
It was no~ so
gratifying that I had the displeasure of being unable to recommend
a LUG program of which I was totally ignorant.
I do read your
Newsletters and meeting announcements!
The fcllowing is a list cf
LUGs who regularly send me material. If your L~G isn't listed,
please contact your mailing lis~ person ...
Boston VAX, CNYLUG, CRIMLUG, CVLUG, ENYLUG, HRUG, IMLUG, LILUG,
Maine LUG, NHRUG, NYCCLUG, TTLUG, VIALUG, WNYLUG

.--•• =-~••=.-=.==-.=====.=

==========================

Communication
Last quarter, I published some DeS LOGIN dates f~r your information.
Some of you were embarassed enough to login and f~und you even had
some mail.
Dusty, but MAIL!
For comparison's sake, this quarter
I've included my favorite leadership group.
The reason I'm
asking you all to check in once in a while is that there are some
timely announcements I would make over DCS IF I felt they woul~n't
clutter up disk space for the next two years.
I wouldn't feel the
need to print this quarterly memorandum, either!
I believe LUG
Chairs could make good use of DCS to notify your neighbors cf an
interesting meeting as soon as you are aware of it.
These login
. dates include regional leadership as well as L~J =hairs.
Tha~'~ w~y
there are 28 dates.
I'm proud to say that ever" :"UG Chair in t!1e
region still has DCS privileges~

> INNAME > @NLC
1-FEB-198B
2-FEB-1988
5-FEB-198B
5-FEB-1988
7-FEB-19B8
7-FEB-198B
B-FEB-198B
a-FEB-1988
8-FEB-1988
a-FEB-1988
B-FEB-198a
8-FEB-198B
8-FEB-1988
8-FEB-198B
a-FEB-1988

20:01
15:30
13:08
18:05
19:37
22:33
13:16
10:23
13:43
14:34
10:06
15:44
11:37
09:39
12:59

> INNAME >
17-NOV-1858
12-NOV-1986
9-FEB-1987
19-MAY-1987
2-JUN-1987
Z2-JUL-1987
30-JUL-19B7
1-SEP-1987
20-0CT-1987
30-0CT-19B7
3-DEC-1987
1-JAN-19aB
4-JAN-1988
8-JAN-198B

@~1 c!rth

15-JAN-1988 09:40
00:00
2
13:31 -------)Z5-JAN-1988 21:Z:
ZE-JAN-1988 11:49
15:32 weeks!
27-JAN-1988 16::"5
15:54
31.-·,:TAN-1988 11:41
21:31
13:42
4-FEB-1988 1 ~: ,:14
17!lZ
5-FEB-1988 1'1..... c=:"':!
08:21
5-FEB-1988 17:00
13:34
i-FEB-1988 23:40
13:24
7-FEB-1968 23:~?
---FEB-1988 20:14
1::34
8-FEE·-1988 12:12
12:32
8-FEB-19BB 15:12
16:09
8-FEE-1988 15:44
13:31

-

Next quarter I'll publish the Southern Region list
NorthEast. I wonder which will look better?

=====================

East

'-"

alongsi~e

=======================

Subject: Meeting Sites
A couple 'a months back, I requested some inpu~ frcm LUG Chair5 in
order to write an article on acquiring a meeting site.
The replies
were 50 personable, they deserve publication without rewriting.
Herewith are the contributions of Deb Barberi, Dennis Costello
and Stan,Schultes.
Testimony from. the suscessfu: and a few ideas
which may apply to your situation ...

-7-

-----------

W~

h~ve

do~e

CV~UG

--------- ATTACHMENT ---------------------------

S~ far.
First of all, we are finally
a list oi sites who would like to host a
mee~ing.
r =~L c;~ly ~ttribilte that luck to our rich source of
com~~nies and typ~s =f business in this area.
Certainly, the
insurance cGmpaui~s are beginning to come forward as well as some
cf the ma~ufac~uring companies.

b=ginning to

very well
ac~u~r~

But our bes~ ~~~ce~s has come with getting vendors and consulting
gr0ups ~o p~y for hotel sites for our meetings, along with coffee
Qnd goodies.
~= se~: this concept based on one benefit to the
compaLY-- They Jet a great big THANK YOU to our newsletter mailed
to 200 DEC users in the Connecticut region, and an Announcement I
Tha~~ You at the meeting they sponsor.
Often if a vendor presents
a te~hnical dis=us~icn of a product, they are asked if they would
S~CLsor the mee~ing fGr us.
It works and I believe everything we
h~ve done fits ~te commercialism policy.
ThQt/s our best idea.
We have also used the local DEC ACT for one
ffieeting and hope to do that again.
We are lucky to have a very
~ctive aLd helpful Digital counterpart.
We'r~

one of

th~

fortuna~e

LUGs to have NO PROBLEM.

------------ T~L~G ~------- ATTACHMENT --------------------------We startej hav:~J our meetings at a local Community College, didn't
oost us anything because we had some of the faculty on the steeriug comffii~teE. ThEn we moved to the local public library since the
snow situati~n ~o get up to the CC was a concern. That was also nice
beca~se the fa~ility was comfortable, and they supplied the coffee.
Now we're at the local Business Development Center. Once they wanted
to charge us; we didn't go there. Then 2 things happened. We have a

--

who is trying to help push the BDC' is image who offered to
for the f~~ility out of his budget (verrry nice! I). Then DEC
came back with an offer from the BDC director that we could use the
fa=ili~y for free because we were a worthwhile organization to push
their business, raising community consciousness to their cause. < I
thi~k I detect ~cme LUG counterpart activity •.• >

CGW~erson
p~y

So tner= we

~e,

.

lots of help from the locals!

------------ IM:UG -------- ATTACHMENT --------------------------~f our problems. Si~ce the Chair has always been a college
employee, it h~= alw~ys been a simple matter to reserve a classroom
of appropriate size,
since there is sure to be one open at the
timt we wa~t, eSfeciQl~y since lectures are predominately in the
rnorr.l.ir~g= .
--------------------------- DETACHMENT --------------------------right, now we've tried to cover SITE.
For the June Newsletter,
don I t WE Cid jres~ the sub ject of program? What isn't in
"100: Su~gesti-:)ri=" that SHOULD be? This assumes you have read
It 1. 001
S u gg est i 0 r.l. 5
i f.. 0 r d e r to de term i new hat sh 0 ul d be e :-: c 1 u ded
fr-om di scussicr..
"1 COlli is not copyri ghted ( or if it is, no one.
will pro5/perse~~te y~~ for copiing it). Make some copies for your
Stee~~~g Committee and have a good discussion of what works for
yo~ and what dcesn't.
Then let me know about it!

~ll
W~i y

II

-8New DCS CMDs =====================.D=a~.
There are u=w func~iGns on the EM and EMSHRT menu that allow a
user to read LEW mail(RND), read(RD), and print(PD) without the
distribution inforffi~tion.
You m~y use the SHD option to view
addressees.
The RN, R, and P functions are still also available.
< Great additions, cuts the frustration factor and connect time! >

==========================

=======================

UNVAXmail for DeS =========================
The following DeS tip is from Dolores Pilitz, ALL-IN-l System Manager

To have ALL-i~-: ~e your mail destination you should have
"ALLIN1" in the mail destination field of your profile record.
There
may be occasions when you would have to import VMS mail.
This would
occur when the sender of the mail message is in VAXmail and sends
mail to GRISWOLD instead of TOPAZ::MRGATE::"TOPAZ_MRMBX::GRISWOLD".
When ever you are in VAXmail and you want to send mail to another
users ALL-IN-l account you must use the addressing »cheme
TOPAZ: :: :RGATE: : TCPAZ_MRMBX : : USERNAME". Just as when an ALL~IN-l USier
wants to send mail to a VAXmail account they must use the scheme USERNAME @MRGhTE @TOPAZ.
You can avoid having to import any VAXMail
by forwarding all your VAXmailto your ALL-in-l account. Do this by
entering the f=!lowing command in VAXmail.
II

SET FORWARD TOPAZ::MRGATE::"TOPAZ_MRMBX::GRISWOLD".

\

Is this in the DCS manual?

============================

VAX Tip

HINTS AND BUGS

>

===============-=============

Last year wr.t:; .. : :,;6.:;; down to DEC S Bedford training facility, the
s~bj~ct of backups and the slowness of the process was di5cussed.
On~ cf DEC's performance teams had just completed a study on thi5
and recommended t~e~ollowing qualifiers when doing backup5.
I

iBACKUP/REWIND/BUFFER=5/BLOCK=321£8/DENSITY=1600{6250}
For incremental backups use:

$BACKUP/REWIND/RECORD/FAST/BUFFER=5/BLOCK=32768/DENSITY=1600{6250}
A:SD, a bug was reported in the SYSGEN utility. Don't use the (TAB)
~ey within ~~y of the commands! If the operating system seS$ the
TAB, it'll ign~re the line.
We found this out the hard way in
SYSTARTUP.COM, when after issuing a valid SYSGEN command, we tabbed
over to line up comments.
The line wasn't read. This was confirmed
by Colorado Scf~ware aupport.

As far as I know Lone of the above have been published (releaaed)
by Digital.

< The above was published in the pages of All Hands on DEC, the
newsletter of Maine LUG. (author unknown) >

-9Des Tip

=sc_======:=======_===:=====

=============================

I have heard comment that some of you with strange or foreign
terminals have difficulty operating on DeS.
One of the first

presentations to users is:
Do You Wish To Set Terminal Characteristics (YIN] y
{ No escape sequences are used pr i or to t,h is query!
A boring SH TERM follows: }
Terminal: _LTA1S37:
Device_Type: VT100
Owner: GRISWOLD
Input:

1200

LFfill:
{

0
Width:
80
etc. and THEN: }

Parity: Ncne

Select Terminal Type from the Follo'lli ng:
1 ) LAI00
2) LA12
3) LAl20
4) LA34
5) LA36
6) LA38
7) LOP02
8) VT05
9) VTS2

10)
11)
12)
13)

14)
15)
16)
17)
19)

VTS5
VT100
VT101
VT102
VT125
VT131
VT132
VT200
UNKNOWN(-- HIGHLY
customizable!

. Type (by number): 17
Width: 80
Page Length: 24
Form Capability for attached printer (V/N] n
End of Line Wrap (V/N] y
Terminal: _LTA1537:

Device_Type: VT200_Series
etc.

Be••••••=••••••••••••••••

Book keeping

Owner: GRISWOLD

===========================

Most of you have been doing GREAT! You've reported your expense~
on a continual basis and I know your requirements exactly. You
will be fully funded for next year. Since at the time of budget
submission, I had two quarters of data, I simply mul~iplied that
da~a ~o estima~e next year's level of supplementary funding.
Most
of you will have no problem with that.

We are fast approaching the end of the fiscal year. Please plan to
report your expenses on June 15th. Tha~ way all, well, most all,
of this year's expenses will be allocated to this year.
If you
have a bill or two tha~ must be paid after the 15~h, just put in a
small report in July, Please'f~

Refj~~$,

\0/

I \O"""j': riswold

G~ry L.
Nor~hEa5

Regional LUG Coordinator
National\LUG Council Executive Committee

RESERVATION for NorthEast

Leadership Dinner Meeting
Spring 1988 Symposium
Cincinatti OH
Wednesday May 19th.
Please return this form not later than May 9th, 1988.
To: NorthEast Regional LUG Coordinator
Jenney Systems Associates
1187 Severn Ridge
Webster NY 14580-9144

L_) I will attend the NorthEast Leadership Dinner Meeting in Cincinatt:
cannot attend, but
representing our LUG at this meeting.

[_) I

will be

The location of the Meeting will be announced at the LUG Chairs
meeting (starting 5pm on Wednesday, May 19th.
(_] I will be unable to attend the LUGChairs meeting, please
notify me or my representative of the meeting
arrangements via my Symposium Leadership Folder.
Name

-------------------------------------------

LUG

Phone
Signature:

Date

Contents NE Memo 3/88
Management Council . .
LUG Activities policy
New LUGChairs!
....
Other New Pe~ple
Regional SEMINARS rep
"eld" LUGChairs!
....
"Old" Phone Numbers
Tape Copy!. . . . . .
Anaheim is due ...
Cincinatti Plans
LUG Activities

1

• • 2
.

• 3

4

SEMINAR NEWS: . .
Eurlington & Buffalo
Meetings of the NorthEast
Adcendum

5

Library News . . • • . . • . ~ • . .
New service suggestion
DECUScope . .
•
Communication • • • . • • .
NE vs NLC!
Subject: Meeting Sites . • . • • .
New DCS Cmds.
....
.
UNVAXmail for DeS . . . . . . . .
VAX Tip • . . . . . .
Backups & SYSGEN
.
DeS Tip . . . . . .
Foreign terminals
Book keeping . . . • .
Congratulations!
Cincinatti Reservation form • . •

....

5

..
6

6
8

..
9

1(

III IIAnDS on DIC
NEWSLETTER OF THE DIGITAL EQUIPMENT USERS GROUP
MAINE CHAPTER

--------------------------------------------------Volume 1

November 1981

Number 3

==================================================:'===

Hello! We're Still Here!
It has been just a year since we have had our last Local User Group Meeting.
I'm afraid time and good intentions got the better of us. Not one looking for an
out, but with the moving up of the date of the DECUS Spring National
Symposia, the great flood of '86, and Cosmic Convergence (among other weigh ts )
things just didn't get done.
. '
The Maine LUG leadership finally got together on October 26 to plan. First
item of business was the reluctant acceptance of resignations from Sue
Abercrombie, Will Turgeon, and Paul Bernard. It happened that all were having
outside pressures for their time and could not continue in their roles. Their
many years of service will be missed.
Picking up the ball is Penny Peterson, who will take the reins as Chairman.
Alan Butler will become Vice Chairman and Bob Bernstein will take Alan's place
on the board of directors. Penny's previous position of Secretary is vacant and
waiting for voluneers, as is a Directors position vacated by Paul.
We will be having our Fall LUG meeting, albeit late, coming in January. See
inside for details.
For all Rainbow users who feel left out in the cold, fear not. The DECUS
Personal Computer SIG has compiled a library of 3,000 public domain programs
on 60 diskettes for the Rainbow and V AXMate. These programs are available to
members for a media charge. Our library does not currently contain any PC
programs. If you have some to donate or would like to have the LUG purchase
these programs (dependent on interest), contact Andy Tabor. As a member you
should have received the 1987/1988 DECUS program Library Software Abstracts,
which describes the programs and contains ordering information. If you are a
DEC PC hacker and looking for others to share information with, send all
pertinent information to me and I'll publish a listing in a future newsletter. All
this reminds me of a poem from a lamenting user ...
Blue, blue, blue
Big Blue gives me the blues ...
DEC can make computers, but
can't sell them.
IBM sells them, but
they can't make them.
Oh! I'm blue, blue, blue
over Big Blue!

Secretary's Report: 1986 Fall LUG Meeting
Penny Peterson

The Fall LUG meeting, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1986 was sponsored by the
Research Department of the S. D. Warren Paper Company in Westbrook.
The afternoon began with a brief business meeting. First, the treasurer, Marty
Dwyer, reported on the LUG's financial status. The balance was $249.45 (before
paying the afternoon's bills). Next, the group approved the proposed changes to
the membership section of the bylaws. Under the revised membership laws,
anyone who lets three years pass without taking part in any LUG activities will
be removed from the active membership list. The chairman, Sue Abercrombi, told
the group that the Executive Committee of the LUG had previously approvea. a
change to the librarian section of the bylaws, which states that the librarian shall
not transfer software to sites located outside the United States. (Any requests
from non-U.S. sites must go through the national organization rather than our
local group.) Will Turgeon, the vice chairtnan, concluded the business portion of
the meeting with an announcement about the LUG questionnaire database. He
distributed the results of the hardware/software survey to members who had
turned in a questionnaire.
The host site (S. D. Warren Research Lab) kicked off its section of the meeting
with a brief videotape that illustrated the papermaking process. Then, Dwight
Smith presented a "case history" of the Research Lab's upgrade from a V AX11/750 to a VAXcluster consisting of the 750 and a new VAX 8300.
An overview of the V AXmate and Digital's Personal Computing Systems
Architecture was presented by George Dooley, a senior software support specialist
from Digital's South Portland office. George also brought· along a. VAXmate for
the group to look at.
Finally, the group watched a videotape of the speech given by Rear Admiral Grace
Hopper (retired) at the Spring DECUS U.S. Symposium in Dallas. The videotape
was the last item on the agenda because none of the other speakers wanted to
follow Admiral Hopper, with good reasons. Her speech was so interesting and
inspirational that many people in the audience didn't realize that it lasted eighty
minutes. In addition to giving us her views on future problems and opportunities
in computing, Admiral Hopper regaled us with stories from her many years in the
field.
During Happy Hour, which followed the videotape, people enjoyed retelling Admiral
Hopper's stories. Several people especially liked her advice regarding good ideas:
If you have a good idea, go ahead and act on it, because it's easier to apologize
than to ask permission. Happy Hour was also enlivened by a round of drinks
from Jayne Cross of Digital.
.
The Election Day evening concluded with dinner. In the spirit of the day, here
are the final results: The Republican candidate (Prime Rib) swept the race with
18 votes and the Independent (Broiled Halibut) captured second place, edging out
the Democrat (Chicken) 9 votes to 6.
.

DECUS Maine LUG -Fall 1987 Meeting
Host Site:

Digital Equipment Corporation
Augusta, Maine

Date:

January 14, 1988

Topic:

Networking
Plan to join us Thursday, January 14 in Augusta.

Directions:

From Maine Turnpike; continue North on 1-95.
Take exit 31B to Civic Center Drive.
Drive about 1 mile to 500 Civic Center Drive.
. Registration: 1:00 and 1:30
Program: 1:30 to 2:30
Tour: 2:30 to 4:00
Cocktails: 4:30 to 5:30
Dinner: 5:30 to 7:30

Our program will include an overview of networking and how the Augusta plant
uses the network to communicate. world wide. A demonstration of the technology
will conclude the presentation. .A plant tour is planned afterwards. This promises
to be interesting program. I hope you get a chance to take advantage of this
unique opportunity. See you
Digital's Augusta plant manufactures network and communication products and
fabricates cabinets for all U.S. sales.
The pig in different coordinates

it-~H--~ <~ ~ R

bL tt
i~
~ ~f--M(
~
~,,\L,)( ---~J 5:;:;r ~

i C:5a =:5i1 ]Fj

11·~ >~ ~ i\~_ f~'

~6J~~ H~7'[

1~~DL2:D

HINTS AND BUGS
Last year when I was down to DEC's Bedford training facility, the subject of
backups and the slowness of the process was discussed. One of DEC's performance
teams had just completed a study on this and recommended the following qualifiers
when doing backups.
$BA CKUP jREWIND /BUFFER=5 /BLOCK=32768 jDENSITY =6250 {1600}
For incremental backups use:
$

BACKUP jREWIND /RECORD IT! AST IBUFFER=5 jBLOCK=32768 /DENSITY =6250
{1600}
Also, a bug was found in the SYSGEN utility. Don't use the tab key within any
of the commands! If the operating system sees the tab, it'll ignore the line. We
found this out the hard way in SYSTARTUP .COM, when after issuing a valid
SYSGEN command, we tabbed over to line up comments. The line wasn't read.
This was confirmed by Colorado Software Support.
As far as. I know none of the above known bugs have been published (released) by
DEC.

A Network in Maine
Jim Campbell
The University of Maine is currently exploring ways' to provide access for Maine
citizens to the Micronet/Novanet network. This network will provide a variety of
educational opportunities and resources via PC's for the people of Maine. Plans
include making calalogs of the University libraries available on-line and providing
access to the Plato system, among other services. The Plato system has been in
existence for 15 years and currently includes over 22,000 interactive courses for self
instruction or for use by teachers at all levels of education. It also has an
extensive bulletin bQard and mail system. Access to the Plato network requires
being assigned an access sign-on which must be provided by the university. At
present, calls must be placed at Orono to go on the system. Discussions are
underway with some school bulletin boards and users groups to provide local
access in some parts of the state, but at the moment, no local access lines are
available. A Plato Access Disk (PAD) is also necessary to utilize the system.
P AD's are currently available for the IBM-PC's and compatibles, for MacIntoshes
and for a few other machines. No one that I have contacted knows of a PAD
available for DEC PC's. If anyone knows of one, please write to me or to this
newsletter.
If you would like more information on the network and its possibilities, contact
Jim Austin at the Office of University Innovations. Alumni Hall, University of
Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, telephone (207)581-1582.
Jim is a Rainbow user and can be contacted at P.O. Box 128, Orland, Maine
04472

Maine LUG Officers
(U ntH Spring 1987)

Chairman:
Penny Peterson
S.D. Warren Paper Co.
89 Cumberland St.
Westbrook, Maine 04092
856-6911

Vice Chairman:
Alan Butler
Maine Yankee Power Company
P.O. Box 408
Wiscasset, Maine 04578
882-6321

Treasurer:
Martin Dwyer
Accudata/CSG
9 So Belfast Ave
Augusta, Maine 04330
662-4769

Librarian:
Andrew Tabor
Bicknell Photo Service
71 U.S. Route 1
Scarborough, Maine 04074
775-3126

Secretary:
Newsletter Editor:
VACANCY
Gary Clement
S.D. Warren Paper Company
Westbrook, Maine 04092
856-6911
Directors:
Mona Moody

Marine Coloids - Division of FMC
P.O. Box 308
Rockland, Maine 04841
594-4436

Jim Whyte

Maine Yankee Power Company
P.O. Box 408
Wiscasset, Maine 04841
882-6321

Robert Berstein

Portland Water District
225 Douglass Road
Portland, Maine
774-5961

Because of a partial reorganization we are in immediate need of a
Secretary and a Director. If you are interested in one of these positions,
or would like to have your name included for consideration for any
position in the up coming spring election, please contact Penny P~terson
at 856-6911. You must be a DECUS member. If you still have not
joined, take a few minutes to fill out and mail the free application in
this newsletter.

Maine LUG Site Questionnaire
It's time again to update our LUG's Site Database. Please fill out the following
form and either send it back with your dinner reservations, bring it to the
meeting, or send it to Gary Clement. The. purpose of this questionnaire is to help
our members locate sites that maybe of help in time of trouble or need. The
time spent now will save a gr~at deal of searching later when you
receive information on media that's incompatible with your site and want it
transferred to something you can use, find your system under water (remember the
flood) and need to get vital information from your backups (you do backup your
system, don't you?), or want an opinion on purchasing a software package or
equipment. This information will be for, members use only and will not be
circulated to outside parties.
'

Company Name: ______________
Address:

---------------------------------

Town:
Telephone:
_______________________________
~------------------~-------------Contact:
Business-:-------------------------------CPU's:

----------------------------------

Operating Systems: _____________

Disks Drives:
Terminals: ----~---------------------Tape Drives : ______~-_----Printers:

-------------------------------------------------------

Network Equipment:

Modems:
Other D-e-vl";"""·c-e-s-:------------Compilers:
Other soft-wa-r-e-:------------Comments:

--------------------------------

ALL HANDS ON DEC
Maine DECUS Local Users Group
c/o Gary Clement
S.D. Warren Paper Company
Research Department
Westbrook, Maine 04092

.
Pa.vb. Shac-lGk
.
}.Jt...C Pl.lbIICtfto·--. 5 C~Jf'"I-\"1'\
WIld ~~ A~C>d~teJ

l!f~o WI Idl.u"Dd L.4~e..
Bov Idee-, co Fda!> ")

Library Notes
Andy Tabor, our program librarian, has the following DECUS public
domain software on hand. If you want to obtain copies of the program
tapes, send a blank tape for each copy with return postage and the form
include at the back of this newsletter to Andy at Bicknell Photo service,
71 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, Maine 04074.
Operating System
Date
RSTS
Spring/Fall 83
. Spring 84
Fall 84
Spring 85
RT11
Spring 84
Fall 84
Spring 85
RSX

Spring 82
Fall 83
Spring 83
Fall 84
Spring 85

Operating System
Date
VMS
Spring 84 Vol
Spring 84 Vol
Fall 84 Vol 1
Fall 84 Vol 2
Spring 85 Vol
Spring 85 Vol
Spring 85 Vol
Fall 86 Vol 1
Fall 86 Vol 2
Fall 86 Vol 3
Fall 86 Vol 4

1
2

1
2
3

The CRIME
The Newsletter of CRIMLUG
The Connecticut, Rhode Island, ?vlassachusetts DEeUS Local Users Group

Volume 2, Number 2

February, 1988

For information about CRIMLUG and The CRIME, contact Sam Whidden, American Mathematical Society, 201 Charles St.
P.O. Box 6248, Providence, RI 02940; (401)272.9500

months. We expect a permanent site to become available
-at ,Digital Equipment Corporation's East Providence office sometime this summer. CRI\1LUG also wants to
thank Frank Laffey and the Narragansett Bay Commission for their generosity, having a consistent location
for our meetings seems tf) be the best route to take ...

_I'

MEETINGS
"-______________________

By Barbara Hergan, Southea.stern

~1ass8.chtl,s~tts

university

FEBRUARY MEETING
PC ISSUES

Thank You To Digital
On behalf of the Program Committee of CRIMLUG, I
would like to express our appreciation to Digital for its
support of our local users group. DEC management was
able to free up Chuck McCann so that he could give
a presentation for our January networks meeting: In addition to this, DEC has provided resources, wi_t-h--shortnotice, for our Field Service meeting and for our PC issues session planned for February. Digital has also offered
us space for meetings in their East Providence office once
renovations are complete. We appreciate the cooperation
and partnership that we have experienced in our dealings
with Digital. Thanks for your help!

Wednesday, February 17, 1:00p.m.
Narragansett Bay Commission
Providence, R. I.
.This .JIlonth '!i _meeting will focus on PC to VAX networking. We have speakers from DEC, Logicraft, and
SUN Microsystems. Lee Knoch, Senior Networks and
Communication Consultant for DEC from the l'ortheast
area, will describe VAX/VMS services for MS /DOS and
also MACIntosh to VAX connectivity. Courtney Heitmiller from Logicraft will analyze three products: Cardware, Dataware and Grafv8.X. A speaker from S'CN will
discuss PC-NFS (Network File System). At the end of
the meeting our speakers will form a panel for a question
and answer session.

Barbara Horgan

Editor's Sote: The decision was made at the January
meeting to establish a semi-permanent meeting site at
the Narragansett Bay Commission for the next several

It should be an exciting, informative meeting. Remember
that all are welcome at CRIMLUG meetings, feel free to
bring along anyone interested in PC topics.
1

The CRL\[E. \'01 2. So. 2

2

See you in our new meeting place at the ;\arragansett
Bay Commission in Providence. Directions follow.

APRIL MEETING
STORAGE TECHNOLOGY

Directions to Narragansett Bay
Commission, Waste Water Treatment
Facility
Two Ernest Street
Providence, R.I. 02905

Wednesday. April 20, 1:00p.m.
1\ arragansett Bay Commission
Providence, R.I.

(401)-277-6780

From route 95, exit at the Thurbers Ave exit. (Yes,
you're finally going to leave the road at the infamous Thurbers Ave curve.) Follow the signs to AlIens Avenue (not Eddy Street). At the light at AlIens Avenue, turn right. Follow Allens Ave for 1/2
mile to the intersection of Ernest St. Turn left at
that light. (Note that the Providence Public WorKs
building and the Prov Police horse garage are at this
corner as land marks.) Follow Ernest St, past first
right and as road bears right: you 'II see signs to the
Tr~atment Plant on t,he left. (Across the street from
Hudson Asphalt Company.) Park in the lot and the
conference room is on the second floor.

Please note that this is again a DAYTIME meeting. Our springtime topic will be an analysis of different
kinds of storage technology, both old and new, What is
the best medium for you? The program will include vendors' presentations on optical technology alternatives as
well as a discussion of tape media by one or more of our
CRI~fLUG members. It should be an interesting debate
and discussion of storage options.

MAY MEETING
ELECTRONIC MAIL

Wednesday, May 25, 1:OOp.m.
Bay Commission
Providence, R.I.

~arragansett

MARCH MEETING
SYSTEM SECURITY

Wednesday, March 16, 1:00p.m.
~arragansett Bay Commission
Providence, R.I.
From a poll of attendees at the. January networks meeting, it seems that vMs security is a topic of interest
to many of our members. Other security issues, including network security, government security issues such as
Tempest shielding and NSA security levels, and physical security (computer room,disaster recovery, etc.)' did
not generate as much interest as VMS security. We plan
to focus our security meeting primarily on software, but
we will deal with hardware issues also as time permits.
Our agenda and speakers have not been finalized yet so
if you have an idea or a possible speaker please be sure
to contact one of our program committee members listed
at the back of each CRIME issue.

Do you want to avoid telephone tag, correspond with
colleagues across the country and the world electronically, have access to on-line bulletin boards, newsletters
and discussion groups on every conceivable technical and
not-so-technical topic? If so, global electronic mail is for
you. CRIMLUG has members who are well versed in
the joys and difficulties of electronic mail and are willing
to share this knowledge with you at our May meeting.
Watch for details in the next few CRIME issues.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR 1988
JUNE 22

- VAX/VMS Su pport and
Training
JULY 20
- VMS Version 5 ?
AUGUST 11
- Text Processing on the VAX
SEPTEMBER 21 • VAX Cluster Management
- DECNET, the latest version
OCTOBER 26
NOVEMBER 23 • Software Services
DECEMBER 21 - AI/Expert Systems

:3

February. 1968

This is our tentative list of topics for the rest of 1988.
\Vhat do you think? IT you have any additional ideas for
topics or su btopic~ or if you }-. .:ve a potential speaker. or
any ot her ideas. please let the steering committee know.
either at our meetings. electronically, or over the phone.
The names. phone numbers and electronic addresses of
the steering committee appear in the back of every issue.
This list appeared in last month's newsletter but I'm repeating it so you'11 have another chance to review these
topics and offer input. At the Anaheim DECDS symposium, at least two other topics of major interest came up:
DECWindows and Digital's proposed new software licensing policies. We will try to schedule these topics soon
as either main or subtopics for our CRIMLUG monthly
meetings. Let me know if you're interested.
By the way, make sure to put in a request for a copy
of the Fall Decus Symposium trip report available from
Don Borsay. Even if you didn't go to Anaheim you
can get a synopsis of some of the major sessions from
members -C;(CRIMLUG.
"
. '-~'..... -----..

• DES~C - Secure :r\etwork Controller
• Message Transfer Services - MAILbus
- Translation to other Mail Systems
- Toolkit to interface your own Mail System
• Network Planning
• }';etwork

~1anagement

Tools

- SPM - Software Performance Monitor
- Ethernim - Network Integrity Monitor
- TSM - Terminal Server Monitor
LTM - LAN Traffic Monitor
- NCP - Network Control Program

Thanks.

If you missed this one, try to get to the next meeting.
They really are putting together excellent programs for
u~! J~e sure. to bring aI)'Y. hardware/software/sy's~ems
questions with you for the Clinic (question and answer
session by members) at the end of the meeting.

Barbara Horgan

Karen Goldsmith

Meeting Notes

CRIMLUG's January meeting, hosted by GTECH in
\Varwick, R.I. was devoted to Network issues. A capacity crowd turned out for Chuck McCann's presentation
(which was a good mixture of tech/humor - Remember
TLA's?) closing with a question and answer period. Let
me know if you'd like' a copy of his slides. I'll just run
through some of the topics discussed:

VAX/VMS System
Management
By Nancy Kaull, American Mathematical Society

The following was extracted from the Usenet newsgroup camp. os. vms and was submitted to the CRIMLUG
newsletter by Don Borsay

• Digital's Network Strategy
• Multi-Vendor Networking
•

~etwork

Connectors

- Unshielded Twisted-Pair Ethernet
DECserver 500
• DECnet System Services
- Distributed File and Queue Services
- VAX RPC

Subject: Thoughts On Sequencing Of
RA Type Devices On HSC Requestor
Cards.
John Macallister has asked the following question regarding the mixing of RA81 and RA82 type devices on the
same requestors in an HSC.

We're installing an HSC50 and have a mixture of
RA81/RA82 disks. To balance the load it would
be necessary to mix RA81's and RA82's on the

4

The CRL\1E. \ '01 2 .

.vo.

2

sam£> controller. Any known probl£>ms with this
given that the disks have slightly different access
times?
\Vhile it 'sounds' right ,to mix the RA81 and RA82
devices on the various requestor cards in an HSC I
STRO;\GLY recommend AGAINST it. If this is suggested by your local field service office, suggest to them
they read the internal DEC mail from DEC \Vest Disk
gurus. The HSC code SHOULD be at rev. level 3.5, or
3.51 if you have shadowed devices, and there is a SPECIFIC order to the requestors now. I talked about this
order in a past article of mine and some problems (horrors) I have been having.
The order is as follows. CPU
CI Link Mod ule
Requestor Card(s} For Tape Devices
Requestor Card(s} For RA8! Devices
Requestor Card(s) For RA82 Devices
Now there is nothing you can do about combining RA81
and RA82 devices on the same requestor card when crossing from one type to the other. If the above sequence is
not followed, the result, at least in my case, was somewhere between 1 and 100 'SDI Collision' errors per day.
DEC resequenced my requestors and devices and there
has not been a 'SDI Collision' error for weeks.
The other area that you will be finding out is that the
HSC50 just isn't fast enough setting up the commands
for the faster drives. The PDPll inside the HSC is performing I/O decomposition, sequencing and disk management. We have RA8l, SI83C and SI93C drives and
in comparing the 'throughput' between an HSC50 and 70
the 70 will perform 10 to 20% more I/O's then the 50. It
also needs to be pointed out that the actual transfer of
data to/from the disk/CI is NOT done by the PDPll,
but is performed by the bit-slice processors on the requestor cards themselves. In summation, with the faster
drives, more I/O's can be completed in the same period,
and this creates a new bottleneck, that being the HSC.
If Shadow Set software is in use the bottleneck can be
worse because extra comparisons are done in generating
the 'sequencing' of I/O command packets to the disks so
that you receive the data from the disk that has it closest
at hand.
It has never been said, that I know of, that VAXClusters
are easy to understand. This area proves it once again.
Hope the information helps.

Paul D. Clayton - Manager Of Systems
TSO Financial - Horsham, Pa. USA
Address - CLAYTON%XRT@CIS.UPENN.EDU

NetWorks

PMDF, The Key to VMSnet and
Beyond
By Don Borsay, Raytheon Submarine Signal Division
Much of this article is based on informa.tion provided in
pmdfdist.mem, distributed with PMDF-B22 V2.4.
Various mail systems, using various mail protocols, make
up what is called "the net". The Pascal Memo Distribution Facility (PMDF) contains channel programs for
ea~h of these various mail protocols, and therefore, provides an integration and control point for various mail
systems.
Within each channel program, the inbound mail protocol
message is converted to RFC822 (where necessary), with
all addressing being domain-based. After the message
is imported, a configuration file helps determine what
addresses might be rewritten, and what output channel
program to run. The output channel program converts
the message into the associated mail protocol, addressed
to the next hop or destination system.
The current version of PMDF for VAX/VMS, called

PMDF-822 V2.4, uses the standard VMS MAIL facility as its user interface and provides support for
the Phone.:\fet asynchronous dialup protocol, DECnet,
DECnet-based MAIL, Jl\"ET (a product of Joiner Associates Inc., this is an implementation of the IBM RSCS
networking system for VAX/VMS), SMTP over TCP /
IP (accomadating the Tektronix, Wollongong, Carnegie
Mellon University, and SRI Multinet implementations for
VAX/VMS), SMTP over an arbitrary I/O channel, and
PSIMail as transport mechanisms. Sources are provided,
so site-specific channel programs can be developed.
PMDF-822 is used to perform the PhoneNet function
of the National Science Foundation's Computer Science
Network (CSNET) on VAX/VMS systems. PMDF's interface to JNET provides a powerful MAIL interface to
the RSCS-based BITNET network.
PMDF is a subset of the Multi-channel Memo Distribution Facility (MMDF), developed by the Department
of Electrical Engineering at the University of Delaware.
MMDF is available on all 4.3BSD UNIX systems, so

February. 1988

PMDF can be used to transfer messages from VMS systems to V~IX systems over arbitrary terminal line connections. Currently. a CCCP channel is under development, providing connectivity to 'C!\IX systems running
with sendmail.
l)sually, PMDF is available for cost of distribution ($50)
from Ned Freed at The PMDF Project, Computing
Services, Harvey ~ludd College, Claremont, CA 91711.
:\ed has kindly allowed PMDF to be provided from the
CRIML"CG Tape Library. All CRIMLt:G has to do is
provide I\ed with the name and address of each member
getting a copy.
The distribution includes the complete Pascal source and
executables for PMDF, PhoneNet and the various interfaces to other transport mechanisms. It does not. include
code for the transport facilities themselves such as JNET,
DEC net or TCP lIP; these are separate licensed software
'products available from other vendors ..
PMDF may be installed on as many systems as desired
at a single site. Redistribution of PMDF to other sites
is prohibited. PMDF will not be distributed and is not
available via network FTP or Internet MAIL.
There is a PMDF mailing list to be used for discussing
PMDF bugs, features and futures. Simple bug fixes and
enhancements are distributed via the list. Please send
requests to be placed on the list to rpmdfymir.bitnet.
Submissions to the list should be directed to ipmdfymir.bitnet.
Queries for information about PMDF
should be directed to qpmdfymir. bitnet.
Using PMDF, a modem, and a phone line, you can become part of the ever growing Ad-Hoc VMS User's Network. Contact Don Borsay at (401) 847-8000 x3867 for
details on how to get PMDF.

5

journals. In a future column I will provide a list of AI
book publishers.
I make no claim that the list given below is complete, but
it includes all the AI publications I know about. Some of
my info is over a year old so the subscription rates may
not always be accurate.
The journals I recommend most for the casual AI
reader are AI Expert, Artificial Intelligence Review! and
CACM. Artificial Intelligence (The International Journal) covers heavy-handed treatment of basic research.
All the AI business newsletters listed below are outrageously expensive with the exception of AI Today. All
subscription rates given below are for individuals, one
year, U.S. dollars.

AI Capsule
$195 per year
Rate:
Frequency: Monthly.
Address:
The Winters Group
Suite 920, Temple Bldg~,
14 Franklin St.
Rochester, NY 14604
Comments: Gives you lots of hot AI business news in
capsular summaries. Expensive!

AI Expert
$S7 per year
Rate:
Frequency: Monthly
Address:
500 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
. 'O"'"Commertts:-G~"8ied' toward nori-acad"emicians.' Nice,
readable articles. Well worth the
price. Software can be down-loaded
over the phonelines. Very showy.
Only draw back - lots of ads.

AI Magazine

Artificial Intelligence

AI: Read more about it!
By Duane Costa, University of Rhode Island
One or two CRIMLUG associates have inquired about
sources of AI reading materials. That sounded like a
good excuse to dedicate the next few columns to a summary of AI publications. This month I will cover AI

Rate:
$25 per year (includes membership in AAAI)
Frequency: Quarterly
Address:
AAAI
445 Burgess Drive
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3496
Comments: A benefit of membership in the American
Association for Artifical Intelligence.
Good articles. Not too many ads.

AI Today
$29.95 per year
Rate:
Frequency: Monthly
Address:
104 Frame Road
Elkview, WV 25071
Comments: "The publication of applied artificial
intelligence for business and industry."

The CRl.\lE. \"01 2. .\"0. 2

6

Slender (about 40 pages per issue).

AI Trends
Rate:
$295 per year
Frequency: Monthly
6900 E. Camelback Rd.
Address:
Suite 1000
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Comments: An AI industry bulletin with inside info.
Very slender (about 16 pages per issue).
Very expensive.
Applied Artificial Intelligence Report.er
Rate:
$98 per year
Frequency: ~onthly
Address:
ICS Research Institute
P.O. Box 1308-EP,
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Comment~: Industry-oriented. Slender (about 24
pages per issue).
Artificial Intelligence Review
Rate: ... . $23
year
Frequency: Quarterly
Address:
Blackwell Scientific Pub. Ltd.
Osney ~ead,
Oxford, OX2 DEL

·per

UK
Comments: British journal. Nice review articles.
Not too commercial. Recommended.

Artificial Intelligence: An International Journal
Rate:
$50 per year for members of AAAI.
(Uncertain of rate for non-members)
Frequency: 9 issues per year
Address:
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.,
Journals Department
P.O. Box 211
1000 AE Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Comments: The primary publication for
basic AI research.

$247 per year
Rate:
Frequency: Monthly
1100 Massachusetts Avenue,
Address:
Arlington. MA 02174
Comments: ":\'ewsletter for managers and developers
of expert systems." Slender (about 25
pages) and expensive.

Expert Systems User
Rate:
$210 per year
Frequency: ~onthly
Address:
Cromwell House,
20 Bride Lane,
London EC4 8DX
UK
Comments: "The professionals' guide to knowledgebased systems.~ About 30 pages with
lots of space devoted to ads.
IEEE Expert
Rate:
$12 per year to IEEE Computer Society
·members. Nonmember rates available on
request from the publisher.
Frequency: Quarterly
IEEE Headquarters
Address:
345 East 47th St.
New York, NY 10017
Comments: More academic-oriented than commercialoriented.
Intelligent Systems Analyst
Rate:
$275 per year (ouch!)
Frequency: Monthly
P.O. Box 366
Address:
Village Station
New York, ~Y 10014
Comments: "The management report on intelligent
systems technology and applications."
Slender (about 20 pages).

Knowledge Engineering
Rate:
$275 per year
Frequency: ~onthly
Communications of the ACM (CACM)
Address:
Richmond Publishing Corp.
Rate:
$30 per yearP.O. Box 366
(Included as part of member dues of $65)
Village Station,
New York, NY 10014
Frequency: ~onthly
Address:
Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
Comments: Another wallet-buster. Very slender
11 W. 42nd St.
(about 16 pages).
~ew York, NY 10036
Comments: This well-respected computing journal
LISP Pointers
contains many good AI articles.
Rate:
Free!
Frequency: Six times per year (during a good year)
Expert Systems Strategies
~ary S. Van Deusen, Editor
Address:

i

February 19S8

IB~1 '" atson Research

P.O. Box i04
Yorktown Heights, ~y 10598
Comments: I've only received one issue since
subscribing six months ago: but I
can't complain considering the cost!
Release 1.0
$395 per year (A real bargain!)
Rate:
Frequency: ~ot sure but I think it's monthly.
EDventure Holdings Inc.
Address:
375 Park Avenue, Suite 2503
New York, 2\Y 10152
Comments: Inside business scoops, etc,
Slender (about 30 pages). Let's see,
that works out to about a buck per
page.

In case you are wondering w hat kind of code change could
produce this strange effect: I did, too. It seems that the
Draft A:\'SI C standard added a new function to mushO:
Flushing an input file discards any ungotten character. A
side-effect of making this work caused the bug described.

Programmers' Workbench
By Karen Goldsmith, American Mathematical
Society

The Spang Robinson Report on Artificial Intelligence
Programming in DIBOL
Rate:
$295 per year
Frequency: Monthly
Submission By Jim Slavin and Georgia Moridi,
Address:
P.O. Box 1432
Shawmut Mills
. Manchester, MA 01944
Comments: "The artificial intelligence business
newsletter." Slender (about 20 pages).
DIBOL, or Digital Business Oriented Language, is one
of DEC's programming solutions to business data processing. Below is a basic outline of a DIBOL program,
followed by an example. It illustrates the simplicity of
the language and the ease with which a date conversion
might be accomplished.

Input/Output
Input/Output presents users' questions, answers, and short notes
describing problems or techniques of general interest, or letters on
any relevant topic. If you have such an item, send. it to the Editor
for Input/Output.

SKELETON OF A DIBOL PROGRAM
MAIN PROGRAM
RECORD STATEMENT 1
FIELD DEFINITIONS
DATA DIVISION
RECORD STATEMENT N
FIELD DEFINITIONS

VAX C on VMS 4.6

PRoe
PROGRAM DIVISION

By Jerry Leichter: Yale University

Extracted from the Usenet newsgroup comp.os. vms
There is a bug in the VAX C library for VMS V 4.6
which breaks the connection between ungetO and scanf()
(and perhaps other input routines, I'm not sure). If you
ungetO a character: getcharO will see it, but scanfO will
ignore it.

END
The main program calls the external subroutine
"cnvrt" to change the format of the date.
MAIN PROGRAM. called DATE

The CRL\1E, V012, So. 2

8

record var
date, d6, 011988
;The date
;var to hold the converted date
cnvdte, all
terch, dl,
1
;terminal channel
proc
;calls the routine to convert the date
xcall. cnvrt (date, cnvdte)
;open the terminal
open(terch,o:p, 'tt: ')

record newdte
day,
month,
year,

, ,

;day

-

, ,

;month

-

;year

record
Ie
Ie
Ie

proc
olddte

;display the date
writes (terch,cnvdte)

a2
al,
a3,
al,
d2

mname,12a3, 'Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar'
, ' Apr' , 'May' , ' Jun '
, , Jul' , 'Aug' , 'Sep'
,'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec'

= old

;move day to new format
day = dd

;close the terminal
close terch
end

;move year to new format
year = yy
;move month to new format
month = mname' (mm)

;EXTERNAL SUBROUTINE
SUBROUTINE STATEMENT
ARGUMENT DEFINITIONS

;return new date
new = newdte

RECORD STATEMENT N
FIELD DEFINITIONS

return
end
PROC

;This is the way to compile, link,
;and run the program

END
;Two arguments are passed down
;to the subroutine: OLD and NEW

$Dibol date
$Dibol cnvrt
$link date,cnvrt
$run date
10-Jan-88
$

; EXTERNAL SUBROUTINE
;convert the date format
SUBROUTINE CNVRT
old,
new,
record olddte
mm,
dd,
yy,
;new date format

d
a

;date (mmddyy)
;date (dd-mmm-yy)

d2
d2
d2

;old date format
; month
;day
;year

For those unfamiliar with DIBOL, the above example
is meant primarily to illustrate the basic struct ure of
DIBOL programs. The language provides the usual set
of program control statements: relational operands, and
yes, a system services interface. At Shawmut Mills we
program almost exclusively in DIBOL; our applications
range from order entry and inventory control to an interactive punch clock and accompanying payroll system.
DEC continues to support and enhance the DIBOL language, and we have found that it satisfies our current
needs quite well. If you have questions about DIBOL, or
would just like to swap ideas, tricks, subroutines or whathave-you, please feel free to contact either Jim Slavin
or Georgia Moridi, (617) 588-3300.

9

February, 1988

~________T_h_e__L_ib_r_a_r_Y________~1

1__________D_E
__C__T_a_lk__
S ________

The Tape Librarian's report

Rhode Island Digital Day

By Don Borsay, Raytheon Submarine Signal Division

The CRIMLUG Tape Library is a collection of tapes the
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts (DECUS) Local Users Group requests from the main DECUS Program Lil:>rary, as well as assorted user contributions.
Tape copy requests will be accepted for any tapes in
the CRIMLUG Tape Library, with no cost to CRIMLUG
members, other than postage. Refer to The CRIME, Volume 1, Number 7, for a complete list of catalog entries.
The following entry is a new addition. See elsewhere in
this newsletter for a description of PMDF.

~

Rhode Island Digital Day will be held on February 17,
1988 at the Providence Marriott Hotel. A panel discussion and Product Overviews are highlights. You can find
the schedule at the back of this newsletter. The Product Overviews will be run in sets of two concurrently, so
bring a friend with you to attend them all. Your local
Sales Representative should be able to get tickets for you,
or call Natalie Parece by February 11, 1988 at (401)
431-4118. CRIMLUG will also be represented at Digital
Day to boost our· melnbership even more!

LUG Affairs

No. Description
15. Pascal Memo Distribution Faeility (PMDF) 2.4,
Jul/87, BACKVP format
Order (IC32) - one 1200 ft /1600 BPI tape;
All DECDS entries are available from the DECVS Program Library, and should be documented in "U.S.
Chapter DECDS Program Library SOFTWARE ABSTRACTS" catalog~ . . The local entries are· documented
in a handout, available from the Tape Librarian.
Tape copy requests will be accepted for any tapes in the
CRIMLUG Tape Library, with no cost to CRIMLUG (or
other DECVS) members, other than postage.
The Tape Librarian and Raytheon Company will only
provide the resources for copying the tapes, and will not
incur any expenses for postage of user requested tape
copies.
For each tape or set of tapes desired, label an equal
sized tape with your name, organization, mailing address, and tape request code. Mail the labeled tapes in
a tape mailer, including return address labels and return
postage stickers. Send to:
Raytheon Company
Submarine Signal Division
1847 West Main Rd.
Portsmouth, RI 02871-1087
Attention: Don Borsay; ~fS 130

CRIMLUG NEWS

CRIMLUG Election Results
By Frank Laffey, Narragansett Bay Commission
Well folks, the results are in. Hold on to your hats boys
and girls, 'cause here's a slate that will go down in history
with the Wendle Wilkie Administration. (Sorry, I just
saw "Good Morning Vietnam" and I guess it's effects
are still lingering.)
Our officers are:
Chair - Sam Whidden - American Math
Vice-Chair - Barbara Horgan - SMU
Secretary - Frank Laffey - NBC
~ewsletter Edt - Karen Goldsmith - American Math
Tape Librarian - Don Borsay - Raytheon
These folks, along with Dave Borges, DECman, form
our Steering Committee for now.

10

The CR L\1E , \·01 2, So. 2'

Steering Committee Update

preliminary programs contain hotel and registration ina preview of symposium sessions, and activity
highlights. It's not too early to start planning for it, so
watch your mailboxes!

formation~

By Frank Laffey, :\ arragansett Bay Commission
The CRIMLCG Steering committee met on 31-Dec-1987
and discussed the following issues:
1. \Ve discussed our meetings program and I'm sure
Barbara will continue to rein in on that animal.
We did discuss the possibility of a semi-permanent
meeting place and two places came up~ I may conduct a semi-offical, totally non-scientific poll after
the February meeting to see how you feel about the
NBC meeting place.

2. CRIMP'UB and CRIMLINE need some organization and the Chair will probably solicit help. Come
on and give us a hand and get on the Steering Committee at the same time. (Ooops, see item 3.)
3. We would like to expand the potential membership
of our Steering Committee by allowing the Chair to
appoint at large members to the Committee. (Current by laws call Tor "up to two" at large members
on the Committee.) The current Steering Committee seemed to agree that the Chair of all permanent
committees should also be on the Steering Committee and we'd be willing to have other Steering
Committee participation as well.
4. LUG organization was discussed in several specific

topics. One, should our agenda for regular meetings include a clinic? Two, let's work on a membership drive, Third, we want to establish a telephone
tree to help encourage meeting turnout by a phone
call. Last, what about collecting voluntary dues?
No doubt, by the time you see these items in print,
you will have already heard about them in the presentation by the officers at the January meeting,
but if you have any contributions to these or any
other issues and would like me to represent them
for you, call me at 277-6680.

REGIONAL LUG NEWS

DEeus U.s. Chapter Symposium
The next DECUS Symposium will be held May 16-20
in Cincinnati. "Tithin the next few weeks, the preliminary programs will be mailed to DECUS members. The

Canadian DEeUS Symposium
By Ruth Milner,
University of Toronto Physics

Extracted from the Usenet newsgroup comp.org.decus by
Don Borsay
This year's Canadian DECUS Symposium will be held
in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and L'Hotel, in
beautiful downtown Toronto, the week of February 8-12,
1988. Monday is all-day seminars, Tuesday-Thursday are
sessions (in 10 streams/rooms concurrently), and Friday
is workshops and all-day seminars.
Cost is $350 (Canadian!) for the symposium, $465 for
the Symposium and one seminar, $135 for one day of
sessions. Other combinations are of course available but
there is too much to list here.
It looks really good this year - virtually every hour is
occupied, and we have some very good speakers coming,
both from Central Engineering at Digital and independent consultants.
The time is· drawing near, so get your registration forms
in! If you need a kit, call Francine Bellefeuille, Sympo. sium Co-ordinator, at (416) 597-3462. You do need to be
a member of DECUS to attend, but membership is free,
and Frandne can send you a membership form as well
(or, in the U.S., you can obtain one locally). Attendance
is expected to be in the neighbourhood of 800-1000, so
it will be lots of fun!
Hope· to see you there!

DEeus RMVLUG Regional
Conference
The Rocky Mountain VAX Local User Group is hosting
a Regional Conference in Denver, Colorado, on March
31 and April 1, 1988. The conference features six concurrent streams: VMS; Networking; Systems Management; Programming and Tools; Business Applications;
and by special request, a day-long Wizards track of challenging subjects presented by and for experts. Registration is limited, and forms must be returned by February

February. 1988

11

26: 1988 to participate. The Conference Chair is Paula
Sharick (303) 499-5700.

almost exclusively in Fortran, with
tion.

R~S/F,!\1S

interac-

Rick Turner, Vice President

DECUS One Day Regional Seminars
The DEeDS Seminars Committee is sponsoring two
one-day seminars at the Radisson Hotel in Burlington,
Vermont on March 7 and 8, 1988. Seminar Topics:
INTERFACING YOUR DEVICE TO VMS: DEVICE
DRIVERS, CONINTERR'S AND OTHER lwEANS, and
INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
There will be no on-site registration. If you didn't receive
your green notice through the mail, the phone numbers
listed are (617) 480-3418/3307.

The CRL\.1E
Production Editor: Karen Goldsmith, American Mathematical
Society, (401)272.9500, khg@math.ams.com
Associate Editors:
• MEETINGS-Barbara Horgan, Southeastern
Mass8,chusetts University, (617)999-8529,
bhorgan@umass.bitnet
• DEC TALKS!-Dave Borges, Digital Equipment
Corp., (401)431-4149

Who Are We?
Who Are We? is a collection of articles profiling firms represented
in CRIMLUG. If your company hasn't appeared here recently, log
into the CRIMLUG account and type or copy in your company's
story (see elsewhere in this issue {or a repeat of the login instructions ).

• The Library-Don Borsay, Raytheon Company,
(401)847-8000 X3867, d2b%sgfa.ray.comCa.cs.uiuc.edu
• Programmers Workbench-Karen Goldsmith,
American Mathematical Society, (401 )272-9500,
khg@math.ams.com
.\--....

' ••

,..-",

··-""·-~.""""·-'I

.....

~

• VAX/VMS System Management-Nancy KauU,
American Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500,
ngk@math.ams.com

• LUG Affairs-Sam Whidden. American Mathematical
Society, (401 )272-9500, sbwCmath.ams.com
• Input/Output-Don Borsay, Raytheon Submarine
Signal Division, (401)847-8000 X3867,
d2b%sgfa.ray.com Oa.cs. uiuc.ed u

Computech Publishing
Computech Publishing, located in Randolph, MA, is responsible for 10 monthly publications. Business Magazine currently has six Boston area editions, three in
greater Washington, D.C., one New Hampshire edition,
and a regional monthly Business Magazine. Business
Magazine was first published in 1985. We use several
different machines to assist in the publication process.
Our computer environment is made up of the following:
• VAX 11/780 used for circulation databases and AR
functions
• Wang 01S-140 word processor for editorial/text
processing
• Compugraphic 8600 typesetting machine
• IBM AT used for general accounting functions and
payroll
• DEC 20/60 (inactive) which takes up space
We are able to telecommunicate information from the
VAX to the \Vang and from the Wang to the Compugraphic typesetter. Applications for the VAX are written

• Tips on Tops-Derek Revilock-Frost, New England
Power Service Co., (617)366-9011
• Fun With DCL-Bob Callahan, Warwick ·Public
Schools, (401)737-3300 X223
• AI-Duane Costa, University of Rhode Island,
(401)792-5080
• Who Are We?-Carol A. Farrell, American
Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500, caf@math.aIDs.com
Additional Associate Editors are sought to gather and supervise
material for departments of their choosing in The CRIME. Material
must be relevant to the needs of users of DEC hardware or software.
Contact the Editor.

The CRIME is typeset and produced at the American Mathematical Society. To facilitate electronic contributions, AMS has established an account on its VAX/VMS system with telephone number
(401)861-7800, username CRIMLUG, and password CRIMINAL.
After you dial the number and get a CONNECT response, hit return until you get a 'username>' prompt. Here type your own
name then hit return to get a 'local>' prompt. Type 'connect vax',
and, in response to the next prompts, the username CRIMLUG and
the password CRIMINAL.
This account permits only 8, few instructions, but it will allow you
to type in or Kermit in an article and then mail it to 'CRIME'.
You'll get instructions on line. Be aware that any files you create
are deleted when you log out, so you can't return to an editing
session. If you have Kermit, it's best to get the article in final

12

Tile C1U.\1E. \'01 2. So. 2

shape on your system. then transfer it to AMS and mail it to the
editor.
Plt'ar;e Refer to CRI~lE Volume 1. !\umbers 3 and 6 for l'SENET,
ARPAnet. CCCPrnail. and VRJ's Bulletin Board access information.

THE DEADLl:-':E FOR SVBMISSION OF ARTICLES FOR THE
Jl\EXT ISSVE IS February 24, 1988.

RHODE ISLAND DIGITAL DAY
PROVIDENCE MARRIOTI HOTEL
February 17. 1988
8:30-9:00

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00-9:05

Welcome
Robert C. Lamanna
Branch Sales Manager. Providence. Rhode Island
Digital Equipment Corporation

9:05-9: 15

Opening Remarks
Michael J. Marshall
Vice President Northeast Area Sales
Digital Equipment Corporation

9: 15-10: 15

"Distributed Data Processing as a Competitive Edge"
Amy Wohl
President
Wohl Associates. Incorporated

10: 15-10:30

Break

10:30-11:30

Panel Discussion
Moderator:
Fred Gould
Executive Sales Consultant
Digital Equipment Corporation
Panel Members:
Phillip O. Liebold
Corporate Director of Information Systems
EG&G. Incorporated
Darrell R. May
Vice President Information Services
Allendale Mutual Insurance Company
Amy Wohl
President
Wohl Associates. Incorporated

II :45-12:45

Lunch

12:45-3:45

Digital Product Overviews
All-In-One Office Systems
VAX System Management
CI M Overview
VAX Programmer Productivity Tools
VAX InformaliClIl Center Products
IBM Interconnect Product Set
To register. please contact Natalie Parece
R.S.V.P. hy February II, 1988
(401) 431-4118

The CRIME
The Newsletter of CRIMLU G
The

~onnecticut,

Rhode Island, Massachusetts DECUS Local Users Group

Volume 2, Number 3

March 1988

For information about CRIMLUG and The CRIME, contact Sam Whidden, American Mathematical Society, 201 Charles St.
P.O. Box 6248, Providence, RI 02940; (401)272.9500

[

Directions to Narragansett Bay
Commission, ~aste Water Treatment
Facility
Two Ernest Stre~t
P:-ovidence, R.I. 02905
(401)-277-6180

MEETINGS

By Barbara Horgan, Southeastern Massachusetts
Cniversity

MARCH

From route 95, exit at the Thurbers Ave exit. (Yes:
you're finally going to leave the roa.d at the infamous Thurbers Ave curve.) Follow the signs to AlIens Avenue (not Eddy Street). At the light at AlIens Avenue, turn right. Follow AlIens Ave for 1/2
mile to the intersection of Ernest St. Turn left at
that light. (Note that the Providence Public Works
building and the Prov Police horse garage are at this
corner as landmarks.) Follow Ernest St, past first
right and as road bears right, you'll see signs to the
Treatment Plant on the left. (Across the street from
Hudson Asphalt Company.) Park in the lot and the
conference room is on the second floor.

ME~TING

SYSTEM SECURITY

Wednesday, March 16, 1:00p.m.
Narraganse~t Bay Commission
Providence, R.I.
Our March meeting will deal with system security, a topic
that can cover a multitude of sins. We plan a presentation by Digital in two areas of security-government security requirements and products to enhance VMS security. Besides this presentation, some of our CRIMLUG
members will address physical security issues and discuss
VMS security hints. Those of us from an educational
environment can share stories and tips about security
problems with student hackers.

APRIL MEETING
STORAGE TECHNOLOGY
Wednesday, April 20, 1:00p.m.

1':arragansett Bay Commission
Providence, R.I.
1

The CRIME, Vol 2, No. 3

2

Our springtime topic will be an analysis of different kinds
of storage technology, both old and new. What is the best
medium for you? The evening's program will include
vendors' presentations on optical technology' alternatives
as well as a discussion of tape media by one or, more
of our CRIMLUG members. It should be an interesting
debate and discussion of storage options.

MAY MEETING
ELECTRONIC MAIL

Wednesday, May 25, 1:00p.m.
Narragansett Bay Commission
Providence, R.I.
Do you want to avoid telephone tag, correspond with
colleagues a<=.ross the cQuntryand the wQrld electronicall)', have access to on-line bulletin boards, newsletters
and discussion, groups on every conceivable technical and
not-so-technical topic? If so, global electronic mail is for
you. CRIML UG has members who are well versed in
the joys and difficulties of electronic mail and arf! willing
to share this knowledge with you at our May meeting.
Watch for details in the next few CRIME issues.

CRIMLUG MEETING DATES - 1988
1st
Jan

6

F~b

3
2
6
4
1

Mar
,Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

6

3
7
5
2
7

2nd
13
10

20-CRM
IT-CRM
I6-CRM
20-CRM

4th
27
24
23
27

lO-SYM
15

25-CRM
22-CRM

20-CRM
IT-CRM
2I-CRM

27
24
28

9

19-5YM
16

26-CRM
23-CRM

14

21-CRM

28

9
13
11
8
13
10
14

12

3rd

5th

30

29
31

30

Most meetings are on the THIRD Wednesday of
each month. In May, June, October, and November, we plan to meet on the FOURTH Wednesday of
the month. In ~1ay and October, the national DECUS Symposium falls during the third week, so we
shouldn't hold our LUG meeting on that Wednesday. Shifting the meeting one week later avoids that,
and lets us discuss the Symposium while it's fresh in
our minds, but means a short, 3-week gap between
it and the next month's meeting. If we also shift,the
next month's meeting one week later there's a four
week gap between all meetings (except for a fiveweek gap in Symposium months). Then we're left
only with the difficulty of remembering that four of
our meetings are not on the third \Vednesday.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR 1988
JUNE 22

- VAX/VMS Support and
Training
• VMS Version 5 ?
JULY 20
AUGUST 17
• Text Processing on the VA~
SEPTEMBER 21 - VAX Cluster Management
OCTOBER 26
- DECNET
~OVEMBER 23 - Software Services
DECEMBER 21 - AI/Expert Systems

VAX/VMS System
Management

By Nancy Kaull, American Mathematical Society
The following is a handy command procedure to do integer arithmetic and display the results as decimal, octal,
and hexidecimal numbers. It was taken from the Guide
to Lsing DCL and Command Procedures.

March 1988

$! CALC.CON
$!
$! If you enter an assignment statement,
$! then CALC. COM evaluates the
$' expression and assigns the result to
$! the symbol you specify. In the
$! next iteration, you can use either your
$! symbol or the .ymbol Q to
$! represent the current result.
$!
$! If you enter an expression, then CALC. CON
$! evaluates the expression
$' and assigns the result to the symbol Q.
$! In the next iteration, you
$' can use the symbol Q to represent the
$! current result
$!
$! Lexical function F$FAO formats ASCII output.
$! !SL converts longword to decimal
$! !XL converts longword to hex
$! !OL converts longword to octal
$!
when preceded ~y !-, it reuses the last
$!
argument
$! Q is the argument
$!
$ SAVE_VERIFY_lMAGE = F$ENVIRONMENT("VERIFY_lMAGE")
$ SAVE~VERlfY_PROCEDU~ = F$VERIFY(O)
$ START:
$ ON WARNING THEN GOTO START
$ INQUIRE STRING "Calc"
$ 'IF STRING ,EQS. 1111 THEN GOTO CLEAtCUP
$ IF F$LOCATE("=".STRING) .EQ. F$LENGTH(STRING) THEN GO TO EXPRESSION
$!
$ STATEMENT:
$ 'STRING'
$ SYMBOL = F$EXTRA.CT(O,F$LOCATE ("=",STRING)-l,STRING)
$ Q = 'SYMBOL'
$ LINE = F$FAO (IIDecimal = !SL Hex = !-!XL Octal = !-!OL".Q)
$ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT LINE
$ GOTO START
$!
$ EXPRESSION:
$ Q = F$INTEGER('STRING')
$ LINE = F$FAO (IIDecimal = !SL Hex = !-!XL Octal = !-!OL",Q)
$ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT LINE
$ GOTO START
$!
$ CLEAN_UP:

3
$ SAVE_VERIFY_PROCEDURE = F$VERIFY(SAVE_VERIFY_PROCEDURE,SAVE_VERIFY_lNAGE)
$ EXIT

NetWorks

Welcome to the New Editor!
Introducing our new NetWorks Editor, Bob Heroux!
Bob will welcome submissions from our readers that pertain to Network issues. Here is how he can be reached:
Bob Heroux
Augat, Inc.
40 Perry Avenue
Attleboro, MA 02703
(617)222-2202 X2449
Of course, you may continue to make submissions directly to The CRIAfE via the CRIM~VG account or email, which we will forwe.rd to Bob. I just happen to have
two IU'ticles here for this month, both by LL'G members!
Karen Goldsmith

Re: DECNET Phase V
By Betsy Ramsey
American Mathematical Society
Quoting from Digita.l publication "DECnet Digital Network Architecture (Phase V)" (Order No. EK-DNAPVGD, copyright Sept 1987 by DEC), which describes D~A
as developed by DEC,
"In keeping with the goals of DNA, a system which implements Phase V is fully able to communicate with a Phase
IV system. A Phase IV network can be migrated gradually to Phase V without requiring closely synchronized
changes to multiple systems. All of the protocols used
in Phase IV are included in Phase V systems, although
in many cases they will be used only for communcation
with Phase IV systems. To the user of a DECnet ne~­
work, the change from Phase IV to Phase V will not be
apparent, excevt that the new functions of Phase V will
gradually become available."

The CRIAIE, Vol 2, No. 3

4

The document doesn't say anything about Phase III, but
I assume that Phase III hosts will not be able to communicate directly with a Phase V host, although they
should be able to go through a Phase IV host to a Phase
V host.

Getting From Here To There On The
GTE DECnet Engineering Computer
Network
By David Moore
GTE Government Systems
This article briefly describes the GTE Government Systems DECnet network. The system connects the Government Systems facilities in Massachusetts, California,
and Maryland. There are over 95 nodes defined in this
network.
The first step in connecting any physical location with
another is the selection of the method of communication.
This can be in the form of Fiber optics, Microwave, Tl,
or any validly configured leased telephone line. GTE uses
a mixture of all of these.
Generally a Tl connection is the best sel~ction for high
volume traffic, but if you can't afford the expense, then
a 9.6 baud leased line is generally sufficient.
Within the GTE EC~, we have defined a master router
in Billerica Massachusetts. This VAX essentially is the
point where all the communlcations lines end up. This
defines a star network for the :\ew England area and adds
the out-of-state nodes as a matter of convenience.
The network supports several different communications
packages. In addition to DECnet, there is JNET for
VAX to IBM communication, and SMTP (Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol) for sending mail over ARPANET. We
are currently reviewing rCp lIP software and will probably be installing it soon. This will allow us to support
most CAD/CAM systems, such as the APOLLO or Silicon Graphics Machines.
One can send mail over JNET to someone on an IBM
system by defining a logical such as:
$define MICKEY" Jnet%GTESSD::TS17034"
This indicates to the mail facility that the IBM user
TS17034 on node GTESSD using Jnet is to be the recipient.
To send mail to our DEC representative over ARPANET,
we route through a system using SMTP. Thus you can
define a logical as before:

$ define GOLD SMTPN:: """KHG%Math%AMS.COM@CSNET-RELAY.CSNET"""

This is a more complicated routing. It defines the DECNET node SMTPN as the router which will pass the
message on to Karen Goldsmith at the ARPANET address noted. This capability allows us to access anyone
on ARPANET, such as Universities or other companies.
Finding out their address is the tricky part.
Internal to GTE Government Systems we support local area networks using DEC LAT, Ungermann-Bass, or
3COMM Bridge. Thus .at each site hundreds of users are
able to access the computers and laser printers throughout GTE. Most communications vendors support multiple protocols on the Ethernet, so you are able to mix
XNS, TCP lIP, and DECnet traffic. This allows us to
use the same ethernet cable to support terminals, laser
printers, and the computers.
Our primary protocol is DECnet. ~ot only does it most
closely meet the ISO standards, but many vendors are
now providing DECnet software for their systems. Even
our AI machines from Symbolics support DECnet. For
those of you with IBM PC's! there is even DECnet-DOS.
Managing this large network requires very little intervention on our part. The most common problem is with
the telephone line or modem. \Ve intend to add another
communications connection (probably Tl) to make our
star configuration more of a ring, thus alJowing us an
alternative path when one of the other lines is down.
Of course, DECnet provides t~ ability to weight the cost
of using different lines so that "the traffic will travel the
least expensive path.

Security

Fixing Security Bug in eMU TCP lIP
By Mike Russell (russell@csc.brown.edu)
Center for Scientific Computation
Box 1971 - Brown University
(401) 863-2617
CMU's TCP lIP has a bug which will allow full access
to any system it is running on and ANY OTHER SYSTEMS you are DEC~etted to if you have DECNet pnjXies set up. The following is a description of the steps

..Warch 1988

needed to get around the bug. The bug is not actually
fixed, but it is prevented from occuring. I won't describe
the bug, but if you are interested in finding it, the steps
for the fix should give you a good clue as to what the bug
is. The bug is found in versions 6.2 of IPACP and 2.5
of FTP. It is probably in previous versions also, but I've
not checked. Both pieces of software combine to create
the bug, so I don't know what will happen with fixes in
future versions. However, CMU has said they will fix it
in the next release. First, you need to add an account to
the UAF (I've used the name TCPRUNNER) similar to
this:
ADD TCP _RUNNER/DEFPRIV=(CMKRNL,DETACH,LOG -10, ACNT, SETPRV, TMPMBX,NETMBX)jUIC=[200,202]
You can specify any password you want for the account
because it will only be used to run a batch job from the
SYSTEM account. The UIC should preferably have a
group number which no one else on the system has. You
can create a home directory and define the directory if
you want to keep logs of the batch submittal. If you
are concerned with someone logging in interactively to
the account, you could make it captive and create a LOGIN.COM file which logs out if the job is not of type
BATCH.
~ext,

you have to modify the file IPSTARTUP.COM
which should be in the directory SYSS~1A~AGER. First,
cut the multiple lines with the Rl..JN command on them
and paste them into another file (TCPSTART.COM),
Then~ after the line which defines the logical for I!'TER~ETHOST~AME~ add the following line:
SCBMIT /:\OKEEP /~OPRISTER /VSER=TCP -RUr\~ER
SYSSMANAGER:TCP ~TART
That's it. I hope I've not overlooked anything, but this
should certainly plug one security hole. Whether there
are any more bugs in the· CMU software, I don't know.
If you have any questions, feel free to call or write.

5

Set Wat·ch File/Class=blah
By Genard K. Newman (gkn@M5.Sdsc.EDV)
San Diego Supercomputer Center,
P.O. Box 85608,
San Diego, CA 92138-5608

Extracted from article 4163 of the Usenet newsgroup
comp.os. vms by Don Borsay
Someone in a DEC Perf Mgmt class told me about
an undocumented (and unsupported) VMS command.
Type SET WATCHjCLASS=ALL FILE. Disable with
SET WATCHjCLASS=NOALL FILE. With WATCH
enabled, VMS will show your file accesses, reads, writes,
XQP info and some other details. Enjoy.
This has been in VMS for some time (since V 4.2 or thereabouts, as I recall).
a) You must have mucho privilege for it to work - probably C~fKRNL.
CMEXEC will suffice. SETWATCH.EXE simply sets
a few bits in the high byte of PIOSGW -DFPROT in
your PI space. I don't install SET\VATCH.EXE with
CMEXEC around here since the only people who would
have any use for it already have enoush privilege.
The valid keywords for tOhe IClass qualifier are:
C~o) All - All operations
(No)Attributes - File attribute operations
(No)ControLFunction - Control functions
(~o)Directory _Operations - Directory operations
(~o)Dump - Dump the FIB
(~o)Attached - Vnused
(No)Major - Major operations (access, deaccess, lookup)
(No)Quota_Operations - Quota operations
None - None of the above

All is very verbose, Major is usually sufficient. This command mimics the SET WATCH FILES command from
the Tops-IO operating system. The one thing it's missing is telling you the directory an accessed file is in. The
reason for this is that by the time the XQP (which is
what's reporting all of this info, by the way) gets around
to telling you about something it's really operating by
file ID. Oh well.

Programmers' Workbench
By Karen Goldsmith, American Mathematical
Society

RE: RE: What is SDL?
By Eckart Meyer
(I7100501@DBSTUl.BITNET)
Inst. f. Nachrichtentechnik,

The CRIAIE, Vol 2, No.' 3

6

Technical University of Braunschweig,
G~rmany

Extracted from Article 4317 of the Usenet newsgroup
comp.os. vms by Don Borsay
People having the VWS Software (Workstation) do have
SDL programs for FORTRAN, MACRO, PASCAL, C,
BLISS and PL /1. Get SDL'" .EXE from the .A saveset
and SDLV3.CLD. Then type
$ SET COMMAND SDLV3
$ SDL/NOPARSE/LANG=language sdLfile outpuLfile

Be sure to use SDLNPARSE from the VWS-Kit since
this. seems to be another Version than the one from VMS
4.5.
Language is BLISS,CC,FORTRAN,MACRO,PASCAL
or PLI.
I extracted 'all modules from STARLETSD.TLB and
used SDL to convert them into .H files for the Clanguage (LANG=CC).

SEND_NAIL. CON
$ DEFINE/user sys$input crimlug:yea.dat
$ mail/subject="test" 'pi' ""p2'"
$ exit
'.
YES.DAT
y

From DSIN:
I found out from DSIN that one way to send mail to
all the users in the same group is to set ACL's on the
common mail directory.

$SET FlLE/ACL=(IDENTIFIER=[group,*],OPTION=DEFAULT, ACCESS=READ+WRITE+DELETE+CONTROL)[OOOOOO]common_dir.DIR
$SET FlLE/ACL=(IDENTIFIER=[group,*],ACCESS=CONTROL+READ+WRITE+DELETE) [OOOOOO]common_dir.DIR
If there is already an existing MAIL file or files, the ad

~______I_ri_p_u_t/_o__u_tp_u_t______~1
Input/Output presents u!lers' questions, answers, and ahort notes
describing problems or techniques of general interest, or letters on
any relevant topic. If you have such an item, send it to the Editor
for Input/Output.

needs to be set on them also.
Each member of the group will be notified that they have
new rflail. The drawba.ck to "his is that after the first user
accesses! the mail, the other users must do a READ /
NEW n times to remove the "you have n new mail messages", and then they have to SELECT ~IAIL to read
the mail.
From Don Borsay:

Response to MAIL question at
CRIMLUG Meeting
By David Moore, GTE
Question: How can I send mail in a batch file to a list of
users in a distribution list when the list may not be upto-date? ..\fAIL aborts because it wants to know whether
you wish to send the message even though the distribution list is wrong.
Answer:
From Mike Russell: Write a data file which contains
only the answer yes, then invoke your command file as
follows:

$submit send_mail/params=(file,"ldiat_liat")

Sset noverify
$!' ! , " ,! ,! ,! , ! ! , !! ! ! , !! , ! , (!! !!!! ! ! !! !
$!

$! This command procedure allow. one
$! to send mail to multiple user. even
$! if·some of tho.e u.ers no longer
$! exist. It i. especially us.ful when
$' used in a batch job that executes
S' at night.
$.et noon
$ if pi .eqs. "" .or.p2 .eq •. "" then goto noparm.
$ open/read/error=erropen infile 'pi'
• loop:
.
$ re.d/end=done/error=done infile line
$mail/subject=lItest" 'p2' 'line'
$ goto loop
$ done:
$ close infile
$ exit

Afarch 1988

$
$
"
$
$
$
$
$

noparms:
write sys$output Parm1 - File containing list of addressees"
write aya$output " Parm2 - File to be sent"
exit
erropen:
write sys$output "Error opening ".p1
exit

Experiences with Digidata '8 Gigastore
By Bart Zorn (BART@HDETt:D53.BITNET)
Delft University of Technology,
Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
P.O. Box 5031, NL - 2600 GA Delft
Extracted from Article 4193 of the Usenet newsgroup
camp. as. vms by Don Borsay

\Ve have tested the Digidata Gigastore unit on the following configuration:
VAXll/750: FPA, 8Mbyte memory,
C1750, HSC50, 2 * RA81, 1 * RA60
Emulex TC7000, Cipher M990
DEC:,\A: D~F32, RL211, 2 ,. RL02, LPn
CB :\IC-D:\1F, Excelan EXOS 204 TCP lIP controller.
\Vhen used with the Dilog tapecoupler wich was delivered with the video tape unit, an U~Ibus interface
which emulates the DEC TSll tapeunit, and the also
supplied modified TSDRIVER.EXE the subsystem performed very well. This driver is installed using VMS INSTAL. Glancing throug KITI~STAL.COM learned that
Digidata expects this driver to break with VMS V5.x!
The first experiment was a repeated backup of the RA60
disk which was 85times on one E-180 VHS cartridge. Average time needed for one backup was 35 minutes, i.e. 290
Mb per hour. BACKUP qualifiers used were: /IMAGE/
BCFF=5/~OCRC/GROUP=0/BLOCK=32768.
This
test was done during night hours with a lightly loaded
system.
The second experiment was a full restore of one of the
created backup's from the previous test. During normal daily operations this took 90 minutes, almost three
times as much as the correspondig backup. No errors
were signaled. The video unit had to do a short rewind
to reposition the tape quite a lot of times, which will
probably explain the extra time needed.
The third experiment was a nightly backup of all three
disk units. The following is an extract from the logfile:

7

$ SET NOON
$ SHOW TINE
14-JAN-1988 23:26:26
$ ALLOCATE MSAO:
%DCL-I-ALLOC. _TUDEDV$MSAO: allocated
$ INIT MSAO: TEST03
$ SHOW TIME
14-JAN-1988 23:32:34
$ MOUNT/FOR/NOASSIST MSAO:
%MOUNT-I-MOUNTED. TEST03 mounted on _TUDEDV$MSAO:
$ SHOW TIME
14-JAN-198823:33:16
$ BACKUP/lMAGE/BUFF=6/FAST $1$DUAO: MSAO:DUAO.BCK/NOCRC/GROUP=0/BLOCK=3216B
$ SHOW TIME
16-JAN-1988 00:66:00
$ BACKUP/lMAGE/BUFF=6/FAST $1$DJA1: MSAO:DJA1.BCK/NOCRC/GROUP=0/BLOCK=3216B
$ SHOW TIME
16-JAN-19B801:29:48
$ BACKUP/lMAGE/BUFF=6/FAST $1$DUA2: MSAO:DUA1.BCK/NOCRC/GROUP=0/BLOCK=32768
$ SHOW TIME
16-JAN-1988 01:63:68
$ SET MAGTAPE/REWIND MSAO:
$ SHOW TIME
16-JAN-l08B 01:66:63
$ BACKUP/LIST=NLAO: MSAO:*.*
$ SHOW TIME
16-JAN-1088 04:09:64
$ SET MAGTAPE/REWIND MSAO:
$ SHOW TIME
16-JAN-l08B 04:11:24
$ DISMOUNT/UNLOAD MSAO:
$ DEALLOCATE MSAO:
$ EXIT
SYSTEM job terminated at 16-JAN-1988 04:11:26.07
Accounting information:
Buffered I/O count:
61021
Peak working set size:
919
Direct I/O count:
121216
Peak page file size:
142B
Page faults:
1314
Mounted volumes:
1
Charged CPU time:
o 00:31:16.43
Elapsed time:
o 04:46:06.01

The CRI!vIE, Vol 2, .'\io. 3

8

Disk statistics vere:

Disk

Free
blocks

$1$DUAO: 214440
$1$DJA1: 68634
$1$DUA2: 604587

Allocated Total
blocks
blocks

---------

676632
331642
286485

891072
400176
891072

Percent
allocated

--------75.9
82.8
32.1

------

------

=======

=====

887661

1294659

2182320

59.3

We used BACKUP/LIST as verification as recommended
by Digidata which also used almost twice as much time
as the corresponding backup. I did not try a BACKUP/
VERIFY because this would be rather useless on a running system anyway.
Conclusion: the Gigastore unit provides an excellent solution to the growing problem of backing up several hundreds of megabytes. Speed and capacity of the unit are
very good. We will order one!
We tried to connect the Gigastore to our Emulex TC7000
tape coupler, which emulates a massbus adapter and uses
the pertec interface to the tapedrive{s). This combination wouldn't work. Either the TC7000 didn't see the
Gigastore (configured as unit #1), or the 7S0 didn't see
the TC7000 at all. We decided not to bother al'id use the
TSII emulation, which suits our requirements very well.

1. DECUS (V-SP-24) PortaCalc (AnalytiCalc), 4/
86, BACKUP format, Order (lE20) - one 2400 ft/
1600 BPI tape;

. 2. DECDS (V-SP-46) Symposia - VAX SIG, Spring/
8S, BACKUP format, Order (lE26,lE27) - two
2400 ft /1600 BPI tapes;
3. DECUS (V-SP-49) Symposia - VAX SIG, Fall/85,
BACKUP format, Order (lE28,lE29) - two 2400
ft /1600 BPI tapes;
4. DECUS (V-SP-S3) KERMIT Distribution,
Spring/87, BACKUP format, Order (lE33) - one
2400 ft /1600 BPI tape;
5. DECUS (V-SP-64) Symposia - VAX SIG, Spring/
87, BACKUP format, Order (lE30,lE31) - two
2400 ft /1600 BPI tapes;
6. DECUS (V-SP-6S) Symposia - RSX SIG, Spring/
87, BRU format, Order (lE19) - one 2400 ft /1600
BPI tape;
7. Symposia - U~IX SIG, Spring/87, TAR format,
Order (lE34) - one 2400 ft /1600 BPI tape;
8. Usenet MOD.SOURCES Archive, .~fay /87, TAR
format, Order (lE3S) - one 2400 ft /1600 BPI
tape;
9. Symposia - Languages and Too~s SIG, 86.
BACKUP form8.t~ Order (lC2a) - one 2400 ft !
6250 BPI tape, Order (IC29,lC30.1C31) - three
2400 ft /1600 BPI tapes;
10. DECUS (11-SP-97) Symposia - RT SIG, Spring/
87, RT format, Order (lE32) - one 2400 ft " 1600
BPI tape;

The Library

The Tape Librarian's report
By Don Borsay, Raytheon Submarine Signal Division

11. DECCS (VAX-68) Archive, August/83, BACKCP
format, Order (lE38) - one 600 ft ,1600 BPI tape;
12. DECDS (VAX-148) DELTREE, Sept/8S,
BACKUP format, Order (lE37) - one 600 ft
1600 BPI tape;

I

13. DECUS (VAX-ISO) EVE/Plus, Oct/8S, BACKCP
format, Order (lE39) - one 600 ft /1600 BPI tape;
14. DECUS (VAX-IS3) Decrypter/Encrypter, Dec/
85, BACKUP format, Order (lE36) - one 600 ft /
1600 BPI tape;

·The CRIMLUG Tape Library is a collection of tapes the
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts (DECUS) Local Vsers Group requests from the main DECUS Program Library, was well as assorted user contributions.
Tape copy requests will be accepted for any tapes in
the CRIMLUG Tape Library, with no cost to CRIMLUG
members, o~her than postage. The following is a listing
of what is in the Library.
~o.

Description

15. Pascal Memo Distribution Facility (PMDF) 2.4,
Jul/87, BACKUP format, Order (lC32) - one
1200 ft /1600 BPI tape;
16. DECUS (VAX-LIB-5) VAX Library Collection
#S, BACKUP format, Order (?) - one 2400 ft /
1600 BPI tape;
17. DECUS (V-SP-32) SOS Editor for VAX/VMS,
BACKUP format, Order (7) - one 600 ft /1600
BPI tape;

.~farch

1988

9

18. DEeus (VAX-165) DATMAN/VAX, BAC1\UP
format, Order (?) - one 600 ft /1600 BPI tape;
All DECUS entries are available from the DEeUS Program Library, and should be documented in "U.S.
Chapter DECUS Program Library SOFTWARE ABSTRACTS" catalog. The local entries are documented in
a handout, available from the Tape Librarian. To order
a tape, call me at (401) 847-8000 x3867, or send e-mail
to "d2b@sgfa.RAY.COM(Qa.cs.uiuc.edu".

LUG Affairs

CRIMLUG NEWS

SEeman Speaks
By Frank Laffey, Narragansett Bay Commission

Our Steering Committee has met twice since our elections and I'm going to give you a quick summary of the
results of bot h of those meetings together.
1. Sam Whidden, CHRman and Karen Gold-

smith, EDTper are going to rectify our problems
with timely delivery of THE CRIME by moving us
up to first class (must be in the front row) mail as
soon as the budget permits.
2. Meetings will be held at Narragansett Bay Commission treatment facility until at least the summer
(after which the bouquet of waste water treatment
may cause us to wish we were in Olneyville). Our
standard agenda will be 15 minutes for business,
15 minutes for a clinic, our program with Q &
A, and finally BOF's (birds of a feather) for any
issues raised at the clinic which cannot be handeled briefly or for any other matters which could
or should be discussed by our membership.
3. A concern was expressed by the Committee that
we were imposing on DEC by having them come
up with most of our featured speakers and if we
keep going to the DEC well, it will be dry when
we really need a voice from them. We're going to
let DEeman, Dave Borges use his discretion, but

if anyone knows of resources which might be available to address some of our selected agenda items
(Barbara Horgan, DEPchr can give you a rundown) in the upcoming months, let us know. If you
come up with the resources, you'll be drafted as the
coordinator for that meeting and have the singular
privilege of attending a Steering Committee meeting.
4. Bob Sand, URIguy is taking over our Glossary,

Crimline, Master's, Help effort and he'll be on
the Steering Committee. With regard to the Help
Glossary, one of the primary functions of the LUG
is to be a resource to those of us who have a issue
which must be addressed. I for one, run a COBOL
shop and have a fair amount of experience with
that language. I have also become fairly familiar
with Datatrieve. Now, I've been reluctant to classify myself as a Master because of the implication
that I know more than the rest of us about these
languages and that just isn't the case. What I have
come to realize is that I may have used the language
to address a similar problem to the one you may
be encountering. Even if I'm still wrestling with
the problem, you might be able to benefit from my
(or my staff's) research and me from yours. So,
I'm going to put myself down .as a COBOL master. even though I'm better at gi'ant slalom, so thd
you and I can share our experience. I hope that
you'll be willing to approach our Master's list from
a similar perspective. Don Borsay, LIBman has
proposed we develop some special interest groups
and we hope that such a program will evolve from
some of our Ma.ster's taking a lead.
5. Bob Heroux, AUGman will be writing a

~etwork

column for our newsletter and focusing those interested in the subject. He will also be on the Steering
Committee.
6. For those of you who missed it, here's an important
address;
International Rainbow User's Group
PO Box 567
O'Fallon, IL 62269
By the way, I just received a letter from them regarding some hard disk handling flaws in version
2.05, 2.11 and 3.1 of ~tS-DOS and a partial fix.
I'll bring a copy of the release notes for the fix to
our next meeting or you can call me at 401-2776680 and I'll send you a copy. If you want to bring
a floppy to the next meeting, I'll be DEPlib and
make you a copy of what I have. Well King, this
case is closed, so its TTFN from Frank Laffey,
SECman.

The CRIME, Vol 2, No. 3

10

CRIMLUG Represented at Digital
Day
By Carol A. Farrell,
American Mathematical Society
CRIMLUG was represented by Brenda Hopkins and
Carol A. Farrell at the Providence Marriott during'
Digital Day in Rhode Island. We camped out at a table
outside Digital's presentation rooms for the afternoon.
Dave Borges, our Digital Rep and one of those responsible for the Digital Day effort, introduced us to other
sales representatives and informed them of our availability to answer all questions concerning the LUG. We spoke
to users and non-users of Digital Equipment who were attracted by our "Scene of the CRIME" poster (see back
page) and explained the opportunities and advantages
of being a member of a LUG. We distributed quite a
few CRIME newsletters and DECUS membership forms,
and signed up new CRIM.L UG members. Sales representatives took information away with them for their customers and hopefully we'll get additional feedback for
the LUG through them.

DEeDS u.s. Chapter.
Spring '88 Symposium
Hotel Reservation Form
At the end of this issue you can find the hotel registration form for the upcoming Symposium in Cincinnati
this May. They must be returned by April 22, 1988, but
as rooms are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis,
don't delay!

The CRIME

CRIMLUG Steering Committee:
• LUG Chairman-Sam Whidden, American
Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500, sbw@math.ams.com
• Vice-Chair-Barbara Horgan, Southeastern
Massachusetts University, (617)999-8529,
bhorgan@umass.bitnet
• Librarian-Don Bora".y, Raytheon' Company,
(401)847-8000 X3867, d2b%sgfa.ray.comGa.cs.uiuc.edu

Policy for Submission of Articles To
The CRI.\fE
\\Te strongly encourage the submission of articles for
monthly publication in The CRIME. These may be
original pieces, questions/answers on technical topics, editorials (opinions on other technical issues,
reviews of other articles, etc) or reprinted material from SIG ~ewslet.ters, Bulletin Boards, or other
media sources. It is important to remember that
the contributors of reprinted articles must obtain
permission from the author or publication where it
originally appeared, as some bulletin boards carry
articles that have not been graced with author approval. The information we distribute through this
newsletter is vital to the success of The CRIME.
Please contribute, but bear in mind the above policy on articles that you do not author.

Karen Goldsmith

• Secretary-Frank Laffey, Narragansett Bay
Commission, (401)277-6680
• Newaletter Editor-Karen Goldsmith. American
Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500. khg~math.ams.com
• Membership Coordinator-Carol A. Farrell,
American ~h.thematical Society, (401)2i2-9500,
cafCmath.ams.com
• CrimliDe Coordinator-Bob Sand, l"niversity of
Rhode Island, (401 )792-6266
• Chair - NetWorks spedal intereat group-Bob
Heroux, Augat, Incorporated, (617)222.2202 X2449
• Chair - PC apedal interelt group--David Moore,
GTE G ovemment Systems, (617)870-4636
smoore%capvax%gte.labs.canet@relay.cs.net

Allodate Editor. of The CRIME:
• MEETINGS-Barbara Horgau, Southeastern
Massachusetts University, (617)999-8529,
bhorgan Oumass. bitnet
• DEC TALKS!-Dave Borges, Digital Equipment
Corp., (401)431-4149
• The Library-Don Borlay, Raytheon Company,
(401)847-8000 X3867, d2b%sgfa.ray.comOa.C8.uiuc.edu

REGIONAL LUG NEWS

• Programmers Workbench-Karen Goldlmith,
American Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500,
khgOmath.ama.com

March 1988

• VAX/VMS System Management-Nancy Kaull.
American Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500,
ngkCmath.ams.com
• LUG Affairs-Sam Whidden, American Mathematical
Society, (401)272-9500. abwOmath.ams.com
• Input/Output-Don Bonay, Raytheon Submarine
Signal Division, (401)847-8000 X3867,
d2b%sgfa.ray.comCa.cs.uiuc.edu
• NetWorks-Bob Heroux, Augat, Incorporated,
(617)222-2202 X2449
• AI-Duane Coata, University of Rhode Island,
(401)792-5080
• Who Are WeT-Carol A. Farrell, American
Mathematical Society, (401)272-9500, cafOmath.ams.com

THIS IS THE

Additional Alllociate Editors are lought to gather and lupervile
material for departments of their choosing in The CRIME. Material
must be relevant to the needs of userl of DEC hardware or software.
Contact the Editot.

The CRIME is typeset and produced at the American Mathematical Society. To facilitate electronic contributions, AMS has established an account on its VAX/VMS system with telephone number
(401)861-7800, username CRIMLUG, and password CRIMINAL.
After you dial the number and get a CONNECT response, bit return until you get a 'username>' prompt. Here type your own
naJDe then bit return to get a 'local>' prompt. Type 'connect vax',
and., in response to the next prompts, the username CRIMLUG and
the password CRI~INAL.
This account permits only a few instructions, but it will allow you
. ·to type in or Kermit in an article and then mail it to 'CRIME'.
You'll get instructions on line. Be aware that any files you create
are deleted when you log o.ut, 110 you can't return to an editing
session. If you have Kermit, it's best to get the article in final
shape on your sYlltem, then transfer it to A.'AS and mail it to the
editor.
Please Refer to CRIME Volume 1, Numbers 3 and 6 {or USENET,
ARPAnet, UUCPmail, and URI's Bulletin Board access information.
THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ARTICLES FOR THE
~EXT ISSuE IS March 23, 1988.

Digital Days Poster
Created by
Karen Goldsmith and Tom Hicks,
American Mathematical Society

SCENE OF

...-

t:

'OCQJS
DICiITAL EQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIE1V

STAMFORD LUG NEHS

Vol. 4, No. 5

LAST MONTH'S MEETING
Last month's meeting was sponsored, in a manner
of
speakinq, by Diqital Equipment Corp. Unfortunately, we did not
qet anyone from field service; instead, Mr. Kyrytschenko spent
the
eveninq
talkinq about VAXsim.
About sixteen people
attended.
NEXT MEETING AT

STAMFORD ADVOCATE. ,

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY.il..&. 1988, 6:30 P.M.
Our next meetinq will be held at the Stamford Advocate, 75
Tresser Blvd., Stamford.
Someone from EHC Corp.
will be
speakinq to us about optical disk technology. This should be a
fairly useful introduction for many of us, since DEC is rumored
to be distributInq VMS on optIcal media 1n the near future.
This technoloqy may prove useful in the future for such
applications as hypertext publication and distribution of of
massive volumes of data, such as financial market histories.

COMING ATTRACTIONS
In March, so.eone froa DEC will talk about & new net~ork1nq
fac1l1ty called PAHS, which was "initially developed for VAX/VMS
and DECnet-VAX.
It 1s architected for wide-area, resource
transparent,. efficient messaq1nq." Beyond that, it was developed
here in our district. For more information, see the 1986 DECUS
paper titled "Developinq a Messaqe Bus for VMS H1qh Speed Task
to Task Communicat1ons," or better yet, attend the meet1nq.
Suqqest~ens for meetinq top1cs are
always welcome.
We'd
like to qet a well balanced proqram set up to cover both
technical and non-technical areas, in order to offer somethinq
to people with all levels of interest. If you have any ideas,
please tell us about them at a meet1nq.

WE NEED MEEI'ING SITES!

1 1

He are always in need of meeting sites! In part this is
because a greaterpercerttage uf our attendees come from sites
not located in the Stamford area, leaving us with few possible
local sponsors.
I
don't want to always rely on the Stamford
Advocate when in a pinch, so if you can sponsor a meeting,
please call me (Jerry Oberle) at 203 / 357-8800 ext. 261. All
we need is a room large enough to accomodate 20-25 people, and
some coffee and light refreshments in the evening on the second
Thursday of any month.
DIRECTIONS
From North:

From ·South:

Take I95 Exit 7 (Atlantic Street), go straight to
the third light which is next to the train station.
Right on to Washington Boulevard. The Advocate is
on your left at the corner of Washington and
Tresser Boulevards, across from the round apartment
buildings.
Take I95 Exit 8 (Atlantic Street), go straight and
turn
left
at
the
second light (Washington
Boulevarq>. Go under the overpass and down through
three lights. The Advocate 1s on your left at the
corner of Washing-ton and Tresser Boulevards, across
from the round apartment buildings.

DIRECTORY SEARCH STRINGS
by John Babiarz
Those who work on MS-DOS machines should be familiar with
the "Path" statement. IThe "Path" command is valid only for
execution (as opposed tb~~data file access), and works as
follows:
1.

Your current default directory is searched for a . BAT, .EXE
or .COM file having the name of the command given (e.g., if
you give the command FOOBAR, MS-DOS
will
look
for
FOOBAR.BAT, FOOBAR.EXE, and FOOBAR.COM in your current
default directory).

2.

If such a file cannot be found, then the parameters of the
"Path" command are searched until a file with the specified
name 15 found, or until all parameters in the path command
are exhausted (which results in a "file not found" error).

In the VAX/VMS environment, things work a little bit
differently.
A logical name, called a search list, is defined.
Uril'ik~i ts MS-DOS' cQunferpart, 'we can use' the
search _list for
both programs a,nd data. _ 'The format"of the "Define".command is
shown below.

DEFINE logicalname string_I, strinq_2, ...

, string_n

For example
$ DEFINE TEST_DIR USER_DISK:[JBABIARZ.TESTJ, [-],.[-.SOURCEJ, [-.JUNK]
.

Based on the above definition, the
Test_Dir" would display:
TEST_OIR

DeL

command

"Show

Logical

= USER_DISK:[JBABIARZ.TESTJ
=[-J
=[-.SOURCEJ
=[-.TESTJ

RMS does all the work of translation. Remember that when
opening
a
file
for
write
access
(e.g.,
Edit/tpu
Test_Dir:Test.txt), all directories are searched first until the
file, if any, is found. A new file will be created in the first
directory in the search list if no existing file is found.
(Ed.
note:
on some version of VMS earlier than 4.5, EDT created the
file in the LAST directory in the sea'rch list, if it didn' t
already exist, but that appears to have been corrected.)
For the sake of discussion, let's assume that the following
directories exist:
USER_DISK: [JBABIARZ]
USER DISK:[JBABIARZ.TESTJ
USER=DISK:[JBABIARZ.SOURCEJ

USER_DISK: [JBABIARZ. SYSTEMJ
Assume further that the current default directory is
USER_DISK: [JBABIARZ.SYSTEMJ.
When you issue the command
$ DIRECTORY TEST_DIR:*

the following action occurs:
1.

The directory utility passes the
file
specification,
including the logical name Test_Dir, to the RMS Search
service, which begins logical name translation.

2.

All files in
displayed.

3.

All files in the directory just "above" the current default
are displayed, as a result of the U[_]" specification in the
search list definition.
In this example, the files in
USER_DISK:CJBABIARZJ-are"displayed.

the

directory

4.: - All files- in -the- d~ir~ct-ory

USER_DISK:[JBABIARZ.TESTJ

are

are

-displayed._
5.

The directory utility attempts to display all files in the
directory USER_DISK:CJBABIARZ.JUNKJ.
However, nothing is
displayed because this directory does not exist.
Note,
however, that no error (such as directory not found) is
signalled, because the search list specification located at
least one file.

This is, of course, only one example of using search lists.
If you have any questions, please feel free to drop a line.
(Ed.
note.
This article was
reproduced
with
the
permission of the Connecticut Valley Local Users' Group, for
which John is a reqular contributor.
He writes a column
entitled "Ask the VAX Wizard". If any of you want to contact
John, his address is John Babiarz, clo System Support Services,
P.O. Box 793, Southington, CT 06489.)

DIGITAL eQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY

Vol. 4, No.1

t~st .onth, larry Michaels and ~alter Stutz.an frOM Oiqital
Equipment Corp.
gave a presentation at the DIgital Suslness
Center on PAftS. PAMS basically does for Inter-urocess peer to
peer co.municataon vhat qH5 does for file 110: It provides a
unifor. Interface .echanis. vhlch aoes not vary with the
unaerlylng hardware configuration.
Tn other words9 if an
appl ication is coded to run on a slnqle processor using, for
example, v~s ~al lboxes, an exoanslon of the application to
OECnet over several
hosts
~ould
require
changing
the
appl ication.
~oreover9
a straight switch over to DE'net would
not be the .ost optl.al choice for co.munications
a.ong
pro~esses executing on the saMe .achine.

PA"S provides a solution to this type of proble..
Tne
appl ication can be coded to hanole the PAH5 Interface, and PA~S
_1.1 take care of all the n~tvork Interface work. if necessary,
selecting the .ost opta.al transport .echanls. for the type of
link desired. tn so.e cases, PAftS v.11 actually bypass DECnet,
for exa.ole, and i use lo~er level ethernet protocols to effect
faster com.unlcatlens.
PAMS is also supoorted for .any trpes of operating syste-s.
jnc'uding so.e impre~entatlons tor 81g blue configurations. If
~~U need to do any taSk to task ~ork, look Into this productl

....

•••

••••
••

By popular demand, we are having another dinner .eeting.
"anero's caMe up as a sugq~~teG location several times, so we're
giving It a try. The dinner viii be '18.00 ($1&.95 for the
_eat, and ~1.05 per o~rson (to make It a nice, round nu.ber) to
cover the cost of the roo., which Is S£OJ.
The dinner ~II'

tedtute a choice of filet Mignon, Chicken Florentine, or ~resh
fish, with potato9 salad, aopetlzer and desert. It you ~ant to
arjnk9 you'l, be buying your o~n.
This month,
w~'11
talk
about
another
aspect
of
networklnq.Haroldo ~Illjams has had some experiences with VftS
X.25 PSI, which he's offered to share with us.
X.25 Is the
protocol used by most pUblic' data networks, such as Tymnet,
Telenet an~ Coapuserve, and P5I
is OEC's supported, layered
product used to interface wIth these services.
In cases where an organization has _any users scattered
over- a wide geographic area, but doesn't require a lot of
connect tl.e, X.l5 nets may be a practical and cos t e ff ect I we
means to qet tne& on line.
In adaltlon, X.25 links can be used as DfCnet transports.
and the~ can even be usea to link your VAX to other types of
systems.
Come get a great meal.
networking at the same time!

,

and

Increase

your

knowledge

of

kDt11~ !I!R!~!l!Jl1~

We're all anxjou~lv waltln~ for DEC tu take the wraDS otf
v.
5. ana riqht now, our agenda Is on hold pending it's
announcement.
~MS

Suggestions for future meeting topics are ajways welcome.

It's oeen a.hile since there's neen any major lUG business
to cover9 out this month's meetin9 Isn't too soon to start
adaresslng our plans for next ~edr.

First of all, your LUG chairman Is looking for nominees for
Vjce~chalrman
and
Treasurer'~
positions.
The
Vlce-chair.~n's slot ha~ been ODen since Ken ~oser resigneo fro~
off Ice to move 'to Virginia. And the current rreasurer i has held
his position for several successive years now.
Getlnvolwea!
Me hope to have a kFAl election this June.

the

We also need to seriously address the Meetlnq site proble ••
has become acute. Over the Dast ,ear, severa. re.labte
~tamford area meeting sites have become unavailable, either
due
to memoers' job chang~s or offices closln~ or moving_ The worst
of these Is the DEC Business Center, Which has been closed.
In
adaltlon, at several meetlnqs, members have expressed the desire
to have dinner meetings, such as the one we are having this
lDon the
which

Therefore, 1 woula like to propose for consideration avian
to have four r e yu I ar d j nnp r meet i n~s eacn year, in Septeaaber
(wnen meetings resume after summer recessJ, in Oece~oer (as has
been our oractice In the pastJ9 In March9 and In Junp. (Just

Defore the summer recess).
~o.eone
Shoulo line up
50.e
prospective facilities for such meetlnqs for the co_lng Year,
and report back on pricing, features, etc. at the "ay ~eetlnq.
In adoltlon,

~e

need to

SCh~duae

.eeting

sites

for

the

·off N .ontns at member facilities.
we have only six meetlnqs to
plan, but if we oon't line up sites, thp. chances of cancelling a

Meeting for
lack of a site Is oeco_lng A OlSTI~CT POSS191lITY!
All we nefta is a roo. I~rge enough to acco.odate 20-25 ~eop'e,
and
so.e coffee and light refresh-ents In the evening on the
second Thursday of any Month.
Wnlle we're at it, let's each come to the next .eeting with
one Idea for a meeting topic ~e'd 'Ike to see on the agenoa
between Hay lq~8 and June lqaq.

If you have any laeas or suggestions, you can
Jerry Oberle at Survey Sampl ing, (203) 255-4200.
Manero's is 'ocated on Steamhoat kd.

also

In Greenwich.

call

(Tel.

869-00~q)

To ~et there, take Connecticut Turnpike Exit 3.
From the
North, turn left at the end of the exit rdmp; from the ~outh,
turn right. Proceed t~ the next Intersection, and turn ~Ight.
Manero's 15 in tn~ next block.

THE FOL EDITOR, THE ANAlY1E/RMS UTILITY ANL THE

CONV~RT

UT1LITY

The VMS Convert utility may be used to convert files fro~
one format9
for
example, sequential, variable, 'engtn9 Imolled
carriage control, to another, such as incexed, fjxed '~ngtn. no
c~rriage
controa. In ~ddjtion, It also olays an Important role
in routine fjle maintenance.
The Convert/Reclaim command, for exa~ple, may be used to
r eco ver
I nt erna.
space
in
ineJexea f i 'es wh I ch ha ve ha (J _any
records erased. Until this operation has been performed, space
formerly occupiea Oy now deleted records cannot oe reused by RMS
for storin~ new records. Doing reQular ·Convert/Rec.aimMs on
your Indexed files shou'd oe a regu'ar part of file maintenance.

The sheer variety of
R~S
options ana parameters
is
mlnd-b09gliny; RMS occupies an entire volume In the VM~ document
set.
However, only a sma"
fraction ot the options are
9 en era. I y a val I a b 'e fro m h i q her I eve I I an 9 u a ~ e s •
1 n ma n y ca s e s,
particularly when dealing with
inoexea f j les, many ot the
important efficiency fe~tures of PHS can be h~o using FnL~ the
VM5 fl'e definition language.
Ful Is a soecial language Which may be used to specify RMS
f"e ana recora characteristics • • hile it may be written ~Ith
any editor, VY.S comes eQulpoed with a speCial editor whiCh has
oUlll In "intelliQence" to handle Ful. To use this facility,
enter the DeL commano:
,

t:OIT/FuL name

",here 'name'
Is the name of d
fi 'e
to
stdtements. Th~ default file lv~e Is .FDl.

contain

the

Ful

You will be or~sented with a menu Which includes such
options as help, add, detete, ~Iewt etc. The .ost Interesting
of these options Is -Invoke", ~hich invokes a so-called script
to assist you in tuniQ ~ file's characteristiCS to hest suit Its
expected use, size, and so forth.
bY simply dnsw~ring tne
4uestlons presented, you can create an f~L file Which has toe
tu.1 set of ~~5 sPdciflcdtions to best suit your application.
To use the fnL specification to create d tile, use either
the Create/FOl or the Convert/fOL commanos from DeL. CreateJFuL
wit'
generate
an
emoty
fi'e
having
the
s~ec'tled
chardcterlstics.
Convert/f~L wl., not only ~reate the new f.le9
out IOdd It with data from the Inout
soecified on tri~
Convert COlilftano.

'I'e

Once you negln using a fll~, you will fina thdt It tends to
Increasingly
Inefficient (unless a.I you do is read tr~m
itj. Ho~eyer, you can use another ~~5 utility to gen~Fate
informatjon aoout the existing file which can be usee Oy
Edit/Ful to create a neWt more optimum fi'e.
~y
entering the
~et

DCL commana
i

A~ALYZEIK~SlfOL

tllename

can create an FOL specification t •• e to De usea as Inout to
the FOl editor. This t'le has statements in It .hich ~dit/FOl
uses, in addjt~on to your input. to o~tl~lze the file design.
by "invoking- the -touchuo· script, you generate a new Ful file.
~Ith (nopefullt) better paraaeters.
~ou

To iMprove your file's perfor.ance. "Convert" the exist'nq
fl'e to the new one f.hjch can be nothlnQ .ore than a new
version of the 0'0 file)
using the ·Convert/fOl- cOM.and
descrloed above.

E
W
S

B
T
T
E
R

TIlE BIT BUCKET 01'

THE NEW YOB MEmO LUG

July 1987
Issue Numbc:r 13

New York Metro Local Users' Group and DBCDS (Digital Equipment Corporation
Users' Society) - for DEC (and compatible) computers and software.

Send your
contributions
for NL: to •••

EDITOR
Christopher Thorn
Elias Sports Bureau
500 Fifth Avenue 2114
New York, NY 10110-0297
212-869-1530

FEATURES
Bill Smith
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
85 Broad Street
6th floor
New York, NY 10004
212-902-1920

Next Meeting
Date
Ti.e
Reservations
Place

Cost

Thursday, July 30. 1987
5:30 PM
212-269-7088
The Netherlands Club (above Charley 0'8 restaurant)
10 Rockefeller Plaza
33 West 48th Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)
New York, NY
$25 per person, includes dinner
(You may request a kosher or vegetarian meal.)

Presentation:
Anthony Caserta of Bankers Trust
will speak about Strategic Data Planning.
You must telephone the LUG at 212-269-7088 to reserve your place at the
meeting. Reservations must be made by 5 pm on Wednesday, July 29
(the day before the meeting).
Mailing List: Send additions and corrections, with telephone
number and DECUS membership number, to:
Glenn Johnson
Advanced Data Management

P.O. Box 601
15 Main Street
Kingston, NJ 08528

DEe US membership is free - call the national DECUS office at
617-480-3418 or f1ll out a form at a NY Metro LUG meeting.
PLEASE NOTE: You must mail back the last page of
this issue if you want to remain on the mailing list!

Nt: Newsletter I July '1987

Page 2

HERD AT CHARLEY O.... S

We are rebuilding our mailing list ••• you MUST fill out and return the
form on the back page of this issue if you want to remain on the mailing
list of the NY Metro LUG. It costs you nothing to belong to the group and
receive the newsletter, but since we must pay mailing costs, we have to redo
the mailing list from time to time. If your copy sometimes gets lost in
your mail room, you may switch to your home address. Just to be safe, jot
d~wn
the telephone number for information about LUG meetings. While you're
at it, why not join DECUS if you . . re not already a member?
And looking
ahead, we note that the August meeting will be held on the last Thursday,
August 27.

***
DECUS has started, as an experiment, a "bulletin board" system known as
DECUServe. This system is based on VAX Notes and runs on a microVAX.
Access is via dial-up lines. Its eventual purpose is to provide an online
f~rum for technical and nontechnical issues of interest to
the DECUS community.
Due to its experimental nature, both as a bulle~in board facility and
as a system run by DECUS volunteers, access is limited at this time.
DECUServe membership applications are being mailed to approximately one
thousand DECUS members, chosen at random, each month. The application fee
is $25.00. Also of importance to those of us not in Massachusetts: at this
time all dial-up access 1s to area code 617 numbers!
RY Metro LUG members who have experience with DECUServe will be invited
to share their experiences with the rest of us at upcoming meetings.
We were a small herd indeed at the June meeting (on vacation? heat
exhaustion?) '.

XL: Newsletter I July 1987

Page 3

One of our speakers was unable to make his presentation in June, but he'll
be back in July •••

STRATEGIC DATA PLANNING
Anthony Caserta
Bankers Trust Company
How
can
our
technical
plans
become more responsive to our
organization's current activities and future plans? Things we know about
our business and our data can help our organizations improve their own
structures, derive application implementation schedules and priorities, and
support individual (bottom up) application data base design.
Using strategic (top down) data planning methodologies, the strategic
planner associates data entities with detailed activities derived from an
organization's Business Model. The planner also analyzes business model activites along with their data entities.
This analysis helps derive an improved view of an organization's structure, independent of influence by company politics.
The planner further
analyzes activites and data entities to determine logical sequencing for implementation of grouped activites as applications.
As well, the planner
groups the entities based on their related frequency of use to derive logical groupings of data entities - so called subject data bases.
These subject data bases provide a head start for individual applicatioll's data base
design.

XL: Newsletter I July 1987

Page 4

VAX 8700 Issues and Answers
Richard Garland
Bankers Trust Company
130 Liberty Street
38th floor
New York, NY 10015
212-250-2305
(The following presentation was given at the monthly,meeting of the New
York Commercial Cluster LUG held at Bankers Trust Company, New York City, on
June 15, 1987. The meeting was attended by about forty members and several
representatives of DEC Field Service, including the Unit, District Support,
and the Area Customer Relations manager. After the talk, questions were addressed both to the speaker and to DEC Field Service.)
I am in charge of hardware support, with the Dist~ibuted Processing
Techni~al Support group of Bankers Trust.
Our Group provides centralized
system and hardware support to all DEC systems at Bankers Trust. Bankers
Trust is a fairly centralized organization with all of its VAXes in three
data centers .in two locations. I would like to relate the experiences we
have had in setting up and operating a number of 8700 systems. We currently
run ten 8700s and one 8500. The first two were installed at our New Jersey
data center iIt October 1986 and the last were installed in February 1987.
We encountered a number of problems over the period from November to about
March, all of which were eventually solved. It is our,~ope that the information in this presentation will be of help to other organizations using or
contemplating acquiring this type of system.
I will present the problems and solutions from a user's perspective.
In other words I will address particular symptoms which were observed even
if two or more symptoms had the same fix. When the FCOs are published,
these problems may be broken down differently.
VAX 8700 Issues and Answers
0
0

0

0
0

Overview
Typical Configuration
Problems
0
Set up problems
0, Early crashes - solid
0
LAT problems
0
Console problems
0
Intermittent crashes
0
Timer problems
Fixes
Summary

Before describing the first problems were encountered, it is important
to' describe the configuration we use at the Bank, with particular regard to
the system console.
In what I might call the "Normal" configuration of a
VAX 8700, (A slide here shows an 8700 with the Pro-380 console on a terminal
stand next to the CPU) the Pro-380, which is the system console subsystem,
is located adjacent to the CPU on its own stand.
This configuration is
typically what you would see at a DECUS symposium or a trade show. The distance between the CPU and the Pro-380 is limited be the length of the cable
joining the two, about six feet. In this configuration, the system operator

XL: Newsletter I July 1987

Page 5

is expected to use the Pro-380 to boot the system, halt it, etc. This configuration is probably fine for a Lab or department with a single CPU.
This configuration was not, however, the way we wished to use these
systems in our data centers. Our centers typically consist of ten to twenty
VAXes in a highly conditioned room with all the system consoles in a centralized control room. This layout allows us to better manage the large
number of systems and optimizes the operators' productivity. In order to
use the 8700 in our environment, and upon the advice of the DEC 8700 product
line, the VAX's RDC port, located on the Pro-380, was used as a console
port, and an LAl20 in the control room was wired to it.
Appropriate commands are issued to the Pro-380 and our LAI20 then becomes the system console transparently. (Another slide shows a sketch of an 8700 with the Pro380 on top and a wire going off to a distant LAI20). While the system is
running, the LA120 in the control room is used for all commands and output.
The Pro-380 sits on top of the 8700 and Is essentially ignored.
Another options which we considered, was the use of the VAX Cluster
Console (a microVAX which serves as the console to several VAXes simultaneously) We considered this at one time but decided that it does not suit
our needs as we currently operate.
The problems we encountered after setting up the first two systems were
both related to the use of the remote console port.
The first issue was
that the console would get into various states of confusion as to whether
the remote port was enabled or disabled and would sometimes hang the VAX and
sometimes require itself (the Pro-380) to be rebooted or power-cycled. The
second issue was that the LA120 was incapable of sending certain control
characters to the console subsystem - notably CONTROL-P. Naturally the console lacks some essential functionality in this case:
we could BOOT the
system but we could not HALT it. We were eventually put in touch with the
development group which wrote the Pro-380 console software and in a threeway conference call solved the control character problem. The LA120 had to
be set with the "p" parameter set to 2 or 8. Ours had been set to 1 as on
all the other VAXes.
They also sent us a pre-release of the console
software rev. D (since released) which solved the problems of console confusion when enabling the remote port.
At this point in time, the 8700s were given over to the users and
several projects began to build applications on them. There was a general
impression that things were working well although in retrospect we know
there were several problems which were not yet recognized.
In January of 1987 we took delivery on the fifth 8700 and immediately
discovered a real problem. The system would crash one to three times a week
with a Bugcheck: "Unexpected Uaibos Adapter Interrupt". This was particularly unexpected since the system had no Unibus Adapter. Field Service was
able to identify this as a known problem through the Colorado Support Center
and a fix was obtained. This consisted of a new version of the 8700
microcode (rev.
D3). This is now the released version and is part of the
Console rev. E software kit. The new microcode was also put on the other
8700s although the problem seems only to have occurred on this one system.
The DEC engineers refer to this as the "Read Lock Timeout" problem and it
concerns the logic controlling the NMI bus and the BI controller.
In late February, complaints from users and data center operations personnel began to show a pattern pointing to several problems.
After many
meetings with our users and with DEC we could recognize two major problems:
LAT terminal problems and crashes.

RL: Newsletter I July 1987

Page 6

The LAT problems observed were that users sessions would drop. The
configQration in use for most users involved approximately 150 users in our
New York City Office communicating with four 8700s in our New Jersey
facility. The users in New York were on terminals connected to DECserverThe New York Ethernet was connected to the New
100s and DECserver-200s.
Jersey systems using a Vitalink TransLAN, which operated over two T1 links.
The sYlllptom was unfortunately reminiscent, of problems encountered in the
Fall of 1986 due to Vitalink configuration problems. For some time users
would simply say "The Vitalink just went down again" and they would complain
to our telecommunications group. It was soon recognized that the Vitalinks
were working properly and the problem lay in the Ethernet controller of the
8700 systems (known as a DEBNT). After lengthy study by one of our systems
programmers, a correlation was found with DECnet traffic: high DECnet trafficwould cause the LAT problem; LAT traffic (in itself) would not. An additional sYlllptom was the presence of a high number of "Systea Buffer
Unavailable" (one or two per second in the worst case) when the Ethernet
counts were displayed. After we had thus narrowed down the issue, DEC was
able to determine that the DEBNT microcode was at fault (several VMS driver
patches were first tried). A new chip set (rev. 1.3B) was sent and tested
and this solved the problem. Eventually all DEBNTs in the bank were thus
upgraded.
An unexpected but welcome side effect was that the units performed noticeably faster with the new firmware. (DEC has since incorporated
the ,firmware into a redesigned ~odule which is now shipping. It is module
number T1034. Older units requiring the fix will be replaced by the new
module.)
Along with the LAT problems we became aware that the systems were
crashing or hanging. We recognized several cases: use of the Pro-380 (say
to edit the default BOOT file) would usually hang or cause VMS to crash. At
a meeting with DEC we found that the~e were cases where the Pro-380 software
and VMS would not interact properly, particularly when the Pro-380s disks
were being accessed. This could happen in two cases: editing files on the
, Pro-380 (actually typing on the Pro) and reading/writing the disks from VMS.
It had long been documented that the two floppies on the Pro could be used
as read/write, but the hard disk (an,RD53) was to be write-only from VMS.
We found that any use of the disks from vMs, even simply reading the RD53,
could cause problems.
Using the Pro-380 to edit files likewise caused
problems. DEC informed us that a new version of the Pro-380 software (rev.
E) together with VMS V4.6 would solve these console disk problems. Since
VMS V4.6 was (and is) not yet released, patches for VMS V4.4 and V4.5 were
obtained as well as a pre-release version,of rev. E console software (since
released). With these fixes in place we have found that we can do all the
operations that used to cause problems. There is still the restriction that
VMS can not write to the Pro-380's RDS3. We have told DEC that this is an
inconvenience and have been told that the restriction will be lifted in the
future. At this time if VMS issues a MOUNT to the RDS3, a message comes
back "Drive is write-locked".
We also recognized that VMS would sometimes crash when no one was using
the Pro and no one was accessing the Pro's disks from VMS. Curiously, these
crashes would generally occur on two out of four systems in New Jersey at
around midnight every night, and on two out of three systems in New York at
6 PM every evening.
After analyzing a 'number of crash dumps, DEC (in
Colorado) found that we had uncovered the ".18 hour crash" bug.
Apparently,
18 hours after first issuing a "SYSGEN) CONNECT CONSOLE" command the system
would crash. It turns out that the New Jersey systems were typically BOOTed
at 6 AM each day and the New York systems are BOOTed at midnight. Our

IL: ....letter I July 1987

Page 7

system startup procedure requires that a file be read off ~f the console and
thus the curious timing was explained. The systems that were not crashing
were running VMS V4.5. The fix was to go to VMSV4.5 (and to use console
software rev. E which we had just started using). Since it was unfeasible
for several of our groups to go to VMS V4.5 we requested a fix to VMS V4.4
and eventually received it.
After carefully studying error logs over a two-month period we noticed
that a few crashes did not fall into the same category as the previous ones.
The Bugcheck messages were generally very obscure, never before seen bugs
(SSRVEXCEPT, PGFIPLHI, NOTFCPWCB, SECREFNEG). DEC informed us that a memory
controller error had been diagnosed which resulted in a timing problem when
memory not installed at the factory was used on a system. It turns out that
faetory installed memory was matched with the controller but that field installed memory was not matched. The problem was very infrequent - we believe we saw it around four or five times in six months of running between
four and ten maehines. New controllers (rev. F3,current rev. is F4) were
sent for all of our systems. We have not seen any of these crashes since.
At this point it seemed that all of our systems were running reliably.
We began to receive complaints from our operators that the system time which
came up when the system BOOted was occasionally wrong by a random amount.
If this went unnoticed it would wreak havoc with file creation times,
DECnet, ete. After several attempted work-arounds, DEC sent us a fix to the
console (rev. E) software which addressed the problem. It seems that on
the 8700, the Pro-380 is the repository of the time when the CPU is down
(unlike earlier VAXes which had a separate battery powered TODR).
The Pro
would fall to save the time properly when a 'VMS "SET TIME" command was issued (with no argument this is supposed to set the time back into the
hardware register).
This fix is the only thing that was not fixed in console rev. E and will be part of rev. F (not yet released). The patch is
available from Field Service and should ship with currently shipping systems.

sUmmary:
Problem

Module

Fix

1)

Remote console

LA120

Setup P: 2/8

2)

"Unibus" Interrupt
("Read Lock Timeout")

8700

uCode Rev D3
(Cons. Rev E)

3)

LAT sessions drop

DEBNT

Rev 1.3B or
new module: T1034

4)

Console disks

Console
VMS

Rev E
CWDRIVER

5)

18 hour crashes

VMS

V4.5 or
SYSLOA8nn

6)

Various other crashes

8700

Memory Contr'lller
Rev F3 or F4

7)

TOOR errors

Console

Fix to rev E

NL: Newsletter I July 1987

. P~ge 8

At this point, a representative of DEC Fi~ld Se~vice outlined procedures
for solving any of. these problems. A se~vice c~ll should be logged for' 'all
suspected p,roblems.
All fixes and updates outlined here are available immediately. , Furthel1Dore, it was stated, in the New York Area, all 'installed
. 8700s have been audited and known prQblem situations have been identified.
All systems shipped as of this time are said to incorporate all, fixes.
Userswel."e advised "to, use escalation procedures, in place, if problems' are
not resolved. Lou Sch1.ayone (212-714-6746), the New York Area Customer Relations manager, said he would be happy to converse with DEC Field Service
from other areas on thesfa problems.
'
Several users questioned DEC Field Service on,the issue of' notif~cation
to the user c~mmunity at large of known problems and, fixes., The publication
of FeOs, it, was pointed out, lags .onths behind problem iden~ification and
resolution.,. (In fact" the FCOs incorporating the fixes outlined above are
not yet published as of the latest. issue of DEC-O-LOG).
'
,.. question· on . whether the information, attributed to DEC, that Local
Area VAXclusters (Ethernet ba8ed)sho~ld not use an 8700/DEBNT as' a load
host,was due to the DEBNT pr,oplelll mentioned in 'this' pr~8entation. DEC'said
they. would look into that question. '

E
E
W
S

T
T
E
R

•
•

THE BIT BUCKET OF
THE NEW YORK METRO LUG

August 1987
Issue Number 14

New York Metro local Users' Group and DECUS (Digital Equipment Corporation
Users' Society) - for DEC (and compatible) COlllputers and software.

EDIToR
Send your
contributions
for NL: to •••

Christopher Thorn
Elias Sports Bureau
500 Fifth Avenue 2114
New York, NY 10110-0297
212-869-1530

FEATuRES

Bill Smith
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
85 Broad Street
6th floor
New York, NY 10004
212-902-1920

Meetings dre generally held on the last Thursday of the month; however
there will not be a meeting in August - the next meeting will be in
September, one week earlier than usual.
Next Meeting
Date
Time
Reservations
Place

Cost

Thursday. September 17. 1987
5:30 PM

212-269-7088
The Netherlands Club (above Charley O's restaurant)
10 Rockefeller Plaza
33 West 48th Street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)
New York, NY
$25 per person, includes dinner
(You may request a kosher or vegetarian meal.)

You must telephone the LUG at 212-269-7088 to reserve your place at the
meeting. Reservations must be made by 5 pm on Wednesday, September 16
(the day before the meeting).
Mailing List:· Send additions and corrections, with telephone
number and DECUS membership number, to:
Glenn Johnson
Advanced Data Management

P.O. Box 601
15 Main Street
Kingston, NJ 08528

DECUS melllbership is free - call the national DEC US office at
617-480-3418 or fill out a fonn at a NY Metro lUG meeting.

Page 2

NL: Newsletter I August 1987

HERD AT CHARLEY O'S

The summer doldrums have taken hold and there will be no meeting this
Th~'next meeting. in September, will be held one week earlier than
usual to avoid the holidays. The speakers for the September 17 meeting will
be announced with our telephone message, and reservations will. be accepted
starting early next month.
~onth:

* * *
We are rebuilding our mailing list. Remember that it costs nothing to
join the NY Metro lUG and receive NL:. but that you must write to Glenn
Joh .. ~un to s tliY on tht! IUd i 1 i ny 1i ~ t.
SCfld your' fldlUt!, cOIfIJ)dny n~lIIc. dJd rt!SS •
tel~phone number and DECUS membership number to the address on page one.
If
you sent back the last page of the July issue with your name and address,
good for you. If you sent back the first page of the July issue without
your name and address. as did several of our members, you'd better try
again!
.

***
Some data processing types put their faith in hardware - is it true
what they say about the MicroVAX III? Will it dance on the head of a pin?
Others look to software - will that new 4GL make the machine do what I want
it to do instead of what I tell it to do (unlike all my old software)?
We here at Nl: however have been thinking instead about the harmonic
convergence - are computer planning and astrology really that different?
The harmonic convergence. that fortuitous alignment of several planets with
the earth's moon. occured on Sunday. Au~ust 16. supposedly to usher in a
"new age." Keep your fingers crossed (a little superstition never hurt). in
hopes that your favorite prophecy will be fulfilled.
Will the ancient Mayan prophecy that LANs join hands around the globe
come true? What about the Aztec prophecy that software licensing disputes
vanish with the shared consciousness of vendors and end users? We're holding our breath over the ancient ANSI prophecy that C will become completely
portable and the ancient ASCII prophecy that DEC and IBM System/38 will
resolve their differences. Will Kermit, god of cOIRnunication, reign over
the telephone lines? Or will the harmonic convergence go the way of the Age
0f Aquarius, when our expectation that "Jupiter aligns with Mars" was dashed
because the Jupiter project was cancelled?

Page 3

NL: Newsletter I August 1987

Report from the Treasurer:
Mel Tolhurst

NY Metro LUG Treasurer
201-431-0922
As a result of the incompetence of a certain bank (which will remain
nameless), the checks of four attendees from the June 25 meeting were not
credited to our account. Since we have no records as to who paid by check
and who paid with cash, we need the help of four of the following people.
If your name appears below AND you attended the June meeting AND you paid by
CHECK, we need a copy of your cancelled check. If you have not received
your check back yet, please let me know as it's possible that it was lost
rather than miscredited.
'
Do our LUG-member bankers out there have any feelings on the concept
that a multicheck deposit handed to a human teller, counted and totalled by
same. in agreement with the deposit ticket could be rejected by a Regional
ProceSSing Center for 'items missing from deposit' and charged back to the
customer? After teller verification of the amount? And to have 'Customer
(dis)Service' tell you that "We won't 'Give you the difference' unless you
show us copies of the checks we didn't find?" Here are the names: Please
call me at 201-431-0922 if you paid by check.
Bob Cafasi
Cliff Chao
Linda DePinto
Patrick Harrington
David Hickey
John Howard (or Howarth)
Ronald Phillip
Susan Powers
rv1ark Smi 1ey
Aaron Weg
Steven Wertheim
Don't mind misspellings;
these are the names as recorded on the
answering machine - if it's close, it's probably you.
Thanks for your assistance. Since I won't be available to be treasurer
much longer, if you're interested in helping the group with this job, please
call me.

Page 4 '

NL: Newsletter / August 1987

II

Network Encryption, or
No, That I s Not A Bad. Packet! II

Bill Har-cock
Essential Resources Incorporated
462 Broadway
New Yor~, NY 10013
212-334~1240

There's, a lot, of concern these'days over the issue of network intrusions. Any reput~ble net~ork m~nager KNOWS that there is some hacker out
there somewhere trying to bust into'his network and get at all those goodies
that are on his systems. And for'you hetwork managers who are not paranoid
about the security on your network, remember the old adage about paranoia:
"Just because you are not' paranoid does not mean that someone is not out to
get you."
, Obviously, network security is ~ore than making ~ure the network passwords are known only to the chosen few.~ Network security is usually thought
of as a multj-layered mana~ement cho~~ consisting of technical actions,
management actions, and user training. But, this article is not about all
the necessary precautions for a truly secure network. Instead, we will look
at network encryption techniques, what they are, how they work, and why you
would want to use network encryption on your network.
Encryption systems always conjure up the image of James Bond (007 - not
encrypted) or some guy trying to get the Nazi codebook with all the German
encryption codes for the rest of the war off of the U-boat (which is, naturally, 300 feet underwater) headed for Italy, without, of course, being
noticed or caught. In other words, Hollywood has managed to give encryption
systems a certain mystique associated with clandestine activities, beautiful
women, exotic places, and ACTION.
Imagine my disappointment when I got my Data Encryption Standard (DES)
network encryption box and found it to be about the size of a shoebox, white
(not black), and fully documented including a complete explanation of the
algorithm used and how to set up you own codes. How depressing! I had at
1east, expected a Juni or Space Cadet decoder ri ng and was hopi ng for an envelope with "Destroy Immediately After 'Reading" on it.
The reality of encryption is that itis not magical, mystical, or even
exciting. Encryption simply involves the usage of an encipherment algorithm
wi th a key' (l ike a password) to take normal network data and scramble it
into bits that only a system with the encryption algorithm and the proper
key can understand. The problem is that most of tend to look at encryption
in the mystical sense and few understand what it really is.
To facilitate the use of encryption by the public sector, the National
Bureau of Standards (NBS) published a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS PUB 46) on January 15, 1977, called the Data Encryption Standard
(DES). The DES uses a 64-bit key structure implemented with a defined permutation (change mechanism) method. 56 bits are used for the actual key and
eight bits are used for error control. If you compute out the various combinations of a 56-bit key, you will find that there are over 70 quadrillion
different bit combinations; the chances of breaking a properly enciphered
DES data stream are pretty slim unless, of course, someone has access to the
key that is being used.
With the DES, data is enciphered in 64-bit blocks. First, the 64-bit
block worth of data undergoes a permutation that arranges the data according
to a specific matrix. The 64-bit block is split into two halves (32-bits

Nl: Newsletter / August 1987

Page 5

each) and the right half ;s permuted to a 48-bit value (the matrix that
specifies the order of data happens to duplicate sixteen bits of the data).
The generated 48-bit value is the exclusive-ORed with a 48-bit key value
that is obtained from the original 56-bit DES key. The exclusive-OR operation reduces the 48-bit value to a 32-bit by splitting up the 48-bit value
to eight groups of six bits. The six-bit values are then converted to fourbit values using a six-bit to four-bit selection table. Following the conversion of the 48-bit data to 32-bit data, the 32-bit data is permutated
again to a new 32-bit value. Now, if this were not complicated enough, when
the data on the right is reduced to 32-bits, this value ;s exclusive-ORed to
the unaltered left 32-bits. This completes the first level of iteration of
the encryption computation.
The result generated from the previous computation now becomes the
right half and the unaltered right half becomes the left half.
The data
then is permuted sixteen different times in a specific fashi~n, only using
sixteen different keys (one new key per permutation). Following the sixteen
permutations, the data is permuted one last time, only in the reverse order
that it .was permuted in the very first'time. The data is now encrypted and
ready for trdnsmission.
My reaction the first time I walked through the standard years ago was
that I could achieve the same effect by allowing a lot of noise on the line,
but the people at NBS didn't think it was funny. The government doesn't
have a great sense of humor.
It is irnportant to note that DES has been implemented in a wide variety
of products other than networking and communications products. File encryption, password encryption, and other traditional computing components have
been given the benefit of the DES encryption algorithm to secure access to
sensitive system components.
Another encryption method that is gaining some noteriety is a mechanism
known as the RSA (for Rivest-Shamir-Adelman) Public Key Scheme.
The RSA
scheme is simple, yet very secure. The idea revolves around the fact that
it is much easier to multiply prime numbers together than it is to factor
the result~
This means that the result could be used as part of the encyphering key, yet not compromise the necessary factors required for the decyphering operation.
If the result generated were, say, over 100 digits
long, it would take billions of years to factor out the result on a highspeed computer using the best algorithms possible. All in all, it is an
elegant, high-speed method to encrypt data and keep it secure.
For you
folks using X.25 communications, you should be aware that the RSA algorithm
is being pushed for usage as the authentication mechanism for the X.32sub~
set.
Everyone has his own opinion of the following and I am no different, so
11m sure 11m going to draw a few comments on this topic.
That's good,
though, Icause my Dad always used to say that unless someone disagrees with
you, no one is thinking (he used to have other sayings too, but none that I
think would be acceptable for printing). So, now that we have seen how a
couple of the major public encryption mechanisms work, by now you are wondering to yourself as to where you might implement encryption in a network?
Actually, encryption could be implemented anywhere in the network architecture, but the fastest way is within the communications hardware. This
is further justified when one considers that DES is already on a chip (the
Motorola MC6859, the Burroughs MC884, Western Digital WD2001E/F, WD2002A/B
and WD2003, Advanced Micro Devices AmZ8068, Intel 8294, TI TMS9940, American
Microsystems S6894 and other multi-chip sets and board products) and the RSA
mechanism is math-computation intensive (making it ideal for something like

Nl: Newsletter / August 1987

Page 6

an 8087 arithmetic co-processor or other such chips). But, while encryption
at the communications interface level is the simplest, it does not keep the
node secure. From a system management point of view, encryption of data BEFORE it hits the network architecture is usually preferable as it precludes
network software and hardware from performing data encryption.
Should the
network be compromised, the data is already encrypted on the node. It is
also reasonable to perform encryption at the session control layer (and
below) of the network architecture; this insures that outgoing data is
secure before it hits the network communications hardware.
While this
sounds good on paper, it can also cause a great deal of computational overhead due to encryption of seemingly innocuous transactions such as ACKs and
NACKs as well as other problems such as when to encrypt data and when not to
(such as in the case of downline loading). Encryption of data prior to hitting the network architecture or encryption in the hardware precludes the
network software from having to make all kinds of decisions about when and
where to encrypt data •
. Finally, the big question: why bother with network encryption?
Besides the obvious answer of keeping the IBM users out of your DECnet
network, there are some very good reasons. First off, the old adage II An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" definitely applies to networks. In areas where line tapping is possible, the cost of implementing
net'.-/ork encrypt i on equi pment can be far 1ess than the loss of data or ma rket
edge caused by network intrusion. Line tapping involves more than someone
tapping a telephone connection.
Line tapping is the term also used on
public data networks when a node on the network intercepts an in-progress
carununications session. It is also useful to get a bit paranoid about local
area networks (LAN's), especially non-intrusively tapped networks (such as
Ethernet), as nodes could easily be added and the network software may not
necessarily pick up the new node as a node on the network (this is common on
networks that support different protocols). Software encryption in the network architecture prevents "session" tapping by nodes. For instance, node A
could be establishing a connection to node B, but a different node X makes A
think that it is node B. By the use of a network encryption algorithm, X
would HAVE to know the encryption key, which is highly unlikely, to simulate
node B.
Encryption, strategically placed within the node, can be a very useful
thing to have. Many embarassing moments have happened at many companies due
to unauthorized users reading files or electronic mail messages. Through
the use of encryption techniques, such encounters become rare, if they occur
at all, and business relationships can be salvaged. Encryption can take
place at the file level, file system level, or even at the image level.
Some companies have programs available that allow the encryption of executable images such that a key has to be supplied for the image to run.
While
this may be somewhat troublesome, it does keep circumvention of the normal
system protection mechanisms to a minimum and allows control over who has
the key(s).
One thing to keep in mind in the implementation of encryption systems
is the problem of access to the encryption mechanism. If the mechanism used
is hardware, it is important that the component(s) be kept in a manner where
it can be physically secure from tampering and, if tampered with, leaves
some sort of notification that tampering has happened. If the method used
lnvolves software encryption, it becomes much more difficult to keep tampering from happening. But, just as with monitoring hardware tampering, it is
critical that some sort of mechanism be placed in the encryption software to
keep tampering from happening.

Page 7

NL: Newsletter I August 1987

Encryption of data in networks will become a necessity in the modern
corporate environment as a matter of course. How you decide to implement
encryption in your corporate environment will have a lot to do with what
tradeoffs in performance you can live with. In all cases, it would be a
good thing to start to look into. Who knows? Your network may be the next
"statistic."
Bibliography
Davies, D.W. and Price, W.L.,
John Wiley & Sons, 1984

Security for Computer Networks, New York:

Satellites, Packets and Distributed Communications,
California: Wadsworth, Inc., 1984
Bryce, Heather, "The NBS Data Encrypt i on Standard:
ples," Mini-Micro Systems, r~arch 1981, pp. 111-116

Ed. Roy

D. Rosner,

products and pri nci-

Hellman, Martin E., "An Overview of Public Key Cryptography," IEEE Convnun;cations Magazine, November 1978, pp. 24-32
Campbell, Carl M., "Design and Specification of Cryptographic Capabilities,"
IEEE Communications Magazine, November 1978, pp. 15-19
Feistel, H., "Cryptography and Computer PrivacY,1I Scientific American, May
1973, pp. 5-15
u.S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards (NBS), Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 46, Data Encryption Standard, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1977
u.S. Department of Commerce, NBS/FIPS Publication 74, Guidelines for implementing and using the NBS Data Encr tion Standard, Wash;n ton, D.C.:
overnment rinting fice, 19
Kahn, D., The Codebreakers New York:
Gaines, H.F., Cryptanalysis New York:

Macmillan, 1967.
Dover, 1956.

Beker, H. and Piper, F., Cipher Systems:
London: Northwood Books, 1982
Shamir, A.,
Report No.

The Protection of Communications

"A Fast Signature Scheme" MIT Laboratory for Computer Science,
MIT/LCS/TM-107, January, 1978

Essential Resources Inc. offers training programs on a variety of DEC topics. Bill Hancock is an expert on networking who consults and lectures on
the subject.
He may be reached through the offices of ERI in New York.
This article previously appeared, in slightly different form, in The DEC
Professional magazine (volume 4, number 7).

HARTFORD RAINBOW USERS GROUP
August 1987 Newsletter
A Message from Our Chairman:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank, in print,
the members of the Steering Committee who altogether made this
year's BRUG the best in terms of speakers, presentations, and
demonstrations.
Doug Stuteville deserves much of the credit for such
speakers as Purna p.areek, Larry Campbell, and Ted Needleman, and
for his sharing of software and \ expertise.
Charlie Philippon,
our librarian,
is also to be thanked (even though he probably
doesn't want to see his name in print)
for a number of
presentations which he has made n the course of the last several
years. Reg Dionne, past BRUG Chair and as elected
(in absentia)
DEC liaison, deserves everyone's thanks for getting us speakers
and shar ing information about DEC's plans and prod ucts, as- well
as for copies of Digital Review.
stu Davis, our membership
secretary, who has the sometimes onerous responsibility of
sending out. the meeting notices and keeps our membership listing
up to date~ Joanne
Fletcher, our
newsletter editor, who
singlehandedly tracks down contributors who promised articles
and items of interest: Ellen Gunther, the Treasurer, who not only
keeps the books straight, but manages to find the time to work
with new members, gets them to become DECUS members, and helps
out in dozens of other ways~ D.L. Chandler, who is a big help at
meetings by hanging signs, making and distributing copies and
the like~ and John Babel~ these people are all part of what HRUG
is about. Without their cooperation and help, I would be able to
sleep late one Saturday a month.
We're a volunteer group, and we-need as much help as we can
get.
If you would like to suggest a meeting topic or speaker,
volunteer to do a hardware or software demonstration, or write an
article, we can use you.
I can be reached at 677-7701 (Ext. 11)
at work at Tunxis Community College, Farmington (days) or at 7930306, Plainville (evenings).
Our mailing address is HRUG,Box
1202, Farmington, CT 06034-1202, or you can write to me at Tunxis
Community College, Farmington, Connecticut 06032.
Lastly, I would like to thank my office staff, Evelyn
Kuziak, Karen Okenquist, and Rosenda Hull, for taking messages,
typing correspondence, and the like: Gary Griswold (NE LUG Chair)
and ShelliKeisling at DEC in Marlboro, and countless others.
.
Kim Karath, HRUG-Chair, 7/10/87
*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

A Reminder About Your Membership
In the late spring, we deleted a number of HRUG members who
had not attended meetings or answered our survey, or did not send
us a change of address.
If you have not been receiving
newsletters and you wish to remain or be placed on our mailing
list, please send the appropriate information to our P.O. Box
number or call Kim Karath at work, at the above number.

WHAT'S AHEAD:
The coming year promises to be as rewarding as the last.
There are a number of speakers being considered, a long promised
tour of a DEC production facility, the possibility of a BBS
system at Tunxis, and other "surprises."
HRUG CALENDAR FOR 1987-88:
Here is a list of " the upcoming dates of regular HRUG meetings.
Wby not take a minute right now, and go through your calendar for
the "next twelve months and mark these dates:
Saturday,
Saturday,
Saturday,
Saturday,
Saturday,
Saturday,
Saturday,
Saturday,

September 12
OCtober 17
November 14
December 5
January 9
February 6
March 12
April 9

Saturday, May 14
Saturday, June 18

(9/7, Monday, is Labor Day)
(10/l?.,
Monday, is Columbus Day)
,
'I
(1/18, Monday, is MLK's birthday)
(2/12, Friday, is Lincoln's birthday)
(4/1, Friday, is Good Friday -LUG certification)
(5/30, Monday, is Memorial Day)
(Last .meeting of 1987-88)

DECUS Merit Scholarship pr09ram Announced
In recognition of C.W. Goldsmith's service as a member of
the DECUS Board of Directors and Chapter president, a Merit
SCholarship has been established to be awarded annually to a
DECUS member or member's child.
Who is eligible?
High school students who
will be
completing or leaving secondary school and entering college in
1988, who are U.S. citizens, and who are members or children of
members of DECUS, are eligible to compete for these scholarships.
participation requirements established by NMSC for entering the
competition are
explained in
the 1986 PSAT/NMSQT Student
Bulletin, distributed to students through their high schools
prior to the qualifying test administration.
How do I enter the DECUS Merit Scholarship Program? To
enter the competition for the DEeus Merit Scholarship to be
awarded in 1988, students should have taken the qualifying test
-- the Preliminary Scholastic
Aptitude
Test/National Merit
Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in October of 1986.
How are winners selected? The 1988 DECUS Merit Scholarship
winner will be chosen by NMse from among members and children of
members of DECUS who qualify as semifinalists and then advance to
Finalist standing in the 1988 Merit Program.
Semifinalists who
are designated
on the basis of their performance on the
PSAT/NMSQT (or alternate test) will be notified of their standing
through their high schools in September 1987, and each will
receive a scholarship application to be completed and returned to
NMSC.
DECUS members and children of members who are named

Semifinalist in the 1988 competition (announced
in September
1987) should notify Ms. Paula Morin. This notification must be
made to DECUS by October 1, 1987.
Members must have had
membership in the Society for at least three years os of January
1 of the award year.
What is the amount of the award?
Each DECUS Merit
Scholarship award is $1,000 per year for up to four years of
college study or until baccalaureate degree requirements are
completed, whichever occurs first, to be sent to the winner as a
single payment in the fall of 1988. Other scholarship aid, or an
approved change in college choice, will not affect the award.
Who handles the scholarship procedures? All phases of the
competition, including the a~lection of winners and payment of
Merit Scholarship stipends, are handled for DECUS by the National
Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Who can answer any questions I may have?
Questions may be
addressed to Ms. Paula Morin, f.';ECUS, 219 Boston Post Road BP02,
Mar lboro, Massachusetts, 01 752, (61 7) 480-3255.
VIEW FROM A-TOP DEC: Ex-Sailor Polishes DECworld
BOSTON
This year's
DECworld extravaganza, Digital
Equipment Corp.'s annual educational and marketing conference,
will be an international event and will mark the end of the
company's twice-yearly presentations.
DEC has traditionally sponsored DECworld in Boston, and a
similar presentation called DECville in France for its European
customers, but, beginning this year,
it will offer only one
DECworld. Each year the presentations will be alternated, one
year here and the following year somewhere in Europe.
DEC as chartered the QE2 and the Starship Oceanic to ease
the crunch for hotel rooms in the area, since the two vessels
will supply an additional 1,520 cabins for some of the estimated
60,000 who will be coming to DECworld.
Included in that 60,000 are more than 1,000 representatives
from DEC's biggest a·ccounts around the world, plus 10,000 DEC
employees, both foreign and domestic, who have been invited as
DEC's guests once they are in Boston.
DEC is advising anyone
planning on atte.ndtng·f~·Dworld to make their reservations early.
DECwor ld, ,s·c''''letiu.led for September 9 throug h 18, should be an
extraordinary ',e.ve,nt, ~. cause it also coincides with Boston's
celebration of t:he' 2dOt. anniversary of the signing of the u.S.
Constitution, whic~ event is expected to be one of the largest in
the country.
Attendees will have a
truly international view of Boston
Harbor as warships from around the world tie up around the World
Trade Center as part of the celebration. The visiting ships will
be joined by a
flotilla of u.S. warships, including the oldest
commissioned ship in the Navy, the U.S.S. Constitution, or "Old
Ironsides," as it does a harbor turnaround and
fires a 21-gun
salute.
Bill Dooley, from Infoworld

A Bimonthly Newsletter of the
Central New York Chapter of
the Digital Equipment
Corporation Users Society
Volume 5 Number 5

Mar. 1988

March meeting

DID YOU EVER WONDER ...
What DEeUS is really all about. Now is your chance to com~ and see what the LUG can
do for you. We have covered many interesting topics in recent months at our General
Membership meetings but with the fresh start of spring, we decided to get back to basics
and present a general purpose, introductory type, information dispensing meeting. The
meeting will be held Wednesday, March 23, at 3:00 PM at the Hamilton-Avnet Facility on
Twin Oaks Drive in Syracuse. Yes, there will be a business meeting portion as usual, but
we will try to keep it short and sweet. The remainder of the general meeting will be broken
into three segments.
The first part will be a short presentation of DEeUS in general, it's concepts, organization, and what it can do for you besides what you can do for it. The second part of the general meeting will present an overview of the abstracts garnered from the copies of the symposia tapes in the tape library. There is a lot of good stuff out there and it's time you all got
a chance to check it out. In the third segment of the meeting we will break into individual
work groups for those folks with special interests in getting more information on specific
areas of the tapes or learning more details about a specific utility. Bring your own tapes if
you want, so they may be left with the librarian to make a copy of the programs you desire.
Be sure to label tapes with your name, phone number, company, and DEeUS membership
number. Leave a note attached of what you want copied and the tape density to copy it.

Thruway

CONTENTS
Buffalo seminars ....................................... 3
DECUS Library news .............................. 3
Member notice .......................................... 2
New bylaws............................................... 8
New Kermits .. ~ ........................................... 4
Poster....................................................... 11
Regional Lug meeting ............................. 2
Regional news.......................................... 3
VAX tips ...................................................... 4

-~
I SYRACUSE I
t----+---+----+----11 mi.
3
2
4

o

plan to hold the joint regional meeting at
the Rochester ACT (Digital's new Applications Center for Technology) Center on the
evening of May 4. The planned agenda for
the evening looks like this:

March meeting (continued)

A quick look at some of what is on the
tapes is:
Languages & Tools SIG Tape:
TEX - a complete VMS port of TeX and
METAFONT
EDT extensions to TPU
C Utilitites and extensions

5:00 Joint Steering Committee's "Workshop"
6:00 Buffet Dinner - All Member·s Invited!!!
(Dutch Treat>
7:00 Regional Announcements; LUG Announcements; or any brief business
7:30 Planned Main Topic - VMS Version S.O!!!
-8:30... Free Forum/Tour of ACf

VMS SIG Tape:
EDT extensions to TPU
Utilities (system management, etc.)
Bulletin board and notes system
Games
ReGIS to Sixel Utility
Spell checker for TPU (runs while in
edit)
Maintenance for Kermit-32
Foreign tape processor
Print server for PDP11 to print on VAX.

Gary has indicated that a reservation system is needed, since space may be limited.
If you plan to attend, call my office to register youfintentions (315/477-6380), and I'll
reserve you a seat. Incidentally, the Rochester ACT Center is an impressive resource
for users of DEC products. They currently
are able to DEMO over 170 software packages, on any of three 8000 series VAX's, and
numerous "little" VAX's and PDP's. I hope
that many of you will join us at this meeting,meet with members of other LUG's
and take advantage of this unique opportunity to see our area ACT Center 'up close
and personal.'

RXS SIG Tape:
New 'c' Compiler, updated for I&D
. space
...... . ...,. .'
GKS VO.02 for RT-l1
Fortran cross reference programs
Pool dump utility
WHO utility
UNIX Tape extractor
Games
Virtual Disk Handler
Supermac
Tektronix Graphics package
As you can see, we have lots to offer and
more, so come and join us on March 23.

Jim English
Chairman CNYLUG

IMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP
NOTICE
On the upper right-hand comer of your
mailing label, you should find your DECUS
number listed in parentheses. If this field is
blank, you should contact me or another
steering committee member so that we can
enter your DECUS number into our membership database. If you do not have a DECUS number, contact me and I'll send you a
DEeUS membership application. Remember, DECUS membership is free. If we do
not hear from you, your name will have to
be removed from our mailing list.

Rita Waugh

Regional LUG meeting
Our Regional LUG coordinator, Gary
Griswold, has been instrumental in putting
together a Regional LUG Meeting for all
members of LUGs in Central and Western
NY (WNYLUG, GRALUG, CNYLUG,
TTLUG and the new one at Cornell). We
2

New DECUS numbers are mailed
directly to the applicant. If you recen~ly
have applied for a DECUS membershlp,
please tell us what your membership number is when you receive it.
Dick Wilbur
Computing and Network Services
Syracuse University
Machinery Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244
(315) 423-3817
Intemet:
Bitnet: 

,REGIONAL NEWS
Here are several items fonn Gary Griswold's quarterly DECUS NorthEast Memorandum (i.e., Newsletter)
to all the NE LUG Chairs, that I thought would be of
interest to all members.
Jim English (Chairman CNYLUG)

The first Fall '87 SIG tapes are in the mail:
1) newest KERMIT distribution tape (1-1600
bpi tape)
2) the RSX distribution tape (1-1600 bpi
tape)
3) the VMS distribution tapes (2-1600
bpi tapes) as 6 savesets: VAXOOO,
VAX87C, VAX87D, VAX87E, RSX87B
and GCPP. The last two are the RSX
SIG contributions in VMS BACKUP
format and the GNU C++ compiler
sources that Glenn Everhart was so
kind as to include.
Please direct all inquiries, questions, compliments, complaints to your LUG Tape
Librarian:
Renee Solak
General Electric Co.
P.O. Box 4840
CSP5-3Z
Syracuse, NY 13221
315/456-1737

SEMINAR NEWS
A number of LUG's are sponsoring Regional DEC Seminars. Here are the ones being
planned by the Buffalo LUG. Their seminars are tentatively scheduled for June 6, 7
and 8.

Local Area VAXCluster Update for
VAXCluster Managers - Instructor: David
MacArthur

Concepts of Site and System Management: A Discussion and Overview Instructor: Tim Frazer

Tuesday, June 7 Planning a Campus
Network -Instructor: Michael Greene
Wednesday, June 8 VMS Tuning: Rules
of Thumb - Instructor: Daniel Esbensen
The availability of the above, of course,
depends on registration. This is the first
opportunity we've had in western NY to
take ad van tage of the Regional Seminar
Program. Please support it. U you are interested in any of these prograrrLS contact:
Dave Straitiff (Chairman WNYLUG)
Speech Research Lab, Dept of Psyc.
SUNY at Buffalo, Park Hill
Buffalo, NY 14260
716/689-8093

Library News
You all received a Mid-year Library Catalog
a month or two ago. Since that time, there
have been some changes ...
V-SP-59 DATATRIEVE/4GL SIG Library Collection has been revised with additional material in the AlI-in-1 and System Management
areas. SC Code: MC, VMS Backup format.
V-SP-69 AMIGA Utilities Collection 2, new,
from the prolific Glenn Everhart. SC Code: PC,
TC, VMS Backup format.
PRO-171 DSKDIR: Diskette Directory Utility
produces a searchable database of diskette
directories. SC Code: JA, P /05 format.

Also, a bug was reported in the SYSGEN
utility. Don't use the  key within
any of the commands! If the operating system sees the TAB, it'll ignore the line. We
found this out the hard way in SYSTARTUP .COM, when after issuing a valid SySGEN command, we tabbed over to line up
comments. The line wasn't read. This was
confirmed by Colorado Software Support.
As far as I know none of the above have
been published (released) by Digital.

UX-I02 KIC2 v2 interactive 2D color graphics
editor. SC Code: ED, MA, TAR format.
UX-SP-I0l ocr Tools vllibraries for VLSI
design. SC Code: EC, ED, PC, TC, TAR format
Note: EC refers to BDSYN-BDSIM User's
Guide, ED refers to Berkeley CAD Tools User's
Manual.

The above information is extracted and
SEVERELY abstracted from a Library Status
Report. These also list the annotated content of SIG tapes submitted to the Library.
Library Status Reports are published about
twice a month. They are sent out via the
Internet (an umbrella network that covers
ARP Anet, CSnet, MILnet, BITnet, and some
others) and usenet. I am sure there is
SOMEONE .in your LUG that has acc~ss to
one of these services. Perhaps you could
help your LUG members who use the
DECUS Library as a" source of material, keep
up to date by distributing this material at
meetings? Thanks to Dave Straitiff for the
idea!
VAX Tip -

The above was published in the pages of All Hands on
DEC, the newsletter of Maine LUG. 

New KERMITs
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 88 19:55 MST
From: Joe Doupnik  and Frank da Cruz

Subject: Announcing MS-DOS Kermit 2.30
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 2.30, IBM PC Kermit 2.30, DEC
Rainbow
Keywords: Tektronix Emulation, NetBIOS

This is to announce a major new release of the
MS-DOS Kermit communication and file transfer program, version 2.30, the first major release since version 2.29 appeared in May 1986. The code has been
frozen as of January 8, 1988. Any further features or
fixes will be deferred for future releases.

HINTS AND S"UGS

Last year when I was down to DEC's Bedford training facility, the subject of backups
and the slowness of the process was discussed. One of DEC's performance teams
had just completed a study on this and recommended the following qualifiers when
doing backups.

The major new features of version 2.30 are:
- Long file transfer packets (up to 1000 bytes)
- NetBIOS local area network support
- A simple script language for automated dialogs with
other computers
-Tektronix 4010 graphics terminal emulation
- Improved DEC VT102 and Heath 19 emulation
- ANSI printer control
- Selectable initialization file names
• File transfer performance statistics reporting
- A new, more powerful, more portable key redefinition

$BACKUP /REWIND /BUFFER=5 /BLOCK=32768/
DENSITY=1600(6250} [type this on one line1

For incremental backups use:
$BACKUP /REWIND /RECORD/FAST /
BUFFER=5/BLOCK=32768/
DENSITY=1600(6250) [type this on one line]

facility

4

II - if you have any of these machines, please try out
the new version!

• Support for new IBM keyboards
• A mechanism for installing COM3 and COM4 support
• Ability to assign Kermit connect-mode "verbs" to
arbitrary keys
• Keyboard and port input character translation during
terminal connection
• Support for both 7-bit and 8-bit (international) character
sets
• Improved interaction with DOS batch programs
• More flexible command-line invocation options
• Security features for server operation
• Ability to operate Kermit through an external console via

Previous releases of MS-DOS Kermit also ran on a
number of other machines, including the Wang PC,
Victor 9000, Sanyo MBC, NEC APC and APC3, etc.
The code for these non-ffiM compatibles will also be
to 2.30 level, and released when available. Volunteers to test and fix the code for these machines are
heartily encouraged to step forward!
The files for version 2.30 have been installed in
Kermit Distribution at Columbia University. They
are available on the Internet from host
CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU (a DECSYSTEM-20)
as follows: run FfP, log in as user ANONYMOUS, any
password, and GET (or MULTIPLE GET, or MGET,
according to the syntax of your FTP program) the
desired files. They are also available on BITNET
and EARN from host CUVMA (an IBM mainframe)
by sending a message to KERMSRV@CUVMA
requesting the desired files. To learn more about
KERMSRV, send it a message "HELP". KERMSRVat
the University of Toledo (UOFT02) (a VAX/VMS
based Kermit file server) also has the files, and
eventually, they will also be available via UUCP
from Oklahoma State UniverSity, and from dialup
bulletin boards arQ~1\4 the world. A complete listing
of the new Kermit files, with their file lengths,
appears on page 7.

CITY

• Compatibility with most internal modems
• Modem status report (CD, DSR, crS)
• Increased memory for screen rollback, macro and key
definitions
• Garbage collection of macro and key definition memory
• Improved cooperation with half-duplex hosts
• Improved DOS error handling
• Improved debugging and logging functions
• Improved consistency of command syntax
• A completely rewritten manual

The program requires DOS 2.0 or later, and 90K+
of memory. Version 2.30 currently runs on the entire
mM PC family, including the new PS/2 series, on IBM
clones such as the Compaq, AT&T 6300, and DEC
V AXmate, and on "semi-clones" like the Seequa Chameleon and Data General/l, which have different
serial port adapters. There is also a specific version
for the DEC Rainbow (which does not include Tektronix emulation), and a "generic MS-DOS" version that
should run on any DOS machine, using only DOS calls
(no specific terminal emulation).

The executable files are stored in a special printable bootstrap format, called "BOO files". These are
decoded into .EXE files using a "BOO-file decoder"
program. These are available written in various languages, including Basic, MASM, C, and Pascal. The
documentation is available online in plain ASCII text
format, and in Scribe text formatter source format.
Following is a synopsis of the files. The KERMSRV
name is the same as the CU20B name, except the
"KER:" should be omitted, and the period between
the filename and file type should be a space, e.g.
KER:MSAAAA.HLP on CU20B is MSAAAA HLP on
CUVMA.
The utility program MSUCHK.C (and .BOO), contributed by Phil Benchoff of Virginia Poly technical
Institute, allows convenient determination of MSKermit's new keyboard codes on the IBM PC family.
Be sure to read the MSKERM. BWR file before trying
to use the new version, or reporting any problems with
it. Here are the minimum files needed for the new
release ("xxx" stands for the specific version, IBM,
RB1, or GEN):

Thanks are due to James Sturdevant of A.C.
Nielson Company for the initial implementation of
the script language, to Joe Smith of the Colorado
School of Mines and Brian Holley of the University
of Cambridge (UK) for the original Tektronix emulation code, to David Knoell of Basic American Foods
for the initial implementation of "Kermit verbs"
assigned to keys, and to AT&T for supporting the
NetBIOS development. And thanks also to the hundreds of Info-Kermit Digest subscribers who tested
the many prereleases of this program, reported bugs,
and suggested new features, and who read and commented on drafts of the new manual.
The new IBM version replaces several previous
versions that were distributed separately, including
the MSVCLO version (for IBM near-clones like the
Seequa Chameleon and DG/l) and the Olivetti M24
version. Untested versions are included for the HP150, HP-110 and Portable PC, and the Grid Compass
5

Tektronix terminal emulation provides standard
line drawing, dot, and character graphics of the 4010
class terminals using true graphics on the PC. KermitMS automatically determines the display and display adapter board in current use and does high resolution graphics in response to Tek style commands
(which are described in the new Users Manual). Display adapters currently supported are EGA, CGA,
Hercules, AT&T/Olivetti, and even regular Monochrome (with text characters rather than dots). The
graphics will be in color (foreground and background)
and will be preserved separately from ordinary text
(VT102, VT52, Heath-19) screens if the hardware
permits and one can switch back and forth from the
keyboard. Tektronix specifications have been extended slightly to allow the host to switch KermitMS into and out of graphics mode automatically for
easy plotting from packages such as SAS.

1. For everybody: The documentation MSKERM.DOC, MSKERM.HLP, MSKERM.BWR.
2. For those who already have Kermit on their PC:
MSVxxx.BOO. If you don't have the MSBPCT
''BOO-file decoder", also get that.
3. For those who want to make modifications to the
sources: MSS"'."', MSGxxx.'" (if any), MSXxxx."',
MSYxxx.'" (if any) ,MSZxxx.'" (if any),
MSVxxx.MAK (or .BAT if you don't have MAKE),
and MSVxxx.LNK.
The systems for which we don't yet have the new
version ready are still in the Kermit distribution as
before, under the MSV, MSX, and MSY prefixes.
These will be replaced as the new ones appear.
The IBM PC and DEC Rainbow versions may also
be ordered on diskette from Columbia, along with
typeset, printed copies of the manual. The IBM version is available on 5.25-inch 360K OS DO diskettes,
and on 3.S-inch 720K OS diskettes for the PS/2 family. The Rainbow version is on RXSO. Send mail to
Info-Kermit-Request@CU20B.COLUMBIA.EDU

The IBM PC version now supports the COM3 and
COM4 po$ available on many machines with added
hardware, provided the user informs the BIOS of
their presence. The Users Manual shows how to do
this. Kermit-MS/IBM adapts to screen dimensions
found at startup, such as 132 columns or 43 lines, and is
able to switch several popular non-IBM EGA boards
to 132 column mode under host control.·

or

KERMIT@CUVMA.BITNET
for ordering information. The distribution diskette
for the IBM PC version will also be submitted by
Columbia to various user groups and diskette services.

Long packets, up to 1000 bytes, are supported to
increase efficiency on long haul communications circuits. Efficiency increases by using fewer packets and
thus less overall time waiting for packets to be
acknowledged.. Strong three byte CRC checking is encouraged; it does not degrade local performance. Long
packets are a reasonable alternative to the sliding
windows approach which has a problem on PCs when
they attempt disk i/o while receiving characters on
the serial port (interrupts can get lost and packets
need to be repeated).

New Features
Of particular interest are the Local Area Network
and Tektronix items. Both are available only for the
mM PC version of Kermit-MS.
LANs can be used as a communications pathway
between cooperating Kennits and between Kermit-MS
and a host which allows direct remote logins from
the LAN. The mechanism is the NetBIOS emulator
program supplied with each network, and thus it
works with most LAN systems. Any station can
become a Kermit network server or a client, without
interference with the regular network fileservers, to
allow multiple Kennit to Kermit links on a voluntary
peer to peer basis. The mechanism uses just the NetBIOS and not vendor dependent Asynchronous Communications software packages (Kermit puts its own
packets or Connect mode characters in NetBIOS packets and uses the NetBIOS protocol in addition to the
standard Kermit protocol).

Translation mechanisms are present to assist multilingual usage of essentially ASCII or English style
machines. These are not panaceas for a very complex
problem, but testing in Europe indicates it is a step in
the right direction. The mechanisms are conversion of
characters about to be displayed, control of character
size (7 or 8 -bits), and the new generalized keyboard
handler present for all MS DOS machines. A

6

I
I
I

Joe R. Doupnik
Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences &
Dept of Electrical Engineering
Utah State University
Logan, Utah 84322
RD@USU.BITNET
Frank da Cruz
Center for Computing Activities
Columbia University
612 West 115th Street
New York, NY 10025
SY.FDC@CU20B.COLUMIBA.EDU

sustained awareness of supplementary input and output devices used by disabled and other individuals is
present in many parts of the program. As we learn
more about such devices Kermit-MS will try to make
their use possible and comfortable.
Overall, the interior technical improvements are
numerous. This gives us added flexibility and increased performance.
And may we share with you - Like any Kermit
program, MS-DOS Kermit is for everyone to use and
share. Once you get it, feel free to pass it along to
your friends and colleagues. Although it is copyrighted and not in the public domain, we ask only that you
not attempt to sell it for profit, and that you use it
only for peaceful and humane purposes. If you have
comments, suggestions, improvements, or fixes, please
send them to Kermit Distribution at Columbia University, where they can be considered for the next release or added to the "beware file". Happy New
Year, and use Kermit in good health!

New Kermit files
CU20B Name
Size
7K
KER:MSAAAA.HLP
130K total
KER:MSB*.*
KER:MSVIBM.BOO
97K
KER:MSVRB1.BOO
68K
KER:MSVGEN.BOO
62K
KER:MSTHP1.BOO
63K
KER:MSTHPX.BOO
64K
KER:MSTGRI.BOO
64K
KER:MSKERM.DOC
263K
KER:MSKERM.MSS
263K
12K
KER:MSKERM.HLP
KER:MSKERM.BWR
11K
638K total
KER:MSS*.*
110K each
KER:MSG*.*
70-85K each
KER:MSU*.*
39-150K each
KER:MSX*.*
lOOK each
KER:MSY*.*
183K each
KER:MSZ* . *
2K each
KER:MSV*.MAK
KER:MSV*.BAT
2K each
KER:MSV*.LNK
1K each

. Description
Explanation of file naming conventions
BOO-file encoding/decoding programs
IBM PC Kermit, BOO-encoded executable
DEC Rainbow Kermit BOO file
Generic MS-DOS Kermit BOO file
HP-150 (untested)
HP-110 and Portable PC (untested)
Grid Compass II (untested)
MS-DOS Kermit manual, plain ASCII text
Scribe text formatter source for manual
A summary of MS-Kermit commands
List of known restrictions, bugs, etc.
System-independent MASM Source files (13 files)
System-dependent source (graphics, IBM only)
Sys-depn source (keyboard support, all systems)
Sys-depn source (port i/o, etc, all systems)
Sys-depn source (terminal emulation, IBM only)
Sys-depn source (term emul, cont'd, IBM only)
Microsoft MAKE files for each version
Batch files to build each version
LINK command files for each version

7

2.0.S Cooperate with the DECUS/U.S. Chapter
and other LUGs in advancing the purposes
of the Society.

New Bylaws
Our current bylaws are slightlY'out of compliance with DEeUS stat:tdards, and a few key
points concerning elections 'and replacement
. of officers are treated vaguely in them. Rather
than trying to amend them piecemeal in order
to bring them into compliance, the CNYLUG
Steering Committee proposes to. replace our
current bylaws with the following set, adapted
from the model bylaws provided by DECUS.
Note that the items numbered in bold italics
are required by DECUS. These bylaws will be
open for discussion at the upcoming meeting,
but the vote to adopt them will take place at
the following general meeting, as specified in
our present bylaws.

ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
3.0

3.1

CNYLUG Steering Committee

of the LUG.
3.0.2 Any member of DECUS who expresses an
interest in above mentioned (1.0) LUG is
accepted as a member of the LUG.
Rights of Members:
3.1.1 All LUG members shall have the right to
vote for the elected officer of the LUG.
3.1.2 Five or more members of the LUG may, by
written petition, bring a motion before a
meeting of the LUG Steering Committee.

ARTICLE IV
STEERING COMMITTEE

LUG OPERATING PRINCIPLES
4.0

General:
4.0.1 The LUG shall be administered by a Steering
Committee.
. 4.0.2· The Steering Committee shall consist of five
elected officers, a DEC Representative (or
Counterpart) and at least two At-Large
members.
4.0.3 A quorum will be composed of at least three
officers of the Steering Committee.
4.0.4 All members of the Steering Committee shall
be voting members.
4.1 Steering Committee Officers:
4.1.1 The Steering Committee Officers shall be
elected from the membership of the LUG.
These officers will be elected as the Chair,
the Vice-Chair, the Secretary ITreasurer, the
Newsletter Editor and the Librarian.
4.1.2 The term of office for an elected officer shall
be one year, renewable by election.
4.1.3 Each term of office shall begin on July 1 of an
election year.
4.1.4 In the event that the Chair is unable to
attend a Steering Committee meeting, the
Vice-Chair (or in the Vice-Chair's absence,
the Secretary), shall act as the chair of the
meeting.

ARTICLE I
NAME
1.0 The name of the organization is the CENTRAL NEW

YORK LOCAL USER'S GROUP

ARTICLE II
PURPOSE
2.0

Membership ReqU:irements:
3.0.1 Only DECUS members may become members

The LUG is established as a Local User Group
(LUG) under the Bylaws of the Digital Equipment
Computer User's Society (DECUS) to:
2.0.1 Advance the effective utilization of computers, computer peripheral equipment and
software manufactured and marketed or
otherwise made available by Digital
Equipment CQrporation (DEC) by promoting
the interchange of information concerning
their uses.
2.0.2 Advance the art of computation through
mutual education and exchange of ideas and
informa tion.
2.0.3 Provide channels to facilitate the exchange
of computer programs among the LUG members.
2.0.4 Pruvide feedback to DEC on equipment,
sOftware, services and other needs which
may arise.
8

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

4.7.3 The Secretary shall handle the finances of
the LUG and prepare all financial reports.
4.8 Responsibilities of the Newsletter Editor:
4.8.1 The Newsletter Editor shall edit and
publish a LUG newsletter.
4.9 Responsibilities of the Librarian:
4.9.1 The Librarian shall maintain a catalogue of
LUG member submitted software.
4.9.2 The Librarian shall furnish a copy of the
catalogue to any LUG member on request.
4.9.3 The Librarian shall maintain a listing of
signed releases for each piece of software in
the Library.
4.9.4 The Librarian shall not knowingly distribute
any copyrighted material.
4.9.5 The librarian shall not furnish a copy of any
software to any person outside the borders of
the U.S.
4.10 Responsibilities of the DEC Representative (Counterpart):
4.10.1 The DEC Representative (Counterpart)
shall represent the interests of DEC.
4.10.2The DEC Counterpart shall help the LUG
according to the Precepts outlined in Policy
21Y.
.

At-Large Members:
4.2.1 At-Large Members of the Steering Committee
may be appointed by the Chair and serve as
necessary and appropriate.
Ad Hoc Committee:
4.3.1 The Chair may, from time-to-time, establish
Ad Hoc Committees as the business of the
LUG requires.
Responsibilities of the Steering Committee:
4.4.1 The Committee shall establish procedures
for the orderly operation of the LUG.
4.4.2 The Committee shall organize all LUG
meetings.
4.4.3 The Committee shall make nominations and
hold elections for officers on the Steering
Committee.
4.4.4 The Committee shall interpret, with the
Society, these bylaws.
4.4.5 The Committee shall perform all other
duties which customarily pertain to the
Steering Committee.
Responsibilities of the Chair:
4.5.1 The Chair shall preside as chair at all
meetings of the Steering Committee.
4.5.2 The Chair shall provide for the discharge of
necessary duties of absent members of the
Steering CommUtee.
4.5.3 The Chair shall perform the normal administrative functions necessary to accomplish
the LUG goals.
4.5.4 The Chair shall adopt interim procedures
and policies when necessary on behalf of the
LUG asa whole.
4.5.5 The Chair shall be responsible for maintaining communications with the NLC.
Responsibilities of the Vice-Chair:
4.6.1 The Vice-Chair shall assume all of the
responsibili ties of the Chair in the absence of
the Chair.
4.6.2 The Vice-Chair shall maintain a record of
the merrlbership of the LUG.
Responsibilities of the Secretary/Treasurer:
4.7.1 The Secretary shall record and maintain the
minutes of the Steering Committee meetings.
4.7.2 The Secretary shall infonn the LUG members
of the time, place, and agenda of all LUG
meetings.

4.11 Vacancy in Office:
4.11.1 In the event of a vacancy occurring on the
Committee, the Chair shall appoint a LUG
member from names submitted to him for that
purpose by the Committee. The appointee
shall serve the balance of the unfilled term
for which he is appointed and shall not be
prohibited from running for election to the
Committee in any subsequent election.
4.11.2 The office of Chair, if vacated, shall be
filled by a member of the Committee elected
by a majority vote of the Committee. The
Regional LUG Coordinator of the NLC shall
be notified of the change.
4.12 Vote of the Steering Committee:
4.12.1 Except as expressly required by these operating principles or the Society's Bylaws, the
vote of the majority of the members of the
Committee in attendance at a Committee
meeting at which a quorum is present shall be
the act of the Committee.

9

ARTICLE VII
AMENDMENTS

ARTICLE V
ELECTIONS
5.0

5.1

Nominations:
5.0.1 All LUG members shall be eligible to make
nominations for election to the Committee.
5.0.2 Nominations shall be opened by April 1 of an
election year at which time the Committee
will present to the LUG membership a slate
of at least one nominee for each elective
office on the Committee and will at that time
call for additional nominations.
5.0.3 All nominations must be submitted in writing
to the Secretary.
5.0.4 Nominations shall close on May 1 of an election year.
Elections:
5.1.1 The Secretary shall compile a ballot within
two weeks following the close of nominations.
The ballot will include a brief summary of
the qualifications of each candidate and will
be distributed to all LUG members.
5.1.2 All ballots will be returned to the Secretary
by the due date specified on the ballot. The
due date shall not be less than two weeks
after the date of distribution of the ballots.
5.1.3 The ballots will be counted within one week
following the due date. No ballots will be
counted after that time. The newly elected
Officers will be informed immediately of the
results of the election and the date their term
begins. The NLC Regional LUG Coordinator
shall be informed of the results of any
election.

7.0

7.0.2 A ballot on an amendment to these LUG Bylaws may be initiated by the Steering Committee or by petition of at least 15 LUG
members.
7.0.3 All LUG members shall have the opportunity to vote on amendments. The Secretary
shall prepare and distribute to each LUG
member a statement of the proposed amendment and a ballot.
7.1

6.1

Amendment Ratification:
7.1.1 Amendments to these Bylaws must be
approved by affirmative vote of two-thirds
of the votes cast.
7.1.2 All ballots must be returned to the Secretary
within 30 days of the date of distribution.
7.1.3 Any amendments to these Bylaws must be
submitted to the NLC Regional LUG
Coordinator.

ARTICLE VIII
IMPLEMENTATION
8.0

General:
8.0.1 These proposed Bylaws shall be submitted to
the LUG members who shall vote on the~.
adoption of these Bylaws by a date established for that purpose by the then existing
Steering Committee.

ARTICLE VI
MEETINGS
6.0

General:
7.0.1 Amendments to the LUG Bylaws shall not
conflict with any provision of the Society's
Bylaws.

8.0.2 Upon approval of these Bylaws, the temporary Officers of the Steering Committee shall
become the officers of the Steering Commi ttee
under these Bylaws with a term ending 30
June, 1988.

General Meetings:
6.0.1 There shall be a minimum of two meetings of
the LUG membership per year.
Steering Committee Meetings:
6.1.1 There shall be at least one Committee meeting prior to each general meeting.

10

The Central New York Chapter
of the Digital Equipment Corporation's User's Group
announces its

March Meeting
Exploring the DECUS tapes
,...

When:
Where:

Wednesday, March 23 at 3:00 PH
Hamilton Avnet Facility
103 Twin Oaks Drive
syracuse,

...

NY

...

.

A Bimonthly Newsletter of the
Central New York Caa pter of
the Digital Equipment
Corpora tion Users Society
Volume 5 Number 4

Jan. 1988

January Program

VAX File Security
The next meeting of the Central New York Chapter of the Digital Equipment Corporation User's Group will be on Thursday, January 28, at 7PM at the Syracuse Digital Equipment Corp. office, 2090 Elwood Davis Road, Liverpool. A speaker from Digital, Jon J.
Danzak, a software specialist with the local office, wIll be discussing security in VAXVMS
systems. VAXVMS systems offer a wide range of security features that are appropriate for a
variety of security needs. Jon will provide some basic background material for the new
Digital user and suggest techniques and concepts that are valuable at all levels. The ease of
access to technology today, the way that technology touches our lives, and the prevalence
of computer systems have made computer security all the more important. Escapades such
as the "411 Club" and the "Computer CHAOS Club" have caused media sensations. Computer systems do present us with the dual edge challenge of free access and access restrictions: who to grant access, who to deny.
Jon has been with Digital for nearly five years and has been in the computer industry for
over ten. He has a background in computers and psychology with a bachelor1s degree from
the University of Pittsburgh. Jon's experience in the industry includes a wide and diverse
background. He has acted as a data base administrator, written real-time control systems,
authored data base systems, acted as system Integrator .and is currently using his broad
based skills as a Sales Support Specialist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, Dick Wilbur will give a report on
the Fall 1987 US DECUS Symposium for us,
especially relative to what he has learned
about the Version 5.xx release of VMS,
which we will be 'seeing soon. We all can
look forward to Dick's VMS v5 update
report.

Electronics
Parkway

Hancock
Airport

CONTENTS

Seventh
North St

DECUS membership ..................... 3
Poster ................................................ 5
Statistics on VAX's ........................ 2
Steering Committee ...................... 4

to

1

SYRACUSE

-l:V-

STATISTICAL ANALYSES IN
VAX BASED ENVIRONMENTS

According to the survey, SAS had
31 % of the software base with SPSS at
28%, IMSL at '13%, Minilab at 12%,
BMDP at 7%, CACI at 3% and all others
shared the remaining 6%. The newlysigned Agreement between SAS and
Digital would seem to pave the way for
even grea ter growth of SAS Software on
VAX system. According to SAS officials, after being in the Digital market
for just over two years, the SAS system
under VMS accounts for 20% of all new
sales.

Recently I was reading an article that
was touting a newly-signed Agreement
between Digital and SAS of Cary, NC. It
was of particular interest to me, because
we primarily use the SAS System running on a VAX. to analyze data from o~r
research trials at Agway. As I read thIS
particular article I thought there might
be other Digital users who would be interested in knowing a little about who
are the suppliers of statistical (number
crunching) software for VAX environments, so I dug back through some information that I had been saving for
"when the need arises." Here is some of
what I found.

CACI

others

SAS

Currently, there are about 10 major
third-party suppliers of statistical analysis software for VAX computers, and
more than 200 that offer packages for the
IBM-PC's and compatibles. I mention
the PC's is because there is such an abundance of them hanging off of VAX's that
they really are an important issue for
most of us. Most vendors who provide
statistical software systems for the VAX
now make the capabilities of those systems available for PC's as well. According to a recent survey (now15-20 months
old) by the Com pu ter Intelligence Co. of
LaJolla, CA, 94% of the statistical software commonly used at DEC sites is
made by six suppliers: SAS Institute Inc.,
SPSS Inc., IMSL Inc., Minilab Inc., BMDP
Software and CAeI. This survey found
tha t, even though the SAS Sys tem
wasn't ported over and made available
on the VAX before 1985, SAS software
had the largest market share of all the
statistical software available for the DEC
environment.

Minilab, In(

SPSS

Computers are making so much
data available to us every day that it has
become ail awesome task to evaluate,
summarize and effectively utilize all
this information without the aid of
sound statistical programs. Most of
these third-party vendors have designed very powerful data handling/
manipulation languages into their
products and have designed user interfaces which are 'very comfortable for
even non-statistically or mathematically oriented users.

2

CNY LUG STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman:

Jim English

Jim Coleman

Manager,R&D Computer Services & Biometrician
Agway Inc.
Research & Development
P. o. Box 4933
Syracuse,~Y 13221
315/477-6380

Software Engineer
Genigraphics Corp.
P.O. Box 591
Liverpool, NY 13088
315/451-6600 - Ext. 397

Vice Chairman:
Richard Wilbur

Software Engineer
Genigraphics Corp.
P.O. Box 591
Liverpool, NY 13088
315/451-6600 - Ext. 397

Karen Kearney

Systems Programmer
Academic Computing Services
Syracuse University
214 Machinery Hall
Syracuse, NY 13210
315/4234043

Mark Hyde
Software and Hardware Consulting
Advanced Computing Services
209 Ardsley Drive
DeWitt, NY 13214
315/446-7223

Librarian:
Renee Solak
General Electric Co.
P.O. Box 4840
CSP5-3Z
Syracuse, NY 13221
315/456-1737

Ron Panetta
Engineer
General Electric Co.
P.O. Box 4840
EP3-144
Syracuse,~ 13221
315/456-2555

Secreta~rrreasurer.

Rita Waugh
Software Engineer
Genigraphics Corp.
P.O. Box 591
Liverpool, NY 13088
315/451-6600 - Ext. 269

DEC Counterparts:
Colette Powers
Sales Account Manager
Digital Equipment Corp.
Suite 315
290 Elwood Davis Road
Liverpool, NY 13088
315/451-6550 800/962-3244

Newsletter Editor:
Paul DeBendictis
Educational Communications
SUNY Health Science Center
766 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13210
315/473-5719 or 4818

Herbert J. Dunmore
Account Manager
Digital Equipment Corp.
Suite 315
290 Elwood Davis Road
Liverpool, NY 13088
315/451-6550 800/962-3244

Standing Members:
Glen Guy
Automation Engineer, Retired
7916 Glenbrook Drive
Bald winsville, NY 13027
315/635-7542

Betty Fisher
Software Specialist
Digital Equipment Corp.
Suite 315
290 Elwood Davis Road
Liverpool, NY 13088
315/451-6550 @G.E. 456-7613

Frank Cannan
Hamilton Avnet Electronics
103 Twin Oaks Drive
Syracuse, NY 13206
315/437-2641

4

LugNuts 5(1):8

judged to be near by most developers.
The addition of the advisory systems to
these statistical systems effectively will
provide a statistical consultant with each
computer system. As our access to increasing volumes of computer data continues to grow exponentially, the future
for statistical software to make sense of it
all seems bright.

For example, SAS, running under
VMS is compos'ed of eight" integrated
(separa tely lice.nsed)" components that
provide the capabilities for data management and analysis, report writing,
menu-based applications development,
decision support, spreadsheets, graphics,
operations research, financial planning,
statistical quality control and interactive
matrix programming. The SAS core
programs feature over 80 procedures
that can be invoked with very little programming skills, including an interface
to their system 2000 System. Somewhat
similar capabilities also are appearing in
the other' statlstics packages which I pre, viously mentioned," A result of building
, these c~p~bilities into the statistical software -is that information managers are'
finding that statistical software is finding
homes and being used effectively in domains other than the research labs.

J.E.English

IMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP
NOTICE
In the upper right-hand corner of
your mailing label, you should find your
DECUS number listed in parentheses. If
this field is blank, you should contact me
or another steering committee member
so that we can enter your DECUS number into our membership database. If
you do not have a DEeUS number, contact me, and I'll send you a DECUS
membership application. Remember,
DEeUS membership is free. If we do not
hear from you, your name will be removed from our mailing list.
..

Five or six years ago, graphic capabilities in data analysis software was uncommon. However, today, most Users,
vvouldn't even consider a system without it. 'Probably the key factor is the cost
of today's graphics hardware is no longer
prohibitive for most users. Graphics has
really allowed users to do more than just
dress up their data so that they can take
them out. It h~s made information,
which was used or understood only
marginally before, useful and a more integral part of our every day activity. The
old adage that "A picture" is worth 1000
words" isn't far from the truth.

New DECUS numbers are mailed
directly to the applicant. If you recently
have applied for aDECUS mem~~.rship,
please tell us what your membership
number is when you receive it.
Dick Wilbur
Computing and Network Services
Syracuse University
Machinery Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244

Mos t man uf acturers of s ta tis tical
software agree that the next revolution
in their software systems will be the incorporation of expert systems, commonly called advisory systems. The introduction of these types of systems is

(315) 423-3817
Internet:
Bi tnct: 

3

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====================================================.==========================

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==============================================================================

VOL. 7 NO. 12

Greater Boston VAX Local User's Group Newsletter

December 1987

.==============================================================================

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
When:

Tuesday, December 15, 1987

Where:

MIT, Plasma Fusion Center
Building NW17, Room 218
175 Albany Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

What:

1:30
2:00
2:15
2:45
4:00

-

NOTE: This is the third Tuesday

2:00 -> Informal user discussion
2:15 -> Old business and announcements
2:45 -> Open question and answer period
4:00 -> Presentation
-> More questions and answers

Parking is available at the MIT commuter student parking lot around the corner.
Place your parking authorization (available at the meeting) on your dashboard.
Metered parking is also available on Albany St.
-----------------------~------------------------------ ------------------------

PRESENTATION TOPIC
FALL DECUS Symposium in Anahiem, California.
sharing their notes from the ~arious seminars.

Attendees

will

be

~

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Note that the VAX LUG meeting for December will be held on December
15, 1987, the third tuesday of the month, the week after the Fall DECUS
Symposium in Anaheim.

------------------------------------------------------ ~------------------------

LUG STEERING COMMITTEE - Call for information
Chairperson
Ron McKenna

(603) 885-4493

Hardware
Torn Provost

Co-chairperson
Dawn Steeves

(617) 482-2700
x3500

Tuning
Alan Wu
Jeff Del Papa

(617) 774-2370

Newsletter
Dave Chin

(617) 929~8633

Database Management
Cliff Smith

(207) 675-3313

Structured Languages
Deryl Burr

'( 617 ) 497-8101

SIG Tapes
Bob Hassinger
Lance Jackson

(617) 435-9061
(617) 495-1266

Mailing List
Mark Katz

(617) 253-5624
(617) 876-6819
(617) 466-3437

Site Survey
l4arty Sasaki

(617) 273-5500

Cliff Hafen

(617) 353-2780

Networks

DAVE CHIN
UNIVERSITY OF MASS/BOSTON
BUILDING 090/LL/019
BOSTON, MA
02125-3393

On Line Lug Log
(617) 495-712C
1200 baud
(617) 495-863~
300 baud
username VAXLUG

==============================================================================

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==============================================================================

VOL. 8 NO.1

Greater Boston YAX Local User's Group Newsletter

January 1988

==============================================================================

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT
When:
Where:

What:

Tuesday, January

12~

1988

MIT, Plasma Fusion Center
'Building NW14,Room 2209
178 Albany Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
1 :30
2:00
2:15
2:45
4:00

- 2:00
- 2:15
- 2:45
- 4:00

-

->
->
->
->
->

NOTE: meeting room change!

Informal user discussion
Old business and announcements
Open question and answer period
Presentation
More questions and answers

Parking is available at the MIT commuter student parking lot around the corner.
Place your parking authorization (available at the meeting) on your dashboard.
Metered parking is also available on Albany St.

PRESENTATION TOPIC
A developer from DEC DSS will discuss DECNET SYSTEM SERVICES,
the
series of networking products that provide users with an environment to make
the network appear to be a single system. Discussion will include distributed
file service, distributed queuing service, distributed name service, and
remote system management.

UG

STEERING COMMITTEE - Call for information

hairperson
Ron McKenna

(603) 885-4493

Co-chairperson
Dawn Steeves

(617) 482-2700
x3500

Tuning

ardware
Tom Provost
rewsletter
Dave Chin

(617) 774-2370

(617) 929-8633

)atabase Management
Cl i ff Smi.th

Alan Wu
Jeff Del Papa
Mailing List
Mark Katz

(617) 253-5624
(617) 876-6819
(617) 466-3437

Site Survey
(207) 675-J113

Mar~y.~asaki

(617) 271-5500

Cliff Hafen

(617)

Networks

itructuredLanguages
Dery1.Burr

(617) 497-8101

:;IG Tapes
Bob Hassinger
Lance Jackson

(617) 435-9061
(617) 495-1266

...

DAVE CHIN
UNIVERSITY OF MASS/BOSTON
BUILDING 090/LL/019
BOSTON, MA
02125-3393

353~2780

On Line.Lug Log
. .1200 baud
(617) 495-7120
300 baud
(617) 495-8633
username VAX LUG

THE GURU
or

Ths News/~tttlr
thtl
TWIN TiEli' LOCAL USEIf'S GROUP

Harch, 1988

Volume 2 Issue 4

..............................................................................

--------

EDITOR'S NOTES
It's that time of year againl Vhile our national government is holding its many
primaries in the attempt to narrow the field of candidates for President, your LUG is
also gearing up for elections. Nomination ballots ar. included in this issue of THE
GURU, so if you think someone would be great in a particular position, or if you would
like to nominate yourself (volunteer?!?), fill out the ballot and maii it to the
Election Chairman, Tam Kammin. Also on the ballot is an RSVP for the Vestern ~y Jo;nt
meeting at DEC's Application Center for Technology, in Rochester. Please fill out this
information, as well, before returning your ballot.
Speaking of elections, I won't be running for office this year, so if you have secret
aspirations of being a newsletter editor, if the challenge and thrill of being "in the
know" and sharing that knowledge with others makes your blood run hot, get your nue
of the noainatioD ballot I I If you can't get a friend or colleague to enter your
name ••• enter it yourself, no one will know the d i f f e r e n c e l ' ·
AND THE VINNER IS ••. During the January, 1987 General LUG Meeting, Jim Dugan announced
that DEC had donated a "white-board" to the LUG. Anyone who bought a 50-50 raffle
ticket during the general meetings was automatically included in the raffle for the
white board. The winning ticket was drawn during the last general meeting, January 20,
1988, and the winner is Christopher 80ag1inl Congratulations, Chrisl
The Harch General LUG Heeting will be held later than normal on Thursday, March ?4.
The topic will be "Computer Aided Software Engineering" and our guest speaker is Dr.
Bradley Strait. This should be an exceptionally informative session for anyone
interested in CASE. I'll be there and hope to see youl

Ginger Frongillo

COMMENTS -FROM THE CHAIR

Stan Schultes
Chairman, Twin Tiers LUG
As the weather warms, all sorts of
amazing things start happening - flowers
come out, warm weather athletes start
going crazy, and DECUS wakes up from its
long winter nap. Of course the LUG is
always on the move, neither cold nor
snow nor busy work schedules keep us
from
our appointed duties. Lots of
things are starting to happen, let's
tak~ a look at a few of theml

we'll have attending, so please send in
the
enclosed RSVP form as soon as
possible. I highly recommend this trip,
you can expect much high quality V5
info, ACT demo goodies, and as always,
quality time complete with an
high
opportunity
to
make
regional
professional contacts in your field.
Vhat an opportunity, don't let this one
escape youl!l

First ! would 'like to mention a very
special event that is going to take
place during the first week of May that
you DEFINITELY should plan to attend. It
is a Vestern NY joint LUG meeting at the
Rochester ACT (DEC Applications Center
for Technology). The tentative agenda is
as follows (we're hoping to start it a
little earlier):

The next item I would like to mention
is: its election season in your LUG
(where did the year go??). Many of you
may remember how we do elections from
last year, and you know that you won't
get elected unless you want to. The
elections
will be held
during the
General
LUG
meeting
scheduled for
Vednesday, Hay 25 (one week later than
normal due to the DECUS Symposium the
week before) at the BOC. The election
business will be followed by the showing
of a videotape - of Grace Hopper, the
grand dame of computerdom. It's really
worth seeing, as she's been in computing
since many of our parents were still in
school (she was the 2nd programmer ever
on UNIVAC-l for the Navy). See Hike
Frongillo's article - elsewhere in this
newsletter for more election ,info.

Vednesday, May 4, 1988
your calendar nowl!

put it on

6:30 Buffet Dinner (sponsored by DEC)
7:30 LUG Announcement~
,
8:00 Main Topic ._,••• > VMS- Vs-.o 01,1 r
(still tentative, but likely)
9:00 Free form ACT tour
.
This will be an excellent opportunity to
get a "look in the box" at VMS '{S.O, and
will also get. you inside the ACT. The
free form tour will be to demo many
software products, discrete and process
manufacturing
shop
floor
control
systems, workstations, etc. They have
over
170
software
packages
to
demonstrate as well as a whole range of
VAX
and
PDP-11
processors
and
configurations. They are willing to set
up
special demos if there are any
specific things you want to see.
Ve will be arranging
people back and forth.
cost will be to split
know by April 1 the

a carpool to get
I expect the only
gas. DEC needs to
number of people

Of course, the other major event I want
to
mention
is
the
spring
DECUS
symposium, which will be held on ,May
16... 20,
1988 in Cincinnati, Ohio. I
understand that preliminary programs and
registration
information were to be
mailed on 3/2, so you ought to have them
by the time - you read this. Call me
(601-974-6865) if you need information.
Also, I noticed that the March copy of
DEC Professional magazine included a
listing of presymposium seminars inside
the shrink wrap. There are over 70 being
offered, at the cost of $225.00 each,
and well worth it!! One word of caution
for those of you planning on attending

COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIR (con t • )
this spring's symposium: Cincinnati is
chronically short of hotel space, so
send in your room reservation NOY!! I
have forms if you need one.
The next general LUG meeting will be
held on Thursday, 3/24 at 6:30 at the
BDC. This is one week (and a day) later
than usual. The topic will be CASE
(Computer Aided Software Engineering),
presented by Dr. Bradley Strait, from
the CASE Center at Syracuse University.
It should be a really good presentation,
hope you can make it!

****************************************
DR. BlWlLBY J. STRAIT

BIOGRAPHICAL SDTCII
Bradley
J. Strait is Professor of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at
Syracuse University and Director of the
New
York State Center for Advanced
Technology in Computer Applications and
Software Engineering (CASE Center). He
was born in Canandaigua, New York on
March 17, 1932 and has been a lifelong
resident of the Syracuse and Central New
York area.
He served in the United States Navy from
to
1955 as
an
electronics
1951
technician. After earning a B.S.E.E in
1958, he became a graduate Research
Assistant while studying for his M.S.
degree, which he completed in 1960. 8e
then worked as an engineer with Eastman
Kodak Company in Rochester, returning to
Syracuse in 1961 to begin formal study
toward the Ph.D. During his doctoral
program (completed in 1965), he served
as
an
Instructor
of
Electrical
Engineering.
Dr. Strait began his faculty career
in
1965
when
he joined
Syracuse
University as an Assistant Professor of
Electrical Engineering. He moved through

the academic ranks to become Associate
Professor
in
1969,
Professor
and
Chairman of the Department of F.lectric~l
Engineering in 1974, and Dean of the
College of Engineering in 1981. He is
the
recipient
of
two awards
for
excellence in teaching. His teaching
interests
include
applications
of
computers to antenna problems, antenna
arrays,
electromagnetic
theory
and
scattering
systems,
measurements,
network
theory
and
communications
systems. As a researcher, he developed
several widely used software packages
for solving practical problems in the
field
of
electromagnetics.
He has
written several papers and edited a book
on these subjects.
Dr. Strait's administrative accomplishments have earned him several listings
in
Yho's
Yho
publications.
Yhile
Chairman of the Department of Electrical
Engineering,
he
administered
an
undergraduate
computer
engineering
program - one of the first in the
country. As Dean of the College of
Engineering, he designed and initiated
Syracuse
University's
tirst
undergraduate
cooperative
education
program
in
electrical,
computer,
mechanical and aerospace engineering. He
was instrumental in establishing the
Center
for
Advanced
Technology in
Computer
Applications
and
Software
Engineering,
and has served as its
Director since its designation by New
York State in early 1984. In 1986, Dr.
Strait received the Syracuse University
Chancellor's Citation for Distinguished
Service. Last year he was named 1986
Data Processing Person of the Year by
the Syracuse chapters of the Association
for Computing Machinery, Association for
Systems Management, and Data Processing
Management Association.
(Editor's Comment:
Dr. Strait has been highly recommended
as a leader in the field of CASE and the
LUG Steering Committee feels that the
LUG is very fortunate to have him as the
speaker at our March general meeting.)

ANSI 1985 standards

SNEAK PEAK AT VS.O
The following is reprinted, in part,
from "IH THE QUEUE", the NBVSLB'nBR or
THE VAXTOLEDO DICUS LUG. It is based on
their first meeting program.
The program speaker was Cloyce Carlen,
DEC Principal Software Specialist, who
spoke on VAX/VMS VS.O. Here's what he
had to tell:

- DECnet-VAX device protection ~ill hp.
restored after terminal link on asynch
DBCnet
- LATSYM

INSTALLATION

- System service call $GETLRI, get lock
info, will report buffer information
for a user's buffer too small.
$PRxxxDBP, processor register
definition, will get internal process
registers

- VMS V4.7 is required for upgrade to
VS.O

- SET BOST/BSC will allow /LOG in the
new version

- Installation security of VS is tighter
At login, the operator will be
prompted to change the password or
disable the account

- SET TIMB/CLUSTER is a new feature

- VAX volume shadowing on local are VAX
clusters needs to be reinstalled in
5.0

- VKB.IIB has improved reliability on
boot and crash logs. UETP, user test
procedure, has been modified.

TRCBHICAL CHANGBS AND IHPORMATIOH

- V5.0 offers a VAX cluster performance
advisor

- V4.7 is the last version for VAX
11/782 processors
- Modification to ANALtzB/BRROR and the
TA 79 in the cluster environment

- [SYSn.SYSIIB)CLUSTBR.DAT will allow a
SYS$SYSROOT for each VAX cluster.

- Multiple CPU memory sharing vs. the
master/slave concept
- Able to start and stop individual
CPU's in a multiple environment

- TA 78s can be upgraded
- Parallel processing will be supported
- In AUTOGBN, the DBONA software
controller will enable packet summing
to avoid data file corruption. Field
services will upgrade the DULQA

- Local area VAX cluster to use boot
node and alternate nodes
- MicroVMS and VMS will be one

- VM5IHAGES.DAT will be created
automatically
- BATCH/PRINT will no longer count
nonprinting characters

-

utility will prevent
initialization of a new disk

BA~

- Multiple Standalone BACKUPs may be
done

- PRINT/NOFEBD will count lines per page
DEPINB/FORM/SBEBTFEBD for LQP02s is
back (it was lost from V4.5)
- The COBOL runtime library will have

Dual port failover is a new feature,
perform own mount
- ACLs for batch queues, queue
performance enhanced

FROM TUB LIBRARY •••

"A Request for Help ••• "
In the last few weeks, I have received
requests
that the Alfred University
Library of DECUS submissions does not
have. The tape requests were for the
current KERMIT distribution and for the
latest RSX SIG tapes. I, myself, would
like a copy of the VAX SIG Tapes for
Spring 87 and Fall 87 as soon as they
are available. (Symposium tapes take a
while to get distributed from National
to Regional to Local.) If anyone has
ordered these releases from the DECUS
library, please do us all a favor and
make a copy to be kept for distribution
to others in the LUGIII
Send tapes to
me, Connie Beckman, Alfred University
Computing Services, Alfred, NY 14802.
"Vhat's on a Library Tape and ¥hat Ve Do
Bave ••• "

Ve currently have the VAX-LIB-1 thru
VAX-LIB-6 DECUS LIbrary collections and
VAX SIG tapes for Fall 84, Spring and
Fall 85 and 86. Ev@ryone receives the
DECUS Program Library Software Abstracts
as part of National Membership Services.
If you look at the VAX submissions in
this publication, most of them list a
direct order number (ie VAX-166) and a
VAX-LIB-n number (ie VAX-LIB-5). If the
VAX-LIB-n is 1 to 6, we already have the
tape.
I also can make a copy of a
single submission such as, VAX-166, if
you don't need the whole thing. Loading
one of these tapes is really a fast way
to use up your "extra" disk space I I The
tapes we do have were purchased by
Alfred University and have been made
available to the LUG. Ve do NOT have any
of the special submissions that are not
a part of the LIB distribution (ie
VAX-183 JUICER defragmenter).
"Vhat's on a SIG tape ••• "
The SIG (Special Interest Group) tapes
are those programs and utilities written
by DECUS members that are taken to the
National Symposium and organized by the

Group Submission (ie VAX SIG, OA SIG).
Tapes are distributed by the National
SIG committees to the Regionals and to
the Locals on request. This process
takes 2-3 months to organize after a
Symposium • Many of the offerings are
not documented well and some will not
even work (like anything else) from one
release of VMS to the next. Some of them
do get formally submitted as LIB series
offerings, but most of them appear only
as a part of the Symposium offering. As
a University Vax System Manager, I have
used many of the tape submissions from
other schools to solve problems that are
common to the educational environment.
There are lots of system management-type
utilities, EDT and TPU enhancements,
Autodial modem or DECNET enhancement
utilities,
Spell Checkers,
Graphics
Tools, Demos, etc. It takes a lot of
time and effort to decide what you need
or want and what -is not usable, but in
my case, it has been werth the effort.
Ve currently have only the VAX SIG
submissions because that was all I was
ever
interested in acquiring
(long
before we joined Twin Tiers LUG).

"Please Return ••• "
If you borrow the tapes
from the
Library, please return them promptly so
that they are available for the next
user.
"¥bat lIse is

the Library Supposed to

be ••• "

In addition to what we want and what we
have, the LUG tape library can be our
way
to contribute
to other
DECUS
chapters. If you have a "neat" utility
or program, or an entire system, that
you are willing
to
share
on a
take-it-as-is
basis,
including
the
machine-readable documentation, we can
create our own LUG submission to the
next
Spring DECUS
offering.
Any
submissions should be submitted to your
Librarian on BACKUP format tape. I will
compile one offering to send to the
Regional LUG Librarian and of course
have it for local distribution too!!

ELECTION PROCESS

The newly elected 'Officers will be
announced prior to the end of the
election meeting and they vill he
informed as to when their term
begins.

F.le~tions

of the 1988-89 Tvin Tiers
Local Users Group Officers viII be held
during the May 25, 1988 General Meeting.
As stated in our LUG By-laws, there are
several steps in the LUG nomination and
election
process
including
the
following:
Nominations
1.

An Election Nomination Committee,
appointed by the Steering Committee,
made up of two Steering Committee
members and three members-at-large
shall solicit nominations. All LUG
members shall be eligible to make
nominations
for election to the
Steering Committee.

2.

Nominations shall be opened at the
general
m~eting
preceding
the
election meeting. At that time the
chairman of the Election Nomination
Committee
shall
call
for
nominations.

3.

4.

Nominations may also be submitted in
writing
to the chairman of the
Election Nomination Committee. All
nominations must be approved by the
Election Nomination Committee by
verifying that the person nominated
is a member of DECUS, a member of
the LUG, and is willing to hold
office.

4.

The election meeting
prior to July 1.

must be

held

As
a final note, the
election of
Steering Committee officers is not to be
taken
lightly.
The intent
of the
original LUG Steering Committee was to
have about a 50% turnover rate each year
on the Committee. This would allow for
consistency in policy and direction as
well as pump new blood into the LUG by
having fresh ideas from its leaders.
The LUG has met with success because of
the individuals who have volunteered
their time and energy to ensure that the
LUG provides a vehicle for information
exchange.
Many of the members of the current
Committee have served two years and feel
it is time to step aside and let others
run the show. For the LUG's success to
endure and
to grow, it
requires
continued dedication and effort from its
new officers. The challenge is to elect
people, just like you, who are willing
to give of yourself to
meet this
objectivel
Michael J. Frongillo
Secretary, 1987-88

Nominations shall close two weeks
before the election meeting.

Elections

****************************************
PIRMISSIOH TO COPY

1.

The Secretary shall compile a ballot
~hich
will be distributed to all
members
prior
to
the election
meeting.

2.

Ballots will also be distributed,
collected,
and
counted on the
designated election meeting date.

3.

No ballots will be collected and/or
counted after the election m~eting.

The material in this newsletter may be
copied and reprinted by writers of other
non-profit newsletters provided credit
is given to TBB GURU, and reprinters
accept full liability for the reprinting
of the articles. Commercial republishers
may only do so with written consent of
the editor/author.

****************************************

paONE NUMBERS
LUG Steering Committee:
Chairllall
Stan Schultes
Corning Glass Yorks
HP-ME-03-079
Corning, NY 14831
Vi ce-Chairll8Jl
John Bradshaw
Corning Glass Yorks
ERVIN, EJ-36
Corning, NY 14831
Vi ce-ChairllaD
Tamra Kammin
Corning Glass Yorks
ERVIN, EJ-14
Corning, NY 14831
Vice-ChairlUUl
George ·Quinn
Alfred University
McMahon Bldg.
Alfred, NY 14802
Secretary
Mike Frongillo
Corning Glass Yorks
HP-AB-2-S
Corning, NY 14831
Tape Librarian
Connie Beckman
Alfred University
Computer Center
Alfred, NY 14802
Newsletter Editor
Ginger Frongillo
Corning Glass Vorks
HP-AB-2-5
Corning, NY 14831

ARTICLES

(607) 974-6865

(607) 974-1389

(607) 974-1437

(607) 871-2222

ARTICLES

ARTICLES

Have you written an article or paper
that you would like to share with your
fellow LUG members?
Have you thought
about writing an article but didn't
think you'd have the time to "fine-tune"
it?
If the answer to either of these
questions is yes, ACT NOV! If you've
already published an article or paper
that you want to share with the rest of
us, send it to me and it will be
included in a future issue of THE GURU.
If you have an idea for an article but
don't know how or want to write it,
contact
me
and
we'll arrange
an
interview, or you can write a rough
draft and we'll take care of the rest of
the work. VE NEED ARTICLES FROM YOUI
Support your LUG by sharing what you
know and what you like.
For more information, or to submit an
article for publication, contact:

(607) 974-8755
Ginger Frongillo
Corning Glass Vorks
HP-AB-2-S
(607) 974-8974
(607) 871-2222
RlKIRDBR

REMINDER

RBMINDBR

IMPORTANT DATES

If your mailing address has changed, or
if it will change in the near future and
you know what it will be, please notify
us with your new address so that THE
GURU mailing list can be updated before
the next issue is mailed.

March TTL General Heeting
03/24

Contact either Ginger Frongillo or Hike
Frongillo at the following address:

(607) 974-8974

Vestern NY Joint LUG Heeting at DEC
Applications
Center
for
Technology
(ACT)-Rochester
05/04
Spring DECUS Symposium-Cincinatti, OB
05/16 - 05/20
May TTL General Meeting
OS/25

Corning Glass Yorks
HP-AB-2-5
Corning, NY 14831

(607) 914-8914 or
(601) 914-8155

IN ORDER FOR US TO LET DEC KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE FROM OUR LUG
WILL BE ATTENDING THE MAY 4TH MEETING AT THE APPLICATION
CENTER rOR TECHNOLOGY IN ROCHESTER, YOU MUST RSVP BY MARCH
31ST. PLEASE INDICATE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WILL BE
ATTENDING AND WHETHER OR NOT YOU'LL NEED HELP IN ARRANGING
CAR-POOL TRANSPORTATION.
LUG Member name:
No. attending:

Need car-pool (Yes/No):

RSVP MUST BB RBCBIVED BY KARCH 31ST

TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE MAIL-IN NOMINATION FORM, DO THE
FOLLOWING:
1. Write in your selection for each of the offices. You may
nominate more than one person for each office, however,
the person(s) must consent to run for the office, and be a
LUG member with a DECUS number, in order to be considered
a nominee.
2. Fold the sheet of paper in half and staple or tape the
bottom, where both open flaps meet.
3. Place a stamp on the form and mail it - the address of the
chairman of the nominating committee has been pre-printed
on the other side for your convenience.

TWI. TIBRS LUG NOKIHATIOR FORK
CHAIRMAN:
VICE-CHAIRMAN:
VICE-CHAIRMAN:
VICE-CHAIRMAN:
SECRETARY:
TAPE LIBRARIAN:
NEWSLETTER EDITOR:

THE GURU
Th~ New$/~tttlr

0;

thf!l

TWIN T1£H L. OCAL I./SEIT'S GROUP

Volume 2 Issue 3

January, 1988

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
EDITOR'S NOTES
Velco.a to the New Year.,.198S1

I hope your holidays ware all you anticipatedl

The focus of this issue of THE GURU is the Fall DECUS Symposium held during the week
of December 6 in Anaheim, Ca.
Quite a few LUG members were able to attend this
symposium and several were gracious enough to share their experience with the rest of
the LUG by submitting informa.tion to THE GURU.
I sincerely spprE:cie:te their efforts
and take this opportunity to say TBANl YOUI
The meeting topic for the January General LUG meeting, which will be held on
Vednesday, January 20th, will be DIGITAL's HBTV~ ARCBITICTURB and Overviev. It will
cover such questions as "what is networking", "what is ethernet", "what is DECnet",
and other networking options available including local area networks, local area
VAXClusters and wide area VAXClusters. Bring your networking questions, problems and
experiences ••• the experts will be on hand to shed light on this sometimes confusing
topic.
And don't forget .•• January 20th is the last chance to buy a raffle ticket for the
"white boa.rd" that will be given away that night. Tickets will be available during
the social time and the raffle will be held at the end of the meeting. Someone will
win a white board for their very own ••. will it be YOU? The best way to find out is to
be there!

Ginger Frongillo

DECUS FALL SYMPOSIUM
REPORT FIlOM ANABBIM
TUB CBALLBNGB RBINPORcm

by Paul V. Morris
CGV Business Support Services
You go believing that
you're well
prepared for the hustle, bustle and
magnitude of it all because you've been
forewarned it will be overwhelming.
Yet, how soon you realize that there's
just no way to adequately prepare a
rookie for DECUS ... it simply must be
experienced firsthand like any "larger
than life" event!
Hy first DECUS early last December was
truly a memorable, productive experience
that I will- always cherish. I'm sure all
of you "first-~imers" feel the same.
Last Fall's DECUS (Digital Equipment
Computer Users Society) Symposium was
held at the Anaheim Convention Center
complex in beautiful, sunny southern
California.
The complex
in which
sessions
and
display&-were
held
encompassed
the
convention center
building and two adjacent, modern and
comfortable hotels - the Hilton and the
Marriott.
The organizational logistics were really
impressive. These folks are experts at
hosting
a
large
convention
(approximately 7,000 people attended)
while making each person feel uniquely
special and welcome. Everything flowed
smoothly from pre~registration paperwork
to final departure. Highest compliments
to the symposium committee and Anaheim
hosts!
And
the daily activities: sessions,
campgrounds and hands-on displays - what
a technology smorgasbord! Fast paced and
scheduled from early morning until late
evening - "everything you wanted to know
about...
but were afraid
to ask?"
However,
this is the ideal place to
ask because the experts are here. How
often one wished to be in more than one
place at a time!

As if this wasn't enough - the D~xpn
Yest Exposition was running concurrently
a few blocks away in the Disneyland
Hotel complex. DEXPO is an impressive
display of over 200 vendors' hardware
and software products for DEC computers.
Ye
tried to envision
the contrast
between this exposition of years past
versus the year 2000
what as yet
undreamed-of
technologies
will
be
present then?
During the week I "majored" in Videotex
and VAXmate activities while "minoring"
in
general
office
automation
information.
In
retrospect,
the
pre-planning and mapping of detailed
sessions using the preliminary program
was a lifesaver - it kept me "on course"
and helped avoid the dreaded burnout so
commonplace (yet still unavoidable) at
DECUS.
However, in spite of the technological
wonders
encountered,
my
lasting
impressions
revolve - around
customer
service for two primary reasons:
1.

my belief that the manner in which
this - symposium was
planned and
conducted was orchestrated for me as
the CUSTOMER. I sensed a feeling of
importance and had the
distinct
impression that our hosts had made
every attempt to anticipate and meet
my needs. I'm sure these feel~ngs
were shared by other attendees.

2. (strangely enough, this most profound
impact came from a totally unexpected
source)
the automated checkout
system at the Harriott Hotel.
This system is so simple in concept and
so convenient to use that I was truly
amazed. For anyone who has not had the
pleasure to use a system like this, it
works briefly as follows:
- on the morning of checkout, a folder
is placed in your room. The folder
contains checkout instructions,

DICUS PALL SYMPOSIUII
RBPOR1' PROM AMABID
TBB C1IALLIRGI RBIMPOICID (con t. )

along with a copy of your bill and the
receipt from your credit card - all
the items you need to prepare an
expense report.
- you turn on your room TV and select a
particular channel.
- a welcome screen appears, along with
simple instructions for using the
system. (Note that the system may be
exited at any time without actually
checking out).
- when you continue, your invoice, with
all detail charges,is displayed on the
screen{s).
should there be any disagreelllent,'the·
screen contains a phone number for
problem resolution.
- when you are satisfied that the
invoice is correct, you choose the
"checkout" option. The system
processes your checkout, requests you
to leave your key on the dresser, and
thanks you for staying at the
Harriot t.
You simply close the door and leave the
hotel. No need to visit the lobby; no
waiting in line; no hassle, etc.
Vhat· a convenience I . Vhat
a truly
innovative
customer
oriented
breakthroughl
I couldn't help
but
marvel at how simply and effectively
this system completely met my needs as a
customer.
Hence ••• the Challenge reinforcedl
How do we, as information experts,
recognize the opportunities and boldly
apply
our
modern,
sophisticated
technologies to the true needs of our
customers?
Vhere
are
the highest
paybacks,
competitive advantages and
quality systems that will ensure that

our company is a leader, both today as
well as
tomorrow,
in
the
world
marketplace?
Opportunities abound!
In summary, DECUS is a wonderful forum
in which to sample various technologies
- current success •• as well as pitfalls;
probe future directions; make new, or
renew old, business acquaintances; and
have the opportunity to converse with
fellow
employees in a more relaxed
atmosphere.
It's a place to savor
today while pondering
tomorrow.

the reality
the vision

of
of

For those of you who have never attended
-'a' CECUS Symposium, pl••• e do yourself a
favor soon.

****************************************
So. thoughts

~~ut

th.·Pell 1987

DICUS Sy.posiUll

byl Pat Seopelliti

The non~announcement of VMS VS.O and
DEC's
pattern of announcing products
every month made for a DECUS meeting that
was somewhat different. In particul$r.
the de.o hall wa. somewhat
quiet
(especially in light of the fact that
over 7000 attended CECUSI).
Vhile VMS VS.O was not
officially
announced,
there were many
sessions
dealing with features that would be in a
"future major release" of VHS - DEC's
code-words for VMS VS.O.
Symmetric Hulti-Processing (SHP) vas the
topic of many sessions.
These sessions
dealt with performance considerations as
veIl as the use of the new Parallel
Processing Library which facilitates the
writing
of
applications
that
use
multiprocessor
VAX systems.
It
vas
obvious that an immense amount of vork
has been spent by the VHS engineers

DBCUS PALL SYMPOSIUM

REPORT FROM ANAfIIIH

Soee thoughts ••• (cont.)
ripping VMS apart and putting it back
together in such a way that parallel
processing is fully supported.
Previously
DEC
had
supported
only
Asymmetric Hulti-Processing (ASMP) on the
VAX 11/782, 8300, and 8800. ASMP allows
one processor to be the "master" and the
other the "slave".
The master handles
all scheduling, IIO, etc. while the slave
is limited to CPU intensive tasks (user
mode only).
This method is somewhat
limited since it pre-supposes a certain
type of system load and has limited
expandability
(adding another
slave
doesn't buy you much).
SHP makes both
processors
equal
either one
can
schedule, do 11.0 or CPU intensive tasks
in a true sharing el\vironment. SHP also
opens
the
door
to more
than tvo
processors • • . • •
While
VMS VS.O vas. never explicitly
mentioned,
many features of it vere
talked about. Some of the nev features
discussed vere:
The distinction between a CI based
cluster and an ethernet-based cluster
(LAVCluster) will go away and a cluster
will be a cluster will be a cluster •••
In particular, a CI VAX will be able to
act as the boot node for a LAVCluster.
The print and batch system queue file
structure has been re-engineered.
In
particular the efficiency of handling
print requests through the queues has
been increased approximately ten fold.
(Yes, that's 10 times fasterl) Access
Control Lists have also been added to
the
queues, so now you can allow
certain
users to manage their own
Queues
without
giving
them OPER
privilege.
DCL commands now allow
display of various entries in a more
flexible format. Some of the new DCL
commands:
SET ENTRY replaces SET QUEUE/ENTRY

SHOV ENTRY
I BATCH
IOEVICI-(printer, server, etc.)
IBY JOB STATUS-(Pending,
Hold,
-etc:)
IUSER NAKE-( .... )
SHOW OUBuB has the above Qualifiers
as well as:
IBY - only queues with something
in them!
ISUMMARY - # of jobs in each
state!
Also, a lexical function P$GETQUI vill
return any information about the queues
jobs in
them.
Finally,
vhen
and
converting from V4 VMS to V5, the queues
viII
not be
purged,
but will be
convertedl
BAClUP has been enhanced to prevent
accidental erasures of the source
disks
and
vill
do
its
ovn
mounts/dismounts of tapes •.
-

AUTOGIM will have a feedback loop
built into it whereby you can gather
performance data over a period of
time, then AUTOGIM viII vork its magic
based·upon the 'real-world' conditions
that you've given it.
additional
DeL
features:
eliminates a security
problem.
RECAll/ALL shows anyone a
username/password if used for DECnet
access
(e.g. $ COpy NODE"username
passvord"::HYFILE.TXT *) IF THEN ...
ELSE •••
Some

RECALL/BIASI

- TPU users will have to endure one more
section-file rebuild.
DEC promises
this is the last time. Also TPU viiI
have the EDT emulator built into itt
so if you want to hang onto the
current one, save the files before
upgrading.
There will also be a ~PS
keyboard emulator.
VMS mail
will
have a callable
interface - interesting idea ...

DICUS PALL SlKPOSIUII

RIPOKT PROII AfWIIII
So. .

Ethernet interfaces. The DBBNT viII
not be supported in future releases
and should be replaced with DIBNA.

thoughts ••• (cont.)

DECnet VAX viII have enhanced support
for proxy and the NCP program viII
support vildcards.
The
Print-server 40 (40 page/minute
laser
printer)
V2.0
softvare vas
announced.
It features new accounting
totals,
translation enhancements and
page layups. Page layups means you can
put
multiple logical pages
on one
physical page - sort of like microfiche.
The Code Management System (eMS) V3.0
program vas announced - among other
. things·,c·:.CMS ~ . V3.Q., will support binary
files.
This might very well open the
door for some very slick VPS-PLUS shared
libraries!
Finally,
there was
an extremely
interesting (and somewhat terrifying)
talk given about
the recent
SPAN
break-in.
SPAN is NASA's network of
VAXes.
The
break-in vas· effected
through a security hole introduced in
VMS V4.4 and copied over to VMS V4.S.
DEC has distributed many copies of the
patch tape needed to close the security
hole - all system managers were strongly
urged to install the patch or VMS V4.6.

2.

The executive will
mUltiple processes.

be broken into

3.

Cluster wide
available.

4.

FORTRAN will support
key-field
values for descending keys.

logicals

vill

be

S.There will
be
major
speed
improvements to sequential reads of
indexed files •
..... , ....
.
.
.
,6. DII operations will be significantly
improved because XOP scans block by
block-instead of record QY record.
:

7.

Pagefile usa•• viII be determined
dyn..ically instead of at process
initialization
time.
This
will
eliminate the need for a pagefile on
the syste. disk.

8.

The modified
improved.

pag_ writer has been

9. Bighwater marking is rewritten to be
significantly faster.
10.

****************************************

DECnet down
improved.

line

load

has .been

11. RA70 support for all systems.
DICUS TRIP RBPOIt1'
by Paul Turner and
Hal BroUD....

12. DEC mail will support carbon copies.
13.

Ve
attended
the
National
DECUS
convention in Los Angeles from December
6
thru December 11. The convention
offered many insights into the soon to
be. released Vs.o of VMS. We also gleaned
additional information regarding LAVe's.
The folloving items
VMS:
1.

relate

to VS.O of

The DBBNA and the DIBNT are BI bus

A new lexical called P$GETQUI viII
check the status of queue's from
DeL.

14.

Support for dynamic fail over of
read/write capability of an RA style
disk to the system on the dual port
vithout
an
HSe
or
manual
intervention.

DICUS FALL SYMPOSIUM
REPORT FROM AHABBIM

DBCUS TRIP REPORT (con t • )

15.

Increased capabilities of runtime
routing for SORS, STRS, HTH$, DTR$,
LIB$ and SHG$.

****************************************
Vby DICUS S)'IIpos ia
by Hilte Slovak
OGV Client Support Services

16.

V5 will be 5% slower than V4.N and
will require 1/4 HB less memory.

There
which
are:

were several LAVC announcements
will take effect with VS.O. They

1. Up to 26 nodes will be supported.
2.

3.

4.

There can be two separate system
disks. in one LAVe. They can both be
on
one system or on
separate
systems.
A true cluster system disk cannot be
used as an LAve boot node with LAve
members having full access to Hse
disks.
System parameter changes can reduce
cluster
state transition timings
from a default of 96 seconds to 18
seconds.

Ye talked to a DECnet expert about
DECnet Phase 5. It is currently being
designed and will not be released for
about two years. One of the major design
goals is to reduce overhead involved
with routing notes.
DEC -demonstrated DFS (Distributed File
Service). This product gives a system
access to all disks in the network as if
they were local to your system. However,
only one system can have a file open at
a time.
This
presents bits and pieces from
various topics picked up over several
days.
In some cases, we have more
details in our notes. Please contact Hal
Brouneus or Paul Turner for further
information.

If you've been wondering why you should
attend a DECUS Symposia or why you
should send someone, let me help you
decide. I recently attended my first
symposium
this
past
December. The
benefits were many! Ye can break them
down into several categories.
First are the pre-symposium seminars. A
full
day of intensive learning and
contact making with the experts of a
particular product or field. I attended
VAXNOTES.
The second phase of importance includes
over 1000 sessions or seminars to attend
on everything and anything you would
like to hear on your favorite product
(even your least favorite product), plus
related
topics.
The
amount
of
information was overwhelming and most
prior attendees offer good advice to
prevent "burnout".
Don't let anyone kid you by thinking you
can send one person to cover certain
seminars without duplication. It doesn't
happen and for good reason - there are
many perspectives on the same subject to
be shared •..
The last and maybe the most important
area to consider deals with the contacts
you make and the team building that can
occur between you and other attendees.
Don't minimize the importance of this. I
found
a
tremendous
exchange
of
information and a significant amount of
team building.
For those of you who have not had this
opportunity, or have not made it happen
for someone else, give it some more
though t.

DICUS PALL SYIIPOSIUII
REPORT PROM AIWIIDI
Vhy DICUS SYllpos1a

(cont.)

Although it doesn't compare to being
there, I have audio tapes of more than
ten office administration seminars. They
are currently undergoing an "after the
fact" evaluation and we hope to provide
a list of tapes available to LUG members
in the near future. (Of course this
service is freel) Look to the next issue
for further details.

2.

PIVOTAL, Inc. has
Easy Users Guid.

an ALL-IN-l Hade

3.

Clyde Digital
Systems' ProHail
product links into Vestern Union's
EasyLink network.

****************************************
PBRMISSION TO COpy

****************************************
.. PALL 1987 .DICUS TRIP .RIPORr

by: Lyun lIqenbucll .. .

V4.7 should be available early 1988
and will include "RHS Journaling Vl.O.
"A FUTURE KAJOR RELEASE" should include
cluster enhancements, no distinction
between VMS
and
HicroVMS,
Backup
enhancements, and RMS enhancements with
improvements on sequential reading· of
index files.

VMS

V2.2 has improved development
tools.
I attended a session which
discussed the maximum number of users a
certain VAX model running ALL-IN-1
should have. One surprising conclusion
of the speaker was that upgrading from a
VAX 8530 to a VAX 8550 will only allow
about 16 more users.
~IR-l

The highlights of Datatrieve V4.1 are
Recall Line capabilities and defining
files via FDL.
I also attended a session on the DTF
Package.
This package will allow for
file access between IBM systems and VAX
systems.
Some of the exhibits
DEXPO included:
1.

of

OA Technologies, Inc.
Transfer product OATmail

interest at
has

a Hail

The material in this newsletter may ·be
copied and reprinted by writers of other
non-profit newsletters provided credit
is given to TBI GURU, and reprinters
accept full liability for the reprinting
of the articles. Commercial republishers
may only.do.so. with v.ritten consent of
the editor/author.

****************************************

A PROGRAMMER'S LAMENT
·NO

~

IS POF!CT.-

.c SAID Ylm • MUI.

.. THE ClJST'(JCIt IS tWI'V.
INT'S CM Llnu: 1lD?-

JUT Ie YAI lET'EJItINED •••
nc OTMERI ~ .oc•
.c lUI OUT nc F'UJI CHARTS.
l£WJt i ED AND ALCIC.
Nlatn' PAllED INTO . . .UII.

THE ROOM YAI jU. CUJTTERED.
&JITM MDGW JUiPS AND fIUtCHED CARDS •
.. I'M a..oK.. HE 14JT'TDD.
~lN

9IQ(IND. COL.D ctfTEE.

L.ocnc. IIlIUCTtON.

IT'· ...:

·I'VE oar
CRIED •
• ..lIST QW«IE CIC INSTRUCTION'"

no

OW«IE nIJ. THEM THREE IGE.
.S YEAIt F'tI..LOoG YtAA.
THE STR. . . . . a.D.LD SAY.
"IS THAT CIJV STILJ. I€RE?
HE DID .T T1C a:ND.£
r:JI' tUGER .um 1'l4IRST.
NEXT DAY HE LWI JUtIED.
rACE DeNt. NINE am: rtAIT.
1ND HIS YIn. TMIaDt HER TEARS.
.a:EPTINO HIS rut.
S.ID. "HE'S NOT REALLY GONE.
I'I£'S .AJST IN • Ian STut,,,

DICUS FALL SYMPOSIUM
RBPORT PROM ANABBIII

PHONE NUMBERS
LUG Steering Committee:
Chainan
Stan Schultes
Corning Glass Works
HP-HE-03-058
Corning, NY 14831
Viee-Cbainan
John Bradshaw
Corning Glass Yorks
ERVIN, EJ-36
Corning, NY 14831
Viee-Chairaan
Tamra Kammin
Corning Glass Yorks
ERVIN, EJ-14
Corning, NY 14831
Vice-Chaiman
George Quinn
Alfred University
McMahon Bldg.
Alfred, NY 14802
Seeretary
Hike Frongillo
Corning Glass Yorks
HP-AB-2-5
Corning, NY 14831
Tape Librarian
Connie Beckman
Alfred University
Computer Center
Alfred, NY 14802
Newsletter Bditor
Ginger Frongi110
Corning Glass Yorks
HP-AB-2-5
Corning, NY 14831

ARTICLBS

(607) 974-6865

(607) 974-1389

(607) 974-1437

(607) 871-2222

ARTICLES

ARTICLBS

Have you written an article or paper
that you would like to share with your
Have you thought
fellow LUG members?
about writing an article but didn't
think you'd have the time to "fine-tune"
it?
If the answer to either of these
questions is yes, ACT NOVr If you've
already published an article or paper
that you want to share with the rest of
us, send it to me and it ~ill be
included in a future issue of THE GURU.
If you have an idea for an article but
don't know how or want to write it,
contact
me and
ve'll arrange
an
interview, or you can write a rough
draft and we'll take care of the rest of
the work. VB NEED ARTICLES FROM YOU!
Support your LUG by sharin, what you
know and what you like.
For more information, or to submit an
article for publication, contact:

(607) 974-8755
Ginger Frongillo
Corning Glass Vorks
HP-AB-2-5
(607) 974-8974
(607) 871-2222

(607) 974-8974

If your mailing address has changed, or
if it will change in the near future and
you know what it viII be, please notify
us with your new address so that THE
GURU mailing list can be updated before
the next issue is mailed.

IMPORTANT DATES
January TTL General Heeting
01/20

Contact either Ginger Frongillo or Mike
Frongi1lo at the following address:

Harch TTL General Heeting
03/16

Corning Glass Works
HP-AB-2-S
Corning, NY 14831

Spring DEC US Symposium-Cincinatti, OH
OS/16 - OS/20

(607) 974-8974 or
(607) 974-87S5

Digitol Equipment Computer Users Society

TWIN TIERS LOCAL USERS GROUP
General Meeting

AN OVERYIEW OF
~:

.

',' ;...•. 4.... .'.

....... : .

_ ¥:

..

DIGITAL'S NETWORK
ARCHITECTURE

Wednesday, January 20th, 6:30pm

Corning Business Development Center

~

I
I

Dennison Parkway, Corning, NY

I

I

I
I
I

South
Region

SOUTH REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
Dennis Clark
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Kingston, Tennessee
615-576-7384
DCS:CLARK
Dennis Clark has been the South Region RLC for two years, and a DECUS member since 1976.
He spent several years on the steering committee of the South East Area LUG (SEALUG), is
currently a member of the Smoky Mountain Area User Group (SMAUG) and a member of the
AISIG Steering committee.
Dennis devotes many hours of volunteer time to National DECUS committees, and is well
versed in the ways in which changes are initiated. He can answer questions about the Artificial
Intelligence SIG, the Communications Committee, and, of course, the NLC.
For relaxation, Dennis reaches for his cello! He has been studying music for several years and
gave his first solo performance in the fall of 1987. He also likes to run and volunteers his time
occasionally at grade schools where he gives lessons in computer literacy.
REGIONAL TAPE COpy COORDINATOR

Frank Bush
Tennessee Technical University
Computer Center
Cookeville, TN 38505
615 372-3972
REGIONAL SEMINARS REPRESENTATIVE

Mark Thompson
Simmonds Precision
3100 Highwoods Boulevard
Raleigh, NC 27625
919 872-9500

An Open Letter to South Region LUGs
We have several new LUGs, some of which are in the process of being licensed by DECUS. SMAUG is the
Smoky Mountain Area User Group, chaired by Jim Grossen of the University of Tennessee. For those of
you who haven't read J.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", SMAUG is a dragon of considerable wealth and repute!
Most of the other 36 LUGs in the region are quite healthy, with average meeting attendance of 24-40 members.It appears that we have two LUGs which may have died. It remains to be seen whether they can be
resurrected. The majority of LUGs having problems are PDP-ll or Rainbow groups, mostly because support is not readily available.
I would like to personally recognize three people from the South Region who have received awards for their
outstanding DECUS contributions. These awards were presented at the 1987 Fall Symposium in Anaheim.
Frank Bush received the "Outstanding Southern Officer" award for doing an excellent job on the SIG tape
copy project. Stuart Renes and Kevin Klughart received an award for the "Best Newsletter" in the Southern
Region. Congratulations to all of you pacesetters out there--Iet's see if the other regions can keep up!
As an aside, if you are having trouble getting the SIG tapes, you may want to contact our Regional Tape
Copy Coordinator Frank Bush directly. He lives in Cookeville, Tennessee, and can be reached at 615-3723972.
One of the big problems LUGs face is presenting programs of interest to their members. You might want to
request a copy of "1001 Suggestions for a LUG Meeting," an NLC publication that's loaded with ideas for fun
and interesting meetings. You may also want to consider offering Regional Seminars in lieu of or in addition to a regularly scheduled LUG meeting. Regional Seminars are Pre-Symposium Seminars (PSSs) made
available on a local level. If you agree to sponsor one or more local PSSs, and can meet the minimum attendance requirements, the DECUS Seminars Committee will do almost all the work.
Regional Conferences are another valuable LUG activity. They are patterned after national symposia, but
aim at making a DECDS-style gathering available locally to avoid the expense involved in sending folks to
the national version. Several LUGs might band together to sponsor a Regional Conference. The workload
is split between the DECUS staff and the participating LUGs. Although a Regional Conference involves a
significant amount of volunteer time and effort, it can be extremely rewarding for the local people who are
able to attend. Both PSSs and Regional Conferences provide a LUG member with timely, pertinent information which has a direct bearing on herIhis effectiveness at work.
I am very interested in having a LUG Chair Cluster Meeting in 1988. Cluster meetings provide an opportunity for LUG Chairs from the South Region to get together and exchange ideas bout what LUGs should be
doing to help each other. If you have some ideas to share, please call or find me at the National Symposium
via the message board or an NLC-sponsored LUG session.
I have received suggestions from several sources that DECUS provide special leadership training for LUG
Chairs. I am forwarding this suggestion to LDEC, the Leadership Committee within DECUS. LUGs are
the grassroots of DEC US and are an excellent source of feedback on ways we can foster growth and technical interchange through the National LUG Council. DECUS exists to serve the members, and LUGs are the
natural leaf-node for these services. LUGs have great potential for guiding DECUS and for providing a
wealth of information and technical expertise to the DECUS membership.
Let DECUS hear your LUG's voice! Exercise your influence as a LUG Chair. Communicate your ideas.
Come and contribute at the LUG Chair and LUG Clinic sessions sponsored at each Spring and Fall Symposium. I look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,

Dennis Clark
South Regional LUG Coordinator
National LUG Council

SOUTH REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
Alabama
~~~~~--~~

Birmingham Area LUG
Chair: James Roe, Birmingham, 205-934-6000
North Alabama LUG
Chair: Katherine Roose, Huntsville, 205-830-3316
Shoals Area Local LUG
Chair: Elizabeth Bailey, Muscle Shoals, 205-386-3645

Arkansas
-:'"Ar--=k.--s-n-sas--=L'"'='U=G=-(. .ARKL-=-==-=u=G
..
.......)
Chair: Becky Wilson, Little Rock, 501-225-4997

Florida
-=C-en---,t,..-ral--=-=Fl=--on-=-·da.. .,.--,D=E'"""C,. . .,.L=-=U'"""'G="
Chair: Bob Thomson, Cocoa Beach, 305-853-5643 or 305-783-4388
Florida Panllandle LUG
Chair: Tom Brown, Eglin Air Force Base, 904-882-8996
Jacksonville DEC LUG
Chair: Victor Salzar, Jacksonville, 904-791-4778 or 904-737-6928
P81m Beach LUG
Chair: Arnold S. DeLarisch, Boca Raton, 305-338-2225
South Florida VAX LUG
Chair: Bob Ashby, Miami, 305-596-8269
Tampa Bay Users Group
Chair: Thomas P. Wood, Largo, 813-585-9806

Georgia
..........
Ur.;oGcn-)
Chair: Bill Leroy, Atlanta, 404-231-1484

"'T'A~tta,..-n.....,ta:---.A.--r-ea--...-LU-G,......,(rrA--TrTAL

•

Kentucky

?l;C-en---:t,..-rat--.-.K....e-n-:-tu-c. .k-:y--D~E~C-U
..
....S. . .Lr-.U"""G~
Chair: Jim DeGonda, Danville, 606-238-3555
Kentucky DEC LUG
Chair: Christopher Heinz, Lexington, 606-266-5414
Kentucky DEC Sm811 Systems LUG
Chair: Kenneth Presley, Louisville, 502-448-2719

Mississippi
N~S;RIiT""L-L""'U"-::G-

Chair: Perry Bret Wischow, NSTL, 601-688-4449
Rivertown LUG
Chair: Marc Zimmerman, Vicksburg, 601-634-3784

North Carolina

•

Piedmont Triad LUG
Chair: Susan Hassell, Greensboro, 919-454-3161
Research Triangle LUG
Chair: Brenda Frick, Research Triangle Park, 919-541-9438

Oklahoma
;;o;Cr-en-t:--rat~O~kla~h..--0-ma--P-D:"IIIIIP..-::-1:;-::1;-'11L...,U""'G::o;r"

Chair: Guy Dunbar, Oklahoma City, 405-751-4660
Group of Oklahoma Local DECUS LUG (GOLD LUG)
Lynda L. Peach, Oklahoma City, 405-272-9471 extension 280
TUlsa LUG
Chair: Les Stockton, Tulsa, 918-588-3123

South Carolina
Carolinas LUG
Chair: W. Franklin Mitchell, Jr., Due West, 803-379-8816
South Carolina's Educational VAX LUG
Chair: Ralph Selander, Conway, 803-347-3186
Western Carolina's Industrial LUG
Chair: Lee Ott, Greenville, 503-277-2698

SOUTH REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
(CONTINUED)
Tennessee
Middle Tennessee VAX LUG
Chair: Roger Turnbow, Nashville, 615-244-5960
Smoky Mountain Area LUG (SMAUG)
Chair: James Grossen, Knoxville, 615-974-6721
West Tennessee LUG
Chair: Jenny Butler, Memphis, 901-528-5848 or 901-278-1337

Texas

e
.

e

e

'~':'""'18-m-o-A"-r-ea-L""'U=G=.A
Chair: Stan Schaefer, San Antonio, 512-922-1213
Brazosport WG
Chair: Betty Jo Jurries, Freeport, 409-238-7001
Dallas/Ft. Worth Area VAX LUG
Chair: Stuart Renes, Mesquite, 214-288-2286
DECUS Austin LUG
Chair: James Coburn, Austin, 512-331-3130
Digital Small Computer Users Group (DISCUS)
Chair: Larry Eddington, Garland, 214-276-3420
Digital Users of Centrat Texas LUG
Chair: Richard Spiller, College Station, 409-845-8018
GDCAMLUG
Chair: David Winkowki, Ft. Worth, 817-777-5378
Golden Triangle LUG
R. Keith Mott, Orange, 409-886-6678
Houston RT-11 LUG
Chair: Don Sawtelle, Jr., Houston, 713-981-9188
Houston VAX LUG (VAXHOU)
Chair: Warren Kahle, Houston, 713-681-8897
NASA/JSC DECUS VAX LUG
Chair: Scott Thompson, Houston, 713-280-1500 extension 3240
University of Texas VAX LUG
Chair: Margaret Knox, Austin, 512-471-3241

indicates LUG newsletters contained in this volume

newsletter of the reseaI:ch triangle DEXDS local users group
VCUlME VIII

:JOLY 1987

NUMBER. 3

GREETINGS FRCM •••
Dawn

Edgerton

Hey, folks!
Greetings
fran your
friendly neighborhood Digital office.
We rooved into our new facility in the
Research Triangle Park in mid-May. The
new office really looks good and we are
very proud of it. If only I could spend
a fraction of what it cost to landscape
our new facility on 1I¥ own yard!
We are now

located in creekstone Office
Park across the street fran the Sheraton
~ial Hotel.
Here is our new address
and phone number:
Digital Equiprent corporation
Creekstone Office Park, Box 13988
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3988
(919) 941-4400

since our last LUG meeting, we have
annouced Sate new prodUcts and new
pricing for same current products. To
start with,
there have been Sate
significant price reductions in the
~tation 2000 product.
Your sales
representative can give you specifics.
If you happen to have a VAXStation 2000
order in already at the fanner price, do
not fret yet.
It is Digital corporate
J;:Olicy to do what is best for the
customer. If your order is in and was
not shipped before the June
16
announcement date, your order will be
restructured to reflect the new lower
pricese

Also announced in June is a color
VAXStation 2000, the option to have
either 15 or 19 roonitors, and support
for the RD54, a 159 Me winchester disk
drive on the VAXStation 200Q.
To tie
all these VAXStations
together, we
announced the VAXSeIver 100.
This is a
MicroVAX II specifically configured and
priced for use as a file server or boot
node in a I.ocal. Area VAXCluster, DECnet,
or NFS/ULTRIX environment.
And oh, by
the way, I.ocal. Area VAXcluster software
version 1.2 allows users to expand the
number of nodes supported fran 14 to 28.
11

11

In closing, (I just gotta say this. I
'IJOuldn't be a good sales rep if I
didn ' t. ) the best place to see all new,
old, and Sate you haven't even heard
about yet products working together in a
networked environment is to came to
DECWorld in September.
This is the
place to talk to the people who know and
kick the tires on the products you are
interested in.
The dates. are September
8-18. You should work with your sales
representative to get registered.
See y'all at the
pickin'l

July meeting and pig

~y

1987

JULy 1987

JANET FINDS HELP

William L. I:)o't,dy
capitol Broadcasting Catpany, Inc.
The Data Processing Department of
capitol Broadcasting Catpany has agreed
to assist Janet Berntsen in her Tape
Librarian duties by volunteering to copy
tapes for her.
Although the final
details are still being worked. out, it
looks as though we will be responsible
for the VAX DEX:US tapes beginning with
the 1986 Sytt'posium Tape, and Janet will
continue to maintain the tapes prior to
that.
Janet will also continue to
maintain the non-VAX tapes. By dividing
the workload, we can make things easier
for Janet
(saoething she really
appreciates) plus, since we will have
three people making tapes, we hope to
provide faster return of tapes.
Janet will continue to be the "official"
librarian; however, should you desire a
tape copy, you may contact us directly
at the address shown below.
If Janet
receives a request for tapes that we
copy, she will fonrcm:i the infonnation
to us. If we get a request for tapes
that she must handle, we will send it to
her.
are excited about being able to
contribute to. the LUG. Having received
so much infonnation fran DECUS and its
rre:nbers, we're happy to be able to
contribute what help we can.

We

If you need m:>re infonnation, call Dan
Monjar,
Wes
Hassell,
or me at
919-890-6005 between 8am and 6pn Monday
through Friday. OUr mailing address is:
capitol Broadcasting Catpmy, Inc.
Data Processing Department
PO Box 12800
Raleigh, NC 27605-2800

PAGE 2

The street address is:
capitol Broadcasting Carpany, Inc.
Data Processing Department
711 Hillsborough st.
Raleigh, NC 27603'

TRIANGLE

DECUSCAN

Editor contributors

-

Marie Felder
Mark Thompson
Bob Schreiner
William I:)o't,dy
Chris Ruhnke
Brenda Frick
Dawn Edgerton

Published quarterly by:
DECUS RESEARCH TRIANGLE IDa

P.o. Box 3771
Chapel Hill, N.C: 27514

JULy 1987

-

JllLY 1987

**************************

Fall 1987 Digital Courses at ONe
SChool" of Public Health

*
*
*

Bob SChreiner

Public Health Division of
Infonnation services and
camamity Health SenTice
two Digital lecture/lab
this year. They are:

Utilities
Q:tober 19-23
"VAX/VMS

and

CClm1ands II ,

system Management H,

*
*
*

*** DOOR PRIZES ***
This little Piggy is going to the RTP
Hope you will be there, too 1

WGlll

The RTP DECUS WG is sponsoring a pig
Pick:in'l Cate on out an join us for
sane good food and sane good DEC fun!
July 22, 1987

DATE:

and
HVAX/VMS

PIG PICKIN 1111

**************************

ONe SChool of Public Health

The School of
catputing and
Division of
will
host
courses later

PAGE 3

December

~:

Dreyfus Auditorium
Research Triangle Institute

TIME:

6: 00 P.M. (right after the IDG

7-11
Each course

is
five days long and
includes hands-on lab .exercises using
VMS on a MicroVAX.
The courses will be
identical to those offered at Digital' s
training centers.
The training centers
nearest to the Research Triangle are
Landover,
Maryland,
and Atlanta,
Georgia.
The site for these courses
will be the Sheraton University Center
in Durham.

neeting)
$8.50 per person

COST:

TICKETS can be purchased fran:

Marie Felder, RTI
919-541-6104
or

Registration
is
limited
participants for each course.

to

16
Brenda Frick, RTI
919-541-6809

For xoore infonnation or to register,
call or write:
Pam Duncan

Office of Continuing Education
tH:-CH School of Public Health
Miller Hall 028H
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-966-4032

K> TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABIE
AFlER. JULy 17'lH, 5:00 P.M.

-

ADVANCED TICKETS ONLY ---

Make check payable to DECUS LUG.

JULy 1987

.JULy 1987

used with an HSC disk controller.
Journaling is being Betatested and should be announced soon.

FRCM 'mE CHAIR

Mark Thompson
si.nm:>nds Precision, Inc.

Hope everyone is having a gocxi sumner.
It has been rather hectic around here.
Those who attended DECUS should have had
a chance to spread Sate of the gocxi
news/I"UIl'Ors by now.
The symposium had
over 1000 scheduled sessions which
covered many
items of' interest.
Sessions ran fran 9: OOam until 11: Oapn.
We did have one night off to tour
q;>ryland after hours.
Sane folkS found
the water
rides
to fairly be
invigorating in the cool night air •
DEXPO South was
held downtown from
'I\lesday to Thursday, and many vendors
were represented.' I will recap Sate of
the highlights:

*

version 5.0 was discussed in
several sessions,
in general and
specific details.'
This release is
scheduled for the end of 1987. V5. 0
will be the first operating system to
fully support multi-processor ~
systems.

general.

* VMS Version 4.6 is scheduled for
shipnent in July.
This should have
minor changes and bug fixes. It will
support Ia:al Area VAX Clusters
across all VAX CPOs.

*

VMS File

*

several discussions
dealt with
migration fran the UNIBUS to the VAX
BI.
several I/O devices are now
available for the BI to include a DR11 replacement.
This device canes
. with a driver developnent kit.
Migration should be fairly straight
fo:rward.

*

several VAX perfonnance tuning tools
were discussed.
A VMS package was
discussed that is essentially an
Expert System to guide the System
Manager in his tuning efforts. It's
always gocxi to get IOOre info in this
area.

*

Systems and AI-type systems
are becaning IOOre available and there
were numerous sessions on this topic.
DEC
has
several deroo systems
available.

*

DEC has a
Test Manager software
product that should be helpful in
autanating software testing.

*

several new I/O controllers are
available for the MicroVAX and IOOre
will be announced that may give
better system perfonna.nce.

VMS

This means
the VAX 8300 dual
processor CPU will behave IOOre like
syrmetric processors, and will be
able to do catplete processing to
include
I/O
transfers without
changing to a Master processor m:xle.
Initially,
dual
CPOs will be
supported, with, capability to add
IOOre later.
This change to Version
5.0 may impact various user-written
drivers, but should be transparent in

VMS Volume Shadowing is available but

PAGE 4

Expert

I
have accepted the position of
Southern Regional seminar Coordinator
under
the
National
Lug Council
COOrdinator. The Regional Seminars are
going to be managed. under a separate
camtittee in the future.
As the
Regional Coordinator
I
will be
responsible for the scheduling of all
seminars in the SOuthern Region. The
lead t.ine for seminars . looks like a .six
IOOnth process.
This means the earliest
we could schedule a seminar in the RIP
area would be January 1988. I plan to
schedule sate seminars for that time
-frame.

needs to be on a Clustered system or
(continued on Page 5)
JULy 1987

~

JtlLy 1987

DEXlJSC'AN

FRCM 'mE CHAIR

(continued fraIn Page 4)
I
should be able to publish a
schedule/agenda
in
the
·October
Newsletter.
I need input fran the
membership in regard to the topics to
request.
These are the same seminars
that are presented at the National
symposium each year.
Please let me or
one of the LUG officers know if you have
interest in specific topics/seminars.

PAGE 5

Plan to cooe out to the July nEeting
for sate good infonnation fran our
speakers and enjoy the social function
of a BBQ Pig Pick'n aftet:Wards. IIA good
time is guaranteed for all. II

********************
The OEM/Distributor LSIG has had 0N0
meetings so far and appears to provide a
useful forum for the needs of that
group.
I. would like to thank Dale
Magoon for starting up the initial
meeting. Dale has since been hired by
DEC and was unable· to continue in that
position. Chris Ruhnke of GE has IOOved
into the coordinator's spot.
He has
already has done a great job with the
second group meeting.
I would like to
offer It¥ support to other groups with
similar interests that will use the
LSIGs as a way to get together and
discuss your problems/opportunities as
users of DEC systems.
There is a new LUG nenber Registration
Fonn attached to this newsletter.
Please take the titre to fill it out and
return it to Marie Felder at RTI. The
LUG nenbership database is out of date
and I feel this will help us get a
better picture of the real nenbership.
This fonn will be included again in the
october Newsletter.
In November the
old nenberslllp list will. be retired.
only those who
return the new
registration foon will be included in
the new nenbership list.
YOU MUST
REGISTER AGAIN,

EVEN

IF

RTP WG 1987 CALENDER OF EVENTS

* July 22 -

SUmner LUG Meeting at RTI
pig pickin and social aftet:Wards

* Aug

?? -

* Oct

2

-

OEM/Distributor LSIG meeting
-- to-be-announced -- mid mnth
-

UJG

Newsletter sul:mission

cutoff date

* Oct

9

Publish

the

Fall Lug

Newsletter

*

Oct 21 - Fall LUG Meeting at RTI

* Oct 21 - OEM/Distributor LSIG meeting
after LUG meeting

*

Dec 7 to 11

- Fall National symposium
at Anaheim, CA

* May 16-20, 1988 - Spring National
symposium at Cincinnati, OR

* Oct 17-21,

1988
- Fall National
symposium at Anaheim, CA

YOU HAVE JUST

This purge
will save the LUG considerable postage
and duplicating eXpense.
We thank you
for your interest in the LUG and
appreciate your help in this effort to
update the database.
RECENTLY JOINED

THE

LUG.

JOLY 1987

JULy 1987

OEM SIG Activities

Chris Ruhnke

The OEM SIG of the RTP LUG has met twice
since the last newsletter was published.
Each meeting has been hosted by a
different cha.iz:man.
Dale Magoon,
fomerly of standard catputer systems,
was instr\mv:mtal in organizing the SIG
and getting things rolling.
Shortly
after the first meeting last April, Dale
junped the fence to go to work for
Digital, and could no longer chair the
SIG. our illustrious Il1G leader, Mark
ThatpSon, prevailed upon Ire (read:
twisted my ann) to cane to the rescue
and help presetVe what we had just
barely started.
With little lOOre than
the
original
list of interested
participants, and a wr of help fran
carol Morris, DEC OEM sales, we managed
to package the second meeting which was
held at the end of June.
sate fifteen DECUS members, representing
four OEMs and two DEC distributors, are
active in the SIG.
our purpose is to
bring together those members of the Il1G
who are or who want to be DEC OEMs. The
OEM SIG provides
a
forum for the
interchange of
ideas,
airing of
problems,
exposure to recent DEC
announcements and general mutual support
for those of us who are trying to
incorporate DEC gear into a product and
make a buck or two off of it.

The next OEM SIG meeting is tentatively
planned for mid-August.
I
am
maintaining a nenber~..2-~..p roster separate
fran the I1JG roster; so if you are
interested in joining-tbe SIG, let me
know directly.
Chris H. Ruhnke
GE - SSTD

Box 13049 MIS 2T-08
RTP, NC 27709
(919) 544-8120

Address Corrections
or Additions for
'lRI.AtG:B DEXlJSCAN

correction

NAME:

Addition

------------------

CXMPANY:
STREET OR PO: _ _ _ _ __

CITY:
STATE:

A little

about 1t¥self...
I work for
General Electric
Silicon systems
Technology Department just across the
road fran the Park. I'va been with this
group for two years and in the Triangle
area for a little over one year. I am a
tJAX/VMS systems engineer and do a lot of
!:he systems programning and systems
nanagement functions for our group. I
3m originally fran ~uisiana and arrived
lere via Washington, oc.

ZIP:
Please return address corrections
and additions to:
Marie Felder
Research Triangle Institute
P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, N.C.
27709

JULy 1987

DECUS RTP WG REGISTRATION FORM
Registration Fonn Research Triangle DECUS WG
NAME (last) : _ _ _ _ _ _ __

(first) : _ _ _ _ _ _ __

(mi) :

----

a:J4PANY: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ DIV: _ _ _ _ _ __

Addr1
Addr2

CITY

PHONE (area+no.) :_ _ _ _ _ __

STATE:

ZIP:

-----

BUSINESS TYPE/c:c:MPt1IER APPLICATIONS (check best one):
Business/<:atnercial :
Distributor:
Finance/k:counting:_
Industrial/Manufacturing:_
Resecu::chjDevelopnent : _

=

Consultant:
Education: Marketing:
Tinesharing:_

Data Processing Service:_

Enqineering/CAD/CAM:_
Hospital/Health Services:_
Lab/Scientific:
Training/Instruction: _

OEM-Tech:_

Telecamumications :
Word Processing:_-

OEM-Catm:_

JOB/TITLE (check best one):
Pgmr/Analyst:_

Manager/Staff:_
other:

5ys/Net/DB Mgr:_

User:_

-----

OPERATING SYSTEMS/NETiI)RKS USED (check applicable):
VMS:

UNIX:_

RSX:

RSTS:

CIDSTER.:

IAN:

WAN:-

PSI:_

RT:

SNA:

other:

--

IAN'GlmGES/'IOOLS USED (check applicable):
ADA:_

BASIC:

BLISS:

C:

LISP:

MACRO:

OPS5: -

PASCAL:

AI:
FMS:

Ain1:
LSE:

AtoZ:
PCA:

IDRD PROCESSING PACKAGE USED

CMS:
Rdb:-

COBOL:
PL/1 :.::::-

DATATRIEVE:
SPM:

DIBOL:
RPG:

DBMS:

SQL:'::::-

FORTRAN:
orHER.:

----

DECNET:_
orHER.: ____

(write in) : _ __

~~:-------------------------------Mail to: DECUS RTP LUG
PO Box 3771
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

~~

TRIANGLE~DfCUSCAN
newsletter of the ::reseat:Ch triangle DEOE local users group
VOf1lME VIX

OC'IDBER 1987

NUMBER 4

FROM THE CHAIR •••

Mark Thanpson

Greetings from the Chair! It has been a
busy time around here lately, it seems
like we were· just having a LUG meeting
and a BEQ.
That was a successful
activity and all who attended had a good
time.
I VvUuld "like to plan rrore
activities of that kind in the future.
The LUG can becane the focal point for
DECUS activities in the RTP area if you,
the membership, continue to support it
as you have the last few years. It waS
about this time last year when I and the
new officers took the opportunity to
serve.
I feel we have had a very
successful year and look forward to 1988
as
a
year
with
even
greater
opportunities.
I have been working on the planned I.ccal
Seminar for the RI'P area.
In July the
National DECUS
Chapter approved the
creation
of
a
National
Seminar
Committee. This Carmittee is staffed by
members representing the National DECUS
Chapter, the LUG Council, and the SIG
Council.
This
Ccmnittee
will be
resp::>nsible
for
scheduling
and
supp::>rting the Seminars at the National
Syrrtp)sia, Regional Symposia, and at the
Local LUG level. This Conmittee had its
firs_ ITEeting
in
September and is
actively working to make I.ccal Seminars
a reality.
There
are a lot of
activities
involved
in
creating a
successful program of seminars on a
year-round basis. This program is being
developed on a national level and will

effect all members of DECUS. The next
several
months
will
be especially
difficult while old procedures are ooing
reM)rked. to sUppJrt the new requirements
of the Seminar Carmittee.
I have been busy in my role as the
Southern Regional Seminar Coordinator.
The current plans are to have a u..u-day
seminar event in the RTP area in January
1988. This t:Y.u-day event will have a
"technical seminar"
and
a "general
seminar" if all goes as planned. The
tentative time is the 2nd or 3rd week of
Jcu"1uar.i ,
probably
on
a
Tu.esday/
Wednesday or a Wednesday/Thursday backto-back schedule.
The speakers are
being arranged at this time 50 it is
difficult to give you rrore details. The
flyer should go out in December with
enough time for you to schedule this
activity into
your January training
activities. I will discuss this at the
LUG meeting as I have more details.
Once nore this month we have attached a
Registration Fonm for the RTF LUG to the
Newsletter. Additionally, you will find
a Registration Form for the National
DECUS Chapter.
I have been infor.med
that the National Bylaws require ALL LUG
members to also
be members of the
National Chapter. There are no dues or
charges to belong to either the Local or
National DEC Users Society.
If you are
not currently a member of the National
DECUS, please take the time to fill out
and mail the Registration Fonm back to
Marie Felder at RI'I.
If you already
have a DECUS membership number, please
enter it on the Local Registration Form
for our records. Remember, we will l:::e
(continued on Page 2)
OCIDBER 1987

PAGE 2

(continued fran Page 1)
purging the mailing lists of ALL old
entries and entering those members who
have returned the Registration Form fran
this or the July Newsletter. We need. to
get the roster updated. The infonnation
requested will better enable your LUG
officers to serve you the LUG member.
Once again, I want to thank all of the
companies who donated. prizes to the BEQ
and all
the
people
who purchased
tickets.
This
activity was very
successful thanks to your support and
patronage. See you at the O::tober LUG
meeting.

LUG REGISTRATION
There is a

new LUG member Registration
Form
attached
to
this newsletter.
Please take the time to fill it out and
return it to Marie Felder at RI'I. The
LUG membership database is out of date
and I feel this will help us get a
better picture of the real membership.
Also included in the newsletter is a
DECUS registration form.
You MUST be a
registered member of DECUS in order to
be an official LUG member.
You may return your canpleted membership
forms to one of the LUG officers at the
October neeting.
In November the old membership list will
be retired .
Only those who return the
new registration form will be included
in the new membership list.
YOU MUST
REGISTER AGAIN, EVEN IF YOU HAVE JUST
RECENTLY JOINED THE LUG.
This purge
will save the LUG considerable postage
and duplicating expense.
We thank you
for your interest
in
the LUG and
appreciate your help in this effort to
update the database.

TRIANGLE

DECUSCAN

Editor

-

Marie Felder

Contributors

-

Mark Thompson
William Cowdy
Brenda Frick
Dawn Edgerton

**********************************
Published. quarterly by:
DECUS RESEARCH TRIANGLE LUG

P.O. Pox 3771
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514

The following is the prolX'sed Januru::y
meeting date for the calendar:
LUG Meeting:

Jan. 20, 1988

**********************************

~~-=~~~~-------------------------------'-----------------------------------

TRIAtG:..E DOCUSCAN

OC'IDBER 1987

I

·-

OCWBER 1987

JULy MEETING AND FEAST

Brenda Frick
Associate Chair/Treasurer

PAGE 3

Robert Frick
Roy Schonterg
John Crossman
Wallace Henry
Joe Brumbeloe

Coffee Mug·
Visor
Coffee Mug
Coffee Mug
Visor
Visor
Visor
Visor
Visor
Visor

The July meeting has been deemad a great
success.
There has been a lot of
PJsitive response on the meeting and the
pig picking.
The general consensus is
that there should 1:e sate type of annual
"feast" .

Jon Berntsen
Marion Bailey

speakers for
the local canpany
members \-Jere Chris Ruhnke of GE, and
William· (Sonny)
Ibwdy
of
capitol
Broadcasting. CCIl1lercial interests were
represented by EM::; and RAXCO.

The
3-day
perfonnance
seminar was
contributed by RAXCO.
EM: contributed
the CD player.
The clock radio was
donated
by
Hamilton/Avnet.
DEC
contributed the shoulder bag and Digital
coffee
mugs.
The
visors
were
contributed by Pioneer Technology.·

Our

Once the meeting adjourned, it was tine
for everyone to "pig" out and. "pig" out
v.e did! ! Although the food was a little
late in arriving, I think: everyone made
up for the lost tine. Bar-B-Q Hut fran
Raleigh catered the neal and did a
fantastic job.
It was impossible for
anyone to have gone away hungry. Even
now it' me makes me hungry just thinking
about all of that food.
After we had
stuffed ourselves, \-Je returned to the
aumtorium to draw for door prizes~.
A special thanks to Mark Thanpson and to
the
contributing
companies
for an
impressive selection of door prizes.
I'ro sure the canpany representatives
v.ere nore than willing to contribute a
prize just to
get
Mark off their

Eva McCoy
Brenda Carey

Dawn Puryear

In addition to the dr prizes, those
attending
received.
note
pads from
Hamilton/Avnet
and
flashlights
and
System Perfonnance Guides from EM:.
attempt to have sana type of
armual event,
and, hopefully the next
one will be even bigger and better.
Start thinking al:x::>ut sarething for the
next tine -- it is never too early to
start planning.

We will

******************************
ON THE IDVE

Brenda Frick

backs! ! !

The following is a
and their prizes:

list of the winners

Chris White

RAXCO 3-Day Performance

Joe Mooring
Marie Felder
Janice Pope
Kevin Angley
Sonny Ibwdy
Eob Thornton

CD Player
Clock Radio
Digital Shoulder Bag
Visor
Coffee Mug
Visor

Saninar

Please note that Brenda Frick, RTP DECUS
LUG Associate Chair/Treasurer, has. a new
address and phone nmnber:
Saniconductor Research Corp.
P. O. Eox 12053
79 Alexander Dr., Bldg. 4501
Suite 301
Research Triangle Park, N. C.

27709

541-9438

OCIDBER 1987

OCIDBER 1987

DECUS TAPE INFO
Sonny~

News!
Janet has received. the
latest DECUS tapes from the Spring 1987
symp:>sium. There are ~ VKX tapes -one RSX tape, and one Rl' tape.
Good

There are also three new 1986 Languages
and Tools tapes.
Several people have
called to inquire aOOut these and they
should be ready for copying by the t.iIre
you read this.
'Ib get your copies:
1. Bring or send a blank 2400-foot tape
for each .tape you want copied. ( If
possible, avoid .Scotch BlackWatch
tapes since they don' t ~rk well on
our tape drives.)
2. Send $7.00 per tape, preferably in
the fonn of a check made out to DECUS
RI'P LUG. No purchase orders, stamps,
or credit cards please!
If you want
the tapes mailed. back to you, please
include return postage.
3. Be sure to send a note telling us
which tapes you want and the return
mailing address.
4. For RSX, Rl', and pre-1986 VAX. tapes,
contact Janet Bernsten at 493-2471.
For 1986 and later VAX tapes, contact
me or Dan Mbnjar at 890-6005.

*********************************
DEC REP NEWS:

Hi, Folks!

PAGE 4

Many product announcements were made at
DECl'hrld. I will hit the highlights in
this article.
First of all, Digital
announced
the
next
generation of
MicroVAX systems that is based on a new,
higher-perfonnance CM)S technology. The
new systans are the MicroVKX· 3500/3600,
the
VAXStation
3200/3500,
and the
VAXServer 3500/3600/3602.
The new CMOS
microprocessor technology offers more
than 3 times the perfonnance of the
MicroVAX II in nost applications. Also,
VMS and ULTRIX will both support all
diskless VAXStation configurations.
Along with
these
systems
Digital
announced
new
storage
subsystems ,
including: the 280 MByte RA70, a new
high-perfonnance 5.25 inch disk drive;
the 622
MByte
RA82,
a new highavailability, high-capacity disk drive;
and the TK70, a 296 MByte cartridge tape
drive.
In addition to these product, Digital
made
three
key
announcements
in
networking strategy. These include: the
announcement of DNA/OS I Phase V, the
fifth . generation
of
networking
technology that merges DNA and OSI; the
announcemant of Unshielded Twisted Pair
Ethernet;
and MAILbus
with which
custCll'ers can make many different mail
systems \\Urk together as one, unified,
enterprise-wide mail system.
For IOC>re infonnation on any of these
products, your sales rep will of course
have all the answers. I hope to see you
all at the new LUG meeting!

Dawn Edgerton

I saw roany of you at DECWorld last
rronth.
I· trust
nost of you have
recovered fran the cror.-rls and the rich
focx:i aboard the Queen Elizabeth II.
DECWbrld was a tremendous success for
Digital and we would like to thank you
for spending the tine and rroney to make
the trek to Boston. I hope you found it
~rthwhile.

----------------------------------------.-----------------------~--------------TRIAtG:.E
DOCtECAN
cr.roBER 1987

I

DECUS RTF LUG REGISTRATION FORM
Registration Fonn Research Triangle DECUS LUG
NAME (last) : _ _ _ _ _ _ __
(first): _________________

(mi): _ _ __

COMPANY: ____________________________________ DIV: ______________
Addr1
Addr2
STATE:
ZIP:
CITY
-----PHONE (area+no.) : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

BUSINESS TYPE/COMPurER APPLICATIONS (check best one):
Consultant:
Education:Marketing:Tiroesharing:OEM-'I'ech:OEM-Ccmn:

Data Processing Service:

Business/Commercial:
Distributor:
Finance/Accounting:
Industrial/Manufacturing:
Research/oevelop1Ent:_ Teleccmmm.ications:
Word processin9:_-

Engineering/CAD/CAM:_ Hospital/Health Services:_
Lab/Scientific:
Training/Instruction:

JOB/TITLE (check best one):
Manager/Staff:
Other:
-

Pgmr/Analyst:_

User:

Sys/Net/DB Mgr:_

OPERATING SYSTEMS/NE'IIDRKS USED (check applicable) :
VMS:

CLUSTER:

UNIX:
LAN:

RSX:
WAN:

RSTS:

RI':

PSI:

SNA:

Other:

--

LANGUAGES/'lWLS USED (check applicable):
ADA:

LISP:
AI:
FMS:

mRn

C: -

BLISS:
OPS5:

BASIC:
MACRO:

COBOL:
PL/1:_

PASCAL:

Ain1:

AtoZ:

Q1S :

DATATRIEVE :

LSE:

PCA:

Rdb:

SPM:

DIooL:

FORmAN:

RPG:

OI'HER:

DBMS:
SQL:_

OIHER: _ __

DECNET:

PROCESSING PACKAGE USED (write in) : _____

GENERAL COMMENTS:

----------------------------------------------

!Jf.ail to: DECUS RTF LUG
PO Box -3771

Chapel Hill, NC 27514

---

......

Q~BER

1987

PAGE 5

FROM THE EDITOR
Marie Felder
Looks like
lTOst
of our membership
enjoyed. the pig pickin in July! We hope
to be able to do scmething similar in
the future. Hope all of you who missed
the last one will plan to attend next
time!
Thanks
to
the vendors who
provided the door prizes (notice I ~n a
clock radio -- I like the "snooze"
alarm!). Special thanks also to Brenda
Frick and Mark Thanpson, roth of whcm
~rked very hard to make
sure things
'Were set up, that the food and drinks
'Were properly taken care of, and that 'We
had enough door prizes. Congratulations
to roth of them on a job 'Well done!

Here S another personal invitation fran
your editor to send in contributions
ab::>ut
what s
going
on
in
your
organization that might be of interest
to our readers.
1'm looking forward to
receiving your articles in the future!
I

I

Address Corrections
or Additions for
TR.IAtG.E DIDJSCAN

Correction

Addition

NAME:
COMPANY:

STREET OR PO:

CITY:

STATE:
ZIP:
Please return address corrections
and additions to:
Marie Felder
Research Triangle Institute

P.O. Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, N.C.

27709

crroBER 1987

•

DECVS
Alamo Area LUG Newsletter
December. 1981

Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Secretary
Librarian
Coordinators

Stanley Schaefer
Angel O"Campo
Daryl Vargyas
George Russell
Jeff Nesloney
Mike Fellows
Tom Smith

922-1213
684-5111
227-3211
691-7351
922-1213
691-7351
692-0953

A Message From the Chairman
Another year is about to end and the holiday season is upon us.
Thanksgiving reminds us to express our thanks.
We thank all of
you for giving us the opportunity to participate as LUG officers
for 1987. Our expressed desires for our LUG activities may have
fallen short of our expectations but do not despair.
The
beginning of a new year is at hand and we can again strive to
reach our goals.
Although the bulletin board was not
a
resounding success, we should not discount the c"oncept as
worthless.
Perhaps the command-driven approach should
be
replaced by a menu-driven system. Maybe the hang-up was incompatibility of modems.
As LUG chairman, I wanted and still would like each of us to
contribute our expertise and talents for the common benefit.
I
had hoped that our reliance on vendor presentations could be
drastically reduced, if not eliminated entirely.
I feel that we
did accomplish some of this during the year.
I learned that a
successful LUG meeting requires organization, planning
and
preparation.
I also learned that dedicated members
must
volunteer to share their expertise. All of these require time.'
I still believe that if each site had a primary contact, our LUG
CQuid be more effective and responsive to member desires.
Perhaps each site could alternate responsibility for arranging a
meeting.
They would not necessarily be required to provide the
meeting room or the audio-visual equipment, but they would share
in the responsibility of giving a presentation and organizing the
other details.
I was disappointed that members from all local sites did not have
representation at every meeting.
Please advise LUG officers of
any conflicts in meeting times or in topics so that our LUG can
be more widely beneficial. Our LUG will hopefully remain open to
constructive critiCism,
welcome new ideas and certainly accept
any volunteered partiCipation. There should be no reason for
this organization~s activities not to be of benefit to you since
your direct involvement has been and will always be solicited.

Alamo Area LUG Newsletter - December, 1987

Page 2

Although I did not fully utilize the potential afforded me in our
steering committee, these individuals were most helpful and I
want to thank all its members for their support and contributions
during the past year. More importantly, we all thank those of
you who have contributed by givin9 a demonstration, presentation
or answered someone 7 s question(s) either at or after one of our
meetings.
We appreciate those who arranged the use of their
facilities for meetings. And a special thanks to our librarian
and UTHSC-SA for providing copies of DECUS software. As always,
the secretary (this past year, Daryl Vargyas) deserves special
thanks for getting out the mailings and for handling other
informational matters.
I personally apologize for allowing so much time to elapse
between meetings. This was an unusually busy year for us at H. B.
Zachry Company - our staff was reduced and, correspondingly our
individual work load grew. We have since adapted to the new
manning situation and can again become more active in LUG
activities.
Our LUG by-laws require that we secure nominations for officers
prior to December 31st of each year.
Since the 1987 DECUS
national fail symposium will be held the week of December 6, our
last meeting of the year will be held the following week.
Whatever the outcome of the nomination and election process, let
us all pledge to support the incoming officers by giving of our
time and talents.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the LUG will be held on Thursday, December
17, at 2:00 PM at H. B. Zachry Company Headquarters, 527 Logwood
Blvd.~ San Antonio, Texas. Directions to the meeting site:
Exit #150B from 1-35 south.
Take left on S.W. Military (Loop 13).
Proceed one intersection beyond 1-35 overpass.
Take right on Logwood Blvd.
Proceed past first stop sign on Logwood Blvd.
Take next right into Zachry parking lot.
Enter main receptibn area and proceed to training room.
AGENDA:

1) Nomination of officers for 1988.
Each nominee will be afforded an opportunity to present their
views or intentions for securing the office.
This is
strictly optional and attendees may ask a question of a
nominee. Your participation in the nominating process affords
you the greatest influence in LUG activities.
Subsequent election of officers will be either by mail-in
vote (received prior to the January meeting) or by attendance
at the January meeting, with one vote per active LUG member.

I
I

Alamo Area LUG Newsletter - December, 1987

Page 3

The new officers will assume their positions at the January
meeting. Tentative meeting date will be January 17th unless
we set another date at the December meeting.
Our tentative January agenda will include election
of
officers and a PC inter-connectivity workshop. This workshop
must be held at a location having ~acilities for several
PC7 S , telephone connections for modems to demonstrate remote
connection to VAX~s and other mini and mainframe computers.
PC-to-PC connectivity should also be demonstrated. A local
VAX should be available to demonstrate local connectivity and
to perhaps temporarily install some demonstration interconnectivity
software.
We will need
numerous
member
contributors to make this a beneficial experience. We should
demonstrate options that fit the minimal budget as well as
those where money is not a consideration.
A.t least one
solution should be presented that neither requires Ethernet
or
other networking hardware/software.
We should
see
approaches that members are currently using or have tried. In
addition to demonstrations, discussion of related issues will
also be welcome. This is not a forum for marketing, but
rather a forum for expressing both technical personnel and
end-user- experiences.
We will be quite busy after the
holidays soliciting your participation and advice in pulling
together such an ambitious undertaking within a limited
timeframe.
2) Since several members will have returned from the national
symposium in Anaheim, we will have an open session where
these individuals can share their experiences with us. Those
who are fortunate enough to attend might come to the meeting
prepared to give off-the-cuff opinions about new and exciting
operating system enhancements, new hardware products, or just
to explain what a particular session meant to them. Since
some of our members have never attended, it would be
interesting to hear what you thought about the experience of
seeing so many dedicated professionals gathered in one place.It will be proper to cite some of the non-technical,
enjoyable experiences as well. There will be opportunities
to ask questions. Please do not be hesitant, as these
presentations will be very informal. Also, since nominations
will occur, it is important for all to attend.
3) Dependent upon the interest level of those in attendance, we
will present a video on artificial intelligence. This video
can be truncated to as little as one hour, depending on the
opinion of those members who are present.
Hopefully, this
can stimulate interest for a future in-depth presentation on
this topic.
Any of you involved in AI activities will be
welcome to answer questions, provide your comments about the
video, or offer your expertise for a future meeting.

.....,

DECUS

@)

DECUS

c/o

Trina S. Jackson
Atlanta Regional Commission
100 Edgewood Avenue, NE - Suite 1801
Atlanta, GeorQia 30335

Paula Sharick Wildwood Associates
1490 Wildwood Lane
Boulder, CO 80303

599

March 1988-Newsletter

From the ,Editor...

FIRST CLASS MAIL

G

If you would like to contribute an article to the next edition of the newsletter, the deadline is Wednesday March
30. I can be reached by Fax/Vax/Mail. In the past, I have extended the deadline, but due to the holiday
weekend, I need to have all information by the closing date. Thanksl
.
A big thank-you to all who contributed to this month's edition of the newsletter. If you don't see your item, it's
probably because we got more data than would fit into this edition. I promise to include it next month.
Remember my motto, your editor is only a stamp away!
Send contributions to :
Margaret Anderson
Contel Service Corporation
400 Embassy Row, Suite 300
Atlanta, Georgia 30328

How to find the ATALUG Meeting ...
Application Center for Technology
1455 Lincoln Parkway. 8th Floor
Take 1-285 to Ashford-Dunwoody Road. Exit
to the North and move Into the right lane. Go
through three set of traffic lights (two sets of
lights if you exited from Westbound 1-285). At
the fourth light turn right onto Perimeter
Center East(there is a red sign for the First
Atlant Bank on the corner). Drive 1/2 mile to
the sign Identifying lincoln Parkway. Tum
Right. The ACT is approx. 1/10 mile on the
right.

,
•

i

I

. je::
~ ~

f ..-moc~
11051

--+-~----~~~==~~~

ATALUG Committee
(area code 404)
Chairman
Program
Newsletter Editor
Membership
Personal Computers
Secretary
Treasurer
Tape Librarian

Bill Leroy .. •.......
Mike Moore . .......
Margaret Anderson .
David Samsky ....•.
Brian Zubak • ~ •..•.
Trina S. Jackson .•.
Cecil Pacetti .......
Mike Sieweke .••.•.

231-1484
378-0771
392-6972
434-9889
925-0027
656-7730
256-2724
894-7184

Meeting Format...
The next AT ALUG Meeting will be on March 28, 1988

6:00 pm - 6:40 pm
Technical Session

7:15 pm - 7:30 pm
DEC News

6:40 pm - 7:00 pm
Social Gathering

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Presentation

7:00 pm - 7:15 pm
Announcements

8:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Questions/Answers

Report from Last Month ...
The committee would like to apologize to all who attended the
February ATALUG meeting. At the last minute, the scheduled
presenter had to cancel and we were unable to find a replacement
at such short notice.
In true 'the show must go on' style, we conducted a meeting
anyway. A lot of interesting discussion was generated. about what
the LUG should be dOing so that members will want to attend
-meetings on a regular basis. We also had the opportunity to learn
more about each other's DEC needs.
Thanks to a/l who attended the meeting for being patient with us I
Here is a list of the recommended programs :
- 4GL Roundtable discussion
- Return of Tektronics
- Graphics Interfaces
- MAC/VAX Connection
- Windows on Vaxstations
- MS Services/VMS
- Laser Printers
- Why use Educational Services?
- Network Connections
- Why pay for software upgrades?
Call Mike Moore at 378-0771 if you have other suggestions for the
above list.

Coming Attractions ...
Technical Session
Members of the District Network Team, Interconnect Specialists and Application Installation Specialists from
Digital Equipment Corporation will sit in panel to discuss your questions directed at connectivity and networking.
This will be an open forum to provide you with direction as to where to gain assistence within Digital to maximize
your system.

Feature Presentation
Apple Computer will host the upcoming DECUS meeting on March 28 at 7:30 pm at the DEC Advanced Center
for Technology (ACT).
Keith Sharp, Buck Marchant and Andy Simms will make the presentation. Sharp is a Senior Sales Representative
for Apple and Marchant is a Senior System Engineer. Simms is Apple's Business Development Executive in
Atlanta. The presentation will cover Apple and DEC's joint development agreement, Macintosh to DEC
hardware connections, and Macintosh/DEC software integration.
Sharp will discuss the joint development agreement. The efforts will integrate Macintosh personal computers and
the AppleTalk network with VAX systems and DECnet/OSI enterprise networks. The development efforts will take
advantage of open standards for desktop integration, based on the industry-standard Open Systems Interconnect
(OSI) model ot the International Standards Organization (ISO).
Marchant will demonstrate and discuss the existing third party solutions which connect Macintosh into the DEC
environment. Direct connections of Macintosh into DECnet, bridging AppleTalk networkd into DECnet and
integration ot the two operating environments will be among his topics.
Simms, along with other Apple employees and managers will be present to entertain questions and discuss
Macintosh solutions.

Committment to DECUS
Think about your present situation. How much contact do you have with DEC users outside your own
company/department? For some, it is easy to attend National Decus at least once a year and network with
DEC users from around the country. For others, budgeting constraints do not permit attendance at out-ot-stete
meetings. But, don't dispairl You can be an active member of your Local Users' Group (LUG) with just an
investment of your time.
Consider becoming involved with your LUG this year. Your committment and participation will not only mean
personal growth but you could also contribute to the growth of others who can benefit from your experience.
Pass the newsletter around your office or give a copy to someone you know who could benefit from attending
LUG meetings ~

ATALUG Registration & Survey Form
The following information is requested of members in the ATlanta Area Local Users' Group. This information is
used to update our mailing list and as a resource for ATALUG members. The form requests information about
your areas of expertise and the hardware and software at your installation.
ATALUG membership # kom your m~ling lab~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you a DECUS member?
YE,S I.NO
Yo~r DECUS # - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Name

Phone#----~~~~--~~~~~~~~----~---

Company.~------------~----~~~--

____

~

__

~~

__

~

__________________________

~

__

Address~--~----~--~~--~------~~~--~--------------~~----~~~----------

Cit)1-'~~~~~-------~--~------ State _ _ _~_

Zip,~----~~-----~~~--~-

Please indicate your areas of expertise (areas in which you would be willing to answers questions from
other members) : - - - - May we publish your name, address and areas of expertise in an ATALUG directory available only to
members'7f-------May we publish your computer installation information in a resource directory of hardware/software
installations?,
.
Briefly describe your business _ _ _ _~_ _~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
COMPUTER CONFIGURATION: Please indicate all appropriate answers.
CPU type:
VAX
MicroVAX
PDP
VAXstation
DEC Micro
Other Micros
BUS type:
Printers:

Laser-- LN01/LN03

Communications:
Do you have modem qapability? YIN
Magnetic Tape:

density(s) 800 I
TU:

HP

Other

Ethernet

Hardwired
Type:

1600 I 6250
TK:

Removeable media disk drive (s) .
Graphics Capabilities:
Graphics Terminal
Electrostatic Plotter

Printer
REGIS
Tektronics

Software
Operating System:

VMS

Languages:
Layered Products:
YIN
DBMS?
Word Processing? YIN

UNIX
BASIC
FORTRAN
AII-ln-1
RD/b
WPS/Plus

Pen Plotter
Other
GKS
Other

PDP [RSX/RSTS/RT11 ]
C

COBOL
Other

DECNET
ACMS
MASS11

Thank you for your cooperation. Please mail the completed form(s) to:
David Samsky, ATALUG Membership Chairman
Nuclear Data, Inc.
2734 South Cobb Industrial Blvd.
Smyrna, GA 30082

. Dial Up
Speed:

WANTED

WANTED

Do any of you Atlanta area DECUS members have a Project
Monitoring System running on your VAX? A fellow member,
American Express Trave Related Services Company, is
looking for an automated means of allowing its user
departments to submit requests for new projects or:
enhancements to existing systems. The analysis and
development staffs would .then be able to respond to the
requests, log proposed solutions, costs and schedules. The
users could then approve or counter the Systems
Departments's proposal. During each succeeding step, the
developers would enter status entries recording the
progress of the project from initial coding to testing, users
acceptance and implementation. the users, developers,
management and all other authorized parties would be able
to inquire as to the status of the project at any time through
the existing terminal network. If any of you have an existing
system to recommend that you either purchased or
developed in house, please contact either Rick Klemm
(368-5278) or Mark Matheson (368-5258) at American
Express.

We need inexpensive software that runs with
VMS that will handle a small company library.
Searching 'capabilities' with boolean logic &
check out functions are required. It must be
able to handle multiple copies of the same
title. If you have any information on such a
system, call Angie Aimar, at Electromagnetic
Sciences, Inc, 404-263-9200 ext 4643.

Printronix Paper Feed Problem Solver

by Brain Zubak

The following technical tip will help to keep your Printronix type printer (LP300, LP600) printouts feeding
smoothly. Gather the following materials:
1 - Aluminum can
2 - Scissors

3 - Philips head screwdriver
4 - Scotch tape

Caution:The cut edges of the can are very sharp, be careful when handling.
Using the scissors punch a hole in the can near the bottom. Carefully cut off the bottom. Cut up the side to the
top. Cut off the top. Discard top and bottom. Cut two strips (following the curve of the can). They should be
approximately 1.5" wide by 3.5" rang. Tape the edges of the strips to help prevent any accidental cuts when
handling. Using the screwdriver punch a hole in the center of each strip approx .. 25" up from the bottom edge
of the strip.
Using the Philips screwdriver, remove the upper screw on the reft hand tractor of the printer (this screw is
'directly in line with the paper feed holes). Insert the screw into the hole previously made in the paper feed guide
strip. Then mount the assembly to the tractor and tighten the screw. Repeat this procedure for the right hand
should now
be overl
tractor. Congratulations I Your paper feeding problems
.
.

Do you know ...
Due to the outcry of desire at the last ATALUGmeeting, I'm reinstituting myoid "Do you know" column for
our ATALUG newsletter. Here it is the latest questions on the minds; of your fellow ATALUG members. If you
have answers or comments and, of course, any new questions, please feel free to call me at 656-7730 or
drop me a note;' use the return address on your newsletter. I'll print all responses in a subsequent
newsletter but I won't print any if I don't get any! Let's pool our resources and get some of these problems
solved I Trinia Jackson.
.
how to read MS DOS data diskettes on a MicroVAX? Tom Ackerman needs to know.
someone who uses a project scheduling system on a VAX that they'd like to recommend? American
Express needs one. [DEC has a package called' VAX Software Project Manager and the "VAX Software
Source Book" lists many, but is anybody really using one?}
that DEC has finally gotten into the competitive marketplace for terminals? Check out the prices on their
new VT320s. Even the maintenance costs are reasonable!
anyone using DEC's screen management software called SMG? Wayne Abbott is interested.

______________________________

~c=om~po=s=it=lo~n~a~nd~pr~ln~tl~ng~bY~(=~~====~

I

I

ATALUG - Atlanta Area Loqal. User Group
Operational Procedures
July 1987
Name
The name of the organization shall be the Atlanta Area Local Users
Group, a.k.a. ATALUG, and it shall be based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Purpose
To provide useful and timely information, and exchange experience
between users of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Rainbows, DECMATEs,
PDP-11s,-and VAX computer systems.
.
To provide a formal information exchange channel between users and DEC,
including service, software, and sales.
To function within the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS)
as a Local Users Group (LUG), in furthering the purposes and activities
of DECUS within the Atlanta DEC community.
Membership
Membership is open to all persons within the greater Atlanta area either
having, or interested in the use of, DEC Micros, PDP-1! computers, and
VAX systems.
Meetings
Meetings shall be held at least once a month, at a time and place to be
announced at least one week in advance, in a monthly meeting
announcement.
Organization
There shall be a Steering Committee consisting of a mlnlmum of five
members, including at least a Chairman, Secretary, Newsletter Editor,
Meeting P~og~ams, ~nd Tape Librarian~ They shall be el~cted by a simple
majority of the eligible voting members present at the meeting following
publication of a proposed slate of officers in the monthly meeting
announcement. Nominations may be ~ade from the floor at the meeting.
The Chairman and Steering Committee shall be elected in the second
calendar quarter of each year for a one year term, taking office
effective July 1st of each year. ·This coincides with the National DECUS
fiscal year. Any member of the Steering Committee may be re-elected to
the same or different office each year.
Others members may be added to the Steering Committee at any time by the
Chairman, subject to confirmation by a simple majority of the Steering
Committee at its next meeting.

I
l

Funding
Membership in ATALUG is free to all members of DECUS. Therefore, DECUS
shall reimburse ATALUG for the cost of a bank account, and printing and
mailing meeting announcements and newsletters each month. The ATALUG
~ha;rman is reponsible to DECUS for all monies advanced to ATALUG.

Page 2
However, this does not prevent ATALUG from charging a fee ,to its members
in lieu of reimbursement from DICUS.
National Sysaposia tapes and disks
ATALUG shall make available to each member copies of requested magnetic

tapes and disks from each symposia. If the ATALUG Steering Committee so
elects, a copying charge may be made .to the members to recover ATALUG's
out-of-pocket costs.
Amendments to these procedures

An amendment to the operating procedures shall require:
1) notification 'to the membership o·f the proposed amendment at least
three weeks prior to the'meeting at which it is to be considered, and
2)' Approval by a simple.majority'of the eligible voting members present
at that meatinq.

I
I
I

Handy Utility: REPLACE.COM
A few months ago Bill Leroy shared with me a handy utility called REPLACE. It works similar to
VMS's SEARCH utility except it gives you the capability of replacing the search string with a
replacement string. We tested the command file and, based on the trouble we got ourselves into,
Vlck Miles of my staff took the liberty of improving it.

The first trouble we ran into was that REPLACE would modify executables and data files - which
then would no longer execute or be of the proper format. So the first change made was to check
to make sure there were no warning messages from EDT about the format of the input rue (eg:
"Input fue does not have standard text format", etc.). If any warning messages are received, that
particular file is bypassed; it is not changed.
.
The second major change was to add an EDT-m>e enhancement: being able to specify that
changes be made only on lines with a specified literal. In EDT, to replace ABC with DEF only on
lines with the string lEST, you would use the substitute command: SI ABC/DEF I%ALL
'TEST'. So also with this version of REPlACE. In this example, the string ABC is replaced by
DEF on lmes with lEST in all files satisfying the file specification •. JCL.
- - REPLACE •. JCL ABC DEF "%ALL "'fEST'"
On our system, the command file is stored in the SYSSMANAGER: account. A system-wide
assignment in SYLOGIN.COM makes it available to everyone.
.
SREPLACE :
@SYS$MANAGER:REPLACE.COM
REPlACE works equally well interactively as well as batch.

==

S
SET NOVERIFY
., THIS WILL NOT WORK IF THE ABOVE LINE IS COMMENTED OUT
AND THE CALLING PROCESS HAS SET VERIFY ON.
S SET MESSAGE/FACILJTY/IDENTIFICATION/SEVERITY/TEXT
SI NAME:
SYSSMANAGER:REPLACE.COM

.f
$I

SI
SI
SI

DESCRIPTION: THIS ROUTINE WILL SUBSTITUTE A STRING WITH
ANOTHER, ACROSS FILES REQUESTED.
fiLENAME WILDCARDS ACCEPTED.

$I

$I

PROGRAMMER:
BILL O'NEIL •• 07/10/86 •• HYDRITE CHEMICAL co.
MODIFIED: BILL LEROY·· 03/21/87 •• THE SOFTWARE HOUSE, INC.
MODIFIED:
VICK MILES •• 06/29/87 •• ARC

SI
SI
SI
SI

EXAMPLE: TO INSTALL THE COMMAND FILE, ENTER THE FOLLOWING
INTO YOUR LOGIN.COM FIL, GIVING REPLACE THE
APPEARANCE OF AN ACTUAL oCL COMMAND.

"SI

S REPLACE :- 8[ACCCUlT·1WE1REPLACE.COM

SI
.,

THEN, THE SYNTAX FOR THE NEW COMMAND UDULD BE:

Sf

SI

Sf

SI
SI
SI
SI
SI
SI
SI
SI

S REPLACE FILE·NAME SEARCH·STRING REPLACEMENT·STRING RANGE
IF THE STRINGS CONTAIN BLANKS, ENCLOSE THEM IN • •
THE RANGE PARAMETER IS OPTIONAL. IF OMMITTED THE DEFAULT IS
WHOLE (SUBSITUTE ALL OCCURRENCES IN EACH FILE).
AN EXAMPLE USING THE RANGE PARAMETER IS AS FOLLOWS:
REPLACE *.JCL ABC DEF "%ALL 'TEST'·
THIS WOULD REPLACE AlC WITH oEF IN ALL LINES THAT CONTA'. THE STRING TEST
IN ALL FILES WITH THE EXTENTION .JCL IN THE CURRENT DIRECTORY.

Sf
S GET_INPUT:
S
IF P1 .EQS ••• THEN INQUIRE/NOPUNCTUATJON P1 .. FILE NAME: •
S
IF P1 .EQS ••• THEN GOTO END JOB
S

S

•

IF P2 .EQS ••• THEN INQUIRE/NOPUNCTUATION P2 .. REPLACE : .
IF P2 .EQS ••• THEN GOTO END JOB
:
IF P3 .EQS ••• THEN INQUIRE/NoPuNCTUATION P3 .* WITH

.

I

I' P3 .EOS ••• THEN GOTO END_JOB

II
I

•••
II

'ILENAME - "P1'
SEARCH_FJELD
REPLACE_FIELD
RANGE - "P4'

- "P2'
- "P3'

I CREATE_DIRECTORY_LIST:
I
'ILESPEC - 'ISEARCH(FILENAME)
I
I' 'ILESPEC .EOS ••• THEN WRITE SYSSOUTPUT" 'ILE NOT 'OUND·
I
I' 'ILESPEC .EQS ••• THEN GOTO END_JOB
I
DIRECTORY/NOHEAD/NOTRAIL/VERSIONS-lICUTPUT-O·,
REPLACE.LIS "ILENAME'
Sf

• CREATE_CMD_LINE:
• I' P4 .EQS ••• THEN LINE - ·S/"SEARCH_FIELD'/"REPLACE_'IELD'/ WHOLE·
I I' P4 .NES ••• THEN LINE. ·S/"SEARCH_FIELD'/"REPLACE_'IELD'/"RANQE'·
Sf
I CREATE_CMD_FILE:
OPEN/WRITE QUTFILE DREPLACE.QI)
I
I
WRITE OUTFILE LINE
I
CLOSE CllTFILE

II
I OPEN_FILE:
I
OPEN/READ DIRECT_FILE DREPLACE.LlS

I.

I SEARCH_LOOP:
I
READ/END 0' 'ILE-END LOCP DIRECT 'ILE RECORD
I
POSITION-- 'ILOCATE(;;·,RECORD) I
EDIT_FlLE_NAME • FSEXTRACT(O,POSITION,IECORD),
II TEST FOR SEARCH STRING
I ASSIGN [lSEARCH.TEST SYSSOUTPUT
I
ED IT/EDT /NOJCURNAL/COMMAND- 0 REPLACE.CMD 'ED IT_, I LE_NAME'
QUIT
I
DEASSIGN SYSSCUTPUT
I
OPEN/READ SEARCH_TEST DSWCH. TEST
I
READ SEARCH TEST SEARCH
I
IF 'SEXTRACT(6,6,SEAlCH) .NES. •
• THEN GOTO CLOSIT
•
READ/END OF FILE-NEXT SEARCH TEST SEAlCH2
I NEXT: SUI - SEARCH + SEARCH2
I
IF 'ILOCATE(REPLACE_FlELD,SUI) .NE. 'ILENGTHCU) THEN GOrO REPLACE
I CLOSIT: CLOSE SEARCH_TEST
I
GOTO SEARCH LOOP
I REPLACE:
I CLOSE SEARCH_TEST
I' THE 'OLLOWING LINES PROVIDE SECDln TMAT -sPECIAL· fiLES ARE lOT EDITED.
I' THIS PROGRAM SCREENS 'ILES THAT EDITOR ~ECTS TO. IUf CElTAII flLEI
II LIKE MASS" 01 ALLlN1 MIGHT IE ....OPERLY CIWfGE'D.
II TO INSURE SA'ETY, UNCOMMENT THE NEXT 'IVE LINES.
II CHIC - ·N·
II WR ITE SYSSQJTPUT • •
Sf WRITE SYSSQJTPUT ., 'EDIT 'ILE NAME' CCMTAINS THE ITiING.·
Sf INQUIRE/NOPUNCTUATION CHi :I 00 TOO \WeT IT EDITED (Y QI 011) ? •
II I' 'IEXTRACT(O,1,CHIC) .NES. ·Y· TMEN IOTO SEARCH_LOOP
I
ED 1T/mT /1IOJCUl1W./CCIIWID- n REPLACE.aD 'IDIT_'llE_lAME·
EXIT
I
GOTO SEARCII LOOP

I.

-

I END_LOOP:
I
CLOSE DIRECT_'ILE
I
DELETE DIEPUCE.LlS;-, DIEPLACE.CMD;I
DELETE DSEMCI. TEST.Sf
I END JOB:

I

EXIT

Hope you find this utility as useful as we do!

DECUS - ATALUG
c/o Trina S. Jackson
Atlanta Regional Commission
100 Edgewood Avenue, NE - Suite 1801
Atlanta, Georgia 30335
December 1987 Newsletter
First Class Mail
ATLAUG Committee
(area code 404)
Bill Leroy
Mike Moore
Margaret Anderson
David Samsky
Brian Zubak
Trina S. Jadkson
Cecil Pacetti
Mike Sieweke

- 231-1484
378-0771
- 392-6972
- 434-9889
925-0027
- 656-7730
- 256-2724
- 894-7184

:OECUG L.. U:::·:i /1 i.'.) m :i. n:i. ~::. t.- r- 6 -' . 0 r
249 Northboro R02d (BP02)

The next ATALUG Meeting will be on January 25, 1988
Bow to find the ATALUG Meeting __ _

Meeting Format •••
6:00 pm - 6:40 pm
Technical Session

7:15 pm - 7:30 pm
DEC News

Application Center for Technology
1455 Lincoln parkway, 8th Floor

6:40 pm - 7:00 pm
Social Gathering

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Presentation

7:00 pm - 7:15 pm
Announcements

8:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Questions/Answers

Take I-285 to Ashford-Dunwoody Road
Exit to the North & go to 3rd Light
Turn right onto Perimeter Center Ea
Follow this road to Lincoln parkway
Turn Right. Go to Last Bldg. on Rig

From the Editor •••
Sorry about the power problems at the A.C.T. on NOvember 24, 1987. We were
eventually able to have the meeting although by that time many of you had
gotten impatient and left. We will be inviting Tektronix to do another
presentation in the first quarter of 1288.
you will get a chance to see
what you missed.
,.

,0

"
want to sound off about some pet gripe
'or just show off some nifty new
procedure you have discovered? Send it to me and I will include it in the
next newsletter. Remember, your editor is only a stamp away!

Please send all contributions to

Margaret Anderson
Contel Service Corporation
400 Embassy Row, Suite 300
Atlanta, Georgia 30328

Sometime in January 1988, we will be updating our mailing list. We feel
that there are some people on the list whose address is not current while
others are no longer interested in the ATALUG and end up throwing it away
when they receive it. The cost of printing the newsletter has risen over
the past year and as we will be expanding the newsletter to more than one
page in the future, it is vital that we do this in the most efficient and
and cost effective manner possible.

and your guest are cordially
invited to attend
DECUS - ATALUG Christaas'Party
Konday, Deceaber fourteenth
Bors d'Oeuvres at Six-thirty
The st. Si.on's aoo.
Eabassy Suites Botel

~bassy

Suites Hotel

please R.S.V.P. to Karen at 231-1484
so that we can get an idea how much
food will be required for the party.
Even if you forget to call, please
come anyway as this is a wonderful
opportunity to meet other DEC users.

:;:

~

L.JL-r....._.""'_~_._'4!G_-_.. .,.~
1030 CrO~l1 Pointe Pkwy.
Atlanta, Georgia 30338

. (404) 394-5454
Call I-SaO-EMBASSY

ILONGWORDS!
Newsletter of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex

DEeus

VAX/VMS Local Users Group - (DFWLUG)

October, 1987

Volume 1, NUll1ber 9

Contents
1 DFWLUG NEWS AND VIEWS

2

1.1

VIEW FROM THE CHAIR . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.2

DFWLUG MEETING NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.3

LONG RANGE SCHEDULE

0

••••••••

0

•••

0

••

0

••

0

•

•

••

•

3

2.1

LOCAL NEWS . . .

2.2

NATIONAL NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.3

RECENTLY RELEASED DEC SOFTWARE . . . .

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

0

•

•

0

0

•

0

•

0

•

0

•

0

•

•

00

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

0

0

••

•

••

3 VAX/VMS ITEMS OF INTEREST
3.1

2
2

2 NEWS FROM DIGITAL
0

2

THE ARBITER SPEAKS!

3
3
4

4

.................

0

• • • • •

0

•

••

4

3.1.1

How To Troubleshoot Printing Problems On Terminal Ports. . . ..

4

3.1.2

SUBMIT IUSER Returns 'Invalid Qualifier' And 'No Privilege' Error

7

3.1.3

VMS V4.n: Unusual Screen Behavior For Very Large Virtual Displays

7

3.1.4

Using RXFMT To Format RX33 Floppies On An HSC70 Running

V3.5 Of HSC So . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
3.1.5

7

What Is The Effect Of Negative Numbers Vv-lth The SET RMS/BUFFER
Conlmand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
0

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

••

:,. 3.1~6' 'V!VIS 4.f3 r~f~as~

tllHi

diDt~.'n)lltion for V1\lS and 1\11c1'0 VrvIS uSing

DECnet. . . . .' ..
3.1.'1 ... PlvIZ32 revision Fl

Jixes'''SEltI(}tJS'ln~ohlciils

LO

4 ARTICLES

4.1

13

HOvV TO SUBIVIIT AN ARTICLE OF YOUR. O\VN .

13

5 YOUR DFWLUG STEERING COMMITTEE

14

Copyright @ 1987 by DFWLUG - All Rig.htsReserved
DFWLUG believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date; such information
is subject to change without notice. DFWL UG is not responsible for any inadvertent errors.
It is assumed tbat all articles submitted to the editor of this newsletter are wit}) the a.uthors permission
to publish in any DECUS publication. The articles are the responsibility of the authors and therefore,
DFWL UG, DECUS, Digital Equipment Corporation and the editor assume no responsibility of liability for
articles or information appearing in tile document. TlIe views ilerein expressed are tlwse of tile autiwrs and
do not necessarily express the views of DFtVLOG, DEGUS or Digital Equipment Corporation.

LONG WORDS is published twelve times annually at 2813 ParklJaven Drive, Plano, TX 75075. Postma.ster:
send address cllll.nges to DFWLUG, 2813 Parkl)al'en Drive, Plano, TX j"5075.
This documellt wa.s prepared OIl a Digital Equipment Corporatioll V.. LX/V1US <-'{lll/jJutcr ~J.';{.cm

uSI1Ig

tlze 1£,.\

typesetting system developed by Dona.ld E. Knutll at Stanford Unin'Isity. TEX. ;s a registered tradema.rk of
the American Ma.thematica.l Society. DEC US, VAX alld VJIS are [(,gi;.;;t(·rediradewarks of Digita,l Equipmellt
Corporation.

I
I
I
I

\\"111 find ~;(lnl(' lllOrc good t.i.-lhit:::: of info1'lnat.ioH ci,l)('t'rnii!~~' V~\l~ Vi~.n in tl~'- 1:10nth:-.
IH·Wt~let.ter. Pka::,e Bote the FCC) Ini'ol'lnatioB cOllCel'lIill~~: 1if'dZ:r!. 111tIltiplexer hounh.d

YOIt

See you at the 11lcet.illg!

And that's ("Olllluellt. for t.his lllonth ...

~t~
~V

L,St~'uart Renes

DFWLUG Cbair

1.2

DFWLUG MEETING NOTICE

The next llleeting of the DFWLUG will be 011 Tuesday, October 13 th at 7:00 pnl at TDIlldustrics. TDllldustries is located on Stenullons Freeway just north of LBJ .To get there,
take LBJ to Stemmons (1-35) and go north to the Valwood Parkway exit. Take the U-turn
to the access road on the west side of the freeway. Then proceed south about ~ Illile to
TDlndustries. Their building in on the south side of the lot and is the one with the red
Arcoaire sign on it. The Dleeting will be on the 13t floor. The roon1 has space for about
100-150 people; has audio visual aids available and is quite nice.
October will feature Philippe Ray frolll GE COll1puter Services who will be speaking on
the hot topic of third pa:ty Inaintenance services. Since everyone and his brother seems
to be getting into t.he VAX maint.enance business, t.his is a very timely presentat.ion for us
systenl nlallager types who yearn for a straight scoop on this new breed of VAX hardware
"experts. "

1.3

LONG RANGE SCHEDULE

Future DFWLUG Ineet.ings as currently scheduled are:
Noveillber 10 th
December 8th

Networking session
Suggest a topic

If any of you out there ,vant. to be a speaker at one of t.he LUG lucetings, just get in touch
with Debbie Vela, our LUG nleet.ing coordinat.or. Here are sonle possible topics:

LON G ltV 0 R D S for October, 1987

4

• Installation of BI-based VAXes
• Integrating DEC Inachines in a nutlti-velldor ethernet
• Keeping up wiih those software licenses
g

DECllet DOS and VMS - what works and what. doesn't

• l\lanaging geriatric VAXes
• Supporting the UNIX user comlnunity
• What about software for those VAXstations?
• VAX nuni-clusters - managing diskless systeills
Share y~ur knowledge! If you don't feel up to giving a fOrInal present.ation write a paper.
You'd be surprised at the amount of illfofluat.ion you aSSUlne CL'€1'yone knOW8 that they
really don't. We are all made up of our experiences and nobody knows it all. Come share
yours with -the "rest' of th~ group so that we all can grow.

2
2.1

NEWS FROM DIGITAL
LOCALNEWS

The tapes are here! THE TAPES ARE HERE! Denny Thury, our LUG librarian, has
received the current RSX, Kermit, and VAX SIG tapes. Unfortunately, the Languages
and Tools SIG tape has not arrived yet. If you want a copy of one of these, you mU8t call
hilll (see last page for phone nUll1ber) and reserve your personal copy! Notice: no tickets
will be sold at the door! If you don't call and reserve a tape, you will be out of luck conle
LUG meeting time~

2.2

NATIONAL NEWS

VMS V4.6 is here! A somewhat disappointing release which although volumullous in size
does not provide lnuch new functionality with the exception of hnproved support for LAT
terminal servers and miscellaneous VAXcluster enhancel11ents.
For those of you who are interested in attending the next national DECUS symposiuIll
which will be held froln DeCelllber 7 to Decelnber 11 in Ahaheinl, the Prelilninary Prograills
for the symposia have been mailed and should have arrived at your site by the time you
read this newsletter. The sessions appear rich in content and it. would probably be well
worth your time and effort to make this symposia, especially with the unveiling of all
the new VAX 3000 series hardware. I have received some detailed abstracts from Wayne

L 0 lV

S

C; -\Y () H 1)

for

Octoher, 1Y?) i

S('wpU, 1>11 t will h(~ '"f' 1\) dI'J;1:: their print.illg llld il next. IllOIl i 11 due t.o space considerations.
In t.he Ineant.iluc, get OIl the stick and push t.o lllake the t.rip to Allaheilll!

2.3

RECENTLY RELEASED DEC SOFTWARE

We have a pretty extensive list of current release versions for 1110St of the COllunon DEC
soft.ware packages. These are releases t.hat. people have received. They are as follows:
VMS 4.6
Fortran 4.7
enD 3.3
Datatrieve 4.0
Notes 1.2
DECalc-plus 1.0
Pascal 3.5
DECalc-Plus 3.0
DECalc 3.0
XWay 1.1
VTX 3.0

VWS 3.2
Basic 3.1
VAX 11 RSX 2.3
RTEM 2.3
All-in-l 2.2
eMS 2.3
DBMS 3.2
MMS 2.2
DTM 2.2
DECGraph 1.5
2780/3780 L6

GKS 3.0
SPM 3.1 w /patches
Cobol 3.4
FMS 2.3
DECalc 2.2
LSE 2.0
SeA 1.0
LATpius 1.2
PCA 1.1-1
SSU 1.0

You should have received these updat.es if you have the proper license and have software
maintenance. If not, you should give DEe SOFTWARE SERVICES a call at (214) 8882500 and see what's holding up the show.

3
3.1

VAX/VMS ITEMS OF INTEREST
THE ARBITER SPEAKS!

lVe continue our anonymous author contributions this month with a technical potpourri of
VMS tidbits which should be of interest to most system managers. Let it be known to all
that I will accept new.5letter input from anyone, and I never reveal my sources! So, if you
want to have your voice heard, but have reasons for not wanting your name known, give
me a call!

3.1.1

How To Troubleshoot Printing Problems On Terminal Ports

BACKGROUND:
A printer on a ternlinal port prints files with missing data, garbled strings, or strange

L

6

a lV G lV 0

R D S for October, 1987

characters. Some printers may ring bells, print backward question-luarks or show other
signals to indicate a buffer overflow. On the LN03, for exanlple, the LED character display
may indicate a buffer overflow by displaying t.he nUluber 32. How do you t'roubleshoot
these kinds of problellls?
PROCEDURE:

Since either hardware or software may be the cause of these symptollls, the following steps
may be used to check terminal port settings, check SYSGEN paraIlleters, and troubleshoot
hardware problems.
Checking tefluinal port set,tings
1. The ternullal port should be set /INTERACTIVE and /PASTHRU. These qualifiers

tell the terminal driver to send data out as it is received, without interpreting the
data. The driver still acknowledges flow control.
2. If you set a "TX" terminal port /nIvIA, performance can be ,iInproved because the
data transfer will be done wit.h less CPU overhead.

3. Be careful not to misspell the /PASTHRU qualifier on the SET TERMINAL comInand. If you Inistakenly use a double "S" (as in /PASSTHRU), V11S will confuse
the 2 qualifiers.
Note that as of V4.0, .PASSALL and READ PASS ALL lllode is no longer docull1ented.
For lnore inforlnation, please refer to pA-9 of the "VAX/Vl\IS Release Notes Version
4.0", (September 1984).
In addition, as of VMS 4.4, PASSALL is no longer supported as a SET TERMINAL
conlmand qualifier. With PASSALL defined, the driver,selltd(}.ta out as received,
but ignored flow control. PASTHRU replaced PASSALL in VMS v4A.
4. The terminal port ll1ust also be set for /TTSYNC, which tells the terminal driver to
recognize XOFFs sent by the terminal device:
To change any terminal settings, perform the following conlmands:
• Stop the queue with the STOP /QUEUE/NEXT COIUll1and.
It

Despool the device v;ith th . .,

~ET

DEVICE/:',;OSPOOL

COlll1l12dHi.

• Try setting the tenllinal port using t.he following cOl1ullanci:

$ SET TERMINAL/PERrvl/INTERACTIVE/PASTHRU /TTSYNC/DMA Tx('u:
• Re-spool the device using the SET DEVICE/SPOOL COl1Ullalld.
• Restart the queue with the START/QUE cOlllnla.nd.

LON G lV 0 R D S for October, 198i

j

Chec.king SYSGEN Paralneters
Set the SYSGEN parailleier TTY _DEFPORT t.o 1 if the port with the problelll is on a
Non-DIGITAL c.ontroller. This set.ting should also be used with any tenninal printers
which require 7 bit MARK parity.
Checking Printer Settings
Check the PARITY setting on the terminal printer. Refer to the manual for your specific
printer for infonnation on checking and setting parity.
The terminal printer must be set up to recognize XON/XOFF and either 8 bit NOPARITY or 7 bit SPACE parity. Never set the terminal printer to 7 bit MARK parity because an XOFF with the parity bit set for MARK is represented as a hexadecimal 93,
rather than a hexadecimal 13, so VMS sees a different character even if the port is set for

/NOEIGHT _BIT.
Troubleshooting Hardware
1. STOP the queue and DESPOOL the device, using the example commands given

above. Then COpy a file to the device as in the following:
$ COpy LOGIN.COM TTA4:

If this works, the problem may be with the print symbiont. If this test fails, the
hardware should be tested. Remember to spool the device and restart the queue
again.
2. Make sure all cables are plugged in. Try using a different cable to see if the cable is
a problem.
<

3. Move the printer and cable to another VAX port. If the problem disappears, then
the original VAX port may have a hardware problem.
4. Attach a video terminal to the port. Despool the device, and make sure the terlninal
port is set to /TYPE_AHEAD (the default). Set the speed compatible with the
speed set on the terminal. Try to log in. If you cannot log in, either the VAX port or
the cable is the cause of the problenl. This may mean that data can be translnitted
data to the device but not received.
5. If you can log in, set the video ternlinal to NOXOFF. Try to log ill again, then
TYPE a file. While the terminal is printing, try CTRL/S followed by a CTRL/Q to
stop and start scrolling. If you can stop scrolling and restart it without losing data,
then VMS is honoring these flow controls frolH the video tenninal. This indicates
that the printer was not sending XOFFs. In this case, set the terminal printer to
XON /XOFF. See your specific printer lnanual for specific instructions.

8
3.1.2

LON G W 0 R D S for October, 1987

SUBMIT/USER Returns 'Invalid Qualifier' And 'No Privilege' Error

SYMPTOM:
When a user submits a job to run in batch using t.he IUSER=username qualifier, the
following errors are returned:
%SUBMIT-F-INVQUAVAL, value 'usernalne'invalid for IUSER qualifier
-RMS-E-PRV, insufficient privilege or file protection violation

CAUSE:
The IUSER feature of the SUBMIT comlnand does not work as docUlnented on page
DCL-784 of the Version 4.0 "VAX/VMS DCL Dictionary", (Sept 84). The docunlentation indicates you must have read access to SYSUAF.DAT and CMKRNL (Change Mode
to KERNEL) privilege. However, the /USER qualifier actually requires that the user
submitting the job have SYSPRV (Systeln Privilege) in addition to CMKRNL privilege.

WORKAROUND:
Until this functionality is changed, the only workaround is to give the user SYSPRV and
CMKRNL or SETPRV and CMKRNL. These are very powerful privileges and should be
granted with discretion.

SOLUTION:
VMS Engineering is' aware of the problem. They expect this problem will be corrected in
a future release of the 'product.

3.1.3

VMS V4.n: Unusual Screen Behavior For Very Large Virtual Displays

RESTRICTION:
The maximum size a virtual display may be for VMS V4.n is 65535 characters. This
is caused by the use of MOVC3/MOVC5 instructions by SMG to move virtual display
buffers. Unusual behavior will result from using SMG$MOVE_VIRTUAL_DISPLAY.
VMS Engineering is aware of this problem' and this restriction should be lifted in the next
major release of VMS.

3.1.4

Using RXFMT To Format RX33 Floppies On An HSC70 Running V3.S
OfHSC So

BACKGROUND:

L 0 1\[ 0 \\T 0 R D S [or Octoher, 1987

9

The following describes how t.o {onnat an RX33 floppy diskette using the RXFMT utility
on a HSC70 disk cont.roller. The HSC70 lnust be running Version 3.5 of the HSC Software
(the CRONIC Operating Systelu). This operation does not apply to an HSC50 since an
HSC50 uses TU f)8 cassettes inst.ead of RX33 floppies.

PROCEDURE:
1. First it is necessary to get to the HSC70> prompt to enter comDlands. To do this,
type CTRL- Y on the HSC70 console. You should see the following proDlpt:

IISC70>
2. Put a RX33 floppy diskette into the DX1: drive and close the door.
NOTE
Make sure the floppy is not writelocked by checking that the the tab is
uncove'red. Also make sure that a V3.5 copy of the HSC Software is in the
DXO: drive because this procedure calls a program off of the Operating
System disk to do the formatting.
3. Invoke the RXFMT utility with:
HSC70> RUN RXFMT
4. Respond to the prompts:
RXFMT-Q Unit to format []? DX1:
RXFMT-Q Ready to start formatting (Y or N) [J? Y
RXFMT -I formatting track 0, side 0, LBN 0
RXFMT -1 formatting track 8, side 0, LBN 240
RXFMT -1 fonnatting track 16, side 0, LBN 480
RXFMT-I formatting track 24, side 0, LBN 720
RXFMT -I formatting track 32, side 0, LBN 960
RXFMT -1 formatting track 40, side 0, LBN 1200
RXFMT -I formatting track 48, side 0, LBN 1440
RXFMT-I forDlatting track 56, side 0, LBN 1680
RXFMT-I formatting track 64, side 0, LBN 1920
RXFMT -1 formatting track 72, side 0, LBN 2160
RXFMT -S Fornlatting successfully conlpleted~
RXRD-I Reading track 0, side 0, LBN 0
RXRD-I Reading track 8, side 0, LBN 240
RXRD-I Reading track 16, side 0, LBN 480

LON G "V 0 R D S [or October, 1987

10
RXRD-I Reading ~rack 24,
RXRD-I Reading track 32,
RXRD-I Reading track 40,
RXRD-I Reading track 48,
RXRD-I Reading track 56,
RXRD-I Reading track 64,
RXRD-I Reading track 72,
RXFMT-I Program Exit

side
side
side
side
side
side
side

0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0,

LBN
LBN
LBN
LBN
LBN
LBN
LBN

720
960
1200
1440
1680
1920
2160

The RX33 floppy is now formatted.

3.1.5

What Is The Effect Of Negative Numbers With The SET RMS/BUFFER
Command

BACKGROUND:
In the Version 4.0 and 4.2 "VAX/VMS DeL Dictionary", the description of the SET
RMS_DEFAULT /BUFFER_COUNT command includes the following:

"The specified count ... can range from -128 to 127. A positive value indicates
that the specified number of buffers nlust be locked in a process's working set
for the I/O operation. A negative value indicates that the buffers ... do not
have to be locked."

There is no mention of a negative buffer count in the Version 4.4 "VAX/VMS DCL Dictionary", but the SET RMS_DEFAULT /BUFFER-COUNT command will still accept a
negative value.

QUESTION:
What is the effect, if any, of specifying a negative buffer count?

ANSWER:
The number of buffers allocated corresponds to the absolute value of the count specified.
The buffers are not locked in a process's working set, regardless of whether a positive 01'
negative number is entered for the buffer count.
Contrary to the Version 4.0 and 4.2 documentation, this ability to lock buffers in a process's
working set was never implemented and there are no fut.ure plans to do so.

LON G llV 0 R D S for October, 1987

3.1.6

11

,\'1\1S 4.6 release and distribution for VMS and lVIicroVMS using I)ECnet

DESCIlIPTIOl\T:
The 4..6 Vt\1S and fvlicroVlVlS release is shipping as of Septelnber 1987.
~

Sysieills using IVlicro V £VIS and t.hat. have Illstalled .lJECllet in the pa.st

BlUSt.

oe in

receipt of the following distribution itelIlS before starting the upgrade:
1. V 4.6 Micro VMS base software and mandatory updates

2. V4.6 DECnet Distribution
3. V4.0 DECnet KEY (NETEND040 or NETRTG040)
Previous releases of J\tlicro VMS software had D ECuet distribution and key on one
media, but this has been changed for this release.
Many users are starting the upgrade prior to receiving the 4.6 DECnet tapes/discs
and are unable to restore their network act.ivity. Those who attempt to use the V 4.4
or V 4.5 DECnet distributions for their Micro V~lS upgrade will get "protocol errors"
when turning circuits ON .
• Non-11icroVMS systeuls including VAX 11/7XX and 8XXX series systeIl1S will receive the DECnet distribution bundled with the V4.6 VMS system distribution. The
DECnet key is identical for all 4.n releases and thus systeln lnanagers can upgrade
to V 4.6 VMS and DECnet upon receiving this single Inedia.

3.1.7

DMZ32 revision F1 fixes SERIOUS problems

... Comments from a User:
After we received our VAX 8600 in Novcluber of 1985, we noticed that the interrupt frolll
a control- Y was not handled by the DMZ32 in the same manner as it was on our DMF32
or our (ABLE) VIvlZ32. In fact at. low baud rates, characters frOlll other users processes
sooletimes appeared after the control-Y was pressed. This probleol only occurred on the
DMZ32. We observed that this behavior was prevented by turning off DMA mode. We set
the default to /NOD1rlA for our tenllillals via the sysgen paralneter TTY _DEFCHAR2.
We contacted Colorado Springs and they were "not able to reproduce" the problenl. They
did observe the problenl when we asked thenl t.o dial into our systelll while we had our line
lnonitor on the nlodeill. This was reported early in 1986.
Soon after I had reported this to esc, I talked with Gary Grebus, who was then working
at Battelle. Battelle had a configurat.ion si111ular to ours. Gary was able to reproduce the
problenl on Battelle's D1.1Z32's.

LON G lV 0 R D S for October, 1987

12

After we received V11S V4.4 ¥fe again not.iced t.he probleill. vVe traced this ,to the fact
that VMS V4.4 ignores the setting of the DMA bit in TTY.DEFCHAR2. vVe spr'd this
and wrote a prograln to set the tenninallnode during our startup.
On July 27, 1987 I again called the custolller support center. This tilne I reported it as a.
security problem (since I could easily get data that was not Ineant. for DIe to appear on my
screen). I gave them the procedure I used to cause the problem to appear and this time
they were able to reproduce the problenl.

eso

searched their private database and found that there was a recent FOO for the
DMZ32. I got the FOa number so that I could give it to our field service engineer. We
had our DMZ32's upgraded on August 4, 1987 and this does fix the problem.
I have to complement DEC on the FOO, it fixes problenls that people did not even find.
What bothers Ine is that:

1. The' Colorado Customer Support Center terminal support team was not aware of the
FOa and what it fixed.
2. The information was in their database, but is still not in the DSIN customer database
(as of. 8/6/87) (there is a note on how disable the self test of the DMZ DMA and
SPEED so that the device will autoconfigure. I haven't tried changing these since
the FCa was installed.)
3. Field service was not aware of the availability of the FCa and our Field service
engineer had to give the FCa kit numbers to district before they were able to track
it down.
Lessons learned:
1. Digital seems to pay more attention to calls that are security related.

2. If you get any information from CSC make sure you get FCa order numbers so that
your field service engineer will be able to get the parts.
3. Don't count on DEC to spread the word about fixes.
4. Don't expect to find any timely information on DSIN. (At least now you can access
DSIN via TYMNET so you won't have to pay extra for the phone call.)
So you won't have to go through the bother Ldid, below are some excerpts from the paper
that came along with the new boards.
Order by FCD
Kit #

Qty

Part number

Description

13
EQ-01457-01.:
FA-04743-01:
Extract~tl

1

from Fll-O<:/4j-Ul.

H83ge

Module at Revision F1
FeD Document

'

(FeD DMZ32-IOOl documentation)

Applicahilit:v: Heplace H~Yision E1 or earlier ~'IR398 lllodule with a Revision Fl or later
\.0 incorporate uew UBl luicrocode versiolL it, (lad TlU luicrocode version 1 C when problelu/sYluptolllS are evi,dent. This FOO itllpleillents ECO M8398-MK003.

Problelll / SYlllptOlllS
1. Flush bit not clearing D1-1A correctly

File corrupt.ion on unibus disk coiltroller drives and some users getting other users
data. Systeln errorlogger logs "IMR" invalid map register errors. This bug requires
that "DMA" mode be turned off on all DMZ32 lines 011 the system'. This is a.
VAX/Vr:v1S ~pecific problem.
2. SSYNC tilneout counter starts before NPG is received [ NXM error ].
This causes Ultrix and UNIX systems to hang and or crash based 011 operating system
environluent at the time of the tinleout.
3. When H3014 is powered off/on, DTR is not reasserted by microcode.
Tenninal lines set up as nlodenl will not be able to connect to system, as well as
users logged in through modem connections will be dropp~d due to no "DTR on"
status. Systeln must be rebooted to reenable modem lines.
4. Unsupported baud rates cause microcode to hang.
If un-suspecting user tries to set terminal to one of the two unsupported ba.ud rates,
the D MZ32 microcode will hang and the device will be unusable to the system. A
total systenl reboot is required to clear the condition.
5. NXM error sets the wrong bit in Octet OSR.
No error reports frolll field, but if NXM were to occur, the YCDRIVER would not
be notified of it's occurrence. This could have serious implications on 8XXX system
with DWBUA [unibus adapter].
6. Self test code constants enabled at wrong thne.
None reported frotn field, but was discovered during internal testing of DMZ32 microcode.

7. Foreign ternlinals sending abutted characters lose trailing bits.
Files get invalid escape sequence data while editing using the "arrow" cursor positioning keys.

L 0 iV G 1-\1 0 R I),) [or October, .1987

lL1

4
-4.1

ARTICLES
HOW TO SUBMIT ..t\..N 1-\RTICLE OF YOUR OWN

Ahuost every lllonth, lnelnbel's of our LUG write articles that. the:,: \yish t.u ~;hare with the
other nlenlbers of the LUG. 'These range froln short Hot.es to full Inannscripts covering a
subject in depth. If you have an article you'dlike t.o contribute or a short note on sOlnething
neat that you've found, please contact. Keyin Klughart.
t21~i) ·150-0-100, so that it can be
.
included in the next newsletter. Articles should be subnlitted on Inachille-ff'adable Inedia
(li\TEX fOrtllat. would be ideal but isn't. l11andatory). Transfer llledia can be 1600/62.50 BPI
magnetic t.ape or high .'lpeed 'rU58 cariridges.
.

..,)

{.

')

L

JI,'-,

lUi

-'I; ...

..i . ,... } . . . _).L

~( .

;
';"-'

~

.".

•...

.

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"._ ..

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...

.

.

(~hairll~Hn:

1'.1. (! e t. 1 n g

( rtlld

( ; 0 0 t' d 11 at 0

Publisher
and

MClubership
Coordinator)
Librarian:
and
Tape Copy
(East)

''\

~

i

Depa.rtnH~l1t

2,9:3

3000 Skyilnc DrIve
tvlesquit.e, Texas 75149
(214) 28~-2286
Denny Tluu'Y

Texas Illstrulnents
P.O. Box 801, MS 8006
!:vlcKinney, TX 75069

( and
Social Chair)

Kevin Klughart
Dallas Senliconductor
43.50 Beltwood Parkway South
(locked in realtiIne debugging)
Dallas, Texas 75244

BeE Jklicopt"-r
207 Fleetwood Ct.
Arlington, TX 76014
(817) 280-4991

Secretary/
Treasurer:

Jinl Green
Robot Vision Corp
5105 Swiss Avenue
Dallas, TX 75214
(214) 827-7532

(214) 952-2066

Newsletter
Editor:

Uebblt' Veln
r:

Tape Copy
(West):

. Eric Zipp
Tech Devel of Calif
621 Six Flags Drive
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(817) 649-4443

(214) 450-0400

DECUS
Hdqtrs

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Hdqtrs

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"Why should I?" is the cry of work dodgers.
Their ai7n is to just enough to get by.
They a1'C clock watchers who are a/l'aid
they will render more service than they are paid to perform.
They are too lazy to think,
too selfish to put their shoulders to the wheel in a common cause.

This is an equal access publication! Do you have information, complaints, or
suggestions that can be useful to either the local user community or DEC local? Make yourself heard! Submit an article to the LONGWORDS!

See you next month!

16

L ON G W 0 R D S for October, 1987

I LONG W 0 R D S

I

Newsletter of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Mf}troplex
VAX/VMS Local Users Group - (DFWLUG)
DFWLUG

DEeus

FIRST CLASS MAIL

2813 ParkhavenDrive
Plano, TX 75075
Address Correction Requested
......--.~:..-;;' .•

.,.

!; [

elf S

\1 1

t ;

0

n d Ire ~ :j a u ,~ r t

U.S. Chapter
nne Iron ~~(jy
bttr: SUG i~rjrrinjstrator
~arl~cro,

~A

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5

.

'.

~/2:\.)~·

ILONGWORDSI
Newsletter' of the Dallas/Ft. WOT,th Metroplex
VAX/VMS Local Users Group - (DFWLUG)
Volume 1, Number 10

DEeus
November, 1987

Contents
1 DFWLUG NEWS AND VIEWS

2

3

1.1

VIEW FItOM THE CHAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

1.2

DFWLUG MEETING NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

1.3

LONG RANGE SCHEDULE

4

NEWS FROM DIGITAL

5

2.1

HOW TO REBUILD A SYSTEM THAT IS SUSPECTED OF BREAK-INS

5

2.2

IMPORTANT SECURITY ANNOUNCEMENT . . . . . . . . . ..

7

2.3

RECENTLY RELEASED DEC SOFTWARE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

8

2.4

DEC SOFTWARE/HARDWARE NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

8

2.4.1

"DCL Subprocess Could Not Be Created" When Executing A DCL
Command In TPU . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

8

2.4.2

How Time Is Set Cluster-Wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

9

2.4.3

IMAGE Accounting Records Not Written Inunediately To Accountillg File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

10

2.4.4

%BACKUP-F-CLUSTER Error During BACKUP To A RA82 Disk

10

2.4.5

VMS V4.6 Standalone BACKUP's Boot Device Can Now Be The
Target Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

11

CONTENTS

2

3 VAX/VMS ITEMS OF INTEREST
3.1

3.2

4

5

12

THE RUMOR MILL .. '. . . :- . . .

12

3~1.1

12

Suspected Problems in VMS V4.6

THE ARBITER SPEAKS! '

12

3.2.1

11/78x Machine Checks

13

3.2.2

11/78x LSI-II Console Tricks .

15

3.2.3

Determining Physical Ethernet Addresses

15

ARTICLES

16

4.1 HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE OF YOUR OWN.

16

YOUR DFWLUG STEERING COMMITTEE

17

Copyright @ 1987 by DFWLUG - All Rights Reserved
DFWLUG believes the information in this publication is accura.te as ofits publication date; such information
is subject to cha.nge without notice. DFWL UG is not responsible for any inadvertent errors.
It is assumed that all articles submitted to the editor of tllis newsletter are with the authors permission
to publish in a.ny DECUS publication. The articles are the responsibility of tIle authors and therefore,
DFWLUG, DECUS, Digital Equipment Corporation and tlle editor assume no responsibility of liability for
articles or information appearing in tIle document. The views herein expressed are those of tIle authors and
do not necessarily express the views of DFWLUG, DECUS or Digital Equipment Corporation.

LONG WORDS is publislled twelve times annually at 2813 Parkl18ven Drive, Plano, TX 75075. Postmaster:
send address changes to DFWL UG, 2813 Parkhavel) Drive, PhlllO, TX 7S0i5.
This document was prepared on a Digital Equipment Corporation VAXjVl\1S computer system using tlle

'T£.Y.

typesetting system developed by Donald E. Knuth at Stanford University. 'lEX is a registered trademark of
the American Mathematical Society. DEGUS, VAX and VMS are registered trademarks of Digital Equipment

,

Corporation.

I

LON G ltV 0 R D S [or NoveInber, 1987

3

DFWLUG NEWS AND VIEWS

1
1.1

VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

I just want to take titne out this month to thank the kind folks at TDlndustries for allowing
us access to their wonderful facility for our nl0nthly Ineetings. As those of you who followed
us around Dallas the last few years know, a good Ineetillg place for 100 people is hard to
find.
So from all of us in the DFWLUG to all of you at TDlndustries - THANKS!
And that's comment for this month ...

~Renes

DFWLUG Chair

1.2

DFWLUG

~IEETING

NOTICE

The next meeting of the DFWLUG will be on Tuesday, November 10th at 7:00 pm at
TDlndustries. TDIndustries is located on Stemmons Freeway just north of LBJ. To get
there, take LBJ to Stemmons (1-35) and go north to the Valwood Parkway exit. Take the
U-turn to the access road on the west side of the freeway. Then proceed south about ~
mile to TDIndustries. Their building in on the south side of the lot and is the one with
the red Arcoaire sign on it. The meeting will be on the l6t floor. The roonl has space for
about 100-150 people; has audio visual aids available and is quite nice .
. This month's meeting will feature a DFWlug special! We will be having a NETWORKING
SESSION! This gathering will include a collage of topics including but not limited to the
following:

• VAX Hardware
• Networks
• VMS Internals
• Languages and Tools
• DBMS /4GL
• Systenl Management
• General Nibbles & Bits

LON G W 0 R D S for Novelnber, 1987

4

As if this were not enough, we are doing this thing up right and there will be refreshnlents
available! Rumor has it there might also be sonle video tapes present for those who are
"tubed-out" and into "burned phosphor".

1.3

LONG RANGE SCHEDULE

Future DFWLUG meetings as currently scheduled are:
Decelnber 15 th

January 12th
February 9th
March 8th

Fall 87 Synlposiulll review
Presley Smith, CONVEX - Fortran 8x Standard
John Hildebrand, DEC - Latest. Announcements
John Chipman, EMC 2 - Optical Disk Technology
Wayne Sewell - Pascal Standards
Suggest a topic

The agenda contains some interesting topics for the next few Inonths:
December will have'a triple treat with the results of the Fall National Decus SYlllposiulll, a
special presentation by John Hildebrand of Digital, and a discussion of the .Proposed FORTRAN 8x standard by Presley Snlith of Convex COluputer Corporation. Wow! That's a
lot for even my big lnouth to get out in one sentence! PLEASE NOTE: THIS MEET-

ING WILL BE HELD ONE WEEK LATER THAN USUAL DUE TO THE
FALL NATIONAL DEeUS SYMPOSIUM! The National Decus Symposium will
have completed the prior week in Anaheim, and there should be alnple gossip from those
lucky enough to attelid and survive the week. John Hildebrand of Digital has promised to
provide some insight into the plethora of DEC hardware announcements which is supposed
to take place December 1"t. Finally, Presley Slnith will brief us on the perceived problems
with the Fortran 8x proposed standard. Even Digital has come out against the proposed
standard as it cU1!rently stangs!. Something is obviously very' :fishy about what is going on
in FORTRANland! Don't miss this one, as I feel that it will have sOlll~thing for everyone.
January will feature John Chipman of EMC 2 Corporation's Massachusetts office. John
will be repeating the presentation that he and other EMC 2 personnel will be giving on
Optical Disk Technology at the Fall 1987 National Decus Symposiuln. John promises
anlple tinle for questions and answers, so Inake your lists and check thenl twice before
coming to the nleeting! I am sure that Inost of you out there are fanliliar with EMC 2
memory products, but most of you don't know that they are now attacking the optical
disk market. This technical presentation should be very thnely as this technology is on the
verge of viable adolescence with respect to practical backup and archival of large spindle
farms.
February will feature Wayne Sewell speaking on "Software Engineering in Pascal: Pascal
Rides the Software Bus". This talk concerns Modulo II concepts as they relate to software
engineering.

LON G ltV 0 R D S for Noveulber, 1987

5

vVe are st.ill looking for speakers! The few, the proud, the coders! If you have a topic or
suggestion for a LUG meeting, or would like to speak, just get in touch with Debbie Vela,
our LUG nleeting coordinator. Here are SOllIe possible topics:
• Installation of BI-based VAXes
• Integrating DEC IlIac-hines in a 11lult.i-vendor ethernet.
• Keeping up with those software licenses
• Trading up to BI hardware
• Managing geriatric VAXes
• Supporting the UNIX user conlmunity
• What about software for those VAXstations?
• Configuring micro VAX system hardware
Share your knowledge! If you don't feel up to giving a formal presentation write a paper.
You'd be surprised at the amount of information you assume everyone knows that they .
really don't. We are all made up of our experiences and nobody knows it all. Come share
yours with the rest of the group 'so that we all can grow.

NEWS FROM DIGITAL

2

With all the talk lately about security breaches within pre-VMS V 4.6 systems, we thought
it wise to reprint a Digital article on how to secure a system which has been violated by
hackers.

2«1

HOW TO REBUILD A SYSTEM THAT IS SUSPECTED
OF BREAK-INS

BACKGROUND:
This article defines a suggested method for rebuilding a system that is suspected of breakins. Refer to the "Guide To VAX/VMS Security", (July 1985), Chapter 6, for infonnation
regarding the detection of system break-ins.

PROCEDURE:
• If you possess a system backup which you are reasonably confident does not contain
any files that have been talnpered with, follow l10rnlal backup procedures to restore
your system.

LON G W 0 R D S [or November, 1987

6

• Otherwise, reinstall VMS froln scratch. If t.his is the case, tnake a backup of your
current systenl disk prior to perfOrtllillg the installation. Refer to the "Guide to
VAX/VMS Software Installation" (April 1986), Page 1-6, Section 1.1, for Illore information. We strongly recolnmelld doing an installation of the latest released version
of VMS. All Inandatory updates 1vIUST be applied. Use ONLY Digital provided
distribution.

Note
The backup that was Illade just before starting the installation should NOT
be used to restore any ilnage files. This is due to the difficulty in verifying
the security of the contents of an itnage file. Source text files, of course,
can be lllore easily exanlined for any unauthorized changes.

If you have reinstalled VMS from scratch, then also perform the following:

1. All layered products must now be reinstalled. This includes Digital layered products
as well as third party products. Internal applications should be recompiled and
relinked. Follow the release notes for installation of Digital layered products. Do all
installations from vendor provided distribution.
2. Restore the Systeill Authorization File (SYSUAF.DAT) and the Rightslist file (RIGHTSLIST .DAT) froln your backup. Once this is done, you should ilnmediately change
everyone's password. Also, you should check all accounts and their identifiers to
make sure they are legitimate. Also check to nlake sure each account has the privileges that are expected. You should also review all proxy accounts for the network
if a network is involved.
Following are the cOlnmands, issued froln a privileged account, to obtain a cOlnplete
listing of the users and identifiers for the systeul authorization file.
$ SET DEF SYS$SYSTEM
$ RUN AUTHORIZE

UAF> LIST /FULL
UAF> LIST /IDENTIFIER /FULL
UAF> EXIT
The above commands will create a SYSUAF.LIS and a RIGHTSLIST.LIS file in your
default directory. You can now review these files for the infortnation described above.
3. Now restore your system managenlent cOlnmand procedures, i.e. SYSTARTUP.COM,
SYLOGIN .COM, etc. Check each one of these files to be sure they have not been
tanlpered with. You should check each COl1unalld procedure or application that will
be used by a privileged user or at systeln boot tinle to Inake sure t.hey perfonll as
expected.

LON G W 0 R D 5 for Novelnber, 198i

7

4. Now, Blake an illlage backup of this new syst.eul disk. Use this backup as a basis
for fut.ure restore operat.ions in case you suspect. t.hat. your system is the target of
another break-in.
5. Finally, you should check
sensi ti ve files.

2.2

tIlt'

file prot.ect.ions, including access control lists, on any

IMPORTANT SECURITY ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear VMS Customer,
In May of 1987, Digital issued a software updat.e for VMS and nlicroVMS operating systelllS. This update was designed to enhance the existing, extensive security protection of
VMS. We are contacting you to ensure that you have taken the necessary steps to install
this update.
The proper installation of this update is especially inlportant given recent instances of
unauthorized access of these operating systenls. These security breaches were apparently
the result of deliberate efforts by authorized system users and their collaborators, or lapses
in system security lueasures - for exanlple, unchanged VMS default passwords.
Specifically, the affected versions of VMS and luicro VMS are:
• VMS versions 4.4, 4.5, 4.5a and 4.5c
• micro VMS versions 4.4, 4.5 and 4.5b.
You can identify the update by part nUluber QL001-T* (* represents a character identifying
your distribution media).
If you have yet to install this update, we advise you to do so immediately.
Furthermore, if you suspect any unauthorized access to or abuse of your system, we further
advise you to immediately re-inst.all VMS or luicroVMS with the update, and also to reinstall all layered products. To ensure that all latent. effect.s of any unauthorized access are
elinlinated frolll your systelll, you rnust use original Digital distribution media for each of
these installations. Installation of any non-Digital applications should also be made from
the originals. These are SOine of the key steps to re-establishing your systeill's integrity. For
additional infof1nation on your systeln's security, please consult the "Guide" to VAX/VMS
Systenl Security" provided with your VMS doculuelltatioll.
If you need a copy of the update or if you need any additional assistance, please contact
us at the appropriate custolner support center (csc) listed below:
• VMS and microVMS users: Colorado Springs

esc, 800/525-7100

LON G W 0 R D S [or November, 1987

8
• IuicroVAX 2000 users: Atlanta

esc, 800/332-8000

Please note that the security protection provided by the update has been incorporated into
VMS and micro VMS version 4.6, released septeluber 1987.
As always, we urge you to regularly review your syst.elu 111anagenlent and security procedures. Digital will continue to review and enhance VI\1S security features, and work with
our customers to further hnprove their systenl integrity.
Sincerely,
Digital .EquiPlnent Corporation
Editor's note: You would not believe t.he number of systems out there that have
not in3talled the mandatory update or are at a pre-4-5 VilIS release level! A
word to the wise - don't get caught with your pants down! This goes eapecially
for you unfortunate souls out there who buy packaged systems fron~ VARs and
OEMs. In this cases you .could still be running VMS V3.0, which means you
aren't living in tke current decade

2.3

RECENTLY RELEASED DEC SOFTWARE

You should have received the VMS V 4.6 update if you have the proper license and have
software maintenance. If not, you should give DEC SOFTWARE SERVICES a call at
(214) 888-2500 and see what's holding up the show.

2.4 ·DEC SOFTWARE/HARDWARE NOTES
2.4.1

"DCL Subprocess Could Not Be Created" When Executing A DCL
Command In TPU

PROBLEM:
When attempting to execute a DCL command from within any TPU-based editor, the
following error is issued:
"DCL subprocess could not be created"
The attempt to spawn a subprocess fails and the user is ret tuned back to the editor.

CAUSE:

LON G If

a RDS

for Novclllher, 1987

9

It is likely that t.he user has exceeded the value of the BYTLM (Buffered I/O Count
Lituit) process quota parailleter, which is set. in the AUTHORIZE Utility. The BYTLM
paralueter specifies the lllaxinuull ulllllber of bytes of non-paged systenl dynamic nlenlory
that a user's process luay const.llne at one tiIlle.

SOLUTION:
Run the AUTHOH IZF TTtil1ty to ilH'f(,('Sf? the yalue of the BYTLlv! paralneter for the user's
account. Start by doubling the current. value until you are able to successfully execute DCL
comlnands frOlll TPU.
For exanlple, execute the following conunands at the U AF> prompt:

1. Display the user's U AF record and check the value of the BYTLM parameter by
using the "SHOW username" command.

2. Increase the BYTLM value by using the "110DIFY username /BYTLM=n" command. In most cases doubling the value of the BYTLM parameter will work, unless
the value was set very low.
3. Exit frol11 the AUTHORIZE Utility using the EXIT command. In order for the new
BYTLM value to take effect, the user l11ust logout and log back into their account.
4. Edit a file using one of the TPU based editors, and check if the user can execute a
DeL conlnland fronl within the editor.

Note

The user Inay have also exceeded the value of the PRCLM (subprocess creation
linlit) process quotu paralneter, which is also set within the AUTHORIZE
utility. Check this value and increase it if necessary using· the same procedure
documented above.

2.4.2

How Time Is Set Cluster-Wide

SUBJECT:
When a cluster state transition occurs, all nodes of a VAXcluster will set their systeln time
to the "future-Illost" tinle of all nodes in the cluster.

DESCRIPTION:
For exalnple, a cluster consisting of NODE._A, NODE_B, and NODE_C has the following
times:

1 0 N G W 0 R. D S for Novenlber, 1987

10
NODE_A has 08:30:17.29
NODE_B has 08:33:24.48
NODE_C has 08:24:08.32

A new node, NODE_D, wants to join the cluster with the titne 08:32:14.04. When NODE-D
joins the cluster, all nodes in the cluster will set their systelll time to 08:33:24.48, (the same
as NODE_B), since that node had the "future-lnost" tilne of all nodes.

2.4.3

IMAGE Accounting Records Not vVritten Immediately To Accounting

File
SUBJECT:
When inlage accounting is turned on with the "SET ACCOUNTING /ENABLE==IMAGE"
command, image accounting records are not written in the accounting file illlmediately after
an image has completed it's execution.

DESCRIPTION:
Instead of image accounting records being written to the accounting file after execution,
they are buffered in the Job Controller's mailbox. When an accounting record other than
an itllage accounting record is sent to the Iuailbox, the mailbox is flushed. All records
currently in the Job Controller's nlailbox are then written into the accounting file.

2.4.4

%BACKUP-F-CLUSTER Error During BA.CKUP To A RA82 Disk

SYMPTOM:
When performing an image BACKUP or ilnage saveset restore to an RA82 from a device
with a cluster size of 1, the operation aborts with:
%BACKUP-F-CLUSTER, unsuitable cluster factor for device

ANALYSIS:
The RA82 disk drive supported by VMS V4.4 and subsequent releases, has a storage
capacity of 1,216,665 blocks. Several internal VMS data st.ructures were not designed to
accommodate this lllany blocks and require that the RA82 have a nliniulUlll cluster size of

2.
When performing an ilnage backup frol11 a disk with a cluster size of 1 to an RA82, you
receive the above error because the BACKUP facility is trying to initialize the RA82 with
the same cluster size as the input device.

LON G lrV 0 R D S for Novelnher, 1987

11

WORKAROUND:
To perfoflll an illlage BACKUP or an illlage saveset restore to a RA82, the RA82 Inust first
be INITIALIZED to have a cluster size of 2 or lllore. Once the output disk is initialized,
perfonn the BACKU P operation using t.he /N OINITIALIZE qualifier.
This workaround in1plies tha.t. BACKUP savesets creat.ed frol11 disks with a cluster size of
1 can only be rest.ored to an HA82 if a runuing V 1v15 sysieul is available to INITIALIZE
the disk. This lueans that if the RA82 is a user disk, it can be easily initialized because
you have DCL available t.o issue the "INITIALIZE /CLUSTER=n" comlnand. However,
if the RA82 is your system disk, contact your local DIGITAL office.

SOLUTION:
VMS Engineering is aware of the problelu. They expect this problem will be corrected in
a future release of the product.

2.4.5

VMS V4.6 Standalone BACKUP's Boot Device Can Now Be The Target
Disk

PREVIOUS FUNCTIONALITY:
Prior to version 4.6 of VMS, the disk standalone BACKUP was booted frolll, could not be
used as the target device of a backup or restore operation.

NEW FUNCTIONALITY:
As of V4.6 of VMS, st.:'·; :3.1one BACKUP now locks its working set into memory. This
means that the target disk of a backup or restore operation can now be the disk standalone
BACKUP was originally booted froln.

NOTE: THIS REQUIRES AT LEAST 2 MEGABYTES OF PHYSICAL MEMORY
DOCUMENTATION:
The following is the description of this enhancelnel1t as it appears in the "VAX/VMS
Release Notes, Version 4.6" (June 1987), Page 3-16, section 3.5.
"Standalone BACKUP has been lllade to lock down its working set so that the boote9 disk
can be reilloved where two MB or more of mel110ry are available. This also Ineal1S that the
disk from which standalone BACKUP was booted can be the target of a restore operation.
Under standalone BACKUP, the prolnpt. delivered at the completion of an operation has
also been altered t.o lllore fully infoflll the user of the options available."

12

LON G W OR D S for Novenlber, 1987

VAX/VMS ITEMS OF INTEREST

3
3.. 1

THE RUMOR MILL

Everyone likes rU1lwrs. They keep things interesting and occasionally even contain some
useful information. If you've heard a good one lately, let llS know. lVe'll publish fOl' the
rest of the LUG. But please note: neither DEC, DECUS, the DFfVLUG 01' the author can
be held responsiliie, liable 07' anything else like that. This is just a FYI that you can either
take or leave.

Many of you have heard some of the stories concerning the series of security breaches in
VMS by some German hackers. The latest info suggests the origin of the HACKER attack
on VMS 4x caIne originally fronl:
Chaos Computer Club of Halnburg, West Germany
*Suspected * Inelnbers:
Claus Traenkuer
European Molecular Biology Labs
Stefan Werauch
Univ. of Karlsruhe
Where is Sargent Schultz when you need hilu!

3.1.1

Suspected Problems in VMS V4.6

1. Problem with DEBN AjDEBNT ethernet circuits that prevent terminal servers froln
working on 8xxx series tnachines under V4.6 *** NO FIX YET *** (perhaps using
theV4.5ETDRIVER may work?)

2. Regarding previously report.ed problem of cOlltrol-Y hang via DHU terminaltnultiplexers, a valid workaround is to use the V4.5 YFDRIVER.
3. TU81+ require PHY _10 privilege to allocate with tape data caching enabled. Under
V 4.5, no privileges were required.

3.2

THE ARBITER SPEAKS!

We continue our a,nonymous author contrib'utions this month with a technical potpour7'i of
VlklS tidbits which should be of inie1'est to most .systern managel'S. Let it be known to all
that I will accept newsletter input from anyone, and I never reveal 1ny sources! So, if you
want to have your voice' heard, but have reasons for nol wanting your nam,c known, give
m,e a call!

L 0 1Y G \r 0 R D S
3.2.1

[or

13

NOVellllJer, 1987

11/78x JVlachine Checks

This lllont.h SOllle not.es on 78x series Inachille checks. A lnachille check is a CPU microcode
exc.ept-ioB. I\larhine check::; are CPU specific and while nonnaHy caused by hardware, they
can be cansed by user-written soft.ware f-iO SOllle analysis should be perfonned before the
call to Field Service. During the luachille check exception the luicrocode places infornlation
on the int.errupt. stack called the luachine check logout. The generic lllachine check logout
fonnat. is:
byte count
cpu specific
lnachine check
illfornlation
"------ --.--.--.•... - - "---_._----lnachille check PC
-----_ .. _._--._.------_ _---lnachille check PSL
..

The byte count is the size of the cpu specific portion and does not include the PC, PSL, or
byte count longword. For the 78x nlachines this count is 28 hex and the specific information
is as follows:
00000028
_SUlumary Parameter
CPU Error Status
Trapped Microcode PC
Virtual Address at Fault Time
CPU D Register at Fault Tilne
Translation Buffer Status Register 0
Translation Buffer Status Register 1
Physical Address c_ausing SBI TImeout
Cache Status Register
------------ ----------------SBI Error Register
_.
The sununary paranleter is the key to whether the luachine check is hardware related.
Translatioll buffer parity errors, cache parity error, etc. are indications of hardware probleIus, but. read tilneouts could be caused by software addressing nOll-existent I/O space.
The PC given by the SDA SHOW CRASH cOllllnalld shows the Inachine check processing.
The PC in the infonnation 011 the stack fronl above is the address whose attenlPted execution resulted in this machine check. To get. a'quick idea whether this may be hardware
related issue the command
SDA> EXam /INstruction -lO;30

14

LON G W 0 R D S for Novenlbcr, 1987

This will show the type of instruct.ion st.reaUl t.hat lead to this Illarhine check. Bytes '0
and 1 of the SUIlllnary paraJueier are frOIH t.he nlachille check lnicrocode. The exception
handler may add il1fornlation in bytes 2 and 3 on SOllIe errors:

I Bvte

Error Code
Non-Zero indicates CPU tilneout
___ ?~_CPy __~rror ~()~~~~_ye~ldi_~l~t __ - ..-- ..
Byte 2 Opcode of instruction during
control store parity errors
or Inicrocode not. supposed to be here
Byte 3 Cache disable flag
I
for cache pari ty errors
(1 -> Group 0,2 -> Group 1)
I
I
i

0
Byte 1
,"-

i----

~-

Now the SUlnmary Paralneter Error Code Values:
Byte 0
00
02
03
05

I OA
OC
OD
OF
FO
F1
F2
F3
F5
F6

Error Code
CP Read Timeout./Error ConfirnlFault
CP Translation Buffer Parity Error Fault
CP Cache Parity Error Fault
CP Read Data Substitute Fault
IB Translation Buffer Parity Error Fault
IB Read Data Substitute ~au1t
IB Read Tinleout /Error Confinll Fault
IB Cache Parity Error Fault
CP Read Timeout/Error Confirnl Abort
Control Store Parity Error Abort
CP Translation Buffer Parity Error Abort
CP Cache Parity Error Abort
CP Read Data Substitute Abort
Microcode Not Supposed To Be Here Abort

-----

The CP in the above table refers to explicit. luemory references by 111icrocode and IB
indicates it is a memory reference generated by instruction buffer in pre-fetching the next
instruction.
CP Read Timeout/Error Confirm Fault - Read timeout. fault occurs when the CPU is
performing a read or interlocked read on SBI and there is no response within 512 SBI
cycles, the CPU bus control logic could not gain access to SBI, or the addressed nexus
indicated BUSY for 512 SBI cycles. An SBI error confinll indicates the addressed nexus has
rejected the cOlnmand. These can be caused in software by word references to MASSBUS or
UNIBUS adapter registers, lOl1gword references to Unibus space, reference to non-existent
memory, or page table corruption. This can also be cansed by $CR11PSC systeul services
which do PFN 111apping t.o a non.,.existellt PFN.

LON G \V 0 R D S for No~'elnlJer, 1987

3.2.2

15

lI/78x LSI-II Console Tricks

For those of us who st.ill have 780 lllachint's, have you ever gone to the console to do
sOlllet.hillg and found it with the LSI-II ODT prOlnpt inst.ea.d of the fanliliar and required
dollar sign? NOrIllally you would have to power cycle the LSI-II or reset to get the thing
going again, but this crashes t he VAX. To get. your console tenninal back and save your
Inachine you need to reboot. your LSI-II with the VAX running. To do so you can follow
this procedure:
The LSI-II ODT proillpt is the at-sign "@". The first thing to try is go kick the LSI-II
and see if that does the trick. The restart code is at 141330 octal. Thus the cOl1unancls:
@R7/11nnnllll 141330

@P
»> SET

TERMINAL PROGRAM

should get you going. Here the LSI-II prolupted with the at-sign, you type R7/, the LSI-II
tells you where it halted and you t.ell it to start at 141330. The deposit followed by the
P (for Proceed) should start the console software. You then tell,the LSI to enter program
tuode and you are set. If not, you luay get a tnessage about "G" not issued. In this case
use the following:
@173034/nnnnnn 540
@R7/nnnnnn 141330
@P
»> H
»> D/ID 04 40
»> D/ID 06 40
»> CO
which will reset the interrupts on the floppy and asynch terminal board to get you going.

3.2.3

Determining Physical Ethernet Addresses

"Vith the advent of LAVes, Print.Server-40s, etc. COInes a problem. Determining the
Physical Ethernet a.ddress of a systenl when you need the Ethernet address to get the
system up. You can run SOllle DEC diagnostics but for a VAX with a DEQNA at the
standard address you can do the following:

LON G tV 0 R. D S for November, 1987

16

> > > E /P /W /N:5 20001920
P
P
P
P
P
P

20001920 FF08
20001922 FFOO
20001924 FF2B
20001926 FF02
20001928 FFDD
2000192A FF32

What you've done if exaluifie SOllIe DEQNA registers in Q-bus space that tell you the
physical address of that board. The comlnand tells the nlicro VAX to "Exalnille /Physical
/Word /theNext:5" addresses st~rting at 20001920. If your DEQNA isn't at a standard
address you can n10dify the addr<:ss accordingly. The output tells you the physical address
of the card by reading the last t.wo hex digits fronl the top. In this exalnple the address is
08-00-2B-02-DD-32.

4
4.1

ARTICLES
HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE OF YOUR OWN

Alnlost every month, melubers of our LUG write articles that they wish to share with the
other members of the LUG. These range fronl short notes to full manuscripts covering a
subject in depth. If you have an article you'd like to contribut.e or a short note on something
neat that you've found, please contact Kevin Klughart (214) 450-0400, so that it can be
included in the next newsletter. Articles should be sublllitted 011 lnachine-readable media
(U,TWC format would be ideal but isn't mandatory). Transfer nledia can be 1600/6250 BPI
magnetic tape or high apeed TU58 cartridges.

LON G lV 0 R D 5 for NoveIuber, 1987

5

17

YOUR DFWLUG STEERING COMMITTEE

Plea.'~e feel fret' to get in t.ouch with us any ti7ne:

Chairnlan:
(and
Publisher
and
Melnbership
Coordinator)

Stuart Renes
AT &T Technologies
Department 2793
3000 Skyline Drive
Mesquite, Texas 7.5149
(214) 288-2286

Meeting
Coordinator:
(and
Social Chair)

Debbie Vela
Bell Helicopter
207 Fleetwood Ct.
Arlington, TX 76014
(817) 280-4539

Librarian:
and
Tape Copy
(East)

Denny Thury
Texas Instruments
P.O. Box 801, MS 8006
McKinney, TX 75069
(214) 952-2066

Secretary/
Treasurer:

Jim Green
Robot Vision Corp
5105 Swiss Avenue
Dallas, TX 75214
(214) 827.:7532

Newsletter
Editor:

Kevin Klughart
Dallas Selniconductor
4350 Beltwood Parkway South
(locked in realtinle debugging)
Dallas, Texas 75244
(214) 450-0400

Tape Copy
(West.):

(Position is OPEN)
(any takers?)
(If interested,
Call Stuart at
(214) 288-2286)

DEeUS
Hdqtrs

Melnbership Processing
219 Boston Post Rd BP02
M;-"rlboro, MA 01752-1850
(617) ·1?0 1418

DEeUS
Hdqtrs

Library Services
219 Boston Post Rd BP02
Marlboro, MA 01752-1850
(617) 480-3521

Of all possible committee reactions to any given agenda item,
the reaction that will occur is the one
which will liberate the greatest amount of hot air.
- Thomas L. Martin
Creativity varies inversely
with the number of cooks
involved with the broth.
- Bernice Fitz- Gibbon

This is an equal access publication! Do you have information, complaints, or
suggestions that can be useful to either the local user community or DEC local? Make yourself heard! Submit an article to the LONGWORDS!

ILONGWORDSI
Newsletter of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex
VAX/VMS Local Users Group - (DFWLUG)

DFWLUG

DEeDS

FIRST CLASS MAIL

2813 Parkhaven Drive
Plano, TX 75075
Address Correction Requested

,

""

OECUS National HeadQu~rters
U.S. Chapter
One Iron Way
Attn: SliG Administrator
M~rlboro, MA 01752

ARlZONA

NEW MEXiCO

Southwest
Region
,

SOUTHWEST REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
J.D. "Dave" MacPherson
Los Angeles, California
213-616-2519
DCS: MACPHERSON
J.D. "Dave" MacPherson was elected RLC in September of 1987, and held the position of LUG
Chair for LAXVAX (that airport's always been constipated ... ) from September 1985 to September 1987. Professionally, Dave is a nitty-gritty hardware type, keeps a large stock of spare parts
running in his garage, and is currently responsible for a large V AXcluster installation.
Dave has appointed Lenard McDonald as assistant RLC. Lenard is the Rainbow Pacific LUG
Chair and lives in Los Angeles.
The Southwest Region has 25 LUGs, two in the formative stages and two RSX-based LUGs
winding down after many years of success. The newest LUG in the Southwest Region, the Las
Cruces LUG, is chaired by Karol L. Lavalle. Karol works at New Mexico University in Las
Cruces, New Mexico.
Dave met nine Southwest LUG Chairs at his first LUG Cluster dinner in Anaheim, Fall 1987.
He attended the 1988 New Mexico Regional Conference, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He has called for volunteers for the following Southwest Region positions: Regional
Seminar Representative, Regional Conference Coordinator, and Regional Newsletter Editor.
ASSISTANT REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
Lenard McDonald
Los Angeles, California
213-948-9405 or 213-836-8698
REGIONAL TAPE COpy COORDINATOR
Don Shehi
Maricopa Community College
3910 East Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85034
602 267-4404

REGIONAL SEMINARS REPRESENTATIVE
John Willauer
JBW Enterprises
22458 Ventura Blvd., Suite E
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
818 704-7629

SOUTHWEST REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
Arizona
-=-Ariz--.·,--o-na-:V.....,AX~L...-:;U~G~(AZVr='l:rAX~)

Chair: Don Shehi, Phoenix, 602-267-4404
Phoenix Rainbow LUG
Chair: James B. Kashner, Phoenix, 602-265-0065
Tucson LUG
Chair: Michael Gauvin, Tucson, 602-721-1006

California (Southern)

•

Calteeh/JPL LUG
Chair: Mark Ryne, Pasadena, 818-354-8215
China take LUG
Chair: Randall D. Morris, China Lake, 619-939-5498
Kem County LUG
Chair: Richard E. Russell, Bakersfield, 805-399-2961
LA Intand Empire Personal Computer LUG
Chair: Jan Snyder, Upland, 714-945-7468 or 714-985-3542
Los Angeles Airport Area VAX LUG
Chair: John Willauer, Woodland mIls, 818-704-7629
Los Angeles RSX LUG
Chair: Alan Frisbie, Los Angeles, 213-256-2575
Orange County RSX LUG
Chair: Dale Kelterer, Canyon Country, 818-376-6041
Orange County VAX ruG
Chair: Al Tyrrill, Garden Grove, 714-740-1015
Point Loma Federal VAX Managers LUG
Chair: Lynda Roenicke, San Diego, 619-225-7569
Rainbow Pacific LUG
Chair: Lenard E. McDonald, Los Angeles, 213-836-8698
San Diego PDP-ll/VAX LUG
Chair: Paul Wilfong, San Diego, 714-457-5550
san Diego Rainbow LUG
Chair: Lynn Jarrett, San Diego, 619-293-1130
Santa Barbara Area DEC LUG
Chair: Sandy Tsutsui-Trujillo, Camarillo, 805-388-2810
Southern California RSTS LUG
Chair: Robert P. Moyers, Garden Grove, 714-638-7711
Southern California Users of RT-11 (SCURT)
Chair: Shal Farley, Pasadena, 818-351-5493

UCLA LUG
Chair: Stephen D. Cox, Los Angeles, 213-825-6899 or 213-206-6185

Nevada
--So-u-:-t-he-m-N......e-v-ad..-a-....L......U.. -: G;oo;r"
Chair: Stephen Rolston, Las Vegas, 702-295-6015

New Mexico
•

•

-rA1-b-u-q-u-er-q-u-e......
R~T~-1::-:::1,......L
. . .u
.....G-Chair: Ruth Ronan, Albuquerque, 505-844-5556
Las Cruces LUG
Chair: Karol L. Lavalle, Las Cruces, 505-522-9425
Los Alamos MiniJMicro LUG
Chair: Gregg Giesler, Los Alamos, 505-662-9811
Los Alamos VAX LUG
Chair: Robert Horning, Los Alamos, 505-665-0145
N orthem New Mexico LUG
Chair: Philip Escue, Tsaile, Arizona, 602-724-3311 extension 307

indicates LUG newsletters contained in this volume

LOS DGII.8S

ascus
CHAIRMAI:

I.ILDJ)

IHPID PC LUG

BVSI.B'ftlm

Volume 5. Number 4 - April 1981

Bank Saltzman 114-981-5575

VICE CHAIR & PROOlWI: Jail Snyder

SECRETARY:

COftlcts

POLY COM CP/M:

W:714-945-1468jS:114-98S-3542
Ron Quon 213-476-311~

MEMBERSHIP: Gary Zimmerman

W:213-586-5537;H:114-579-0459
TREASURER: Bill Zalewski

V:714-519-2267;H:114-861-9627
HEWSLETTER 1

Editor: Terry Poatlewa1te 818-357-1564
33·1 vost Palm, Monrovia 91016
Contributing Editor:
Orville E Strickland 818"965-5680
Layout:
Lori IV8S 714-621-1148
Production!
Lu Butto 714-535-7410
Constanoe Le Blanc 714-985-9694
Mailing:
Bob Wendel 618-91a-4613
LIBRARIANS:
(MS-DOS) Jim Lawson 714-581-494.11

(CP/M) Sid Choudhry 213-855-4241
(CP/M) Greg Moaley 714-620-1511
It you have any comsnts. or vl11 participate on the Steering Committee, or one
of the club's oommittees (suoh as oontact
person, writing articles, helping to produce the n~wsletter), contact one of the
above.

BELP VAl TID
It you can help fold, staple and label
tte May Newsletter on Monday, May 4, at
7:30 pm, please con tao t Bob Wendel at
(818)918-~613 (office) or (818)338-4188
(home). We meet the first Monday of each
momth to prepare the nswaletter tor bulk
aail1ng at the Ives Community Offioe, 264
E Green st, Claremont. Your help once or
twice a year would be greatly appreciated. You will be on your way home by gpm.

213-373-0816
213-313-0876
8111 PeweD 213-494-51_5
Sid Choudrey 213-855-42.1
FREESTYLE:
Jim B1lbe 213-313-0816
Bill Pawen 818~9--5T45
PFS SOFTWARE:
Wm Zalewski 114-861-9621
WpS-aO/WP5-DOS:G Chamberlain 805-980-1549
Rae Haynes 714-861-6431
Lori Ivea 114-621-1148
1CP/.H 86/80:
G Chamberlain 805-980-1549
Sid Choudhry 213-855-4241
Anita M Elletsen 818-951-1658
VOHDSTAR:
Bcb Wendel 818-918-4673
Anita M Elletsen 818-957-1658
GRAPHWRITER:
Sid Choudhry 213-855-4241
CBASIC:
George Chamberlain 805-980-1549
LOTUS 1-2-3:
nandy Haynes 114-861-6431
Bill Pewen 213-494-5145
Anita M Elletsen 818-951-1658
ASSEMBLY LANG G Chamberlain 805-980-7549
BENCHMARK: William Zalewski 114-861-9627
SEt,ECT-86 :

POLY COlt !~DOS:

Jim H11be
Jim B1lbe

. J1mHilbe 213-373-0816

TAX FINANCIEJ: Fred Figueroa
Dave Moreno
C - LANGU.AGE:
Bill Pewen
DBASE II:
Sid Cboudhry
TU ROO P!SCAL :
Greg Mosley
MS-lJOS:
Lyle Phillips
Mike Hamilton
1D1ta M Elletsen
PUBLIC DOMAIN: Lyle Phillip8
FIDO BBS: M Hamilton (voioe)

818-193-~322

818-281-9211
213-49~-5745

213-855-4241
714-629-1618
213-698-8256
714-537-1265
818-957-1658
213-698-8256
714-531-1265

Mike Ham11ton (data) 714-537-7355

G W BASIC Anita M ElletseD 818-951-1658
AARVARK/MCGRAW-HILL:
Fred Figueroa 818-193-4322
Dave Moreno 818-281-9211

TAlI.B rJ1 COlfaTS

Title

Pag~

167

2
3
4
4
4

The Next SOftware Exploreion
1223C Inquiring Minds
#66 DEC LASO and LA100 Printers
1223B IBM and DEC, Part III
Advertisement

5

#62

Speed DemODS

6
Report on Lug Meetings
1
Use ot Batcb Files cn tha Rainbow.
9
Some More Library Programa
Insert Pages 8-9 of the Public Domain L1b~ar'y
10 Terryta Linea and Meeting Into;{"matiQD

Au tb"r , Source
Jon Shirley
John C Dvorak

Samantha Dobee
Harold Eggert
Rainbow Revelations & Jack DeCamp
Karen Berney
o E Strickland
Jim Lawson
Jim Lawson
R S Harner

!BE UI:'f 3tIINAD BiPL03lOtl #61
By Jon Shirley
THE MICROCOMPUTER INDUSTRY, once the moat

dazzling
example ot h1gh-growth high
tech, baa leveled ott - or so it would
seem. Yet what appears to be a series of
peaka and plateaus is actually our onedimensional view ot the cyclical nature
ot hardware and 80ttware development ..
Developments in the two tields are
tightly

linked,

each

catapulting

thra

other forward. Sometimes software dr1 vea
hardware. Other t1mes, hardware teohnology opens doors tor software developers.
The current plateau 18 a symptom of
the forces brewing; the industry is OD
the verge of exploding into the next signitioant software advance.
To prepare
for the times ahead, smart oomputer buyera Deed to understand three major trends
DOW taking shape--the continuing improvemen ta

in

hardware

horsepower t the Deed

paradox in software 18 that tha easiestto-use software with the highest

DOS en'v1ronment like W1Ddows, and

handle

reasonably sized

Today,

He tworking, the seoond. major trend ,
puts its own demands on both hardware and
software. And as the standards of KS-DOS
3.1 J Miorosoft Reworks, and IBM'a TokenRiDS Network are established, the trend
grows.

first trend bean in 1981 when the
ISH PC triggered a miorocomputer revolution by overcomins the 614( memory barrier
--the bu11 t-1n 11m1 tatioD of 8-b1 t microprocessors.
Software developers jumped
on the opportunity, launching such producta as Lotus 1-2-3, whioh required 192K
01' memory, and enormous demand at the
time.
Today, juat tour years later. software
developers
are impatiently pushing
against the 6401: limit imposed by lap s
intemal memory. Today'a m1crooompute,rs
otter a tenfold increase in memory and
greater speed thaD ever, yet they will
tall short ot the demands ot tu ture software developments.
ot oourse, he industry 18 working to
overcome the present barrier. Clearly,
there must be a'general-purpose solution.
in fact, a major objective ot the IBVMiorosoft joint development agreement 18 to
produce a versiQn ot MS-DOS that will
take advantage ot the PC AT' 8 powerful

nov

80286 clUp, which can add~8a 16 megabytes, and. will also run the smaller ex-

isting DOS applioat1ons.
The cost of memory is no longer an if!sue. Price drops will continue at a pace
c1ramat10 enough tor most users to aftord
the hardware to run the sophisticated
sottware the,. need.
But why would you need this much

orTl
grams

Connectivity, not compatibility, is
the key issue tor business networks.
Moat offices want to interconnect diverGe
usera and disparate hardware into one

network.

Thro1.3gh networking software and

increasing device independence, users oan
now freely ahara data w1-tbQut sacrificing
information jW,tegr1ty.
EUsine2s computing 1s star'ting to look
different too. The third trend. the graphios
Cl'030tt

env11~n.men't

Symphony or

long pred1ctec:1 by Mi-

Chairman Btll Gates, 18

beooming

a

:real:!. ty as advanced hardware hooks up
with software that explo1t3 its potenti-

al.
Tbe graphios trend attects almost
every aapect ot personal computing, from
the output of laser printers to text tormattinS in sophistioated applications.
High-resolution soreens will aoon be
available at a modest coat, with graphics
interfaces to make sortware more natural
to use and easier to learn.
Standards are the watohword tor tomorrow.
Find the software that optimizes
the standards and youtll see the future's
leaders emerge. Bu.t mere than that, expect high-performance hardware--8oftware
will demand it.
LOTUS/Mar 1986

mem-

Hot just tor large, integrated prolike

applioations.

they're out of memory.

tor network1Ds, and the growth ot computer graphics.
The

utility

value requires more memory and power than
hard-to-learn products with equal utility.
FrieDdl1Dess takes a lot of code; this
mesne sacrifioing Dot only apaoe but also
speed. We're no longer willing to wait a
oouple ot seconds at our desktop workstations tor oaloulation results. Consider too network users who want their PCa
to act ae part-time tile servers, run a

Fram~crk-tht)

LA-IE LUG Newsletter - April 1987 - Page 2

DlQDIBDlO HDDS I223C
By

JohD C. Dvorak

-WHAT'S THAT YOU'RE READING?- I asked the baby,s1tter who had oome to watah little
Jobrmy, the precocious two year old, wbile I stepped out tor the even11lg.
"Mioro-Teen. It's the bot new computer mag. It's really rad, cheok it outt W The
bubble gum chewing teen held it in tront ot her and pepped ber gWll as she talked.
-There's a great centerfold ot Malcolm Jamal Varner.·
The magazine cover shouted titles like SlHenudo's Micro Tips,· -Miohael J Fox At
His Mao-Pullout PU, - and wDuran Duran'a SUper Coaputar Whiz Quis.- I flipped
through the gl08S1 nevapriDt. There were one too many piotures ot Miohael J Fox, aDd
Wbalal t I thought. J.D4 even a few or The New Ho'Dkees.
wSo what does all this bave to do with computers?," I asked.
-Gaw4, get reali- She wrinkled her nose and rolled her 8Y8a. -It tells
everything I want to know about computers. I mean, like, what's the big deal?
They're oDly machines. you know."
Pop,Pop, Pop went her gum.
·alt, there 1so't really anything about computers in here, is there'·
-Yes the~ 1al- Sbe anapped the magazine out ot
hands and flipped through it.
wLoolcl See? Here's a sottware program to budget l'OW' allowance. And. hertt's the
Menudo Game Disk! And here's the list, uhf wbere 1s it nov? Rerel--a list ot phone
nUDbers--the only otticial guide to the tab teen stars tan olub hot linea and bulletin boards! See?· Sbe cockec1 her bead and smirked.
Pop, Pop, Pop vent her gum.

Ill,

11 I asked war11 y.
-What d Ira thiDk, I live in the dark ages or scmething?-Bo, no, I gueaa not.· Uh, I decided it vas time to leave. -Be baOk aroune! 10.·
"Sure. 01.· She smiled and waved 33 I walked. out the 1
On-line HElP by LH
CO?}
High Speed Video Char Set Table
Finds hidden directories/subdirectories [6J
[01
Recall/edit previously entered lfnes
[1>1
On-Ii ne HElP by GT
[0]
Sources for HlPfR219
[DJ
Text files for HLPFR219
to?]
Hard disk patch for ColorMagie Vl.3b
[DJ
Hi-speed Video test (and source)
EDT key def s H't KERMIT WlVT52 etlUlation [IJ
An Incremental BACKUP utility
rGl
[GJ
A high-level prog lang like SNOBDL4
Text file index generator wldot COIIIIlands [GJ
DOS assembler =) TURBO InLine statements[G]
Put yOUT RB into Interlace (hi-res) mode [0]"
Discourage unwanted terminal use
[01
TURBO Pascal Run-Time I/O Errors listing [G1
[0]
Set Date and Time at boot via 'c'
[0]
COmm tester for fast CGII path
[GJ
ISSUE coaaands for sets of files
A 747 JET Sieulator Electronic Trainer [D?]
full graphics sern cIu1D1» pfg for the RS (Ol
[G?1
Reltinder/metIO progr.
An ertCS-li ke edi tor for the PC
tIl
JOVE conversion to the RB
[DJ
[I]
Sources for J(JJ£( .ARC)
Kernighan and Ritchie tutorial on C
[6J
[D]
Peg lOving with lots of strategy
Finer points demo: Reads frOID the KBO
[51
[D)
RB Artwork with a Mouse
An EDT 8MJlator for CP/M
[OJ
[OJ
Tht Salle EDT emulator for MS-DOS
Put an EDT-like edi tor inside TURBO
[OJ
A disk-top ~agement·utjlit, in BASIC [611
TURBO pro9 exalllplH for the KAYPRO 4?? [K?]
[0]
LAlOO control fuftctioft codes
[D]
LA50 printer Set-up
Individual escape s&quenc" for the LA50 [D}
[OJ
LA50 printer SIt-up
Pseudo Donkey Kong for the RB
[01

.

......1.:::.--...:.

SCI_l\ASTR
UfILS_8\TU1E
fW1ES_3
catIS_4\PH(K

SYmf"S_l\FIRH
1IrILS_5\PF3C "
UTILS_l\ASCI I
SYSff'S_7\SOFT_1
SYSHFS_7\SOf'T_l

i

'i

..

*;-:
os

SYSJfSJ,\SCRN

UTI LS_3\Atf_l
SYSHFS_4\KEYBO
SYSHf'S_8\SOFT_2
S"fSHFS_S\SOfT_2
SYSHrS_8\SOFT_2

..
;

1

UTILS_5\PF3C
SYS~_"SCRN

SYSWS_4\K£YBO

SYSff'S_2\D ISlel
PROG_AI DS_1\l ~
£05_4\00_1
PR06-,"IDS_8\PAS_l
SYSJfS_6\SCRN
SYSHF'S_6\SCAN

PROG_AIDS_8\PAS_1
UfILS_8\TIHE

j

*

1:

*
..
1t

cat1S_1\GEN
tIT! LS_3\fJtt_l
GAHES_4

j

GRAFIX_2

l

CtIttS_3\PERS

EDS_l\EDS_1
EOS_1\EDS_l
EDS_2\EDS_2

PR06_AIOS_5\C
lW1ES_4

PR06J\lOS_8\PAS_1
GRAFtX_2"
EDS_2\EDS_2
EDS_2\EDS_2
PR06.J\IDS_8\PAS_1
COt1S_3\PERS
PROS_AtDS_8\PAS_l
SYSHFS_5\PRTR
SYSlFS_5\PRTR

SYSHF'S_5\PRTR

SYSIf'S_5\PRTR
GfHS_4

'i

*
...,
-;
j

**** ARCFILES.LIS ****
R. S. HafntT
(7)

Filename

Size

Vers

tAR.ARC

16159 04184

LCTERH.ARC
66725 3.34
LCTRHPAT .ARC 1089
LmER.ARC
17B9!
l.F •ARC
12288 3.3

LIFt.ARC
lIFE_RB.ARC
LIGHT .ARC
LINKLIST.ARC
LIST.ARC
LIST549.ARC

14834 --39912 1.0
33352 2.112
11053 1985
26144
8419 5.49

LISTGEN.ARC 75198 -LISTPROC.ARC 17371 1.0
l~.ARC
5888 01185
lOCAL.ARC
817lDrATE.ARC
527 1985
L06FORH .ARC
2924
LOGIN.ARC
5904

Type Location

Author

Description

Pete Mack
Larry C.pbell
Ja, Jervey
Author(s) Unknown
J.J. Archer
Bob Green

A Librar? maintainer (Doesn't work ??). [G?] UTtLS_6\SQUS1l1
A fantastic term prg w/script files
[Dl aJt1S_5\TEPJ1_1

H. ZarlengalR. Belanger
D. E. Wettlere

Alan D. Hull
Author(s) Unknown

Vernon D. Bu"9
Several
Greg Teater

Jim Turn'T
Author(s) Unknown
S. Holzner
Author(s} Unknown
Jay Jer'ley
Alan E. Robertson
Lotus Developm.nt
Aurthor(s) Unknown
Craig Andtrson
R. Eo..ard Nather
Tom Jen~in95
TOIft JenningsIPaul HOIIlcl\ic:k
R.W. Outerbridge
Vern Buerg
Pallel Micro Consultants
T. PfaulB. Eiben
Author(s) Unknown

Patch LCTEPit to work wi th DO-IT &ReGIS [I)J
Display block letters on the screen
[D]
OiTeCtorv listings wlmul tiple options
[6?1
Conway's gaM of LIFE in 'C'
[G?J
Com"aY's 9aBt of LIFE in TURBO (wlBUGs) [OJ
Sunrise/Sunset times, 1950 A0-2DOO AD CGl
Manipulate doubly-linked lists in TURBO rGJ
Directory listings in several formats
[Gl
Display ~ontents of ASCII files
[I1J
Hi sc FIDO set-up files from 12185 DECUS U)]
Merge form and text filK for list output[G?]

lITIlS_5\PF3C
EDO
UTILS_2\DIR
GAHES_4
~S_4

*
*
*
*
*

..

SCI_l\ASTR
PR06_AIDS_8\FAS_1
UTI LS_"UNIX_1

*

UTILS_l\ASCII

**

BBS_NlOO_2
EDS_4\FHT_l

loan/Amortization calculations in HBASIC [O?1 FS
A \.H' file for 'C' progrll8ers
£11 PROG_AIDS_5\C
LOrATE UPPER CASE text string\ in text {S?] UTILS_l\ASCIJ

...

t

*

*

Remote si tf! uterial tracking foTti (4) [6?1 TEXT_2\INFO
Source code for relllOte Rainbow COlllDS
[D) CctttS_l\GEN
LOGIT110.ARC 35866 1.10
Log computer usage for tax purposes
[6] SYSHFS_8\SOFT_2
LOTUSDlB.ARC 25391
Patch the Lotus Printer Library Disk
[6] UTILS_5\PF3C
LS.ARC
22110
Older Yersion of 'LIST'?? (see above)
[Gl UTILS_9\lHIX_1
lS20 .ARC
13391 2.0?
Directory liStings in several (omats
[G} trrILS_9\ltIIX_l
lS_RN.ARC
25387 1984
A ttUX..like lS progr. for DOS
[GJ UTILS_9\~IX_l
LU.ARC
17143 01/84
1M Original Library Uti! for DOS, wldoet(G] UTI LS_6\SQUSQ..1
LU8640.ARC
38917 4.0
lU86, version 4.0, wlt.DlRl03
rG] UT'ILS_7\SQUSfl2
LUCIFER.ARC 9728 3.00 ?
File encrypt.r/de-encrypter
[G?] UTILS_3\flt1J
LlIE.ARC
2608 2.1
A Very Fast Library extractor
[Gl UTILS_7\SQUSQ_2
LUP.ARC
493' 1.5
A Librarv Update Prograa
[611 UTILS_7\SQUSQ_2
12.ARC
12620 07/8G?
File SQIUSQ via the Limpel-Ziv algorithl [G?] UTILS_7\SQUSfL2
XHOOat xfr sourct in C
[G?] CfJ11S_1\6EN
".ARC
2886 -l't\1L20 ,ARC 118627 2.0
NillilD Meacham
Build and maintain Hailing lists (DNW??) [G?J COHHS_~IL
tt\K£DB.ARC
1403 10/82
T. Jennings
Convert binary to lOB's· fOT .ASHfBASIC [61] PROG~lDS_2\ASM
tNE_DG.ARC 38417 2.14
D. GraysonlL. Canpbell
An up-dattd IItrsion of Leis PftKE (below) (611 UTIlS_9\llUX_l
f1AKE_LC.ARC 38786 1.14
Larr, CampbeU
~IX-like twE prognllt for DOS
rGl UTIlS_9\lNIX_l
MAKEJ.O.ARC 30870 03184
Landon M. Dyer
lNIX-like PNE pro91'. for fJAXI\A1S or DOS(D?} trrILS_9\LHIX_l
t
MP11.ARC
14164 1.7
S~ott Bussinger
Overlay analyzer for PASrAL progr.s
[G] PROG_AIOS_8\PAS_1
fW_OS.ARC
8880 1.4
I)orn W. Stickl.
A HaIory Map for lEtt Pes ???
[I?} SYSHF'S_l\FIRM
MASTRtN).MC 41666 12184
David Cressey
The game of MasterMind in TURBO
[G?l GAHES_4
HBOOT .ARC
457!Author (sl Unknown
Sturee and docs for basic XMODet
[DJ C(JflS 1\Ge4
HrAT .ARC
15768 1.0
Dennis K. Fitzgerald
Build your own diskette catalog
[D] SYSHFS_2\DISK_l
HE6A.MC
10eo 08184 Jeff Duncan
Pick randoat nulDbers for the Hass lottery [DJ GAMES_4
HEMBRA1N.ARC 6912 1.21 Dennis Let
Install/config an alated disk drive
[6] SYSHFS_2\DISK_l
~.ARC
4207Robert lafore
Scan and display ID8IOry usase
(D] SYSHFS_l\F'IRM
H£NU.MC
34204' 1.0
Tom Pfau
Access DOS 2.11 thru Menus
[DJ SYMS_6\SCRN
MENUSCPH. LBR 16640 1.1
Hare Kenig
Pull-down CP/M JRenU routines in llUBO
[0] SYSHFS_6\SCRN
HENUSDOS.ARC 11588 1.2
Hare Ktnig
Pull-down DOS !ltnU routines in TRUBO
(Dl SYSHFS_6\SCRN
MESSAGES.ARC 55860 2.1
Stew Stryker
A telephone IeSSige s,stel
[S?] COMHS~3\PERS(PHONE?)*
HICROLIN.ARC 8427 3.0
H.G. Lord
Output set-ups for Hicroline 82A and 83A [611 SYSlfS_5\PRTR
MLR8.ARC
50284
Carl D. Neiburger
A Hail List for the Rainbow
[O} CM1S_2'MIl
MOOEHRB8.ARC 34~ 3.3.3 J. ChlPllaftlJ. V. C01011b0 An XMODEH file transfer program
[D] CtHiS_5\TERPCl

*
*

*

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

*
*
*
*

SOME MORE LIBRARY

PROG~S

by Jim Lawson
Serving a5 MS-OOS librarian gives me an opportunity to look at
many of the library programs as well as distribute ,them to you.
At the February meeting I described several which I have found
very useful.
SEDT is a program developed by Anker Berg-Sonne of
DEC to be very similar to EDT the DEC Standard Editor.
It was
designed to be the same across the various DEC operating systems
which is very helpful to those of us who use VAX's, PDP-ii's,
Rainbows, and hopefully soon VAX-Mate. The latest version 3.1
which we are distributing from the library has removed the few
bugs which were in the version on the 'Basic 8~ distribution
earlier. As an editor it can be configured to be like a word
processor (WPS style), or as a straight editor useful in program
development. The documentation, which comes with it when the ARC
file is 'Un-Arced', is very complete, with an 'introductory guide,
a full description of the commands, and a reference manual.
SEDT
provides buffers in which you can 'cut & paste' from the main file
or from other files. I find it useful fOT instance when making
software changes to cut sections of code from one program to paste
into newer programs. You could have a library of coded routines
which you 'could then paste into other files.
RB-BUFFR is another library program which I have found handy.
Written by Carl Houseman, it expands the normal 15 byte keyboard
buffer to 128 bytes.
This program is 'Un~rced' into your boot
directory and when run makes the buffer change. If you place 'RBBUFFR' as a command in your AUTOEXEC.8AT file (see my other
article), then yo~ will always have the larger keyboard buffer
available.
Before using this I would exit out from making a
program change with SEDT, and while waiting for the editor to
finish I would type ahead to change directories and compile my
cManged program.
After 15 characters were typed however the
keyboard would 'beep' and not accept any more characters. Now I
can type up to 128 which means I can put in all the commands I
want and go do something else while the machine is working_
A third program reported on at the February meeting is BOOT by
Duane Voth and Greg Gilley. It expands the DOS environment space
which is very useful if you have many 'SET; commands, etc. in the
AUTOEXEC.8AT file (check other article). The documentation in the
ARC file describes how to set up the ~ file and what to add to
the AUTOEXEC file so that the whole process will Tun smoothly. If
anyone wants to try this program, I would be glad to answer any
questions you might have.
There is a wealth of software available in the library, around 650
programs on 64 disks.
You can call me at 714-581-4944 or write
to: 23822 Sycamore Drive, Mission Viejo, CA 92691 to place an
order.
The charge is $4/disk if we supply the diskettes and
mailing, $2 if you come to the meeting to save the postage, and $1
if you supply formatted diskettes and pickup at the meeting.

LA-IB LUG Newsletter - April 1981 - Page 9

R F Hafner 18 Library Coordinator or the DECUS PSSIG sortware Library_ To order all
or a few tavorites trom his list of over 60 Public Domain Disks, whioh 18 ourrentll
being published in theae newsletters, follow these instruotions. Call Jim Lawson at
(71~) 581-~9_4 (evenings) or write h1a at 23822 Sycamore Dr, Mission Viejo CA 92691.
Give him your address and whioh diskettes you wish. Dontt pass up this opportunity.
The reea are meant to cover time and materials only.
$4-A disk will be mailed to you•••Inoludes postage, oarrier, disk and neat label.
$2-CCme to the mODthly m..t!llg and skip the pos tage. .-Includes the aame as above,
m1nus the postage and oarrier.
..
$1-come to the meeting and bring a toriDated disk. POI' this to work, you must pick up
the oopyat the tollowing month's meeting •
••••••••••••••••••••••••• , ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• t •••••••••••••••••••••

mE BlDJalS PACIFIC PC LUG meets monthly
THE SECOliD WEDNESDAY, 7:30 'pm at DigItal
Equipment Corp, 6101 'W Cent:1Della, Av,
Culver City. Digital Equipment is locat-

m

ed near the SepuJ. veda
offramp of the
SaD Diego Fwy (1-405), just east ot the

Paoifica Botel. Contact Lenard E McDonald, (213)836-8698 tor more informatioD.

DDItB

!IDr ,

18 enjoy1q 80lle new taoes
input to the Dleet1qa. This Dext
montb or the near future should be tuDe
Jan Snyder is lining up a Vaxmate tor a
close-up look. Come see and hear wbat ••
De 10 the Rainbow PC market.
Sa. you therel
Terry
The

group

and

"~

'lim SOUmDlt

CALIPOIID PC LUG moeta
monthly THB FIRST SATURDAY. 11 am at
Shuey's Pizza Parlour, .cross from the
Carson Mall. Contact Mike Hamilton, (11Jt)

531-1265 tor more information,

LOS ARGILES/INLAND EMPIRE

PERSONAL COMPUTER LOCAL USBRS GROUP
DECUS - 380VEBOI1CA

P AI D

UPLAND CA 91786

I.

PEBMIT 751
CLAREMONT CA 91711

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

L A_I.

IHP.ID PC LUG

CHAIR: Hank Saltzman

BlJU MAIL
U S POSTAGE

114-981-5575

DAD:

lpril 21, 1987-TBE 3rd 'fUE3DAY

TIME:

1:30-9:00pm

PLACE: Cal Poly Pomona Library
mdg 15, Rm 12
.
Park ($1) in the Vlai tor Park1D& Lot.
The llbrary ls at the top ot the Lot.
PIOOIIII: SID CBOUDBU will discU8S
-GllIPIDfIItBP t a grapb10s package from

Lotus Corp. 23-ohart formata otter a
diversity tor busineas applications tor
bard oopy, transparenCies aDd slidea.

ARTLUG
NEW S LET T E R
F p r-! 1-·1

I. ) 1:.1_

_......

r.=t 1-" -.:.1".

..... __

~::;
~::;~*~~~~*:~~~t!~~*
Date:
February 19, 1987 (Thursday)
Time:

11:30 am - 1:00 pm (Program starts at 12 noon)

Location:

KAFB West Officers' Club, Daedalian Room

A representative of Northwest Digital Systems, Inc, will
demonstrate the GP-220 graphics terminal.
The terminal is VT-200
compatible with VT-100 features.
This terminal is quite popular
with graphics .users.
Demonstrations will include both "canned"
graphics images and graphics produced by applications programs.
If you have any graphics programs you would like to see displayed
on this terminal,
contact R. W. Barnard, at 844-5115
This program is a continuation of the series started in
October,1986. So far, we have had demonstrations by Human Designed
Systems, Plessey and Lanpar.
In future meetings we intend to
have representatives of Northwest Digital, Graph-On, and perhaps
Digital Equipment. Please come and contribute to ARTLUG's evaluation of these useful components of a computer system.

r~o·
I

I
::J r --' --'
.:::.~ .- I ;::;

J rrJ --'I

If your mailing address has
changed, send corrections to:
Robert Malseed, Vice-Chairman
800 Adams Pl. SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
(505) 265-1842
Please send newsletter contributions to:
Joe Madrid, Editor
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O. Box 5800
Org. 7483
Albuquerque, NM 87185
(505) 844-7129

1

Dat<~s

-=I
o·
Li]
I

o·
Li]
:::J

I

Remember

ARTLUG Meeting:

March 12

ARTLUG Meeting:

April 9

ARTLUG Meeting:

May 19

ARTLUG Meeting:

June 4

National DECUS:

April 27 May 1
in Nashville
Tennessee

MO·

NEVADA

utAH

West
Region
--

WEST REGIONAL LUG COORDINATOR
Steve Lorentzen
Unicomp Corp.
SeatUe,VVashington
206-284-4316
DCS: LORENTZEN
Steve Lorentzen was elected VVest Region LUG Coordinator in December, 1987, and is the most
recent addition to the NLC Committee. Steve has given long and faithful service to DECUS in
prior incarnations, as the West Region Tape Librarian, sending out tapes from each symposia to
the 20+ LUGs in his region.
Steve has been a member of DECUS since 1981 and served as LUG Librarian for the Seattle
LUG (SEALUG) during 1981. He was subsequently elected SEALUG Chair, a position he held
for three years. Steve helped initiate the first SEALUG Regional Conference, and served as Conference Chair for the gathering held in March of 1988.
As the newest Regional LUG Coordinator, Steve will be looking for volunteers to serve as Assistant Regional LUG Coordinator, Regional Conference Coordinator, Regional Seminar Representative, and Regional Newsletter Editor. Call Steve if you want to get involved in West Region
LUG activities.

REGIONAL TAPE COpy COORDINATOR
Steve Lorentzen
Unicomp Corporation
201 Queen Anne Avenue N, #100
Seattle, WA 98109-4896
206 282-7319

REGIONAL SEMINARS REPRESENTATIVE
Julie Funderburk
Alcoa Aluminum
PO Box 221
Malaga Highway
Wenatche, WA 98801
509 663-9299

WEST REGION LUGS AND LUG CHAIRS
Alaska

......---::------:=-==-=-

Anchorage LUG
Chair: Ronald Langley, Anchorage, 907-786-1886

California (Northern)
.Bay Area RSXJIAS LUG (BAYLUG)
Chair: Gary Maxwell, Menlo Park, 415-323-8111, extension 2318

BAYVAXLUG

•

•

Chair: William A. Pedersen, Sunnyvale, 408-734-9511
Central Valley DECUS LUG
Chair: Steven Nichols, Fresno, 209-485-5050,x323
Lawrence Livermore National Lab LUG
Chair: R. Kevin Oberman, Livermore, 415-422-6955
Sacramento Valley LUG
Chair: Lori Knott, Sacramento, 916-445-4505 or 916-447-4519
san Francisco Bay Area DEC PersonaI Computer LUG
Chair: Dale Miller, San Rafael, 415-472-6531
Silicon Valley Personal Computer LUG
Chair: Gary Catalano, San Jose, 408-275-1133

Colorado

•
•

Denver Rainbow LUG
Chair: Rick Lorenzen, Boulder, 303-442-1072
Pikes Peu LUG
Chair: Jim Lind, Colorado Springs, 303-632-7324
Rocky Mountain VAX LUG
Chair: Paula Sharick, Boulder, 303-499-5700

Hawaii
.A1-=-o-=h-a-=L.-::U
...
....G=Chair: John K. Russell, Honolulu, 808-548-7743

Oregon

•

-;;;;O:--r-eg-o-n-'Rai:;--;-·n...b.-o-w......,L;-:U~G
Chair: Gordon R. Young, Clackamas, 503-657-2660
PortIand/Vancouver Area VAX LUG (PAVLUG)
Chair: Taj Aoki, Vancouver, Washington, 206-696-7151

Utah
Hill LUG
Chair: Andrew Schow, Hill AFB, 801-777-7072
Utah Valley LUG
Chair: Bryan Peterson, Provo, 801-378-2093

Washington

•

-=U..-s-ers--::G
.....r-o-u-p--.(=Dc=B=U"""G.....)
Chair: Don Stewart, Issaquah, 206-455-2845
lriland Northwest LUG (INLUG)
Chair: Ross Miller, Spokane, 509-484-3400
Pacific Local Users Group
Chair: Ron Aley, Seattle, 206-543-9275
Seattle Area ruG (SEALUG)
Chair: Steve Lorentzen, Seattle, 206-284-4316

•

indicates LUG newsletters contained in this volume

=DC=E~C::-::B=-e-=l"'-le-vu-e

VOX
VAX
BAYVAX LUG Newsletter
Bill Pedersen/Chairman
January 1988
BA YV AX Officers
Chairman:
Bill Pedersen, W.A. Pedersen & Associates
(408) 734-9511

DECUS

HAYVAX LUG
P.O. Box 50444
Palo Alto, CA 94303-0444

n

Alternate Chairman:
Robert Young, Rolm Mil·Spec Company
(408) 432·7732
Secretary:
Ed So, Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.
(408) 756·7629"
Membership Coordinator:
. Sue Rehse. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.
(408) 734·9511
Software Librarian:
Bill Bonnett. Hoover Institution, Stanford
(415) 723·0447
Librarian:
.
.' ..•. ......... .
.
Dave Johnson, Lockhetxt Missiles &Space Co.
(408) 756-4544
Program Coordinator:
Steve Swenson. Lockheed Research Lab
(415) 424·2860

Ed So/Editor/Publisher

Vol. 9 No.1

, A Note From:The-Editop' "

Time flies when we're having fun. It was an exciting year and
I wish you all have an insanely great 1988. We are working
very hard to make BAYV AX a great LUG if not the best LUG
around.

Just to start the new year right. we are going to send the VOX
Newsletter to everyone starting with this issue. Bill Pedersen
(BAYV AX Chairman) will elaborate on this matter in his
column in this Newsletter. Some of you that has a red dot on
the envelope next to your address mailing label indicates that
you have not been attending our meetings for over six months.
Unless you show up at our meetings again or notify us. we
may not send you the Newsletter anymore.
I will be busy at work since we at Lockheed won the NASA
Space Station Programs contracts. I will be involved in the
planning and implementing networks to support the computing
activities. We'll be acquiring a lot of new equipments and a
larger V AX and putting them together. It will be fun. I'll try
to tell you folks what's happening with our projects along the
way that may be of general interest.

Treasurer:
Dave Cunningham. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.
(408) 756·1382
Delegate-At·Large:
Chris Moe, Stanford University
(415) 723·4922
WORKING GROUPS:
. Micro-VAX:
Bruce Fihe, Cimarron Systems. Inc.
(408) 246-2000

Ed So/Editor/Publisher

Performance Measurement & Tuning:
Louise Wholey. Mcasurex Corp.
(408) 225-1500 x5571
Office Automation:
Morris Dismuke (Acting), Digital Equipment Corp.
(408) 496-5422
Digital Counterpart:
Katherine Matice. Digital Equipment Corp.
(408) 748-4466
L _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

p_age~

______

:,_N~xt!iMeetinm
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 14 January 1988 at 9:00am at SRI
International in Menlo Park. The address is 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park.
We'll be meeting in Building I (Auditorium). One way to get there is to take the
Willow exit on Highway 101. Go West. Right on Middlefield. Left on Ravenswood. Then take a left before the traffic light. There will be limited parking so
come early. There will be signs posted to assist you to find the meeting place.
We'll have two great presentations for this meeting. Alyce Elmore and Chandru
Murthi from Dimension 4 Systems will speak pn the "Use of the Ultimate Operating
System for the Development in Applications on V AX/VMS Environment." Our
next presentation will be given by Kevin McDonald from DEC. Kevin is a
Communication Specialist from the DEC Santa Clara Office. He will be speaking
on "Multi-Netting: Multiple protocols networks." He will talk about putting various
protocols on networks and alternatives.

Just to let you plan ahead, here's the schedule for the upcoming events that maybe of
interest to you. Write them down on your calendar now for future references.
Details will follow in upcoming VOX V AX Newsletters.
Feb 25,1988
Feb - Mar 1988

BAYV AX Meeting - South Bay
Regional Conference
San Francisco

Last Meeting
Our Alternate Chairman, Robert
Young, opened the meeting at 9:20
at Lawrence Berkeley LablBuHding
50 on Thursday, December 3. We
waited for a speaker and more
users. After passing the clipboards,
Brad Bosch/Regional Symposium
Chairman handed out questionnaires about seminar attendees and
desires, and we filled them out
The Western Regional Conference
will be held March 24, 25 at the
Nikko Hotel in San Francisco.
Our first speaker was Dr. John
Latasi from Virtual MicroSystems
discussing PC-VAX connectivity.
System progression since the 1970s
has been: centralized processing on
centralized databases, to localized
processing on local data (with nonconnected PCs), to local processing
on centralized data. With VAX to
LAN connections your PCs can do
what they're good at while the
VAX can be used as a "file-server".
With hardware assists in the VAX

end, you won't crush your VAX
with data transfers. You could also
implement LAN-to-LAN communications between two radically
different (and therefore incompatible) LANs by using the VAX as a
"connectorn • If you are contemplating connecting PCs and PC
LANs to VMS, check how easy it
is to switch between DOS applications and VMS applications. You
should also get as high throughput
as possible so your PC users won't
complain about VAX speed.
During the Q & A it came out that
VMI translates among wordprocessing files, and a BI-based coprocessor will be available "soon. n
After John's talk (at 10:23), we
broke for tape exchanges and came
back for the Forum segment since
EMC had not arrived. EMC
arrived at 11:30 and Bryan Rattay
gave a talk on WORM ("WriteOnce-Read-Many") optical disks as
archival storage devices. Optical
disks are currently very durabJe
(more than 20 years life) and large

Anahiem is behind us all and the
New Year is just peeking 'round
the corner. I and all of the Steering
Committee wish you all Happy
Holidays and a beneficial New
, Year.
Again I am writing this while out
of town. It seems that is where I
always am as of late but I am look
forward to working with all of you
to keep BA YV AX a strong and
useful LUG. I wish to thank all of
the Steering Committee for their
help this last year. Many things
have been accomplished; revised
VOXVAX Newsletter, expanded
Working Groups, and more·
meetings in the North Bay.
I would like to wish especially
thank Lee Leahy for his Chairing
of the MicroVAX Working Group.
'Ve all wish Lee success with his
new job and home working with
DIGITAL in Massachusettes. On
this note we are looking for a NEW
Chairperson for the Micro VAX
Working Group. Suggestions or
volunteers are welcome.
See you on the 14th of January.

Bill Pedersen. Chairman

amounts of data can be stored on a
single platter (12-inch platter =2
Gigabytes (both sides), or 4 Million
blocks). Questions were raised
about future standards recording
formats obsoleting the current
platters. EMC's optical drive
system (ARCHEION) currently
emulates a tape drive. EMC has no
plans for an erasable optical disk
system.
We adjourned at 12:05.

••••••••
Page 2

I

---------------j

Collection of raw rumors, totally unsubstantiated, and completely uninvestigated. Use this information at your own peril.

* BACKUP will give "Error processing tape label"f'SYSTEM-F- parity error" when old tape was read WITHOUT
the /SAVE_SET qualifier on the mag tape on dual-ported HSC. Data is recoverable, and BACKUP works normally
when /SAVE is used. Tape is not dirty; VMS V4.5.

* Suspended process will continue with record lock during suspension, thereby freezing out other applications
wanting access to file. Problems appears in V4.x, not in V3.x. Suggestion: don't suspend, just set priority down.
Suspended processes can't be deleted until resumed.
* Any way to skip past the first EOT mark to recover data further down the tape (mistakenly INIT'ed tape)? Write a
program to position tape and read it.

* As of V4.5 microfiche, DEC deleted LAT software and as of V4.6, some details of the Ethernet driver disappeared. Microfiche is no longer complete!?
* Several users are running V4.6 - only problem found is in DE UNA in "hog" mode. DECnet needs a matching
release (V4.6).

* There is no useful, generally available book explaining an overview of DECnet, although an old communications
book comes close.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • m• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

. About VOX VAX' Newsletter:
Last year the Steering Committee
with agreement from the general
membership of BAYV AX established a subscription fee for the
VOXV AX Newsletter to establish a
fund to ease the economic issues
of dealing with DECUS and their
budget cycles. This was and is in
general a revolving "float" the
money has not been used for any
purpose other than to advance to
Ed So or others before the checks
have come from DECUS and to
cover bank fees. The Steering
Committee has reviewed this
function as well as the overall goals
of BAYV AX and have determined
that it time to revise this process;
to the better for all we believe.
As of this issue:
, VOX V AX will be distributed to
all members of BAYV AX.
The Steering Committee will
submit a special budget request to
cover the added expense of the

expanded newsletter to all members.
To continue to receive the
VOXV AX Newsletter you may:
1) Come to a meeting once
every six months,
2) Call us once every six
months, or
3) Voluntarily send in a $5.00
donation to continue to help
support the "float" fund once a
year. Doing this means that NO
meeting attendance is required.
We of the Steering Committee
believe that this change in program
is to the best for several reasons.
"One of BAYVAX's stated goals
is the distribution of information
and the exchange of ideas between
our membership; this facilitates
that goal. By establishing a six
month attendance period we hope
to increase the numher of members
attending the meetings. We also

believe the distribution of the
Newsletter to all members will
contribute to this goal.
VOXVAX will continue in its
current general format of coverage
of each speaker and articles from
members and other sources. We
are starting to exchange Newsletters with the LLNL LUG in
Livermore and expect to reprint
some of their articles in the near
future.
We look forward to working with
all of you to best use this revised
distribution of the VOXV AX
Newsletter.
Thank you.
Bill Pedersen, BAYVAX Chainnan

••••••••

Page

3

-----------,
"All the news
that fits"
'01.

Lat.E4itioa

i>~al ug· :R~tns

Weather: April is made ofim. petuous waters. And doctors looking down the throats of daughters

TRAVEL &. lfESURE

CXXXIV .......No. 1

Copyright ~ . . . . JlcU

Mukilteo Wed. MAY 13. 1987
l

~~~.....

ENTATIVE SCHEDUAL OF'
UPCOMING MEETINGS

he Mysterious East

--It. Tr;p to Bount;ful (Utah):"-

red. May 13th, 1987
:30 until 9:30

We decided to drive. I don't
1j ke to dri ve duri ng the dey
UGET POWER AUDITOR-M
~-"'-=--a_ _ _ _ _ _ _-hs~o~l_l~ay in the backseat, enfonday 27-APR-l 987 (DEC
ing dangerous acts.
ime)1 Ivan Ortan of the Ki
s eas11 y encouragounty Bunko Squad (KCBS~'Io(~'<·x.~~~:~;~~~...(:).0..(:).0.~~~ (m e dangerous); so
ontirmed his intentions to
crave. Suicide may be

peak before our august mem-ership on the evening of 13W
\PR-1937 (DEC Time) on the
I~NA, SORTA
ubiect of Computer Fraud.
We have a winner in the logo
Wed. SeD. 9th, 1987
contest (see above photo). But,
6:30 until 9:30
now we need to "name the
RAINIER BREWERY
logo". The winner of the logo )EC will once egBin spouncer contest suggested "SALTY" . .I
the season opener with dratty lean toward "SloWly-!-Turned"
rhompson on hand to throw
out the first Punk..

Wed. Oct. 14th~ 19a7
6:,30 until 9:30
ACT
;uper-comput lng! Survey of

d

d

an the ki 5 like "Tracker". !t
is a three vvay tie, so we've
decided to send it back at you.
Once again, kick in your imagination arid send your sugges-

ainless but it sleeps in -mom gets up earl y, and she
really wants to see 8ountil

ful before Eddie and I see
eye to eye. I suggested the
bus) but mom isn't as easy
es Eddie.
First stop, Royale C1 ty for
halrcuts, the best Dart of
the tri p -- nothi ng 1i ke a
continu.d on Pat. 2, Column 2

CURRENT
SEALUG OFFICERS

Chairman:
)EC, CRAY, end FloatinQ-Polnt.. tion to:
Steve Loren tzen
~nd SPECTRA. Room-temp
T. Ross and Elizabeth Roberts
Vice Chairman;
solid state conductors.
14532 47tll Avenue West
Doug Walker'
Wed. Nov. 11th. 19a7
Lynnwood, Wa. 98037

6:30 until 9:30

ACT

(MS Tuning Cllnic!

Wed. Dec. 9th M:E:ETING
6:30 until 9:30
.

ACT

Topics will range from VAX
System Development and CAD
Based App1. Deve10pment thru
J

SCA (Source Code Analyzers)
to access the efficlency of
appllcation code.
continul'd P a,. 2, Column 1

As alV\1ays contests mean
prizes..
As .
always the decision
of the Judges IS fina1. Hurry!! n!

library news

Membership..;.
Jim Peterson
L'~
.
Ivrarlen:
Steve Lorentzen

P~Orq~8~Srk

221-6453
282-7)19
3'39-3000

656-5568
223-6453
282-7119
451-362~

The "1 anguage end too 1s'· tepe Public8tions:
Phil Rand
284-1 lOt
-- four reels long -- is out.
Steve Lorentzen 282-7319,
Publication A331'3tant:
has i n form a t 10 n; cell h 1m.
W .T. Good
448- 395:
Who? Hi m, the bombedi er. "m Digital Reoresentat1ve:
the bomOad'j er. Then call hi m. 8il1 8Y3; nger
456-5501
J

·P lI\~d

P~vJ~Lr

AlA&' ifo ~ ,. v.. r1"
I06,O~ IV e "1ft-.
B4.,.I1~ V'tA.e. ( WA

:"1

~

..

b..o
~
lit

::.

5000

.""

'M
.'.,.,..

,..., 5500

\~.

I

TEHTA

UAL OF
UPCOMING MEETINGS

It Trip to Bountiful (Utah)
continu.d from Pat•. 1, column 3

coati. . . . 11"0a Pag. 1# Col. . . I

hai rcut, cut durl ng the heat of
a Royale Ci ty summer day,
when the straight razor pulls
ACT
at the back of your neck to
CAD Systems: FOCUS, ORACLE make a trip to Utah' special as
INGRESS, ALDUS, and PAGEa good bye k1s5.
MAKER hove been suggested.
Mom's Chevy (she pronounces

2nd Wed. January 19&8
6:30 until 9:30

2nd Wed. February, 1988 it hard on the .. Ch .... 11ke a sub6:30 until 9:30
urb of Washington DC) has be-

Advice to Tr6Vef'ars
MOST OF YHAT I REALLY NEED
TO KNOY ABOUT HOY TO LIVE II
AND
YHAT TO DO AND HOY TO BE, I
L£ ARN£D IN Ie INDERG ARTEB.
VISDO"
WAS NOT AT THE TOP Of THE
GRADUATE SCHOOL HOUNTAIN,
BUT
THERE IN THE SANDBOX AT
NURSERY SCHOOL.
THESE ARE THE THINGS I
LEARNED: SHARE EYERYTHING.

,
PLAY
ACT
gun to change into hydrocarbo FAIR. DON-T HIT PEOPLE. PUT
VAX-Tuning, again (?). How a- under the intense heat. Edd1e' THINGS BACK WHERE YOU
bout some VMS, Version FIVE, doing the same under his new FOUND
ora 1itt 1e Sy s 9en. Let us
THEM .. elE AN UP YOUR OVM
,haircut -- I may get m·y wtsh, MESS. DON-T TAKE THINGS
know. Drop us a line by mai 1.
1f I can work th1s right. Mom THAT
Use the address below to send just pulled in for soda . I'll
ARE"-T YOURS. SAY YOU-RE
us your suggestions. Anyone
SORRY YHEN YOU HURT '.
have to put plan A back on
SOMEBODY.
interested in RSTX Migration, hold. ··Hey, Eddie, ntce hatr-. YASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YO
or "Pearly Gate'·, etc.
cut."
tit. Md.
EAT. fLUSH: VARM COOKIES
--------------------------~------------------------~AND

OECUS
clo Steve Lorentzen
201 Queen Anne Ayenue North
Suite 100

Se8ttle, Wa

98109

COLD HILK ARE GOOD !JlBYP~
A BALANG£JO;!t£:---.,

.......:-..,·~..u r

ANDT~

. AV AND P.....·I....~
NG-·A
OANCE
-- .. - . -..- ....-~-ANO PL AY AND VORK EYERYD
SOME.

1

TAKE A NAP EVERY AfTERNO(

WHEN YOU GO OUT INTO THE
VORLD,
W ATeH FOR TR AfF Ie, HOLD
HANDS AND ST tCK TOGETHER
BE AWARE
OF YONDER. REMEMBER THE
LITTLE SEED IN THE Pl AST Ie

cup..

THE ROOTS GO DOYN AND THI
PL ANT GOES UP AND NOBODY
REALLY
KNOYS HOV OR "'HY I BUT VI
ARE ALL LIKE THAT_
GOLDFISH AND HAMSTERS AI
YH ITE M ICE AND EYEN THE
LITTLE
SEED
THE PLASTIC CUP -THEY ALL DIE. SO DO WE.
ROBERT FULGHUM: K ANS AS CITY 1

I.

"All the news
that fits"
Vol. CXXXIV .......No. 1
TENTATIVE SCHEDUAL OF
UPCOMING MEETINGS

. SECURITY
Copyright e IqJq' ~

MukH teo, Wed. SeD. 9 th.. 1987

.. ~~ VMS

1:~I~:~~!~4tlr~~ ~!-7!t~!~~e
'\..

Wed. SeD. 9th.. 1987

6:30 until 9:30

5.0 DEeus REPORT

tI'tA.... " . : . - . .... Iii.

1IiiM~-...."''::

RAINIER BREWERY
DEC wi 11 once agai n spouncer
the season opener wi th drat ty
Thompson on hand to throw
out the fi rst Punk.
Wed. Oct. 14th.. 1987

6:30 until 9:30
ACT
Super-comput i ng! Survey of .
DEC, CRA Y, end Float i nQ-Poi nt
-I Don·~ :l:noy Bothin· About
and SPECTRA. Room-temp
Computers.
Ask The Kid In
solid state conductors.
The Back Bedroom - - Kibbee
Wed. Nov. 11th.. 1987
Local computer crime during the
6:30 until 9:30
past three years has included
ACT
"break-ins" to the U of 11, the
RMS Tuning Clinic!
Washington State Department of
Licensing, Microsoft, Resource
Wed. Dec. 9th MEETING
Consercvation Co., Sunstrand Data
6:30 until 9:30
Co., Kenworth Truck, Boeing, and
ACT
more.
Topi cs will range from VAX
Motives can vary from the bizarre
System Development, and CAD (as in the case of a 53 yeer old camBased Appl. Development thru pus policeman at the UofV, who
built a file of coed's address and
SCA (Source Code Anal yzers)
phone n um.bers using the states
to access the effi ci ency of
files, and in so doing became the
first citizen to be tried under the
app 1i cat i on code.
states' nev "anti-computer trescontinued Page 2 .. Column 1
passing lav") to the motivation of
,
the
intellectual exercise of the atSEALUG MASCOT
continued on P age 2. Co lulftn '3
NAMED

. the pre'riolls colullUl........... .

A. callable interface will be provided to define key-pad keys.
screen management facili t')
vill support "block menus", and
better horizon tal and verticle
split screen capability.
Enhanced sub-process support
vill make it possible to dedicate
one part of the screen to one
process, and another part of the
screen to another process.
.Il:l..at.e vill be a feedback mechanism in AUTOG EN.
ACL's 'Will be supported on batc!:
and print queues.
.Il:l..at.e vill be a $GETQUI lexical
(to get queue information).
.I.hc1:c 'Will be considerable performance enhancements to the
cluster-vide queue file.
~

continued on Page 2 .. Column 2

GOOD-BYE
CREAM
Chairman:
Steve Lorentzen
Vice Chairman:
Doug Walker
Mem bership..,;.
Jim Peterson
Librarian:
Steve Lorentzen
Progr8ms:
Greg York
Public8ti 0 ns:
Phil R8nd
Pu bli c8ti 0 n Ass; st8nt:
W.T. Good
Digit8l Represent8tive:
Bill Bysi nger

223-6453
282-7319
339-3000
656-5568
223-6453
282-7319
451-3627

VMS 5.0 DECUS REPORT
Ivan, SEALUG's mascot of the Reported by M. Oakey /Battelle
284-1300
past two months showed great - - - - - - - - - - - pleasure with his new name. Ihc ~ebugger will be enhanced to
448-3952
."
proVlde better Macro-32 support.
He excla1med, It beats no
Input/Output qualifiers have been
828-2019
name at all. I'll do my best to added to the Spawn command.
Library:
live up to the Boesky tradit'n ". Enhancements have been made to
We haven't broken the news the SET IMAGE, and SET SCOPE com- RT -11, UNIX and VMS are
· a t th·1S ti me.
mand.
cOILtiJUle4
top of Dezt colllllUl
to h 1m
now available. See Steve.

TENTA
UAL OF
UPCOMING MEETINGS

VMS 5.0 DECUS REPORT
Reportea by M. oax.ey/Battelle

coati2llle4 froID. Page 1 .. Cola:1IlA 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

$GETDVI will be return the
2nd Wed. January 1988 terminal server identification.
6:30 until 9:30
~ LAT software, LTDRIVER
ACT
LATCP, and LATSYM moved to
VMS to avoi d com pat i bi 1i ty
CAD Systems: FOCUS, ORACLE problems.
INGRESS, ALDUS, and PAGE~ will support IF-THEN-E1SE
MAKER have been suggested.
RECALL/ERASE will erase the
command buffer.
2nd Wed. February~ 1988 A WSP keypad wll1 be avall6:30 until 9:30
able in TPU.
ACT
Fytyre TPU won't need to reVAX-Tuning, again (?). How a- build TPU section files.
bout some VMS, Version FIVE, Callable VMS MAIL.
or ali ttl e Sysgen. Let us
QEenet proxy enhancements.
~ will support command
know. Drop us ali ne by mai 1. reca 11.
Use the address below to send THERE WILL BE NO PROJECT
us your suggestions. Anyone
ACCOUNTING IN THE NEXT
.
t
RSTX M
t
MAJOR RELEASE OF VMS.
1nteres ed in
i gra ion, Performance enhancements to
or "Pearl y Gate" etc.
hi gh water marki ng.
k'...Woooo1III.~~ file protection en-I Don -t X:nov Rothinhanced: DELETE access wi 11
continued from page 1 column 2
requi red to rename a f11 e out
of a di rectory or perform a
tempt, 8S in the C8se of 8 gifted , 18
SET FILE/REMOVE.
ye8r old, e8sbide "h8cker". There
BACKUP of files with aliases
8re 8lso the juvenile 8ntics os such
has been i moroved.
W8r G8 mes co py c8b (UofW 8ccess
BACKUP wi 11 now prevent acproblems i ncre8sed ten fold 8fter
the movies' re1e8se) such 8S the
cidental initialization of disc.
"h8cker" group, "414", n8med 8fter ANNAl YZE/O I SK now accepts
a di rectory as the 1ocat ion for
the 8re8 code in which it oper8tes.
Not to overlook the Spok8ne County
lost fil es and handl es ali ases.
clerk who removed friends tr8fic
MULTI VOLUME added to the
vio18tions from the court records.
MOUNT command.
It is not 811 "kiddi ng" 8round though. ~ utility, SALVAGE, will
There is the C8se of the 32 ye8r old
try to rebuil d corrupted di sks.
S8n Fr8nsico computer consult8nt
Symmetrj cel Mul t i processi ng
who knocked over 8 wi re service for wi 11 added to VMS.
10.2 million 8nd bought Russi8n di8 ~ executive module.
monds in Genev8, Switzer18nd with
the proceeds. It is 8 f8ci n8ti ng 8SREGIONAL SYMPOSIA
pect of the type of cri me bei ng comsteve Lorentzen, et al, are putmitted here, th8t even those sworn
ting
together something real1 y
to protect us from it c8nnot be disdifferent,
no, not another Amish
g8rded , 8S in the C8se of the NSA,
exchange
program, this time its
N8tion8l Security Agency. The NSA
a
regional
symposia. Out vest,
monitors tr8ffic between public 8nd
here, sin't nobody goes, but I will.
continued on paqe 2 column 3
I

I

-I Don -t Know BOlhin·
continued from page 2 column 1

priv8te i ndividu8ls 8nd h8s h8d f8i r
1y e8SY g8me of it for th P8st forty
ye8 rs. Wi t h t he co mi ng of 8dv8 nced
encri ptiQn methods, this m8Y no
longer be the C8se. M8ny believe
th8t it W8S 1n 8n 8ttempt to protect
t hi s e8se of 8ccess t h8t the NSA
cut LUCI PHER's 128 bit key down
to 56 bib before "ok'i ng" it 8S the
DES, Digit81 Encri ption St8nd8rd.
Who do they thi nk they're "spoofi ng."
The more "typic8l" h8cker is
equiped with t8lent , 8 big ego, 8 desi re to prove th8t they 8re number
one, 8n impressive 8bility 8nd know
ledge, s keybosrd , 8nd 8 modem. The~
8lso tend to be one-demi nsion81,
computer obsesed, young men. They
h8ve few friends in school 8nd they
do not do well there despite obvious
intelligence. They use thei rhome
phones, equi pted with "r8pid di8ler"
8ccess devi ces to 8ccess up to 5 a0 a(
phone numbers 8 night (this is not a
cri me 8t the present t1 me) se8rchi ng for the few which 8re 8nswered
with th8t high- pitched, computer
recog ni ti 0n to ne (8 process know n
8S "phre8ki ng", especi811 y if 8voidi ng 10ng-dist8nce ch8rges is i nvolved. They 8re not gener8l1 y i nterested in the comp8ny they re8ch, onl y
th8t it processes on 8 m8chi ne they
C8n underst8nd.
They g8i n knowledge of systems b~
re8di ng system m8nu8ls. In this W8~
they 1e8rn of such thi ngs 8S st8nd8rd
s yste m fi e1d se rvi ce 8ccess codes
built into they systems to 8110w tech
nic8l 8nd service people entry. If
these codes 8re c8relessl y left on the
system 8fter delivery or servici ng,
they 8re c8lled "b8ckdoors". Ti ps on
"b8ckdoors" 8nd comp8ny phone nurr
bers 8nswered by computer 8re 81so
8v8il8ble on "bulleti n b08rds" (elec·
tronic811 y m8i nt8i ned, public811 y 8C
cessed, gener8ll y "uncensored", com
puter files) f8vored by these "pi ratE
I

I

to be continued (perhaps).

A TRUE STO·RY

HELLO BUTTER
Chairman:
Steve Lorentzen 282-7391
Vice Chairman:
Doug Velker
339-3000
Secretary/finance:
Greg York
451-3627

Lest month Dave VanVieringen,
vho, vhile he may not look like
a handy kind of a guy, vas thinking he vas, vhen he proved looks
may not be deceiving. Dave, vho
es you mayor may not knov, lives
underground in a hole (a burm)
Programs:
Simone Jarzabek 872-7500 that he dug in the ground in Lake
. .
Stevens, or some-s'U(:h other farPub11catlons:
~way place, climbed a tell fir tree
Dave VanVieringen 623-3256)n his property. :tor saftey's-sake
Publication Assistant:
Dave took along his chainsav.
W.T. Good
448-3952 When he got to the top, just to be
Mem bership~
on the safe side, Dave started his
Phil Rand
284-1300 chainsav and cut off the rest of
the tree, his saftey-belt, and Dave
Li brarian:
Van Vieringen. His dad, vas
Steve Lorentzen 282-7319 really concerned es he watched
Digital Representative:
Dave, the top of the tree, and the
Bi 11 Bysi nge r
828 - 2 0 1 9 chainsav, knoving that he vas not
Ray Kaplan _ On Course
the kind of top-notch juggler nov
required to save this act. Dave has
I WENT TO "HOWTO TUNE YOUR VAX". been quoted as saying he vas partIT WAS QUALITY STUFF. H ORE NEXT
icularly pre-occup1'ed "With trving
tlONrH. --'W'TG KNOW FOR INSIGHT.

,.

DECUS
clo Steve Lorentzen
201 Queen Anne Avenue North
Suite 100
Seattle Wa
98109

to remember vhere he had last
seen the sav, and the '32 feet per
second/per second equation. I
mean, vhat does per second/per
second mean, anyvay? Vell, as
fate, or gravity, vould have it,
Dave vas soon to find out. Mr.
Van Vieringen vas really the
hero of the day -- after confirm
ing that Dave vas 'ok' -- that is
if you call a broken vrist/arm/
collar bone/hip, all right-- he
had to treck out to the hi-way,
quite a hike, and summon aid.
Dave is in bed nov. He's going
to·stay there for about two
months. If we can find out
vhere, we are going to send
him copies of this sleasy rag.
I'd personally rather fallout of
a tree. If you can find out
vhere, you too, should get in
to'U(:h vith Dave. It is, after all,
lonely in a hole in the ground.
.~-'-"

'--

Jl

.•

.

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g=~
l USA ....
····~22

~-(~~~

....... ; "111!""'IIIl~"'0:l

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'- .... t... _

oJ

• .: '.,

_

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'

SA-N ·f·-R-AN CISfD -SA Y. ARE A

DEC PC USER GROUP NEWS
June. 1ge7

MEETiNG ANNOUNCEMENT
nil. -rr.

-r ..... ~_ .... __ •

U#"\ I L;

• ""11 : l U d Y .

1 •• _ _
""u.~

"0

au.

.. 0 0 . ,
17UI

Tlt,,1E:

6;30 P.M. to 8:l0 P.M.

LoeA TICN:

Oigitul Equipment Corporation
31st Floor Conference Room
101 Califcrnia Street
San Francisco

TOPIC:

Hew Products for the Rainbow
Jerry Miller of Suitable Sou:tuions
will discuss the I-drive. an IBMcompatible rloppy disk drive for the
Rainbow. Jerry will also present a
number of new products designed to
keep the Rainbow productive and
up-to-date. These include a low-cost
1Mb memory expansion. a disk-cache
program. the CODE BLUE program for
emulating PC-DOS. and the ClikClok.

PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT OF JUL Y MEETING

A t the July meeting. to be held on July 16th. Will Roberts
'Will give a presentation on the RS-232 serial interface. including
ways in DEC and non-DEC hardware can be interfaced successfully.
This will be an excellent opportunity to learn about cable5. piii-out~.
handshaking protocols. and other mysteries of your RS-2l2 port.

NAMING FIt.ES

NAMING FILES
So...

tt)Ou~t'

ibout nailing fil., for

fllSY

ffC.ll

Richard A. Nelson

To demonstrate how this might work, consi~er an US-DOS directory sorted
alphabetically by a person serving as the. secretary for a DECUS PC LUG (D~gital
Equipment Computer Usees SOCiety, Personal Computer, Local User Group), 1his
person has other files on the directory but a few related to the user ~roup art
displayed:

Whether data are stored on floppy disks or on hard-disks, with or without
subdirectories, the short length of file Dames under CP/M and MS-DOS can cause
some filenames to be very difficult to define. This leads to difficulty in
linding documents when they are needed. There are software packages to help
with this chore and there are naming schemes which can help.
The following scheme, if used with a sort routine to rank the filenames
alphabetically, allows an orderly display of the files. Hithin each tile
group, similar files are sorted into chronological order. Three of the eight
characters allowed for filenames are normally reserved, leaving five character
names for use by the user, the first two of which are commonly used to keep
groups together.

DEDIR6B
DEDIR681
DESER69
DUBUDGET
DUGRN68
DUGRU69
DUGRN6A

LET 1024
LET 1024
PUR
768
SPR 11008
NIH
896
NIN
768
NIN 1024

11-12-86
11-24-86
9-14-86
11-10-86
8-10-86
9-08-86
10-1~-86

A letter to DEC DIRECT
( ..
A second letter to DEC DIRECT in ~ov.
A putchase request to DEC for ~er4ice
9:46a UserS' group budqet spreadsheet fbe '87
11: 4Sp UserS' group meeting minutes for Aug
10:4h UserS' group meeting minutes fbr Sept
10: Up Uters' group meeting minutes fbr O~t

DUSTA68
DUSTA69
DUS'l'A691
DUSTA6A

AGH
AGN
AGN
AGN

640
128
768

8-01-86
8-23-86
9-01-86
10-03-86

9:35a
11:SSp
8:04a
9:55a

DUSTU6B
DUSTM69
DUSTM691
DUSTM6A

NIN
MIN
NIN
NIN

1280
1100
896
1024

8-21-86
9-27-86
10-04-86
10-22-86

lO:52p
9:14p
11:S0p
7:32p

B:49a

11: 33p
11: 22p

Files are named according to the scheme:

x XVVV 6 NS • Z Z Z

Ifile
File

Type

~12

Sequence number
I 1, 2, ••• 9, A, 8, ... Z
Month
D January
2 • February

1

9 =- Se~tember
A • Oc ober
8 =- November
C December

=

Year: Last digit
e.g., 6 = 1 86
Filename
Fileclass - Classifies files
for sorting
--~~---------

In some instances, the year and month codes may be combined for files which are
"one of a kind." An annual budget spreadsheet might fit this type. The rules
are used as a quide. The user can modify them as he/she goes along, keeping in
mind how the directory will sort and how unique the filenames are.

Hhere:

A
AGN
BUD
DE
DU
GR
LET

M
MIN
PUR
SER
SPR
ST

Users' group steering committee agenda
A second meeting in September

Users' group steering committee minutes
.
A second meeting in September

= Agenda
= Agenda
= 8udget
= Digital Equipmint Corporation
= Digital Equipm.nt Computer Users Society
.. Group
= Letter
= Minutes
Minutes
Purchase reque4t
.. Service
Spreadsheet
Steering

oC:O

am
06

OlD

L[)f::A

f:A"-

0)2

·-I

•t.
f

tj

_.,

t

:S
..........
cu
-1::

(n
Q)
(j)

..... S
.4 ...... Wa.e.k.nds,tHo.l.idaysz
Z4 hours.

"~~ "8 .,.s-OetIH

-P._M .....t.o ..

..a.:.o.o

NEWSLETTER ARTICLES WANTED
Both articles and editorial help with the newsletter are
needed.
If you contribute articles or if you can help with
assemblinq the new91etter, pleAs. contact a member of the
st •• ring committ •••
--_... . ';\~

_.

,

r - ....... • .

"

.

F .. ~'.

.-

. '~:.' "::~, ;-!:"':, 1·.1: :.".:

.. ~.. -:~:

C1~~;i" 0~ 2,

S.n Francisco Bay Area DEC PC User Group
P.O. Box 12~61'
Northqat. St.tion
S.n RAfael, CA 94913

.,';'

...

~

--"...........

•

...

.

,..,;':J '\ r I.~ '.j:. ~ /~. :~ •

~

F!RST CLASS

STEERING COMMITTEE
ChAirmanl

Dale W. Miller, (41S) 472-6~31
GlenD BOOKout, (41~) 664-6369
Librarian aAd BBS Sysop.
Kelly Cooley,

Vice-ChAirman.

Rainbow
981-326a
Members-At-L.rqel

(41')

Richard Nelson, (41~) S92-~~36
Roberts, (41~) 397-4000
John Swallow, (41~) 9'2-9200
Al~n Scarboro And Pierre Terrier

Wi~~i.m

DEC CounterpArtsl

The LUG mailin; Address iSI P.O.
tion, San R_tA.~, CA 94913-2561
Phone Number I

(41') 397-4000.

Box

12~61,

NorthqAt. St.-

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
DEC PC

USER

GROUP NEWS

July, 1987

MEETiNG ANNOUNCEMENT
DATE:

Thursday, July 1',1987""

TIME:

6:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M.

LOCA TION:

Digital Equipment Corporation
31st Floor Conrerence Room
101 California Street
San Francisco

TOPIC:

Understanding the Mysteries

or

RS-232

Will Roberts will give a presentation
on the RS-232 serial interrace, including
ways in DEC and non-DEC hardware can be

interracecr-suc-c"e"ssfully. This will be an
excellent opportunity to learn about
cables, pin-outs, handshaking protocols.
and other mysteries of your RS-232 port.

PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT OF August MEETING

At the August meeting. to be held on August 20. Paul Jacoby
of Tymnet will discuss information utilities. how they work and
what they do. In past meetings we have learned about modems and
data communications -- Paul will explain how to put these thing;
to work in hooking up with the broad range of services available to
your computer via phone line.

"

.:

BACK IT UP!

s.. COIMftts

BACK IT UP!

"i
~A

good .ethod ~f securing software is to use a syste. of three copies of
each suitw.re disk:

rtgirdin9 tlopPV based

p., soul COIIpv ttr "CUll tv
Richard A. ,.15011

1.

HardWAre loss caD be due to theft, .aliciou. d..age, IccidentAl dA.age~
normal bre.kdowns through use, power fAllur •• , ItC.
A CoaaOD .ethod of
slfeguarding aglin.t .ajor ti.e los. iD the eve~t of I hArdware los. i. ·to
• aintain knowl.dge of a siellir s,.te. wb.re proce•• iol CIO be accomplish.d
in AD .. ergencl while the hardware 1. being rep.ired or r.placed.

b.

A blank disk il for.atted and labeled as the MASTIR disk. The ORIGIMAL
dilk il co~ied e:actly onto this disk which is then protected with a
-read onlya tab. After it i. copied in step c or d, this disk is
.tored AWAT in the computer facility to be u5ed if soaething happens to
the workin~ 4ist •

t'

~

~'c.

•

Although sottwlr. and data are both .alntaio.d 00 the .... type .edia,
usualll soae kind ot d1st, tha .anner of gUlrding a,ai05t 10.5 .re quite
different. sieilar to hardware, 10•••• cln b. due to tb.ft, .Ilicious
d•• aqe, accid.ntll dl8lge, normal w.ar ot dilks, pow.r failur •• , etc. The
process tor providing security vari •• I great d.ll. Copi •• of di.ks,
CAlled -backUps- are the eost co•• on a.tbDd of Qaintaiainl .ecurity Ig.iost
sottware and dati 10•••••

.~

As plans are .ad. for storing backup copies of software aDd dAta, it is
importaDt to r .... b.r that any •• jor cltastropby 1ik. fir. or water d...g.
would d..aoe InJ backup which is stor.d in the 5 . . . 10catiOD a. the
original it WI. copied tro.. Ther.fore, true b~ckup copi •• will be stared
At I different location than the Iyste••

4.

Hardware Security
The noraal .eID. of protecting office equipaeot against d&aAge or theft Ire
suffici.nt for a personll co.puter, with one "ception. Wh.n the personal
coaputer i. physically .oved, the cardboard prot.ctor. which c..e with the
computer should b. put iota the disk drives. If tb.s. ar. not available,
-no good- disk. can be u•• d.

3.

When software is received, protect it immediately agalnst being written
ov.r by placiuq a -read only· tab over the write· protect notch on the
floppy disl. This disk is labelled as the ORIBI.AL. After copying
this dilk onto another disk in step b, this disk is stored in 50m.
location other than in the area of the coaputer; at home, at the
offlce, a ;oa••rcial storage facility, .tc. The intention i. to nev.r
again us. this disk. It is, howev.r, available in the event of a .ajor
101. at thl coaputer sit••

General Description
In a saall computer environment, be it for bUlinel1 ule, professional us.,
or ho.e us., it is iaportant tha~ s.curitJ b. provid.d to guard against·~the
loss of hardwar., software, and data. IverJ 1,5te. manag.r has her/his ·~w~
procedur••

·z.

a.

Software securitJ
There are .any sources of software. Some is written by the .anufacturer of
tha micro coaput.r, soae by a third partJ source, .0•• by progr ...ers
willing to share their software in the public doaain and soae by the user.
Blckup sche.e. for each eight vary, so•• requirtng onl1 .ini.a1 backup,
e.g. public domain software, and others requiring eltensive backup.
Dictionaries daveloped in spelling checkinq, although data in nature, are
usually stored on the disk with the word proce5~ing software. Likewise,
word processing -boiler pl.tes,· -templates,- etc. are usually stored on
software disks. These disks, if they contain critical datA, may be handled
more like data disks than software disks. The eltent of the backups will
depend on the difficulty in replacing the softw~re. This .ust be
determined by the user.

t.

A blank 415k i. formattad and labeled as the WASTER. IHSTALLiD di5k •
The MASTER disk i. copied onto it and any installation which the
softuare nquiref> to run on the hardware is acco.plished, a.g.
estAblishi 19 aode. control, controlling the printer, establishing the
prop.r .on~tor tormlt, etc. W.ny software packages are delivered
-turDkey· '.e., ready to use, without further installation. In that
c••• , this &ntire step i. SKipped and a WASTER, INSTALLED disk is not
mAintained, The user eay choose to keep more than one installed
ver.ion. An .I&aple would be I word proces50r configured for a dot
.atrix printer And another configured for a letter qui&lity printer.
A bhnk di!ik is formatted and labeled as the WORKIIiG di sk. The MASfER
or WASTER, IHSTALLED disk is copiad onto this disk. This disk is
protected with .. -read only· tab if practical. NAny software systees
writ. to aud rud fro. the proor.. disk. In this casa, the tab lIust be
left off. This HORKING disk, now, is the disk which is routinely u5ed
for data pJ:ocuaing. If anytbing goes wrong, the disk can be
dupli~ted very rapidly fro. the WASTER or MASTER, INSTALLED disk, and
very littll! work tille will have been lost.

nata Seourity
ConsideriD9 the sateguarding of data stored on disks, a rule of thuab which
has survived fro. the days of large .ainframes and eltensive tape libraries
NY., -S... t,,,o guerations IUd work with the 'third.· These three
geaeratioas were called the Grapdfather, fi1hII, and Son files, the Son
file b.ing the .ost current copy ot the files.
Thi. il still L good sy.te. to use tor backing up data. It involves four
disks, the thr~e listed above in active storage and one in the machine.
The disk in thl •• chine is the disk upon which work is done. At regular
intervals lat least daily) this disk is copied to the ·c~ild· disk in the
storage cabioet. This assures against 1055 due to a Mdisk crashM during
work. At some convenient major point io tia. (maybe at the end of some
.ajor data collection, or the end ot the dayl a final copy is aade to the
-child· disk. The Delt ti.e a backup cop, is .ade, the oldest disk (the
·Graodparent- disk) is used and a new -Child- disk is start.d. What was

BACK U' UPI
PlIll BACKUP SCHENI for t.he IlAIIIBOW 100

,-~

1

Dait,

)r -

-

,

-lIiw-Cliild-

-I

laakC . . .-".·. . . ".=
. . ..

ir 'IT' r'-"'" "". "1Lh-'_~
AM

BACK IT UP!

...
_~n

v

the ·Parent- just before this has now become the -Grandparent.- In this
way, three disks are being rotated at regular intervals through three
generations and the working disk in the .achine is only newer than the
shortest time interval (perhaps a few hours, or m~ybe a dayl which has een
selected.

il
I'G)

l
,

It i5 iaportant to reaember that an interruption, indluding a power
failure, inadvertently turning the power switch ott, or carelessly deleting
material, will de.troy the infor.ation which is prestntly in the ae.ory of
the computer. Ever) thing which has been don. sin.:. the last ti.e the
inforaatioD wa. ·saved· on the WORKIMG data disk will be lost. It this is
.aterial which was -keyed- froa paper work, the oDlflo•• will be the tiae
it takes to repeat the effort. If, however, this i.· •• t.ri.l which is
being -co.posed- .t the keyboard, the user will probably not be able to
reproduce those thoughts IgliD. frequent backup. are nece.sArY by ·savinothe information in RAM (raDdo. acce . . . . .ory) on a disk. A good practice
is to ·save- your work on the WORKING data disk about every 15 ainutes.
Soa. software Can b. set to do this Auto.aticall,.

l

lo. . . . . .

When a disk becolle. -full·· of data, and all redun·lant files hAVe been
deleted, it is ti.e to establiSh a new WORKIMG data disk. The full disk Is
safeguarded with. -read onl,- tab and copied to the CHILD backup disk.
Now the full WORKING disk is stored in the area o~ the facility. The CHILD
backup disk is -retirad- to archival storage awa, fro. the fACility
(probably with thl ORIGIMAL software disksl. Two blank disk. are
formatted, one to become a new CHILD aDd the oth.r to beco•• a new WORKIHG
data disk.
The general baCkUp scheae for data diSkS is

diA9r~ ..ed

following.

Jt

.

DI.k d·
nve

I

'~>"

D.

<-)

It~I--~----~--~~

I

[L

Duplic.tl copies ot the backup files are made at Tegular intervals and
stored in A sepArAte storage facility. re.ote frop the primary site of the
microcomputer. This is done at a frequency which must ba deterained by the
user, .~.uring that there is always data archived baCk ~ few w.eks. The
Dumbe, of disks used for this varies b, the ~l.tance back in ti •• users aay
have to go. Frequently, problems which would raquir. going bACk to old
files will be found within a couple w.eks. - Under th •• a conditions, it is
probably sutficient to use three of tbese weekl, ~rchiv. disk., stored
.e~&r.t.l, froe tbe coaputlr.
This procedure is applicable to aajor data collec~ion aDd •• nipulations.
It the user is doing ainor aodifications or is wo::kiDg with report. when
the raw data arl w.ll backld up, it aay Dot be usutul to producl back up
copie.. So.ati.es, A good backup i. the hardcopy which i. printed and
filed for a p:oject, e.g. letters. Disk hckups .1ra theD Dot nece.ury.
If, however, any ot the intora.tion i. going to bit needed on disk, it will
be very ti •• consu.ing and error prone to rl-key ~hat data.

__

·'Pr ....

L

L_-

••

When directed by the monitor, end the DISKCOPY program by entering N

t.

Rmmove the copy tro. drive A: and label it with the current date with a
felt. tip pen.

g.

Place this n.w CHILD disk in the back of the backup set.

h

Aat.Ilrn

A)DISKCOPV 8: AI  24 Mbps

cost of
1 (approx.)
interface
(MicroVAX-II units)

by Paula Sharick, LUG Chair
Ethernet
DEQNA
DELUA
DEBNT

4 Mbps

DEUNA

1.5 Mbps

DEQNA

1/10

DELUA
DEUNA
DEBNT

1.5

I
would
like
to
extend
a
GIANT
CONGRATULATIONS
to all the local LUG
members who worked long and hard to make
the
Regional
Conference
a
smashing
success. Feedback from the 480 attendees
was excellent for the most part, and
Digital's participation really provided
the anchor for the conference success. We
had many great, entertaining speakers and
we thank all of you for participating in
the first RMVLUG Regional Conference.
Some of the constructive
heard included:

Relative Disk Performance
Elapsed time, CPU time, and estimated I/O
time for several cluster configurations;
times in seconds:
VAX 8800 in
3.50
0.37
3.13
CI-based cluster,
with HSC RA81
VAX 11/785 in
CI-based cluster,
with HSC RA81

5.28

1.92

3.36

MicroVAX II in
Ethernet-based
cluster,
with local RA81

5.22

1.86

3.36

MicroVAX II in
Ethernet-based
cluster,
with remote RA81

7.55

1.95

5.60

MicroVAX II in
Ethernet-based
cluster,
with local RD53

7.11

1.84

5.27

Mike compared the configurations of a
CI-based cluster to the Local Area VAX
cluster. He concluded that:
1.

A LAVC solves many problems but
not all of them. The LAVC is not
a SUbstitute for a CI cluster.

2.

A CI-based VAXcluster solves many
problems but not all of them. A
CI cluster
can
become
very
expensive to use as a general
solution.

3.

and
CI
If (and maybe when)
Ethernet VAXclusters are merged,
perhaps all of our problems will
be solved.

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

criticism

we

1.

Have more advanced,
presentations

technical

2.

Have all the session rooms on the
same floor

3.

Schedule the Q & A sessions
late afternoon, not evening

4.

Have
track
responsible for
sessions

5.

Add a keynote speaker

6.

Possibly reorganize tracks along
the
following
lines:
VMS,
Networking, Programming & Tools,
Systems
Managment, Wizard (at
least one day), and
possibly
include a "B.V.--Before VAX, Why
and What to Buy" session

7.

Publish session notes

8.

More tutorial talks

for

coordinators
only one day of

Any other suggestions would be welcomed.
We have not yet decided to hold another
conference in the future.
Spontaneous
participation
by other LUG volunteers
would certainly encourage the Regional
Conference Committee in that direction.

FAME!
RMVLUG member Joe
Boulder,
was
extensively in the
Digital Review.
much difference
"notorious."

Nemec, Abacus Group,
pictured
and
quoted
20 April 1987 issue of
Remember, there's not
between
"noted"
and
Page 5

LUG*NOTES

4 June 1987

VAX Conversion for Songwriter
THE PURPVAX THEME SONG
as printed in the Friday Update
Nashville DECUS, with apologies
Victim and the RSX PAC.

Daily,
to the

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

lotsa
lotsa
lotsa
lotsa

crud, on his VAX,
crud, on his VAX,
crud, on his VAX,
crud on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

DEC star couplers, on his VAX,
Britton Lee, on his VAX,
full DECservice, on his VAX,
expensive crud on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

VMS, on his VAX,
Datatrieve, on his VAX,
real-time, on his VAX,
slow crud on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

office automation, on his VAX,
All-in-Fun, on his VAX,
security up the yin-yang, on his VAX,
Management on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

VAX/Elan, on his VAX,
ANSI DIBOL, on his VAX,
RPG, on his VAX,
useless crud on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

gigundo disks, on his VAX,
max warp speed, on his VAX,
unlimited POOL, on his VAX,
some decent stuff on his VAX.

He's
He's
He.'s
He's

got
got
got
got

Hurkle and Adventure, on his VAX,
Haunt and Dungeon, on his VAX,
Rogue and Moria, on his VAX,
production problems on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

Fortran II, on his VAX,
TOPS-10 emulation, on his VAX,
Findonet, on his VAX,
bizarre crud on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

1000 users, on his VAX,
40 LAT servers, on his VAX,
the King James Bible, on his VAX,
the whole world on his VAX.

He's
He's
He's
He's

got
got
got
got

lotsa
lotsa
lotsa
lotsa

crud, on his VAX,
crud, on his VAX,
crud, on his VAX,
crud on his VAX.

Did you hear the one about the DEC Field
Service Rep who charged $20 for kicking a
recalcitrant VAX to fix it?
He said it
really was only $1 for the kick--the other
$19 was for knowing where to kick, and how
hard.

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

VAX Highlights lit DECUS/Nlishvilie
by James M. Lind, Systems
Consulting, Inc.

Engineering

&

This article contains notes taken by Jim
Lind
during
several sessions at the
Springs DECUS symposium in Nashville from
27 April to 1 May 1987. While accuracy of
the information contained herein cannot be
guaranteed, it "-is believed accurate per
the particular session which is being
critiqued.
Personal comments have been
withheld with emphasis on presentation of
the facts as discussed in the meetings.
The subject matter is
primarily
VMS
systems,
network
products,
personal
computer supprt, and
information
on
future projects and products with specific
emphasis on
performance
data.
Your
comments on the content and presentation
of this document are appreciated and may
be forwarded to Jim Lind, C/O systems
Engineering & Consulting, P.O. Box 78S0,
Colorado
Springs,
CO
80933;
(303)
632-7324.
(Editor's Note: A subset of the article
is reprinted here. For more information
on performance, Local Area VAXClusters,
and Networks, request a copy of the original article from Jim Lind.)
1.0 VMS UPDATE (V072)
Volume Shadowing V1.1 requires VMS V4.S.
A maximum of 7 shadow sets per HSC or pair
of HSC's is now supported. VMS V4.SA is
applicable
for Local Area VAXclusters
(LAVc); LAVc and DECnet VMS licenses are
also
required.
Distribution of V4.SA
started on December 1986. Up to 14 LAVc
nodes
may exist in any on~ Ethernet
cluster and multiple LAVcs are supported
on the same Ethernet, although bridging is
recommended between clusters of systems.
Up to 13 Satellite Nodes and one Boot Node
are supported.
VMS V4.SB supports MicroVAX 2000
and
VAXstation
2000 systems as standalone
systems.
VMS V4.SC allows MV2000 and
VS2000, systems to be included in an LAVc.
V4.SC 1S an update to V4.5A. Version 4.5C
has just now started shipping.
It is important to note that when a
MicroVAX or VAXstation is to be included
in a cluster, full blown VMS is needed.
Thus, if LAVc software is ordered, either
V4.5A or V4.5C of VMS is needed
and as
such requires that the distribut~d version
of VMS for Local Area VAXclusters is
standard VMS, not MicroVMS.
VMS V4.6 will focus on maintenance items
but will still be a remaster of VMS and
will include the items issued with VMS
V4.5A, B, and C.
It is estimated that
V4.6 will be available in
the
July
timeframe.
Page 6

I

I

4 June 1987

LUG*NOTES

DECUS/Nftshville
VMS V4.6 Update:
VMS V4.5
is
a
maintenance
release
consisting of 105 separate updates. VMS
V4.4 must be installed before a system can
be updated to VMS V4.5. VMS V4.5 can be
installed in a VAXcluster as either a
rolling or concurrent update but VMS V4.5
cannot coexist in a cluster with VMS V4.3.

VMS V4.6 is focused on maintenance, but
the kit has been remastered so it is a
complete distribution.
It is scheduled
for Software Distribution Center in June
and deliveries starting in July for the
US.
1.

VAX Volume Shadowing
member shadow sets

2.

Local Area VAXclusters support up
to 26 satellite members

3.

Full 260 MByte memory support for
VAX 8600 and 8650

4.

Processor support for
8350, and 8530

5.

Support for up to 32 print queues

6.

DECWindows integrated
ULTRIX, and MS-DOS

$SHOW CLUSTER /CONTINUOUS
COMMAND> ADD RP_REVIS

7.

OECnet
active
logical
link
support increased from 32 to 128

The low-order word is the RAM version and
the high-order word is the PROM version.

8.

IEEE 802.3 driver I/O support

9.

DECnet improved downline
support

VMS V4.5 CI Port Driver:
The new version
Image (Version
problems:

of the CI Port Driver
7.0) fixes the following

1.

Miscellaneous Error
Queue Retry Expired

2.

Arbitration Timeout

3.

Buffer Length Violation

One can

identify

which

5,

version

Internal

of

the

microcode is running as follows:

VMS V4.5 Permanent MONITOR Server Process:
Creating a
permanent
MONITOR
server
process on each member in a cluster at
bootstrap can significantly reduce the
startup
time
for
MONITOR
/CLUSTER
commands.
To create a detached server process,
the
following
lines
SYS$MANAGER:STARTUP.COM:

add
in

$DEFINE /SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE MODE $ VPM$SERVER LIVE TRUE $RUN /OETACH/PAGE FILE=10000 $_ SYS$SYSTEM:VPM:EXE
VMS V4.5 DMB32 Layered Product Support:
VAX 8200/8300/8500/8550/8700/8800 systems
that
include
DMB32
communications
processors must install the DMB32 layered
product in order to use the SYNCHRONOUS
port. This software is not included in
the VMS Update Kit.
ULTRIX:
ULTRIX Version 2.0 now supports all VAXBI
based systems with KOB50 connections to
disks.

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

supports

VAX

3

8250,

to

VMS,

loading

VMS V4.6 SET TIME /CLUSTER:
The SET TIME /CLUSTER command will update
the time on ALL nodes present in the
VAXcluster to the specified time or to the
time on the node the command is executed
on if no time is specified.
VMS V4.6 AUTOGEN Enhancements:
A user specified startup file can now be
defined in place of SYSTARTUP by using the
symbol STARTUP in MODPARAMS.DAT.
AUTOGEN
will now calculate a value for QUORUM
using either the current value or the
initial
cluster
quorum.
AUTOGEN now
understands and manipulates secondary page
and swap files in MODPARAMS.DAT. SYSGEN
is still needed to install the secondary
files in SYSTARTUP.COM, but the files will
be created if they don't exist.
VMS V4.6 LAT/VMS Features:
The new Local
Area
Transport
(LAT)
software (LAT-PLUS) is once again included
in
VMS.
It
includes
support
for
asynchronous printers connected to LAT
terminal servers. The support consists of
a
new
LAT port driver, LAT control
program, and LAT print symbiont.
Page 7

LUG*NOTES

4 June 1987

DECUS/Nashvilie

1.

VPA - VAX Performance Advisor

me.mory usage, disk I/O, and terminal l/(
for each node in a VAXcluster system arE
available. The user can define collectior
intervals for automatic collection
oj
performance data.

2.

VAX Data Distributor

VAX Data Distributor:

3.

VAX SQL
Language

4.

SSU - Session Support utility

5.

VAX Software Project Manager

VAX/VMS
New
Announcements:

Software

Product

Structured

Query

VAX/VMS New Version Announcements:
VAX ACMS V2.1
VAX Rdb/VMS V2.2
VAX DECalc V3.0
VAX TEAMOATA V1.1
VAX VTX V3.0
VAX COBOL Generator V1.1
VAX DBMS V3.2
VAX TOMS V1.7
VAX INFO V1.2
VAX Datatrieve V4.0
VAX DECalc-PLUS V3.0
VAX RALLY V1.1
VAX DECreporter V2.0
VAX SCAN V1.1
ALL-IN-l V2.2
VAX COBOL V3.4
Misc.

Information:

RMS journaling is alive again as a project
announcement was made.
VAX 750, 751, and 785 final build dates
were announced. These processors now join
the 780, 782, 730, and 725 as dead VAXes.
1.1 New Layered Products for VMS

VAX Performance Advisor:
The VAX Performance Advisor (VPA) is a
ruled based performance analysis tool that
runs as a layered product on VAX/VMS. VPA
gathers
data
from
all
nodes on a
VAXcluster and identifies and
reports
possible performance problems which it
SUbstantiates with its data and recommends
solutions to the problems. VPA is a new
performance analysis VMS layered product
that was announced at OECUS.
VPA analyzes system workload data and
makes recommendations on how to improve
performance. support for both a single
VAX or a VAXcluster is provided. Analysis
of data can be performed from any VAX
processor in a cluster. VPA identifies
system bottlenecks as well as processes
that may be using inordinate amounts of
system resources. Users can request data
to support recommendations made by VPA.
Histograms of CPU utilization, physical
Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

of
definitions,
Centralized
storage
schedules, and status information. The
VAX Data
Distributor
syntax
defines
transfers, specifying the locations of
source and target databases.
It selects
records
and
fields
to
extract and
replicate.
Data
is
transferred
automatically
through
userdefined
schedules or to execute the transfer on
demand.
VDO shows transfer and schedule
definitions and
status
and
performs
automatic retry if network failures occur.
Database security is enforced on transfer,
source, and target databases.
VOO requires Rdb/VMS V2.2
or
later,
MicroVMS or VMS V4.4 or later, and DECnet
if the data distributor will be run on
multiple nodes.
VAX Standard Query Language (SQL):
SQL is layered
on
Digital
Standard
Relational
Interface
(DSRI).
It is
designed for compatibility with other SQL
products and may be used with remote as
well as local databases. It includes an
interactive DML and DOL utility. Support
included for VAX COBOL, FORTRAN, and PL/l.
Dynamic SQL can accept or generate SQL
statements at run time. Finally, SQL can
read or write metadata from the COD.
VAX Software Project Manager:
Graphical, multi-user software development
project management tool. Fully integrated
planning, controlling,
and
estimating
functions.
Includes
CPM, WBS, PERT,
GANTT, and procedences and
estimation
based on Boehm's industry-standard COCOMO
model.
VAX VT330
utility:

and

VT340

Session

Support

Allows a VT330/VT340 to
operate
two
sessions over one wire. SSU runs under
VMS V4.4 or later and runs on any valid
VAX/VMS host configuration.
2.0 NETWORK UPDATE (NOll)
DECnet-DOS
Vl.2
offers
increased
performance.
Separate media and licenses
are available now.
VAXmate V3.1 supports Async and Ethernet
connections.
DECnet VAXmate V1.2 is used
in V3.1.
Page 8

I

LUG*NOTES

4 June 1987

DECUS/NBshvilie
DECnet DOS V1.2 runs on V3.2 of DOS.
It
supports the new DEPCA Ethernet card, the
IBM enhanced keyboard, as well as the DEC
LK240 keyboard. Support continues for the
3-COM and MICOM Ethernet interfaces.
3.0 MICROVAX UPDATE (H041)
The KDA50 is now supported in the BA123.
A new door in the back is needed to remain
FCC compliant.
The TU81-Plus can
be
placed in the BA123 also.
The DHQ11 will now replace the DHV11.
It
is an 8-line async board and will be
available in June for upgrade/additions.
The DHV11 is a quad, 4.5 amp DC board
while the new DHQ11 is a dual, 1.5 amp
unit.
Both
support
the
cable
concentrator.
Currently supported boot members for the
MicroVAX systems are the MVII, 750, 780
and any 8000 series system.
V2.0 of ULTRIX 32/32M merge ULTRIX into
one product and supports the 8000 series
systems.
MicroVAX systems are now sold in "Solution
Systems" in LAVc configurations:
1.

DJ630-P5 w/RA81 ,
and DHQ11.

TU81+,

DEQNA,

2.

DJ630-P1 as a diskless satellite
member with BA23, 16MByte memory,
DEQNA, VMS, LAVc, and
DECnet
included.

working set for standalone BACKUP, thus
allowing for the remova'l of the BACKUP
media
during
the
standalone
backup
~rocess.
Multiple operations will be
allowed in one boot of standalone BACKUP.
The
terminal
fallback
facility
is
scheduled for improvement.
DEBUG will
also get several improvements, but details
were not noted.
Clusters will have improved failure modes
for UDA, KDA and BOA disk controllers.
However, dynamic failover will remain a
feature of HSC controllers. Both CI and
LAVc (NI) systems will be allowed in the
same cluster.
Boot nodes can connect
directly to HSC disks.
No software volume shadowing is planned.
Mention was made of the LAVc HSC failover
capability, which implies the possibility
of direct Ethernet connection to the HSC.
Server failover for LAVc will be supported
if
multiple boot nodes exist in the
future.
Rolling upgrades are extended to allow
mixed vers~ons in a cluster. However,
only adjacent versions of VMS will be
supported.
Not
all features of the
cluster may be available to mixed version
installations,
and
less than optimum
performance can be expected when operating
in this state.
The feature of rolling
upgrades (mixed versions of VMS in a
cluster) should not be a permanent state
of the cluster. It is intended for new
VMS version testing only and to provide
for continuous operation of the cluster to
minimize shutdowns during updates.

To upgrade a BA23 to a large MicroVAX
cabinet configuration the H9642-JA, BA23CC, and H3490 are required.

VMS V4.6 allows for more members per
shadow set.
LAVc is integrated into VMS
but still works with a user key.

4.0 VMS FUTURES (V058)

RMS journaling will be merged into VMS but
will be activated by a key. Another key
will allow for multinational support by
VMS.

In many cases it was not made clear as to
which version of VMS that the following
features or improvements may apply.
In the future all VMS distribution files
will be contained in one kit with three
tailoring classifications.
"Tailor-off"
will
be used instead of the current
"tailor-on" procedure for the MicroVMS
functionality.
In this way it will be
assured that stuff not wanted can be
easily removed.
High-water marking will
Directory entry aliasing
DIRECTORY command
will
BACKUP will be improved to

be
improved.
lists end the
be
improved.
"1ockdown" the

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

Indexed file access performance has been
improved.
RMS execution monitoring is
supported, and
screen
management
is
improved.
New time services formats are
provided for the manipulation of system
time.
AUTOGEN is improved to allow for sizing of
the system to a particular application
workload. A snapshot is taken during user
program execution, and AUTOGEN uses this
data to suggest parameter improvements.
~ATCH/PRINT
~mproved.

performance is substantially
ACL's are supported on queues.
The que SHOW ENTRY, F$GETQUI, and improved
SHOW QUE are added.
Page 9

LUG *NOTES

DECUS/Nashvilie

4 June 1987
14.0 FORUM ON
SOFTWARE
LICENSING
DISTRIBUTION (BA060)

LAT
support
for
two
Ethernets
w/information
on server trerminals is
added.
The SHOW TERMINAL command for
terminal servers now gives terminal and
server ID information.
the
LTDRIVER,
LATCP, and LATSYM now come with VMS as of
V4.6.

This session was concerned
with
the
results of the past blunders which DEG
made in changes to the software licensing
"policies".
Also discussed were concerns
over the manner in which future policies
will be documented and implemented by
Digital.

The DCL if-then-else construct is added.
The RECALL/ERASE for the command queue is
used to erase the recall buffer.
TPU is
improved to support the WPS keypad with
improved wrapping. MAIL is supported as a
callable utility.
others utilities may
also be supported in this manner.

reported that the changes
in
policies that were prematurely
announced at the Fall 86 DECUS
were
intended to increase software mobility
within the "Corporate Group"
of
the
customers.
It was mentioned that now
Digital defines the operating system to be
bound to the hardware and may move with
the processo:s as they are bought and
sold.
It ~s also felt that the network
may be considered part of the operating
system,
although as with every other
aspect of this problem, there is
no
written guidance in this entire area.

DECnet proxies are improved, and the NCP
multiple command recall is added. VMS
system management will be redesigned in
the. future with a cluster-wide view of
managing clusters.

&

Digital

licensing

S.O TERMINAL SERVER OVERVIEW (N007)
The Personal Computer can now act as a
service
when connected to a terminal
server. pc-to-PC connects via connections
between different servers or within a
single server are supported. The PC can
still connect as a terminal on a server.
The DECserver 100 software is currently at
V1.3.
It supports printers on VMS and
local (non-modem) connections only.
The Ethernet Terminal
Server
(DECSA)
supports printers, functions as a service
node, and has full modem control
on
terminal lines.
The DECserver 200 software is at Vl.0. It
has the same capabilities as the DECSA
unit and represents Digital's preference
in
the terminal server line.
It is
expected that the DECserver 100 will soon
be
discontinued
by
Digital
in
consideration of the improved capabilities
of the DECserver 200.
The MUXserver 100 software is at V2.0.
This unit supports up to 16 lines with two
remote mux units.
LAT-plus is currently at Vl.2 and is now
packaged with terminal servers. However,
as of V4.6 of VMS, it will be packaged
with VMS.
The standard LAT is currently
at VS.l. Multiple threaded print software
with up to 32 print streams per process
are supported in the future.
The Terminal Server Manager (TSM) V1.0
supports all the above items and can be
run
interactively
or
with
command
procedures. LAT is currently supported in
RSX, ULTRIX, TOPS 10/20, PRO, DECnet-DOS,
and VAXmates.
Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

As previously
announced
by
Digital,
layered products may be moved within the
Corporate Group but not between companies.
The "Software License Redesignation Form"
is used to move layered software from
processor-to-processor
within
the
Corporate Group.
Multi-copy forms are
available from Digital to perform this
action.
The
"Software
License
Redesignation
Form"
verbiage
is
as
follows:
"This form may be
software
licensed
following:

used to redesignate
by Digital for the

(A) Layered product licenses to the same
or lower price tier within a Corporate
Group (within the US).
(B) Layered product licenses to a higher
tier
within a Corporate Group
(within the US); A purchase order must be
submitted as well.

price

(C) Operating system and layered product
with the processor within a Corporate
Group (within the US) .
"The form must be signed by both the
INITIAL USER and the NEW USER in the
designated sections.
For (A) and (C),
please send this form directly to your
local Digital office in care of
SPS
Administration.
For (B), please contact
your Digital Sales Representative for a
quote
for
the difference in license
prices. Please submit this form with your
purchase order.
Please submit license
certificate
for
this
product,
if
available, with this form. Contact SPS
Administration at the local Digital Office
for information concerning the completion

I

4 June 1987

LUG*NOTES

DECUS/Nashvilie

or Administration of this form or if you
do not receive written acknowledgement of
this form."
When processors are bought and sold, the
operating
system
license
may
be
"transferred" (as opposed to redesignated
as is the case for layered products). The
verbiage of the "Software Relicense Form"
is as follows:
"This form must be used by customers who
are selling a Digital processor and wish
to transfer the operating system software
licensed from Digital with the processor
(within the US). It must be completed and
sent to Digital in order that the new
owner of the processor is licensed and
registered correctly with Digital. This
form is not to be used for
layered
software
products
or
software under
Periodic Payment License
(PPL).
The
seller of the processor completes and
signs applicable sections, and presents
form to the buyer of the processor. The
seller retains the seller copy. The buyer
completes and signs applicable sections
and sends the form to their local Digital
office in care of SPS Administration. The
buyer retains the buyer copy. Information
concerning
the
completion
or
administration of this
form
can
be
obtained by contacting SPS Administration
at the local Digital office."
It was noted that PPL licenses can be
redesignated within the Corporate Group.
Personal
Computer
Licenses
remain
unchanged from that which is stated on the
"Shrink Wrap" license which is delivered
with the PC software.
Digital Third Party Licenses sold
by
Digital are subject to Digital policies
(which remain mostly unpublished at this
time).
Jointly
marketed,
Digital
certified third party software sold by
other
than
Digital
are
subject to
restrictions as specified by the third
party.

It was reported off-line that the OEMs can
sell layered products to end-users for
CPUs which they themselves did not sell.
This is completely contrary to what has
been communicated to OEMs in Colorado by
the Denver office.
It was unclear what
part "System Integrators", "Value Added
Resalers", and others not recognized by
Digital play in the newest, unpublished
policies
affecting
the
movement
of
software licenses.
Digital was unable to comment on questions
regarding
where one could read about
Digital
software
licensing
policies.
Also,
concerns
over the transfer of
software no longer supported or sold by
Digital
were
raised.
In this case,
Digital felt that an exception to the
stated
policies
would
by
allowed.
However, one thing remained clear, Digital
was not interested in the possibility of
transferring layered product licenses.
In summary, many attendees pointed out
that Digital does not have their act
together in this entire area of software
licensing
policies.
Digital generally
agreed. Also pointed out time and again
was the complicated nature of the stated
policies, which leads to misunderstanding
even
at
the
Regional
level within
Digital's own Corporate management.
A
simplified policy which allows for the
transfer of all licensed software was
suggested as the only way of providing for
a consistent, manageable situation which
is understandable by something less than
corporate lawyers. In the meantime, it
was ,requested that Digital expedite the
pub11s~ing of policies so
that the user
commun1ty can at least be informed of what
t~e, rules
of the game currently are.
D1g1tal agreed to take action in this
area.
LONGMONT

NORTH
BOULDER-LONGMONT DIAGONAL

r--

co
N

orig~nal Equipment
s~b11cense
but
l1ce~ses.
They

Manufacturers (OEM) can
not
transfer Digital
will
invoke
true
sub11c 7nses.
However, OEMs can relicense
operat1ng systems on trade ins as the terms
of the "relicense" policies then apply to
OEMs also.
Layered products may become registered in
the n~me of the end-user for temporary use
by pr1me contractors if so. specified at
the
time
of
order.
Exactly
what
c~nstitutes a "prime contractor"
was not
d1scussed.
It was reported that the
"so~t~are Distribution Handbook" will list
po11c1es along with information on other
modes of distribution.
Rockv Mountain VAX Local Users Group

>'
~

;I:

en

LOUISVILLE

::;;

STC Vicinity MflP

Page 11

t

4 June 1987

LUG*NOTES

Storage Technology hosts RMVLUG on Jun·e 17, 1987

STC Main Plant Map

NORTH

LUG*NOTES is the official newsletter of
the Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group
(RMVLUG). This publication is available
to
anyone free of charge.
For more
information about RMVLUG or to subscribe
to LUG*NOTES, contact Donna santoro, (307)
745-7366.
The purpose of LUG*NOTES is collect and
publish timely information that may be of
value to members of the RMVLUG.
To that
end, we a~e interested in any articles,
notices, announcements, anecdotes, jokes,
cartoons,
helpful
hints,
equipment
recommendations or other items of interest
to our readership.
All material contained in LUG*NoTES and
not otherwise credited is (c) copyright
1986 by the RMVLUG. Submission of items
to RMVLUG implies release for use in any
DECUS
publication.
All
rights
are

Bldg ..

subsequently returned to the respective
contributors.
Send all
material
for
publication
to
Kata Weber, Computing
Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
co
80401;
(303)
273-3448.
Material
submitted on magnetic media may be more
warmly welcomed, but all submissions are
encouraged.
Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group
Officers
LUG Chair
Paula Sharick
Membership Coordinator
and Secretary Donna Santoro
Treasurer
Carolyn Cox
Tape Library
Wilma
Fredrickson
Newsletter
Kata Weber
Beth Pridgen

(303)499-5700
(307)745-7366
(303)296-1857
(303)939-5150
(303)273-3448
(303)298-1000

-- -......
RMVLUG Newsletter
Donna Santoro
Banner Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 550
Laramie WY 82070

I

/
"'---.--",,"~

ANMF. K.
n~cus

/

.

FOr,EY

NATIONAL LUG UWGANIZATTUN
21q ~OSTnN POST RUAD
MARLriORO ~A 01752

FIR STeL ASS MAI L

I

December 1987

If the news don't fit, we squinch it.

Scores of new attendees flood September LUG meeting at DEC
by Michele DeWitt-Rice, RMVLUG Secretary
The September 29, 1987 RMVLUG meeting took place at the
Digital Equipment Corp. offices on South Chester Street. We
appreciate the use of their facilities, and the food was great!
Paula Sharick chaired the lively meeting.
RMVLUG Business
There were between 26 and 30 new attendees at this meeting--depending on who was counting. Richard Wiseman of
Storage Tek was recognized for being selected to give a talk
on TPU in December at National DECUS. Rumor has it that
Disneyland will be rented for an evening for the DECUS attendees instead of the usual cocktail party. Aside from Disneyland, another plus for National DECUS is that it is a good
place to network with your peers and attend seminars on
every aspect of DEC computers.
Volunteers are needed to help out with the Regional Conference. If you are interested in helping there is still a place
for you!
Karen Zimmerman, our new DEC liaison, was introduced.
There was a cameo appearance by our former liaison, Mark
Reynolds. Thank you for all your help in the past, Mark!
DECWORLD
Craig Blasingame, DEC Networking Consultant, described
the wonders announced at DECWORLD at Boston's World
Trade Center in September. It was quite the spectacle and
many significant new products and upgrades were introduced.

graphics board.
Networks: One big announcement is that Ethernet may be
run on twisted pair. Network Management now bundles the
tools into a single new format, the emphasis being on realistic remote system management.
There is now expanded capability for management of voice,
data distributed systems and support for multi-vendor networks using international standards.
Keep them clean
Paula Sharick, Wildwood Associates, gave a presentation on
using eKpiration dates to help with disk management. Following are abbreviated notes from the talk. She has also
submitted a full-length newsletter article, which is printed in
its entirety elsewhere in this issue.
If you do a "$ DIR/FULL" on a file, you will probably see "EXPIRATION DATE: NONE." File management using expiration dates is a little used feature that may help you manage
your disks much more easily. It works well in many environments and for all types of files.
To set the expiration date on a file, type "$ SET FILE/EXPIRE = date". The file does not automatically go away after
the expiration date. If the file is accessed after the expiration
date, the date is updated n days to the future. The lin" days
are set in "$ SET VOLUME/RETENTION". Accesses that
reset the expiration date include being opened with a read
or write to that file, or RUN or EDIT. Using DIR or BACKUP
does not affect the expiration date on a file.
So, the expiration date is set on the file. Now what?

The new products are divided into three groups: New
Processors, Networking, and Workstations. (Recently DEC
has been announcing new products at the astounding rate
of one every three days!)

"$ BACKUP/EXPIRED/BEFORE =TODAY/DELETE" will back
up the, files to tape or disk and delete the files. Be sure to
hang on to that media long after everyone has said that they
will never need that file again!

New Processors: The 3000-series MicroVAXen take advantage of CMOS technology. The 3500 and 3600 MicroVAX
have three times the performance of the MicroVAX II. It can
use twice the memory that a MicroVAX II can (32 Mb) and is
able to handle up to 26 nodes with two boot nodes. It has a
Q-bus backplane to be compatible with readily available
storage deVices. The AII-in-1 office application product is
now on chip!

Make sure that ALL files for a disk have some expiration date,
because the first time that the BACKUP/etc/DELETE process
is done it will delete all of the files with "NONE" dates. The
command is "$ SET FILE/EXPIRE = nnnnn *. *. *". Be sure to
turn on BYPASS privilege before SETting all files.

a

The good news is that the 3000-series processors can handle twice the number of users a MicroVAX " can and are
claimed to run at 2.7 times the speed of an 11/780. The bad
news is that your MicroVAX II is not upgradeable at this time.

To get a list of all expired files before the delete is done, do
"$ DIR/EXPIRED/SINCE =TODAY". It is nice to notify the
owners of the files before obliterating them.
An attendee noted that there seems to be a problem with
using these techniques on C-Calc and Word II files.
Question and Answer

I

Workstations: VAXstations are now also making use of
CMOS technology. The 3200 and 3500 may operate in VMS
or Ultrix environments. They have a new high-speed

Q. I keep getting "No Such File" errors on BACKUP. What
does this mean?

Page 1

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

December 1987

A. "No Such File" means that there is a File 10 problem on
the disk. "$ ANALYZE/DISK" will clean up the disk. Read the
manuals or do "$ HELP" for more information.
Further, "$ ANALYZE/DISK/REPAIR/CONFIRM" should be
run *TWICE* to uncover all of the problems on a disk.

O. When running DECalc I am getting numerous versions
of a file. How do I control that?

A. Set version limits on existing files and directories to limit
newly created files: 1/$ SET FILENERSION = n filenamel/ and
"$ SET FILENERSION = n dirname.dir".

O. An earlier RMVLUG newsletter said to call the local DEC
office for DECserver 100 and 200 patches. This does not
seem to be the case.

Q. What does Image Accounting keep track of?

A. It records each time a particular image exits in the system accounting file. This is useful for capacity planning, and
essential for security in some environments.
O. I seem to have a process still hanging around on a
process that got there through "$ SET HOST" and is now
logged out. It seems to be using a lot of CPU on the remote
system. What can be done?

A. Write an SPA. That is not supposed to happen. Take a
good look at the application. Is there something in the
LOGIN. COM that may spawn itself ad nauseum? Be careful
of captive accounts for the same reason. These processes
may take over CPU and I/O and shut down the network, but
it is because of the application--not something mysterious
within DECnet.

A. Call CSC instead. They now have the 4.6 LAT-plus patch.
Q. On a cluster, when I do 11$ SHOW DEVICE D... " the available disk size is not correct. I may have up to 500,000 blocks
missing.

LUG*NOTES is the official newsletter of the Rocky
Mountain VAX Local Users Group (RMVLUG). This
publication is available to anyone free of charge.
For more information about RMVLUG or to subscribe to LUG*NOTES, contact Denice Norby,
Longmont Foods, (303) 776-6611 or (303) 5340993.
The purpose of LUG*NOTES is to collect and publish timely information that may be of value to members of the RMVLUG. To that end, we are interested
in any articles, notices, announcements, anecdotes,
jokes, cartoons, helpful hints, equipment recommendations or other items of interest to our readership.
All material contained in LUG *NOTES and not otherwise credited is (c) copyright 1987 by the RMVLUG.
Submission of items to RMVLUG implies release for
use in any DECUS publication. All rights are subsequently returned to the contributor. Send all
material for publication to Kata Weber, Computing
Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden CO
80401; (303) 273-3448. Material submitted on magnetic media may be more warmly welcomed, but all
submissions are encouraged.
Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group
Officers
LUG Chair
Membership

Paula Sharick
Denice Norby

(303) 499-5700
(303) 776-6611
(303) 534-0993
Secretary
Michelle Dewitt-Rice
(303) 368-0214
Tape Librarian Wilma Fredrickson
(303) 939-5150
Newsletter Editors
Beth Pridgen
(303) 292-0500
(303) 721-0851
Tony Carrato
(303) 273-3448
Kata Weber
Page 2

A. This may be a cluster problem having to do with the fact
that size does not always mean size. Size really means
"USED/ALLOCATED". There may be much more allocated
than is being used. This may be useful, as in pre-extending
files for optimization, or may be a mistake. An SPR has been
sent in.
Q. What is the group experience with WATCHDOG from the
VAX SIG tapes'?

A. WATCHDOG is supposed to kick users off a system after
a certain period of inactivity. Be careful with off-the-shelf
programs unless you have looked at them and understand
what they will do to your unique environment. Make sure
that any process that kills other processes does it in an orderlyfashion. AUTOLOG seems to work well. (At the School
of Mines, we use BOUNCER, which we got off a DECUS tape
and to which we made some modifications. You should look
at which parameters the program uses to decide a process
is idle. We also made it possible for certain users to be
declared immortal by giving them a rights identifier, but of
course that should be granted judiciously or the the purpose
is defeated.)
.
Q. What about online disk defragmentation programs?
Does DEC have one or do we need to go to a third-party vendor?
A. DEC does not have any such product available. (See the
related article in this newsletter for a review of some available products.) The September "Hardcopy' has an article
on thiS issue discussing SQUEEZPAK, Rabbit-7, Juicer, and
DISKEEPEA. The main thing is to make good backups
before testing any new product and be organized in making
sure all files still exist after testing.
O. Any substantiation to rumours that VMS 4.6 has uncovered DEQNA problems?

A. Make sure your field engineer has your hardware up to
Rev Level E1.
Digital's Customer Support Center
The afternoon was given over to Bruce Johnson, Joe Venturella and Jill Bolan of the Customer Support Center. Most
of us have needed to call the CSC at one time or another and
LUG*NOTES

I

I
I

Rocky Mountain VAX local Users Group
these three representatives gave a fine talk on the inner workings of the CSC.
Bruce Johnson
Beginning in 1977, DEC founded the Digital Diagnostic
Center to handle its customers' problems by telephone. In
1979 this organization became the Telephone Support
Center (TSC) and in 1983 the Customer Support Center
(CSC) was created. During these transitions the trend
moved away from "repair" mentality to "prevention, II and from
hardware expertise to systems expertise, and from options
diagnosis to systems diagnosis.
The biggest impact has been changing the style of support
from handling batch processing to handling on-line processing. On-line processing demands quick solutions to
problems and the CSC is available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
The goals of the CSC are to provide for their customers: (1)
uninterrupted access to applications; (2) highest possible
user productivity; and (3) satisfaction in DEC products. CSC
handles an average of 3800 calls each day. Eighty-five percent of the calls are closed within 45 minutes. The software
specialists to whom we all talk have an average of six years
with DEC, while the hardware specialists average 11 years
with DEC.

O. After calling in discussing the problem with a specialist,
why are we sometimes put on hold for a long time? What
about call referral?
A. The procedures for handling problems new to a specialist
are in flux right now. We try to have the specialist handle the
problem from start to finish. We call this "Continuous Effort."
If a problem needs research, the specialist calls back after
immediate research.

O. Why are we asked for our access code and name several
times before we can talk to someone who can help with a
problem?

December 1987
contracts. Self-Maintenance provides SPR service, updates, and publications. Basic Maintenance provides all of
the above plus telephone support and DSIN. DECsupport
provides all of the above plus help with installation and an
account representative.
Telephone support is eighty percent advisory. The other
twenty percent is made up of activities called conformance-a real bug in the system has been found and this leads to
an SPR; and remedial--handling things like systems that are
down, or corrupt files.
The DSIN (Digital Software Information Network) allows
users to have access to DEC data on in-process system solutions. Product Flash messages and programming examples
are also available. It is possible to submit problems directly
to the administration system. Here, a specialist will do research and send the solution back through DSIN or via the
telephone.
DECsupport offers customized software installation assistance. This may save time when there are layered products
involved. An account representative is available for on-site
remedial help for software. This is the most valuable aspect
of DECsupport. This representative is the single point of
contact for problem management, and will also make proactive calls: "How are things today? II
The following SPS products are supported by the staff in
Colorado Springs:
• Operating systems: RSTS, RSX, VMS, UlTRIX
• Layered prOducts: all languages, database, application
deveIOOnie~~ and selectedlhiro-party products
• Network pruuucts
Problem-solving teams are made up of specialists, consultants, and field testers. Specialists have an average of six
years of experience with DEC products. They help route the
call to the correct person. Consultants have more expertise
and specialize. The field testers handle behind-the-scenes
testing of VMS and layered products.
Q. Who handles calls for the MicroVAX 2000?

A. This should be reduced in the immediate future, except
for networking problems.

A. VMS.

O. Who and what decides when a call is closed? When the
user is satisfied or when DEC is satisfied?

Q. How fast is the response time once a problem gets to engineering?

A. Both. However, we are doing monthly surveys to find out
if this system is working. If you have a specific situation call
the CSC and let them know about it.

A. It depends on the work load of the engineering groups
and the priority a problem is assigned.

Q. What should we do if we have a need to call CSC with a
problem but we have a new system and the paperwork has
not been completed, so we do not have an access code?

A. The first call will be handled as a courtesy. After that, the
database is checked. Check with the manager on duty.
Also, talk to your sales representative about getting the
paperwork in order.
Q. Is it necessary to own a computer to get customer support?
.

A. The contracts are all sold on a per CPU basis. Right now,
the system is geared to use CPU serial numbers.

Q. Does a problem for CSC always go to a more junior person before a senior person is called in?

A. It depends on the group. Some situations require a seniol
person initially.

..0. What should we do when we get an obviously new per
son who is not being of any real help?
A. Be frank and tell them you need someone else or ask fo
a manager.
Q. How detailed do we get with a problem to get to the righ
person?

Joe Venturella, VMS Group Senior Consultant

A. That is difficult to answer. Just keep trying until you g€
to the right group.

There are three types of Software Product Services (SPS)

Q. Is there a specific DCl group?

Page

December 1987

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

A. There is BACKUP and then generic DCL.

A. DEC now supports a mixed vendor database.

Q. If a problem gets bounced between groups how much

Q. Does SPEAR or VAXSIM support Ethernet?

information is available between groups?
A. SPEAR handles some aspects of Ethernet.
A. Since June, everything is documented in one administrative system. Be sure to ask for the log number if the rep
doesn't give it to ,you. This is how the situations are tracked.
Q. Do reps only try to call back twice?

A. Not now. This was true six months ago, but now the rep
will try multiple times the first day and second day. If no connection is made by this point a note will be sent in the mail.
Q. How do we handle escalation of a problem?

A. If you don't like the way a situation is being handled ask
for a manager. Managers are available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
Jill Bolan, ROB Engineer
Hardware product services handle problem analysis, diagnostic testing, preventive maintenance assistance, and
verification of system integrity after corrective maintenance.
The number is 1-800-525-6570.
VAXSIM is the vAx. System Integrity Monitor. This monitors
the condition of VAX systems and gives timely notification of
device problems. It is also used to schedule system maintenance. The goal is to reduce and/or
schedule down time.
SPEAR is the Standard Package for Error Analysis and
Reporting. It isolates the causes of system problems. This
database helps to improve field engineer lleall-outs" and
provide fast and consistent diagnosis.
Q. How are third-party disk drive problems handled?

Using expiration dates
and retention periods
to keep your disks clean
by Paula Sharick, Wildwood Associates
If your shop is like most, you can browse through the disks
and find lots of files with creation dates of two or more years
ago. You can also find a multitude of tiny word processing
files and other memorabilia created for a single report and
never used again. You may purge files to a single copy at
logout, or after backups, but files still proliferate. Even after
a master purge, there is no guarantee that many of the
remaining files hold anything useful, or will be used anytime
in the near future!
There is a nifty solution to this problem using file expiration
dates and volume retention periods.
What is an Expiration Date?
RMS maintains several time/date fields in the file header. Expiration date is one of them. Expiration dates are defined
with SET FILE/EXPIRATION. Files can be selected based on
expiration date, using the /EXPIRED qualifier with either
/BEFORE or /SINCE with most file manipulation commands.
Expiration dates are not useful by themselves. Once an expiration date is set, it is NOT propagated to higher versions
of a file, and RMS does absolutely nothing with expiration
dates unless a volume retention
period is defined.
What is a Retention Period?
Retention periods apply only to disk volumes (single or
bound), and are used to control how long unused files
remain on disk before they expire. When a disk has a retention period defined, a maximum time period is established'
for storage of all files on that volume. RMS keeps track of all
file activity and automatically updates the expiration date
when a file is opened for either read/Write access.
After a retention period is defined, a file with NO read/write
activity expires when the first expiration date arrives. If the
file has activity, the expiration date is automatically extended
to the date defined by the retention period. The result is that
files used "often enoughll, however you define that, never expire. Those that sit dormant for long periods of time expire.
You can then use the /EXPIRED qualifier with any of the file
manipulation commands and/or the BACKUP command to
remove these files from the system.
The SHOW/DEVICE/FULL command displays the volume
retention period if one has been defined for that disk. Retention information appears on the last line of the display, as
shown in the example below. Intervening information Jines
of the SHOW/DEVICE display have been omitted.

1ge4

LUG*NOTES

December 1987

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group
$ SHOW/DEVICE/FULL $1 $DUA52:
Disk S1SDUA52: (HSC014), device type RA81, is online, mounted, file-oriented device
'
shareable, available to cluster, error logging Is enabled.
Error count
1
Operations completed
325129
ONner process
.. ONner UIC
[AOOOOOO,SYSTEM]
OINner process 10 OOOOOOOO Dev Prot S:RWEO, O:RWED, G:RWED, W:RWED
Reference count
18 Default buffer size
512
Total blocks
891072 Sectors per track
51
Total cylinders
1248 Tracks per cylinder
14
Min ret. period (days)

180

Max ret. pertod (days)

180

When volume retention is active, the most common way to
check on expiration dates is using one or more flavors of the
DIRECTORY command.
$ DIR/FULL file-spec
$ DIR/EXPIRED/BEFORE = date-time file-spec
$ DIR/EXPIRED/SINCE = date-time file-spec
The date-time value is used to select files with an expiration
date that matches the value. The most common use of this
command is $ DIR/EXPIRED/BEFORE = today. Iffile ext:>iration dates have NEVER been used, $ DIR/EXPIRED/BEFORE=today will return all files. The reason for
this is RMS initializes the expiration date to zero, which is interpreted as EXPIRED. This is a potential "gotcha, 11 so be
careful!
Examples of DIR/EXPIRED
In these examples, files expired in October also show up in
the November and December expiration list.
$ DIR/EXPIRED/BEFORE = 1-0CT
Directory $1$DUA52:[MIS.PAUSHA]
LETTER.RNO;2
MONSUM.COM;1
STORY.MEM;1
TUNING.NOTE;4

lETIER1.MEM;2
PRIV.RNO;1
SUBMON.COM;1
VMS44NOTES.US;1

" lETIER1.RNO;3
PRIV1.RNO;1
TTPRINT.COM;4

MONITORCOM;1
STORY.US;5
TUNING.MEM;2

Total of 14 files.
$ DIR/EXP/BEFORE = 1-NOV
Directory $1$DUA52:[MIS.PAUSHA]
CLUSTER.RNO;1
LETTER1.RNO;3
MONITOR.COM;1
PAIV.RNO;1
STORY.US;5
TUNING.MEM;2

COB.MISC;1
MASTERDELCOM;2
MONSUM.COM;1
PRIV1.RNO; 1
STORY.MEM;1
TUNING.NOTE;4

lETIER.RNO;2
MIS1.LOOICALS;1
NET.RNO;2
SHO.RNO;"
SUBMON.COM;1
UAF.FDl;1

lETTER1.MEM;2
MIS3.LOGICALS;1
NETWORK.RNO;1
SHOCLUS.US;1
TTPRINT.COM;4
VMS44NOTES.US;1

Totat of 24 files.
$ DIR/EXP/BEFORE=1-DEC
Directory $1 $DUA52: [MIS. PAUSHA]
CLUSTER.RNO;1
LETTER1.MEM;2
MIS3.LOGICALS;1
NETWORK.RNO;1
SHOCLUS.LlS;1
TTPRINT.COM;4
VMS44NOTES.lIS;1

COB.MISC;1
LETTER1.RNO;3
MONITOR.COM;1
PRIV.RNO;1
STORY.LlS;5
TUNING.MEM;2

INFOCOM.BAS;1
MASTERDELCOM;2
MONSUM.COM;1
PRIV1.RNO;1
STORY.MEM;1
TUNING.NOTE;4

LETTER.RNO;2
MIS1.LOOICALS;1
NET.RNO;2
SHO.RNO;4
SUBMON.COM;1
UAF.FDL;1

rat~. You m~ght select betwee.n 14-30 days as the expiration
pertod for flies on such a disk. On development disks
J?rogrammers t~nd to ~oard files for much longer periods of
time, so a retention penod of 3-6 months is more appropriate.
Large applications may require a period of 12 months to adequately protect master files.

Enabling Volume Retention
Once the retention period is selected, you activate it on a
volume by volume basis using the SET VOLUME command:
$ SET VOLUME/RETENTION = (Min, Max) device-spec
Min and Max define the minimum and maximum time a file
can hang around with no activity, before it "expires." The Min
and Max values must be expressed as delta times, because
they are interpreted as days from the current date.
Assume the minimum value is 14 days and the maximum is
90 days ($ SET VOLUME/RETENTION = (14-,90-)). When a
file is created, the expiration date is set to the current date
plus MAX (today + 90 days). The next time the file is accessed, if (MIN + current date) is less than the expiration
date, no change is made. If (MIN + current date) is greater
than the expiration date, the expiration field is updated to
(current date + MAX).
In generic terms, any file created on this volume must be
used at least once in the next 90 days for the expiration date
to be extended. Otherwise it will expire. You can get a much
finer granularity on file expiration if you use between 7-30
days for ~oth MIN and MAX values (7-,7-) or (30-,30-). With
(7-,7-), a file must be used once/Week or it will expire. In the
second case, a file must be used once/month or it will expire.
If you use a very fine granularity (something like 24 hours)
you are introducing substantial overhead from RMS as the
e~piration ~ate may be updated more frequently, possibly
with every file access.
When you activate a volume retention period, all new files
created, and all existing files that are ACCESSED will be included in expiration processing. Old files that are not accessed, for whatever reason, will continue to have NONE for
an expiration date. This can cause trouble the first you try
to use BACKUP/EXPIRED/DELETE.
RMS and Expiration Dates
When does RMS update the expiration date? RMS does absolutely nothing to expiration dates unless a volume retention period is defined. With volume retention RMS examines
the expiration date anytime a read or write iS'done to the file.
Type, Copy, Rename, Edit, Print, and Purge all open a file
and thus update the expiration date. Remember, however,
the DIRECTORY command does NOT open a file and thus
does NOT update the expiration field. BACKUP also does
NOT update the expiration date because it uses OIOs instead of RMS, for file processing.
I

Total of 25 files.
Selecting a Retention Period
To establish retention periods on your system select each
drive where (unused) files tend to accumulate and cause
sp~ce sho.rtages. Answer the question, "How long should
a file remaIn unused on this drive before it can be backed up
and deleted?"
On word processing disks, files propagate at an amazing
LUG*NOTES

Y~u can get a da~e in the expiration field of old files (files that
e~lsted on the disk before you defined a retention period).
w!th the SET FILE co":,mand and an appropriate file-spec
wildcard. Use a date/time that matches the first expiration
date from the SET VOLUME command. Be sure to exclude
the VMS root from the wildcard operation!
$SET FILE/EXPIRED = date file-spec
Then operations performed using /EXPIRED field will catch
Page 5

December 1987
aU files on the volume. Files existing on the volume before'
retention period is activated will have expiration dates updated the first time they are accessed. If they are not accessed by the time the first expiration period arrives, the files
will be treated as expired.
Deleting Expired Files
The last part of using expiration dates is to look for, backup,
and delete files with expired dates. BACKUP can examine
the EXPIRED field and select files based on expiration date.
If the expiration date is earlier than the date of the backup
operation,_ you tell BACKUP to backup and then delete the
expired files using the qualifiers below. Remember to add
any additional qualifiers that are used at your site.

$ BACKUP/EXPIRED/BEFORE =today/DELETE/...
If you are a nice system manager, you can even send mail
to your users containing the list of files removed because of
inactivity. The command procedures/programs to accomplish this are too long to reproduce here, but the basic
procedure is as follows:
• Do a DIRECTORY/OWNER/EXPIRED/BEFORE = today for
each drive naving a retention period defined and send the
output to a file.
• Sort the expired list by owner so all files belonging to one
person are grouped tOgether.
Translate the owner of the file to a username if they are not
the same.

t

t

I

Pick up all files with the same owner and write this list to a
text f~~ along with a message saying the files have been
deletea due to inactivity.
Send this text file via MAIL to the file owner's username.

~ollow this with your regular daily or image backup procelure, using /EXPIRED/BEFORE = today/DELETE with your
ormal BACKUP qualifiers.

)bviously, you cannot recycle your backup media in five
ays if that IS where the expired files are stored. You must
lake some provision for storing backup media for several
lonths (at least 3, I suspect) so you can restore files if the
eed arises. The end result is that you have clean disks,
sers have copies of files available (for the archive period
)U select), and you get rid of all the clutter each time a
ACKUP is done!
'ords of Wisdom
lere are several points to consider when designing expira)0 procedures. Be sure to accomodate variations in the
'iY users are authorized and organized on your system. If
»u have both alpha and numeric UICs, you need to ac»modate this when cross-referencing the file owner with a
:ername in the MAIL notification procedure.
hen using these techniques, the simplest case occurs
len all files belonging to a single user are stored on a single
ive, rather than across many drives. If you have a single
er on many drives, accomodate this situation when you
rt the expired file list.
elude the VMS root and other required system files from
:>iration processing.
len you activate retention on a disk, remember to update
! expiration fields for all files already on that volume.
lerwise you may delete a good portion of the files on the

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group
first BACKUP/EXPIRED!
There are dictionary and index type files that need to be
rebuilt if files they refer to are deleted. You must understand
the relationship among files to maintain correct copies of
these master files. Alternatively, you can move these files to
a drive that is not using a retention period.
For restore purposes, make sure you archive expired tapes
for an adequate period of time.
Benefits of Expired File Management
Now you know when users are accessing files and when files
are sitting dormant, wasting space. Your users will wonder
how you figured this out! Many of them will also be grateful
for your cleanup efforts, because it is much easier to locate
a file in a clean directory. If you are billing departments (or
customers) for disk space usage, they will be grateful because their computing bill will go down.
Last, your boss will be delighted the latest application can
be installed on existing disks, because you have managed
the space sowell!

What's a fragment?
by Tony Carraro, Mile-High Information Services
Just what is disk fragmentation and why is it bad? Well, fragmentation is what happens to your files (and free space) on
a disk as it gets used more and more. It's bad because the
more fragmented a file is, the longer it takes to access the
file.
Specifically, VMS will try to put a file onto disk contiguously
(all the disk blocks together) if it can. When a disk is new,
this is exactly what happens. However, as new files are
added, old ones extended and deleted, files are no longer
on the disk in nice contiguous fashion. Instead, VMS makes
use of space where it finds it. A contiguous group of blocks
belonging to a file is called an "extent' of the file. A file may
have one or many extents. When a file- is opened VMS sets
up retrieval pointers for the various extents of the file in a construct called a window control block. By default, that 90ntrol block will hold pointers to seven extents. When you need
to access a part of the file not mapped by those retrieval
pointers, VMS must perform an operation called "window
turning," which involves going to the file header, getting the
next retrieval pointer and putting it into the window. This is
expensive in that it incurs at least one extra disk 10 operation.
When you are writing a file to disk, if the file can fit into a
single extent, the write operation is very quick and efficient.
If not, VMS must find enough space in pieces to hold the file.
Again, extra disk activity occurs, slowing things down.
How can you tell if your disks are fragmented? There is a
program available from DECUS called FRAG that will look at
the fragmentation of the free space on the disk. There is
another program, used in DEC's VMS Performance course,
that looks at fragmentation of files on the disk. Both
measures can be important. If you want a quick test, you
can dump the headers of some large, recently created or extended files and count retrieval pointers. The command to
dump the header is:

$ DUMP/HEADER/BLOCKS = COUNT = 0
Toward the end of the dump, you will see the pointers. If you
have more than a few, the files is fairly to badly fragmented.

1

I

I
I

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

Evaluating disk
defragmentation packages
by Elaine Lundy, Rockwell International
Disk defragmentation packages are everywhere these days,
and all of them claim to save system managers great
amounts of time and effort, and all of them claim to be easy
to use and effective.
The VAX systems group at Rockwell International/Rocky
Flats Plant decided we'd like to look into purchasing a disk
defragmentation package. After looking in various trade
magazines ads and reading some articles on disk defragmentors, we decided to pick the following products for
evaluation: Rabbit-7, DISKIT, SQUEEZPAK, and DISKEEPER. I was assigned to do the evaluations on the plant's
test system fYAX 11/750).
The first step in our evaluation was to decide what criteria
the disk defragmentor must meet in order for it to be beneficial to us. The requirements are:
• Must be. Clble to run on-line with no disruption of normal
user actIVity.
• Must be easy to run, or must be able to be run in batch.
• Must d~fraament the pisks effectively without significantly
degrading fesponse time on the system.
• Must be able to run in a cluster environment with volumeshadowed disks.
In this case, cost was no object--in fact, I didn't know how
much each package cost when I did the evaluation. I was
simply looking for the best product.
The first package I evaluated was Rabbit-7, made by RAXCO
Incorporated. I didn't actually run Rabbit-7 on a disk, because it didn't meet our requirements of not disrupting system activity. The documentation for Rabbit-7 states:
Notice that it is not necessary to reboot the system before
or after running DOPTERNMS. It is not necessary to keep
other users off of the system while DOPTERNMS is running.
However, it is desirable to do so, since external file creation
and deletion while DOPTERNMS is running tends to cause
DOPTERNMS to fraQment free space. Also, DOPTERNMS
cannot copy files which are held open by another process. _
(DOPTERNMS is the utility program at the heart of Rabbit7).
I felt that the "desirability" to reboot and keep users off of the
system while Rabbit was running was unacceptable and did
not meet our requirements tor a defragmentor, so I decided
to put Rabbit-7 on hold untH I found out if the other packages
had the same constraints.
I evaluated DISKIT next, made by Software Techniques Incorporated. DISKIT did not meet our criteria either, because
step 3 in the documentation entitled "RUNNING DSU ON A
DATA DISK" states IIDISMOUNT the target disk." This blew
DISKIT out of the water, because it can't be run on the system without disrupting user activity. I tested DISKIT anyway,
thinking that perhaps there wasn't a disk defragmentor that
wouldn't disrupt user activity on the system.
DISKIT performed impressively and also included two additional utilities called XDIR and PROCESS which are very
• •• "' ........ ,-..,.-rr-r"

December 1987
similar to the DIRECTORY and SHOW PROCESS utilities already on the VAX, but with a few enhancements.
DISKIT completed the defragmentation pass in two hours
and produced both a "beforell and lIafterl report showing how
badly the disk was fragmented before the DISKIT run and
how well DISKIT defragmented the disk. The report showed
that DISKIT indeed fully defragmented the disk. If dismounting the target disk isn't a problem for your site, you may want
to take a closer look at DISKIT.
The third package I evaluated, and the least desirable of
them all, wasSQUEEZPAK, distributed by Data Center
Software, Inc. SQUEEZPAK looked great on paper, but did
not perform well at all during the actual test. SQUEEZPAK
doesn't require dismounting the target disk or rebooting the
system, and lets you have users accessing the target disk.
SQUEEZPAK also claims not to degrade system performance and can be run in batch.
I thought I had hit pay-dirt and began my test. I used the
same target disk as I had used with DISKIT. There was a
three-week wait between the DISKIT run and the SQUEEZPAK run. The disk wasn't as badly fragmented, but there was
some fragmentation due to the installation of several very
large software products.
I began running SQUEEZPAK in batch mode, producing two
repoI1s--one of which was a log file that is kept as SQUEEZPAK runs. After about one hour, SQUEEZPAK aborted the
run, and inserted some horrible-looking error messages into
the log file.
I could not find any references to the error messages in the
documentation, so I decided to call Data Center Software. I
spent four days attempting to get through to the support center. The line was constantly busy. I didn't even get to talk to
an operator. Finally, the sales representative called me to
ask how the test was going and I told him the problem. That
same day, I received a call from the support center. I read
them the error message I had received, and was told that
SQUEeZPAK must have hit a bad block on the disk and that
I should do an ANALYZE/MEDIA on my RA80 to really find
out what the problem was.
I didn't do it. I decided to try DISKEEPER on the same disk
as the one SQUEEZPAK blew up on to see if it would blow
up, too.
Data Center Software/DEMAC called me back and convinced me to try their new version of SQUEEZPAK. Again, I
put the package on the system and ran it. After two hours,
I checked into the status of the run, and found that it had only
gone through a tiny section of the disk. I tried calling the
support center and couldn't get through. Needless to say,
I'd had enough of SQUEEZPAK by then and aborted the run.
I would not recommend SQUEEZPAK to anyone for the
simple reason that if anything were to go seriously amuck,
the support center would probably be of little help until it was
too late.
I saved the best evaluation for last. I evaluated DISKEEPER,
and found it to be the best disk defragmentation paCki1~ie of
the four. Again,l used the same disk I had used for SOUl:EZPAK. DISKEEPER defragmented the disk and did fh:;: r-:;ow
up the way SQUEEZPAK had.
DISKEEPER runs on line and doesn't require any dismounts
or reboots. It will run with a full load of users and runs at a
process priority of 2 so that system performance is not
degraded. I was able to set up DISKEEPER to run at boot
Page 7

December 1987
time in SYSTARTUP.COM. When the system booted, OISKEEPER ran at a low priority until the disk was defragmented.
The first run took about 1 and 1/2 hours. I continued having
DISKEEPER run at boot time (usually once a week) and the
subsequent run times fell to about 30 minutes.
DISKEEPER also produces useful reports so you can see
what it's doing. Also, OISKEEPER does not need any
recovery procedures if the system crashes or there is a
powerfailuredurihgthe defragmentation. DISKEEPER is the
only product I evaluated that did not have some kind of a
recovery procedure or the possibility of losing files in the
event of a power failure or crash.
DISKEEPER claimed it would work with volume shadowing
and bound volumes, but I didn't have a shadowed or bound
{olume to test it on.
rhe best thing about DISKEEPER was that it was extremely
3asy to use. 1 set it up to run at boot time and forgot about
t. I could look at the reports if I wanted to, but no further in:ervention on my part was needed. The reports generated
)y DISKEEPER showed complete defragmentation of the
arget disk.
n my opinion, OISKEEPER far outshone the other defragnentors and I suggested that we purchase it for our VAX
~Iuster. We had made plans to purchase OISKEEPER, when
wo people from our group went to a recent LUG meeting
IOd heard about some problems with OISKEEPER "losing
rack of itself' in a cluster environment. Plans to buy DISCEEPER were put on hold. I was naturally upset because
ny evaluation of DISKEEPER showed it to be a good pack1ge, although I hadn't tested it on the cluster.

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group
say about the reported cluster problems. I spoke with one
of Executive Software's technical support people. She said
she had never heard of any problems running DISKEEPER
in a cluster environment. I asked her if she could give me
any customer references who were actually running 018KEEPER on a cluster. She was more than happy to oblige
and suggested I call Dewitt Howard, at Interstate Electronics
in Anaheim, California, who has been running DISKEEPER
on a cluster for over a year.
Howard informed me that he has been running DISKEEPER
on his four-node cluster for one year and two months and
has never had a problem with it. His cluster has a common
system disk, volume shadowing, bound volumes.and dual
HSCs. He also does some consulting in his business and
often recommends DISKEEPER to his clients (most of whom
have clusters) and none of them have ever had a problem
with it. He wanted to know the names of the people at the
LUG meeting who were having problems with DISKEEPER,
but I didn't know who they were. Howard has invited me or
someone in the VAX group to come to his computer room
and see DISKEEPER at work while in California for the upcominQ DECUS. He gave me permission to use his name in
this article and invited readers to call him if they had questions or concerns about DISKEEPER in a cluster environment. Dewitt Howard's phone number is (714) 758-0500
x4555.
I was unable to find out the names of the people who were
having problems with DISKEEPER so that I could present
their side of this coin. Although we have not opted to purchase DiSKEEPER yet. my evaluation still ranks it as the best
disk defragmentation package of the four I tested.

decided to call Executive Software to see what they had to

1ge8

LUG*NOTES

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users Group

Defragmenting the RA-81:
An experience with
SQUEEZPAK
by Ira Russianoff, Colorado School of Mines
This is a mixed review for SaUEEZPAK--1 found it works well
only in certain environments. It works better in structures
with smaller files than structures with larger files.
Let me first go over some terminology I found confusing at
first:
Holes (unused space) are fragments.
Non-contiguous files are files with one or more holes.
Contiguous file efficiency is a number that increases with the
number of contiguous files.
Free space efficiency is a number that increases with an increase in the size Of the free spaces.
We have two disk/file environments at the Colorado School
of Mines Computing Center's VAXcluster. The academicuser files are on one two-disk volume set. The administrative-user files are on .three separate disks. All are RA81 s.
Academic users tend to have many small files. SaUEEZPAK
did a wonderful job on the two-disk volume set. It reduced
the number of file fragments or holes from 15000 to one large
free space.
Administrative users have fewer files, but they are much
larger. On the administrative disks, the number of file frag-

December 1987
ments was doubled by SaUEEZPAK. On one first run on an
administration disk, the number of holes doubled (from 2500
to 5000) but the contiguous file efficjency increased from
87% to 98%. The number of holes can actually increase,
while contiguous file efficiency also increases. Presumably,
this means more files are contiguous, while the remaining
fragmented files are more fragmented than they were before.
Multiple passes may be required to improve the distribution
of files on the disk. On the administration disks, the largest
free space remaining was reduced from 5000 to 2000 blocks
after three passes.

New KERMIT distribution tape
by Richard Wiseman, Storage Technology Corp.
Here is some more info on the KERMIT distribution tape that
was mentioned in the last issue. Most of the following information was taken from the AAREADME files and edited for
the newsletter.
File names all start with letters and are of the form
NAME.TYPE, and will normally appear in alphabetical order
in a directory listing or on a tape. Files whose names start
with AA (like this one)--normally appearing at the top of a
directory listing--give general information about Kermit.
Kermit programs are stored in the Kermit distribution areas
with related files grouped together using filename prefixes;
the names of all the files for a certain implementation all start
with the same 2- or 3-character prefix, for instance all the files
for MS-DOS Kermit have names starting with MS, the files

Regional returns--no April fOOling!
The Second RMVLUG Regional Conference will be held at the Sheraton Denver Tech Center, March 31-April 1, 1988.
The Regional Conference is a low-cost way to get the real lowdown on liThe VAX of Life. It's an opportunity to find
out everything you always wanted to know about your VAX, but were afraid to ask.
1I

For a mere $125 (compare THAT to the cost of going to National), you get admission to two *FULL * days of technical sessions--70 different talks to choose from! Continental breakfast and lunch on both days and a copy of the
abstract volume listing all speakers and short abstracts of their talks is included in the registration fee. Who could
ask for more?
But more there is! Many of the speakers you enjoyed at the last Regional will be returning, and many new speakers
from both DEC and the user community are--even now--planning their presentations. If you have ideas for a talk you'd
like to see or give at the Conference, there are still a few open spots in the program. Contact Tony Carrato (303-7210851) with program-related questions or suggestions.
If you are interested in attending the Regional Conference, there will be registration kits available at the January LUG
meeting. We have mailed packets to all registered DECUS members in Colorado and surrounding states. If you are
~ot a DEC~S member, you can get a packet if you attend the January meeting or contact one of the RMVLUG steerIng commIttee members.
We also encourage all RMVLUG members to join DECUS--membership is free, and forms will be available at the
January LUG meeting. We're looking forward to the Regional Conference, and hope you are, too.

December 1987
names for VM/CMS Kermit all start with CMS.
The following files describe what's available in the Kermit distribution:
• AAFILES.HLP - Explanation of what files are available and
how 1bey. are named.
• AANETW.HLP --Information about network access to Kermit files.
• AANQKS.HLP -- Information about the Oklahoma State U
Kermit archive.
• AATAPE.HLP ---Information about Kermit distribution tape
formats.
Files whose names start with AAV are brief, complete lists of
existing, available Kermit versions, sorted in various ways:
• AAVERS.HLP -- Master list, in no particular order.
• AAVNEW.HLP -- Listed in reverse chronological order of
relea..se date.
• AAVOPS.HLP -- Listed alphabetically by operating system

orJl.Y.

• AAvPFX.HLP -- Listed alphabetically by prefix, regardless
oUaDe.
• AAV5y'S. HLP -- Listed alphabetically by machine and
ooeratlng ~'lStem.
• AAvr~P:HL~ -- Listed by tape (A or B), then alphabetically by file prefIX.
The next file lists the Kermit programs we are still waiting for:
• AAWAIT.HLP -- A list of Kermit implementations reportedly under development
The KERMIT Distribution is in VMS Backup format. This tape
contains a complete distribution of Kermit as obtained from
Columbia University on April 22, 1987. That distribution required three full reels and around 92000 blocks. To make a
tape that would fit, many of the non-Digital Kermit versions
have been collected into compressed VMS Backup savesets
located in the [.compress] subdirectory of this directory.
Directories of each save set and the decompress utilities are
provided in that tree.
The resulting tape has all DEC related Kermits, plus Kermits
for major microprocessors, and some IBM mainframe versions, and all documents, in the top level. The Kermits in the
~ompressed savesets include most of the "obsolete" Kermits
3nd Kermits for less popular machines. As a result, the disribution is now less than 70300 blocks and can be placed
)n one reel of tape in VMS Backup format.
IVhen you read the tape, please use the VAX that did the
eading to decompress any compressed Kermits :you need
)efore moving to another machine. The full Kermit release
rom Columbia is still the primary source for Kermit and its
~NSI distribution may work better for some systems than
lis one. Be advised however that three full reels at 1600 BPI
re filled by this release. It was felt that such a distribution
'ould strain the DECUS tape copy channels.

,YSGEN parameter

ldjustments and tuning
vTony Carrato, Mile-High Information Services
,e following notes are distilled from talks given at the Fall
~87 DECUS. In particular, a talk was given on rules that
JTOGEN will use in implementing a FEEDBACK option as
VMS version 5.0.
Jles to adjust SYSGEN parameter settings:

Rocky Mountain VAX Local Users GrouQ
BALSETCNT: Larger of (peak observed + 20%) or (80% of
current setting) but not greater than MAXPROCESSCNT
GBLPAGES/GBLSECTION: (Peak observed + 20%) or (current number required by VMSIMAGES.DAT) or (80% of current value)
NPAGEDYN:
.If~ool has exppnded beygnd initial value, then (current +
75% of exppnaed amount)
.If expanasion failures have occurred, then (current +
deficit of expansion failures)
• If pool has not ~xpanded and no allocation failures have
occurred, then lcllrrent -10%)
PAGEDYN: Larger of current or standard calculation or:
• If allocatiqn failures h~ve occurred, then (current plus 50%
of ex~nslon amount)
.If (maximum used .LE. 80% of current), then (current -10%)
SRP,IRPCOUNT:
• If expanded .. then (current plus 50% of expansion amount)
• If no expansIon or allocation failures, then (current amount
-10%)
LRPCOUNTV: In LAVCs, this number should be high;
probably .GE. 200
XCP caches:
.If (attempt rate .LT..5/sec), then iw,0re
.If Iattemot rate .GE.. 5/sec) and it rale .LT. 75%), then
raIse bV 20%, but no more than tree tImes the standard
calculation (some things like BACKUP and DIR use the
caches very poorly)
MSCP buffer:
If (server through-put .LT. 1 IO/second), then leave alone
If (fragment or waited (paused) 10 .GT. 1%), then increase
by 25%
LOCKIDTBL: If .LT. current in use, set to std. calculation
(current - std. calculated value)/2

+

Page file: Should be sized to keep half (or less) full
Swap file: Should be kept no more than 2/3 full
Measures of how busy a system is:
Symptoms
Problem
Average memory queue High swapping
.GT.O
INSWP .GT.O
Swapper CPU % .GE. 2
Direct 10's .GT. 30 x CPU High direct 10 load
factor
10 rate/second .GT. 15
for any disk
Buffered 10's .GE. 100 X
CPU factor

High buffered 10 load

Average CPU queue .GT.
1
Average of more than 1
process in COM state

Too many processes waiting
for CPU

Idle time .LE. 10%

Insufficient idle time

Free pages .LT.
GROWLIM
Average memory utilization .GT. 90%

No free memory

to

,.;::

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Rocky Mountair1V~Local
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-RMVLUG Newsletter
c/o Kata Weber
Colorado School of Mines
Computing Center
Golden CO 80401

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PAVLUG NEWSLETTER
Portland/Vancouver Area Vax Local Users Group .
Volume 3, Number 4
December 1981
WELCOME
This is the newsletter for the Portland and Vancouver area Local VAX Users
group (PAVLUG).
If you have an article or some information to contribute
to the newsletter please send it to:
PAVLUG
Newsletter Editor
PO Box 1990
Beaverton, Oregon

91015-1990

Just a reminder to new LUG members about the Canons of Conduct.
The
Canons of Conduct is a set of guidelines primarily for DECUS symposium
functions.
Our local LUG meetings also follow these guidelines to insure
that our meetings are informative and useful to the user community. We
are not out to sell products or services including those of Digital
Equipment Corporation. We exist as a group to share public domain
technology within the industry and within our local area.
Disclaimer:
It is a~sumed that all articles submitted to the editor of this
newsletter are with the author's permission to publish in any DECUS
publication.
The articles are the responsibility of the author and
therefore, DECUS, Digital Equipment Corporation, and the editor assume
no responsibility or liability for articles or information appearing in
this publication. Views herein expressed are those of the authors and
do not necessarily express the views of DECUS or Digital Equipment
Corporation.
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation:
DEC
DECNET
DECsystem-10
DECsystem-20
DECUS
DECwriter

DIBOL
Digital Logo
Edusystem
lAS
MASSBUS
PDP

PDT
RSTS
RSX
UNIBUS
VAX
VMS

VT

DECUS Anyone?
You must be a DECUS member to remain on our mailing list.
DECUS
membership is free, so JOln now.
You can call any of the PAVLUG officers
to get an application, or you can write to:
DECUS, US Chapter
249 Northboro Road,
BP02
Marlboro, MA
01152
(617) 480-3419

LAST LUG MEETING
The November LUG meeting was an unqualified success with attendance at the
all day event soaring to a new high of 110. Our LUG is definitely growing
and the quality of the service remains high. Thanks to all of the
volunteers who made it happen.

NEXT LUG" MEETING

The next LUG meeting will be held January 28, 1987 at Good Samaritan
Hospital starting at 11:00. Don Alexander (DEC) will be discussing DBMS
systems so it should be an interesting meeting.
We will
2255 NW
between
lunch.

be in room 110 of the Nursing Education Building. The address is
Northrup. Parking is available in the visitor area on Marshal
21st and 22nd avenue. As usual, goodies will be provided for
See you there!!

COMING ATTRACTIONS

In response to the overwhelming popularity of th~ annual all day seminars
we are going to increase the frequency to twice a year. The next all day
seminar will be held on April 13. Tentative topics are Networking,
Connectivity, and DBMS. More details in the next newsletter.

SPEAKING OF VOLUNTEERS ••••

Would you like to be showered with glory, prestige, and admiration among
your peers? How about a free cup of coffee? All you need to do is to
volunteer your services. It is the time given by volunteers that keeps
the group going, so volunteer today!! If you have questions please
contact any of the officers listed below:
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Secretary
Tape Librarian
Newsletter Editor
Digi tal Rep. ,

Taj Aoki
Jon Hurtley
Bruce Godfrey
Ro,b Perry
Ethan VanMatre
Dave Griggs

(206)
(503)
(503)
(503)
(206)
(503)

696-7151
220-4350
627":7096
280-2050 x2522
699-5755
245-1341

tUMORS (Read at your own risk)

* VMS
* ' VMS
* New

V4.7 will be released soon.
V5.0 is still coming.

Maybe February or March.

I

Look for an announcement this Spripg.

release of All-In-l coming soon (Spring??).
ability to capture response time statistics.

Included will be the

I
I

NATIONAL DECUS SYMPOSIUM IN REVIEW
The Fall symposium was attended by over 7500 people and as usual there waf
a tremendous amount of information passed around. Here are some brief
notes to make you wish you had been there:

* The VAXjVMS Internals and Data Structures book for V4.4 is now
available.

* There was a CDROM disk distributed in honor of the VAX 10 year
anniversary. The disk contains all of the VAXSIG tapes from Spring
1984 through Spring 1987. That's at least 14 1600bpi tapes on one 5"
disk folks.

*

DEC refused to acknowledge VMS VS.O.

*

VMS VS.O Notes
o Modified page writer
'- .-- "s·upports. parallel

However, there were lots of
presentations that contained detailed information about 'a future
major release of VMS'.

··1/0·

-~Impi6~es-system·responsivene5s

- Smaller oscillation in modified page list
o pagefile
'- Space allocated to process as address area grows
~~Better load balancing between pagefiles
- No primary pagefile needed
- Global buffers no longer tied to pagefile
o RMS
- Relative files use data security erase at file creation
- Indexed global buffer optimization
- Faster sequential access to indexed files
- General performance improvement for sequential files
o UTILITIES
- AUTOGEN
> New feedback' mechanism for selected resources
-'BACKUP
> Improved standalone backup
> Implicit tape mount
> Tape expiration date check
- DeL

- MAIL

> Block IF
> IF-THEN-ELSE construct
> /[NO]CC-supp~rt
> /[NO]PERSONAL_NAME support
> Enhanced printing support

- MONITOR
> Multiprocessor synchronization time
> File statistics
> Mass storage statistics
- SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
> New command files for adding users, backing up user
accounts, and restoring backed up files
> New utility for managing clusters, remote clusters,
and remote nodes
o Miscellaneous
- 5% drop in overall throughput
- 1/4 megabyte:decrease in static memory requirement
- New system management architecture

TAPE LIBRARY NEWS
Due to powers beyond his control, Dave Morgan is unable to continue as our
tape librarian~ Dave has done an outstanding job and we sincerely
appreciate all of his efforts as librarian. Our new librarian will be Rob
Perry. Be sure to shower Rob with glory and admiration the next time you
see him.
Donated to the library is the VAX 10th year anniversary CDROM disk.
disk contains VAX volumes:
VAXSP29
VAXSP39

VAXSP46
VAXSP49

VAXSPS2

This

VAXSP64

VAXSP61

Contact Rob Perry for further details.

DECUS SOFTWARE REVIEW
SPELL CHECKER

If you are looking for -a' good public domain spelling checker, have I got a
deal for youl There have been two major spelling check~r8 availabl~- fk~m
the DECUS tapes over the 'past several years, and we support both of them
here at ESI. But I will describe the one we feel is the better of the two
packages. This package is available on the Fall 1985 VAX symposium tape
in the directory (V.AX85D.VASSAR.SPELL). Here is a small excerpt from some
of the documentation that comes with t~e program:
.
SPELL is a proofreader which makes use of a default 90,000 word
dictionary and optionally a personal dictionary. SPELL asks for a
file name that wish to have checked. When a word is found that is
not in any of the dictionaries, you will be asked if:
• You believe the word is correct and should be inserted into the
main dictionary.
.
• The word is incorrect and you want to correct it.
• You wish SPELL to try guessing what the word is.
• You wish to have the word inserted into a personal dictionary
which will reside in your default directory.
• You wish SPELL to ignore the word.
SPELL reads standard VMS text files - such as those created by EDT
or TPU, and will recognize the syntax for embedded commands in
RUNOFF, TeX and SCRIBE word processor input files, thus preventing.
many spurious "errors" from being registered. The program makes
extensive use of SMG$ screen management routines, and may be used on
any video terminal supported in TERMTABLE.EXE. The entire program
is written in Pascal, and should be readily modifiable if additional
functionality is required.
his program is a little more complicated to install than some of the other
rograms I've mentioned, but I feel that it's definitely worth the"effortl
t also takes up 'a fair chunk of disk space, so keep that in mind. The
ser interface for this package is quite nice and it's fairly easy to use.
,ntact Rob Perry about acquiring DECUS tapes if you are interested in this
r any other free DECUS software package. Good Luck!!

I
I
I

VMS SHOP TALK
Startup Parameters
The SYSGEN parameters STARTUP_Pl-PB are reserved for controlling the VMS
startup procedure. Currently only parameters 1 and 2 are actually used,
although STARTUP does pass the values of all 8 parameters to both SYCONFIG
and SYSTARTUP when they are executed. The startup parameters are set the
same as any other sysgen parameters, either from within the conversational
bootstrap facility (SYSBOOT/BOOT58) or through the SYSGEN utility. If you
use SYSGEN be sure to save your changes (WRITE CURRENT) otherwise they will
be lost when the system is shutdown. Regardless of how you set the
parameters, remember that the changes will stay in affect until explicitly
reset by you.
STARTUP_Pl
This parameter determines the type of startup performed, either FULL,
UPGRADE, or MINIMUM (Before somebody gets excited, let me note that I am
intentionally omitting the possible values that apply only to microvax
systems.
If-~oti· ~re iriter~sted' in those values I suggest you take a look
at STARTUP.COM in the SYS$SYSTEM directory). The default value is spaces
which tells STARTUP.COM to do a full VMS boot including execution of any
site specific startup command procedures. The UPGRADE value is usually
set automatically during VMS upgrades and won't be addressed in this
discussion. A value of "MIN" tells STARTUP.COM to do a.MINIMUM boot of
the VMS system. Only those instructions necessary to make VMS operationc
will be executed which means a minimum amount of device configuration anc
no execution of site specific startup commands.
'
The minimum boot option provides a way to bring up a VMS system without
any frills . . At completion of the boot process only the system disk will
be mounted, only the console device will be available, and interactive
log ins will be set to B. I use this option whenever I need to:

* Manipulate secondary page and swap files.
* Perform sensitive disk maintenance operations.
* Run performance benchmarks against selected software packages.

*

Perform software testing in a controlled environment (nice when
upgrading VMS).
Keep all users, including those with lots of privileges, off of
the system.

*

Once the minimum boot has completed you can execute DCL procedures
(including systartup·) to-create the desired software environment. It ma
also be desirable to make additional devices (disks, tapes, terminals,
etc) available to VMS. The easiest way to make all devices available is
to execute the hardware configuration section in STARTUP. COM that was
bypassed during the minimum boot. To do this, use the command:
@SYS$SYSTEM:STARTUP CONFIGURE.
If you don't want to configure all
devices, use the SYSGEN utility to LOAD the drivers for whatever deviceE
are needed.
STARTUP_P2
This parameter is used to set verification on and off for the boot
procedure (STARTUP.COM). The default is"
"which specifies no
verification (thank goodness). Any nonblank value will turn on
verification.
If you really want to watch STARTUP at work then this
__

.L

__

_

.!

_

~

_.,

• • "' ••

PAVLUG NEWSLETTER
Portland/Vancouver Area Vax Local Users Group
Voluae 4, Number 1
Karch 1988

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ***.*** •••
**
••
APRIL REGISTRATION INFORMATION INCLUDED. DO NOT DISCARDl!
**
••
**
••
* ••• *•••• *••• *.* ••• ** •••••••••••••••••••• ** •• * •••••••••••• *** ••• ** ••••••• *

WELCOME
This is the newsletter for the Portland and Vancouver area Local VAX User
group:" '(PAVLUG). : If you--have an:':article -or some information to-~cont::'tlbute
to 'the' newsletter please~:send it- to:
·PAVLUu-

Newsletter'EditorPO Box 1990
Beaverton, Oregon

97075-1990

Just a reminder to new LUG members about the Canons of Conduct. The
Canons of Conduct is a set of guidelines primarily for DECUS symposium
functions. Our local LUG meetings also follow these guidelines to insure
that our meetings are informative and useful to the user community. We
ar~ n6t out to sell prodticts or ~er~ices including those of Digital
Equipment Corporation. We exist as -a group to share public domain
technology within the industry and within our local area.
Disclaiaer:
It is assumed that all articles submitted to the editor of this
newsletter are with the author's permission to publish in any DECUS
publication. The articles are the responsibility of the author and
therefore, DECUS, Digital Equipment Corporation, and the editor assume
no tesponsibility or liability for articles or information appearing i1
this publication. Views herein expressed are those of the authors and
do not necessarily express the views of DECUS or Digital Equipment
Corporation.
The following are trademarks of
Corporation:
DEC
DECNET
DECsystem-10
DECsystem-20
DECUS
DECwriter

Di9it~1

Equipment

DIBOL
Digital Logo
Edusystem

PDT
RSTS

lAS

UNIBUS

MASSBUS
PDP

RSX

VAX

VMS

VT

LAST LUG MEETING

The January LUG meeting went very well. Don Alexander did ~n excellent
job of introducing everyone to the wonders of databasing. Thanks to all
who attended and a special thanks to Don for his time and expertise.
NEXT LUG MEETING

The next LUG meeting will be held April 13th at the Red Lion. This will
be an all day special featuring several guest speakers addressing a
variety of topics. Everybody is welcome so invite all your co-workers.
Registration information is included in this newsletter. See you there!!
~OMINATIONS

OPEN

Nominations are now being accepted for your 1988-89 PAVLUG officers. All
positions are open: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Newsletter Editor,
and Librarian. Any PAVLUG member may fill the one year term (second year
is optional) which begins July 1, 1988. No mystical talents required, so
enjoy the.rewards of DECUS leadership!
All nominations must be in writing, should include the name and phone
number of nominator and nominee, and the signature of the nominator (Yes
you can nominate yourself). Nominations can be sent to the address below
or dropped off at the registration table during the April 13th symposium.
Nominations close April 14th. Ballots will be.distributed in the May
newsletter. If you would like more information about a particular
position please .feel free to contac~ the p~rson currently in the position.
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Secretary
Tape Librarian
Newsletter Editor
Digital Rep.
Send Ballots to:

L

Taj Aoki
Jon Hurtley
Bruce Godfrey
Rob Perry
Rob Nesbitt
Lou Reillo

(206)
(503)
(503)
(503)
(503)
(503)

696-7151
220-4350
627-7096
280-2050 x2522
226-4692 x2754
691-0400

CH2M-Hill
Attn: Mike white
2020 sw 4th Avenue, 2nd floor
Portland, OR. 97201

DREGS

Lately I have begun using the lexical function F$ELEMENT. This function
allows you to extract information from a list by specifying the symbol
containing the list, the delimiter separating the elements and the number of
the element you want to extract (starting with 0):
F$ELEMENT(element number,delimiter,source_list)
:f an element number is outside the range of the specified list, F$ELEMENT
"eturns the value of the delimiter character.

DeL DREGS (cont)
Here is a simple example to introduce the function. This routine converts
month numbers to names. It will prompt for and accept a number, validate
the number, and then extract and display the appropriate three character
month abbreviation:
$
$
$

set noon
names:- JAN,FEB,MAR,APR,MAY,JUN,JUL,AUG,SEP,OCT,NOV,DEC

$START:
$
inquire/nopunctuation month nbr "Enter the number of a month: "
$
month nbr - f$integer(mopth-nbr)
$

$

-

'

-

if month nbr .It. 1 .or. month nbr .qt. 12 then qoto START

$

$
$
$

month name - f$element(month nbr - 1,",",na~es)
.wri te-sys$o.utput '"Month' pame-.is . " 'm,o.nth__n~m~.'",
it·
.
,.' -.. ,
:, '.:,' ,....., . .... .,
e'~

Let me point out that anything that can be done with F$ELEMENT can also be
done using F$EXTRACT in conjunction with F$LOCATE. Here is the F$EXTRACT
line that would accomplish the same thing as F$ELEMENT in the previous
example:
$

month_name - f$extract«month_nbr - 1)

*

4,3,names)

Based on some simple benchmark' rO'utines, it appears that the performance of
F$ELEMENT and F$EXTRACT is almost identical. In my opinion, the major
benefit of F$ELEMENT is the simplification of position independent string
location and extraction (those are all the bi.9 words I know). The following
routine is JIlor.e of a real life type example that illustrates. the point and
al~o demonstrat~s the flexibility of the F$ELEMENT function.
This routine
will display all processes that are currently using the file EXAMPLE.COM on
DISKl.
$
$
'$

set noon
.assign/user open .fJ,les. tmp sy.s.$.output
sho'w device/f:ile7n.o:sy'~tem· ,dJskl-"

!Generate open file list

J for device DISK1

$
$
$

$START LOOP:
$
read/end of file-FINISH UP file list line in
$
file name .-f$element( 1-;"] ", line in)
!Pull file name
$
if fIle name .egs. "1" !Check for good name
then goto START_LOOP
,
file'
name
•
f$element(O,";",lin-e
in)
!Strip version number
$
if
fIle
name
.egs.
"EXAMPLE.COM"-!Check for & handle hit
$
then write sys$output f$extract(O,16,line in)
go to START_LOOP
$
$

$FINISH UP:
$
close file list
$

$EXIT PROC:
$
exit

-

DeL DREGS (cont)

Here is the loop section using the F$LOCATE and F$EXTRACT functions instead
of F$ELEMENT:
$START LOOP:
$
read/end of file-FINISH UP file list line in
$
pntr - f$locate("]",line in)
$
if pntr .eg. f$length(line in) !Check
then goto START LOOP $
file name - f$extract(pntr+l,ll,line in) !Pull
$
if fIle_name .egs. "EXAMPLE.COM" - 1Check
then write sys$output f$extract(O,16,line
$
goto START_LOOP
-

for valid line
file name
for & handle hit
in)

Obviously there are endless variations for this routine. The point is that
the F$ELEMENT function is a clean, viable alternative to F$EXTRACT
especially in the instance where F$LOCATE is required to supplement the
F$EXTRACT functionality for position independent string extraction.

Sprins Meetins Agenda

Speaker Biographies

START I
I
TIHE I
ROOM A
I
ROOM B
······,··························1····················~.~.8:00 I
Registration
8130 I Networking

* Bill

VMS Update

* Jim

Selzer

Ethernet , Networking
* Hike Neirby

12:00

Hr. Blank is a Senior Systems Engineer vith Apple Computer.
In his capacity at Apple, he provides product presentations
and general technical sales support functions. Mr. Blank's
DEC background includes 2 years as a Software Specialist, 2
years as HIS Manager at DIGITAL's Customer Support Center in
Atlanta and 4 years as a System's Programmer at Tektronix.
Bill Selzer

COFFEE BREAK

10100

10:30

Callum

Ted Blank

Bill is a Senior Software Speciaiist with DEC's Oregon
Software Services organization. In addition to VMS, he
specializes in supporting Networked and clustered VAX
systems. Before joining DEC three years ago, Bill worked in
VAX environments vithin the transportation, electronics, and
medical industries.

PPP Techniques

* 11111111

BUFFET LUNCHEON

------.------------------------------~----------------------------

1:00 I VAX Local Clusters
* Jim Callum

3:00 I
3:fS

PC Connections
* Trey Hollingbaugh
* Bill Selzer
* Ted Blank
COFFEE BREAK

Jim Collum
As a member of DEC's Vestern Area Software Expertise Center,
Jim provides technical assistance to DEC offices throughout
Oregon, Vashington, Alaska, Idaho, Utah, and California. He
specializes in VMS internals, clusters, and CASE tools.
Prior to joining DEC three years ago, Mr. Collum was in the
US Air Force vorking extensively with PDP and VAX systems.

CAMPGROUNDS
Mike Neirby
Mike is an Accounts Manager for RFI Electronics based in
Beaverton. He is an expert in traditional Ethernet and
Broadband networks and in his current position he provides
consulting services for the design, installation, and
implementation of networking solutions. Prior to joining
RFI, Hike vas a Networking Consultant with DEC for 6 1/2
years. He is an experienced instructur and is currently
teaching Local Area Networking and Office Integration at PCC
in his free time.

'\

5:00

End of Heeting -

Thanks for comlngll

------------~~~--.-

••••••••• =

1988

SPRI~ SES~ION

BRIEFS

Networking
This session will address some of the tools available for network
management. The speaker for this session is a DEC employee and as such he
will be basing the presentation primarily on the DEC tools he uses to do his
job. For those of you who are leery of DEC sales pitches in the guise of
technical presentations, rest assured that Hr. Selzer is a true professional
who will share his expertise in as unbiased a fashion as possible.
VMS Update - System Management
Trends in VMS system management capabilities will be discussed. If possible
(if it has been announced) the speaker will also discuss the future major
release of VMS (rumored to be V5.0).
Alternatives to Ethernet Cable
Mike will be conducting a highly interactive presentation of alternative
ethernet conn*ction schemes using actual installations as examples. If you
ever wanted to implement ethernet using cable TV, telephone lines,
Broadband, fiber optics, or any other scheme then this is for you.
If time peimits, common networking issues such as multivendor networking,
network management, and PC networking will also be addressed.
Parallel Processing Programming Techniques
This one hasn't been finalized yet, but we're pretty sure it's going to
happen. As far as a session summary, the title says it all.
VAX Local Clusters
This will be a good introduction to local area clustering. Hardware and
software issues will be addressed as well as the advantages and
disadvantages of local area clusters.
PC Connections
This presentation will cover options for networking IBH PC's, DEC Micro's,
and Apple's Macintosh with a VAX. This will be an overview of the concepts
of networking as they apply to micros. Alternative networking options will
also be presented with a discussion of their strengths and weaknesses.
Campgrounds
Campgrounds are areas set aside for small group discussion of specific
topics. If you have a specific question for 'the experts' or just want to
listen in on good information being passed out, these are the place for you.

Special LUG Meeting
Registration Inforaation
What:

Where:

Special VAX users group meeting
* Featured speakers
* Buffet Luncheon
Lloyd Center Red Lion
1000 NE Multnomah

Portland, Oregon
When:

April 13, 1988

Who:

Hosted by the local VAX users group and
everybody is welcome. You do not have
to be a member of DECUS to attend.

Cost:

Pre-registration (received before April 6)
At the door

$35.00
$50.00

Note: Registration fees are non-refundable
after April· 6.
Questions??

Call:
Taj Aoki
-Jon Hurtley
Bruce Godfrey

(206) 696-7151

( 50 3) 2 2 0-- 4 3 5 0
(503) 627-7096

Instructions: Detach the registration form and keep the information sheet
for your records. Fill out the registration form and return
with payment to the address on the bottom of the form. Due
to the costs involved we do not send out registration
confirmations so you are on your own to remember to attend
the meeting. You can call Bruce Godfrey to verify
registrations and/or ask registration related questions.There is only room for 200 people so you will want to
register early if at all possible.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Detach Here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SPECIAL LUG MEETING REGISTRATION FORM

Company:

Phone:
(Make checks payable to PAVLUG)

Total Amount Enclosed:

Attendee Names
1)

4)

2)

5)

3)

6)

Return to:

PAVLUG

PO BOX 1990
Beaverton, Ort.

9';07b-1990

PPALUG NEWSLETTER
2 February 1988

The Next PPALUG Meet i ng
The next meeting of the Pikes Peak Area Local Users
group will be on Thursday, 18 February at the GVNW
facility in Northern Colorado Springs.
The GVNW
building is located North-East of Academy Blvd, between
Vickers and Union behind the Toyota Dealer and Water
Works Car Wash. The address is 2278 LaMontana Way.
This meeting is in some ways a continuation of the very
popular meeting held on 12 November at McDonnell
Douglas. Three authorities will discuss subjects as
summarized below:·
(1) Kevin Fitzgerald o-f ate 'was frozen':''i'n Bostor,for:
the last meeting and was unable to attend. He is
scheduled to make up for his misfortune at this
meeting. Kevin is to give a tutorial on VMS parameter
tuning, which is always a popular topic. This is a
good opportunity to pick up pointers on techniques for
getting more from your VMS system.

Kelly Lipp, the Systems Engineering Consultant
from the local Digital office, wil I discuss the new VMS
Distributed Services, including distributed naming,
file services, and Queuing services. Theses services
were announced at DECworid and· represent a cost
effective method of getting more from your disk systems
and printers using Ethernet to comtlJnicate information
between nodes on the network.
(2)

(3) What do you know about the capabilities of laser
printers and how software can help provide extensive
enhancements to you printer capabilities? Berry Ferris
of Talaris Systems will address this subject in his
talk on 18 February. Talaris has provided significant
advances in software which improves the effectiveness
of laser printers when used in sophisticated document
processing activities. While it is not difficult to
use the laser printer as a -I ine printer·, in order to
manipulate different fonts and formats for both text
and graphics applications, knowledga of capabilities,
canpatibilities, and progrrmning techniques is of
tremendous importance in achieving an effective output
capability. Don't miss this opportunity to learn more
about the power of the laser.

Meeting Agenda
8:3B - 9:08 Coffee and Donuts
9:08 - 9:15 LUG Business Topics
9:15 - 18:38 VMS Tuning and Memory Technologies
(Kevin Fitzgerald of EMC)
18:38 - 18:45 Break
1B:45 - 12:08 Distributed VMS Services
(Ke lIy Lipp of Dig i tal)
12:88 - 1:88 Lunch
1:00 - 1:38 Presentation by GVNW, our host
1:33 - 2:45 Laser Printer Hardware/Software

(Berry Ferr·is, Talaris Systems. Inc.)
2:45 - 3:08 Break
3:00 - 4:83 Reports on Fall 87 DECUS S~osium
Fall DECUS Symposh. Newsletter
Attached is a copy of the FALL DECUS SYMPOSIUM
NEWSLETTER by .J im Lind 0 f Honeywe II . In th is four th
addition of .the Newsletter, significant information on
the planned capabilities of VS.B of VMS is given, along
with detailed discussion of products and performance in
the areas of VMS and Networks.
At the 18 February meeting, we will all have an
opportunity to discuss information that was talked
about in the DECUS S~osium. -The next major release
of VMS- has exciting new capabilities, and planning on
hOi to apply these new capabilities to maximize the
effectiveness of our computing environments is more
important now than ever.
If you have comments,
questions, or contributions concerning the latest DECUS
Symposium, plan to attend and share your experience
with the rest of the group.
Repor t on last lee t j n9
From the attendance at the last meeting, it is clear
. that the LUG membership is interested in a variety of
subject material, particularly when presented by
experts trom different companies.
We will continue
with this approach in this next meeting.

VOLUME 4
Fall OECUS S~posium Newsletter
7-11 December 1987
by
James M. Lind
Honeywell, Incorporated
January, 1988

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0
1.1

1.2
1.3

2.0
3.0
3. 1

3.2
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
8. 1

8.2
8.3
8.4

8.5
9.0
9. 1

9.2
9.3
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
16.0
17.0
18.0
18. 1

18.2
18.3
18.4
19.0

20.0
21.0
22.0

VMS UPDATE (V070)
VMS Changes for V4. 6 ........................................ .
VMS V4. 7 .......-............................................. .
VM-S V5 . 0 Fu t ures ''':.~'....:....................................
VMS PERFORMANCE UPDATE (V081) .................. ~ ..........•.. '
FILE SYSTEM FUTURES (V051) ..................... : ............ .
VMS V5. 0 FUTURES ......................................•......
BEYOND VMS V5,. 0 .•.........•..•.••..•.....••••••••••••••••••••
BATCH/PRINT FUTURES (V057) .................................. .
DOCUMENT PROCESSING UPDATE (0029) ........................... .
PERFORMANCE ADVISOR OVERVIEW ~ UPDATE (V034) .•...............
NEW MICROVAX 3500/3600 (H052) ...........................•....
TERMINAL SERVER OVERVIEW (N057) ............................. .
DECser ver 500 ................................•...•.....•.•...
DECserver 200 V2.0 Software ..................•..........•....
Term ina I Server Manager V1. 2 Fea turas ......•..........•.....•
LAT /VMS V4. 6 ..••.•..••...••.••.••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••
Future Considerations ................................•..•....
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN VAXCLUSTERS (V061) ...........•..........
Local Area VAXcluster Configurations .............•...........
Mixed Interconnect Configurations ........................... .
Volume Shadowing in Mixed Interconnect Clusters ....•.........
DISTRIBUTED QUEUING SERVICES (Nf2J42) ....... :.................. .
VMS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT FUTURES (V05S) ........•........•.......
NEW SYSTEM MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE (V054) ................... .
NEW FEATURES IN DCL (V060) .................................. .
SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT (V069) .................... .
D,ECNET -DOS NETWORK I NG (N041) ................................ .
LOW-END VAX SYSTEM PERFORMANCE (H047) ....................... .
VAX/VMS SYNCHRONOUS MULTIPROCESSING PERFORMANCE (V016) ...... .
LOCAL AREA VAXCLUSTER PERFORMANCE (V082) .................... .
LAVc I/O Per formance ........................................ .
LAVc Lock Per formance ....................................... .
LAVc Resource Capac i t i as ....................
LAVe Tun j ng Cons j der at ions .................................. .
TUNING/CONFIGURING PCSA (P033) .......... ~ ................... .
DECW I NDOWS (G008) ........................................... .
DECNET VAX PERFORMANCE (N080) ............................... .
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMAT ION ................................... .
<

••••••••••••••••

2
2
2

3
4
5

6
6
6
6

6
1
1
1

7
8
8
8

8
9
9
9
9
10
11

12
13
13
14

15

16
16

11
17
18

19
19

19
21

S-. 43 people attended the last meeting, which
represents our third largest attendance ever for the
LUG. We very much appreciate the talk by Rick Cadruvi
of Executive Softlare who discussed disk compreSSion of
VMS files. Rick is clearly one of the foremost experts
in this area, and the informati.on presented by him was
of considerable value to understanding the pros and
cons of disk compression.
Dan DarrOi of Systems Industries discussed recent
developments in disk technologies, and Dave Cody of EMC
filled in for Kevin Fitzgerald to give a introduction
to optical disks and how they can be used to improve
backup functions for large VMS disk farms. Kevin will
attend this next meeting to give his postponed
presentation on VMS tuning. Don't miss it!
Denver Regional Conference
The Rocky Mountain VAX local Users Group will host its
second Regional Conference for two days on 31 March and
1 Apr i I 1988.
Attendance will be I imi ted to 681
people, Including walk-ins.
To get the lower
registration fee of $125, register by 28 February.
After that time, the registration fee is raised to
$175. Requests for registration packets should be
addressed to RMVlUG Regional Conference, CIO DECUS, 219
Boston Post Road, BP02, Marlboro, MA 81752-1858.

The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Denver Tech
Center and will include tracks on the follOWing
subjects:
VMS

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS

NETWORKS
LANGUAGES AND TOOLS
WIZARD

Enclosed is a copy of the Registration Fr(lll'''for your
use in signing up for this excellent event which
represents a rare opportunity to get information on VMS
and Networks at a very reasonable cost.

General PPAlUG Infomation
The PPALUG Newsletter is the official newsletter of the
Pikes Peak Area local Users Group. This publication is
available to anyone free of charge.
For more
information about PPAlUG or to subscribe to the PPAlUG
Newsletter, contact Jim Lind at (383) 511-1672.
Submission of items to the Newsletter implies release
for use in any DECUS publication. Send all material
for publication to PPALUG, clo Systems Engineering &
Consulting, Inc., P.O. Box 7858, Colorado Springs, CO
88933.
Map to GVNW i 2270 laMontana Way. on Thursday, 18 Feb:

w~ VVJ~~--------~~~

eM.. 1tV,fflf

LIND

Fall '87 OECUS

S~posium

Newsletter

Page 2 of 21

ABSTRACT
This document contains notes taken by Jim Lind during several sessions at the
Fall DECUS Symposium in Anaheim, CA from 7-11 December 1987. While accuracy of
the information contained herein cannot be guaranteed. it is bel ieved accurate
per the particular session which is being critiqued. Personal comments have
been withheld with emphasis on presentation of the facts as discussed in the
meetings. The subject matter is basically concerned with VMS systems. nebwork
products, personal computer support, and information on future projects and
products with specific emphasis on performance data.
Your comments on the
content and presentation of this document are appreciated and may be forwarded
to Jim Lind, P.O. Box 7850, Colorado Springs, CO 80933; (303) 577-1672.
1.0

VMS UPDATE (V070)

1.1

VMS Changes for V4.6

VMS V4.5A and V4.5C were merged
MicroVMS/VMS V4.6.

in

VMS

in

4.6.

MicroVMS V4.58 is merged to

V4.6 features include new MSCP server which removes I imit on number of served
nodes and served disks.
Static failover of dual pathed tapes with non-zero
al location class is supported.
DISMOUNT and MOUNT commands now support 16
instead of 14 disks per HSC. A maximum -of three disks per shadow set (instead
of two) and up to eight shadow sets are supported with Vl.2 of volume
shadowing. The HSC V350 software is required for V1.2 of shadowing. The key
for volume shadowing is the same for 4.4-4.6, but wi I I probably be changed in
V5.0. Volume shadowing is part of the VMS master kit.
The Local Area VAXcluster (LAVc) Vl.2 supports 26 (instead of 13) nodes, and
al lows 2nd system disk. One boot node with two system disks or two boot nodes
with one system disk are supported configurations. The DEBNA is now supported,
and with a VAX8500 or larger CPU, V4.6 supports two system disks on the same
CPU. CPUs sma I ler than the 8500 wi I I require 2nd CPU with an additional disk
to support the maximum number of nodes.
DECnet VAX V4.6 has improved downl ine load capabi I ities, and the IEEE 802.3 is
supported by the driver.
The DEaNT may be upgraded under contract to the
DEaNA, and the DEaNT is no longer supported as of V4.6. The MicroVMS and VMS
DECnet key is the same, and MicroVMS. does not include DECnet on the
distribution kit whereas VMS does. The key wil I I ikely be changed in V5.0.
RMS Journal ing V1.0 is has been avai lable since October.
It supports after
image journaling (re-do function), before image journaling (un-do), and
recovery unit (transaction integrity) functions.
It was noted that VMS V4.6A is used for the VAXstation and VAXserver 3000
instead of MicroVMS. The TK70 and RA70 is supported in V4.6A.
1.2

VMS V4.7

VMS V4.7 is due in early 1988. It is a maintenance release only. Distribution
wit I be available on CDROM for the first time. Distribution wi I I be avai lable
on mag tape and console media only, and disK media distributions wi I I not be
suppl ied on disks. Ral I ing upgrades from 4.6 to 4.7 wi I I be supported.

LIND

Fall '87 OECUS S¥mposium Newsletter

Page 3 of 21

COROM distribution in V4.7 may include documentation for Q-bus systems.
1.3

VMS VS.0 Futures

VMS VS.0 (referred to as the "next major release of VMS") wi II include support
for multiple CPUs sharing memory with a single memory resident copy of VMS.
AI I CPUs wi I I perform al I functions, with the exception of interrupt handl ing,
which for now wi I I be performed by a single CPU for al I CPUs. Unmodified
drivers wi I I continue to work on single-CPU systems. New drivers are needed
for multiple-CPU systems.
Mixed-mode VAXclusters are to be supported.
The CI cluster and LAVc cluster
may now be connected. A CI system can act as a boot node for the LAVc systems.
AI I CPUs wi I I have access to HSC tapes and disks. The LAVc wi I I be able to use
shadowed disks on HSCs through CI nodes.
Dynamic fai lover of tapes wi I I be supported.
Currently, as of V4.6, static
fai lover is supported a tape which is dual ported to the HSC can be picked up
and remounted from the second HSC if the first data path should fail.
MicroVMS wi I I no longer exist as of VS.0. Tai loring has been redesigned. RXS0
distribution kits would grow to 80 diskettes, and therefore the RXS0 wi I I no
longer be supported as a distribution media.
The RX33 wi I I be supported with
about 27 diskettes required. The EXEC wit I be divided into several pieces. and
privileged software wi I I have to be rei inked in VS.0. Only minor changes for
user code is expected.
One level of indirect addressing wi I I be needed for
pointers into the EXEC.
BACKUP -- VMS BACKUP wi I I contain measures to prevent accidental erasure of the
input disk if incorrect command I ines are entered.
Lock down of the working
set wil I be used where there is two or more megabytes of memory. BACKUP wi I I
perform its own mount for mag tape with /IGNORE=LABEL_PROCESSING possible.
Passwords wil I be omitted from save set listings.
PARALLEL PROCESSING LIBRARY (PPL)
faci I ity wi II increase the ease of
of VMS.

PPL wi II be included with VS.0. This
use of the parallel processing capabi I ities

VMS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT ENHANCEMENTS -- A new uti I ity for managing systems in a
cluster wi I I be provided. Definitions of logicals throughout the cluster wi I I
be supported.
DECnet -- DECnet wi I I have enhanced support of proxies. Wildcards and multiple
command recal I in NCP wi I I be added. Areas are now supported.
RUN-TIME LIBRARY ENHANCEMENTS
New routines are planned in the areas of
date/time manipulation, screen management, and paral lei processing. Emphasis
wil I be placed on providing information such that appl ications programmers can
start thinking about how to use these features in their appl ications.
DEBUG -- Support for DECwindows, getting the debugger out of the program's
address space, and debugging multiprocessing appl ications wi I I be new items of
interest in VS.0.
RMS -- Major improvements in performance of sequential read functions are
planned. Ab iii ty to mon i tor Q I0 and f i I e I/O stat i st i cs are added to MON ITOR
RMS. These functions are activated with the SET FILE ISTATISTICS command.

LIND
2.0

Page 4 of 21

Fal I '87 OECUS S¥mposium Newsletter
VMS PERFORMANCE UPDATE (V081)

Version 5.0 of VMS wi I I have a sma I I decrease in performance across VMS
functions.
However, this is considered a sma I I loss for the gains in
functional ity. This is partly due to improvements in certain code. There have
been major "Iow-Ieve'" changes in VMS.
Overal I, there has been about
a
5% multiuser throughput decrease in
performance. The Synchronous Multiprocessing (SMP) in V5.0 wil I support almost
any activity on any CPU. However, in the first implementation, interrupts wil I
be hand.led on the boot node CPU only.
MODIFIED PAGE WRITER -- Changes in code have resulted in major improvements in
performance for the page writer. In the past, one I/O per page write was used.
In the new release, the modified page writer uses multiple I/Os. Now,
WAITLIMIT = HILIMIT + WRTCLUSTER.
In V4, WAITLIMIT = HILIMIT. The following
is an example of parameter values:
Parameter
10LIMIT
MPW_LOWLIMIT
MPW_WA I TL 1M IT

Old Setting

New Setting

1

5

120
500

404
596

Under a test case with a heavy page-faulting appl ication, 15:48 of clock time
was required and only 20% of the CPU used.
Using the new parameters, only
12:19 of clock time was required and all of the CPU was used to perform paging.
As a reslJlt. page falJlts take less time and \fM~ ;" rrI;I<~'
! . t:lllrt~ efficient
dur i ng page-fau It 1,/0 operat ion.
PAGEFILE -- Processes wil I get pagefi Ie space as the process space grows, thus
resulting in more efficient use of page fj Ie space~
SCHEDULING -- The PIXSCAN & DORMANTWAIT parameters change the behavior of the
scheduler. PIXSCAN is used to al Iowa process to be computable for DORMANTWAIT
seconds without becoming CURRENT.
DORMANTWAIT al lows a new process to return
pages above WSQUOTA in a more gradual method.
"RELATIVE ACCESS FILE"
improvements for VMS:

PERFORMANCE
VMS Version
4.5
4.6
5.0

The fol lowing summarizes performance
CPU Seconds
29
0.27
0.06

Elapsed Seconds
216
9.5
9.3

RMS INDEXED FILES -- VS.0 implements new sequential access techniques.
case results showed the fol lowing effect of bucket size:
Blocks/Bucket
Elapsed Time
CPU Time

3
3: 17
2:54

Random access on sequential fi les has been improved.
greater than 512 bytes has also been improved.

Test

63

12:37
2:31
Performance w/records

LIND

Fall IS7 DECUS

S~posium

Page 5 of 21

Newsletter

XQP IMPROVEMENTS
Standalone backup now can be memory resident.
The
directory scan code has been improved and wil I use a binary search. High-water
marking avoids 1/0 whenever possible.
There is no significant overhead in the
new version of VMS tor high-water marking.
The fol lowing performance was
measured on a VAX-11/780 with RA60 set for ten block extents:
With NO HIGH_WATER
With HIGH_WATER

V4 53 units of time
V4 142 units of time

V5 51 units of time
V5 54 units of time

JOB CONTROLLER -- The Job Controller has had a major rewrite. In V5, there is
one chain per queue as opposed to the V4 method of having one chain to I ink al I
queues. For large number of queues, the new version is about four times faster
that V4 for queue searches. Elapsed time for some Job Controller functions has
been improved by a factor of ten.
The PRINT queues have a factor of seven in
performance gain for print jobs specifying forms control.
AUTOGEN -- Autogen has been improved to al low for "feedback" to al low it to
adapt its calculations to the appl ications workload.
MONITOR -- Monitor has new screens:
MSCP server statistics are enabled with
the SET FILE ISTATISTICS command fol lowed by the MONITOR RMS/FILE= command.
The MODES display has been changed to show SMP overhead. The POOL screen uses
KBYTES to properly format the screen for large memory systems. The MSCP
statistics are used to tune buffer sizes.
EXECUTIVE -- A modular EXEC is used with 20 images now. The NULL process is
now a loop in the interrupt stack due to requirements of Synchronous
Multiprocessing (SMP).
BALANCE SLOTS now al low trimming to WSQUOTA before
swapout.
LOCK MANAGER -- Implemented in V4.6, LOCKDIRWT = 0 al lows local lock master
only. LOCKDIRWT > 0 al lows system to master locks first ahead of machines with
LOCKDIRWT = 0.
MISC. -- DECnet has improved downloading with the use of larger buffers for
server boots. New SYSGEN parameters include POOLCHECK (has sma I I effect on
performance), SMP_*, EXPECTED_VOTES, MULTIPROCESSING, and SHADOWING.
The
INTSTKPAGES (interrupt stack pages) parameter default has been changed from two
to four pages.
3.0

FILE SYSTEM FUTURES (V0S1)

3.1

VMS V5.0 FUTURES

005-2 (XQP) -- The XQP has been reworked.
The fi Ie al ias handl ing has been
changed. The directory contents protection now has consistency. Reads above
high-water does not cause zeroing of disk data.
XQP simply returns junk for
reads above the high-water mark. Fi Ie names are protected as are the contents
of the fi Ie. AI ias handl ing causes backl ink to original name as opposed to
most recent accessed al ias.
BACKUP -- Processing tape expiration dates and tape labels.
ANALYZE IDISK_STRUCTURE (Verify)
Enhanced error messages
documentation. Now has correct handl ing of al ias fi les.

and improved

LIND

Fall '87 OECU5

S~posium

MOUNT -- Now a new IMULTI_VOLUME
implemented for tapes.

Page 6 of 21

Newsletter

verifier

along

with

mount verification

SALVAGE UTILITY -- Trys to recover disK data. Reads whatever remains on a disK
after a disaster. Takes input and verification from user. Rebui Ids volume's
reserved fi les. Not a disk structure editor.
Used for hardware problems,
software problems, and accidental
initial ization
of disks.
Method of
distribution unknown; may be available from software services. VMS development
bel ieves that the util ity is too powerful to "include with standard VMS
distribution.
The user community disagrees
since execution of the
INITIALIZE command can easily destroy a disk, why not have the SALVAGE uti I ity
avai lable to recover from such errors.

3.2

BEYOND VMS V5.S

Backup performance improvements for fi Ie I/O are planned;
CONTROL_T display includes file name and block number;
Improved use over the network.

4.0

Label processing;
Callable backup;

BATCH/PRINT FUTURES (V057)

Goals for V5 include significantly improving performance; Support of ACL's;
Enhanced DCl interface; Enhanced programming environment; Support for rol ling
upgrades between versions of VMS.

5.0

DOCUMENT PROCESSING UPDATE (0029)

Current versions include WPS+ VMS V2. 1; WPS+ DOS V2.0 (Sep 87); DECpage V2.1.
WPS+ DOS has same functional ity as VMS WPS+.
DECnet-DOS emulation through
network. Supports footnoting redl ining and underscore.
VMS requires four meg of memory. WPS+ adds 2 meg plus 1/2 meg per user.
20-50K blocks of disk/user. Terminal emulation is bui It into WPS-DOS.

AI low

DECpage V2.1 requires WPS+ of VMS. Includes preview on screen, but not WYSIWUG
(what you see is what you get). Graphics location is displayed with file name.
Automatic inclusion of graphics with keyword control.
LN03 & LN03+ support.
Requires separate font package.
DECpage only supports LN03 printers with five selected fonts. No current plan
to support other printers. WPS+ does support other printers and fonts.

6.0

PERFORMANCE ADVISOR OVERVIEW & UPDATE (V034)

VPA Vl.1 has lAVc and rules support.
The data col lector supports 1024
concurrent processes. Uses contiguous disk space and has higher processing
efficiencies. VPA can operate for any 24 contiguous hours and gives statistics
on disks and disk caches.
Identifies SCS bottlenecks and has MSCP and
fragmentation statistics.

Fall IS7 OECUS

LIND

7.0

S~posium

Newsletter

Page 7 of 21

NEW MICROVAX 3588/3608 (H052)

A MicroVAX 3500/3600 processor as a boot node in an LAVc supports up to seven
3XXX processors. Support tor 13 units is I ikely in the future. The MicroVAX
I I I is supported by VMS V4.6A.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION -- Compared to the MicroVAX f I, the MicroVAX I I I has a
mean performance improvement of 3.0 to 3.2, and ranges from 2.4 to 4.2 in a
variety of test environments. depending mostly on the use of the cache memory
system in the MicroVAX I I I system.
Generally, support of up to 60 AI 1-ln-1
users or 100 COBOL users is reasonable. However, no information was offered on
the abil ity to support the
additional disk I/O associated with these
appl ications.
Currently, the 3500/3600 is I imited to a single KDA50 disK controller and up to
four disKs.
The memory is I imited to 32 megabytes.
The Q-BUS has 3.3
megabytes/sec of throughput as compared to the 13.3 megabytes/sec of the
Computer Interconnect (CI) configurations of VAX systems. The VAX-11/750 is
not supported as a boot node for the 3500.
There is no battery ~ackup in the
Mi c r a VAX I I I .
The second CPU of the 3602 - boot server product conta i ns a sing 1-e user VMS
J icense which is blocked by hardware from
upgrade to multi-user VMS. There is
currently no offering for upgrade of the second CPU to handle multiple user
appl icat ions.

8.0

TERMINAL SERVER OVERVIEW (NB57)

8.1

DECserver 500

The new DECserver 500 uses a single power supply, Q-bus backplane and 18 MHz
PDP-l1/53, which is an 11/83 without onboard cache. There is a custom boot ROM
with extended diagnostics and DEQNA adapter.
In the future, the DEQNA wi I' be
upgr aded to the DEQLA.
Channe I I/O cards are not hot-swappable, which is a
significant disadvantage of the system.
The DECserver 500 V1.0 software is avai lable now and has LAT and MOP protocols
with DECserver 200 Vl.0 functional ity. Supports up to 64 virtual circuits, 128
sessions on a circuit, and up to 256 sessions per server. There is a new port
DIALUP characteristic with flow control and modem signal status display. The
server is downf ine loaded over Ethernet.
Supported by VMS, RSX-l1M-PLUS, and
MicroRSX. The permanent database is in server image, not NVRAM. This is
simi far to the DECSA Ethernet Server and could be a considerable disadvantage
for support. Uses DSVCONFIG I ike other DECservers and is supported by the
Terminal Server Manager (TSM) Vl.1.

8.2

DECserver 200 V2.0 Sofbware

V2.0 for the SECserver 200 is avai lable now.
It supports VT330/VT340 terminal
sessions management and queuing of CONNECT commands at remote-access ports.
Flow control and modem signals status are displayed as wei I as the new port
DIALUP characteristic. There are node and service database improvements and a
more restrictive command set for SECURE users.
Multiple privileged server
users are supported. Vl.0 bugs are fixed and the V2.0 software is supported by
TSM Vl. 2.

LIND

Fall '87 DECUS

S~posium

Newsletter

Page 8 of 21

Major fixes in V2.0 include echoing delay on sessions created to server ports
offered as a service.
A'lso, corrects crashes when using 200/DL, AUTOBAUD
ENABLED, terminal logged out and powered down sequence. Fixes dial-in ports
using lOCK command remaining LOCKED if signals are dropped and problem where
session hangs when connecting to password-protected services. The fai lover
function is now more rei iable.
8.3

Terminal Server Manager V1.2 Features

Vl.2 of TSM is not yet available.
It supports management partitions, command
file parameters, DSVCONFIG functional ity, test delay, test circuit, test
connections, and test LAT, DCl interface, SET OUTPUT, and ETS V3.0.
Major fixes include message cleanup, CONTROL-Yon liST commands, and prompting
improvements. Event message numbers are displayed. Also fixes rEST logicals,
SPAWN check for captive, logicals in file specifications, TSM command file
errors, and continuation I ine deficiencies.
8.4

LAT/VMS V4.6

LATpius Vl.1 functional ity is now once again included as a VMS V4.6 standard
feature.
It supports QIO interface for connects/disconnects and a new multithreaded LAT print symboint. The VMS V4.6 version fixes LATpius Vl.l problems.

8.5

Future Considerations

Future Server Considerations
DECserver 100 V2.0 Software
Ethernet Term Server V3.0 Software
DECserver 500 enhancements
DECserver 200 enhancements
MUXserver enhancements
Appl ications-sol icited connects
-modem signal sense/set operations
-port speed/frame/parity changes
Offl ine device detection
Server inactivity timer enhancements
802.3 message format for LAT and MOP
Multiple Ethernets per server
User authentication
Security enhancements
Dial-back capabil ity on server login

9.0

Future TSM Considerations
Server usage accounting
Service node management
DEC technology programs
Future LAT/VMS Considerations
LAT over multiple Ethernet controllers
GETDVI & SHOW TERM give server name &
-port name
Abil ity to connect to appl ications
Improved print queue error handl ing
QIO for setting static LAT rating
QIO for changing LT: node/port names
Support for modem set/sense QIOs
802.3 message format for LAT & MOP
Support for management with TSM

FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN VAXClUSTERS (Ve61)

Mixed CIINI clusters wit I be supported configurations in V5.0. The cluster
configuration will be described in a "Load Unit Table. These configurations
wit I al low for the combination of low and high-end users in one cluster.
System management wil I be made more convenient, but at the same time, more
sophistication in the system management task wil I result. Both the PADRIVER
and PEDRIVER wi I I be supported in the same system.
Dual path failover is
extended to al I DSA disks,
including UDA, BOA, and KDA Mass Storage Control
Protocol (MSCP) served disKs. The failover disKs must be served early in the
booth sequence through SYSGEN parameters.
AI I disks must have the same disK
at location class.

Fal I '87 DECUS S¥mposium Newsletter

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Page 9 of 21

Volume shadowing must be instal led everywhere if it is instal led anywhere on CI
based systems.
9.1

Local Area VAXcluster Configurations

Supported LAVc configurations include:

*
*

*
*

Single boot node - single system disK - up to 13 satel lites
8500 or larger system with two system disKs - up to 26 satel lites
Dual boot nodes with one system disK each - up to 26 satel lites
Dual boot nodes, system disK - up to 13 satel lites

New supported configurations for Network Interconnect (NI) LAVc al low DSA dual
ported disKs between multiple boot nodes.
This wi I I al low for higher
avai labi I ity. Local boot nodes are al lowed with a system disK each. The
quorum disK is dual ported.
9.2

Mixed Interconnect Configurations

HSC disks are MSCP served. System disk
MicroVAXes can use HSC disk servers.
and quorum disk must be on HSC's.
Satel I ite must have zero votes in order to
down.jj ne load s'oftware for rebo-ot.:· All Main.tenance Operat ion Protocol (MOP)
servers must be disK servers.
The maximum number of CI connected VAXes is
sti I I 16. The number of satel lite nodes must be less than 26, and the total
nodes cannot exceed 32. Unified cluster documentation wil I be provided.
MSCP class driver and MSCP server support is provided for mixed interconnect
clusters. I f two I oca I paths are found to disKs, served paths are ignored.
Local paths are served first.
9.3

Volume Shadowing in Mixed Interconnect Clusters

AI I CI nodes must run DSDRIVER.
AI I NI nodes must run DUDRIVER. MSCP serves
shadow sets. No shadow set maintenance functions are al lowed from satel lite
nodes, meaning satel I ite nodes cannot create or delete shadow sets. Mag tapes
wil I have mount verify and fai lover functions supported for dual path units.
Parameters: MSCP_LOAD Controls MSCP loading.
MSCP_SERVE_ALL controls disK configurations.
MSCP_BUFFER controls I/O buffer size
MSCP_CREDITS controls server SCS outstanding requests.
LAVc SYSGEN parameters include NISCS_LOAD_PEA0 for loading the Ethernet port
driver. NISCS_CONV_BOOT controls conversational boots.
The CLUSTER_CONFIG command procedure is used to setup the cluster. These
functions include adding/removing no~es to the CI/NI cluster, changing node
characteristics, and creating dupl icate system disks for NI only clusters.
10.0

DISTRIBUTED QUEUING SERVICES (N042)

Distributed Queuing Services were announced at DECworld. Products in this area
include DFS Distributed Fi Ie Service, RSM Remote System Manager, and DNS
Distributed Name Service for wide area networKS.

LIND

Fall '87 OECUS

S~posium

DQS wi I I be integrated with VS.0 of VMS.
PRINT
QSHOW
QSET/ENTRY
QDELETE/ENTRY

Newsletter

Page 13 of 21

-

New commands with the DQS include:

for PRINT
for SHOW QUE functions
is I ike SET QUE IENTRY
to delete a queue entry

DQS works alright with LAT printers.
Slower equipment can be used to serve
printer farms. OQS can be used to concentrate printer control. Performance
recommendations include up to four MicroVAX II cl ients, ten jobs each, with a
MicroVAX I I acting as print server.
Background network use by DQS operations
is sma I I with 25-28 KBytes/sec throughput required over the Ethernet.
DQS thinks jobs are done when sent to servers. The INOTIFY qual ifier can be
used to identify when job was
dispatched to server system.
Another
notification is received when server completes print function, but only one
attempt is made to send completion message.
The DQS Print Symbiont works with
user modified symbionts but uses parameter 8.
In order to manage performance, it is recommended that the number of queues be
minimized, DQS is instal led on the server first, and then instal led on cl ient
system next using RSM.

11.0 VMS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT FUTURES (V055)
A new architecture is being defined for system management. The SYSMAN uti I ity
wit I be used control system management functions in a LAN configuration. A new
system startup command procedure cal led CLUSTER_CONFIG is used for startup.
SYSMAN is a major util ity intended for:
1)
2)
3)

Consol idation of system management tasks
Distribution of systems
FORM function fit, no single configuration for system usage

The system manager issues commands to be executed in a given environment under
a remote node. Most system management functions are supported. The minimum
privilege of OPER is required. Commands include:
SET ENVIRONMENT INODE = nodel,node2 ...
SET ENVIRONMENT ICLUSTER
SET ENVIRONMENT IUSERNAME = username
DECnet is used for Nt systems, and SCS is used for cluster systems.
wi I I work over any net I ink, not just Ethernet.

SYSMAN

SET PROFILE IPRIVILEGES = list
SeT PROFILE IDEFAULT = []
These commands change the environment on all remote nodes.
The proper
privileges must be authorized on remote systems.
Different usernames may be
used. A password is required outside of the cluster for different usernames on
other nodes. SYSMAN does NOT support proxy login.

Fall 187 DeCUS

LIND

S~po6ium

Newsletter

SYSGEN parameter changes, and
passwords, etc. AI I other DCl
command.
The need for DO wi I I

SYSMAN commands control DISQUOTA functions,
configuration functions for TIME, LAVC group
corrrnands can be executed via the "DO" SYSMAN
reduce in future releases of SYSMAN.
Note that the SYSMAN uti I ity seems to
Manager (RSM) uti I ity.

Page 11 of 21

el iminate the need for the Remote System

System startup is redesigned.
STARTUP must be a cooperative effort between
nodes. STARTUP is done in PHASES, with a variable number of phases used
depending on the configuration. Phases can have SUBPHASES. A given component
may be control led in more than one phase.
AI I subphases are considered
independent. The entire process is driven by a database which is modified by
software instal Is. New cluster-wide directory is created cal led SYS$STARTUP.
SYSTARTUP.COM is sti I I supported, but the new SYSTARTUP_V45.COM is invented. A
new VMS INSTAll callback modifies the database on behalf of layered products.
System management changes also include START and STOP cpus in multiprocessor
configurations.
There are security auditing changes.
AUTHORIZE is changed for 'new PROXY login
features for password expiration handl ing.
MONITOR and AUTOGEN are changed.
Wi Idcards in certain NCP commands is
supported. New and changed SYSGEN commands are added and selective dump
options for large memory systems wil I be control fed by SYSGEN parameters. For
SYSDUMP, "best guess" information of what is interesting at the time of the
crash is written out. There are enhancements to the SHOW CLUSTER command.
12.~

NEW SYSTEM MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE (V054)

The current broad range of VAX configurations have strained the capabil ity of
system management. On the high end, it is very complex. Too many interfaces
which result in much repetitive work.
On the low end, the current system
management is too campi icated for typical workstation users.
There is
currently no model for how system management work is completed over the
distributed computing environment.
In VS.0 of VMS, there is a provision for
distributed system management architecture.
include:

the
The

initial implementation of a
goals of the new capabil ity

* Consol idated functions under a uniform cal I interface
* Provide distributed services as a standard feature
* Provide for usage with other management tools such as network mgmt
There are three layers for the new architecture:
1)
2)
3)

Primitive function layer for system service primitives
(UAF, SYSGEN, ACCESS CONTROL)
System management integrator (SMI)
(Integration and common services - remote server - network)
Human interface (SYSMAN)
(Provides only syntatic interface to user - need for DECwindows)

LIND

Fall '87 PECUS

S~osium

Newsletter

Page 12 of 21

There must be a
.. three-c Iass"
human inter fa-ce
inc I ud i ng suppor t for
workstations, bounded LAVc configurations, and dedicated system management jobs
or multi-role environment (SYSMAN).
I

13.0

NEW FEATURES IN Del (V060)

DCL

MAIL
IF
- BLOCK IF
- IF-THEN-ELSE CONSTRUCT
RECALL

SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
NEW COMMAND FILES
- ADDUSER.COM - Add users
- BACKUSER.COM - Backup user files
- RESTUSER.COM - Restore files
SYSTEM MANAGEMENT UTILITY
- MANAGE CLUSTERS
- MANAGE REMOTE NODES
- MANAGE REMOTE CLUSTERS
SHOW CLUSTER
ADD/REMOVE FIELDS BY NAME
- CONNECTIONS AND SYSTEMS
NEW CLUSTER CLASS FIELDS
- EXPECTED VOTES AND MEMBERS
NEW MEMBER CLASS FIELDS
- EXPECTED VOTES
- CONNECTION TIME-OUT INTERVAL
- SOFTWARE VERSION
QUEUE MANAGEMENT
CONTROLLING QUEUE JOBS
- /CLOSE & IOPEN
SPECIFYING OUTPUT QUEUE TYPE
- IDEVICE=PRINTER,SERVER,TERMINAL
SHOW QUEUE
- /AlL_ENTRIES
/BY JOB_STATUS
- /DEVICE
/GENERIC
/SUMMARY

MAIL COMMAND
- MAIL ICC (copy)
- MAIL /PERSONAL_NAME
SENDING
- SEND IPERSONAL_NAME
- SEND ICC
- FORWARD ISELF
EDITING
- SEND ILAST/EDIT
- DIRECTORY /EDIT
PRINT SUPPORT
- SET FORM
- SET QUEUE
- MOST DCL PRINT QUALIFIERS
MESSAGE MANAGEMENT
- LISTS & RANGES (DELETE/MARK)
SELECTION (SELECT, SET FOLDER,
DIR, READ)
- /FROM_SUBSTRING
- ITO_SUBSTRING
- ICC_SUBSTRING
- ISUBJECT_SUBSTRING
- MARKED & REPLIED
PROFILE MANAGEMENT
- SET COPY_SELF (FORWARD)
- SET EDITOR
- SET CC_PROMPT
- SHOW ALL
SYSTEM LEVEL MANAGEMENT FOR MAIL
- REMOVE
- SHOW FORWARD /ALL
- SHOW PERSONAL /ALL

PROXY MANAGEMENT
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
MULTIPLE PROXY ACCOUNTS
AUTOGEN
- DEFAULT PROXY ACCOUNT
FEEDBACK MECHANISM FOR:
- ALTERNATE PROXY ACCOUNT
PAGED & NON-PAGED POOL
NETWORK CONTROL PROGRAM
.LOOKAS IDE LISTS
- CONTROL INCOMING/OUTGOING PROXY
LOCK RESOURCES
- WILDCARD SUPPORT
NUMBER OF PROCESSES
- COMMAND RECALL
GLOBAL PAGES & SECTIONS
AUTHORIZE
FILE SYSTEM CACHES
MODIFY/PROXY
- ADD/PROXY
PAGE & SWAP FILES
MONITOR
- COMMAND RECALL
- MULTIPROCESSOR SYNC TIME
- FILE STATISTICS
- MASS STORAGE STATISTICS

LIND

Fal I '87 DECUS

S~posium

Page 13 of 21

Newsletter

14.8 SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT (V069)
VMS V5.0 is I ikely to support
management faci I ity (LMF).

onl ine

documentation

and

a software access

Onl ine documentation would support software technical documents with 100%
access potential, rapid access, and ease of dupl ication. Documentation would
be integrated with appl ications with automated cross referencing and would be
easy to update.
Eventually, al I technical documentation wi I I be onl ine.
Currently the VMS documentation set has some 22,000 pages.
Shipping of every product as a separate kit is not the right answer.
It
encourages patching and reduces release frequency in order to reduce cost.
Consol idation is the answer.
Currently, DECnet, Volume Shadowing, Journal ing,
and LAVe are turned on by keys.
Digital would I ike to extend this concept to
other products.
CDROM is considered the answer.
Up to 600 megabytes/side (1.2 gigabytes per
CD) could be distributed. It has random access and high data transfer speed.
AI I products could be distributed on one media at one time. The distribution
and management of keys would be the problem.
Some keys are necessary and should be standardized.
We need to know what
software is instal led where and what is I icensed. Third party software should
be manageable with any implemented system. In general, the topology of systems
should not affect the price or use of software. Any new faci I ity must be 100%
backward compatible.
The proposed License Management Facil ity (LMF) should be implemented with keys
distributed on paper.
There should be cluster-wide databases. The System
Management Uti I ity should
instal I
k~ys
and·
I ist instal led software.
Information should be avai lable on what is instal led or I icensed. Keys would
be issued by Digital and recorded in the database. License information is
loaded into the system and avai lable for inquires from users.
Features and benefits include node INCLUDE and EXCLUDE commands, optional
I icense sizing, support for current and new I icensing formulas, allow for
coping, and supports al I VAXes.
DEC would I ike to see the LMF support
automatic registration of non-keyed products.
VMS V4.7 distribution wi I I be available on CDROM for the first time.

15.0

DEeNET-DOS NETWORKING (N841)

DECnet-DOS V1.0 supported Async DDCMP.
added VAXmate, DEPCA, and LAT support.

V1.1 added Ethernet support.

DECnet-DOS V2.0 new features:
Limited PS/2 Support
NETBIOS Emulation
Network Commands Menu Shel I
MS-Windows Support
Example Programming Tools

PC-DOS V3.30 support
VT200 Terminal Emulation
Enhanced Network Management
. Improved Performance

Vl.2 then

LIND

Fall '87 OECUS S¥mposium Newsletter

Page 14 of 21

New supported systems include PS/2 Model 30 async to 19,200 baud, Ethernet
DEPCA. 3Com, and Micom interfaces. The Models 50, 60, and 80 are supported for
async communications to 19,200 baud, but no Ethernet support.
The VT2xx Terminal emulation is separated from CTERM and LAT. The VT220 is
emulated on PCs. and the VT240 is emulated on VAXmates. Support is included
for most PC keyboards including XT, AT, Enhanced, LK250, and PS/2. Supports
scripting and print screen functions.
Network commands use a menu shel I.
General enhancements include an upgraded
NCP, NETBIOS control, object database, and NML server. MS-Windows support
includes a new windows NFT and upgraded FAl. C I ibraries are expanded and ONP
performance is improved. New compl iers have been developed.
Futures include selected clone testing and certification, microchannel Ethernet
support, coprocessor Ethernet support, OS/2 LAN manager, and windows oriented
utilities.

16.0

LOW-END VAX SYSTEM PERFORMANCE (H047)

The MicroVAX I I I has a VAX compatible floating point instruction set with
standard F, 0, and G floating point support.
H floating is emulated in
software as is the case with the MicroVAX I I.
There are new operand flow
enhancements. The MV3 FPA is about 3.7 times the speed of the MV2 counterpart.
Floating point benchmarks given as compared to a MicroVAX I I:
Bnrll:hm:H k

Pr oqr am

SINGLE.EXE
DOUBLE.EXE
HANO I. EXE
PRIME.EXE

Mir:rnVI\X

0.978
0.992
0.978
0.988

2000

MicroVAX 3600
Cache on/off
4.112'/2.772
3.13/2.735
2.34 1 1.044
4.10/2.777

Type Benchmarl5.
Floating Point
Floating Point
Integer
Integer

The MV3 has a 1st level, two-way set associative,
Kbyte write-through cache,
and a 2nd level cache which is a 64 Kbyte direct mapped cache. The overal I
cache hit rate is 95%. The first or second level cache can be turned offlon by
console corrmand.
The MV3 implements the fol lowing instructions in the CPU as opposed to the MV2,
which implements them in software:
CMPC3/5
SKPC

LOee
SPANC
SCANC

Compare character 3 and 5 operand
Skip character
Locate character
Span Characters
Scan for character

As a result, the MV3 is much better suited than the MV2 for commercial,
database operations where character string operations are common.
The overal I average performance of the MV3 as ccmpared to the MV2 is a factor
of 3.41. However, if the cache is turned off, then the overall raw CPU
adva~tage is only about 2.33.
It is bel ieved I ikely that Digital may offer a
versIon of the VM3 with the cacne permanently turned off.

LINO
17.0

Fal I '87 OECUS S¥mPosium Newsletter

Page 15 of 21

VAX/VMS SYNCHRONOUS MULTIPROCESSING PERFORMANCE (V076)

Appl ications that are appl icable to Synchronous Multiprocessing (SMP) include
those that have multiple streams of work and are I imited by CPU speed. Both
synchronized access to resource, as wei I as seral ized access to resources, wit I
be appropriate in SMP appl ications.
On asynchronous multiprocessing (ASMP),
only the primary CPU could manipulate shared resources.
Performance was
workload dependant.
AI I CPUs can do almost any function, with the exception of interrupt handl ing,
which is performed by only one CPU in the first release.
One CPU uses
Interrupt Priority Levels (IPLs) to coordinate things. Spin locks are a bit of
shared memory used by al I CPUs in a shared fashion. Resources use this bit to
control/coordinate use of resources. Performance is much less dependant on the
configuration or on which CPU is being used.
A Remote Terminal Emulator (RTE) running on a MicroVAX I I was used to feed an
8300 with more than two CPUs to test SMP overhead in VMS V5.0. Three disks
were used in the test. The test cons~sted 6fcompi Ie/I ink/edit/run sequence in
FORTRAN workload simulating a university type environment.
The per CPU productivity of the SMP configuration was essentially the same as
with a single CPU for up to 15 users.
At 30 users, the SMP performance was
down on the order of 6-7% with 100% CPU saturation. It was recommended that
the user keep t~s CPU less than 80% of saturation in order to retain
insignificant overhead due to SMP.
In ASMP, the second CPU did NOT help
performance at al I in this test environment.
For SMP, from 1.5 to 1.6 the
throughput of a single CPU was real ized with 40 users in a two CPU
configuration. For three CPUs, SMP supports about 50-60 users, although actual
testing was I imited to 40 users.
FOR THE I/O INTENSIVE CASE with a mixed workload, there was essentially no
difference in overhead in the single CPU or SMP configuration. For dual CPUs,
ASMP and SMP were about equal
in throughput.
For large compi les, only added
jobs could take advantage of the 2nd CPU in the ASMP configuration (VMS V4.x).
It can be concluded that SMP is a true extension of the VMS schedul ing model to
the multiple CPU environment.
Under ASMP, the 2nd CPU is used only when
programs could make use of it, which makes ASMP appl ication dependant.
Therefore, interactive processes get a big benefit under V5.0 SMP. The benefit
of a 3rd CPU was considerable.
FOR THE COMPUTE INTENSIVE WORKLOAD, the two CPU ASMP configuration was about
1.97 times the throughput of the single CPU.
The SMP results were about the
same at 1.96, while the three CPU configuration resulted in 2.95 the throughput
of the single CPU configuration.
In conclusion, for a compute intensive SMP
appl ication, there is a I inear increase in performance with each added CPU.
In the SMP configuration, there is asymmetric handl ing of interrupts. Only the
primary CPU handels interrupts, although al I CPUs can start/issue I/O requests.
It just so happens that a single CPU is more efficient in taking the
interrupts. This is NOT an architectural constraint, just the chosen method of
implementation.
In the future, symmetric handl ing of interrupts may be
enabled. Concerns arise if the primary CPU saturates handl ing interrupts.
This can be a problem if the CPU is providing System Connection Services (SCS)
in a cluster environment.

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Page 16 of 21

Fal I '87 OECUS S¥mposium Newsletter

TUNING/MONITORING. The key to tuning is multiprocessor synchronization time,
or the time required to get spin locks.
Keep the MPSYNC mode, as shown by the
new monitor uti I ity, below about 8%.
Spin lock overhead is rarely a problem.
Only two of the spin locks, out of the 20 that are used, can be a problem. 1/0
lock activity is indicated by the IOLOCK8 statistic using MONITOR.
Investigate
the memory management MMG lock activity using the MONITOR PAGE command.
For the 8300 CPU, 250-300 faultslsec is considered high, whi Ie 1100-1200 is
considered a lot on the 8800.
At these levels, MPSYNC time wi I I be too high.
MONITOR 10 and DLOCK to investigate IOLOCK8 activity. Keep multiple streams of
work going.
SMP provides predicable results and is appl icable to many types of workload.
Any page fault affects MPSYNC time. Failure of either CPU wi I I cause both CPUs
to fai I in the first release of SMP.
In this release, a process cannot select
a preferred CPU. STARTISTOP CPU commands work OK and wi I I not affect the other
CPU. Workload wi I I be equally distributed across multiple CPUs.
18.0

LOCAL AREA VAXCLUSTER PERFORMANCE (Ve82)

Under I Y i ng LAVc' overhead for CPUs was discussed.
The C I por t funct ions are
implemented in the PEDRIVER and Ethernet driver for the LAVc. Thus more CPU
cycles are used and longer elapsed times are encountered. Less interconnect
capacity is available, although this is less important in VMS V4.S/4.6. The
pricei~erformance ratio is
best in the MicroVAX configuration of the LAVc.
Most 1/0 is intended to go through the boot node. Remote 1/0 uses the MSCP
server software. Local 1/0 has no additional overhead.
18.1

LAVc 1/0 Performance

The fol lowing table
mil I aseconds:
1/0 Block Size

1
4

16
64

shows

the

effect

Local Disk
2.6
2.7
3.5
6. 1

of

locallremote

on

1/0

CPU time in

LAVe Disk
Satellite
Boot Node
8.3
8.3
11. 7

11.8

26.5
85.4

27.3
89.8

Ethernet 1/0 needs about six times more CPU time. LAVe 1/0 is sensitive to the
1/0 size.
However, the distribution of 1/0 request sizes show the tol lowing
characteristics:
MODE
MEDIAN
AVERAGE
_
86th PERCENTILE

1 block 11/0
4 blocks/I/O
5 blockslllO
8 or less blockslllO

Th~

fol lowing information shows the effect
on 1/0 processing time:
1/0 Block Size
1
4

of

a served disk vrs. a local disk

Local ROS3/54 Served 53/54
60
65
55

74

Stretch Factor (Ratio)
1 .3
1.3

Page 17 of 21

Fal I t87 DECUS S¥mposium Newsletter

LIND

Local RD53/54 Served RA81
50
54
70
62
70
92

1

4

16

1• 1

1•1
1 .3

The CPU costs of a four block I/O is about 4 mi I laseconds of CPU. The I/O size
is an important factor. The resultant effect of CPU time on elapsed time is
not as great, since disk seek time is the real issue. Therefore, faster seek
times on served disks is very important.
Note that the speed of a served,
remote accessed RA81 is about the same as the I/O time on a local RD53 or R054.
18.2

LAVe Lock Performance

The $ENQ and $OEQ of locks occur in pairs. The cl ient issues and ENQ/OEQ and
the server serves as a resource manager.
The fol lowing tab1e shows times in
mil I aseconds:
CPU Type
LAVc MV2
CI/780

CI ient
6.6
2.6

Server
5.5

Elapsed Time
9.2

3.6

1.4

Therefore, the LAVc times range from three to four times that of the Computer
Interconnect (CI) cluster configuration.
The fol lowing table shows the times
for local and remote locks:
CI ient
Lock Type
Local Leck
0.6
Remote Lock
6.6

Server

Factor
0.6

5.5

9.2

As a result, the LAVc remote lock requires eleven times more CPU resources.
The LAVc remote lock takes three times the CPU of the CI remote lock.
Locking and I/O times are only a fraction of overal I CPU requirements. System
managers should look at I/Os in different environments. Approximately 1/2 to
1-1/2 megabytes additional
memory
is
needed
to support the cluster
configuration.
The MicroVAX I I and MicroVAX 2000 have simi lar performance in an LAVc
configuration, however, the memory I imitation of the 2000 is a important
consideration. Diskless nodes are acceptable, but local page and swap fi les
are recommended if there are many users, requirements for large virtual address
space, or I imited memory resources.
State transactions typically take about
one second per node in the cluster.
18.3

LAVe Resource Capacities

The maximum theoretical capacity of the Ethernet is from 6-8 megabits/second.
From two to three fully active MicroVAX I I disk servers are needed to saturate
the Ethernet. This wil I support 30 to 40 busy nodes on the Ethernet before
saturation. The LANbridge is used to separate traffic from the rest of the
network.
The fol lowing table shows the I/O capacity of various Ethernet adapters:
DEUNA
DELUA
DEBNA
DEQNA/OELQA

45
100
115

120

I/O

per second

LIND

Fall '87

DECUSS~posium

Newsletter

Page 18

of 21

The above data was for four blocks per I/O, which is typical for VMS. The
MicroVAX I I CPU becomes the I imiting factor with about 70 requests/second at
80% of CPU capacity. The MicroVAX I I I (VAX 3600) can handle about 2.1 times
the capacity of the MicroVAX I I.
With four block I/O requests, 5.5 ms of CPU
is required. Cache on the 3600 has I ittle value for LAVc Ethernet I/O since
the LAVc operation has poor local ity of code.
The fol lowing table shows the I/O capacity of various CPUs:
11/750
8200
8250
11/780
MicroVAX II
11/785
3600
8500

40 I/O per second
45
55
60
70
90
150
170

The DEQNA/DELQA is sufficient for the MicroVAX. The OEUNA is OK for the 11/750
and 8200 class processors.
For the 11/780, the Ethernet interface should be
upgraded to the DELUA to serve as a boot node with maximum I/O performance.
Single RA70 or RA82 disk configurations can sustain up to 30 I/Os per second.
Single RA81 configurations can sustain up to 25 1/05 per second. Single RA60,
RD53, or RD54s can go up to about 20 per second, and multiple RD disks on an
RQDX3 can reach about 45 1/05 per second.
The type of boot node is not a
factor as long as the CPU is not saturated.
The server 1/0 I imit using four
block 1/05 at 80% of CPU capacity is 40 1I0Isec for the 11/750, 70 for the
MicroVAX I I, and over 120 I/O/sec for the 8500.
Individual disks wil I be the I imiting factor if the I/O load cannot be balanced
between avai lable disks. Do not use the boot node for interactive users if
more than 50% of CPU is used for server functions. Timesharing of the boot
node for batch jobs is no problem.
Four megabytes of memory is sufficient for
the bootlserver node. More memory is needed if other activities are placed on
the server node.

18.4

LAVe Tuning Considerations

Try to move the fol lowing files off of the system disk in the LAVe:
SYSUAF.DAT
RIGHTSLIST.OAT

JBCSYSQUE.DAT
NETUAF.DAT

VMSMAIL.DAT
NETNODE_REMOTE.DAT

Instal I as many images as possible using IOPEN/HEADER_RESIDENT. Minimize ZQP
disk operation by setting up adequate caches.
Don't hard code PAGEDYN, since
too Iowa value wil I I imit other caches.
MSCP_BUFFER parameters are set by
AUTOGEN to 64 blocks on the boot node and 16 blocks on the remote nodes. Use
SHOW DEVICE/SERVED/ALL and increase MSCP_BUFFER if many "buffer waits" are
observed.
Use LOCKDRIWT and set to 0 on the boot and 1 on the satel I ites if there is a
sma I ler boot node or there is high lock activity. Set it to 1 on the boot node
and 0 on the satel I ites if the boot node is a large CPU or there is I ittle lock
activity. Memory requirements at the satel I ite node are higher if it is to
master locks.

LIND

19.0

Fal I 187 DECUS Symposium Newsletter

Page 19 of 21

TUNING/CONFIGURING PCSA (P033)

The Personal Computer Systems Architecture (PCSA) software requires about 250
KByte on each VAX server in order to handle RMS caching. Some 25 KByte is
required on the cl ient PC. On the average, a MicroVAX II supporting database,
spreadsheet, and office appl ications (WPS) can support about 25 active,
simultaneous users. Approximately 40 users doing mai 1 functions on PCs with a
local hard disk can be supported.
This lasts number assumes most appl ication
workload is done on the local PC disk equipment.
Support is coming on selected clones.
It was mentioned that the Zenith Z248
has been used in the PCSA environment in both Texas and Washington DC.

20.0

DECWINDOWS (G008)

Digital's DECwindows project is wei I under way but is sti I I considered as a
"futures" project.
DECwindows is being designed in cooperation with other
organizations to arrive at a si~~le, standard architecture across many hardware
and software systems. Under windows, both ULTRIX and VMS look the same to the
user. Using windows, transportabi I ity of appl ications across operating systems
wil I be considerably improved.
Windows is intended to move the industry to the workstation concept as opposed
to the use of terminals. Major influences to the project include the X-Window
system standard, existing PC base, and the postscript standard. The X-Window
project was funded from 1984-1989 and is cal led Project Athena.
It is
supported by MIT, Digital and IBM.
The current version is at level 11 and
windows wi I I be released as publ ic code in the publ ic domain. X-Windows is
owned and managed by MIT and there is a current defacto standard which is soon
to be endorsed as a standard.
PC integration wi I I al low PCs to act in conjunction with the VAX. AI I PCs
operating under windows wi I I look the same and can open windows into other
personal computers or VAXes. Windows wil I be integrated into the PCSA/VAXmate
products. A bit mapped graphics display wil I be required. VAX "character
cel I" and X-Window cal Is wil I be supported by Digital

21.0

DEeNET VAX PERFORMANCE (N080)

As a test of DECnet performance, task-to-task communications were performed
with no data processing required in order to insure that the network was the
I imiting resource. A DEUNA and DELUA on a 11/780 was tested in comparison to
the DEQNA and DELQA in a MicroVAX I I.
It was mentioned at the outset that the
DELQA was invented to improve rei iabi I ity problems associated with the DEQNA.
End nodes were tested with PIPELINE QUOTA = 20,000 (the default is 3,000). The
LINE RECEIVE BUFFERS were set to 20 (the default is 6). A private Ethernet was
used to avoid effects of other network processes.
The DELUA was able to sustain up to 2.42 Megabits/second, whi Ie the DEUNA went
to 1.30 Mb/sec. The peak data rate was seen as about 4,000 bytes per I/O.
User data speeds without header and other overhead was reported.

LIND

Fal I '87 DECUS

S~posium

Page 20 of 21

Newsletter

The DEUNA peaked out at the 600 byte segment size, while the DELUA went beyond
1,400 bytes.
The cost in CPU time was the same for both units. About 45
mi I laseconds of CPU was required for 20,000 bytes of I/O. The CPU cost/byte
leveled out at 2.5 msec above 1,000 bytes per I/O. The knee of the performance
curve occurred at 600 bytes per I/O.
It was shown that the relative CPU
about 200 bytes per 1/0 packet.

cost

for Ethernet I/O was very high below

The breakdown of the CPU cost per I/O was as fol lows:
Base cost of cal ling $QIO was 1.1 to 1.2 ms of CPU
The cost of each segment was 1.6 to 2.3 ms of CPU
The cost per byte of 1/0 was approximately
seconds of CPU per megabyte of user data.

400

nanoseconds, or 0.4

Tests were made of the effects of the executor PIPELINE QUOTA. This quota
I imits the amount of non-paged pool used by the logical I ink. the maximum
number of segments is equal to the EXEC PIPELINE QUOTA/EXEC BUFFER size.
Segments are al focated from this quota, e.g., 3,000/576 = 5 segments.
Segments of non-page pool become available for reuse only after receipt of
acknowledgement. Pipel ining al lows DECnet to send more data before waiting for
acknowledgements. For the VAX-l1/780 with DELUA, the I ine receiver buffer
defaults to about six.
The PIPELINE QUOTA was varied and the effect on
throughput was noted:
PIPELINE QUOTA
3,000

6,000
12,000
32,000

Throughput
1.7 Mbit/sec
2.0 Mbit/sec
2.2 Mbit/sec
2.5 Mbit/sec

The knee of the curve was at 1,000 bytes per 1/0. The conclusion was to use
from 3,000 to 6,000 for pipel ine quota to real ize a 20~ saving in CPU costs per
I/O. There is I ittle added benefit above 6,000.
Ethernet one-hop optomization was studied.
The default size for a OECnet
packet is 576 bytes.
On Ethernet connections directly to another CPU, the
Ethernet packet is set to 1,498 bytes.
AI I Ethernet DECnet nodes send data
directly to each other when located on the same Ethernet. If a logical I ink is
made to a cl ient al ias, then Ethernet optomization wil I NOT take effect. This
is an important item to note, since many connections to cluster nodes take
place using the cluster al las name.
To insure outgoing optomization, set
object outgoing al las DISABLED:
Futures include improvements in the Maintenance Operation Module (MOM) down I ine
load operations by using larger packets resulting in up to 25% improvement in
elapsed load times. Reductions in the CPU used on the host is to be real ized.
Zero-hop optomization (from host node to host node, not going out over the
network) wi I I be put in effect.
In this case, the DECnet system wil I real ize
the internal transfer of data by copying data directly from the writer buffer
to the reader buffer.
Performance is improved for Zero-hop transfers by a
. factor of 12 to about 11 megabits/second when using ,large buffer sizes.

Fall '87 OECUS

LIND

22.0

S~posium

Page 21 of 21

Newsletter

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Current VAX processors, relative CPU power, and maximum memory:
CPU Power (M IPS)
0.9
3.0
3.0
11/725
0.25
11/730
0.25
11/750
0.6
11/780
1.0
11/785
1.5
8200
1.0
8250
1.2
1 .0-1 .9
8300 (Oua I Processor)
(Dual
Processor)
8350
1.2-2.4
8500
3.0
4.0
8530
8550
6.0
8600
3.8
86505.5
8700
6.0
6.0-12.0
8800

Processor
MicroVAX I I
MicroVAX 3500
MicroVAX 3600

Maximum Memory (Meg)
16
32
32
14
64
64
128
128
128
128
256.
256
256
260
260
256
256

The MicroVAX I I 's maximum memory wil I not increase beyond its architectural
I imit of 16 Meg.
The MicroVAX 3500 and 3600's maximum memory wi I I increase to
its I imit of 64 Meg. OEC does not support more than four large disks (RA81 ,
RA82, RA70) on a single MicroVAX.
DEC has offered no-cost firmware upgrades
which convert VAX 8500 processors to VAX 8530 systems. Tests in a transaction
environment have shown the MicroVAX 3600 to have three times the throughput of
a VAX 8200, and wei lover three times that of a MicroVAX I I. However, there
have been delays in shipping the MicroVAX 3500 configuration with the RA70
disk.
There are indications that the VMS V4.7 runtime I ibrary may al low Digital to
release its tami Iy of VAX symmetric multiprocessors before VMS V5.0 completes
its second phase of field testing.
This may al low for the announcement of the
first members of the VAX 9000 family by mid 1988.
DECwindows and NFS are reported to be supported in VS.0. The Sun Microsystems'
Network File System (NFS) is considered to be a key feature of VS.0.
The first member of the SMP family may include a quad-processor VAX 8700
system. An eight processor CVAX system with two RA90 disks with shared memory
may show up about the same time.
Notes on LAVc use on VMS V4.6 and V4.7.
If a common system disk is not set up
when V4.6 is instal led, then it is not possible to restructure the disk using
Digital command procedures unti I V5.0.
Therefore,
if there is any thought of
going to LAVc, answer "yes" to the query about setting up a conmon system disk
during the V4.6 upgrade.
It is necessary to go back to V4.5 and reinstal I the
V4.6 and V4.7 updates if you want a common system disk prior to V5.0 of VMS.

END OF REPORT

PPALUG NEVVSLETTER
20 Ootober 1987

The Next PPAlUG Meeting
The next meeting of the Pikes Peak Area Local Users
Group (PPALUG) will be held on Thursday, 12 November at
McDonnell Douglas at 4146 East Bijou Street in Colorado
Springs.
Or host is Craig A. Brumfield, Systems
Engineer in the Space Technology Division (570-4057).
This meeting could be cal led "Non-DEC Days· as we have
invited experts outside of Digital to talk on subjects
relating to the use and support of mass storage devices
and memory sub-systems.
Three visiting authorities
will discuss subjects as summarized below:
(1) A technical representative from Executive Software
wil I discuss the subjects of diSK compression and the
use of File Control Primitive (FCP) VMS parameters to
improve disk performance and throughput. The on-I ine
compression of disk files is intended to provide the
functions of the backup and restore operations which
are usually performed with the VMS BACKUP util ity.
Defragmentation of disks is one of the most often
discussed System Improvement Requests (SIR) of the VMS
development group.
It will be interesting to
understand the advantages and risks associated with onI ine disk compression.

Berry Eagers from Systems Industries in CA will
discuss the status of cisk and mass storage
technologies which are app! Icable to current mass
storage systems, as wei I as where the industry may be
going in the future. Of some interest is the status of
magnetic tape storage systems and what is being done to
keep up with the ever increasing needs to backup very
large capacity disk systems without spending a month of
Sundays doing it.
(2)

(3) The third visiting authority wil I be from EMC and
wi II discuss current trends in MOS memory and laser
disk technology. We are I ikely to see increased use of
laser disks to provide the functions heretofore
provided by magnetic tape systems. EMC is expected to
address this area in detail. Also, the general area of
VMS use of memory resident caches ~'Iill be discussed.
EMC has prepared a VMS parameter tuning presentation to
give system managers a brief tutorial on the techniques
of making better use of main memory to improve system
performance.

We wil I also have a presentation by our host from
McDonnel I Douglas on how they are currently making use
of DEC computers and networKS.
Then, the very popular
question and answer session will provide an end to what
promises to be an informative and interesting day of
discussions on techniques and tecnnologles.
Meeting Agenda
8:30
9:00
9:15
9:30
9:45

-

9:00
9:15
9:30
9:45
12:00

12:00 -

1:00

1:00
1:30

2:45 3:00 -

Coffee and Donuts
LUG Business Topics
Disk Compression ~ VMS FCP Parameters
Break
Mass Storage Technologies ~ Futures
Lunch

1:30 Presentation by McDonnell Douglas
2:45 Memory Technologies ~ VMS Tuning
3:00 BreaK
4:00 Questions &Answers - General Forum

Report on last Meeting
Our last meeting was at Digital's Applications Center
for Technology in Englewood. About 45 people attended
the meeting, and it was one of our most successful yet.
Excellent presentations on network technologies,
futures and software products were given by a number of
well informed experts from Digital. It is clear that
lUG members are interested in product demonstrations
and subject matter that helps us better understand how
to select and use products for our computers. As a
result, the meeting on 12 November wil I concentrate on
helping with the understanding and use of technologies
in the memory and mass storage areas. Additionally, we
will try the tutorial concept of presenting information
on how to maKe better use of our computers by proper
adjustment of VMS parameters.
A New Mailing List

Over 1,000 mail iogs were made announcing the last
meeting and requesting people to return information to
be placed on the new PPALUG mai IIn9 list. The result:

Our I ist has been reduced to about 160 people, which is
bel ieved to represent those truly interested in
participating in future lUG activities. If you know of
ANYONE who should be included in the mail ing list,
please inform Jim lind at the address shown at the
bottom of this document.
Short Shots
Several products were announced at the DECworld bash in
Boston not long ago.
It is expected that we wi II
discuss these products during the question and answer
session at the next meeting.
Included in major new
products are the MicroVAX 3500, 3600, VAXstation 3200,
3500, twisted pair
Ethernet, RA82 (available
separately), TK70 tape, RA70 disK, and others. Rumors
abound about the RA90 disk, DECserver 500, and maybe a
VAX-8750 microcode upgrade.
Discussions of VMS VS.0 are heating up. It is rumored
to include proposed enhancements for larger clusters,
mixed-mode clusters, new system management tools, and
Hierarchical Storage Controller (HSC) management
software.
The Denver and Colorado Springs sales offices have
verified that
the
Personal Computer Systems
Architecture (PCSA) VMS Services software is now
available for the cost of media only for those that
have purchased VAXmates or PC integration kits.
Extensive evaluation at Honeywell of the PCSA offerings
are currently under way.
By the 12 November meeting,
it may be possible to comment on the effectiveness and
performance in this product area.

Directions to the Meeting Place
The McDonnell Douglas facil ity is located in Southeast
Colorado Springs not far from the Airport. Bijou
intersects Academy Blvd just South of the Pikes Peak
Ave. overpass. From Academy Blvd, turn East on Bijou
Street and go a couple of blocks to 4146 East Bijou.
Enter the McDonnel I Douglas area and ask for directions
to the PPAlUG or DECUS meeting.
Problems??? Call
Craig Brumfield at 570-4057.
SEE YOU THERE BETWEEN
8:30 AND 9:00 AM, THURSDAY, 12 NOVEMBER!!!
OECUS SympOSium Contributions
To contribute software to one of the SIG tapes at the
7-11 December DECUS S~posium, bring it to the PPAlUG
meeting on 1600 BPI mag tape. Include a README file on
the tape including the sUbmitter's name and address,
and a description of the files being sUDmitted.
General PPAlUG Infonmation
The PPAlUG Newsletter is the official newsletter of the
Pi(es Peak Area Local Users Group. This publ ication is
available to anyone free of charge.
For more
information about PPALUG or to subscribe to the PPAlUG
Newsletter, contact Jim lind at (303) 577-1672.
Submission of items to the Newsletter impl ies release
for use in any DECUS publ ication'. Send all mater ial
for publication to PPAlUG, c/o Systems Engineering &
Consulting, Inc., P.O. Box 7850, Colorado Springs, CO
80933 .

.'". ::~:~;'. ~ i ::j ,;~' '..'

PIKES PEAK AREA LOCAL USERS GROUP (PPALUG)
clo Systems Engineering &Consulting. Inc.
P.O. Box 7858
Colorado Springs, CO
88933

...

_.t.

- ~.-~" ...... "

. ~~"""'''t·''"'!.r:,,').

PPALUG FOLLOWUP
27 October 1987
Approximately a weeK ago, the announcement of the next meeting of the PiKes
PeaK Area LUG was mailed out to those that returned information indicating
their interest in remaining on the PPALUG mail ing list. THIS WILL BE THE LAST
MAILING USING THE OLD tAAILING LIST.
If you did not recently receive a copy of the 2~ October 1987 PPALUG
NEWSLETTER, now is the time to return the form given at the bottom of this
sheet and get on the new list.
The fol lowing is a correction to the agenda for the meeting to be held at
McDonnell Douglas at 4146 East Bijou Street in Colorado Springs on Thursday, 12
November:
8:3~

-

9:~~

9: 15
9: 15 - 10:30
9:0~.-

10:3~

10:45
12:0~

1 :00
1: 30

-

-

10:45
12:00
1 :~0

-

1 :3~
2:45

2:45 3:00 -

3:00
4:00

Coffee and Donuts
Topics
Disk Compression Software & VMS ACP Parameters
(RiCK Cadruvi of Executive Sofbware)
Break
Mass Storage Technologies & Futures
(Berry Eagers of Systems Industries>
Lunch
Presentation by McDonnel I Douglas
Memory Technologies & VMS Tuning
(Kevin Fitzgerald of EMC>
Break
Questions & Answers - General Forum

-LU~:Business

Remember, return the form given below ONLY if you failed to receive the 28
October 1987 PPALUG NEWSLETTER.
See you at McDonnell Douglas
on 12 November!!!
Jim Lind

PiKes Peak Area Local Users Group (PPALUG)
c/o.Systems Engineering & Co~sulting,lnc.
P.O. Box 7850
Colorado Springs, CO
80933

Detach here and return in envelope ONLY if you have not already done so!!
DECUS u:

Name:
Address:

City:

State:

Phone:

filiconValley·.' r~ainbow

)ilicon Valley DEC PC Users Group

RX60 lets
PC-AT use
DEC disks
By Russ Mosteller
Almost sinc@ th@ introduction of t.he Rainbow, one of the
major problems lhat Rainbow
Uleri hQve faced is traniferring files between it and
ot.her microcomput@rs.
The evolution of the doublesided, double-density diskett.e
as the de facto industry standard has made t.he situation
even worse.
Fort.unately,
there
have
continued t.o be innovat.ive
solutions to lhe problem, including bot.h software, such ss
Inlersectina Concepts' Media
Master. and hardware, such as
Suitable Solutions' I-Drive.
A new public domain program, RXSO, now goes to the
h~.rt of t.he problem and perIAltS lhe IBM PC-AT and its
clones t.o read and wri t.e
Single-sided,
quad-density
RXSO disket.tes in its highd2nsil-y ds-i Vf!.
RXSO, wri t.ten by Robert F.
Morse tnd put into t.he public
domain t.hrough Ted Needleman'. Rainbow Corner Great
Disk De.1 in Hardcopy, is easy
t.o use and well-documenled. It
does pr.sent a couple potenlial
problems, but t.hey can easily
be overcome.
RXSO consist.s of t.wo .apar. ate programs, RXSODRVR and
RXSOINIT. RXSODRVR controls
the r.ading and writing of lh.
RXSO disket.te, while RXSOINtT
"inilializes" an RXSO diskelt.Q
which cont.ains no files. The
t.,.,o programs must. be inst.alled

Continui'd on p 49. 2

October 1987 - Vol. 4, No. 10

Word Perf ect draws the line
Company plans no version 5.0 for DEC Rainbow
By Carl Neiburger
There will be no Word Perfeet version 5.0 for the DEC
Rainbow nor for any other nonIBM compatible MS-DOS computel's, Pele Peterson, executive
vice president. of Word Perfeel Corp., has announced.

Word Perfect. has consistently provided versions of its
word processor for t.he Rain-bow
and olher non-compatibles for
the past. couple years, since it
became a major competitor in
the soflware mar)(etplace.
Peterson said Word Perfect
Corp. ,now sells about. S13,000 t.o

u~.rs

.!4,()Ot) ~ mont.h ?<\'orth ?f \vord

have produced a strong and
steady demand for lhe wordproces5ine proeram, Pelerson
said Word Perfect managers
concluded t.hal those sales
were not. enough t.o just.if)' lhe
development cost..
"The IBM overshadows the
other machines 50 much in
revenue thal it's hard to juslify t.he (programming) lime,"
he told the Silicon Valley
Rainbow.

Perfect. programs for non-IBM
compatible MS-DOS machines.
Of those sales, Rainbow versions account for $10,000 to
Si2,000 - around 80 percent. of
t.he
t.ot.al.
By comparison,
P.t.arson said Word Perfect.
Corp. has been sellin~ about
$300.000 a month worth of its
new version for Digital Equipment C(lrp.'s VA~ mini-computel'.

Ailhvueh

Rainbow

Hardware review

RAMbow flexes memory muscle
By Hike Pasini
Pseudo Sysop
SF Bay Area DEC PC BBS
It. has a terrible nan'ut. Might.
as weU have called il The
Poindexter. But by any other
name. it would run as weH. So
we will be obliged lo refer to
lhe t.hing as the RAMbow,
though the name pinches us in
• delicate spot.
The first memory boards
available for t.he Rainbow
were for t.he iOOA and offered
two choices: 64K for a lolal
J.28K, or i92K for a t.olal 25SK.
The lall.r board listed for
aboul a thousand dollars.
I romember t.ryin2 lo boot
dBASE II under CP/M-BS and
CGniinui'd on po. ge 4

Users group meets
Wednesday. Oct. 14
The Silicon

V&.U~y

DEC

PC Usars aroup meels from

1 t. 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct..
i., at. Kierulff Electronics, ii80 Murphy Ave., San
Jose.
To set to the meeting,
take the Brokaw Road exit.
from Inlerstale 880 and
t.urn east. Brokaw becomes
Murphy aft.ar it. crosses
Old Oakland Road.
Talce the first driveway
past. Old Oakland Road on
t.he rieht. int.o t.he PS Business Park. KieruJff El.clronics is in the first
building on lhe lefl.

Page 2

Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group
Public domain, software

SY Rainbow
by modem

October 198"',
_

RX50 makes AT connection

If a disketle cont.ains no
files, however, it musl first be
on the AT system and it.s
initialized using' RXSOINIT.
The text of t.his n4tWSCONFIG.SYS file must. be modiThis is a simple and straight.let.ler is regularly upfied to include t.he stat.ement.
loaded to the the San
forward proc~dure. Unforlun"DEVICE: RX50DRVR.S,{S."
Francisco Bay Are. DEC
IItely, RX50INJT cannot form~l
In this configurat.ion, t.he
PC Users' Group Fido bulan RXSO diskette, 50 any disknext aVlli1able device driver
Jetin boar d and the DEC PC
etles lo be used musl have
is assigned to the hie h Forum of CompuServe.
been formatted on a Rainbow.
densit.y disk drive and superThe newsletter text is
The other problem with RXSO
cede, its normal desi~nation,
stored in files named wit.h
is t.hat. it prevents the highnamely A:.
th~ Jetters "SV" followed
density drive from being used
Because most AT systems
hy t.he number of the
as an AT high-density drive.
hav~ ~ p!!rlilioned h~rd disk,
month and year. Thus
In other words, lhe drive clln
the
specific device driver be used as either a hiehSV0287.ARC
ident.ifies
assigned depends on the num- density AT drive or as an RXSO
the February J.987 newsber
of partitions: If t.here is drive but not. II' bolh. This
letter.
All
newslett4u
only
II single partition, device restrict.ion is only a minorfile, except the A u~ust
0:
will
be assigned; if there inconvenience so lone as t.here
1986 issue are compressed
are
two
partitions, device E:, is no need t.o read or wri te
usinS! the ARC program.
etc. Once RXSO is installed, from bolh types of diskett.es
The SlIn Francisco bullhe RXSO drive may b@ ad- frequently.
letin
board
operates
dressed jusl lilee any other
nights and weekends only
The simple solution to this
device.
at (4i5) 98i-332S. The
problem is to creat.e t.wo files
Afler RX50 is install@d and t.hal can be used interchangenewslett.er may be found
the CONFIG.SVS file modified, ably liS the CONFIG.SYS file,
in file area 2, newsl~t.­
RX50DRVR can read from and one
t.hllt.
contains
t.he
tel's.
wrile to RXSO disleettes lhat RXSODRVR device assignment.
already have one or more files and one which does not. Whenwithout. any additional effort.
ever it is necessary to use tho
ot.her type of disleet.t.e, t.he
approprillte file can be copied
·:1:-- "_II_
DE"
-»1 .\iUII
Y din:
' " rDI"
' " User:. "'roup
v
onto CONFIG.SYS and lhe s,sc/o DECTECH, 144S KoB Circle Uo. 103, San Jose 9S1!2
tem r.booted.
Chairmant
This procedure obviously can
Gery C~t~Jano
....':(4C!} 275-1.133
h: (~~9) 243-59!!
be re~ee.ted ~s oft.en tll necesSteering Committ.e:
sary, but it, does become cumLarry De Moss
WI (-408) 562-7156
h: (408) 779-2721
bersome if it has t.o be don.
h: (415) 490-i94!
frequently.
Harvin Hahn
w: (40S. 727-66i6
Vel Kuft.inec
WI (408) 720-!.lOO x2294 h: (408) 266-6420
Over all, I found RXSO to b.
Russell Most.eller WI (408) 377-4870 x220 h: (408) 267-0273
much more convenient. and
MemberShip:
efficient. t.o use t.han Media
Dennis Boodt.
w: (408) 756-98.66
h: <4!S) S53-iS62
Master. I still prefer lo use my
h: (4~8) 33S-5149
Paul Kina
w: (408) 438-2326·
I-Dri ve, but. som@one who
h: (40S) 294-6497
Newsletter: Carl Neiburger
wishes to swap information
Events: Mark Myers w: (40S) 275-!!33
between an AT and a Rainbow
w: (40S) 988- i2SS
Librarian: John Handle
but doesn't plan to purchase an
I-Drive or an RB-LinJc may find
This newsletter is available fr.e to DEC PC users in Nort.hRXSO to be a very attract.ive
ern California. To subscribe writ.e t.o:
alternative.
Dennis Boodl, 237 McKendry Dri ve, Menlo Park 94025.
RXSO is available on MS-DOS
diskelte
82 in t.he Silicon ValSend newsletter articles to:
ley
DEC
PC
Users Group's public
C.rl Neiburger, 169 N. 25t.h S~, San Jose 95i16
domain library.

y

(Continufld Ito. p

tA9f1 1)

October 1987

Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group

New Turbo may be less 'generic'
But 'command-line' version should run on Rainbows
By Carl Neiburger
Borland In ternational Corp.,
has announced a new version
4.0 of its Turbo Pascal compiler
this month that promises significant new features, including modular compilation and
expanded program size.
Bul DEC Rainbow O'A'ners may
be unable lo use the program
shell or "integrated environment," as Borland calls it,
which has simplified debugging in previous' versions of
Turbo.
The new version of Turbo
Pa.cal will also apparently be
available only on double-sided
disketles, which cannot be
read directly by lhe Rainbow,
a Borland representalive said.
Borland officials say the
program shell will be designed
for IBM PCs and compatibles.
Turbo Pascal 4.0 will also come
with .. "command-line" compi-

ler t.hal will generale generiC
MS-DOS code, .aid Bill Burch, a
Borland spokesman.
Burch said Turbo Pascal version 4.0 will only be available
on "standard MS-DOS disks,"
which he said meant doublesided.
Borland mad. previous MSDOS versions of Turbo Pascal
in bolh IBM-specific and "generic" versions. Th. generic
versions were av~ilable in
RX50 format for lhe DEC Rainbow.'
.
.
The Turbo Pascal command
shell in v.rsions 2 and 3
allowed users to edit, compile
and run a program or search
for a run-time error within a
single command shell. The
shell would aut.omat.ically flag
the local ion of compilalion or
run-time errors and display
the problem line on the editin~ screen.
These older versions of

Page 3

Turbo Pascal did not include
command-line, compilers, and
lhe IBM-specific versions produced programs that would not
run on the DEC Rainbow.
The new version of Turbo
Pascal, as described by Borland, will be capable of crealing programs that. use all
availabl4t computer memory in
their code and data segmenls.
Pr.vious versions of Turbo
were limited to 64K byt.es each
for code (commands) and data
(variables).
Borland says the new version of Turbo will also allow
program modules to be compil.d separately and then
linked together. Current. versions reqUire t.hat a program
be completely recompiled each
time a change is made.
The new version of Turbo
Pascal will sell for $99.9S and
be available to owners of earlier versions of lhe program
for $39.96 plus a $5 shipping
charge, Borland said. Borland's
address is 4585 Scotts Valley
Drive, Scotts Vaney 95066.

Tutorials that would flunk computer literacy
By Carl Neiburger
I was one of t.hose children
who had ~rouble doing t.hings
just as lhe teacher wanted. I
always lhought., "Why can't I
do t.his differently?"
Fort.unately, my teach.rs
more often than not got t,he
idea: There is more lhan one
"right" way of doing t.hings.
Ent.r the computer "lutorial." I lried one recently. IL
was supposed to t.each me how
to use a word proc4usor.
My first clash came when
the lulorial asked me to
create
a
file
called
"B:M V .DOC."
I was working off a hard disk
and wanted to Itay ther8. The
B: drive was empty. Would t.he
program accept jU.t. "MV.DOC"?
No. It. bli Pped at. me. Nor would
it. accept. "E:". It. was going lo
be "B:MY.DOC" or nothing. w.

have taJcen over your computer
screen, and you'll do it our
way.
Things weren't. quite as had
from lhen on. \\'hen t.he prosram asked me t.o insert "J.2"
before the word "months," I
insert.ed "twelve. tJ
The computer scolded me for
get.t.ing it wrong but. let. me
cont.inue the lesson.
A bit lat.er I got. a'surprise: J
had botched the first example
according to t.he comput.er. I
hadn't t.ried to. The oomput.er
h~d asked me t.o put something
in boldface, and I misunderstood and did it. bold and
und.rUned. Another SCOlding.
I went on to the next eX1lmpie and did what I was told.
This time I got praise: "Right.
aa~int"

Agai,..?
I don't. have any children,

but if I did I would have seri.)us misgiving. about. having
them tut.ored by a computer.
Use a computer? Sure. Why
not? Comput.ers are gr •• t EoI'
t.yping, wriling programs, making calculations, all .orts of
eductlt.ion.llhings.
But be t.utored by a computer?
Not until someone comes up
wit.h a tutorial program that.
can say things like:
That's clever; you've
found a different way of doing
it."
- "Well, that's o.L.ost right..
Let's look at it. again and say
where you went wrong."
- "That's not quite what. I
expected, but, it's interest.ing.
Can you show me t.hat you can
do it. my way, too?"
Oh, yes. The program had
b.tler know how t.o laugh.

October 198 l
P

Page 4

Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group

RAMbow: Get past the name, and you've a megabyte
~ConUnu.d

tro. peg. 1)

~ellins an insufficienl memory error on my 6tH machine. It.
was a Friday. I could barely
last t.he weekend. By Monday I
had decided t.o forego the 64K
board (lhou~h it was sianificantly cheaper) and go for the
2S6K. Someho ... I would justify
it.
A RAM disk would juslify it,
but lhere was no such thing
for a Rainbow. The bullelin
boards that I calJed had a gene~ie versien that did nvt run
on the Rainbow. Only a few
weeks laler I gol hold of one
for my machine t.hrouS!h Marie
Graybill. I was in business.
Then t.he B sho ... ed up. And
version 2.0 of CP/M-S6/80 ... ith
MDRIVE. And MS-DOS. 896K?
What.ev.r for?
DEC did supply iOOA o ... n.rs
wit.h a ne ... option: buy a S99
adapter to use lhe new memory
boards for the B and kick your
RAM up t.o 832K
All t.hat was expensive. I
can't remember how much.
Then somebody found t.hal if
you bought the cheapest. DEC
board and bought generic
Chips, you'd save a minl. But
you st.ill had to get thal adapt.e ... And t.hat S99 was always
enough diseourauemQnL
Then DEC announced an 8081
for which bolh A and B owners
had lo buy t.he adapter board.
This made me feel a lilUe beller, hul since it. cost. about.
•• 00, my discouragement. cryslallized.
J began to see life in lerms
of 2S6K.
There's very lit.t.le you can't.
do in 2S6K. Very lit.tle. Jusl
about. everylhing fils in 2S6K.
Especially CP/M stuff.
I guess I gol lired of hearing
myself. I know I gollired hearing drive A crank up WordPerfecl. WP seems t.o cach.

ilself, bUl all t.he same, lhere
are some lhinss J do t.hat. lhe
aulhors of the pr~gram figured
wouldn't gel used loo much, so
lhey al ... ays required a disk
access. On .. 2S6K syslem.
So I decided to figure out
how lo put. in a board and not.
spend a forlune. And I decided
it wa' only prudent. t.o get. up to
832K.
My schemes included three
different. suppliers: lhe adapter board from one source, for
$S9; the bare board from another, for ahoul S260, and some
Chip sels from yet another, for
anolher Si20. I had to spend
belween S400 and "SOO.
ThaVs when I first. heard
about RAMbow. Jerry Miller of
Suitable Solut.ions had designed a board wit.h nine on.megabit. chips thal kicked
iOOAs up t.o S96K - with no
adapter'
There were some prior f abulous claims for Rainbow .memory boards. Combined memory
and clock boards lhat nev'er
mat.erialised, for .x.mple. So J
was sJcept.ical.
Excepl thal Hillel' had' invented t.he ClikClok. I didn't.
have one, but I sure liked the
idea. It .... s s.ndwiched bet.ween a ROM and i ls socket.. No
velcro. No muss. And inexpe ... siv •• Something I lenew I had t.o
have when I star led using
WordPerfect. regUlarly.
Okay, I said, let's look into
RAMbow.
Mill.r gave a present.at.ion
wilh Julie Starl' .t. our user
group meet.ing. Talked about
lhe Ataris he has in lhe closet. And his inlerest. in t.he
Rainbow. And how Rainbows
are finding a second life as
corporal. gi ve-aways. And how
people don't mind at all lhro\rling in lhird party hardware to
l ... eak them a litlle. What
have lhey gotlo Jose?

Then he passed around his
products.
I aclually held a RAMbow in
my hand. I started t.o shake.
This was an I needed? This litlie lhing~
I pul in an order for t.hree of
t.hem.
ClikCloles, loo. What t.he hell.
Why lhe RAMbow, after so
much procraSolinalion?' I had
five reasons. I could feel each
of them slick me as I lurned
the b.oard over in my hand.
i. Il lakes the iOOA lo 896K,
rather than just 832K. Actually, lhe real number is something like 9i1K.
2. It. comes fully populated
wilh lhe nine one-megabit
chips - the lalest and grealest. No chips lo install or buy
or bargain for.
3. It. reqUires no adapler.
4. It. is compatible with lhe
B, in the event that DEC ever
decides lo sell B molher boards
for somet.hing less than SiOOO.
S. It was under •• 00.
Okay, but. whal's the story on
the adapler?
Well, it seems t.hal for any
J.OOA to go over 2S6K, you need
to remove lhe 8088 from the
mother board - kno ... n in other
species as a lobot.omy -. and
atlach it lo an adapler that
contains the wiring to access
lhe expanded memory.
RAMbow gets around this:
Suitable Solutions includes a
new S088 with lh. board. They
call it a cable. "20. They call it
a cable because the S088 has a
few wires epoxied on top of it
and soldered to a f .... pins on
one side. These wires plug
right int.o t.he memory board.
So, you could call it - tec-hnically - an adapler. Bul you ,
gel 11 spare 808S. Greal for conversat.ions ... ith the easily
impressed. And, boy, e.r.nJl w.
all.
Continued on p

Q

ge 5

Oc-tober 1987

Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group

RAMbow: first megabyte
(Continued fro. p Q ge 4)

But how tough is i L to remove the old 8088?
I did it to three machines.
Two of them yielded to my persistent screw driv.r just. like
the installation manual said
t.hey would. The third didn't..
Turns out t.hat 80B8 was actually soldered into ils socket.s.
This is a manufacturin·~ defect, so DEC replaced the
mother board, which was "out,
of rev" anyway. I couldn't have
inslalled their memory eilher,
aft.er all.
So you might. say, if you can't
install this board in your
Rainbow, there's something
",rong with your Rainbow.
Which, if you have a service
contract, may slir your blood.
I confess J used a lit.t.h~
Tweek (Stabilant,). I keep r.ading rave reviews in Byte
magazine's Chaos Manor column by Jerry Pturnelle. Of
course, immediately after I got.
hold of it., the Canadian manufacturer has a let.ter to Byte
published in which th. generic name of the st.uff is revealed and Tweeft shown for
t.he repackaging it. is.
Anyway, aft.er all t.he soldering t.rauma, J wanted t.o
lenow the.e babies would slip
right. in. So I brushed some
Tweele on t.hem.
The installat.ion was quick
and painless. Not qUite as easy
.s that J.92K board, but as
close as possible.
How about softwar.?
You should know that th.
only versions of th. operat.ing
systems that. lupport that
much memory are CP/M-8S/S0
2.0i and MS-DOS 2.it. The installalion manual says as
much.
I found out thal CP/M-8S/S0

2.0 will in fact access the expanded memory, but. you can't
cold start. the Rainbow wilh il,
You can cold st.arl t.he Rainbow
with MS-DOS 2.i! and t.hen
warm st.arl CP/M 2.0, but you
can't cold st.art. 2.0. RAM parit.y
error is reported.
I haven't run one bit of software that. has had any trouble
wit.h t.he new RAM. I ran stuff
for CP/M-SO, CP/M-SS, MS-DOS,
compilers, word processors,
public domain editors, communications programs, spellers, spreadsheet.s, you name
it. Everything ran fine.
In fact I nearly forgot t.o d~
this review because the board
is so transparent I didn't notice it was lhere.
Which is how I like t.hese
t.hings t.o go.
What. can you actually do
with 9i7K, besides brag about
it?
Laugh at people wit.h fragmented hard disks.
My Mult.iplan files show !OO
percent. free when I load my
big spreadsheet.s. That's. funny.
I finally got t.o use SmartKey
S.OD wit.h an application program. There was no memory to
use it. with in 256K - except.
WordPerfect, if you only wrote
let.t.ers wit.h it..
And I found that I could configure WordPerfect t.o run
very, very nicely by copying
t.he speller to a RAM disk, loading th •. SVS files to the same
RAM disk - for printing, mainly - and loading the whole proi!ram into RAM with the /1'
swit.ch. This
leaves
both
drives fr.e! So Lhe Thesaurus
Hit.t.le us.d good luck charm)
goes in A, and my data disk in

B.
I've even found it worthwhile to copy my dat.abase
files into RAM disks.

Page 5

Noted
briefly ...
By Ru.ss Hosteller

About the right DOS
A pamphlet., available
for about. SS, summarizes
all t.he MS-DOS commands
from level 2.0 through 3.2.
Ils tille is simply H5-005
Co •• onds, and it's writ.ten by Van Wolverton,
who also wrote Runnin 9
M5-D06 and 5u.p.rch4tging IrIS-D05. . .

Il's an inexpensive reference for peopl. who
may b. running MS-DOS S.i
but don't. want. to pay $20
or so for a detailed DOS
gUide. It's available at.
Fry's and .t. Computer. Lit.eracy, and probably many
other places as well.

DEC in perspective
MS-DOS disk 72 in the
Silicon Valley DEC PC
Users Group library contains some articles circa
i98S and i9SS from Infoworld and the Wall St.reet
Journal about . t.he Rainbow's demise as well as
several DEC memoranda
rebut.t.ing the art.icles and
t.rying t.o reassure DEC
cust.omers.
The most insightful article may b. one that suggests that. the difference
between DEC and IBM is
t.hat. DEC is run by engin.ers who gradu.led from
MIT while IBM is run by
graduates of the Harvard
Business School. (The person who wrote the arlicle
holds degrees from both
inslitulions.~

Page 6

Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group

Word Perf ect
won't issue 5.0
for Rainbow
He said Word Perfecl Corp.
will sell and support. Word Perfeel version 4.2 for lhe Rainbow and olher computers, including t.he Texas Inslrumenls
Professional, lhe Tandy 2000
and lhe Zenilh Z/iOO lhrough
1S90. SQ!~s .nd ~upport cuc.:ld
continue beyond lh.n if demand conlinues, Peterson seid,
Version 4.2 is the curr@nl
version of lhe word processor
.nd presumedly the last. before
version 5.0.
Only last sprine, Word Perfect responded t.o appeals by
DEC Rainbo,,-, users and issued
a fast video version of \YOI'd
PerfQcl 4.2, which lignificanUy improved performance
by speeding up screen re'pons9.
Pelerson said Digi tal Equipment Corp's announcemenl last,
wintor that it was going out of
the R.inbo.... husiness wes a
fac;tor in Word Perfect's decision:
"DEC just iln't. matins more
~f t.h(\!-~ m~~ttin~s," hit !~id.
Version 5.0 of "y,}ord Perfect.
is expect.ed t.o include features t.o allow more sophisticat.d format,tinf! for laser printers, such as lhe abilily to
i@ep ~rack of different. type
sizes.
Peterson said ~h.lJ allhough
Version 5.0 will have ils own
file format, it. will also be able
to save files in a format. compalible with version 4.2.

October 19& I

New features to look for
in MS-DOS version 3.10
Di~it,al Equipment. Corp. has
yet to issue MS-DOS version
a.iO, end the signs are not promising, but preliminary t.est
versions - though unofficial are making th. rounds.
MS-DOS version a.iO will add
a number of new funct.ions as
well as the ability to form.t
lar~.r hard disks, accordine t.o
" leaked copy "f DEC preliminary release notes.
Th~s~ " .. I@~~~ no~-~s.; for '_'~!'­
sion G3.!O.Oi3, are daled May
i3, !986, nearly a year and a
half ago. The latest. version
known t.o exist, is 03.iO.Oi7.
The notes say that. "aU MSDOS v2.!! programs will run
unmodified
wit.h
MS-DOS
v3.!O."
Besides the familiar MS-DOS
version a.ii programs, MS-DOS
3.!0 has these new programs,
import.ed wi lhou\' modificaUon
from t.he generic MicroSoft,
version:
APPEND.COM lel. you
graft a subdirect.ory branch
from on. plaee to another on
your direct.ory tree. You could,
for example, lalce " subdirectory that. slarls directly at
t.he rool and move it. to one of
the more remot.e branches or
vice versa.
ASSIGN.COM alsigns a
drive let.tel' to a differenl.
dri ve. Thus, if you h. ve a program thaI. insist.s on findinS!
somelhing on a specific drive,
you can fool it. int.o looking
elsewhere.
- JOIN.EKE "joins a disi
drive to .. pathname."
- LABEL.EXE "changes, removes 'Or displays disk volume
labels."
- SHARE.EXE allows comput.rs allach.d t,o a net.worle to

shares resources. No more de
tails were gi v.n in t.he J'(
lease noles.
- SUBST.EKE let.s you N:
name a palh as a drive let.t.e.
The release not4u .ay you ca
also use "a st.ring alias," bu
lhat. doesn't seem t.G wGrk. Tt:
syntax
is
"SUBST
{alia~
{d:\path},' where {alias} is U"
letter 'Of lhe u new" drive ar:
{d:\path} is t.he reel drive ar,

-fa"....
...

Both ASSIGN end GUaSTi
lute Mtay require you to Eo ..
lhe oper.tin~ syst.em in'·
lhinking U', ~t, lhe comput.,·
has more drive, lhan it, doe~
MS-DOS 3.tO let" you do this b;
pulling
t.he
instl'uct.i01
"LASTDRIVE=Z"
in
you;
CONFIG.SYS file. You may, 0:
course, use lelters precedinc.

Z.

·

MS-DOS S.iO tlso includ0~;
t.hese new programs designe,:
by or modified by DEC:
- ATTRIB.COM "displays '0;Changes lile at,t.ributes."
- BACKUP.EKE, a hard-dis;·
backup ut.ility.
- RESTORE.EXE, the co un
terp.rl lo BACKUP.
FDISK.EXE "initialize ~
tnd p~:'t.i ti:.:'i.; h~:d ~i~k,."
MS-DOS S.! will also includ
• new version of MDRIVE.SYt
t.he RAM disk facility. How-·
ever t.he release noles sueaested that DEC was havinf!
problems using it, t.o creal~.:;
RAM disks larser than 641:
byt.es.
It, might. be safer t.'O tUL•
Iee.p t.he MS-DOS a.ii pr0f!ra:i~.
The release noles 'Observed,
"Version 2.i! MDRIVE.SVS ap~
pears to work fine with its own
MDRIVE.COM
running und:.:r
J

version 3.iO."

Suitable Solutions works on 80288~ graphics boards
By

C.3.rllleiburg~r

Suit able Soluti(,ns is wInking on a B02BS-micr~proc~ssor
b').ard .and an IBM-compatible
gr~phics b.)ard for
the DEC
Rainb(......·• said Jerry Hiller,
head e.f th'? Sanla Cl.ara comp.any.
He s:3.id his company, \Which
makes the I-Dri\.·e IBM-compatible disk drit.·,? and lh'? R~m­
ba)W merfll)fy-'?xpansil)n b,).ard
has not y'?t deve1a)pedproduclion versions a)f the graphics
and 80286 boards.
"It.. is not a prl)ducl ·at lhe
mom~nl," Miller s:aid .if lhe
80286 bl)ard, which alsea in-

Group meets
Vedrlesday

eludes an 80287 mathem~lics
cel-processor.
Miller sh.)wed off the 9028b
board l.ast m.)nlh at. DE}{PO in
Anaheim to ae\. pCltential buy'?rs' comments on wh~th'?r
there is a demand f'H it ~nd
whal fe.alufes it sh.)uld hav~:
il\t.,!e were just. t.rying tv find
oul whlt kind of ':prl)duction)
b.)~rd l(. build."
H'? said lhat. bef'He the
80286 board can be brought to
m~rket..
Suilabl~
S(.lulions
must dev,?l.,p ways tv modify
t.he R;iinb,:ow!s read-only memory S(l t.h~l it.. will aCI:~pl the
Chip wit.hout. issuing error
mess.;ges. In fact, he said, the
b I) (l t.. C (I d e CI n ea.: h R a i n b I) W dis k

Public

dorr~.ain

The Silicon Vallev DEC
PC Useors Gro:-up
meeot
from 7 to 9 p.m. Wedneosda~, Jan. i:::, at DECTECH,
i445 K.:·l1 Circle Uo, i(l~:,
San Jl)se, K,)ll Circl~ is off
of Norlh Fourlh Stre'?t
and Gish RI)ad~ just. "','~sl
I)f the interseclion of U.S.
10.1 and Intersl~t.e SBO.
To gel ther'? f:')m soul hbound iOi. l4K'? the First
Str'?'?l
off-r.amp,
go
straight.
across
First
Str'?'?t .and turn rieht on
fourth, just. befr}re the
frontage ro~d re-enters
the Fr'?e"w'~y. K.)ll Cirel'? is
t he first left from F.)urth
Street..
Co rli i fI tU? d 11 n p 0. 9 e 5

""il"-

I.

softtcure

A look into command History
Bv Russ Moslell'?!·
/

Jan. 13

""ill have to be m.:adified ll)
.......ork with t.he 80286.
li w· e ' v ,? had an awful }')t of
p'?ople lell us. 'You can't put a
'286 in a Rainbc.w,'· Miller said.
i.i"ve have pr(.ved ~e .:::a.n d·) it,
bul we!re nell anywhere near
b'?ing able to make a prl)duct.
ann')UnCeTi\ent (In il."
The same is true oi the 2 r .a.:i : IIW· '? \; e
ph 1. ( S b (l a r 1.1~ , h e 5 a l'
got lhe hard . . .·a.re done." ,"",'hat.
remains. he s.aid, is tt} develt)p
s(lflwar'? l(1 allow lhe R.ainbli""-'
leI emulate the IBM's graphics
int'?rface.
Miller said lhe board "'ill
us~
the Hercules graphics
sl..andard.

One t)f lhe mt)sl useful conin a VAX VMS op~r.a­
ling system is the on-lin~
ulilit.v thal .allows t.h'? user lo
r'?t..ri~ve. '?dit and reissue previ(lus commands.
A similcar ulility for the
Rainbt)w, HISTORY I can be obtained from lhe Silicon Valley
DEC PC Users Group's librar·y of
public-dl)m~in s,:.flware. Il c.an
run on the MS-DOS 2.xx and 3.xx
operating syslems.
Hislory
was
wrillen by
Bryan Higgins and has evolved
I)ver tim'? Th'? lat.est version.
2.6, is dated June .1986. The
pf"(l~ram lakes only 4608 byt.es,
\.,rhich is :3.b,)ul half lhe size (If
the inslructions lhal .accomp.any it.
The inslruclions are wellwrilt.'?n and easv to underst~nd.
Il in dudes a sh.nl.

v~ni'?nce

c hron o}ogy
of
History
and
differences
b'?id'?nt Hies
-tween t.he various v'?rsions I)f
the prl'gr.am.
Previt)us comm~nd c.an b'?
retrie'.Jed by usin2 l he up and
d,)wn ~rrow k~ys. Th~ down key
retrieves previous ct)mma.nds
in lhe reverse order in which
lh~y were issued last com"land firsl, lhen nexl to last.
The up key revers~s l he t)rder
and moves from the ct)mmand
curr'?nlly displayed lo t.he one
issued immedial~lv afler it..
The lefl and right al'ft)w
keys can be used l.:a posilion
the CUrSl)f any".. here wilhin
the displayed c(lmmand so t.n.al
it c.an be edi led.
Hislory is iniliall~ in inserl
mode, but. it can be switched to
overslrike by pressing t..he Ins'?rt H'?re k~y. Th'? '?ntirl? disC~n.tinu.t?d ~H1

po 9i! ol

-..-

......
~ .-~ -.

.P2. ,ge 2

-..

Frorn the hbrar,j'

togl?t.her,

Format x 2. directory x BIG
.

cam~

~Cf(,SS

programs w(.rk
together ll) allf)w formatt.ing
in t.he A and B drives sequent.ially. This not onlv uses two
drives but. cuts I)ut' all f)f the
prf)mpt.ing messages £('Ir disk
tiUes and allo'''''s I'Hiding and
unI')!3ding
disks
""hil~
the
oact.ive drive is f.:-rTf.oal-ling.
The 4)riginoal program is a
variation (In a lh~m~ I)f t.he
,iChi.:a2') Comput.~r Sl)cietv" bv
t\.' .e. t\o' e~ ks. The or i 9in a I' . DOC
file is included. unchanged, lei
give credit ~'here due.
I tried it. out. I)n the Rainb.)w!
and it wouldn't "">Hk because
.)f the in.:ompatlble .BAT file
o:.)mm~nds. I made some slight.
o:h~n2es:
added the fl)rmat
s\I.'it.:h
t.o alsl) initialize!
changed the ~"Hdin2 (If t.he
pl")mpls and added iiBELLBIG"
lo signal wher. tl) ,:'hang~ diskettes.
All o:.f these fiies induda?d
in FORMAT2B.ARC sh.)uld be

t.~o

useful
utilities from t.he San Francis,:,) Bay Area DEC PC Users
Gr~lup bulll?lin b,)ard 4(408:1 9813~:25~ bel we~n 6 p.m, and 8 a,m.
we~kdays and 24 hours weekends).
One is [(.f format.t.ing from
lWI:a drives - FORMAT2B.ARC.
The other is ::l super direct'HY
display pr"gram - BIGD.ARC.
1"""1.5 especially atlracle·j t·)
the-so? two as I have been irritated latoaly by the problems
these utilit.ies cure. yf)lJ can
firld both prf)grams f)n Silicon
Valley PC Users Library disk

87.

.

,

Let's supp.:ase you are in t.he
middle of a df)wnload and 'lOU
h:;.ve run (out f)f f'Hmatted
dISks. What's needed is !3 way
of generating a few qui~kly.
FORMAT2 and t.he MS-DOS

C-:I: ___ "_11_ ••

Y

nr~

D~

11 __ .. _ ,..",_ •• _

Ul:,v ... '" v~t:r~ u, uut'
C/I) DEC TECH. i445 f{.)l1 Circle No, i03, San Jf)se 951i2
Chairmar,:
Gary Calalano
w: (4081275-1133
h: (408.' 243-5811
Steering C.,mmitlee:
L~r!'y De Mvss'
w: (40Bi S62-7i55
h: 1408,779-2721
Marvin H;hn
w: '4(lBI 727-6616
h: (4151 490-194!
u elK u it i n e .:
w! q (J B, 7 2 () - i i ()() x 22 9 4 h:' -4 08 i 26 S - 6 4 2 (J
R u s s ~.l MI) S t e 11 e I' "':
B) 37 7 - .. B7 (J x 2 2 () h: i 408. 267-0273
Membership:
h: 14151 853-1562
Dennis B')f).:H
",.: i409, 756-9866
h: fA08j 335-5149
Paul King
w: (408\ 4~!8-2326
h: (408; 294-6497
UewsJeUer: Carl tJeiburger
Events: Mark Myers "I: (40B, 275-i133
Libr::iri~n: John Mandie
""II\iUIi

Y dll~

i" ()

This ne",-"sielter is available free to DEC PC users in tlort.hern Ca.lif'Hnia. TI) subscribe write to:
Dennis B"4)dt., 237 Mt:Kendry DrIve. Menlo Park 941)25.
Send newsielter articles tf):
C.lri
tleiburger,
169
N.

25th

St.

San

J')5'2

....

-

..."

hard

FORMA T.COM.

FORMAT.COM

Users gr.:,up librarian

on

.~

diSK, or linked through p:3.ths:

\I

By John MandIe

prefer.3.bly

-

95116

FORMA T2.BI-. T,
FORMA T2.INP
and
BELLBIG.COM.
You can slop the sequence

~flr;,r

"\1~HV
,

B dri\1Q di.k bv
.

hit.ting control-Cj wail for t.he
HSlrike any
key when readv .,,"
l"
and hit ~I)ntrvl-C again. This
will interrupt. the .BAT file;
and ~ Ii)," will get y')U back t.)
t.he default drive pr·ompl.
The BIG D oj ire .:. t I) r y pro 9ram
has the big advant.age of displaying a direct~'ry .)f ", :i spas:"
and eil her "PRN" t.o print.. or
ya:our own file name il) sav~.
There is a Ivl of thou2hl
given in the listing f(lrm.a..l.
whi.:h is cleara:?r than m(lst of
the oth~r directory utilities
that I have used.
The r eo i s n (' c r ~ d i l 9i to' e n f·);
t.his pr')gram, but I hopoa lhat
w h r) eo v e r did l hen I) b I eo d e o? ·1
will step f(.rw~rd for the deserved credit..
,J

\-,.

~;

•

~

r

l1. l :: 0 f1

.50ftu.:are revieu..'

Turbo 4.0 goes modular but stops short of Nlodula
By

C~rl U~iburgl?r

A coupl!? items of good news;
The n o? "'. v e r s ion 4- .0 (. f T u. r b I)
Pas.: a 1 w 0 r k son t. h ~ DEC Ra i n b.)w - albeit the " c,)mmand
1i Tll?" \." eo r sir, n I) n 1y, and it! s ~F' t.
erl.)ugh improvemenls la) m·ake
it. worth 2t?lting.
The b~d news ~lso .:I)mes in
twos: You're g,)ing t.:, h~ve to
f 'Hgel about
usir.~
Turbl)'s
ii ~ 1'"1 vir .:' n 1'' ' en t. , \'
W hie h
a Il,) ';,a; s
Y(lU in earlier versions to
switch bel""'een ils cvmpiler
and edilor and l(l rur. progr'ams
wi l houl leavir'2 Tur b,).
The turb.) environment has
ber.i)me exlr emely 1BM-specific, and t he full-screen version of Turbo Pascal \4)Ul not
tv.n on lhe Rainbow, peri.)d.
Code Blue! the IBM emulator.
w(ln'l help.
T he olh~r piece I')f bad news
is that many of lhe built-in
commands are buill -in fil) longer or are included in IBM-specific Ii brar ies. For tuna l eo Iy,
most of these arQ simple ASC'Ii
escape sequences lo do things
likta clear lhQ serQen or positil)n the cursor. It. is very e-asy
lo write your .,wn library of
t.hem.
. A couple 6thet inc.,nvenien-

t:es:
- 'lou must also find a way
to copy the Turbo fil~s fr/)m
the double-sided disks that,
l hey come ('In to lhe Rainbow's
single-sided drives.
- And you won't be ~ble lo
use TPUMOVER, a libra.rv utility thal comes with Turb'o 4.0. It
..... ill hang your machine. Fortunately, a public-domain aller-native called TPULIB has
b~en written by Brian Foley of
Turbl)Power S,)flware. It is
available vi~ CQmpuSer\:e and
will soon be addQd lo the Sili( · ) n Va.lley DEC PC Users Gf\:IUp

7.4 3 ;~cs.
11,4150 t~t;;

229. 4 1} se·::·,
4,000 t.ytes
1E.. SE· ;e'::.
11.536 b'y':e;
2.6~

secs.
byt.e;

~4.12 ·;~c~.

4, ~'~2 b;.::es
1.79

;~,:s.

'~,4S1

S, 7i2

1.(~1E-9

t·J4E- 3

Library.
Turbo Pascal -l.0 might belleI' be dubbed iiha1f- ..... av to
Ml')dula-2, withoul
char:ging
syntax."
Its manufacturer, Borland
1n l ern at i I) n a I
was
cl ea rl ,,'
faced with a dilemma: It ha.d ~
best-seller in Turb!) Pascal 3.0,
but users were demanding
advanced features lhat .a.r~n't
pa.rt (If Past::al~ like l.,ng inte2ers , modular compilation, ca.l-

ling procedures· as variables
and co-processing .
The company had announced
a couple years ago that it planned to issue Modula-2, but an
MS-DOS vQrsi(ln of Modula-2
never appeared. A CPM "er~i6n
was quietly farmed out. lo an/)lher distributer. No d(lubt.
Borland (lfficials feared c(ln~
fusing ils customers with a
language that is not quite like
Pascal.
The s/)lution: Creat.e an ex~~n5ic)n of p~s( al lo allow 1('n2
1 n t. e 2e r s • m .j d u I arc 0 ITl Pi I ali 0 n
and the us~ .)f compiled libr aries. Forget. about co-prl)cessiTlg. Don't. f(\I'mally ::111(1\01 pr(lc€'-

by+.e~

dures lo be called as variables,
but. creale a simple workaround using pointers.
The r e ; 11 II i sa,: c) J\l pile r l hal
lac ks s(\me of l he elegance :and
flexibility of Modula-2 - or,
for- that matler, C - bul is
never the less e~tremelv useful and effi.:ienl.
ITt allo:,wing modular compilati(.\n, Borland created an extremely smart linker thal
picks and chclI)ses ')nly the proe:e.:iuIII?S it. needs fr(.\m e~.ch
libr--ary - even Turb:)'s standard run-time library - during cl')mpilalion.
If y')U use to functions and
procedures fr(lm a librarv ~'il h
20 fUTICt.i(.\rts and pr(,ce'dures,
.,nly l he to that you need will
be included in the eXQcut.able
file.
And, yes~ Turbo .,0 creales
.EXE r~lher lhan ,COM files,
meanin2 t.hat. code size can
exceed 64 kilobyt.es~ though
each separ~t.ely compiled m"dule is limiled t.) SU<.
There are s(lme fruslra.ting
reslricli(lns: Unlike M.:-dula-2.
J

Cordirwed on p09~ 5

.........

~--.

1.) ~'-'

Help: She.ow th~ contents of
Hist.or-y ,:(lmmaTid file, from
oldesl
most. r~cent.
Exit: Same a.s typing "EXIT.~~
This c:an be used to le:av~ command
shells
crealed
by
secondary pr('grams.
Interrupt.: TurT,S Hist.<'try off;
commands are passed directly
t.o the ('perating system unlil
cOTltr.)l-Z foli(lwed by Return is
th~

pl:ay-?d comm:and .:::an be issu-?d
simply by slrikin~ the Relurn
k-?y, f-?g:ardless I,t the currenl
cursor p",sili,)n.
If this were the only . . . . :ay
that History could be used. it
w.:n!ld bl!! :a "-ery useful utilit.y.
But Hi22ins has buill several
f~atur.'2s int,) the pro2r-3-m lha.l

make il even more c'H.venienl.
HeI'~ i~:a list. vi ir.€' c~if..,m-3.nd$:
Up Arrow or Prevo Screen:
Moue bad( through previ(,us
cQmrl"laJid:i.
Dc.wn Arr.:·\&.- or Next SC,reen:
Me.ve f.:.r~-3.rd thr(lu2h previl)us
CO;'fI i'Il!i Tlois.

Left ArrfJw: Mo\·e left one
character.
Right_ Arro"..': M·)ve right one
charar.tcaor,
Shift-Up: Move t.:. beginning
of line.
Shlft-D«wn: Mr.ove te. end (If
line.
Shift-L~ft:
M.)ve left one

",ord.
Shifl-Right: Move right one

w(.ord.
Delet e:
Delete
bef')re (;Ur-S'H-.

char acler

Reml)ve; Delete characler
under curs(.r.
Shifl-Delele: Delele frl)m
beginning (If line lo c.urS-H.
Shift -Ren-,,)ve: Delele frr>m
cursor t., end of line.
Insert. Here: Switch between
insert. and overst-r-ike m.,de.
\~.lhen in ov~rst.rike m(lde, the
cur s r;,r S t;- lei s c han 9~ d. If yo) 11
use a bl.,ck cursor, it will
ch~nge ll) ~n underscore ~nd
vice versa.
Return: Send the line.
S~lecl:
Sele.::l
and
find
sea.rch strin2'
Find: Find next occurrence
(If same se:arch string.
Do: Select and find (lne cha.r-~c-teri s~nd the line.

t·,

lyp.ad,
C.) rd.. ;.:·1 - Z

P1us R ~ t urn; «'=' a c tivat.es Hislorv.; after il has
been t.urned off by Interrupt.
SemicJjlon: If this is not the
last character on the line, the
semic·,ll)n divides lhe line
intI)
sepal-ate
commands,
which are fed to DOS one at ~
tim~,

If it, i,

lh~ I;l~t.

ch.r.<=--

ler on l he line! it is included
in the (omm:.nd. To include a.
semicolon in t he middle (If a
command! lype it twice.
All 1) f the sec -Hil Til and s fun c lion pr(lperly eXI:ept ftH ShiflD~let~t ",hich- issuppCls~d tCi
delete fr(lm th~ beginning of
the line tCi t.he curS(lt. B9cause
Y")U can do t he same t hin2 by
repealing eIther th~ Delo?te or
Rliffi')V9
commands
several
times, this pr(lble-rit is at, worst
an ~nn(lya.nce.
Hist.,ry
is
installed
:as
memory-resident simply by
typing the c('lmmand 'iHislory."
Ht)wever,
because
history
works by trapping a DOS funclion assf)cialed with the DOS
C(lHMAND.COM file, it is imperative the COMMAND.COM be
the first program l(l call il,
There are a number of ways
l(l ensure- t.hat this o.;.:urs;
J.) Include Hisl"ry ~s t.he
Lo.st
Ii ne
r.of
t.he
AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you wish illo
be actit.·e every time Y('IU b.,.,tyour Rainbt)w.
2) Type it ~s the first- ct)m-

mand

that.

you

issue

afler

bt)oting y")ur R:linbt)w.
2.; Include it. as t.he first Iin'2
.) f a Tl y bat c h f i Ie., the I' t ht n
AUTOEXEC.BAT and run th~t
baLch iill'i as lhe first. c.)f(amand lh.ai V('IU issue.
Hisl.,rv 'is
aul('lmat.ica.llv
inactive' ""hile
a.ppJicati.)~
prl)grams are being execuled.
because
there
Cltherwis ....
flH8hl bo? a conflict belweo?n
l h e fun eli I) n s per f Ii r If. e d by
a:~rt.~in kevs.
y.)\! ma~ want lJ) makA it
inaclive ~t. other limesl'-1ik~
whe-n the printer is in- use,
bet.:-ause
HistCtry inter-cepls
the ,:ommands that the printer
expect.s to see.
The s('llut-ion is to t.urn Hista:ary (Iff with the Int.errupt. k>?;
and r~aclivatin2 it later by
typing cQntIol-Z, R-?lurn. Of
·:ourse. commands issued while
HistOIY is inactiv~ cannol be
relri9ved lat.er~ but. ~ll tha)s~
issued b9fore it was lUI-ned off
can be ret.rieved.
Someonli who works ~lm()sl
exclusively ~·it.h only one t)f
two applicalion pr9gr3ms mav
n',t. neo?d hislorv. but. virt.ually
anv('Ine else will -find it 1lddic"tive. It. sa~·es time, reduces
e-r fOfS ~nd area Uy i' -sdu.:es t h~
drud2~ry assljci~t.ed wit.h issu··
ing repetitive cOffim~nds.
Versi.:·n 2.6 of History, aion2
wilh its inst.ructions, is avail~ b leo n dis k 9 4 0 f t. h e S i Ii c- .) 1"\
V~lley
DEC PC Users Gr(lup
library. An earlier version?
2.4, is available on disk 60, but
version 2.S represents a subslanl-ial improvement.
.J

V ordT ech says
it will fix

bug in dBXL
By Carl Neiburger
B€!t.ter h('lld 9ff if y')U have
p!anct lo buy dBNL, the mo.jerat. ely pric~d dBASE III plus
(,I)mpulibl!?
Sever~.1 users have rep'Hted
1. :n~j':'.r bU:1 i" t.r~ :R:?lnno\io:
v>?rsi('ln (\f t he program, and
\\rf.lrdTech~ the c.-:.mpany thal
ffilikes dBNL! ligrees it's there:
The program crash.?s when YI)U
press the f/- key.
~'It.'s a. ......bu2. It's a bad bug,"
said Renee Wildm.J.n! the c.)mpany's publi,: r~lalions supervistH .
She sa.id
w·ordTech
hliS
f(lund li fix ""hich will be prt>'\.~ide free tl) owners (If lh'!R-ainb(lw versil)n (If dBXL, but
lhe c(\r. .,pany isn't rea.dy l('l
Ship it yet.
The fix will be included in
versi'ln i,2 (If dBNL, which
h~sn'l
be~n
shipped
yet,
thou~h
Wildmlin sliid she
ht)pes it. ""ill be out bv the end
of January.
dB}~L 1.2 will aiSa) have s!)m~
n €: 0;.;." f 0.: :;.. t ~"i ~ S • '\...J it d ;(t a ., ~ ~ i ,j
pe('lple ""h(l want instruc:ti('lns
(In using t hose new f~atures
will hav'i! t.o plily an upgrade
fee, but n('l fee will be chlir~ed
l~ t.hose who merely want the
bug fix.
Wildman lisked people who
own the defeoelive version of
dBXL to ~Qnd a photocopy of
their work disk No. i to Nancy
Ber·geson, customer service
manager, WordTech, Bo)( 1747,
Orinda 94563. The c~mpany's
pht)ne number is 1415, 254-{)900.
The old version of dSXL sc-Id
for $169. Prices for the new
version and for the new manual weren't, av:-ailable at press
lime.
J

Software revietc

Turbo 4.0 loses environment
(C~ntinued from p09~

3.1

pr.jcedures in seplirately compiled modules cannot call each
t>ther recurSively. That may
force yt)u l('l crelite unnecesslirily 1ar2e modules. B'Hllind
~liyS it will solve that pr('lbJem
1n the next \"ersit)n of Turbo.
Like previous ""ersions t)f
Turb!), 4.0 will flag the J~.:at.io)n
: fer: ('I r s d \J. r i n g c ,) m p i Ili ti (. n .
t)nly, D~cause yt)u~re operliting
from t.he .:ommand line, it
won!l take you direcllv to lh~
error .. Ins lead, it will
"'o? yo~
the f11e r,ame and line number
lind ~'ill print the line. Y,)U
must then find it on vour favorite edi l.a.
'
To find a run-time error, you
must. have a "map" file, crelited if Y(lU sel eo: t l he li ppropr iate compiler opt.it)n, on disk.
Turbo) 4.0 d,:aes c.)me with
s('lr\.~
c')mm·~nd-lin.e switches
thlit lel you sp~cify suchopti(lns as running lh.e prl)gram
directly from memory! with.)ul
creat.ing an .EXE file, 1)1' rec:i)mpiling all modified library
files before ctjmpilin~ the
main fil.e. 'l'OU can also specify
slandlird settings for lhese
5\"dt(:hes in an au~iliary file.
The Turbt) 4.0 inslruclit)Tl
manual is about the size, shape
and weight of a brick. It was
('Ibviously wrill-en by a commiltee, . lind its ll)";e varies
from infoI'mat.ive tl) obscure to
cond~scendin~
depending on
what ~hapler Yi.:'u lire in. Me,st,
ha:awever, is far better lh~n
liverage for computer manuals.
The best pa.rt is Chlipter 27,
li cogent alphabetical summary
of all the subrt>utines and predefined identifiers and how
t hey function. N.eady .ev.eryt.hing that you wlint t.o know is
in that chapt.er, \tIhich is
lucky~ uecause it's often hard
to find lhin2s elsewhere.

gi

The index fails t.(I dltt.erenlial.e bel"'een casual menlion
t)f a topic lind a mlijor discussion. M(lre than once Pve turned
to a page cit ed in the index t.o
find that the only mention of
the topic is in li'cross-referen·; e t 0 li d iff e r· e n t p ~ e .
. All in all, Turb(l 4.0 r.epr.es.enls a ma~or step up from 3.0.
even if y.:au l;:·se lhe ~dvanlage


. . ' .' ...... ... .

We are a little bit behind in getting this Newsletter out to you
folks this month because I didn't get all the articles from the
responsible parties much sooner than I expected. However,
i i·.·.• • • we are getting there and we'll be better, I promised. As Bill .
Pedersen, our Chairman, says, VOX VAX is evolving and we
i
you to be part of it so don't hold back on us. Contribute
··t··· . . ·.·. . want
whatever you can to make the Newsletter a great resource for
all of us'---_."_.~__ ,... ~... ' _.... __ . ~ _, _., ." ____ . ...... _._. ____ .' . _ . _. ~_._",_ ......

Altern~iechalrma~{ . ·.......... ':::!::";\:.:::•.. ;. •.:.:): · ".:'.': .. :.•..: •.•:

:~O~~J:;2~~~~~·tt~I~~~~~.~~Pan.y·.·
:. . . .::• . •. . :.• r.
..... ','-: .;,' ;

.~>:<. .' ...... ,.

. . . .~' . ....................... :::::.: .. ><::. ::.

. • .• . :~;!~;~i~r~~iles;~;~~~!•·.• .• . . · .· • .
."

·····~~~~~:~~~:k.~.s~L6~;;il:·/i .•

'.' ' ... (408) 734-9511

.

. . . '.'

Software Librarian: .:: ..• > .•... ' ..•
Bill Bonnett. Hoovet·Institutiori~Stanf6r(1··::
(415) 723-0447

.

··::Llbrarla~:.· . . .

.' . / •... :. ..:.:;:; ..... :::: •.•:... ....:. \;•...•.. •'.
"DaveJohnson, Lockheed Missiles·&.Space c;o~'.'
(408)756-4544
.' .
...... ......
. ..............

· . .... . '. ..... '.. ".;., • •.•. .;;.<.;/: .. :.:.?<: :'. ........:~••».\:..:::-:.:.•.:.:. \» . :
....

'.'

::-'.:-','.'

.....•.•...

::., ..

·/::·Program·Coo~drnAiJr:·<: ..• :•.•.•.. :-: ••.• :\ ........

::~le(~;~):;.:~;8~~~~~ Reseaich·Lab: '::.: SHOW ••OTECTIOH
SYSTE"-.IIED. OVHE.....ID. O.OU' ••II. II0.LD-1IO ACCIlIS
I

Create tvo Ul •• , .U1 ,et iniUal protacUOft of ' ••ID .....D•• II.I
I 'proca . . delaliltl

I

s\TYPE-II-0PENIN
TYPI DSall (IAYVAll)EXAJI'Lll.Dr.T
• • rror openln, DSltl:!IIAYVAXIIIAIt.Lll.DATll

. . input
_.RS_II_'.V, in.llfUcA.nt prlvU.,. or fU. prot.etlon vlolation
S TYII DSItl:(IAYVAXIElAlttLU.Dr.T
TIIU U til. ..cond elta.p1.

I

1600) C.PTI: Dill "UYVItoll 111AIt'Lll.Dr.T
TIIU i. tile Urn •••• ph
1600> C.PTIDllt1,II,..,VItollIEIAIt.LIZ.Dr.T
TIIU U tlla . . cond . . . .ph
: .. ak. IXAJI.LE1.DAT aec . . . iblt to ACCOUIITl only
:

R·~:0:~~~~2 i ~:~. i~;j·:!b~:.~:.::~{~~S.::~;t:, A:~=ll

~'Ob SIT flLl/ACL.UDIIRTlrll.-"CC0UIIT1.r.cCISI-.UDI DIlt1:(IAYVAX)llItM'L&1.DAT
1600) SIT ,.OT-, ••• I DIU.,UYVItollIIlIAlt'LlJ.DAT
1600) SET rlLI/ACL-UD-UOO.10Z I.ACC-HOKII DIU "UYVAX)IIAIt,Lll.Dr.T
I

I Dup1ay n.ll1Un, . . Cllrity a.tup

~60b

Dla/SIC DSU:IIAYVAX)EXAJI,LlJ.,.DAT

Dl r.ctory Dill: IIIAYVAX)
IXAJI.Lll.DAT/l
(1.11
(liVED. '"ED.II:. I
( IDENTUUa.1 NON'IIlV • ACCOutlTl ) • ACCUS-.UD I
Total of 1 fU ••
8600> DIll/SEC DSJt1:(IIAYVAXIEIAIt.LE2.DAT

Dlr.etory DSltl:\IIAYVAXI
ElIAR'LE1.DATll
(1.11
(IIVED.II.ID ••I •• I
( I DENT I rI EII-( NON.azV • ACCOutlTl ) • ACCUS-NONII
Toul of 1 f11 ••

.

Previous BAYVAX Meeting' Presentation' Slides (ACLS/R1GHTS Database)

~evoke 8AVVAXI

identifier frOID AceOUNT2; ACCOUNT2 e.n no long.r .cc •••
the flle: AeCoUNTI .ull can
.

EXAIIPLE 2: SYIIBOLIC IDENTIFUI-BASED ACLS

-------------------------------------------------------------"'!"-----------------I

: Add new Identifier. BAYVAX1, to lUghU p.t.b••••,nd ,gr.nt it
I
to ACCOUNT1, ACCOUNT2

~600> SET DEFAULT SYS$SYSTt:1I
8600> RUN AUTHORIZE
UAF> ADO/IOt!lTInER BAYVAXl "
'UAF-I-ROBAOOIISG, identifier BAYVAXl velue: 'Xa001007C added to IUGHTSLIST.OAT
UAn GRANT/IOtNTIFltR 8AYVAXl ACCOUNTl
'UAF-I-GRANTIISG, identitur BAYVAXl 9r.nte4 to ACCOUNTl
UAF> GRANT/IDENTHUR BAYVAXl ACCOUNT2
'UAr-I-GRANTIISG, identitUr BAYVAXl gr.nted to .ACCOUMU
UAF) SHOII/ID/FULL 8AYVAXl
Attrib.. te.
Val .. e
NOIlESOUaCI NOOYNA/lIe
\x8001007C
IAYVAXl
Attrib.. t ••
Hald.r
NOIlESOUaCI NODYNAI'IIC
ACCOUNTl
NOaESOUIlCE NODlrNAI'IIC
ACCOUNT2
UAF> EXIT
'UAF-I-NOIIODB, no .odl ficaUon • • • de to ay.te • • uthor l.aUon tile
\UAF-I-RD8DONEIISG, rlghta ddtaba . . .odlfied
N •• e

I
I create EXAII'LE).TXT, acc ••• lbl. to all hold.,. of IAYVAXl ld.ntlfUr
I

8600> CIlEATZ DSII1:(8AYVAXIEXAII.t.El. OAT
A thl rd e.a.p1e.
8600) SET rtLt/ACL_IID_IAYVAX1.ACC-II DSU.(IAYVAXlIXAII'LU.OAT
8600> DIll/SIC DSII1. (IAYVAXIIXAII.LI) . OAT
Directory DSIIl.(BAYVAXI

8600> SET DEFAULT $YS$SYSTEII
8600> ItUN AUTHOaIZE
UAF> SHow/ID/rULL IAYVAXI

Attribut ••
Value
NOIIISOUIIC! NODYMAIlIC
\x8001007C
Attribute.
Holder
NOR!SOURCE NODYNAIIIC
AC:OUNT1
.NORESOUICE
NODlrNAllIC
ACCOUNT2
\!AF> UVOI'E!tD IAYVAXI ACCOUNT2
\UAF-I-PIVOaEIISG, identifi.r IAYVAXl r.vok.d froa ACCOUMT2
UAF> SHow/lo/rULL 8AYVAXl
'
Na ••

BAVVAXl

Attribute.
V:llu.
NOIIISOUICI NODYMAIlIC
U8001007C
Attr ibut ••
Holder
NoUSOUaCI NODYNA'UC
ACCOUNTI
UAr) EXIT
':JAr-I-NOIlODS. no .odlfication • •ad. to .y.te • • uthoriz.Uon Ul.
'UAr-I-IIDIDONlftSG, rlght. d.taba • • • odlfied
Ne ••
8A'tVAXl.

(U" rn ••• : ACCOUNT11
$ TYPE DU1:(IAYVAltIIXAII.U),OAT
A third e ••• pl •.
(Uurn ••• : ACCOUMTZ I
$ 'lYrE DSU: (8AYVAX I EXAII'LEl. DAT
\TlrPE-W-O.ININ. e tror openlng OSU :l8AYVAX I lXAII'LI). DAT; 1 a. lnp .. t
-aIlS-E-.av. In.uUIc:lent prlvUeg. or tile prot.ction viol.tion

IXAIIPLU .DAT,l
(1,11
lalllD,alllD,al.l
( IDENTIFUII_IAYVAX1,ACCESS-lEAI>I

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOUl of 1 fll ••

(U.ern.... ACCOUN'lll

S TYPE DSItl.IIAYVAlt IIXAIIPLU. DAT
A third ••••ph.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------IV.ern •••• ACCOUtITZI

S TYPE DIItl.(8AYVAltIKXAII'UJ.DA'f
A third ••••ph.

IXAIIPLI 3: PROPAGATION or ACLS
;600;-c;~;;;~i;-~;;i~i;~;;~:S~;Di;j-------------------------------------------

1600) DII/SEC OSIt1:(IAYVAXISUIDII.DIa

13600) DIll/SEC DSK1:IBAYVAX.BUIOIIJ'ILI.DAT
Directory DSII1:( IAYVAX .SU8DIII
FILI.OAT,l

Directory DSK1: (IAYVAXI
SUBOUl.DUI:l

( 1,11

(aWE, I"E, Ie ,II

Tot.l of 1 f11 ••
I
I EU.blllh for 5118Dla.01l,
1 a Prot.ctlon ••• k (IIWI,ItWI,ItI,1
I

I

I
I
I
I

a READ .cc ••• for IAYVAXl holder. (allow accea. to dlr,.ctory It •• lf,
thll .cc ••• prop.g.u. lntac·t ~a d."ghter .ubdlr.ctorle., and do ••
not .ffect .cc••• to Ul •• InaLd.' the '.ubdir.ctorl ••,
.
o lEAI>/WIUTI .cc . . . , DEFAULT ACL to b'e appU.d to ,.U fih. creat.d lnald.
th • • "bdlrectory ( •• c.pt O'TIONS-DErAULT ch .... 18 . .aovedl.

I Not. how SKT Dla/ACL .nd SET FILE/ACL co. . . nd • • re °lnt.rch.n9.ab1.o
I

8600>
8600)
8600)
8600>

SIT 'ROT-I") DU1:(IAYVAXISUIOIlI.DIR
SIT rrt.l:/ACL-IIO-IAYVAX1,ACCISS-RI OSU:(8AYVAXISUIOll.OUl
BET DIa/ACL-( ID-IAYVAltl,OP-DeF .ACC-"WI OBKl.IIAYVAX.SUIDUlI
DII/SEC DU1. (IAYVAX I SUIOIR .DII

Directory OSKl.IIAYVAlt I
IU80II.DUI:l
11,11
(RWE,aNl,RE.!
I JDtNTIrIER-IAYVAX1,OPTIONS-DIFAULT ,ACCISS·aEAD+"UTK 1
( lOIN'll rIla-IIAYVAX1,ACCESS-aEAD'
Total of 1 fU ••

(1,11
IINID,aNID,ll,1
( IDINTIrUR-IAYVAX1,ACCESS-I~NltITII

Total of 1 file.
8600> DIll/SIC DSKl,(8AYVAX.SU8DIRIDII.Dla
Directory DSIIl, (IAYVAlt. SUIDIIII
DIII.DII:l

, 11,11
(a"I,I"I,III1,1
( IOENTI rUII-IAYVAX1,O'TIONS-DIFAULT ,ACCISS-ItIAD.WJlITI 1
( IDINTIrUII-IAYVAX1,ACCISS-IEAD I

Total of 1 fUe.
1600) DIll/SIC OSJIl.'IAYVAlt.SUIDIII.DIalrIU2.DA'l
01 rectory OSKl: (IAYVAlt.SUIDIII.DII J
FILIZ.DAT;l
(1,11
lawEO,RIIID,ae,1
( I DIN'll Fna_IAYVAltl. ACCISS-a~"IIITII
Total of 1 fU ••
I

.

I ,lac • • DErAULT '1I0TICTION ACK on the d.u9ht.r ...bdlr.ctory and th."
:
~~.:~: !o~::.fU' In th. d.ughter aubdicectory to .how how th1B type

::gg: ~~;/~~~/~;~i: r:!~~7:~~~~~~~~::~;:WE,O'IIII,G'''1
I

DIItl: IIAYVAII. IVIDU.DIIII

I

I 'rotectlon ••• k of dauqht.r ."bdlreetorle. w111 b • • • • • • • (8AYVAX.sU8onl
I
I
I
I
I
I

( 1 • e. (RWI,ItWI,lIt, I )
Protectlon ••• k of d."ghter file • .,ill be •••••• proce . . d.fault
protection 11.8. (RWtO,IlWED.Rt,),
Cr.at • • daughter tUe, a daughter ... bdlreetory, and. grandd ... qhter file
to de.onatrate action of AeL.

8600> CRIATE OSK1:(IAYVAX.SUIOtRlrILE.DAT
Thl. 18 a til •.
8600> CaEATE/DIR DSKl:(BAYVAX.SUIDUI.DIRI
8600> CItEATE DSK1:(BAYVAX.SUIDla.DIltIFIt.l:2.DAT
Thi. i. another file

Directory DSn.(8AYVAlt.SUBDUI
DIR.DII;l

(I,ll
(IIII,I"K,RI,I
(DEFAULT .1I0TECTION,SYST!II:all!,ONNJ:R:aWI,GIIOU.: ,WOILD.I
( IDENTI rYER_IAYVAX1,OPTIONS_DEFAULT ,ACCISS-!lEAI>+IIIITII
( I DENTI FIII-BAYVAX1,ACCESS-RIAD I

Total of I ttle.
8600) CIEATE DSKl:(8AYVAlt.SU80II.DIRIFILI3.DAT
Thll i • • thi rd file
8600> DU/SEC DSII1,(IAYVAlt.SUIDIR.DUlrrL!).OAT
Directory OSU:IBAlr'/AX.SUBDIR.DIRJ
rILll.DAT;l
(1,11
IlIwl,a"E .. 1
1 I OtNTIrUI-8AYVAX1,ACCESS-lEAI>+NRITI)
Total of 1 ftle.

Previous BAYVAX Meeting Presentation Slides (ACLS/RIGHTS Database)

ACCISS CONTIIOL LISTS

AJn)

$ SET .1I0TICTION.(S:.If!!D.O:a1fID.G •••• :.) roo.DAT
$ S.T 'lLII/ACL.(IDIlNTI,n.-(1l0 •• 1.ACCBSS·. .W) rOO.DAT
$ S.T FlLI/ACI..(1DIUITIFlIIB-(lOO.1101.ACCIISI·a+wI rOO.DAT

TBI IIIGBTS DATAIIASI

Note that n.v ACE. are inserted at the top of the ACL, i.e
they ..,111 appeac in the eeve... order th.t they ar • • dd,d.
Thi. action i. i.portant to ....ab.r. linc. ACE order i,
i.portant a. v111 b. shown shortly.

IlAYVU - s.pteab.r l. 1981
Cbria lIhod.
Lockheed Reuarch Lab
P.lo Alto. CaUfornia
Acc ••• Control Liat. (ACL.I .r. a feature of vas th.t
allov you to "fine tun.- acee.. to • vatiety of ·object.-.
Thi. discu •• ion "ill deal exclu.iv.ly vith file • • • obj.ct.:
t\o"ever. you .hould knov that ACL. can alao b. applitd to
d.vic ••• Iy.t •• logic.l naa. table •• and glob.l nction •.
Sl.ph ACL.
An ACL i. •
collection of on.
.or. Acc ••• Control
.ntri •• (ACE.).
Th. .iapl.at type of AC! i. known • • • n
idenUfi.r AC •• which in n. ai.ple.t for. look. 11k.:
(IDENTIFIER.uie .ACCESS~acc ••• 1
uic .ptcifi.. the UIC (or the "UIC ld.ntifier". i. •• the .
.y.bolic forlD of
the
UIC
u.ually
equiv.lent to the
corresponding account'. U.trna •• ) of a u •• r to which the ACt
.ppll...
and can contain wildeard charact.r..
.CC • • •
d •• cub..
the
type
of
aec...
which
i.
.llo .. ed
(tead,wtit.,execute,delete). ror ." •• pl., you aight have.
d.ta file rOO.DAT with:
proteeUon (S:RWED.O:RWr:O.G:R.W: III
ACL:
(IDENTIrIr:R.(lOO .110 1.ACCESS.Rr:AD+WRITEI
(IDr:NTIrUII·1l10.o1.ACCr:SS-IlIAD+nITEI

An additional cla.. of aeee.. i. lI0II1. whicb prohibit.
.cc ••• by the .peclU.d u •• r(.I.
(So •• caution .u.t b.
ob •• rv.d: NONE .ce. . . .ay not prev.nt the u •• r fro. ace •• lin9
the fil. in .11 ea.... ••• the Guid. to VU/VIlS Iy.t ••
S.eurity. S.ctlon 4.1.S.)
ror oxa.ple. to prev.nt the u •• r
"'lth UIC (70.211 froa aece . . lng roo. OAT. the ACL ",ould have to
b. ch.ng.d •• follow.:
protectlon (S:RWED.O:IIWED.G:II.W:II)
ACL:
( IDENTtrIEII-( 70. 211.ACCESS-NONE)
(IDENTIrtU-( 100.110) • ACCr:sS-IIu.D+ntTII
(IOINTInEII.( 110. °1.ACCESS-IIIAD ..nITEI
Not. th.t the .y.t •• r.ad. the ACE. fro. top to bot to • • • nd
" ••• the fiut on. that •• tch.. a unr to dat.r.in • • ec ••••
Thu •• UIC (70.21) 1. d.nud aee . . . to the fil. on the ba.lI of
the tir.t ACE. while (100.1101 and (110.*1 g.t r.ad .nd vrite
ac:c ••• on the b.sis of the .econd and third ACE.. AU oth.r
" •• u "fall throuih" to tha protecUon . . . t .nd g.t only . . . d

.ce •••.

Id.ntiU . . .
Suppo •• th.t aever.l u •• r. n.,.d writ • • cc ••• to roo.oAT.
and the .ctual u •• r. n •• din9 thi • • cc ••• chan9. f . . quantly.
If .n ACE wa • •ddad for .ach u •• r·. UIC. the nu.b.r of loCI. ift
the loCI. ",ould b. 1.r9. ancS the ACE. th •••• lv •• vould have to

••• It

:~~~~:·~d!~:Ti~:~~y;OOBA~. :!:p~:!ft9:p~~:·i~I.

to nad the fil..
Row.ver. the ACL allow. the u •• r. with UIC.
(100.1101 and (110.*1 to writ. to the fil ••

prot.ction (S:IIWED.O:RWED.G.B.W:II1
(IDENTlrnll-rooaAJl.ACCESS-Br:AI)+nITII
ACL.

On

the

b •• i.

of

the

".t.ndard"

prot.ction

~~~::D~~~~D~~i~u.:!~n:; ~~! :=!~ ~~ t~~· f:r:~·:r~O!:!~ !:~:

lIecau •• ACL. oft.n contain utC •• you .u.t .".rciaa ."t . . . .
caution whan ehan9in9 a unr·. UIC (file • • /ha could for •• rly
.cca •• via an ACL .ay nov b. In.cca •• ibl.) or vh.n r •••• i9 nin 9
.n old UIC that h •• b •• n out of u •• for. whU. to • naw u •• r
(fil . . th.t .tlll eonUin ACta . . farrln9 to the old UIC w111
no'" b. acc •• dble to the naw u •• r I.

ai.P~;;~ ~:n ~~ d::~ t;I~I/!~t· c~:':n~~·b.r T~! ~~n;v~:~ ~~~

••
co . .and •• quenc. would b.
u . .d
peoUction and loCI.. on rOO.DAT:

to

,.tablU"

the

.bov.

!: ~~l~:!!~·

Th. id.ntifier roo.. would th.n b. 9~'llt.d to the Ule.
n •• dlft9 ",rit • •cc ••• to the fU.. Wh.n. u •• r 11 to no long.r
b. allow.d to writ. to the filt. the id.ntifi •• i • • i_oly
r.volt.d fre. the u •• r·. utc.
IdenUU.r. a . . . . n.g,,,t "r ,•• ; ....
the AUTBO.1I1 utility and the ident1ti . . . th•••• lv•••• v.u
•• the UlC. of u •• r. holdln, th.. .r • • tor.d in tha ri9ht.
d.t.b.... Th. DCL ce_.nd. to &at up ",rite .cc . . . to rOO.DAT
for UtC. 1100.1101 .nd (110.11) Ulin9 idenUfier roo.,.. would
be:

-2-

downward ttuou,h th. .ubdirectory
and fU ••
cr.at.d.

er.

$ .UII AlJTBo.n.
UAF> ADD/IDPTlrIlI. rOOBAa
UAr> GIIART/IDPTI.n• •ooBAa (100.1101
UAF> GIIART/IDBJlTtrll. rOOBAa (110.11 I
UJO.F> nIT
$ S.T PIIOTICTIOR.! S:"IID.O:a1fID.G: ••• :.I roo.DAY
$ SliT rIL./ACL-! IDEJlTtrn.-.ooaAJl.ACCIII •••• ) rOO.DAT

D.fault prot.cUon ACE.

UAF> .ZVOItI/IDIIITtrln rOOBAa 1110.11)
UAr> GIIART/IDPTlrIU rOOBAa [lO.2S)
UAr> .lIIT
"UIC

id.nUfi.,,"

Wh.n •
u •• r cre.t.. •
fU. in (DATA.roo.A.1 .nd no
pr.viou. v . . . ion of the fU. ..tat •• the fill prot.cUon ",111
nor •• lly b. d.ter.inad by vh.t.v.. 1ft Paoor.CTION/1I.rAULT
co_.nd
p.rfor •• d by the u •• r prior to the fU.·.
cre.tion. To forc. •
.p.ciUc prot.ction to b. appl1.d to
fUn cre.ted in IDATA.roo8AII1. u . . a d.f.ult protecUolI ACE.
ror .xa.pl •• to •• t
the prot.ction of .11 cr •• tad fil •• to
(S:BWED.O.IIWED.G ••• N.II).

v..

$ IIIIW JO.UTBO.l&1I

1I••• Ilb.e. you e.n u.,
UIC. if you wlah.

tre. a. n.", .ubdlr.ctorh.

Note that utablhhln, .n ACE with OPTIOllS.OIrAULT will
not .ffeet any fil •• that .lready asl.t in the dlr.ctory.
It
al.o do •• not h.va .ny .ffect on ace ••• to the dlr.ctory file
it . . U. only on fU • • • ub.equ.ntly er •• ted In the directory.

To ".ub,ti tut." UIC (70. 2S 1 for (110.11 \I

1n plac. of nu ••·ric

Th. IBOW/IDPTtrllIl/PUloL id.lltUle~ co. . . nd inlld. AUTHOUZE
1. u . . d to .hov all of the hold. . . of • 9iven id.ntUi.r.

S 1ft DIB/ACL.!D.rAULT_.a0'r8CTIOll ••• a1fItJ.O.a1fItJ.O •••••• , (DATA. roo.,..)
D.fault prot.ction ACE. prop.9.t. to .ubdirectori •• cr.at.d in
(DATA.rOOIAR) ju.t 11k. the oth.r ACE. do.
Not. th.t it i.

Control ace •••
One . . .dnln9 cla., of acca •• 1. COW'r1tOL. which .110""

the

:&;:~:~.d T~~:r ~~!.~o of .~~~!!. ~~:ulS'~~·:~~i~'da:~t~c~:u~~o~~·

Not. that the innoc.ntly-n ••,d IIJlADALL privilege 9iv •• the
equivallnt of CONTIIOL aec ••• to .11 files on your .y.t•••
S.ttinq up auto.atic propaqation of ACL.
Suppo •• that a nu.b.r of fU •• a . . to b. ",cit.bl. by u •• r.
holding the rOOBAII Identifier. and that n.", file. of thU type
ar. frequently creat.d. An oaay vay to handle thi. c ••• i. to
Urat cr •• U
a dieeetory. "1' (DATA.r008AR1.
to hold the

!ii!'b.a~~pi~:d ~:\lr Cll~~o~~::~:: t~\~: ~~~.~~~~~~ory

that

$ CRr:ATB/DIII.CTOIIY (DATA. rOOaAJl)
$ SET DIa/ACI.-( Io-rOOBAa.OPTIOIII.DI.AULY.ACCUI •••• ) -

(DATA. 'OOaAJll
Note the u" of the StT DIRECTOIIY/ACI. eo_and.
er.ated In (DATA.,OODAII1 .,,11 r.eoiv. the ACE:

Not. how the ·OPTIONS-DEFAUI.T" ia . . .ov.d fro. the ACE on the
n.w file.
If a .ubdlCectory of (DATA.rOOBAR1 11 cr •• t.d.
ho",.v.e. the oei9in.l OPTIONS-DErAULT ACE II tr.n.ferr.d to
the ne'" lubdluctoey Intact.
Thu.. the loCI ",ill propa9 ate

-3-

;~~t~~::~~l~f t~h:·!U~~l r:ct~~~:~L~Ii::~!~e!!~N t~;L p~~t:~~~~n t~~

• c . . . t.d .ubdir.ctory is th. . . . . a. that of It. p.rent
dir.ctory. A DEfAULT PII0TECTION ACE will not aff.ct .ny fU ••
th.t alr.ady .&llt iii the directory.
Not • • ho that the
DE'AULT PIIOTECTION ACL i. not u •• d for •
n.", file i f a
pr.vioui veralon of the
exilt.,
In thl. ca.. the
prot.ction propa9.t •• fro. the old.r v.raion.

m.

Not. on U 1 • • nd di rectory acc •••
A. with nor. . l
prot.euon ••• k..
r ••••b.r to provide
ac:c... to dir.etorl.. contaLning fUe. a. v.,ll a. fUe.
th •••• lv.a: i f the di rectory cont.inlng a fU. d.nia. r.ad
acc •••• a u •• r wUl not be able to routindy .cc ••• f i l t .
lnaid. the dir.ctory aven i t the fil •• allow r.ad .cc....
(An
i.portant . . cur i ty not.: NEVIIB lilLY 011 LOCIID DOIIW DI.ICroBY
.IIOTECTIONS ro PIIOTIICT rILES WITBIN TBI DU.CroBI.1 TaAT ARI
OTIUNU. ACCISSlBL.. Ir YOU IlIAI.LY WAIIT ro .BOT.CT A PILE.
PIIOT.CT IT AJIl) TB. DUECTOIIY IN WIUCI IT IS CONTAINIID.I

No",. any fU ••

( IDENTI FIEIl-rOOIlAII. ACCtSS-RU.O.WIlITt)

•

A ... rninq about 8ACJ(U'
OPTIONS-DErAULT and DE'AULT PIIOTECTION ACE. will nor.ally
"or_ on any fill created uS1nq- DCL 0< by progr •••. A .aJor
,xc.ption to the rule i. 8ACltUP.
In .o.t c ••••• 8ACJ(UP
eraat •• file. with exactly the . . . . protection • • nd ACL • • •
th.y h.d ",h.n th.y were originally backed up. Dlrectorie.

- 4-

Previous BAYVAX Meeting Presentation Slides (ACLS/RIGHTS Database)

cr.at.d by the BACKUP co_and al.o may not 'let all of the
couect prot.ctiona and ACE..
Exerci.. caution when ullnq
BACIUP to move fUel into ACLd dlrectod ...
Other ACE OPTIONS
Th.

NOPIlOPAGATS

option

prevent.

the

ACE

from

beinq

~;:f~::t~: t~ a dl~:~~~r/em~7 ~~ev:~tI ex~~~ln:c;i~~~.o~~I!;
prop.9at.d to .ubdl r.ctoHe. created vi thin the dir.ctory.

Th. PROTSCTKD option prevent. the ACE from baln9 daleted
Implicitly.
It mu.t be uplicltly call.d out in a SET
PILE/ACL/DELl:TE co_and or b. deleted u.ln9 the ACI. Editor.
1I0r. co_and. for vorkln' vith ACL.
So far. the SET rILE/ACI. and SET DIII/ACL co_and. have
b •• n de.on.traud a. ..chanlaa. for altetin, ACLI on file ••
Nh.n .anipulatin9 ACL. on dlrectorie.. note that th. tvo ar.
re.lly interchan9 •• bl./ that i.. th. follovln9 tvo co. . . nd.
vould b • •quiv.l.nt.
_
$ 1ST DUI/ACL-UD-(20,10 J ,ACC-R' (OATA.POOuaJ
$ I n PIU/ACL-UD-[lO,10J,Acc-a, [OATAIPooua.DIa

U•• which.v.r co. .and 11 aor. comfortable for you.
I n PILS/ACL/LIltS-fllal fU.l •• t. all ACE. on fU.l to b.
the •••• a. tho •• on filel.
ACES on fUel with the PIIOTECTED
option .r. ~ .It.red or r ••ov.d.
an rIL&/ACL/DI.ADLT fU . . . U . l l ACE. on fila •• i f the
fU. v.s n.vly cre.t.d.
Thu., the co. .and i. only truly
u •• ful if tha parent dir.ctary of the fU. h . . on. or .ora
loCI. vith OPTlONa-DEPAULT.
I n '1L1/ACL-oldac."...LAC...a_ac.
fU.
r.plac.. the
.p.cifi.d old ACE vith • nav ACI vithout chan9in9 the loCI'.

:!~:~~ A~:t~ i~~=~i~~ar ~o::t1:=:~'
to work.

:!~:::,-;:~ :e:C!!~!~~

a!:·
Th. n.vae• •u.t alv.y. b. co.pl.tely .peeified.

an 'IU/ACL/Da.rra fU. d.let . . aU loCI. all ha .p.cified
fll • • • xc.pt tho •• th.t h.v. the PItOTECTCD option. In th.t
c .... you .u.t .p.cify the protect.d ACU •• plic1tly. SCT
.1L./AC.....C./DILrr.
Th. ACL Iditor is • .cr . . n-oriented .ditor for .odlfy!n9
and raord.rin9 ACL..
Th. DCL co_and SDlt/ACL Ul.na••
invok •• the .di tor.
lIor. infor.ation h
avaU.bla in the
VAIVYIlI Acc ••• Coatrol Lht sditor a.fareac. IlaDual.

Dhplayinq ACLs on a fi 1e
DIRECTORY/PULL file 11ltl
all Information about the
sp.cified file.
includin9 all ACLI on the Ute. A lIore
specific commsnd is IURECTOIlY/ACL fila. which lilts lUlt the
ACEs on the tile.
The cooand DIRECTORY/SECURITY file
displays all security-related inforllation for the flle (owner
ute, protection, AC1.a) and .8 auch 18 • us.ful co_and foe the
security.anaqar.
l'Ior. on the Ri9htl Database
The Ri9htl Database it.elf 11 .tored in the dllk file
SYS$SYST!II:IlIGHTSLIST.DAT.
A. noted befor.. the AUTHOIIUE
utility I. und to aodlty the d.tab.... .,henev.r a proce •• I.
cre.ted. a proc... rl9ht. li.t 11 built for tha proc ....
contain.nq
the
applicable
id.ntHiera
drawn
fro.
RIGHTSLIST.DAT. Ch.ng . . to RIGRTSLIST.DAT do not .!tect the
proc . . . rllJhts li.t. for proc ••••• curr.ntly ex.euting a:\ the
.y.tea, proe ••• riqht. liats can b. aodifi.d by ulin9 the DCL
SST RIGHTS_LIST co_and (n.v in VIIS V4.41.
Th. followln9 is • su_.ry of the ri9ht. databa •• co_and.
in AUTHORIZE:
o ADD/IDEHTIPIKlt idenHUer n ••e creat.. .n identifier
with the Ipecitied nalle and .tore. it in the rights d.t.b •••.
Th. identlfier_naae can be up to 31 ch.r.cur. 10nIJ .nd e.n
contaln letta ... d'91ts. unde .. cora.. and doll.r si9n.. To
lIin'lIin lIaintenanee headache. tt 11 a 900d id.a to .sal9n
id.ntifurs na .. es th.t are descrlptiv. of their purpo... Por
...... ple. an identifier uaed to 9.in .cc"" to the eOllp.ny
payroll database might have the naa. PAYROLL.
Th. syste.
.utoll.tIcally .sai9ns a he •• d.cia.l nuab.r to the id.ntifi.r;
i t is a 900d id.. to k •• p tr.ck of the nuab.r-ld'ifttifi.r
correspand.nc. in a not.book so.avh.r. for re.son. to b •
•• plain.d.
a GIlAIft'/IDDTI'IER
id.atifi.r _
aic
"9unU· the
.pecifi.d Identifi.r to the sp.cifred UIC.
Th. UIC is th.n
•• id to b • • hold.r Of the identifi.r.
YOIl c.n us • • UIC
identifi.r in pl.c. 'of • nu•• ric: UIC. CUrr.ntly •• scutin9
proc..... avn.d by tha UIC
vill not pick up the n.w
identi fi.r.
a REVOCE/IDDTl'ISa id.atifi.r aa..
\.lic "r.vokes· t"e
.pecifled id.ntifier
fro.
the - sp.clt1ed
UIC (or UIC
identi fier'. currently e".cutin9 proe..... owned by the UIC
vill continu. to hold the id.ntifi.r.
I. c.raful not to raly
on thi ••• chanll. to pr.v.nt a u .. r fro • • cc . . . in9 .n objact
to vhich ./he pr.viously h.d acc ••• via the id.ntifi.r I ACE.
a.y h.v. b •• n placed on the object 9unUng hi./h.r ule
explicit .cc ....

-5-

o U/IOVK/IDBIn'IPIEa identifi.r n... r.move. th. "p.cified
id.ntifi.r froa the Ri9htS D.taSa.e.
It ia iaport.nt to
.n.un that .ny ACES r.f.r.ncin9 the identHi.r have b •• n
d.leted. If you faU to do thia, the .yate. vlll display the
ob.cur. h •• ad.ci.al nu.b.r that wal ... i9n.d to the id.ntifler
anywhere the identifi.r i. stUl in u... If thi. h.pp.n., you
aust refer to your not.book to d.t.rain. vhlch d.funct
id.ntifier the obscur. hexad.ci.al nuaber caccespond. to.
o .ROIf/ID/PULL id.nUU.r a._ dhphy. the h. . .deci.a1
nu.b.r corra.pondin9 to the -.p.clfi.d id.ntifi.r .nd al.o
lhts .11 hold.r. of t-h. id.ntifier. Th" .ttribut •• for each
id.ntifl.r are aho dhplayed, thru VIIS 4.4. th ••• aay b •
• OIlSSOIJllCS/Ill:souaCI: and DYNAIUC/IIODYIIAIIIC.
1I•• 0urc. id.ntifier.
Iy d.fault, id.nUf1.ra rec.iv. the nor •• oure. attribut.,
vhich i • • uit.bl. vhan the ld.ntiUe .. ar. und .xclv.ively
for acc ••• control. An id.nUfi.r vi th the r.sourc • • ttribut.
i. oft.n ref.rr.d to as a r •• oure. id.nUfi.r.
Th •••
identlfi.rs . . . unique in that you can charge Iy.tea r •• ource.
to th... Thru VIIS 4.5, the only resource th.t can b. ch.rged
i. diak sp.c ••

-6-

SECUllITY AlJ1)lTING
s.curity Audltln9 II a VIIS feature that .llov. you to
track acc . . . to obj.cts an the .yate. and .lso to'det.ct
failed atte.pta to acce .. protected, objecta.
(Securlty
Auditing csn .lso b. u .. d to detect felled .tt •• pt. to acc.'1
the syate. itnU: thil function.lity i. not dilcu •• ed here. I
1I'0u can tr.ck acc ... on obj.ct. by .mployln9 • thi rd type
of ACE. the •• curity .l.r. ACE. It has the tora,
(ALARII_JOUaNAL-SICUIIITY, OPTIONs-option •• ACCESS-.cc . . . )
option. can b. appll.d a. with .ny oth.r ACE. ACCESJ
coni lit. ot .o.e coablnation of the Itanderd .cce •• codes
(It WED C) plu. eith.r or both of the keywords SUCCESS or
rAILURI. ror .x •• pl •• to •• t up an al.rm if • uaer att.apta
to un.ucc . . . fully re.d the fila A.DAT.
,
$ sn .lLl/ACL-iALAIlII-II:CU1IIfY,ACC-Il!AD+PAlLlJIIS' A.OAT

To .et up an alara 1f fde a.OAT I. succ ... tully "fltt.n:
$

SI:T PILI:/ACL-(ALAJUI-.SCUltITY ,ACC-nlTS+SUCCSSII I.OAT

It i. now pOlsibl. to cre.t. and •• na9. dir.ctoria. owned
by r •• ourc. Id.ntifi.rs.
Th. ...ourc. id.ntifi.r ia 9unt.d
it. own d1lk quot., .nd the identifier 11 grant.d to .11
p . . . on. that vi.h to u •• the dir.ctory. rU •• cr •• t.d in the
dlf.ctory by • hold.r of the id.ntifier I>eco.e owned by the
id.ntifier, rather th.n by th. u •• r'l UIC.
In this way. a
per.on could hold s.v. . . l r •• ource id.nUtt . . . for acc.s. to
.ev.r.l proj.ct 9rouP"
e.ch
9rouP havin9 • d.dicat.d
dir.ctory .nd disk quota. U.. of resource diractorie. in thi.
fsshlon can .limin.t. tha n •• d for h.vin9 .ccount. vhi ch
lIulUpl. people 109 into; .ach person c.n inltead 109 into
~!:~~~~. ~r~.c~~~~~nt and SET DEFAULT to the .pproprlate

S.ttin9 up .ecurtty alara ACEI i. • n.c . . . . ry but not
.uffici.nt condition to en.ble .. curity alar... You mu.t .1.0
u •• the SET AIJ1)IT coaaand to c.u .. the .y.te. to p.y attention
to any .. curity al.ra ACEs on the .y.te.. ror •• aapl.:

Althouqh
•
t.rrific
,dea
in
pnncipl., ... ource
dir.ctorte. ar. not v.ll cov.red by the document.tion and
th . . . are •• ver.1 c.... vhar. VIIS incorrectly h.ndle. file.
own.d by r •• ouree Id.ntifi.r..
There .re u.u.11y work.rounds
for the proble.s but they a re not oft.n conv.nant for the
us.rs. R.lourc. dir.etoral are also tricky to ... na9. due to
the coaplexi ty of .IICLS u.ua11y n .. eded on thea. Therefore.
they will not be ducu .. ed further.

~~!a~~~U~~!Y e~~::~:·~ ~d •• ~~r t ~~n~:~;~n.f~P.~~ d~ t t~~. ~·~i.~~

$ SET AIJ1)IT/ALAIlII/CICAIILS-ACL
The ayst.a "111 now l'oq all security alara. to the operator
109 (SYS$I'IANAGER:OPERATOII.LOGI and to all oper.tor terainal.
which have been .nabled to rec.lve alara..
To.o .nable a
teraln.l:

..

the follOWing co . . . nd. In your SYSTAItTUP.COII:
$ DIPINE/US!R 1I0DE SYS$COIUlAJfD OPAO.
$ Il!PLY/DISAJlLE-S!CI1RITY

To lubsequ.ntly d .. able .. curlty audalng. u .. the cOllJland:
$ SIT AIJ1)IT/ALAJUI/DISAJILE-ALL

Th. docullentatlon drop. hint.
con,UII• • iqniflcant CPU [ •• ourcel.
dllcret ion.
-7-

-8-

that ncurity auditln9 can
10 it should b. u •• d with

Previous SAYVAX Meeting Presentation Slides (ACLS/RIGHTS Database)

Audit Uductlon radUtX
Tha co . .a"d procedura IYISIlAllAGI•• IICAUDIT.COII c.n be " •• d

~~.::r:~d u~i :~!.~r:~·~~! l:~:li ~~~:~!~!~' ~~!.:o:~.~:!t;!:;~~:~

or undin, th •• to • uparate di.k fUe. U•• of the procadura
i . doc".ant..d in t.h. Guid. to vu/YIII Iy.t •• s.curity, s.ctioa
5 •• •• (VIIS 4 .21 •
IIISCIloYlliSOUS UICItI, 'nAPI, AIID JOIIIILI UIIUIOIIIII
At. our .It. v. h.v. .ncount.r.4 v.riou. bis.n. probl •••
vlt.h ACIo. .nd the co...nd. u •• d to ••ftlpul.t. th... In

~~!:~~:!:r f.~~. t.:C!;o~:lt.:!

f!:;:~: ~~.!1~0~1Io~':~~

';:uv.!!;::
probla •• (t.o t.hU point I h.v. ..r.ly b •• n . nuil.nc. and do
not .ppe.r t.o have co.pro.i •• d .ecurity. , • •v.r. t.h.t du. to
the ,an.nl co.ph"ity of the ACI. iapl ••• nt..tion, ob.cur. bU9'
. .y ."rf.e. fro. U . . to u ••.
Wh.n • fU. i I cr •• ted vith .n OVfter dUrer.at t.h.n the
cr •• tor, VIIS ••y pl.c • • ·cu.tor ACI· on the fU., ,lvin, th.
cra.tor full .cce •• to the ru..
Thil acUon c.n b. qult •.

~;;~:::c~::{ari:;d '~;~2J~·dapr~i t;~;nt~:~.I::~;!~ty pp~o~:;:
11 •• VU-HI

Th••• nual. do not indic.t. th.t you .hould .void u.i n 9 S
ch.ract ... ln ld.nUU.r n •••• in the ri,ht. d.t.b.... l1"c.
ln .any oth.r c.... ".. of S i. di.eour.,.d I •• ,. lo,ic.l
n......... r-vritt.n .ubroutin•• I, you . .y v.nt to .void it.

4.'.

IIyn •• lc id.ntUh . . . r. a n.v f •• tllr. of VIII
A
4",•• lC i4.ntUiar c.n be .44.d to or r ••ov.4 fro • • proc ...
ri'lllhtl Uat .t .ny U...
I t ia uncl.ar vbat adv.nta, •• thh
••y yU14.
Th. SIT ItIGBTS co...n4, n.v in VIIS 4.4, .ppa... to .nov
you to r ••ov. i4.nUfier. fro. .n4 .d4 i4.ntUi... to.
proc... ri,hU lUt at .fty U.. lunU.... AUT_OltU., vher.
ch.n9.' u .... U.ct Oftly aft.r a u •• r la'll' out .noS bac" in
a,.inl.
I h.v. not u •• d thh co...ad and 40 not fully
und.ut.nd iU e.p.bUiU... I al.o think that it 1. riaky to

~::::~c~h.~y y~:vo=::; ~:.d!:~:!Iat:~o·~:.n::~i.:cc~::. t:l~
.pplic.bl. proc... r1,hte

lUte'

the

r •• ourc• • lr •• dy b. i"

~::,,~Yn:h:.:~~~!:'::~.I:n:o ~~: p~::::!::.

uy h.v. ACLa on it

.tau

I t 11 unclear if the SIT AWl'f
h pr .. erv.d Icro..
ubooU. It do •• n't hurt to .. k. the SIT AWIT/.NdL' co. .and

part of your SYSTAltTU•• COil.

-10-

-9-

u.narc:u
Gllid. to VU/VIIS I,.t. . aeculflty
•. 1
Acc." Control LlIU
•• 1.5
"ana,ln, ACC... Control Iolata IlIlJOltTAiftI
4.4.1
Und.ut.ndin, the Itol. of the It.. ourc. Attribut.
4.5
'rop.,.Uon of prot.cUon d.bulU
4.6
lu . .ary of fU. prot.cUon .v.lu.Uon
TAIt. UI .11.. UITt
:::' 3.2

!::~:t::

!::!.!1!:' '!:!i:r!!·~~l::curity

:: ~~ 3-5 ::;:~:.:o c!::.!~!;.r;~::e~~::b::!e t .. t
5.1.5.1 lI.buUdin, a d •• uoy.d lIi,ht. Oat.b•••

::t2
App. 0

;~:!~t~: :!:~t::;U~!~l.tt:!:·

lIu"nin, VU/VRS in a C3 Inyiron•• nt

~rt .~. ~t:!:h:::·:J·:cc...

r.qu •• t .YaluaUon

VAlV'IIIS Ace.a. Coatrol Liat Idltor •• f.nec. "'a...l
a . . . ,oDd .u.-acy of ACU

V~~/~~::;~~~:ItUtlUt, •• Cac.ace ...aual
CUATI/1IIGNTS
GItAIIT/IOINTIrIII
LUT/IDENTtrlllt
LUT/ltIGRTS
ROOI fY/IDENTt flllt
ItEIIOVI/IOINTI n Ell
alNME/1 DENT If lilt
ItEVOItI/IOENTlflllt
SHOW/IOENTlflllt
SHOII/IIIGHTS
DCL OleUoa..y
7.2
Acc ... Control LlIu
~~~;5~~Y (opUons for displayin, ACLal
:~iD!~rlflEIIII L... lc.l r"nction

SET AUDIT
SET DEVICE/ACL
SET DIltECTOIIY/ACL
SET flU/ACL
SHOW ACL
SHOll AUDIT

-11-
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