Index of /pdf/dec/decus/DECUS SIG Newsletters
DECUS U.S. CHAPTER SIGs NEWSLETTERS
APL SIG ................................................................ APL · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · .. · · .... . ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SIC .......................................... Al .......................... . BUSINESS APPLICATIONS SIC ........................................... BA .......................... . COMMERCIAL LANGUAGES SIG ......................................... CL ..... ············ ........ . DAARC SIG ............................................................. DAR · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · DATA MANAGEMENT SIG .............................................. OMS .... ············· ........ . DATATRIEYE SIG ....................................................... DTR· .. · · · · · .. · · · · · · · .... · .... · EDUSIG ................................................................ EDU .......................... . GRAPHICS SIG ......................................................... GRA · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · .. · · · · · · · HARDWARE MICRO SIG ............................................... HMS.················ ......... . IAS SIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IAS ......................... . LANGUAGES AND TOOLS SIG.......................................... L&T ......................... . LARGE SYSTEMS SIG ..................................................... LS ......................... . MUMPS SIG ............................................................ MMP ......................... . NETWORKS SIG ........................................................ NTW ........................ . OFFICE AUTOMATION SIG ............................................... OA ......................... . PERSONAL COMPUTER SIG ............................................. PC· ........................ . RSTS SIG ................................................................ RST ......................... . RSX SIG ................................................................. RSX ............... · ......... . RT SIG................................................................... RT· ........................ . SITE MANAGEMENT & TRAINING SIG ................................... SIT ......................... . UNISIG .................................................................. UNI·························· VAX SYSTEMS SIG ...................................................... VAX ......................... . LIBRARY INFORMATION SECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIB ......................... . "HOW TO" SUBMIT AN ARTICLE ... GROUP FORMS .................... HOW ................ ··· ...... . QUESTIONNAIRE SECTION .............................................. OU ................ ······· .. .
lFEBRUARY 19861 fvolume 1, Number 6}
GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTIONS
PAGE NO.
APL SIG . Steering Committee Listing
APL- i
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SIC . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . . The Linked List .................................................................................. . . PROLOG: Programmig in Logic .................................................................. . . 0 PS5 News ........ , ............................................................................ . . Book· Review .................................................................................... .
AlAl- 1 Al- 3 Al-11 Al-14
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . BA- i
COMMERCIAL LANGUAGES SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . CL. Letter ........................................................................................... . CL-
DATA ACQUISITION, ANALYSIS, RESEARCH AND CONTROL SIG
. Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . DAR-
. Editor Note ...................................................................................... . DAR- 1
1
. Micro Power/RT .................................................................................. . DAR- 2
DATA MANAGEMENT SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . . Contributions .................................................................................... . . Documentation Set Winners ..................................................................... . . Coming Features ................................................................................ . . Calling All Hands ................................................................................ . . DEC Sends out Conflicting Signals on FMS and TOMS ........................................... . . A Hoot from the Editor ........................................................................... .
OMSOMSOMS- 1 OMS- 2 OMS- 2 OMS- 2 OMS- 3
DATATRIEVE SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . . Products Status ................................................................................. . . Chairman's Corner ............................................................................... . . From the Editor's Pen ............................................................................ . . Message from DTR/4GL Communications Committee Representative ............................. . . News of the SIG ................................................................................. . . Converting Decimal UICs to OCTAL UICs ........................................................ . . Wombat Magic .................................................................................. . . DATATRIEVE Wishlist, Fall 1985 ................................................................. . . Nostalgia Bit .................................................................................... .
DTR- i DTR- 2 DTR- 3 DTR- 4 DTR- 4 DTR- 5 DTR- 6 DTR- 8 DTR-13 DTR-20
EDUSIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . EDU-
GRAPHICS APPLICATIONS SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . GRA-
HARDWARE AND MICRO SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . HMS- i
IASSIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . . Curley's Corner .................................................................................. . . Letter from the Editor ............................................................................ .
IAS- i IAS- 1 IAS- 4
LANGUAGES AND TOOLS SIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L&T-
LARGE SYSTEMS SIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chairperson's Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Your Input........................................................................................ . Alternative Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Doctor TOPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LS- i LS- 1 LS- 3 LS- 4 LS- 5 LS- 6
MUMPS SIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MMP- i
NETWORKS SIG . Networks SIG Steering Committee ............................................................... . . Index ............................................................................................ . . The Editor's Cobwebb ........................................................................... . . Native Mode ETHERNET Communications ....................................................... . . Network Design and Analysis .................................................................... .
NTW- 3 NTW- 4 NTW- 5 NTW- 6 NTW-28
OFFICE AUTOMATION SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . . From the Editor .................................................................................. . . Next on SIG Chair named ......................................................................... . . Notes From Fall Symposium ..................................................................... . . ALL-IN-1 ........................................................................................ .
QA- i OA- 1 OA- 2 QA- 3 QA- 4
PERSONAL COMPUTER SIG . Steering Committee Listing ...................................................................... . PC-
RSTSSIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-
RSX SIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RSX- i
RTSIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RT- i
SITE MANAGEMENT & TRAINING SIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SIT- i
UNISIG . Steering Committee Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UN I- i
VAX SYSTEMS SIG
. Editor's Workfile ................................................................................. . VAX- 3 . Enhancing the VAXTPU EDT Keypad Emulator ................................................... . VAX- 4 . Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests ..................................................... . VAX-18 . Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot ..................................................... . VAX-39 . FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS ............................................................... . VAX-44 . VAX System SIG Committee List. ................................................................. . VAX-57 . INPUT/OUTPUT ................................................................................. . VAX-60
. INPUT/OUTPUT Submission Form ............................................................... . au- 3
s . System Improvement Request Submission Form ................................................. . au-
. VAX Systems SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot ........................................................ . au- 7
LIBRARY SECTION
HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE ... ORDER FORMS SECTION . How to Submit an Article ......................................................................... . . Article Submission for HMS ...................................................................... . . Subscription Service Order Form ................................................................. . . Membership Application Form ................................................................... .
HOW- i HOW- 1 HOW- 3 HOW- 5
QUESTIONNAIRE SECTION . DATAGRAM ..................................................................................... . . INPUT/OUTPUT Submission Form ............................................................... . . System Improvement Request Submission Form ................................................. . . VAX System SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot ......................................................... .
QU- 1 QU- 3 QU- 5 QU- 7
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APL SIG
Chairman (RSTS) Larry LeBlanc Teletype Corp. Elk Grove, IL 60007
Library Coordinator Susan Abercrombie Ventrex Laboratories Portland, ME 041 03
Newsletter Editor(RT, TSX) Douglas Bohrer Bohrer and Company Wilmette, IL60091
Symposia Coordinator(RSX) Bob Awde Jr. General Mills Inc. Minneapolis, MN 55427
Symposia Assistant Bob Van Keuren UserWare International, Inc. Escondido, CA 92025
Standards Representative
Dan Esbensen
Touch Technologies
Escondido, CA 92025
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VAX APL (Contact:) OPEN
European Contact (TOPS) Jean-Pierre Barasz BARTS 75008 Paris, France
Digital Counterpart Dave Quigley Digital Equipment Corporation Nashua, NH 03062
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SIC
Chairperson
PSS Scheduling
Cheryl Jalbert
Tom Viana
JCC
Granville, OH
Store & Buttons
Sally Townsend
Ass't Chairman
Inst. Defense Analysis
Don Rosenthal
Alexandria, VA
Space Telescope Science Inst.
Baltimore, MD
Quality Control Chair Dick Ciera
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Symposium Coordinator
Harris Corp.
David Slater
Palm Bay, FL
Institute for Defense Analysis
Alexandria, VA
Quality Control
Carol Guyermelli
Ass't Symposium Coordinator
Session Note Editor Greg Parkinson Cognitive Systems Inc.
Site Coordinator, Anaheim Chris Goodard
New Haven, CT
Newsletter Editor Terry Shannon Digital Review Boston, MA 02109
Volunteer Coordinator, Anaheim Peter MacDonough Tractor Inc. California, MD
Members-at-Large George Humfeld
Newsletter Publisher Bob Zeek Pfizer Inc. Groton, CT
Matt Matthews IV
Evaluation Research Corp. King George, VA
Membership Coordinator Pamela Vavra KMS Fusion Inc. Ann Arbor, MI
DEC Counterpart Art Beane Digital Equipment Corporation Hudson, MA
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(THE (LINKED LIST))
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE DECUS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
Vol.2 No. 1
February 1986
FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome to the first 1986 issue of (THE (LINKED LIST)). The AISIG
newsletter has been absent from the past three issues of THE DECUS SIGs NEWSLETTERS for a number of reasons, but primarily because of
my recent job change and relocation to Boston. If you have ideas, suggestions or articles to submit to (THE (LINKED LIST)), you can
contact me at either of the addresses listed below:
work:
Digital Review 160 State Street 6th Floor Boston, MA 02109 (617) 367-7190
Home: 15 Vancouver Street #201 Boston, MA 02115
- Terry C. Shannon
FROM THE CHAIR
Join the celebration! Come gather 'round for tales of Anaheim.
First, briefly, our history: During the Spring 1985 symposium in New Orleans, the AI working groups of three DECUS SIGs assembled to discuss AI's place within DECUS. The result of this meeting was positive - we voted to begin the process of becoming a formal DECUS Special Interest Group. During the summer, we were awarded Special Interest Committee (SIC) status, the SIG Council's new training and testing stage for fledgling SIGs. Beginning in September, before we'd even finished clarifying our SIC status, we began to get responses to (The (Linked List)). By mid-October, we knew we had a good core leadership group and we'd adopted SIC/SIG operating procedures. Sessions and PSSes were scheduled for Anaheim. We'd begun to collect session notes. Just for fun, we'd chosen a mascot and even had an artist's drawing of our new friend. Before we'd left New Orleans we'd started scrambling to build a good SIG. The payoff came in Anaheim.
The session notes were an early clue that the Anaheim symposium was going to be a great week for us. Pam Vavra, Terry Shannon, and I had badgered speakers all fall for their session notes. Terry had written his notes and an important addition. Pam had formatted all the notes and designed the cover. We made the "bold" decision to produce 300 copies. Chris had them duplicated and bound. One look told me we had a winner, and the contents were even better. They sold out rapidly. We'll make 400 copies of the Dallas session notes.
Our mascot is a creature with an appealing smile called an A-i, after the
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only sound that it makes. More information on the A-i (Bradypus Tridactylus to purists) will be presented in an upcoming issue of this newsletter; in the meantime you can refer to the cover story in the January 1986 edition of International Wildlife magazine.
Sally Townsend, our "shopkeeper," made a variety of clever buttons using the A-i. They were in more limited supply than our session notes, but we'll try to have more for Dallas.
On Saturday December 7, before the Fall 1985 symposium got underway, DEC counterpart Art Beane and I opened the AISIC suite and sat there talking and planning while we waited for Art's promised AI VAXstation to materialize. During the wait, we accepted delivery of the hardware earmarked for our "suitemates" - APL, Languages and Tools and UNISIG. Our shared facilities provided us with a large parlor and a separate "machine room" and proved to be an immensely successful combination. We'll share again in Dallas.
The suite was open, generally, from 8:30 in the morning until well after midnight. We had numerous meetings there, and, once the AI VAXstation arrived, nonstop demos and software discussions. Our speakers were available to answer questions and debate discuss issues, as were representatives from DEC's AITC (Artificial Intelligence Technical center) and related areas. We collected new SIC members, drafted new leadership and even did our sewing in the suite when the A-i patches for our polo shirts finally arrived. (Who needs an alligator?)
Sunday, we offered three PSSes: Introduction to AI, LISP, and OPS5. visited all three and was pleased with the comments that I heard. For Dallas, by popular request, we will offer these three plus one that serves as a follow-on to the introduction. Complete details on each PSS will be provided in the March issue of (THE (LINKED LIST)).
All week, we had a very positive reception for our sessions. We had to close the doors on three of them because the fire marshall didn't seem to approve of people hanging from the chandaliers to hear our speakers. We repeated those three and had sellout crowds for the encore performances. I hope that we will be able to share content from a number of the sessions with you through this newsletter.
By Wednesday, we were definitely receiving rave reviews. Wednesday morning, I met with our mentor and review committee. They had been appointed by the SIG Council to watch over us for the duration of our SIC status. Their input has been very important to our success. SIC status had been expected to last for up to three symposia. Exactly one symposium after we voted to request SIC status, Bill Brindley, Chairman of our Review Committee, recommended that SIG Council schedule a vote on our SIG status.
Friday morning, I left the SIG Council meeting and arrived at the conclusion of Terry Shannon's last session in time to begin the closing session. My announcement that SIG Council had voted that we shall have SIG status was met by cheers. Other DECUS units may yet vote on our status, but when and which is unclear. Since our position is strong, I do not anticipate any problems.
The rest of Friday was a similar joy. We had a good discussion in the closing session about what things people want to see added to what we're doing, and I took the opportunity to offer some much deserved honors.
Sally Townsend and I had conspired to produce a special thank you. Sally
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had buttons made featuring our mascot and the words "A-:I Honors, Anaheim 85." I'd asked for three .. Having come up with this concept, I had given myself the difficult job of allocating them. Pam Vavra, our new Symposia Rep, who has assisted with many of the pieces of getting us started, Chris Goddard, our new Membership Coordinator and Suite Coordinator for Anaheim, who has also picked up pieces as necessaary, and Don Rosenthal, Vice Chair, who has done many important things for the SIG, each deserve special recognition. Every member of the Steering Committee deserves great thanks for a job well done.
The buttons I saved for the people who served as lightning rods for the formation of the group. Dave Slater has been Chair of the AI Working Group of the VAX SIG since the Spring 1984 Symposium in Cincinatti, and has worked to generate interest in AI within DECUS. Terry Shannon began writing (The (Linked List)) before we even became a SIC. He has also given some of our most successful sessions and tirelessly offers more and more. Art Beane was in Cincinatti, too. Art offered the sessions that got everything started and has continued to offer sessions and respond to our calls for assistance. Art has already made significant contributions as our DEC Counterpart and as a part of our Steering Committee. It was to these last three that I gave A-i Honors this time. It is my goal to offer one A-i Honors in Dallas.
After the Closing, Chris ran for the ice cream cake that he'd ordered with our A-i on top. Everyone from the Closing was invited to the suite and we had a party. That evening, L&T and UNISIG helped us put on another party. Our mentor, Larry Jasmann, came to this one and I presented him with one of our A-i shirts as a way of saying thank you for all the guidance.
I've glossed over the technical content here to share the news with you. we're off to an exciting start and we have a great group. However, it takes a number of people to do a really good job of running a SIG. We need more input; and, as we grow, we will need even more. Write Chris or I if you would like to participate as a member or as part of the leadership. Join us in Dallas and share your views with us through the newsletter.
- Cheryl Jalbert
FEATURE ARTICLE
LISP and OPSS have received considerable attention within our new SIG, so we felt we should give equal time to PROLOG adherents. The following article gives a brief, novice level introduction to PROLOG.
PROLOG: PROGRAMMING IN LOGIC
Until about 10 years ago, LISP, John McCarthy's 1957-vintage LISt Processing language was the only significant symbolic data manipulation language available for AI or knowledge-based applications. 1972 brought the first incarnation of PROLOG, a nonalgorithmic, logic-oriented programming language that dispenses with DO-FOR, WHILE and GOTO and implements simplified rules of predicate calculus. This article examines the history of PROLOG, discusses what it is and how it works, suggests why the Japanese chose PROLOG for their Fifth Generation project and analyzes the great LISP vs. PROLOG debate.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF PROLOG
PROLOG's roots can be traced to the University of Montreal, where a group of computer scientists was formed in 1965 to develop a French to English language translation program. Some five years later, a Frenchman named Alain Colmerauer joined the Canadian researchers. Although their efforts were not entirely successful, the translation program represented the first large scale use of symbolic logic to manipulate data. When the translation project drew to an abortive conclusion, Colmerauer returned to the University of Marseilles, taking with him the symbolic data manipulation and logic programming techniques he had developed and used in Canada. He referred to this collection of programming techniques as "System Q," and used it as a springboard to the development of a new computer language.
By 1972, System Q had evolved into a logic oriented programming language and interpreter which Colmerauer's wife named PROLOG, an acronym for PROgramming in LOGic. Implemented in ALGOL-W by the French Groupe D' Intelligence Artificialle, this early PROLOG remained in the domain of academia. In its primitive versions, PROLOG lacked the capability to perform arithmetic calculations and was supported with very few diagnostics. Little more was done with the language until 1974 when Robert Kowalski, a researcher at the University of London's Imperial College, formalized the concepts of logic programming and created a "reason" for PROLOG.
Shortly thereafter, personnel at the Department of Artificial Intelligence in Edinburgh, Scotland discovered the new language and began to use and improve upon it. Under the supervision of Dr. David Warren, the Edinburgh team added diagnostics, arithmetic capability and an improved user interface to PROLOG. Their efforts resulted in a specification for the language, often referred to as "Edinburgh syntax," and ultimately in the development of the fastest and most efficient PROLOG implementation.
until the end of the decade, interest in PROLOG was concentrated in the European AI community at locations like Edinburgh, London and Marseilles as well as at the Institute for Coordination of Computer Techniques, or SZKI, in Budapest, Hungary. Hungarian computer scientists recognized the value of PROLOG for business and industrial as well as AI applications, so the language gained a significant following in that country. Outside of Europe, the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Tokyo was one of the few research centers to show interest in PROLOG. The involvement of this facility undoubtedly had an impact on the Japanese decision to make PROLOG the language of choice for their Fifth Generation computer program.
PROGRAMMING IN PROLOG
on an elementary level, a PROLOG program consists of problem description instead of the steps that must be taken to solve a problem. using a conventional computer language, a programmer defines the algorithms necessary to solve a problem, and the sequence in which the algorithms are executed. A PROLOG programmer writes a program by defining the problem at hand in terms of facts, relationships and rules, allowing the PROLOG interpreter to define the problem-solving algorithm. In essence, what the programmer does is make assertions
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(which tell PROLOG what is true) and allow the interpreter to draw its own conclusions. Programming in PROLOG is a three step process in which a programmer:
1. Defines facts about objects and their relationships
2. Defines the rules that apply to the objects and their relationships 3. Asks questions about the objects and their relationships.
PROLOG uses the concepts of predicate calculus to represent and manipulate information or knowledge. Objects and the relationships between them, are represented as clauses that either may be true or false, then evaluated by an inference mechanism that relies on logic. Through its control mechanism, PROLOG can infer new facts from the ones with which you have provided it.
FACTS
Facts are represented in PROLOG by clauses whose grammar and syntax are similar to the rules that govern the English language. For example, the fact that a person named Michael lives in a town called Solvay may be expressed in English as:
Michael lives in Solvay.
The same fact, expressed as a PROLOG clause, takes the form:
lives in(michael,solvay).
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When facts are entered into a PROLOG database, the name of each predicate and object must begin with a lower case letter. The predicate is written first, followed by objects which are separated by commas and enclosed in parentheses. Finally, each fact must be terminated with a period.
If a PROLOG database contains a single clause, the interpreter can only parrot back information or answer a question based on the facts contained in that clause. Additional facts and rules must be asserted before the interpreter can deal with more complicated questions. Anything that can't be proven true is considered false by PROLOG - the interpreter will respond "no" to any question that isn't supported by an assertion in the program's database, whether or not the answer actually is false.
VARIABLES
PROLOG uses variables to represent those classes of objects which have not been or can not be named explicitly. In the English language, we use terms like "someone,· "everything" and "all" to represent variable data. In PROLOG, symbols that begin with a capital letter
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serve the same purpose. When the interpreter is asKed a question that contains a variable, it searches through the program database to find an object that matches the question. This process, known a~ "pattern matching," is one of the most powerful features of PROLOG.
For example, if you wanted to assert the fact that Michael likes a certain class of objects without specifying every conceivable object within that class, you could do so by defining the variable ·x· as something that Michael likes. Each object equated with the variable "X" would then be recognized by PROLOG as something that Michael likes, as follows:
likes(michael,X). females(X). golf(X). steak(X). richard(X). cats(X}.
A SIMPLE EXAMPLE
The following example demonstrates how facts, rules, and questions are used to create, qualify, and query a PROLOG database.
The database listed below asserts several facts in PROLOG notation. In English, these facts are:
Two individuals named Michael and Erin like cats; Two individuals named Amanda and Erin are female; Amanda and Erin live with Michael; and Amanda is younger than Erin.
In PROLOG notation, the same facts are expressed as: likes(michael,cats}. female(amanda}. female(erin}. likes(erin,cats}. lives with(michael,amanda}. lives-with(michael,erin}. younger_than(erin,amanda).
To ask PROLOG what Michael likes, you could enter:
?- likes(michael,X}.
PROLOG will search through its database and attempt to find facts or rules that match the question. When it finds the fact "likes(michael,cats}," it responds with:
X=cats.
This example aerely returns a fact that has been established by a clause in the database. By adding rules to the database, it's possible to utilize PROLOG'S inf~rence mechanism to perform more sophisticated queries.
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PROLOG rules can be used to express general statements about objects and their relationships. Each rule consists of two parts, the head and the body, which are separated by the symbol ":-." To assert the fact that Michael likes any female who likes cats, you could enter the following rule _into the program database:
likes(michael,X):- female(X), likes(X,cats).
This rule states that Michael likes any female who likes cats. If this rule is added to the database and PROLOG is asked who Michael likes, the interpreter searches for a female who likes cats:
?- likes(michael,X).
Instead of responding with a single fact as it did in the previous example, PROLOG attempts to answer the question by initiating a depth-first search. The interpreter starts at the beginning of the database and begins to evaluate its facts sequentially. When the interpreter finds an object in the database that matches the variable "female(X)," the first goal is satisfied or instantiated. (In this case, the fact "female(amanda)· matches the variable.) PROLOG notes the goal's location with a place marker and continues its depth-first search by scanning subsequent facts in the database in an attempt to satisfy the second goal. If the interpreter is able to match the variable "likes(X,cats)· with an object in the database, the second goal is satisfied and an answer is displayed.
In this example, the second goal cannot be satisfied. Although Amanda is female, the database contains no information to prove the assertion that Amanda likes cats. At this point, PROLOG will backtrack and attempt to resatisfy the first goal by searching the database for a second object that matches the variable "female(X).· During its initial search, PROLOG started at the beginning of the database. For each subsequent attempt, the interpreter starts its search from the location of the first satisfied goal.
Thus, PROLOG backtracks to the fact directly beneath "female(amanda)" and searches for a second occurrence of "female(X).· When the interpreter finds "female(erin),· it assigns a place marker to this fact and again attempts to satisfy the second goal. The fact "likes(erin,cats)· instantiates the second goal of the rule, so PROLOG answers the question by displaying:
X=erin.
Nowhere in the database is it stated explicitly that Michael likes Erin. Instead, PROLOG is able to arrive at this conclusion by drawing an inference from the facts that Erin is female and Erin likes cats.
Adding A Second Rule
Assume that Michael has a younger sister named Amanda. Based on the absence of supporting information, PROLOG would respond "no· to a query about Michael's siblings, as follows:
?- sister_of(michael,X). no
PROLOG cannot prove this assertion because its database does not contain a fact that matches the question "Who is a sister of Michael?"
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However, w_e could define a sister of Michael as "a female who lives with Micbael and.who is yc;iunger than Erin" by adding the rule listed below to the PROLOG database:
sister of(michael,X):femaleTX),lives_with(michael,X),younger_than(erin,X).
If we were to pose the "sister_of" question to the interpreter again, it would instantiate all three variables in the rule with the object ·amanda," and respond with:
X=amanda.
Again, the database does not contain a fact or rule that tells PROLOG that Amanda is Michael's sister. As in the previous example, PROLOG uses the rules of logic to infer this fact from the other facts that have been stated.
PROLOG SEMANTICS
PROLOG supports two distinct programming styles: declarative and procedural. Procedural programming requires you to define and code a specific algorithm that explicitly directs the computer to perform each step necessary to the solution of a problem. This is the method used to write programs in traditional programming languages. Declarative programming works very differently. Instead of telling the computer how to solve a problem, you define the problem to the computer in terms of logical facts and relationships, and allow the computer to come up with a solution.
There are two reasons for the inclusion of a procedural component in PROLOG. First, input and output operations require the use of techniques that are not based in logic. Therefore, the code responsible for implementing I/0 in PROLOG is of necessity procedural. Second, a program composed entirely of declarative statements would contain a knowledge base filled with statements about what is true. PROLOG'S inference strategy could make deductions based on these statements, but it would do so very inefficiently. The availability of procedural features in PROLOG enables a programmer to tell the interpreter how to deal with the information in the knowledge base and in what order to resolve clauses or declarative statements.
APPROPRIATE APPLICATIONS
Although originally developed for language translation purposes, the characteristics of PROLOG make it suitable for a variety of applications, including natural language processing, relational databases, parallel processing, and expert system development.
o Natural Language Processing
PROLOG's syntax allows the rules of a natural language grammar to be expressed as English language statements, making it suitable for writing natural language processors or front ends. PROLOG automatically will parse an English language sentence and apply the appropriate rules to represent the meaning of the sentence.
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No other programming language shares this capability with PROLOG; for example, a FORTRAN programmer would have to develop and write a parser and analyzer to accomplish what PROLOG does by default.
o Relational Databases
A PROLOG program is analogous to a relational database in that it is made up of facts and rules which describe the relationships between facts. In many cases, a relational database can be implemented in PROLOG without the need to include a query facility to access the database and return information from it. The readability and English-like syntax of PROLOG statements often precludes the need to develop a front end that converts English requests into a form that is acceptable to the database.
o Parallel Processing
PROLOG does not use the assignment statement, one of the stumbling blocks to parallel processing. Conventional programming languages use assignment statements to establish values and store them in specific memory locations. If two independent programs attempted to reference or modify the same memory location at the same time, a system error or crash would result. Because PROLOG dispenses with the assignment statement, it lends itself to parallel processing applications.
o Expert System Implementation
Finally, PROLOG is particularly appropriate for expert system implementation because it is able to explain the logical steps it went through to derive an answer to a problem. This built-in capability eliminates the need to design and write an explanation facility for a PROLOG-based expert system.
ORIENTAL INFLUENCE
PROLOG owes much of its recent rise in popularity to the fact that it has been designated as the kernel language for the Japanese Fifth Generation computer project. Japan based its decision on the fact that PROLOG is well suited to symbolic data manipulation and does not require the serial architecture of a Von Neumann computer. These capabilities make PROLOG a natural choice for the parallel architectures of Fifth Generation knowledge information processors.
However, the use of PROLOG as a kernel language should not be regarded as a Japanese endorsement of PROLOG as the standard programming language of the Fifth Generation. Contrary to the claims of several vendors and trade journal articles, the Japanese intend to use PROLOG as a knowledge representation and manipulation paradigm, not as the specific language in which knowledge-based programs will be written.
Perhaps taking a cue from our government's choice of ADA as the name for its standardized higher level programming language, the Japanese have dubbed their version of PROLOG "Himiko,· the name of a famous woman in Japanese history. This implementation was used to write the operating system for the personal sequential inference (PSI) machine developed during the first phase of the Fifth Generation, and an
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enhanced version will be used to control the parallel inference
m~chines now under development.
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PROLOG vs. LISP
LISP is an American language. It was invented and enhanced in this country and its various dialects and implementations have attracted a great following among American AI researchers. Several American firms manufacture "LISP machines,· processors that are optimized for LISP programming and execution. Because PROLOG was developed and refined outside of the United States, it often is viewed as a foreign, unproven language, especially by LISP adherents. Nationalism aside, almost anything that can be done in LISP can be done equally well in PROLOG, and vice versa. The best language for a given application depends primarily on the specific needs of that application.
One of the arguments against PROLOG is based on its apparent ease of use. In order to perform even basic operations in LISP, you must have a reasonably good understanding of the language and how it manipulates information. On a superficial level, PROLOG is much easier to work with. Its built-in inference strategy enables even a novice to do impressive things with very little effort or presupposed knowledge. After some initial investigation, you'll discover that PROLOG'S inference mechanism gives no indication of how it accomplishes what it does. When you begin to use PROLOG to develop real world applications, you'll find that a familiarity with the internal workings of the language is essential.
The present unavailability of "PROLOG machines,· custom processors designed for efficient PROLOG execution, is often cited as a drawback by LISP devotees. Although several prototype PSI machines have been developed as a result of the Japanese Fifth Generation program, the high performance LISP machines from companies like LMI, Symbolics and xerox currently have no PROLOG equivalents. However, this situation may change in the near future. A fast, efficient PROLOG interpreter
for LISP Machine Inc.'s Lambda processor has been written by AI researchers at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and a VLSI-based PROLOG compiler is under development at Syracuse University in
Syracuse, New York.
standardization also must be considered. Although numerous dialects of LISP are available, an industry-wide effort to develop a de facto
LISP has resulted in the adoption of Common LISP. No formal industry-wide PROLOG standard has yet been established; there are compatibility problems that must be resolved before PROLOG can enjoy widespread use as a general purpose, transportable programming language.
Finally, the backtracking strategy inherent in PROLOG'S control
mechanism allows for error. As discussed earlier, if a rule selected
by the program does not lead to a conclusion, the program backtracks
to a decision point and selects an alternative rule. Reliance on this
single control mechanism makes it difficult to limit searches by
determining the most likely paths to pursue. Although statements in a
PROLOG program can occur in any sequence because the interpreter
evaluates each statement independently, the depth-first search
strategy Jlllkes an unstructured PROLOG program easy prey to the
combinatorial explosion. The most efficient way to organize a PROLOG
program is to structure it so that specific searches are conducted
prior to generalized searches.
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WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A PROLOG INTERPRETER
PROLOG interpreters tailored to a variety of computers and operating systems are available at prices ranging from less than fifty dollars to several thousand dollars. If your primary goal is to learn more about the language or experiment with its capabilities, a PC-based PROLOG interpreter should satisfy your needs at a very moderate cost. If you plan to use PROLOG for real world applications, you'll need the facilities offered by more powerful versions of the language. These include a compiler for increased speed and performance, a built-in editor, and virtual memory management capabilities.
Although a formal PROLOG standard remains ~n elusive goal, most experts consider Edinburgh Syntax to be a de facto standard for the language. Edinburgh Syntax is defined by the DEC-10 PROLOG compiler and interpreter developed by AI researchers at the University of Edinburgh and is described fully in "Programming In PROLOG" by W.F. Clocksin and c.s. Mellish. A compatible superset of Edinburgh Syntax is likely to form the core of a future PROLOG standard, so it's important that the PROLOG you select conforms with the conventions set forth in this book.
EPILOG
PROLOG is an efficient, powerful language that's well suited to logic programming applications. The built-in inference strategy of the language makes it fun to work with, and its logical basis ensures that you'll learn the principles of predicate logic while you learn how to manipulate symbols instead of numbers. Furthermore, PROLOG's unique nonalgorithmic approach to problem solving will be a key element of ~rogramming languages and techniques of the future, making it worth your while to obtain a basic understanding of the language and how it works. PROLOG may not be a programming panacea, but it provides a good environment for database manipulation, expert system prototyping, natural language processing and other aspects of knowledge-based programming. If you want to learn more about symbolic programming and the concepts behind expert systems and AI applications, gaining some experience with PROLOG is a good way to start.
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OPS5 NEWS
WHO'S IN CONTROL HERE?
By Don Rosenthal, AISIC Vice Chair
One of the biggest points of confusion for new OPS programmers is the use of the built-in control strategies. Henry Ford once offered autos for sale in ·any color a customer desired, as long as it was black." OPS is not quite as restrictive in the choice of strategies, it offers two: Lex and Mea. However Lex can be accurately considered a subset
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of Mea.
What are control strategies? Let's answer this question before tackling the subtleties of Lex and Mea. An important characteristic of OPS5 and its direct predecessors is that it's a pure "object-level" (or "domain-level") programming language. This is considered by many to be its most attractive feature; others spell that adjective a bit differently, however. What this means is that there are no control constructs in the language: no loops, no branches, not even an implied sequencing of its basic structure - the rule.
The intent of a control-free language is to allow the programmer to deal solely with solving the problem at hand, in this case, to write rules that pertain only to the solution of the problem, with no programming overhead. The programmer writes the rules, and the "most appropriate" rule at any point during the execution of the program selects itself and fires. Obviously, there must be some mechanism for this selection, but it is imbedded within the OPS5 interpreter. This mechanism is called the control strategy. Its operation is successfully hidden from the user, with the single exception that a choice can be made between Lex and Mea. To make an intelligent choice as to which strategy to use involves understanding the selection mechanism, but it's really not as obscure as some people make it out to be (I promise ··· ). Here goes:
o Important fact #1:
OPS5 operates in a small loop, termed variously the "Recognize-Act" cycle, or the "Match-Select-Execute" loop.
o Important fact #2:
During the match phase of the cycle, ALL rules.whose IF clauses successfully match the present state of the data (which in "working memory") are copied into the "conflict set".
o Important fact #3:
when- the conflict set has collected all the successfully matched rules, one is selected by the chosen control strategy. If the conflict set is empty, however, the program halts.
o Important fact #4:
During the execute phase, the THEN clauses of the selected rule are executed. These usually modify working memory so that when the match phase is re-entered, a new conflict set is generated.
Let's now investigate the selection phase more closely. The conflict set is made up of instantiated rules. These instantiations have the following structure. First comes the name of the rule. Then the time-tag of the working memory element ("wme") matched by each IF clause. What's a time-tag? It's really simple, although the name is a bit misleading. When a piece of data enters working memory, it is assigned a number. These numbers are assigned consecutively and in increasing order. Thus, a wme with a ·higher number than
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another wme has entered working memory more· recently. When a working
memory element is removed from working memory, its time-tag is retired.
The only trickiness is that when a wme is modified, it is given a new time tag (it actually is a "new" piece of data after all).
It is the time-tags that form provide the most important information
for the selection process, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's
look at Lex in detail. It has only 4 steps.
· ·~ ·
Step #1: Remove any instantiated rules that have fired before.
Rules can match many combinations of working memory elements, but any exact combination of matches may only be fired once. Realize that the "most appropriate" instantiation might easily become a one-rule infinite loop otherwise.
Step #2: Find the instantiation that matches the most recent set of working memory elements.
This is a simple matter of comparing time-tags. If any IF clause of any single instantiation matches a working memory element with a time tag higher than that of any other instantiation, that rule is selected, and we need not bother with the following steps.
What if there is a tie? If more than one instantiation matches to the highest time-tag of any rule in the conflict set, consider only that subset of rules, and look at their next most recent time-tag. If any one instantiation in this subset has a second most recent time tag greater than the second most recent time tag of all others, select that instantiation, else, continue to the third, fourth, etc, most recent time tag as needed.
Step #3: If any instantiations were tied all the way through step #2, make a decision based on how specific the IF clauses of those instantiations are.
Rules can match the same working memory elements, but in different ways. That is, an IF clause of one rule might look for a disease symptom, such as "fever" regardless of how high the fever was, and another might look for fever greater than 100 degrees. They both would match a working memory element representing a fever of 102 degrees, but the latter clause would be considered more specific.
Step #4: Finally, if no there were no tie-breakers due to recency or specificity, arbitrarily choose one of the tied instantiations.
Lex is a subset of Mea, as I said above, and Mea adds only one more step, between #1 and #2 above:
Mea Step #1.5: Look only at the time-tag of the working memory element matching the first clause of each instantiation.
If one is more recent than all the others, select that instantiation. Otherwise, continue as in Lex.
With that under our belts, the only point left to explore is when to use Mea and when to use Lex. Some would tell you, "Always use Mea". Not I. Stay tuned for next month's topic, "The Great Lex and Mea Controversy", or, One Man against the World."
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<-o->
BOOK REVIEW
Programming Expert Systems In OPS5: An Introduction To Rule-Based Programming
By Brownston, Farrell, Kant and Martin Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1985 471 pages
Writing a book about OPS5 is not as easy as it might appear. A familiarity with classical programming techniques is usually all the background a programmer needs to learn a new programming language such as C or PASCAL. The underlying philosophy of subroutines, function calls and sequential execution is already established, so all the newcomer has to do is master the syntax of the new language.
such is not the case with OPS5, a rule-based programming language that requires a new approach to programming and problem solving. As OPS5 novices soon discover, the language requires a different mindset: merely learning the syntax of OPS5 does not make you a capable production system programmer. You must understand how to develop rule-based systems and how to execute rule-based programs; activities that require you to think in terms of OPS5 rules or productions. Thus, the subtitle of the book is critical to the mastery of OPS5.
Realizing that most readers have only classical programming backgrounds, the authors first describe the basic philosophy of production system programming, then explain the ins and outs of the OPS5 language itself. The book's organization and structure make it an appropriate academic textbook, even though the exercises at the end of each chapter seem to have been added as an afterthought. The text is conveniently divided into three parts. Part One is a concise view of the nature of production systems along with a discussion of when to use them. Although the authors write in a clear and understandable style, the complexity of the subject is such that you may have to read this section several times before you have a firm grasp of the material it presents.
Part Two describes the use and syntax of OPS5 in great detail. This section includes a complete programming example and notes on programming style. Program development and organization are discussed at length, and an entire chapter is devoted to advanced OPS5 programming techniques. On the debit side, I was surprised to see that the section provided very little information about program maintenance. A production system requires non-standard maintenance techniques and this book should have covered them thoroughly.
The last section of the book discusses popular production system philosophies and provides an account of the various production system architectures and common system features. The last chapter of the book is devoted to an overview of about a dozen expert system tools related to production system tools.
Although it isn't a treatise on artificial intelligence, the book uses an in-depth study of OPS5 to present a general view of a specific area of AI research, making it more than a typical programmer's guide. I
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struggled with the anemic OPS5 documentation supplied by DEC for about two months before I got an advance copy of the first five chapters of this textbook, and reading this material was like turning on a light in a dark room; Despite one minor reservation about the chapter exercises, I feel that this book is a must for OPS5 programmers. - Reviewed by Chris Goddard, DECUS AI SIG That's it for the February issue of (THE (LINKED LIST)). Our March issue will feature a review of the Fall 1985 Symposium, a preview of AISIG sessions and activities scheduled for the Spring 1986 Symposium, a review of Golden Common LISP, and information on our four presyrnposium seminars.
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DECUS
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS SIC STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman Stuart Lewis Douglas Furniture Bedford Park, IL
CL SIG Liaison Becky Burkes Financial Insurance Consultants Covington, LA
Symposium Coordinator Steve Simek IRT Corporation San Diego, CA
OMS SIG Liaison Joe Sciuto Army Research Institute Alexandria, VA
Asst Symposium Coordinator
Members-at-Large
·
Bobbie Wiley
Robert D. Lazenby
CEI Perry Nuclear Power Plant
Dixie Beer Dist., Inc.
Euclid, OH
Louisville, KY
LRP and Marketing Coordinator Arnold I. Epstein D-M Computer Consultants Rolling Meadows, IL
Marketing Asst George Dyer Gallaudet College Washington, DC
Communications Representative OPEN
Newsletter Editor Thomas Byrne L Karp and Sons Elk Grove Village, IL
Robert Kayne Gal laudet College Washington, DC
Ray Evanson Paragon Data Systems Winona, MN
Digital Counterparts Sue Yarger Digital Equipment Corporation Merrimack, NH
Ray Arsenault Digital Equipment Corporation Merrimack, NH
SIC Mentor Bill Brindley Networks SIG Chair
Session Notes Editor Raymond Swartz Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Akron, OH
Library Representative David Hittner Projects Unlimited Dayton, OH
SIC Review Committee Larry Jasmann Leslie Maltz Ted Bear Jeff Killeen
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COMMERCIAL LANGUAGES SIG
Chairman Jim Wilson Pfizer Inc. QC Div. Terre Haute, IN
Symposium Coordinator Ray Strackbein Palm Desert, CA
Library Coordinator Philip Hunt System Industries Milpitas, CA
Session Note Editor Bob Van Keuren Userware International, Inc. Escondido, CA
Newsletter Editor Ted A. Bear Ramtek Santa Clara, CA
Ass't Newsletter Editors Beverly Wei borne LaPorte, IN
Kevin Cullen VITA-Mix Corp. Holmstead Falls, OH
Daniel Cook Userware International, Inc. Escondido, CA
Basic Working Group Members Mark Hartman Jadtec Computer Group Orange, CA
Rocky Hayden UserWare International Inc. Escondido, CA
Bill Tabor Computer Productss Pompano Beach, FL
Cobol Working Group Members Keith Batzel Crowe, Chizek & Co. South Bend, IN
Mary Anne Feerick Greyhound Temporary Personnel Lyndhurs~ NJ
Bill Leroy The Software House, Inc. Atlanta, GA
Herbert J. Matthews IV ManTech International Corp. Alexandria, VA
Kenneth Shay Melvin Simon & Associates Indianapolis, IN
Jim Welborne Crowe Chizek & Co. South Bend, IN
DIBOL Working Group Members Neil Baldridge CompuShare Lubbock, TX
Becky Burkes Financial Insurance Consultant Covington, LA
Colin Chambers Software Ireland Rep. Inc. Portola Valley, CA
Mark Derrick WAAY-TV Huntsville, AL
Gary AP. Kohls Milwaukee, WI
Ken Lidster Disc Sacramento, CA
Kenneth M. Schilling MCBA Montrose, CA
Marty Schultz Omtool Inc. Tewksbury, MA
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David L Wyse Professional Business Software Dayton, OH
Marty Zergiebel The Software Gallery Brookfield, CT
RPG Working Group Members Keith Batzel Crowe Chizek & Co. South Bend, IN
Ted Bear Ramtek Santa Clara, CA
Digital Counterparts Tom Harris Nashua, NH
Jim Totten Nashua, NH
Joe Mulvey Nashua, NH
Shirley Ann Stern Nashua, NH
Standards Representatives BASIC Dan Esbensen Touch Technologies, Inc. Escondido, CA
COBOL Bruce Gaarder Macalester College St Paul, MN
DIBOL Eli Szklanka TEC Newton, MA
CL-ii
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M.D.HubbardSP.ring (ompaRY, Inc.
ESTABLISHED 1905
MANUFACTURERS OF
<?;c~.;1J~~l?.>~.11?.> ~~J"r ~l?lii1·.1J)IJ®% ~~1IJl)IJ~ \YP.t.%'i!J~F,t,% W/12~%1;1J l;::~r:'.J!t.!)l,1%IJ~l)IJ ~~
WJIJF,t.t~ Fr%F,ttl)1J% %T~11?111)11~
313 ~ 628-2528
BOX 425
~:>)'.F,~F,l:I?.· M l_C t;l11!%.!)i!J
48051
Nov. 19, 1985
Mr. Ted Bear c/o RamTec 2211 Lawson Ln. Santa Clara, CA 95050
Dear Ted,
Would you please ask your membership if anyone has access to a reference manual for:
C 0 S 300 Multi Terminal System (Mts) or
Multi Terminal Dibol For use on a PDP-B}E or DDS 340, etc. We have the software but need the manual.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
Very truly yours, M. D. HUBBARD SPRING CO., INC.
c?u~ C. D. Hubbard 3/sw hf
CL-1
·,,
1
Ii.-- -
I I I I
! I
I I I I I I I I I I I
~---
- - - --- -=i
[Q]·! DECUS
I
I I
I I
DAARC
j
I I I I I I I I I I
-· - - - - --'I
t
DAARC
Chairman James Deck Inland Steel Research Lab East Chicago, IN
Hardware & Interfacing Peter Clout Los Alamos National Lab Los Alamos, NM
Symposium Coordinator Mack Overton FDA Chicago, IL
Math Statistics &Analysis Herbert J. Gould C.C.F.A. University of Illinois Med Center Chicago, IL
Newsletter Editor Ellen Reilly William H. Rorer Ft. Washington, PA
Process Control - Industrial Automation Bill Tippie
·
Kinetic Systems Corp.
Lockport, IL
DEC Counterpart Nancy Kilty Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
RS-1 George Winkler CPC International Argo IL
DAR-i
WINTER DOLDRUMS THIS IS A GOOD TIME OF THE YEAR TO TAKE OUT PAST ISSUES OF THE DECUS NEWSLETTER AND REALLY READ THE ARTICLES. IN THE PAST YOU MAY HAVE JUST READ THE INFORMATION FROM YOUR PARTICULAR SIG. IT 1 S NOW A GOOD CHANCE TO PICK UP ON ALL THOSE LITTLE INSIGHTS THAT SOMEONE TOOK THE TIME TO SHARE WITH OTHERS. THE NEXT PAGE HAS ANOTHER BIT OF INFORMATION THAT COULD BE USEFUL TO YOU. HAPPY READING! DAARC EDITOR
DAR-1
1
At DECUS in Anaheim, I learned some things about MicroPower/RT that may be useful.
1. Use VBGEXE to run MPP instead of R. To do this. set V to be the command for VBGEXE by typing:
V:==R VBGEXE A
Then use ,3_ command strinq of the form:
V MPP OBJFIL/switches PASFIL
For a larae test program. R takes 4:58 while V
takes 2:28. I vow never to call VBGEXE the vegetable executive again.
·
2. To convert a MicroPower MIM file to a file that
resembles a SAV file for PROM burning. use the SPLIT program to remove the first two blocks. To do this, type:
SPLIT ,FILNAM.SAV=FILNAM.MIM/B:2
This will work if ROM memory is in one contiguous section. Dump the MIM file to check to see if this is the case. If the first block of the MIM file is all zero. except for the first line of the dump, then ROM is in one complete section.
Of course. since VBGEXE and SPLIT are unsupported. then DEC will not support the suggestions made here.
John T. Davies III Thermo Electron Instruments 524 Alpha Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15238-2912 <412) 963-0903
DAR-2
DMS SIG
-
JOIN THE WISE
Data Management Systems SIG Steering Committee February 1, 1986
SIG Chairman: Joseph F. Sciuto Army Research Institute Alexandria, VA (202) 274-9420
Comptroller: Alan Schultz Land Bank National DP Center Omaha, NE (402) 397-5040
Symposium Coordinator: Keith Hare JCC Granville, OH ( 614) 587-0157
Symposium Coordinator: Barbara Mann TRW Redondo Beach, CA ( 213) 532-2211
Communications Committee Representative/ Newsletter Editor:
J. G. Russell Poisson SEED Software Corporation Alexandria, VA (800) 428-9400
Session Note Editor: Mark Morgan Farm Credit Banks Springfield, MA ( 413) 732-9721
Membership Coordinator: VACANT
MIS Working Group Coordinator (Past SIG Chairman): Steve Pacheco Ship Analytics North Stonington, CT (203) 535-3092
MIS Working Group (Past SIG Chairman):
DMS-i
Sandy Krueger Key Financial Systems, Inc. Pine Brook, NJ (201) 299-6600
Working Group Coordinator/ Database Working Group:
Jim Perkins PSC, Inc. Shelburne, VT (802) 863-8825
Forms Working Group: Debbie Kennedy Land Bank National DP Center Omaha, NE (402) 397-5040
Non-Digital Working Group: Doug Dickey GTE Government Systems Rockville, MD (301) 294..:9400
RMS Working Group Coordinator: Allen Jay Bennett Lear Siegler Apistan Grand Rapids, MI (616) 451-6429
Pre-Symposium Seminar Coorrlinator/ Black Book:
David B. Turner Korn/Kerry International Los Angeles, CA (408) 945-9600
ANSI Standards Coordinator: Herman "Spence" Spencer Army Research Institute Alexandria, VA (202) 294-9420
Member-At-Large:
Larry w. Hicks
Relational Database Services Kernersville, NC (919) 996-4882
Member-At-Large: Richard Arndt Cognos Corporation Houston, TX (713) 690-1105
AI SIC Liaison: David Slater Institute for Defense Analysis Alexandria, VA (703) 845-2200
Datatrieve Liaison: John Schutt J. R. Simplot Company Boise, ID ( 208) 336-2110
DEC Counterpart: Wendy Herman Digital Equipment Corporation Nashua, NH (603) 881-2494
OMS-ii
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Contributions
Contributions to the newsletter can be sent to either of the following addresses:
Editor, DMS SIG Newsletter c/o DECUS U.S. Chapter 219 Boston Post Road, BP02 Marlboro, MA 01752
Russ Poisson DMS SIG Newsletter Editor SEED Software Corporation 2121 Eisenhower Avenue Alexandria, VA 22314
Letters and articles for publication are requested from members of the SIG. They may include helpful hints, inquiries to other users, reports on SIG business, summaries of SPR's submitted to DEC, etc. Machine readable input is highly desirable. Submitters should keep in mind the DECUS policy on commercialism.
Documentation Set Winners
At the recent DECUS Symposium in Anaheim, California, complete documentation sets for DEC data management products were awarded to lucky DMS SIG Campground visitors:
Winners
Documentation Set
John P. Williams USDA-FAS-IAS
Washington, DC
DBMS
Terry Leclair
CDD
Cons ilium
Mountain View, CA
Cathy Leonard
FMS
Telic Corp
Rockville, MD
Steve Thomas
DTR
VIA Metro Transit
San Antonio, TX
Steven Myerow Texcel Systems, Inc. Wayland, MA
ACMS
Tom Kelly Berkshire Medical Center Pittsfield, MA
Robert Dependahl Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara, CA
Bhadra K. Patel Hughes Aircraft Co. Fullerton, CA
TDMS FMS-ll. RDB/VMS
DMS-1
Coming Features
-------------------------------------------------
Later issues of this newsletter will feature articles on:
Working Groups: How they assist the DMS SIG in solving User problems.
Working Group Progress Reports from the following working groups:
Database Working Group Forms Working Group Non-Digital Working Group RMS Working Group
A written report on DEC's Response to "Wish-List" Items submitted at the DMS SIG Campground at the Fall '85 Symposia.
SIG Chairman's Report on Plans for Spring '86 Symposia in Dallas.
A critical review: "Is DEC's RDB a fully functional relational DBMS?".
'Relational vs CODASYL vs Hybrid' : a critical look at functionality in the real world of production data processing.
"True Confessions of an RDB Novice/Is This an Undocumented Feature?" How RDB reacts to a delete request of a non-existent record.
Calling All Hands
-----------------------------------------
DMS SIG is in need of a Membership Coordinator. If you are interested in this leadership position within the DMS SIG, please call the DMS SIG CHAIRMAN Joseph F. Sciuto at (202) 274-9420.
Volunteers Needed - Volunteers are needed to participate in user panels, chair sessions, and help in the DMS SIG campground at the Spring '86 DECUS Symposia. volunteers should call the DMS SIG Symposia Coordinator Keith Hare at (614) 587-0157.
-------------------------------------------------
DEC sends out conflicting signals on FMS and TDMS
------------------------------------------------Not so long ago, DEC released TDMS as the heir-apparent to the niche carved out by its form package, FMS. Users at that time had to consider whether to jump on the TDMS bandwagon or stick with
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FMS, a product that DEC seemingly was abandoning. Since that time, new releases of FMS have enhanced and maintained the product while continued development of TDMS has lagged far behind. What gives? What plans does DEC have to enhance TDMS? Will FMS continue to be supported? Stay tuned for DEC's response. A HOOT FROM THE EDITOR
Russ Poisson, SEED Software Corporation Starting a newsletter for a user group interested in the very broad topic of data management is indeed a difficult task. The task is further complicated by the proliferation of "technical" newsletters and the need to provide a new and fresh direction to those interested in data management. I realize that such an undertaking will require overcoming a considerable amount of negative momentum. With this in mind, I invite all DECUS members to send any articles, helpful hints, technical discussions, cartoons or other material deemed suitable for publication in this newsletter. In particular, I challenge DMS SIG Steering Committee to provide the necessary leadership required to accomplish this goal. The DMS SIG exists to provide communication in three ways: user to user, DEC to user, and user to DEC. Ladies and gentlemen, its time to get going! If you want a successful newsletter, lets forget the euphoria of Disneyland and our overblown status as "ribboned" symposia attendees and start cranking out some articles. I hope to hear from you all soon.
Thank you. Russ
DMS-3
The Wombat
EXAMINER
"Increases the Circulation of Anyone in America"
Volume 7
Number 6
To
Baggage C. lairn
DATATRIEVE Special Interest Group - Officers
12-23-85
SIG Co-Chairmen
Larry Jasmann U. S. Coast Guard
10067 Marshall Pond Rd. Burke, VA 22015
Joe H. Gallagher Research Medical Center 2316 East Meyer Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64132
202-426-2344
Communications Committee Rep. Editor Production Editor Artist
Elaine McWilliams Boeing Company
P. 0. Box 24346 M/S 9c55 Seattle, WA 98124
Donld Stern
Warner Lambert Company 10 Webster Road
Milford, CT 06460
Steve Cordiviola Kentucky Geological Survey 311 Breckinridge Hall Lexington, KY 40506
Bart Z. Lederman
2572 E. 22nd St.
Brooklyn, NY 11235
206-773-0102 203-878-9351 606-257-5863 212-250-2300
Symposia
Symposia Committee Rep. Chris Wool
E.I. duPont Eng. Dept.
Symposia Assitant
Diane Pinney
Computer Sciences Corp.
Pre-Symposia Seminars Dana Schwartz
Symposium Notes
Elaine McWilliams Boeing Company
Louviers Bldg. 443 Inyokern Road 15719 Millbrook Lane P.O. Box 24346 M/S 9c55
Wilmington, DE 19898 Ridgecrest, CA 93555 Laurel, MD 20707 Seattle, WA 98124
302-366-4610 619-446-6585x284 301-859-6277 206-773-0102
Product Development
Development Coordinator Bart Z. Lederman
2572 E. 22nd St.
Brooklyn, NY 11235
212-250-2300
0
. ~
:0
New Product Focal Point Diane Pinney
Computer Science Corp. 443 Inyokern Road
Ridgecrest, CA 93555
Digital Counterpart Andy Schneider Digital Equipment Corp. 110 SpitBrook ZK02-2/N59 Naushua, NH 03062
619-446-6585x284
Library Committee Rep. Volunteer Coordinator Campground Special Effects Special Consultant
Gerri Williams Gerri Wi 11 i ams Bert Roseberry Alex L. Lamb Phil Naecker
Computer Science Corp. Computer Science Corp. U. S. Coast Guard
U. s. Army
J MMontgomery Engineers
443 Inyokern Road 443 Inyokern Road 500 Camp Street 32 Pearce Ave 250 N. Madison Ave
Ridgecrest, Ca 93555 Ridgecrest, Ca 93555 New Orleans, LA 70130 Eatontown, NJ 07724 Pasadena, CA 91101
619-446-6585x285 619-446-6585x285 504-589-4934 201-532-3318x1843 818-796-9141
RSX &P/OS
VMS VMS VMS VMS VMS VMS VMS
Bart Z. Lederman Joe Kelly Larry Jasmann James Swanger Chris Wool Dick Azzi Chris Hines Bert Roseberry
DATATRIEVE Masters List
WymAn Gordon Co. U. S. Coast Guard
G. D. Searle &Co.
E. I. duPont, Engineering Dept. Motorola SPS American Board of Family Practice U. S. Coast Guard
2572 E. 22nd Street Worchester Road 10067 Marshall Pond Rd. 4901 Searle Parkway Louviers Bldg. Box 2953 MS: P116 2228 Younge Drive 500 Camp Street
Brooklyn, NY 11235 North Grafton, MA 01536 Burke, VA 20015 Skokie, IL 60077 Wilmington, DE 19898 Phoenix, AZ 85062 Lexington, KY 40505 New Orleans, LA 70130
10-28-85
212-250-2300 617-839-4411x5480 202-426-2344 312-982-7430 302-366-4610 602-244-4316 606-269-5626 504-589-4934
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Contributions
Contributions for the newsletter can be sent to either of the following addresses:
Editor, DATATRIEVE Newsletter c/o DECUS U.S. Chapter Company 219 Boston Post Road, BP02
Marlboro, MA 01752
Donald E. Stern, Jr
Warner
Lambert
10 Webster Road
Milford, CT 06460
Letters and articles for publication are requested from members of the SIG. They may include helpful hints, inquiries to other users, reports on SIG business, summaries of SPRs submitted to Digital or other information for members of the DATATRIEVE SIG. Machine readable input is highly desirable and machine-to-machine transfer of material is preferred, but most anything legible will be considered. However, this newsletter is not a forum for job and/or head hunting, nor is commercialism appropriate.
Table of Contents
DECUS U. S. Chapter SIGs Newsletter, Wombat Examiner,
Volume 1, Number 6, Volume 7, Number 6
February 1987
2
Products Status
3
Chairman's Corner
4
From the Editor's Pen
4 Message from DTR/4GL Communications Rep
5 News OF THE SIG
7 Coverting Decimal UICs to Octal UICs
8 Wombat Magic
13 DATATRIEVE Wishlist, Fall 1985
20 Nostalgia Bit
About the Cover
The section cover for this issue of the Wombat Examiner was drawn by Bart Lederman. Bart explains that the Wombat is exhausted after attending the Fall Symposium. After reading this issue, you will be keenly
DTR-1
aware that a lot happened at Anaheim and the Wombat is entitled to some R and R. This issue, although published 2 months after the symposia, is being produced upon the immediate return of the volunteers.
DTR/4GL Product List
As a service to our readers, we are creating a new feature for the newsletter which will appear at least after each symposium. The following is the first of the series which attempts to provide readers current information with regard to the availability and other relevant information relating to products served by the DTR/4GL SIG.
Product Number
Version Dates
Announce/Ship Operating System
VAX Datatrieve DATATRIEVE 11
3.3 3.2 3.0*
3.1
11/85 12/85 5/85 10/85
8/84
Pro DATATRIEVE
DATATRIEVE 20 DECReporter VAX Team Data VAX Rally
1.0
2.0 1. O*
1. 0
1. 0
12/85 1/85
12/84 12/84
9/84 11/85 *** ***
VMS 4.2 4.0 3.x
RSTS 9.0 RSX 4.1 RSX+ 2.1 Micro RSX 1.1 VMS 4. 0/RSX 1. 0 Micro RSTS 1.0
P/OS 2.0
VMS 4.2
VMS/Rdb
VMS/Rdb
Editor's note:
*
unsupported
*** pre-announcement at 12/85 DECUS
If anyone has additional information to enhance this chart, or note an error, or can fill in the blanks, please let us know. This chart will only be as good as the information which is provided to us.
DTR-2
Chairman's Corner Joe H. Gallagher, Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
Larry Jasmann and the rest of the SIG Steering Committee persuaded me to take over as Chair of the DATATRIEVE SIG. I will take over the full responsibilities of the Chair at the beginning of the 1986 Spring Symposium in Dallas. Until then, I will be helping Larry out with some of the duties of the Chair. My first assignment is to write this "Chairman's Corner" for the newsletter; Larry was fortunate enough to get two weeks vacation right after the 1985 Fall Symposium in Anaheim. So ... here goes.
The 1985 Fall Symposium in Anaheim was a successful one. The attendance did not exceed that of the 1984 Fall Symposium (also in Anaheim), but it was more than the 1985 Spring Symposium in New Orleans. The Symposium was a financial success because very careful, almost austere, cost containment measures were put in place. The financial status of DECUS is in much better shape, and it appears that no further budget cutbacks will be required for the rest of the 1986 fiscal year.
The big news of the Symposium, at least from the point of view of the DATATRIEVE/Fourth Generation Languages SIG, was the "Pre-Announcement" of Digital's new 4GL products VAX Rally and VAX TEAMDATA. A "PreAnnounced" product means that you can not get any information in writing from Digital about the products because there is still a chance that the product names could change due to trade mark registration. TEAMDATA is for non-computer knowledgeable end-users and interacts with Digital's relational database management system providing graphics, spreadsheet, and automatic generation of default forms and reports. It is a database tool which can fit easily into the All-in-1 environment. On the other hand, Rally is an application generator which is designed to be used by computer knowledgeable end-users such as business system analysts, information center workers, and data processing professionals. Both products will increase worker productivity several times over the productivity of DATATRIEVE. We are all excited about the new products. Several full technical sessions and a pre-symposium seminar are planned for the
Dallas Symposium.
Those of you who have been reading the newsletter faithfully will
realize that the SIG is changing its name to DATATRIEVE/4GL and expand-
ing its mission to provide a DECUS focal point for these two new pro-
ducts and other 4GL's. In addition, the DTR/4GL SIG also be the home
for the recently announced product DECreporter. A presentation on the
capabilities DECreporter was given by Peter Savage at the Anaheim sym-
posium. For those of you that are familiar with DATATRIEVE, DECreporter
can optionally be linked with VAX DATATRIEVE to provide a menu driven
front end which generates DATATRIEVE code to produce reports. Alterna-
tively, it can be used as a standalone product to produce reports on
data contained in standard RMS files.
It is a tool that will be very
popular with non-computer knowledgeable end users.
There are several changes in the SIG Steering Committee. With me moving to the SIG Chair, Don Stern and Steve Cordiviola will be taking
DTR-3
over the Newsletter. Please submit articles for the newsletter to Don Stern. Gerri Williams will be taking over as the Library Committee Representative. Gerri will continue as Volunteer Coordinator.
The time till the next Symposium in Dallas, which will be the 25th Anniversary of DECUS, is very short. The Spring Symposium is about one month earlier than normal. So make your plans now.
Joe H. Gallagher, SIG Chair Elect
From the Editor's Pen
Donald E. Stern, Jr., Warner Lambert Company, Milford, CT
As you may have noticed, the editor's pen is being guided by a different hand. Joe Gallagher has been elected to the position of DTR/4GL SIG Chair. He will fully assume the responsibilities of the post at the start of the Dallas Symposium. Until then, however, he will be assisting the current Chair, Larry Jasmann. Because of this, Joe is stepping down as the Editor of the DTR/4GL Newsletter. During his tenure as Newsletter Editor, Joe has made substantial contributions to the Newsletter in terms quality and content. Please join me in extending thanks to Joe for the fine job he has done and best wishes for success in his new position. Together with Steve Cordiviola, the Production Editor, we will try to fill the rather substantial void created by this move.
In order to contain the production cost of the newsletter and avoid the need to increase its price, the newsletter will be produced in a "two up landscape mode." In this way, the content of the newsletters can be maintained at a lower cost. The readership is urged to make comments and suggestions regarding the new format.
Finally, since the production of the Newsletter is totally voluntary, the quality of its content is directly related to the participation of its readership. Please consider writing an article, tech note, etc.
Message from DTR/4GL Communications Committee Representative
Congratulations to Joe Gallagher
Joe Gallagher was elected DTR/4GL SIG Chair Elect at the DTR/4GL Steering Committee meeting held in Anaheim during symposia. Joe has been a key member of the SIG serving on the Communications Committee and as Newsletter Editor. The knowledge and dedication he brings into this new position will assure continued success for the SIG in the coming years.
DTR-4
--
-
Our current SIG Chair, Larry Jasmann, will continue in his roll
until the Spring Symposium in Dallas. Along with his continued support to the SIG, Larry plans to participate in other areas of DECUS Leadership.
The DTR/4GL SIG would like to thank you, Larry, for the excellent leadership you have provided to the SIG the past three years and we wish you success in your new activities.
We have a new Newsletter Editor. Actually, we have TWO new News-
letter Editors. Don Stern and Steve Cordiviola have been named as co-
editors of the Wombat Examiner.
They will be working together to put
out the same high quality newsletter that Joe Gallagher has done in the
past. Like Joe, though, they will be expecting a little help from us.
If you will submit an article (or articles) for publication in the
Wombat Examiner, we'll publish them. We ask that they be:
- Technically accurate
- The subject be DATATRIEVE or a 4GL Product
- The article(s) may not violate DECUS commercialism policies.
If you have any questions about article publication, you can
contact me, Steve, Don or Joe Gallagher and we'll be happy to answer any questions.
A lot of really exciting things happened in Anaheim at Symposia. We are looking forward to Dallas and an even more successful and productive symposium. In the meantime, DTR/4GL SIG wishes all of you the best in the new year and we hope to see you all at Dallas in the Spring.
Elaine V. Mcwilliams Communications Committee Rep
News of the SIG
At a SIG Steering Committee meeting on December 10 during the 1985 Fall DECUS Symposium, new bylaws and operating procedures were approved. These new bylaws were also approved on December 13 by the SIG Council and will be taken to the Management Council for final approval. It is expected that these new bylaws will be approved during the January conference call meeting of the Management Council. A copy of the bylaws should appear in the March issue of the newsletter.
Also at the SIG Steering Committee meeting on December 10, Joe H. Gallagher was elected to be the next SIG Chair. Larry Jasmann, the current SIG chair, and Joe will be attending SIG Council activities together until the beginning of the Spring 1986 Symposium in Dallas at which time Joe will take over all of the responsibilities of the Chair. Joe will step down as Editor of the newsletter and take over some of the
DTR-5
duties of the Chairperson, such as the planning for the 1987 DECUS budget, immediately.
Don Stern and Steve Cordiviola will take over the newsletter activities. Don will concentrate on editorial policy and newsletter content and Steve will do the newsletter production. Of course, Bart Lederman will continue to provide the Wombat Examiner artwork.
On December 11, during the Wombat Magic Session at the 1985 Fall DECUS Symposium, Joe Gallagher was inducted into the DATATRIEVE Greybeards.
Andy Schneider (DATATRIEVE SIG Digital Counterpart) and Shirley Schneider (DMS SIG Digital Counterpart on maternity leave) are the proud parents of a baby boy. Eric William arrived October 29, 1985 weighing 10 pounds and 4 ounces. Mother and baby doing well, but those who have talked to Andy are not sure if the new daddy is going to make it.
Dan Dietterich, principle architect of VAX-DATATRIEVE and Greybeard inductee in May 1983 and Joan Hilton (long time SIG Steering Committee member and Greybeard inductee also in May 1983) were recently married.
Wayne Allen Jones (Greybeard inductee in December 1982 and the documentation specialist who started the tradition of good VAX-DATATRIEVE doc sets) is now in Digital's Terminals and Printers Engineering Program Office. His job is to try to get the software engineers to plan for and take advantage of new features in future Digital terminals.
Dave Norby (one of the founders of the DATATRIEVE SIG and Greybeard inductee in May 1982 ) has moved from G. D. Searle to Recycled Paper Products. Good luck to Dave in his new job.
Converting Decimal UICs to Octal UICs
Bert Roseberry Eighth Coast Guard (dt) 500 Camp Street New Orleans, LA 70130
( 504) 589-4934
I read with great interest Don Stern's article (Wombat Examiner Volume 7, Number 2, October 1985) that had in it the record definition of the User Authorization File. While working on my own applications, I was bothered by the fact that the member number and the group number for the UIC were decimal values rather than Octal.
I wanted something that looked like a UIC in the form [group, member] for my application. One possible route would be to add a function to DATATRIEVE that converts decimal numbers to their octal representation ( I wonder why the developers included the function FN$HEX but not FN$0CTAL? ), however, due to things such as having layered products to relink if I "customized" DATATRIEVE, I decided against this.
Delving into the deep recesses of my books on partial differential equations and other obscure subjects I came up with nothing. I decided to visit one of the many fine establishments in the French Quarter and after a few drinks, it came to me and I hastily wrote down the following procedure on a napkin.
DTR-6
Whenever you want an output for the UIC that looks like a UIC, first execute this procedure and then use the computed by variable UIC.
For example:
DTR> READY UAFV4 SHARED DTR> :!NIT UIC DTR> FOR UAFV4 PRINT USERNAME(-), UIC(-)
Alabaster [300,100]
Cities
[300,200]
Dream
[277,001]
DTR>
DEFINE PROCEDURE INIT_UIC
This is ONLY good for converting octal numbers up through 511 although there is no reason why it could not be expanded to convert even higher numbers.
Get the "ggg" part of [ggg,rnrnrn]
DECLARE Gl COMPUTED BY FN$MOD(GRP,8) . DECLARE GSUBl COMPUTED BY GRP - Gl . DECLARE G2 COMPUTED BY FN$MOD(GSUB1, 64) / 8
DECLARE GSUB2 COMPUTED BY GSUBl - (G2 * 8)
DECLARE G3 COMPUTED BY GSUB2 / 64 .
Get the "rnrnrn" part of [ggg,rnrnrn]
DECLARE Ml COMPUTED BY FN$MOD(MEM,8) . DECLARE MSUBl COMPUTED BY MEM - Ml . DECLARE M2 COMPUTED BY FN$MOD(MSUB1, 64) / 8.
DECLARE MSUB2 COMPUTED BY MSUBl - (M2 * 8)
DECLARE M3 COMPUTED BY MSUB2 / 64
Put it together in one six place number
DECLARE UT COMPUTED BY Ml + (10 * M2) + (100 * M3) + (1000 * Gl) + (10000 * G2) + (100000 * G3)
Format it properly
DECLARE UIC COMPUTED BY FORMAT(UT) USING "["999,999"]" .
END-PROCEDURE
DTR-7
Wombat Magic - Part 1 1985 Fall DECUS Symposium Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim California
Session Chair: Bert Roseberry, U.S. Coast Guard, New Orleans, LA Session Editor: Donald E. Stern, Jr., Warner Lambert, Milford, CT
As usual, the Wombat Magic session at Anaheim drew Wombat Wizards
from across the country.
There, a great deal of powerful magic was
presented. (Magic is anything which might be interesting to other
DATATRIEVE users.) The content of the session will be shared with the
readership in several parts. An effort will be made to group the magic
by functionality rather than preserve the exact chronological order of
... the session. Where appropriate, the presenter's comments are quoted
(" ").
Wayne Jones, Digital Eqipment Corp. How to Find Your Way Around the Disneyland Hotel
"I've been facinated, and finally understood after the third time being here, what the algorithm was for finding your way to your room. When I applied it today, for the first time, it didn't work because I got confused .·. but never mind."
DEFINE DOMAIN ROOMS USING ROOMS REC ON ROOMS.DAT;
DEFINE RECORD ROOMS REC USING -
01 ROOMS.
-
03 NAME PIC X(20).
03 ROOM PIC X(4).
DECLARE ROOM_NUM PIC XX COMPUTED BY FN$STR_EXTRACT(ROOM,3,2).
DECLARE TOWER NAME PIC X(6) COMPUTED BY CHOICE ROOM NUM <-34 THEN "MARINA" ROOM-NUM BT 34 AND 67 THEN "SIERRA" ROOM-NUM > 67 THEN "BONITA"
END CHOICE.
DECLARE BONITA_FINDER COMPUTED BY FN$STR_EXTRACT(ROOM,l,2).
READY ROOMS
FIND ROOMS WITH
REPORT CURRENT
PRINT NAME,
CHOICE
BONITA FINDER="57" THEN "BONITA"
ELSE
-
TOWER NAME
END CHOICE,
(FORMAT(FN$STR EXTRACT(ROOM,1,1)) USING 9 +
FORMAT(FN$STR EXTRACT(ROOM,2,1)) USING 9)
("FLOOR"/"NUMBER"), ROOM NUM
END_REPORT;
-
DTR-8
-
-
SUM 1 BY TOWER_NAME and the result is:
NAME
DON STERN BERT ROSEBERRY DTR/4GL CAMPGROUND LARRY JASMANN
MARINA BONITA BONITA BONITA
ll-Dec-1985 Page 1
ROOM NUM
8 11 11 11
FLOOR NUMBER
21 97 98 99
TOWER NAME
BONITA MARINA
TOTAL
3 1
TOTAL 4
Denis Haskin, Clark University Formatting a Social Security Number
"I'm a little ashamed, this one actually does something ... For you expert DATATRIEVE people this is going to be nothing, believe me, but I got excited enough about it when I hit on it that I literally ran around the machine room a couple of times. Basically, we have a company giving us a software package and it's written in BASIC so I don't touch it at all. Luckily, they stored all of the record definitions in the CDD, which is great because they gave us a horrible report writer which we threw back in their face and promptly doing all our own report right out of DATATRIEVE. Our users, in fact, even like it. They stored the social security number, for the students or applicants or whatever, as a longword."
03 SS NUMBER USAGE LONG.
"What you want to do is to print it out in a normal format, i.e. 003-63-8199." Tried using (FORMAT SS NUM USING XXX-XX-XXXX). What's it do? Takes out the leading zeros; 363-81-99
"No problem, use the numeric edit string with keeps in leading zeros. (FORMAT SS_NUM USING 999-99-9999).
"DATATRIEVE is smarter than you are; it's numeric and you can't have two negative signs; 000 3638199
DTR-9
"This had me stumped, literally for a week. What you do is use a FORMAT inside another FORMAT and it comes out right:"
(FORMAT (FORMAT SS NUM USING 999999999) USING XXX-XX-XXXX)
The result: 003-63-8199
Les Hulse, The Gillette Company Another Way to Format Social Security Number
"In deference to my other Massachusettes collegue from Clark College,
I'd like to point out a slightly different way of doing something. Take
that social security number and stick any edit string character you want
inside the string in double quotes.
It is literally printed in that
position and is ignored for the edit string character.
03 SS_NUM PIC 9(9) EDIT STRING 999"-"99"-"9999.
. "This even works with date string and those things and you can get some 'wierd' things by bypassing pieces of the date."
Phil Naecker, Consultant Outputting Negative Numbers for Accountants
"The problem with the EDIT STRING paren's is that it leaves the paren's very far out at the limits- of the field you are defining. So if you define a field with an edit string (Z(9)), it means that you want a field with up to nine digits and, if its negative, enclosed in paren's. Well, sometimes accountants are very picky about this and they don't want parentheses way out there where they might miss them five whole character spaces away. What they'd like to see is the parentheses immediatly around the value. Once again we go to CHOICE, which is the way 'real programmers' work in DATATRIEVE and you compute the value."
DECLARE VALUE USAGE LONG EDIT_STRING IS (Z(9)).
DECLARE STRING COMPUTED BY CHOICE VALUE GE 0 THEN VALUE
ELSE " ( " I IVALUE I I" )"
END CHOICE.
[Ed. example:
VALUE ; -50 PRINT VALUE, STRING
VALUE
STRING
50)
(-50)
DTR-10
[Ed. enhancement
DECLARE ED STRING COMPUTED BY CHOICE
VALUE GE 0 THEN VALUE
ELSE " (" 11 FN$NINT(FN$ABS(VALUE)) I I")"
END_CHOICE.
DTR> PRINT VALUE, STRING, ED_STRING
VALUE
STRING
ED STRING
50)
(-50)
( 50)
Kathy Wrobe1, DEC Telephone Support Prompting for a Sort Key (Presented by Phil Naecker)
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 3rd Prize Winner ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ? ! ! ! !
"This one is submitted by Kathy Wrobel who works in the Telephone Support Center. Many of you may have talked to Kathy. Kathy tells me that if she wins then I get a kiss. So, if you've seen Kathy, you know that this is a very serious bribe time and I want all the judges to give me their wish lists. Yet another computed by but this one's with sorts."
DECLARE SORT_FIELD PIC X(lO).
DECLARE SORT KEY COMPUTED BY CHOICE SORT FIELD CONT "RI" THEN RIG SORT-FIELD CONT "LO" THEN LOA
ELSE "" END CHOICE.
FOR YACHTS SORTED BY SORT_KEY PRINT RIG, LOA, PRICE
FIND (heaven forbid) YACHTS SORTED BY SORT KEY also works.
"Does anyone know what you can't do?"
FOR YACHTS MODIFY USING SORT KEY="New Name" does not work; DATATRIEVE returns the following message:
Cannot assign to a virtual field.
Bob Hoover, HLP Inc. Maintaining Dictionary Elements in a Captive Account
"My magic is about having users that you try to keep captive inside a menu and you really don't want them to get to the DATATRIEVE prompt, they're a little dangerous. What I've done is design a routine which brings up a maintenance menu. Now a maintenance menu is not too tough if you got a table and its a domain table but what do you do if you see a menu something like this.
DTR-11
Maintenance Menu
1. Edit TABLE 1 2. Edit TABLE-2 3. Edit TABLE-3 4. Edit JUNK Table
F FINISHED
There are three or four <dictionary> tables and the only way to maintain the tables is to give a user access to the table. How do get to the table with an EDIT, keeping them captive? It actually a very simple trick or piece of magic."
DECLARE OPTION PIC X.
WHILE OPTION NE "F" BEGIN
(display the menu)
OPTION= *."Option"
CHOICE
OPTION "l" THEN PRINT FN$SPAWN("DTR EDIT TABLE l") ON NL: OPTION 11211 THEN PRINT FN$SPAWN("DTR EDIT TABLE=2") ON NL:
END CHOICE END -
[Editor's note: To use this magic you must first include the FN$SPAWN function; it is not currently supplied standard with DATATRIEVE]
Phi1 Naecker, Consultant Solution to READY *."Domain"
"Everybody wants to ready a domain 'on the fly' and decide which domain
to ready 'on the fly'.
The problem is you can't 'IF something THEN
READY this ELSE READY that' but, as pointed out earlier, you can create
logicals 'on the fly' inside an IF or a CHOICE and you can ready a do-
main via a logical. So ... "
DECLARE WHICH DOMAIN PIC X(32).
WHICH DOMAIN= *."Which one on list"
CHOICE
WHICH DOMAIN CONT "A" THEN
-FN$CREATE LOG("PSEUDO","DOMAIN A")
WHICH DOMAIN CONT "YAC" THEN
-
-FN$CREATE_LOG("PSEUDO","YACHTS")
END CHOICE READY PSEUDO
DTR-12
-
-
"If your a really slick DATATRIEVEr, you'll place the smallest unique
string after the CONTAINING and, by using CONTAINING instead of EQUALS,
it will do case translation so whether you type in lower case or upper
case you'll get exactly what you want.
You'll also include a list in
the 'which domain' prompt to let users know which domains can be read-
ied."
>>>>>>>>>>>>> More magic to come in future issues >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Datatrieve Wishlist, Fall 1985 Symposia, Anaheim, Ca Bart Z. Lederman, Wishlist Coordinator
The wishlist is an informal method of making the user needs known
to the DEC DATATRIEVE developers.
Users submit their requests during
the DECUS symposia. On Thursday afternoon the items are organized and
given to the developer: in this instance we were fortunate in having
Suellen Harris, VAX-DTR developer, and Bill Opalka, DTR-11 Software
Engineer, present to cover all areas of DATATRIEVE. Readers should note
that these are informal responses, and cannot be taken as commitments by
DEC; however, in the past many suggestions have made it into the pro-
duct. Readers should also note that anything marked Editor's note is my
opinion, not DEC's nor DECUS's.
In a few cases, a solution or work-
around is presented to the problem.
1. In DTR sort order, have the hyphen ("-") take precedence over blanks and the plus sign ("+"). This would help in sorting numbers in alphanu-
meric strings.
Comment:
This has to be answered by the Sort people. There is little likelyhood we could change the default without upsetting all current users.
2. The report writer default of 60 lines/page should actually be 60 lines/page and not 61 lines/page. (DTR-11)
Comment: This is a bug fix, a patch will be available shortly in an update.
3. When the report writer prints lists, it does not keep track of the number of lines for a page break (it will complete the list before the page break). Have it page break, complete the list, then page break again with headers. (Editor's note: this item has appeared before for DTR-11).
Comment: We will look into this.
4. We MUST have more pool space regardless of how it is done (I-and-D space, mapping, re.sident libraries)!!! (Editor's note: this item has appeared many times before for DTR-11).
DTR-13
Comment:
We are aware of this problem.
We are looking into these
options. We cannot, however, discount the people who have
DTR running on machines that do not support I-and-D and Su-
pervisor mode (11/34, 11/23, 11/24, Micro-11 and PR0-350, and
other older machines.)
5. There were a number of requests for improved graphics, such as adding titles to plots, Tektronix 4014 family and other new device support, delimiter lines on graphs, and new PLOTS, which were perceived by DEC to be different aspects of a single problem and were addressed as
such.
Comment:
Datatrieve provides certain plots with certain capabilities, but it's not a graphics package per-se. It is not our goal to expand the capabilities of the current plots or the current plot language. You can use DECGraph for some of the requested options like titles on graphs. As to new devices and new plot languages other than ReGIS, we are currently investigating that possibility.
6. There were also several questions about editing on the VAX, which DEC felt could be treated as one item. They included: How about journaling for the editor a la EDT? Versions are nice, but sometimes you spend a long edit session making the last version obsolete and lose it when your process dies; and, we need the capability to select the editor used with DTR. This is important to avoid training users in multiple editors, and would gain performance.
Comment: We are currently investigating the editing capabilities in DTR and will consider this at the same time.
7. Wild cards for dictionary items. DMU provides some capability but something more like DCL would be nice. (Editor's note: this has appeared before as, for example, SHOW FA* which would show all items starting with the letters "FA", for listing selected sets of items.)
Comment:
This is still on our wish list but is not one of our highest priority items. In any case, it has to be done by the COD group, and we will take back the suggestion to them.
8. Add to the record definition an "ERROR MESSAGE" qualifier so a spe-
cific message will be output if a storage Or validation error occurs on
that field.
10 FIELD 1 PIC X QUERY HEADER IS "field" ERROR MESSAGE-IS "No hyphens".
Comment: This is an interesting new suggestion, we will add it to the wish list. (VAX. Not likely in DTR-11.)
9. I have laser printers and use DTR to create custom forms. I need to be able to specify where the report header and page number appear on the report.
DTR-14
Comment:
You can do this now by suppressing the report header and page
number and doing your own.
(Editor's note: try looking at
some of the Wombat Magic sessions transcribed in the Wombat
Examiner.)
10. I'd like LOCK WAIT to take effect on CDD node locks.
Editor's note:
During the closing session, it was suggested that this CDD option can be implemented by assigning the logical CDD$WAIT to "YES". I have found that an explanation of this is included in the CDD installation manual.
11. Add FN$SPAWN("text'") where "text" is a DCL command or command file. Yes, you can add this yourself but it is so useful it ought to be standard. (Editor's note: the ability to spawn command lines in DTR-11 on those systems that support it would be mighty useful.)
Comment:
This has been suggested before, we will take a serious look at it due to the number of requests (VAX). Functions are currently on the wish list for DTR-11.
12. Expand DROP to allow an RSE.
Comment: Interesting suggestion, will add it to the wish list (VAX). Not likely for DTR-11.
13. Can DTR/Rdb COMMIT be expanded to commit a relation name only?
Comment: Rdb doesn't support it, they must do it first. We will take this back to the Rdb people.
14. Allow COMPUTED BY fields in VIEWS.
They would be created from
fields extracted for the view. (Editor's note: without having to have
the COMPUTED_BY in the source domains.)
Comment:
Interesting; without looking at the code we can't tell how hard it is. We will look at it when we get back (VAX). Nice thing to do, but not likely in DTR-11
15. COMMAND LINE EDITING (be able to store and retrieve the previous 20 (or N) commands.
Comment:
Not very high on priority list: VMS only gives us the ability to retrieve the last command (VAX). Not likely within
DTR-11.
16. I would like a copy facility where I can copy procedures from one dictionary to another.
DTR-15
Comment:
You can do this now with DMU COPY or DATATRIEVE EXTRACT. (Editor's note: the general consensus was that this was either a training or perception problem on the part of the
user, or that the wording of the request didn't actually represent what the user intended to do.)
17. Change the default on READY from EXCLUSIVE to SHARED. Please! Better yet, make the default mode on READY an option for the system manager during installation. (Editor's note: this has appeared at least once before.)
Comment:
Fairly high on the priority list now. We can't change defaults (that would create problems for existing customers), but it may be possible as an option.
18. Would like the ability to specify STABLE sort option.
Comment:
We looked into this, and determined that it might be a performance problem. We will look again, but not at a very high priority.
19. Would like to be able to include an RSE for the first domain in a CROSS:
FOR ALL A WITH Fl = 7 CROSS B OVER Kl
instead of running off a collection. May be in a compound statement:
FIND ALL X IN A WITH Fl = 7 FOR ALL X CROSS B OVER Kl.
Comment:
Interesting, but we don't know how "doable" it is. We will look at it.
20. Would like a way to concatenate collections. (Submitted twice).
FIND A IN Dl WITH Kl = 5 FIND B IN D2 WITH K2 GT 10 (merge A and B into C)
This would use keys to retrieve A and B. It could also do OUTER JOIN and UNION operations.
Comment: Good suggestion, but probably won't be done in DTR (VAX). Nice idea, but unlikely in DTR-11 due to pool considerations.
21. Please provide a way to let DTR recognize record I/O files as sequential files. READY for modify if possible, not ready write (no deletes).
Comment:
Additional input needed from submittor.
(Editor's note:
this was intended primarily for DTR-11, and as it recognizes
most RMS files, the nature of the problem could not be deter-
mined.)
DTR-16
-
---
22. Allow FIND and SELECT in REPEAT and BEGIN-END blocks. (Editor's note: has appeared before.)
Comment: Architecturally impossible in DTR:
it would have to inter-
pret every single line, which would degrade performance.
23. Allow the option of printing headings for each record in a FOR statement not just one heading at the top. This should be an option.
Comment: This can be done now with:
FOR domain PRINT "headers", SKIP, field(-)
or a similar construction. Remember to suppress the headers on the field as shown.
24. Make EDIT more compatible with EDT. (Has appeared before in one form or another, and is placed separately here as this request is intended for DTR-11.)
Comment: This is on our wish list.
25. Allow a method to delete output files during procedures. we would like to be able to prompt the user, "This file already exists ··· do you want to delete it (or supersede it)? (Editor's note: in some cases you can do this by re-issuing the DEFINE DOMAIN command with the appropriate qualifier to supersede, but you cannot delete a file from within DTR.)
Comment: This is a problem for DTR-11 specifically on RSTS/E. We will give this consideration in any future release.
26. Allow a method to see non-printable characters when checking files. Operators confuse the STORE and MODIFY defaults. They will sometimes enter a tab when they want a field left blank on a STORE the way they have to on a modify. This results in a TAB being stored in the file. I would like to see this confusion end.
comment:
I don't think there is anything we can do to make non-printing characters visible. We will look into preventing these characters from being stored. During the session, it was suggested that a VALID IF clause could be added to the record definition making TAB -and other unwanted characters invalid (field VALID_IF NOT CONTAINING "<TAB>", etc.).
27. Why doesn't the SUM command use the default edit-string specified in the record definitions for printing the amounts? It's a real hassle having to specify an edit-string for each field used in the SUM report.
The rounding used is not useful.
Comment:
DTR scales up the edit-string to prevent overflows: it can't tell ahead of time if the summed data will fit into the default edit string.
DTR-17
28. "SUGGESTION": I suggest a separate session or BOF meeting to inform users about upcoming changes, new features, problems, or whatever in new/upcoming releases of COD and DTR so that we don't have to sit through INTROS, Tutorials, or other basic information sessions since this information tends to be supplied at the end of these types of sessions.
Comment: Nice idea. We will consider this for the next symposia.
29. Would like to use the DTR-11 call interface without having DECNet. Comment: This is on our wish list, and we are looking into this.
30. Put $$MSG and related symbols needed for the call interface in a DATATRIEVE symbol library.
Comment: This is probably a user error due to not having DECNet on the system: DECNet is currently required for remote DTR-11.
31. Please add support of accessing lists by indexing (i.e., indexing into lists). we have lists that are 1000 long, and find the retrieval time for a specific record in the list too long since lists are accesses sequentially.
Comment:
It's been suggested before, and is very difficult to do.
There have been magic sessions published in the Wombat
Examiner to do things like this.
If you have a list this
long, maybe you need to normalize your data. (Editor's note:
the reaction of the audience supported the recommendation
that there are better ways ·to handle data than lists this
long.)
32. Is it possible to add "conditional ready" to DTR? (Be able to ready domains inside an IF-THEN-ELSE statement?)
Comment:
Not likely. Some magic to ready using a logical name giving some dynamic capability has been published. (Editor's note: I believe another example is due soon from the Anaheim Wombat
Magic session.)
33. Provide "official" DTR analysis of ACCOUNTING.DAT: this is a very useful tool for system management.
Comment: We are working with VMS to provide a solution. The current format of this file is not readable by DTR.
34. We would like a better interface with TOMS including request library.
Comment: There are no plans to enhance DTR in the forms area.
DTR-18
35. How about DTR on the Rainbow?
Comment:
Not under development at this time. We will take the suggestion back to the product managers.
36. We would like the ability to cross a domain over multiple domains OVER 2 or more different fields. Currently we are allowed only one OVER clause.
Comment:
Architecturally difficult to do, and provides users with more ways to get in trouble. (Editor's note: I have solved similar problems by using a VIEW to tie two of the domains together, which may be done with more then one field. The third domain can CROSS over the view.)
37. I would like the ability to form a summarized collection, which could then be sorted and printed with report writer. I want the ability to produce a summary on one field, but report sorted on the totaled fields. For example: summarize salesman detail sales records by sales amount, but then report the summary sorted in descending order of total sales to show the salesman with the most sales first. (Editor's note: there was a similar suggestion on the last wish list.)
Comment:
We will add this to the wish list. As a work around, try writing the sums into a temporary file, then report it sorted in the desired order.
38. would like to perform an Outer Join. (Editor's note: has appeared many times before.)
Comment: This is probably not something we are going to do in DTR.
39. Provide "if member", "if owner", "if empty" boolean expressions for DBMS.
Comment: Will add it to the list, not very high priority.
40. Need a way to suppress either the first or last (or both) form feeds in report writer.
Comment: Has suggested before, is on the wish list, not very high priority.
DTR-19
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[Q]
DECUS
l
Chairman Robert A. Shive, Jr. Millsaps College Jackson, MS
EDUSIG
PSS Coordinator VAX Systems SIG Liaison Donald C. Fuhr Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee Institute, AL
Symposium Coordinator Sue Bates Northwestern Michigan College Traverse City, MI
Administrative Applications Coordinator Dave Cothrun Taft College Taft, CA
Communications Committee Representative Robert W. Mccarley Millsaps College Jackson, MS
Courseware Coordinator Mary Jae Reed Off Comp Based Instruction Newark, DE
Newsletter Editor Fred Bell Taft College Taft, CA
DEC Counterpart Gary Finerty Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
EDlJ..i
- - Cl r-
-
- - DECUS
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I
I
I
I
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GRAPHICS
I
I
I
I
I
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Chairman William Kramer University of Delaware Newark, DE
Symposium Coordinator Bijoy Misra Smithsonian Institution Cambridge, MA
Newsletter Editor Michael P. Anton Houston, TX
Session Note Editor Mike McPherson Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Standards Coordinator Jim Flatten Ames Lab Ames, IA
GRAPHICS
Library Committee James M. Turner Saber Technology San Jose, CA
DEC Counterpart Susan Usilton Digital Equipment Corporation Nashua, NH
Information Officer Mike York Boeing Computer Services Seattle, WA
Human Interface Working Group Coordinator Tom Owens Graphics Research Center Baltimore, MD
Engineering Working Group Coordinator Dana Smith Wilmington, DE
GRA-i
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,
, ,
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DECUS
,,,
---------- - - ;....
·-
-
-
HMS
-- -
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Chairman VAX SIG Liaison Thomas J. Provost MIT/LNS Bates Linac Facility Middletown, MA
HMS
Pre-Symposium Seminar Coordinator Mike Allen Lawrence Livermore National Labs Livermore, CA
Product Planning Coordinator George Hamma Synergistic Technology Cupertino, CA
TOEM (Chips% Boards) Jack J. Peterson Horizon Data Systems Richmond, VA
Symposium Seminar Coordinator Mike Allen Lawrence Livermore National Labs Livermore, CA
HHK(Hardware Hints& Kinks) Wayne Kesling Monsanto Research Corp. Miamisburg, OH
Communications Coordinator John G. Hayes Information Systems - S. Central Bell Birmingham, AL
UNIBUS Hardware Ron Bogue LIV Aerospace & Defense Co. Dallas, TX
Publications Coordinator (Editor) Bill K. Walker Monsanto Research Corp. Miamisburg, OH
Performance Measurement Coordinator William Wallace 600 W. Washington St Peoria, IL
Session Notes DAARC SIG Liaison
Bill Tippie Kinetic Systems Corp. Lockport, IL
Standards Coordinator CAMAC Working Group Coordinator
Peter Clout Los Alamos National Lab Los Alamos, NM
LUG Coordinator Gregg Giesler Los Alamos Science Lab Los Alamos, NM
CAMAC Coordinator Peter Clout Los Alamos National Lab Los Alamos, NM
CSS Coordinator Pratap Gohel E.I. Dupont Ingleside, TX
Networks SIG Liaison Sandra Traylor Target Systems Yorba Linda, CA
HMS-i
VAX SIG Liaison Dave Schmidt 5100 Centre Avenue Pittsburgh, PA
DAARC SIG Liaison Bill Tippie Kinetic Systems Corp. Lockport, IL
UNISIG SIG Liaison Jim Livingston 1 Results Way Cupertino, CA
SITE SIG Liaison Emily Kitchen AH. Robbins Co. Richmond, VA
RT-11 SIG Liaison Gary Sallee Sallee Software Consulting Yorba Linda, CA
RSX SIG Liaison Hans Jung Associated Press New York, NY
Members-At-Large Mike Rembis American Dade Costa Mesa, CA
Hans Dahlke Richland, WA
Jim Cutler EDS Tower, 26533 Evergreen Southfield, MI
DEC Counterparts Terminals Nina Abramson Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
TOEM (Chips & Boards) Art Bigler Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
Diagnostic George D. Cooke Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
Storage Marilyn Fedele Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
MSD (Micro Systems Developmen~ Roy Rodgers Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
Printer Products Frank Orlando Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
DECUS Europe Liaison Hans Zoller
HMS-ii
-
THE
DEVlAS
LETTER
The DeVIAS Letter Issue 35 February 1986
Curley's Corner: News from the Chairman Letter from the Editor
IAS SIG Steering Committee
Chairman Bob Curley Division of Medical Physics University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
WHIMS Commissioner Kathleen Anderson Eaton Information Management Systems Division Hampton, VA
Library Coordinator Bob Schuldt INCO Inc. McLean, VA
RSX Liaison Ray French Boeing Computer Services Seattle, WA
Member-at-Large Doug Reno Abbott Laboratories North Chicago, IL
DEC Counterpart Mike Reilly Digital Equipment Corp. Maynard, MA
Symposium Coordinator
Skip Stanfield USAF Washington, DC
Librarian Mike Robitaille
Grumman - CTEC, Inc. McLean, VA
DeVIAS Letter Editor
·
John Roman
McDonnell Douglas - Dept. N436
600 McDonnell Blvd.
Hazelwood, MO 63042
Member-at-Large
Kerry Wyckoff LDS Church Salt Lake City, UT
DEC Counterpart 'I'im Leisman Digital Equipment Corp. Stow, MA
DEC Counterpart
Bob Mack Digital Equipment Corp. Landover, MD
Division of Medical Physics Department of Radiation Therapy University of Pennsylvania Room 410 - 133 South 36th Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-3246 29 December 1985
Dear IAS Enthusiast,
Another Symposium is finished. This one was different and I can not verbalize the strangeness. Other people mentioned it too. I would like to hear your opinion, you who where there. Overall it was good for IAS and good for DECUS in general.
The IAS attendance was about the same as New Orleans, but quieter. Those who came didn't talk much. The Q~ <Technical Forum) was pretty dull, it seems as if most of our questions have been answered already. I read some of my SPRs and put everyone to sleep. Michael Reilly and Alison Nylander were amazing (as we have come to expect) with the breadth and depth of their knowledge of IAS. A new member of the panel in the Technical Forum was Ed Milhomme. He is the person at DEC Telephone Support you are most likely to talk to. His discussion of telephone support, and especially the differences in his perception from that of Norm Booth (IAS Product Manager), was helpful. It was a nice opportunity to meet the familiar voice on the other end of the telephone. I am glad that you could come Ed, I appreciated your presence.
The pre-symposium seminar on VAX MACRO for MACR0-11 programmers was successful. Mike Reilly and Kerry Wyckoff CLDS Church, Salt Lake City) were the principal lecturers and I gave a small introduction. It was not as popular as I had expected, but we got good reviews. Thanks to the lecturers and the attendees. Since I feel the "MACR0-11" connection hampered our attendance, we are offering a seminar in Dallas called "Introduction to VAX. MACRO" being taught by Kerry Wyckoff and John Roman (our editor, McDonnell-Douglas, St. Louis). And we are again offering our popular seminar of previous symposia, "Introduction to MACR0-11". This time it will be taught by Bob Agnew <Beaver College, Glenside, PA> and Mike Garcia <Digital Equipment, Maynard). Bob has taken part in a previous seminar and Mike has given some great presentations at previous symposia.
The last of our offerings for Dallas will be an introduction to the C language. Mike Reilly and Alison Nylander will teach it. It is a venture into a new area for the SIG, but it is done with the permission of the Languages and Tools SIG, who provide the focus for C in DECUS.
There were several good technical sessions during the Symposium. We will try to get some of that information into the newsletter. There are audio tapes available through DECUS of most of the IAS sessions, but I haven't tried them to see how useful they are. Some comments from someone who has would be appreciated.
IAS-1
i
We have a new 'counterpart' for the SIG. This is a position held by someone from Digital who is interested in helping the SIG and is invited by the SIG to that position. We have had one counterpart since the formation of the SIG, Tim Leisman, who was the IAS Product Manager at the time. Tim has held that position since his· appointment and will continue. The new position is a result of some internal changes within Digital and the amazing amount of support and help that we've received from Bob Mack of the Government Systems Group. I have invited Bob to become an 'official' Counterpart of the IAS SIG, and both he and his management have just agreed. Welcome Bob!
We also have two new people on the steering committee, Kerry Wyckoff and Doug Reno (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL>. Both of these men have extensive experience in IAS, RSX and VMS and will contribute some of their effort to administering the SIG. Thank you both for responding favorably to my request that you join in.
An interesting gentleman from Digital, Tim Moffitt, came with Bob Mack. We got to swapping tales of the 'old days' and morsels of PDP-11 trivia. One thing led to another and I think that he's going to do a column for the newsletter on PDP-11 Trivia. You may contribute. An example from Tim: "DEC made one disk controller that did 18 bit data transfers on the Unibus. What was it, where was it used, and what lines were used to transmit the two high-order data bits?" "The answer is the RKll-D controller for the RK05 disk drives. The 18·-bi t version was used in conjunction with the PDP-11/10 to interface "high speed" disk drives to a variant of the PDP-15 known as the Unichannel-15. There were only a few hundred sold, but they worked well. The high order data bits used the PA and PB lines on the Unibus." "Some people will consider this a trick question as many RHll's do essentially the same thing, but RHll's are Massbus controllers, not disk controllers."
The DECUS Management Council has appointed a task force on "Commercialism". I volunteered and was appointed the SIG Council representative. I've heard many of you say, "This kind of thing shouldn't be in the Exhibit Area!" and "They shouldn't permit that in the newsletters!" I have too. Now is the time to generalize and write a policy. Share your ideas with me. It is harder to do than I thought. You needn't be formal, just put pencil to paper. For example, "What do you think of the articles in the PC SIG Newsletter that had the prices 'whited out'?" "Should other companies be invited to the Exhibit Area?" "Did you like the article in the DAARC Newsletter for January that looked very much like an advertisement?"
Do you like the unified format of the newsletters? Or did you like the separate issues better? A post card: ."The new format is better/worse" to me at P.O. Box 322, Flourtown, PA 19031 would be helpful. Thanks.
When all is said about the Symposium, and thanks offered to the
IAS-2
speakers who spent the time preparing their session to share their experience, and I get through talking about the pre-symposium seminars, it is very important to remember the invisible job of Symposium Coordinator for the SIG. For us that is Skip Stanfield (USAF, Washington). He collects all the papers that are spontaneously submitted in response to the Call for Participation. Then he tries to cajole people to give sessions that he thinks would be valuable. Then the SIG business sessions. Much of this work is done in the background at the symposia - getting ready for the next one while everyone is engrossed in this one! Then there is a lot of work on DCS ( the DECUS e-mail system) to make sure the details are completed - who needs an overhead projector, who needs a slide projector, how many seats and who's going to chair the session, etc. Then, there are several days in Marlboro, Massachusetts when the actual scheduling takes place with the Symposia Representatives of the other SIGs. The actual rooms and time slots are assigned in a process that I just don't understand! Skip has done this job quietly and well and is doing it again for Dallas - Thanks, Skip - it wouldn't happen for IAS without you. Thanks to each of you who have participated in the IAS SIG activities for the past year. May you continue to do so, Happy New Year, Bob Curley
IAS-3
Letter from the Editor
I received exactly zero <as in no> entries for the "Find the Hidden Feature" contest. This was quite disapointing. Is there no one out there playing with IAS? I am sure Mike and Alison
would be glad to keep the contest open longer if anyone has any entries.
In the next couple of months Decus will be holding elections for
the Board of Directors. For those of you unfamiliar with the
Decus hierarchy, the Board is the group which sets policy for the
society. If you are unhappy (or happy) with the way the society is being run, this is your chance to put in your say. In other
·
words, please vote.
Earlier this year we arranged to get some Cross pens made with an IAS logo, which would be given to contributors to the DeVIAS Letter. These are chrome pens with an IAS logo (reminiscent of the circular pin with red border) on the clip. The pens were made and shipped to Decus Central by Cross. Decus Central
shipped them UPS to Bob Curley's PO box. Since UPS and the USPS do not talk, the pens have been lost in shipment. We hope that they will be located by the time that you read this, so that we
can honor those who contribute to the DeVIAS Letter.
Speaking of contributions, you will have noticed that this issue
and the previous are slim. The newsletter only has material if you contribute. So please jot down your comments, feelings, or anything that moves you and send them to me at:
John Roman McDonnell Douglas Corp - Dept. N436
600 McDonnell Blvd. Hazelwood, Missouri 63042
IAS-4
"LEVERAGE"
[Q]
DECUS
{J
LANGUAGES AND TOOLS SIG
LANGUAGES & TOOLS
Chairperson Katherine Hornback Lear Siegler, Inc. Grand Rapids, Ml
Vice Chairperson Barbara Chase Hughes Aircraft Company Los Angeles, CA
Symposium Coordinator J.R. Westmoreland Utah Power and Light Midvale, UT
Asst Symp. Coordinator-Campground/Suite
Melody Westmoreland Midvale, UT
Session Chair Coordinator Earl S. Cory Eaton Information Management Westlake Village, CA
Newsletter Editor Alan L Folsom, Jr. Fischer & Porter Co. Warminster, PA
Session Note Editor Mark Katz GTE Government Systems Needham, MA
Tape Librarian Dave Martin Hughes Aircraft Co. Los Angeles, CA
Standards Coordinator FORTRAN Coordinator
JayW. Wiley Bechtel Power Corp. Norwalk, CA
DEC Counterpart PDP-11 Joe Mulvey Digital Equipment Corp. Nashua, NH
VAX William Segal Digital Equipment Corp. Nashua, NH
UNIX Coordinator Rod Creason, Jr. Sacramento, CA
MODULA II Coordinator Jack R Davis Philips Home Interactive Systems Knoxville, TN .
Ada Coordinator Bob Gable Lear Siegler Grand Rapids, Ml
Wishlist Coordinator Alan Rizzuto EMC Controls, Inc. Cockeysville, MD
PASCAL Coordinator Derek R. Smith Wilmington, DE
GAPSIG Standards Coordinator Jim Flatten Ames Lab Ames, IA
RSTS Coordinator George Stuart Ogden - Weber/AVG Ogden, UT
l.&T-i
Methods Coordinator PSS Committee Rep.
PatVanMunn Measurex, Inc. Cupertino, CA
TeX Coordinator Large System Liaison Store Coordinator
Sam Whidden American Mathematical Society Providenc, R. I.
CMS/MMS Coordinator Edgar Whipple Lawrence Berkeley Lab. Berkeley, CA
RT-11 Coordinator Michelle C. Wong Sacramento, CA
OMS Liaison Keith Hare (Home) Granville, OH
Al SIG Liaison Don Rosenthal Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD
CL SIG Liaison Jim Wilson Pfizer Inc. Terre Haute, IN
VAX/VMS Liaison Louise A Wholey Measurex Corp. Cupertino, CA
DEC Personnel Coordinator Howard Holcombe Medford, NJ
EX-Chairman James W. Livingston, Jr. Measurex Corp. Cupertino, CA
Member-At-Large Shava Nerad Telematic Systems Cambridge, MA
RSX Liaison Committee Anthony E. Scandora, Jr. Argonne National Laboratory Argonne, IL
l.&T-ii
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DECUS
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT COMPUTER USERS SOCIETY
-
The Newsletter of the Large Systems SIG
SIG Chairperson Leslie Maltz Stevens Institute of Tech. Hoboken, NJ
LARGE SYSTEMS
Networks Coordinator Richard Janick Abbott Laboratories Abbott Park, IL
Symposium Coordinator Robert C. McQueen Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ
Systems Software Coordinator Betsy Ramsey American Mathematical Society Providence, RI
Newsletter Editor Michael Joy First Church of Christ, Scientist Boston, MA
Special Projects Coordinator Osman Ahmad Assoc., of American Railroads Chicago, IL
Menu Coordinator Charles R.T. Bacon National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD
Special Projects Coordinator F. Berkeley Shands Emerson Electric Co. St. Louis, MO
Hardware Coordinator Clive Dawson MCC Austin, TX
Languages Coordinator David Edwards DPEX, Inc. Fremont, CA
TOPS-20 Coordinator Pete Gavin University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
DEC Counterparts Dave Braithwaite Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
Jack Buckley Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
Reed Powell Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
LS-i
Chairperson's Article
Now that the Fall Symposium is a thing of the past, it would probably be worthwhile to share some observations with those of you who could/did not attend. Some of these observations are what could be called readings of the pulse of those who attended, and others are specific items that might be of importance to all.
It has been two and a half years since that fateful day when we all heard that Jupiter was not to be. That means that we are roughly halfway through the promised five years of active development for our thirty-six bit systems. During the past 2 1/2 years we have all had time to figure out what course we are planning to take as our systems age. For some SIG members, the decision has been to keep their systems running as long as electrons flow. Others have started to acquire VAX systems as suggested by DEC. Still others have chosen to integrate, but not with DEC products. In any case, the emotional component of the decision seems to be mellowing. Fewer emotionally-charged comments are being made at symposia, although the needs of each segment of the community still need to be heard. We think our SIG continues to be a viable forum for each such segment, and our activities will be oriented toward meeting the needs of each group.
We will not give up supporting traditional activities for those sites who have chosen to stay with their 10s and 20s. There is still much that this group will need in the way of features in final releases, as well as commitment and delivery of adequate levels of hardware and software support. Similarly, we will support activities and services to meet the needs of those SIG members who have opted to introduce VAX systems, particularly oriented around the high end products. We know that a substantial number of you have chosen this path, and have expressed common needs based on our high end environment. Beginning with the Spring Symposium in Dallas we will begin to attempt to address some of these issues.
To summarize some of the comments made by Rich Whitman at the Product Panel session, I'll list some of the specific topics.
LCG Support:
There has been no slippage of LCG trained engineers for hardware support. LCG engineers are being trained on 8600's. Multi-year contracts for support are being written.
Training courses for customers are continuing. There will be 6-7 courses per quarter.
KL to 8600 Trade-in Offer: Only LCG customers are eligible. Trade-in is for a KL model B cpu with 512 KW and an RP06. Allowance is $90,000 credit on an 8600, with return of the KL six months after delivery of the 8600. 1 KL cpu trade-in per 8600 cpu. VMS, VAX FORTRAN, and VAX COBOL licenses are included.
LS-1
1
Unbundled TOPS Licenses: TOPS licenses will be available for sites with at least one existing license. This will enable existing sites to run TOPS on non-DEC processors. No support will be provided on non-DEC systems. Sources are included. Non-educational license costs are $80,000 for the first license; $40,000 thereafter. Educational license costs are $40,000 for each license. Based on the results of our Menu (published previously), the following directions for VMS were noted as needs of our community:
Operator capabilities Tape handling improvements Security oriented features
Commercial requirements D.o.D. needs Data integrity Journaling Checkpointing On a fun note, our VAXBUSTER shirts were a terrific hit in Anaheim. Every single shirt was sold, with most sold the first day. We expect to have a special item in the DECOS Store in Dallas, so plan to get yours. See you after the snows. -----Leslie Maltz
L~2
From the Editor
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed Anaheim. I know I loved everything except the cold weather. I didn't plan on temperatures in the 40s and 50s for sunny Southern California. I'm sure that Dallas will be warmer! Speaking of Dallas, please give us your menu items as soon as possible so we'll have a full list before the Dallas symposium. Be sure to read the article entitled "YOUR INPUT" which appears in this same newsletter.
Back to Anaheim for a minute. During the Question and Answer period at the opening Large Systems session, the one topic which came up more than any other was the DECsysteml0/20 field service support level. There were numerous comments about problems not fixed for days, of parts shortages, and the like. If there is a general problem, or even a few isolated cases, they should be addressed. One way that can be done is by sending your comments to the newsletter for publishing, or just a problem tally. If you have recently had a field service problem, jot down what happened and send us your report. We will compile a list of problems and let the SIG members know the results via the newsletter. The list will also be shared with DEC so that can know the extent of the problems and directly address the issues. If there are concerns other than field service problems let us about them too. Address your letters to the editor at the address listed below.
Recently, we received a copy of the European 10/20 SIG menu items for 1985. It seemed like it might be interesting to compare the top ten items from Europe compared to the U.S. menu. Here are the results: European Menu
1. Create a GALAXY-like environment for VMS 2. Archiving facility for VMS 3. Continue TOPS enhancements 4. Include temporary NI for the KL/8600 trade-in offer 5. Extend the KL/8600 trade-in offer to other parts of the system 6. Offer VMS courses for those with TOPS backgrounds 7. Extend the KL/8600 trade-in offer beyond July 1986 8. License TOPS for third party hardware at a reasonable price 9. Shorten the delivery time for TOPS and VMS manuals 10. Reduce cost of ownership on multi-system sites--especially soft-
ware U.S. ~~l. Create a GALAXY-like environment for VMS
2. Support a foreign tape utility for VMS 3. Create a COMND JSYS equivalent as part of VMS 4. Provide time stamps in VMS batch log files 5. Improve tape/disk management in VMS 6. When TOPS-20 development ends, provide~.all sources to customers 7. Implement COMPIL-class commands in VMS 8. Extend the KL/8600 trade-in offer beyond July 1986 9. Implement a TOPS-20-like CLI for VMS 10. Continue providing TOPS training courses. Note that the first item in both lists was the same. Most of the items in the European list appeared in the top 20 or so items in the U.S. list showing a relatively high correspondence between the two menus.
LS-3
l
I
0on't forget to send in your questions to Doctor TOPS! The good Doctor will soon be out of questions to respond to so write soon. Here's where to address any questions or comments:
Michael D. Joy, Editor The First Church of Christ, Scientist Christian Science Center A41 Boston, MA 02115
Your Input
DEC Needs User Input on TOPS Enhancements
We are now two and a half years into the final five year development period for TOPS-10/20. DEC has just released a major new version of both operating systems: TOPS-10 V7.03 and TOPS-20 V6.1. They are now in the planning stage for the next releases. Given the traditional
life cycle for new versions, it is a fair guess that the next release of TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 will also be the last.
DEC is now planning what features they intend to implement in the next release of TOPS-10 and TOPS-20, so the time is right for us to make our "wish lists" known. This may be our last chance to get all those little features we've been thinking about over the years into TOPS.
The Large Systems menu (wish list) is usually compiled from suggestions users make at the fall and spring DECUS symposia. We know that many of you cannot attend the symposia. Because it is so important to get our requests concerning the next TOPS releases to DEC, we'd like to start collecting menu items early this year, and ask everyone, including those who cannot attend the spring symposium, to participate.
If you have enhancements or fixes you'd like to see in the next release of TOPS-10 or TOPS-20, write or call Betsy Ramsey at
American Mathematic~! Society P.O. Box 6248 Providence, RI 02940 401-272-9500 x295
She will record your suggestions, and pass them on to Chuck Bacon, who is the Large Systems SIG Menu Coordinator. Chuck will be putting together the full menu. With your help, we hope to be able to mail the menu to all members of the Large Systems SIG for voting very soon after the spring DECUS.
DEC takes a strong interest in our menu, and responds directly to the top items. Please make your needs known.
-----Betsy Ramsey
LS-4
Alternative Strategies
NEWS RELEASE
FIRST CUSTOMER INSTALLATION OF SC-30M* November 18, 1985
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--Systems Concepts, Inc. today announced the first customer installation of its SC-30M computer system at the LOTS Computer Facility, Stanford University.
The SC-30M is a high-performance 36-bit computer system which is user-program-compatible with Digital F.quipment Corp. DECsystem-10** and DECSYSTEM-20** products. Using software enhancements from Systems Concepts, the SC-30M can run the TOPS-10** and TOPS-20** operating systems with full user-mode compatibility.
The LOTS facility is Stanford's academic computer center, providing the computer support for instruction and for unsponsored research. Ralph E. Gorin, Di rector of LOTS1r saidr "The SC-30M is an important augmentation to our interactive capacity.·
In its current configuration, the SC-30M system at LOTS uses an IBM*** 3380 disk storage module, with its associated control unit, for on-line data storage, and an IBM magnetic tape subsystem for backup and interchange purposes. To communicate with user terminals, the SC-30M employs the widely-used TCP/IP protocol on an Ethernet**** network. According to Peter R. Samson, Director of Marketing for Systems Concepts, "This installation demonstrates some of the major strengths of the SC-30M system: standard interfaces, higher performance, and program compatibility~·
* SC-30M is a trademark of Systems Concepts, Inc.
** DECsystem-lOr DECSYSTEM-20, TOPS-lOr and TOPS-20 are
trademarks of Digital F.quipment Corp.
*** IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines
Corp.
**** Ethernet is a trademark of Xerox Corp.
LS-5
Doctor TOPS
Dear Dr. Tops: I would like to allow selected users to change their UIC
codes so that they can better share files. However, I don't want any bimbo to have SETUIC privs. Can you PLEASE help me?
Positive Paronoia
Dear PP, I highly recomend that you investigate ACL's for your VAX. If you
don't have 4.x, get it. Changing the UIC code on the VAX can lead to many headaches, mainly because the VMS developers never thought ahead when they wrote the code. Among other things this will break is PDP-11 compatibility mode (The VAX AME product, VAXRSXll}. I will provide this super hack to you with MANY WORDS OF WARNING; Under 4.0 of VMS, this will CRASH YOUR VAX.
I disown this hack
Dr. Tops
! Command file for UGROUP.EXE which changes the left half of the UIC
USER [abcd,efgh]
$ current_uic = f$user(} $ if Pl .eqs. "" then inquire Pl "New UIC or GROUP?" $ if Pl .eqs. "" then Pl = current_uic $ request_uic = Pl $ run sys:ugroup $ P2 = f$user (} $ Pl = f$directory(} $ write sys$output ·"#6#3", Pl, P2 $ write sys$output "#6#4", Pl, P2
$ comp setuic.mar,ugroup.for $ link/notrace_back ugroup,setuic,sys:sys.stb $ copy ugroup.exe sys$sysroot: [hacks] $ wv sys:ugroup.exe $ r sys:install
sys:ugroup/replace $! sys:ugroup/priv=(cmkrnl,bypass} $ purge sys: $ purge $ exit
LS-6
program ugroup
c
c
this program changes the left half of the UIC word for each user
c
c
a list of valid left half words (16 bits, for V4.0) is kept
c
in sys:ugroup.dat by right half of the uic
c
c
format of the file ·····
c
c
UIC_Right_half ,list of possible left halves, with commas
c
c
000020,000020,000001,000100
c
c
Note the 16 bit OCTAL format!!!!!
c
c
c
USER [ABCD,EFGH]
c
USER name
c
c
c
symbols used:
c
current_uic - UIC before changes
c
request_uic - UIC after changes or group ID
c
* Note: only left half changes
c
implicit integer (a-z)
character*32 myuic,newuic
character*32 group_names(35),Group_uic(35)
include '($SSDEF)'
c
data group_names/
1 'Other' ,'Other','Other' ,'Other,'Other',
1 'Other','Other','Other','Other,'Other',
1 'Other','Other','Other','Other,'Other',
1 'Other','Other','Other','Other,'Other',
1 'Other','Other','Other' ,'Other,'Other',
1 'Other','Other','Other','Other,'Other',
1 'Other' ,'Other' ,'Other' ,'Other,'Other'/
c
data group_uic/
1 I [1,4]·1 r I [20,100] Ir I [100,100] Ir I [101,100] Ir I [102,100] Ir
2 I [10 3 r 10 0] I r I [104r10 0] I r I [105r10 0] I f I [106 r 10 0] I r I [107 r 10 0] I r
3 I [110,100] Ir I [111,100] Ir I [112,100] Ir I [113,100] Ir I [114,100] Ir
4 I [115,100] Ir I [116,100] Ir I [117,100] Ir I [120,100] Ir I [121,100] Ir
5 I [122,100] Ir I [123,100] Ir I [124,100] Ir I [125,100] Ir I [377,100] Ir
6 I [126,100] Ir I [127,100] Ir I [130,100] Ir I [131,100] Ir I [132,100] Ir
7 I [133,100] I, I [134,100] I, I [135,100] I, I [136,100] I, I [137 ,100] I I
c
c
open the data file
c
open(unit=l,name='sys:ugroup.dat',readonly,shared,
1 status=' old' ,err=900)
c
c
get my current UIC
c
iret=lib$get_symbol('current_uic' ,myuic)
LS-7
if (iret.ne.ss$_normal)goto 800
t
c
c
get requested UIC
c
iret=lib$get_symbol('request_uic',newuic)
if (iret.ne.ss$_normal)goto 800
c
c
check for group name before [xxx,yyy]
c if(newuic(l:l) .eq.' [') goto 2
c
c
lookup name in table
c call lcuc(newuic)
c
do 3 igc=l,35 if (newuic.eq.group_names(igc)) then
newuic=group_uic(igc) goto 2 endif
3
continue
c
c
Uic is not correct
c type *,newuic, ' is not recognised'
stop
c
2
continue
c
c
convert to integers
c call uic2int(oldgrp,oldusr,myuic)
call uic2int(newgrp,newusr,newuic)
c
c
find oldusr in sys:ugroup.dat
c call finduser(oldusr,newgrp,ok) if (ok .ne. ss$_normal) goto 1000 uic=newgrp*2**16+oldusr call setuic(uic) call exit
900
continue
type *,' Unable to find UIC file'
stop
800
continue
type *,' DCL symbols not available'
stop
1000
continue if(ok .eq. -1) type*,' Current UIC not on file' if(ok .eq. -2) type*,' Error reading UIC file'
if(ok .eq. -3) type*,' Not a valid UIC' stop end
c
c
routine to make integers from ascii
c
subroutine change(number,chars) character*(*) chars
c
c
input is in octal
c
LS-8
number=O
length=len(chars)
do 20 i=l,length
j=ichar(chars(i:i))-ichar('O')
number=number*8+j
20
continue
return
end
c
c
subroutine to convert character uic into numbers
c
subroutine uic2int(usr,grp,string)
implicit integer(a-z)
character*(*) string
c
c
isolate fields of uic [AAAA,BBBB]
c
gl=2 !left group
g2=2 !Right group
ul=32 !left user u2=32 !right user
c
c
check for leading "["
c
if (string (1: 1) ·eq. ' [ ' ) goto 9
type*,' Error: no leading bracket in UIC' stop
9
continue
c
c c
' scan for II n
do 10 g2=2,32
if(string(g2:g2).eq.',') goto 11
!stop on comma
10
continue
type*,' Error: no comma in UIC'
stop
11
continue
c
c
scan for right "]"
c
g2=g2-l
!skip over comma
ul=g2+2
!sam ting
do 12 u2=ul,32
!scan it all
if(string(u2:u2).eq.']') goto 13
12
continue
type*,' Error: no ending bracket in UIC'
stop
13
continue
u2=u2-l
!back up over"]"
c
c
convert into a real number
c
LS-9
call change(usr,string(gl:g2))
l
call change(grp,string(ul:u2))
return
end
c
c
subroutine to locate and verify a new UIC group
c
given user #
c
subroutine finduser(olduser,newgroup,error)
implicit integer (a-z)
integer clist(lO)
include '($SSDEF)'
c
c
assume ok
c
error = ss$_normal
c
c
read the file until uicgroup is found, or # too big or eof
·
c
do 30 i=l,200
read(l,100,end=200,err=20l)clist
100
format(l0(o6,lx))
if(clist(l).eq.olduser) goto 400
!found it
30
continue
c
c
here on error
c
200
continue
error = -1
!eof
return
201
continue
error = -2
!you lose
return
400
continue
c
c
search for new uic group
c
do 401 i=2,10
if((clist(i) .eq. newgroup) .and. (clist(i) .ne. 0)) return
401
continue
error = -3
return
end
c
c
routine to convert lower case into upper case
c
subroutine lcuc(string)
character*(*) string
character*! k
i=len(string)
do 10 j=l,i
k=string(j:j)
if((k.ge.'a').and.(k.le.'z')) then
string(j:j)=char(ichar(k)-(ichar('a')-ichar('A')))
end if
10
continue
11
continue
return
end
LS-10
; ;
;
;
; .
I
.;.
I I
; .
I
;
10$:
.
I
. ;
I
.title setuic set user UIC based on user # .subtitle Dr. TOPS @VMSLand Center
.ident /1-001/
this routine changes the user UIC string Beware, this breaks AME products (PDP-11 compatibility)
requires CMKRNL priv to function
input: longword UIC
output: the changed Pl and system space user UIC
.library $jibdef $pcbdef
/sys$library:lib.rnlb/ ;JIB symbols
.psect _lib_code, pic,usr,con,rel,lcl,shr,exe,rd,nowrt
starting address of procedure
.entry setuic, AM<r3,r4,r5,r8>
movl @4(ap),r8 $CMKRNL_S routin=writeuser ret
;put UIC into R8 ;enter kernel mode ;thats all folks
kernel mode routine
.entry movl movl movl ret
writeuser,O ctl$gl_pcb,r0 r8,pcb$l_uic(r0)
#1,rO
.end
;save nothing ;move pcb addr into rO ;save uic in memory
;return success ;thats all
LS-11
·
,.
''
,, .._,,
""'
"''"""''""""'"'"
, , , ..................... , ..... i. ... , ... , .., , , , , _ , , '
"'"""""-'-"""""'''"'"'""""·"""-·--"···--·······'·""'"'"'"'"
····.
'"·'''"
,,,,,'
MUMPS
MUMPS SIG STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman Mark Berryman Plessey Peripheral Systems Irvine, CA
VAX Liaison Coyett A.J. Dese VA DM&S Verification & Dev. Ctr. San Francisco, CA
Symposium Coordinator Chris Richardson Computer Sciences Corp. Ridgecrest, CA
Communications Rep. Mark Hyde Advanced Computing Services DeWitt, NY
Digital Counterparts Beatrice Walther Digital Equipment Corp. Marlboro, MA
Diane Brown Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
Newsletter Editor Janet Berryman Plessey Systems, Inc. Irvine, Ca
Ml\IP-i
t
Bill Brindley Chairman Nava1Security Group Command (202) 282-0527
Sandy Traylor Symposia Coordinator Target Systems, Inc. (714) 921-0112
Jim Ebright
Bi 11 Hancock
Communications Coordinator
Techno1ogy/
Software Results Corporation
Standards Coordinator
(614) 421-2094
(214) 495-7353
·
Vickie Hancock Newsletter Editor (214) 495-7353
Carol Greenfield DEC Counterpart Digital Equipment Corporation
The Networks Special Interest Group (SIG) is one of 25 SIG's within in Digital Equipment Computer User's Society (DECUS). The main purpose of the Networks SIG is to promulgate information concerning the use, development, and standardization of network products that function or involve Digital Equipment Corporation systems. Addltional functions of the SIG include the coordination and scheduling of symposia sessions, providing methods for free-flow communications, publication of the Networks SIG newsletter NETWords, participation in domestic and international standards committees, input to Digital for new products and corrections to existing products, promotion of working groups for special network needs and topics, and many, many other functions.
The Networks SIG Steering Committee invites you to participate in the Networks SIG. There are many ways that you can help the Networks SIG. Some of those include chairing sessions at symposium, participation in the various Networks SIG working groups, participation in special research projects, and others. If you are interested in devoting your time and expertise, contact any of the steering committee members.
DECUS is run entirely by volunteer leadership. Help us make DECUS and the Networks SIG better - take an active part in your SIGI
NTW-3
NETWords Cover
Networks sIGSteenng Comm1 ttee.
Index The Ed1 tor's Cobwebb
V1ck1e Hancockl NETwords Editor Nat1 ve Mode ETHERNET Commun1 cat1 ons
Thomas A. Turano & Roman P1nsky, DEC Pay Now or Pay Later: Network Design & Analys1s
6111 Hancock, Consultant
NTW-1 NTW-3 NTW-4 NTW-5
NTW-6
NTW-28
NTW-4
a )filiGl 11a.i aw11llSJ ~aJUl~GJtiltJJ
r1
!
Welcome back, to those who went, from Anahetm! I stncerely hope that you did not get as cold as I out there. I was fortunate enough, however, to purchase a n1ce, warm, Mtckey Mouse jacket, so I managed to survive. warm Caltfornta, phooey! In th1s tssue we have an enltghtening art1cle on how to use Ethernet tn a nattve manner Cw1thout DECnet) ut111z1ng the OIO interface on VMS and P/OS. For those of you thtnktng about using the Ethernet as strictly a data transfer method, thts may be for you. We also have an article from Bill Hancock on the bastes of network design and analysts for you folks out there thtnktng about getttng tnto networks. We had a lot of quest1ons about that at Anahetm, so 6111 whtpped out hts pen Cor, should I say, Mac), and put together some thoughts for you to enjoy. It's hard to be11eve, but Dallas ts rtght around the corner! As a result, we w111 be putttng together a special anntversary tssue of NETWords, complete w1th useless (and useful) trivia and who knows what else. Your contrtbuttons are destred and we need them FAST. Any 1tem(s) you would ltke to contribute are welcome, so get out that pen and WRITE NOW!! See you next 1ssue!!
NTW-5
Native Mode ETHERNET Communications Thomas Turano Roman Pinsky
Laboratory Data Products Digital Equipment Corporation
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Introduction
Recently we were involved in testing a remote processor which responded to ASCII commands sent over the ETHERNET. This processor did not use DECnet. To simplify our testing procedures, we constrGcted an interactive interface which allowed a user to type a command at a terminal on a host computer and have tha~ ommana transmitted to the remote processor. The remor e p ::-c...::ess;) r's ASCII response to the command was then delivered to the ~ser's terminal on the host computer.
It was necessary to test the remote processor from both a VAX and a PRO host, so an interactive interface was built for both the VMS and the POS operating systems. Because the remote processor did not use DECnet, communications using the ETHERNET meant that QIO requests were necessary. QIO requests are not as straightforward as DECnet calls, and we felt that it might be beneficial for the readers of NETWORDS to examine how VMS and POS use QIO requests to communicate over the ETHERNET. For the purposes of this article, we have taken the POS and VMS interactive interfaces and modified them to communicate with each other rather than with a remote processor. In doing so, we hope that the mechanisms by which native mode communications over the ETHERNET can be accomplished will become clearer.
A synchronous communications protocol was used in this
application.
That is, the host node always initiated
communications by transmitting a command, and always received a
reply from the remote node before sending another command. In
the example in this article, the VAX node is the initiator of
the communications with the PRO. The synchronous protocol is
used in an attempt to maintain data integrity.
Communications protocols in general are complicated schemes for maintaining a link between computers and detecting when a link has been broken. If an established protocol (such as DECnet) is not used, it is the responsibility of the programs which are conversing to detect a communications failure and take appropriate action.
When the communications are synchronous, the initiator of the conversation can detect the loss of data. If the reply message from the remote node is lost (for example, due to multiple collisions on the ETHERNET), the initiator will timeout for failing to receive a reply to its command. If the communications protocol were asynchronous, a more complicated
NTW-6
scheme would be required to detect the loss of a message, since either node could have sent a message at any time. This article is meant to demonstrate the method by which systems can access the ETHERNET using QIO requests; a discussion of communications protocols is well beyond its scope.
ETHERNET Overview
The ETHERNET transmits data as datagrams. Each datagram consists of a 46- to 1500-byte message preceded by a header and followed by a trailer. The header of the datagram is made up of:
o an eight-byte preamble
o a six-byte destination address
o a six-byte source address
o a two-byte protocol code
The trailer consists of a four-byte cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field that is used to determine if the data was corrupted during transmission. The preamble and the CRC fields are inserted/removed by the hardware prior to transmission/upon reception of the message.
Each node on the ETHERNET has a unique address which is used in the header. Each node listens to the ETHERNET. When a node determines that a datagram has its address as the destination address, the node checks the CRC portion of the message. If the CRC shows the message is undamaged, the message is passed to the user.
When a node wishes to transmit a message, it first listens to the ETHERNET. If no other node is transmitting, the node can begin to transmit. If two or more nodes begin to transmit simultaneously, a collision occurs, and all the transmitting nodes immediately cease transmitting. A random amount of time is then allowed to lapse before each node again attempts to transmit.
At any given time, more than one user on one node may wish to communicate with more than one user on a second node. There must be a means of determining which user on a receiving node a given datagram is sent to. The protocol code portion of the datagram accomplishes this "demultiplexing" of datagrams. Each node on the ETHERNET creates a table of protocol type-destination address pairs, and only one user on that node can use an address pair at any given time.
For example, if user A on node ALPHA using protocol type 01 establishes a connection with node BETA, then user B on node ALPHA is not allowed to establish a connection with node BETA using protocol type 01. User B has to use another protocol
NT~7
type. Protocol types have been assigned under license by XEROX to the various manufacturers of ETHERNET products. Digital Equipment Corporation has been assigned a block of protocol types for its various products (for example, DECnet, LAT), and has in turn reserved the protocol type 60-06 (HEX) for its users who wish to use native mode ETHERNET communications. This is the protocol type that the example programs use.
VMS NODE
The ETHERNET program on the VMS node consists of three
routines, each of which is made up of several modules. The main
program is a FORTRAN routine called NATIVEMODE, which contains
two FORTRAN modules.
The first is a function called
DEV TRANSLATE, and the second a subroutine called TRANSACT.
DEV-TRANSLATE converts the logical device assignment given to
the receiving node to its ETHERNET physical address. TRANSACT
is the subroutine which controls the I/O to the ETHERNET.
A group of three FORTRAN functions make up the EIO routine. The first of these functions, ETHERNET ATTACH, is called directly by the main program NATIVEMODE. It assigns a channel to and sets the characteristics of the ETHERNET device. The other two FORTRAN functions perform the QIO requests to WRITE/READ to/from the ETHERNET. These two functions are called by the subroutine TRANSACT.
Finally, there is a MACRO routine ESET, called by ETHERNET ATTACH, which actually sets the ETHERNET device parameters. This routine was written in MACRO because the parameters can be easily assigned to the parameter block using assembly language.
The calltree for the VMS side of the application is:
NTW-8
NATIVEMODE (FORTRAN)
[MAIN PROGRAM]
I
+---------------+---------------+
DEV TRANSLATE
TRANSACT
TFORTRAN)
(FORTRAN)
[located in NATIVEMODE] [located in NATIVEMODE]
I
ETHERNET ATTACH
+-------+-------+
(FORTRAN)
[located in EIO]
ETHERNET WRITE
ETHERNET READ
(FORTRANT
(FORTRAN)
[located in EIO] [located in EIO]
ESET
I MACRO)
Calltree for the VMS Program NATIVEMODE
The programs are listed in the following order, NATIVEMODE.FOR, EIO.FOR, and ESET.MAR. Also note that the programs which follow are documented in line.
NATIVEMODE.FOR
c
C Program NATIVEMODE:
C Link with EIO,ESET C Edits:
c
interface over an ETHERNET link
IMPLICIT INTEGER (A-Z)
PARAMETER MAXLEN = 1518
CHARACTER*l CARRIAGE RETURN
DATA CARRIAGE RETURN/l3/
CHARACTER*l cmd(maxlen)
CHARACTER*l reply(maxlen)
CHARACTER*40 device
! dev name (TTnn or XEnn)
CHARACTER*256 errmes
array to hold error messages
BYTE unit address(6)
INTEGER dev length
length of device name
INTEGER syschan
system channel for ethernet link
INTEGER i
INTEGER cmdlen
length of data being transmitted
INTEGER cmd lun
INTEGER msglen
NTW-9
INTEGER replylen INTEGER status
length of reply being received
LOGICAL dev translate EXTERNAL dev translate
INTEGER ethernet attach
EXTERNAL ethernet attach
c c c
cmd lun = 20
OPEN (unit=cmd lun, FILE='SYS$INPUT:' ,STATUS='UNKNOWN',
1 RECL=MAXLEN)
OPEN (unit=6, FILE='SYS$0UTPUT:' ,STATUS='UNKNOWN')
c
C Set up for comm with remo~e node
C Parse logical NET$DEV if not defined inform user and exit
c
IF (dev translate ( 'NETSDEV' ,device,dev length,
1
c
unit address)) GO T0-2
C Advise user what is going on
c
WRITE(6,988)
988
FORMAT(/,' Before running NATIVEMODE, you must assign the',
1
logical NET$DEV to indicate',/,
1
which ETHERNET device YOU want to talk to ',
1
For ETHERNET links, you must issue the command:',//
1
$ASSIGN XEnn:aaaaaaaaaaaa NET$DEV' ,//,
1
where nn is the DEUNA/DEQNA controller and unit, and
1
' aa. . . is the' , I,
1
hexadecimal ethernet address of the DECNA in the '
1
'SYSTEM unit. For',/,
1
' example, to connect to the SYSTEM at address '
1
'0100A2010020 on the',/,
1
' ETHERNET controller XEAO:, use XEA0:0100A2010020.' ,/
CALL EXIT
c
C Announcement
c
2
ESCAPE = 27
WRITE (6,986) ESCAPE
986
FORMAT(/,' ',Al,'#6LNATIVEMODE ETHERNET example',//,
1
c
' For HELP, type "?" at command prompt.')
C Attach ETHERNET device link
C Inform the user that the link is attached if successful
C otherwise inform the user of the error and exit
c
status = ethernet attach(device,unit address,syschan)
IF (.NOT. status)-GO TO 9
WRITE(6,989) device,unit address
989
FORMAT(/,' [ETHERNET link' ,A<dev length>,6Z2.2,' Attached]')
GO TO 10
NTW-10
9
CALL sys$getmsg(%VAL(status),msglen,errmes,,)
WRITE(6,996) errmes
' I
996
FORMAT(' ?NATIVEMODE-F-OUTFAIL, Attach Failed',/,
1
' ',A<msglen>)
CALL EXIT
c
C Command Loop - print prompt
C Then read the input from the terminal
c
10
WRITE(6,999)
999
FORMAT(/,' Transmit: ',$)
cmdpos = 1
11
READ(cmd lun,98,END=900) (CMD(I),I=cmdpos,MAXLEN)
98
FORMAT(<MAXLEN>Al)
c
c Determine length of command typed starting from
c the end and moving back
c
cmdlen = maxlen
15
IF ( cmd ( cmd 1 en ) . NE . ' ' ) GO TO 2 0
cmdlen = cmdlen - 1
IF (cmdlen .GT. 0) GO TO 15
c
C If continuation marker, continue getting command
c
20
cmdpos = crndlen
c
C Empty commands are echoed, but ignored
c
IF (cmdlen .EQ. 0) GO TO 10
c
C Call TRANSACT subroutine to process the message
c
CALL TRANSACT (syschan,
1
unit address,crndlen,crnd,
2
c
maxlen,reply,replylen)
C Display the reply
c
WRITE(6,95) (reply(i),i=l,replylen)
95
FORMAT(' Receive: ',70Al,40(/,10X,70Al))
GO TO 10
900
CALL EXIT
END
c
C**********************************************************
c
LOGICAL FUNCTION dev translate (logical,device,
1
- dev_length,ethernet_address)
c
C Args
c
INCLUDE I ($IODEF)' INCLUDE '($SSDEF)'
NTW-11
CHARACTER logical *(*)
CHARACTER*l device(40)
CHARACTER*l hchar
! hex character from address
CHARACTER*l phy device$C(l00)
CHARACTER*lOO phy device
INTEGER dev length
INTEGER enet addr index !temps for parsing hex NI address
INTEGER phy_dev_length
INTEGER scan
INTEGER*2 hbyte
Accumulator for hex byte
INTEGER*2 nibble
place for arithmetic on hex char
INTEGER*4 status
BYTE acmode
access mode for user logical
BYTE ethernet address{6)
BYTE hbyte$B -
to copy byte from accumulated hex
BYTE log table
logical table where NETSDEV found
BYTE phy=device$B(l00>
c
C Equivalence arrays
c
EQUIVALENCE (phy device,phy device$C,phy device$B)
EQUIVALENCE (hbyte,hbyte$B)-
EQUIVALENCE (nibble,hchar)
INTEGER*4 SYS$TRNLOG
c
C Translate the logical device
C Assume failure
c
dev translate = .FALSE. status = SYS$TRNLOG(logical,phy dev length,
1
phy device,Iog table,acmode,%VAL(0))
IF (status .NE. SS$ NORMAL) RETURN-
. c
C Glean NET device (physical device up through " "
c
scan = 0
10
scan = scan + l
device(scan) = phy device$C(scan)
dev length = scan -
IF Tdevice(scan) .EQ. ':') GO TO 20
IF (scan .EQ. phy dev length) GO TO 900
GO TO 10
--
c
C If anything remains, it must be ethernet address (12 characters)
c
20
IF (scan .EQ. phy dev length) GO TO 900
IF ((phy_dev length - scan) .NE. 12) RETURN
c
C Convert data from hex
c scan = scan + 1
point to first hex character
DO 100 enet addr index = 1,6
loop through NI address
hbyte = 0
! init this hex byte, and accumulate ..
DO 50 np = 1,2
hbyte = hbyte * 16
NTW-12
nibble = 0
! clear high byte of NIBBLE
hchar = phy device$C(scan) ! load char in low
c
byte of NIBBLE
IF ( ( . NOT. ( (he ha r . GE. ' 0 ' ) · AND.
l
(he ha r . LE. ' 9' ) ) ) . AND.
l
(.NOT.((hchar .GE. 'A') .AND.
1
( he ha r · LE. ' F ' ) ) ) ) RETURN
IF ((hchar .GE. '0') .AND. (hchar .LE. '9'))
l
hbyte = hbyte + (nibble - 48)
IF ((hchar .GE. 'A') .AND. (hchar .LE. 'F'))
l
hbyte = hbyte + (nibble - 55)
scan = scan + 1
50
CONTINUE
ethernet address(enet addr index) hbyte$B
100
CONTINUE
900
dev translate = .TRUE.
RETURN
END
c
C*********************************************************************
c
SUBROUTINE transact (syschan, drop,
1
cmdlen, cmd,
2
replysize, reply, replylen)
INCLUDE '($IODEF) I INCLUDE I ($SSDEF) I
PARAMETER r efn = 1 PARAMETER e-efn = 2
INTEGER cmdlen INTEGER replylen INTEGER replysize INTEGER status INTEGER syschan INTEGER wlen INTEGER msglen INTEGER*2 r iosb(4) INTEGER*2 e-iosb(4) CHARACTER*l-cmd(*) CHARACTER*l reply(*) CHARACTER*256 errmes
INTEGER ethernet post read EXTERNAL ethernet post read
c
C Post
c
INTEGER ethernet write EXTERNAL ethernet write
read FIRST
CALL SYS$CLREF(%VAL(r efn)) status = ethernet_post read l
(r_efn,
syschan, reply, replysize, r
iosb)
NTW-13
IF (.NOT. status) GO TO 950
c
C Write the command
c
15
IF (cmdlen .EQ. 0) GO TO 35
Just post input
wlen = cmdlen
status = ethernet write (syschan, drop, cmd, wlen)
IF (.NOT. status)-GO TO 930
c
C Read the reply
c
35
CALL SYS$WAITFR(%VAL(r efn))
status = r iosb(l)
replylen =-r iosb(2)
IF (.NOT. status) GO TO 940
RETURN
c
C Error
c
930
CALL sys$getmsg(%VAL(status),msglen,errmes,,)
WRITE(6,99) errmes
99
FORMAT(' ?NATIVEMODE-F-OUTFAIL, Output QIO Failed',/,
1
' ',A<msglen>)
CALL EXIT
940
CALL sys$getmsg(%VAL(status) ,msglen,errmes,,)
WRITE(6,98) errmes
98
FORMAT(' ?NATIVEMODE-F-INFAIL, Reply READ Operation Failed',/,
1
' ' , A<msg len>)
CALL EXIT
950
CALL sys$getmsg(%VAL(status) ,msglen,errmes,,)
WRITE(6,991) errmes
991
FORMAT(' ?NATIVEMODE-F-READFAIL, READ QIO Failed',/,
1
' ',A<msglen>)
CALL EXIT
END
NTW-14
1
EIO.FOR
INTEGER FUNCTION ethernet attach (dev,address,syschan)
INTEGER eset
INTEGER status
Status returned
INTEGER syschan
Channel to the driver
CHARACTER dev *(*)
Device name
BYTE address(6)
EXTERNAL eset
Module ESET.MAR
INTEGER SYS$ASSIGN
EXTERNAL SYS$ASSIGN
c
C Assign a channel to the device
c
status= SYS$ASSIGN(dev,syschan,,)
IF (.NOT.status) GO TO 990
! On error return error
c
C Set the characteristics using the channel
c
status = eset(syschan,address)
c
C Return the status
c
990
ethernet attach = status
RETURN
END
c
C******************************************************************
c
INTEGER FUNCTION ethernet write (syschan,drop,buffer,length)
INCLUDE I ($IODEF)' INCLUDE '($SSDEF)'
INTEGER length
Length of the buffer
INTEGER status
Status of the call
INTEGER syschan
System channel
CHARACTER buffer *(*)
Transmit buffer
BYTE drop(6)
INTEGER SYS$QIOW
INTEGER*2 IOSB(4)
c
C QIO to write virtual block over the ETHERNET
c
ethernet write = SYS$QIOW(,%VAL(syschan),
1
%VAL(I0$ WRITEVBLK), %REF(IOSB),,,
2
%REF(buffer), %VAL( length),, ,%REF(drop),)
RETURN
END
c
C*********************************************************************
c
INTEGER FUNCTION ethernet_post_read (efn,syschan,buffer,size,iosb)
IMPLICIT INTEGER (A-Z)
NTW-15
INCLUDE I ($IODEF)' INCLUDE '($SSDEF)'
INTEGER efn INTEGER size INTEGER status INTEGER syschan INTEGER*2 IOSB(4) CHARACTER buffer *(*)
Event flag Size of buffer to be received Call return status System channel I/0 status block Buffer to receive message
INTEGER SYS$QIO
c
C Byte definitions for the received message
c
BYTE RECPAR(l6l
c
Info about packet and sender
(1-6) = receiver ethernet address
(7-12) = sender ethernet address
(13-14) = protocol type
(15-16) = pad field
C QIO for read virtual block
c
ethernet post read = SYS$QIO(%VAL(EFN) ,%VAL(syschan),
1
-
- %VAL(IO$ READVBLK), %REF(IOSB),,,
2
%REF(buffer), %VAL(size),,,%REF(RECPAR),)
RETURN
END
NTW-16
1
ESET.MAR
.LIBRARY /SYS$LIBRARY:LIB.MLB/
$IODEF $NMADEF $XMDEF
NMA$C- LINPR- CLR = 2
Program constants
VAX I/O definitions VAX definitions VAX Conf ig calls
Symbol not defined VMS V3.
bufsiz nbuf f maxbuf protyp
= 1500 2
= 1500 = "X0660
Ethernet buffer size Number preallocated buffers Maximum buffer size protocol type 0660 HEX
Header size values in bytes
preamble
= 8
dest address
= 6
src address
= 6
protocol
= 2
.PSECT RWDATA,PIC,NOEXE,LONG
, .
wtext: .ASCID 'WRITE' rtext: .ASCID 'READ'
PROMPTS
, .
parblk:
.WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD .LONG .WORD
NMA$C PCLI BUS buf siz NMA$C PCLI BFN nbuf f- -
NMA$C PCLI BSZ maxbuf -
NMA$C PCLI PRM NMA$C-STATE OFF NMA$C-PCLI MLT NMA$C-STATE OFF NMA$C-PCLI PAD NMA$C-STATE ON NMA$C-PCLI EKO NMA$C-STATE OFF NMA$C-PCLI OCH NMA$C-STATE OFF NMA$C-PCLI CRC NMA$C-STATE ON pNrMoAty$Cp- -PCLI - PTY
NMA$C- PCLI - CON
;BUFFER SIZE
;/PORT
;Number of buffs
; value = nbuf f
;Buffer size
; value = maxbuf f
;Promiscuous mode
; value = disabled
;Multicast address state
; value = disabled
;Pad short buffers
; value = padding enabled
;Echo mode
; value = noecho
;Data chaining
value = no chaining
;Generate CRC
; value = hardware CRC
;Protocol type
; value = protyp
;Controller mode
NTW-17
.LONG NMA$C LINCN NOR
.WORD NMA$C-PCLI ACC
.LONG NMA$C-ACC LIM
.WORD NMA$C-PCLl DES
.WORD PB40-PB30 -
PB30: .WORD NMA$C LINMC SET
uni tad: .BLKB 6
-
PB40:
pblen=.-parblk
pbdesc: .LONG
pblen
pbaddr: .ADDRESS
parblk
, value = normal
;Protocol access ; value = limited ;Shared protl dest addr ; length parm block following ;Modifier word ;6 Byte dest ETHERNET address
;Length of parameter block ;Descriptor points to pararn bl
eiosb:: .BLKQ 1 buflen: .LONG 0
; Status
;Set ETHERNET parameters ;From FORTRAN:
BYTE address(6) Filled in with destination address INTEGER syschan ! Filled in with system channel from SYS$ASSIGN INTEGER status ! to receive routine status
status = ESET(syschan,address)
.PSECT CODE,PIC,EXE
.ENTRY ESET,AM<>
MOVL #512,buflen
MOVL 8(AP),R3
;Copy ADDRESS
MOVB
(R3)+,unitad+O
MOVB
(R3)+,unitad+l
MOVB
(R3)+,unitad+2
MOVB
(R3)+,unitad+3
MOVB
(R3)+,unitad+4
MOVB
(R3)+,unitad+5
Set the mode function
$QIOW_S
RET .END
FUNC =#<IO$ SETMODE!IO$M CTRL!I0$M STARTUP>,-
CHAN @4 (AP), -
-
-
IOSB eiosb,-
P2 = #pbdesc
NTW-18
t
POS NODE
NATIVE is the main FORTRAN program running on the POS node. This program makes calls to the MACRO program SUBLNK, which contains the entry points to set the characteristics of the ETHERNET device, and send and receive messages. The POS QIO
requests called in the MACRO routines are collectively called DLX. In all, five DLX functions must be used:
0 IO.XOP - Open the line
0 IO.XSC - Set the line characteristics
0 IO.XRC - Receive a me.ssage
0 IO.XMT - Transmit a message
·
0 IO.XCL - Close the line
The IO.XOP request opens the line and assigns a network logical unit number to the ETHERNET device. The IO.XSC sets the device characteristics for the ETHERNET device. A receive request (IO.XRC) must be issued prior to issuing any transmit request. This is necessary because the PRO might not be able to post a transmit request and issue a receive request before the other system has replied to the transmitted message. Because of this, the receive request is issued with an event flag. When the event flag is triggered, the receive is completed. The transmit QIO request is designated IO.XMT, and can be issued once a read is posted. Upon completion of the program, the connection should be closed with the QIO call IO.XCL.
The calltree for the POS program is:
NATIVE (FORTRAN)
[main program]
I SUBLNK (MACRO)
[subroutine] +-------+-------+
SETLNK RDLNK WRTLNK {entry points}
Calltree for the POS program NATIVE
The FORTRAN routine NATIVE is listed next, followed immediately by the MACRO routine SUBLNK.
NTW-19
PROGRAM NATIVE IMPLICIT integer (A-Z)
c c
INTEGER setlnk,recmsg,sndmsg external macro routines
c
C
ASCII values
c
CHARACTER*80
cmd
command sent
CHARACTER*80
reply
reply received
INTEGER isb(2)
I/O status block
c
C
Define the constants
c
succes = 0
unit = 0
netlun = l ief lg = 2 replen = 80
event flag for completion of QIO read reply length can be changed
c
C
assign netlun NXO: (ETHERNET DECNA controller)
c
c
CALL asnlun(netlun, 'NX' ,unit,idsw)
if (idsw .lt. 0) stop 'error assign lun'
c
c
C Set the ETHERNET driver characteristics and open line
c
CALL setlnk(netlun)
IF (status .LT. succes) GOTO 200
C Post read first
5
status= recmsg(reply,replen,netlun,isb,ieflg)
C Read the message to be sent
WRITE(5,9)
READ(5,10)(cmd(i:i),i=l,80)
IF ( cmd ( 1 : 1) · EQ. ' E' . OR. cmd ( 1 : 1) · EQ. ' E ' ) GOTO 10 0
9
FORMAT(/,' Transmit: ',$)
10
FORMAT (80al)
C Transmit message
C Determine length of command typed
cmdlen = 80
15
I F ( cmd ( cmd le n : cmd 1en ) . NE · ' ' ) GOTO 2 0
cmdlen = cmdlen - 1
IF (cmdlen.gt.0) GOTO 15
20
status = sndmsg(cmd,cmdlen,netlun)
NTW-20
IF (status .LT. succes) GOTO 200
call waitfr(ieflg)
wait for event
IF (status .LT. succes) GOTO 200
WRITE(5,21) (reply(i:i),i=l,isb(2)) GOTO 5
display message
100
CONTINUE
21
FORMAT (' ' ' Receive: ',<isb(2)>Al)
CALL exit
200
WRITE(5,22) status
22
FORMAT(x,' QIO status return is: ',lI)
CALL EXIT
END
.SBTTL MACROS and Data Definitions
System directives
.MCALL DLXDF$ .MCALL EPMDF$,EXIT$S .MCALL QIO$S,QIOW$S .MCALL WTSE$S DLXDF$ EPMDF$
Constants
cc.app = 3140
Protocol (60-06)
Data storage
.PSECT data
nwsb: .BLKW 2
; Network status block
device:.ASCII /CNA-0/ ; Device name
devl = .-device ; Device name length
.EVEN
netlun: .word
chrbuf:
.WORD . WORD .WORD .WORD .WORD
device characteristics buffer
CC.DST 10 .
0
0 CC.APP
Characteristics type Number of bytes of characteristics data Output data byte count Characteristics status Protocol type
NTW-21
.WORD LF$PAD .WORD 0
LF$PAD padding required protocol flag to turn LF$PAD off
protocol-destination address pair in HEX
This sets up the protocol-destination pair as in a table.
destination address
.BYTE 10
08
.BYTE 0
00
.BYTE 53
2B
.BYTE 0
00
.BYTE 7
07
.BYTE 47
27
chrl = .-chrbuf
source address
.BYTE 252
.BYTE 0
.BYTE 04
.BYTE 0
.BYTE 312
.BYTE 34
chrl = .-chrbuf
.SBTTL Main Routine .PSECT setlnk
setlnk::
open line
MOV
@2(R5),netlun
QIOW$S TSTB BMI
#IO.XOP,netlun,,,#nwsb,,<#device,#devl,#0>
nwsb
Test the return status
Serr
Branch on error to fail set status, else
check status
setchr: set characteristics
$err: setok:
QIOW$S TSTB BMI
CMP BEQ
MOV JMP
#IO.XSC,netlun,,,#nwsb,,<#chrbuf,#chrl>
nwsb
; Test the return status
Serr
; Branch on error to fail set status, else
check status
#CS.SUC,chrbuf +6; Check characteristics status word
setok ; If OK avoid the error handling
nwsb,RO f ini
; return status of QIO first word
NTW-22
fini:
MOV
chrbuf+6,RO
RETURN .END
t
return characteristic status word
. RDLNK
,
.SBTTL MACROS and Data Definitions
., System directives
. ,
.MCALL DLXDF$ .MCALL EPMDF$,EXIT$S .MCALL QIO$S,QIOW$S .MCALL WTSE$S DLXDF$ EPMDF$
. Constants
,
.
cc.app = 3140
I
; Protocol (60-06)
.PSECT data
nwsb: .blkw 2
recbuf:.word; receive buffer
recbl: .word ; Length of buffer
netlun:.word; netlun
.ief lg: . word
. I
'
-----------------------------------------------------
.
Receive characteristics buffer
r' ecchr:
.WORD CC.DAD ; Read destination address parm
.WORD 6
Input data byte count
.WORD 0
Output data byte count
.WORD 0
; Characteristics status
.WORD 0
ETHERNET address
.WORD 0
.WORD 0
.WORD CC.ADR
source address parameter
.WORD 6
Input data byte count
.WORD 0
Output data byte count
.WORD 0
Characteristics status
.WORD 0
ETHERNET address
.WORD 0
.WORD 0
.WORD CC.PRO ; Protocol type parameter
.WORD 2
Input data byte count
.WORD 0
Output data byte count
.WORD 0
Characteristics status
.WORD 0
; Protocol type
NTW-23
reel = .-recchr
.PSECT recmsg
recmsg::
MOV
2(R5),recbuf
address of buffer to receive message
MOV
@4(R5),recbl
value buffer length
MOV
@6(R5),netlun
value of NETLUN
MOV
8.(R5),nwsb
I/0 status block 2 word
first is a status,second is a length of the message
MOV
@10.(R5),ieflg ; event flag to be wait on in FORTRAN
program
QIO$s
#IO.XRC,netlun,ieflg, ,nwsb,,<recbuf,recbl,#recchr,#recl>
done: MOV $dsw,RO
; return status directive word
RETURN
.END
.
'
Wrtlnk MACRO subroutine
.SBTTL MACROs and Data Definitions
System directives
.MCALL DLXDF$ .MCALL EPMDF$,EXIT$S .MCALL QIO$S,QIOW$S .MCALL WTSE$S DLXDF$ EPMDF$
Constants
cc.app = 3140 ; Protocol (60-06)
Data storage
nwsb:
.PSECT data .BLKW 2
.EVEN
Network status block
. Buffer space
x' mtbuf: .word xmtbl: .word netlun; .word
buffer address buff er length net log unit number
Transmit characteristics buffer
senchr: .WORD .WORD
CC.ADR ; Set ETHERNET address for transmit
6
; Length of address
NTW-24
t
.WORD 0 .WORD 0
Size of data output Characteristics status
.
e' thdst:
.BYTE .BYTE .BYTE .BYTE .BYTE .BYTE
destination address in HEX and Octal
252 0 04 0 312 34
protocol type
protyp: .WORD .WORD .WORD .WORD .WORD senl =
CC.PRO Set protocol type
2
Length of protocol data
0
Size of data output
0
Characteristics status
CC.APP Protocol type
.-senchr; Length of the transmit char buffer
'. ---------------------------------------------------
.PSECT sndmsg
sndmsg::
MOV
2(R5),xmtbuf
MOV
@4(R5),xmtbl
MOV
@6(R5),netlun
address of xmtbuf value of xmtbl value of netlun
sf ail: done:
QIOW$S CMP BNE MOV
Jmp
#IO.XTM,netlun,#1,,#nwsb,,<xmtbuf,xmtbl,#senchr,#senl>
#CS.SUC,$dsw
Compare the status word and success
sfail
If unsuccessful go to error handle
nwsb,RO
return I/O status of completion QIO
done
done
MOV
$dsw,RO
return status directive word
RETURN .END
NTW-25
.. . .. ..... - - - -- _, __ __ ... ... ................. ...... '. ' '"''"'" .,, .........,"'·"'·'....""'''"""'"'' """' '"""' "''' , ,, "'' .,,., ""' ,,.,,,,,, ., , """' '"" '"'"'"'"'' ,,, ~,
...
........~... __..__................__................................. _,,_,,, ~................. .. .......-~ ,, . ., ,._,,.,.,,
,,.. _,...,. " ............... _., .., ...............
POS requires two additional files to task-build an application on the PRO. The first is the ODL file which contains the linkage relationships between the components of the program.
NATIVE.ODL
.ROOT native-sublnk-OTSROT-RMSROT,OTSALL @LB:[l,5]PROF77 @LB:[l,5]RMSRLX
.END
The second file is the command file NATIVE.CMD, which tells the OS which LUNs to assign to which devices. The priority switch /PR:O must be included. Failure to do this causes the OS to return the error condition indicating insufficient privilege.
NATIVE.CMD
native/fp/pr:O,native/-sp=native/mp ASG=TI: 5 ASG=NKO:l ASG=DW1:2 GBLDEF=TT$LUN:5 GBLDEF=MS$LUN:6 GBLDEF=WC$LUN:O oldfile - newfile services GBLDEF=HL$LUN:O help GBLDEF=MN$LUN:O menu GBLDEF=TT$EFN:l system event flag terminal I/0 CLSTR=PROF77,POSRES,RMSRES:RO II
To build this application on the PRO, the main routine NATIVE is first compiled using the command:
FOR/LIST native
Then, the MACRO routine SUBLNK is assembled using the command:
MACRO/LIS/OBJ [l,5]netlib/LIB,[directory]sublnk
Finally, the objects are linked using the Program Application Builder:
RUN $PAB PAB>@NATIVE.CMD
Using the Communications Routines
NTW-26
Both the VMS and POS programs assume that the other node's program is running before transmitting a message. The VMS program, NATIVEMODE, also requires that the POS node it is to communicate with is identified. Before running NATIVEMODE, the DCL command ASSIGN must be issued to assign the logical NET$DEV to the address of the POS node with which NATIVEMODE is to connect. From DCL, issue the command:
$ASSIGN XEnn:aaaaaaaaaaaa NET$DEV where nn is the ETHERNET controller on the host system, and aa ... is the hexadecimal ETHERNET address of the POS node. For example, to connect to the POS node at address 0100A2010020 on the ETHERNET to which the controller XEAO: is connected, use: $ASSIGN XEA0:0100A2010020 NET$DEV The use of logicals allows the NATIVEMODE program to connect to different POS nodes simply by reassigning the logical designation NET$DEV.
Conclusions Native mode ETHERNET provides a simple means of communicating across the ETHERNET without using the DECnet protocol. Although the development of a protocol requires extensive work, there are applications which might benefit from such an effort. The use of QIO requests on the VMS system and DLX requests on the POS system provides a straightforward means of accomplishing native mode ETHERNET communications. The demonstration programs shown should provide the reader with a sufficient template to use DLX/QIO requests for ETHERNET communications in both the POS and VMS systems.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to express their appreciation to Bob Lordi who wrote the original version of the VAX program and Jenny Simich and Susan Brown who expended a great amount of effort in turning our engineering notes into this article.
NTW-27
- ....................... ............................. .·..~-----··-~·----··-·-···-···· "··-···-""···-···~···-"
' '""'"""'""'"'-·-·---·---··-······-···---···--····~---"-·····
'91111¥ er ,., t..ter: llltvert Dalt· ... A·1t81·
1111 lllacect. CSP 2510 llmste· La. S.rl·... Taa 75040 ( 214) 495-1353
·NIN, w don't need to wste our ttme enelvztna tM netwrlc conft9uratton. All w lmlld to do vea bug the hlrdwre ve lmlld end 1 DEC.t ltce·. DEC.t 1a 1nsta111d ever~here, so 1·m
sure that w ma tM rt9ht cbotce. After en, tt vorb for ever11tne else, does'nt tt?·
Right.
-We theught about dotng 1 thorough deston. We even looked into using ·me consultants to help ·, but tM corporate tua thDught that tt Wll Wiited ti· end tM comulants cost too much. Fnnlcl1, I'm a ltttle concerned; I've never a.en involved withe netwrlc before:
Nlcetrv.
·1 thtnt that ve11 do It ouraelvea. Netwrt design can't be thlt much more different thin eppHcettone programming. Beltdel, I\le a.en in computer ICience fore long tt me end I cen l·rn
1nuthtna out of1boot,·111 Just oet ·me boot, read up on tt, ind deaton the netwrt:
Hedicl Thi···'· 90nM diet
Whit tDU hM JUlt read en ect·l statements that I hM hid the per.nel pl·ure of helrt na for tM exc· of rm GDina through the proper motions to design a netvorlc. YuckIFor time of gou vho read this 1nd hid 1n experience of deJ· vu, read on. This 1rttcle Is about netvort desl9n
end enelpt1 - vhlt tt t1, vhv gou need it, end vhlt hlppene tf gou don't do it.
Nltvort desl9n end 1nelpt111 ·term w networkl na tvpes applv to tM bale nthDds ··erv to PROPERLY design· netvorlc. Aproperlv geMnted netwrlc design can provide· compenv vith the fo11WI ng benefttl:
· Proper enelpts ofextsttna equipment for netwrlc tnsta11atton oUlt Of reqUlrements for netvortc 1nste11atton o Proper conft9uratton of netwrk cempo·ntt for optimum colt llYinp oAnetwrlc topologg thlt is flext ble end edapteble oCornet selection of netwrk hardware for the network function oCorrect ·lectton of netvort aoftwre for tM netwrk function o Documentation Of tM network for future enhancements end modlftcat1ons ot119ntton peth 1nto future network technoleotes vtthout n-desl9n oA1011 netwrt ltfe-cvcle (reductna tM costs of potential replecement) o Interconnect pethl end methods for multiple network architectures oU.r ··lpt1 end conft9uratton of netvork neourcea for optimel u.
NTW-28
1
o Netvork me11g9ment plan end methDdo'logv to reduce doYntime end ellw for maximum use of IYllleble reaoun:ea o Expstettons for performance, nliebilttv,.·nd usebtlttg oOptimal prognmmlng environment for netwrk(ed) eppHCltio· oTntntng needs for programmen, usen,and netvort meA1119n o Recurrtngexpeneeforecattngend budgettng methadt o Netvork support needs (prognmming, management, user support) otJae of nta.nttcal mode11ng tools to a.1p tnsun ta. sucess ofta. netwrlc dllt9n end topologv oOpttmel design to prevent netwrlc congestion, q·uetno delav, and proper placement of routtng end management reaoun:a on ta. netwrk
so, for 111 IGU vould-be network c1est1nen, tete a a.rd look at ta. above ltst and ten IGUntlf
that IGUr Mtvork deli9n encom...-. ell the above t11ues end needs. And for thole of IGU about to embark on the netwrlc tnll, ale 18Untlf tf VDU hive edeq.telv ensvend this list of ttems. If gou have, super I If gou have Mt, IGU have'nt properlg destgned 1GUr netvort.
Netvorlc dest9n ts much mon ta.n ordering the perts and pteces from 1 vendor. It ts much more
tlmn tM auggestio· tM veldJr vtws VDU for confhJuntion of VDUr netwrt. Al a potential user
of netwrlc components, VDU hive tM final declaton on ang netwrlc conft9untion and· matter vhlt ta. vendDr tells IGU to buv, ta. ft nal dec1ston to buv nsts upon IGUr shoulders. Whit thlt meen1, folb, i1 that if the Mtvorle cloeln't worle 11 promoted to management, VDU cen blame the vendor, but the ultimete penon nspomible ts gou, the penon vho recommended to management the netvorlc components to bu1. And, tf IGU think for one llCOnd that the smiling vendor across tM ·le from 'JOU it 91ring to recom·nd ·me otMr veldJr thin hhneelf for tour network, veu are etther natve or vou have been Hstentng to too much vendor hvpe ("We'n Mt here to mete ··Y - w·n hen to be VDUr frtendt·). SO, nmember, the person that will catch the blame from VDUr compenv tn tM end t· Mt tM vendDr - it'· toul So, if veu wnt to truat veur vendDr, Qnet. Penonallu, ta.n an tev people Ivould consider queltfted netvort desttnen and vou can
bet that vou ere Mt 98111 to 91t 1CC111 to tMm from· vendor for free. Remember, VDU tit vhat
VoU pe9for.
The ftnt ltep of netwrt dllttn it identification ofthe need for · netwrt. While thlt mev ·m obvious, fw compentes stt dovn and spend ·me time lGQicallv defining the rwons for fllltlntng · netwrlc. Going through this exercf· tells IGU whither or Mt e llllwrk fs nee111arv to eccompltsh the dlltnd function or vMtMr there it a more .t-effecttve method to ·lve ta. problem at a.nd. IWI·'*' to delltn 1 netvort for alarQe ftnanctal companu one ttme end lfter looktng over the needs verv ceretunv, I told them that thev didn't need· network. M ftnt, the meR1g1ment of the compeng thought tblt I ws nuts ba· their vendor hid a..n a.mmertng on them for months thlt the1 needed 1 netvort. Thl1 stmP11 toot it for QOSpel thlt
tMv needed one end event·llv tM vendor tDt to the upper meR1g1ment end convinced tt.m that
theu needed 1 netvorlc to ·lve their ·problems: I WI called tn baUlt the customer dtdn1 know envthlng about netwrktng end dfd not 111¥1 the ultimete confide· fn the veldJr's efforts to find tM ·rt9ht· tolutton, "91nll· of vblt the vendDr tolutto· vere. After wrlctng on tM project for three web.. Ifound that the methodolOOV adopted bV the compenu·s management for dlstrtbutt ng workload end the reporting hienrch9 in¥01ved ws functtontng verv well and there wsl· t..nSS out-flwofvort toott.r compengenttttes. Whit this meent wstblt 95Sof the vorlc betng dDne tn the respecttve branches staljld within the branch and did Mt nqut n corpo,.. intervention to Q1t wort eccompltalled. Al·, all wort VII dDne fne rwoneble menmr and plectng a computer tn the middle of the pepervort effort vould dD Mthlng but slw things
NTW-29
'"'"'-""""'"' """ "'"~" -·····--,.-·-·-·H-.o·M···-··-·-·-·--.......----.........~-. . . . .-...............,,.,,.,~..,.. """'"'""""'"-"""""'"'"-'"""""''"'"'"""'""""""""'"'-"" ····· . . . . ._""""'""""'..._,.,,_,,.._~-" -"·~-·-·-··0000-"""'"""'
d!Nn (Qll, vtrvt·, computen ere not 11wp better). I wnt l.:lc to the custo·r"a
·Dlll·nt end explet· ell of thts to tt.m end ta.v tmmedletelv celled ta. vendor end dennded en explellltton. The vendor told them I""' wrong end pr oceedlll to do the o· thing thlt 1 vendor should never do - cut d!Nn tt. competition. stnce I VII their ·competition,· it VII obYlous to tt.m thlt I"" trvtng to deprive them of1 1111 end theu felt thlt thev wre right end I W11 wrong. Now I""' ...a11 spent another tw web (et the catomer·s request) thoroughlv docu·nttng tt. leek of need for the network and 1111 ftghttng ··of the trntto·l claims of the vendDr (I ·kid the vendDr oa whv 1t VII thlt theg wre pushtng the net.tort ao herd when
the customer didn't need tt; thltr 1nwer VII ·Bice·:). At the end, tM vendor l.:lced off thltr
clllma · ta. vendor t.I not do· 1 thorough (or even partial) job of looting et the customer·s .-.1111 hDv the custonr collluclld bust nesa. T.. vendor Im · tdel ·to whit the customer·s plans wn for the next ftal veer nor did the vendor bother to look tnto the budgetlrv constn1nts that the customer WI under. All the vendor cared about WI attng the 11le - no matter hDY much the custonr did not need it or hoY much it cost.
The entt re hlssle could hive been Mlded If the customer Im thought, careful v, about whv thev ·needed· 1 netwrlc. IRlteld~ the customer VII hllYllg tnfluenced bv the vendor"· 11111 tactics end GDt wept up tnthe buutng frenzu that usuell uaccompanies 1 treat anu 11les of .tvorlcs. Alao, the cuetonr should hive loobd tint to the compenv business plan - it vtll tell veu whither · .twrlc t1 ·1111rv to achieve the buetn111 goel1 ofthe compenv or not, bllecl upon expected artet penetntton, arovth factors, profttebtlttv requirements, 1111 peraon·l requtrennts. So, rule number one ts melce sure thlt VDU need 1 .tvorlc - don't QD out end bug om due to unj usttfted 1nter·l pressure, verar pr111ure, or .-r pressure (ges, w 111 vish
thlt w hid a netvort Just 11Ice compenv xd!Nn the street).
After 1 need for 1 netvork hit been esttbltahlld, rule number tvo tn network desttn ts applied: whit ts tt suppoeed to do 1111 hDv much is tt going to cost?
Whit tt ts suppoaed to do tt 1 matter of detlnl ng, verv cerefullu, vhlt functto·11tv ta. netvork t1 to offer. If tt t1 electronic men, file trenlfer, or tlllc-to-tlllc communicettone, oreet, but WRITE IT DOWNIAlao, keep the blle functio·Htv of the network cl·r, consiae, and simple. Too anv QDOd tntenttom Qet shot d!Nn beCI· the blle retto·l· WI too complex for technical penonml to undentend, much 1· the meA191ment penonml who hive to approve end budoet for tt. Remember that gour compeng's ···nt ts the stanlng euthorltu for technical pure'- 1111 direction,, l"fJIJllnll· of whit VDU hive been told. If thev cen"t undentllll whit the .-. are,, veu can bet thlt thev v111 be ·n thin a little eppnhemrive about i nstellt ng
technoloav thev do not undentllll. I once told · compenu thlt a network does notht na end then
explained thlt tf tt did engthing et ell, thev 1hould be oled. Setting expectettoa t1 verv important and this is eccompltst.I bg carefullv defining the netvork functio·lttv.
So fer, tdenttftcetton of need end identtftcetton of functto·Htv hive been defined. NoY corn11 the problem of cost. Networks ere just ltlce sustems in menu wus: thev hive ·life cucle, thev requtre periodic upgrading ·Ill expansion, there ere recurring costs such es softvare end hll'Mn rneinte·nce, telco aervtce, packet aervices, modems,, etc., thev requtre penonml to ···nt 1111 rne1 ntet nthe netvork components, softvare mev need to be developed · there mev be costs for softvere engineering or eppltcettom proaremming, etc... The point t1 this: if VDU thtnk that beCI· network components are less expensive then a otven sptem, thtnk .an.
The ovenn cost ofaervtces 1111 expenston vtn shiv that over 1 period ofti·, the netvork ·v
turn out to be the most costlv portten of veur ovenll computing plan. Whg? Stmple. Netwrb,
for 111 the htoh-tech bruhlhl theu hive oenented, ere verv expensive to tnsten end oper*
NTW-30
1
over e period of time beceU88 theg ere ·11rvtce-intensive: Whet this refers to is the feet thet networks require the use of vendor services more than a tvptcel computer sustem might due to their inherent complexitv end leek of 1 Yide undemanding of network technologv bg users, progremmers, and managers. Netwrb are used for communications and communications serv1ces are expens1ve. Yes, netwrb cen save a compenv a lot of monev If THEY ARE USED CONSISTENTLY AND PROPERLY. The Sid tiring is thet Yithout proper design, neither consistencg or proper use of a net'iOrlc is achieved bg most netwrlc users. To illustrate hlN expenses can creep up on gou, here are some things that affect the cost of netwrlcing:
oCost of hard\llre components (modems, cebling, channel tnterfaces, controllers, cabi netrv, protocol converters, 1i ne conditioners, protocol analgzers, time domain reflectometers, frequencv spectrum analvzers, breakout boxes, btt error rate testers, multiplexers, packet assembler /disassembler boxes, trefftc anal gzers response ti me anal vzers, phone set tester, line testers, manual and automatic witching units, autodtalers, protocol stmulators, converters, data encrgption equipment, auto call beet units, data compression units, junction penels, 1t ne drivers, protocol converters, repeaters, bridges, voice frequencv testers, front-end procestors, servers, and manv others)
oCost of sonwre components (netwrlc1 no architecture pectages (such
IS DECnet, S~, TCP/IP, end others), protocol emulators, protocol converston, data compression, data analvsis, netwrlc management, netwrt troublesboottng, netwrlc stattsttcs, netwrt secur1tg, netwrk applications (such IS electronic mail, distributed data baae applications, office sgstems, etc...), operating sptem interfacing softvareI etc...) o Cost of operational services (leased-line cost, building conduit space costs, peclcet-Nitch netwrk hookups, peclcet-Nitcbed network lcilopaclcet charges, equipment leases, cable installation end add-ons, earth station channel charges, transponder channel charges, dial- up charges (dlvttal serv1ce), dial-up charges (analog serv1ce), service surcharges for exceeding pre-agreed usage levels of shared services, general equipment maintenance, softvare maintenance, ptclcup/deliverv end destination charges, line conditioning, per-call maintenance, per-call consulting services, administrative charges, etc .. .) o Cost of consulting (netwrk design, data collection, data reduction and analvsis, net'iOrlc topologv, traffic matrix, routing matrix, performance models, app11cettons destQn, app11cettons programmtng, queueing delag enalgsts, netwrk technologg ISS888ment, netwrk implementation, network installation, network management, netwrk user training, netwrlc progremmer training, network manager tretning, network project management, network troubleshooting and fault finding, netwrlc enhancements and add-ons, netYork Interconnect des1Qn and implementation, interconnect training, netwrk planning, netwrk facilities survev, and manv more) oCOst of replacement due to 1mproper 1ntt1a1 destgn (all of the above plus the original cost to implement the current netwrk)
NTW-31
- - · - - · _ --- ____ .._ __ __ - __ .... .......,, -....-....~.................____,........
........................ _.,_,,
_ --, _ .... ... .. ,,........., ...... ,. , ............... ,, ""'·""" "'"'""'"_, ,,,.,. .. ........
............. ,_, ,_____,_,,_,,.,
Whtie tht1 mag look ltb en extensive ltst, tt t1n't. That means that then en plent, of other costs that can come out of nwhere that wre not expected or not properlu planned for. You meu look et thla ltst end ·· to IJOUraelf thet IJOU don't need 111 the stuff listed 1bo¥e. Thta ·· be tr·, but I feel thet with the influx of netvork technDlogg end the price of the hlnlwn droPP1na, uou vtn ftnd uounelf1nvo1Yld 1n netvort1na 1n the · r future 1f uou ere not elrtldu involved. This el· means that elthltugh IJOU mag nDt ··me ofthe equipment end components Hated eboYe, vhet's to ·IJ thet uou will nDt later on tn IJOUr current compeng or in ·me other computtng 11fe? Bg the wu, for ell uou MicroVAX 11 bU'8rs out there, do gou hltnestl utht nk that IJOU can dD withltut en Ethernet betveen them for too long? Ditltel dDeen't thtnk ·· For all IJOU compentes buvlna 11¥ ll's end nDt thtnt1ng about netvort1ng them, dream on. Menu compentes thet Idlll vith ere just now starttng to· the problem of purchlstng MY ll's. It's nDt the cost of the hlnlwre or the functtoneltt' (vhtch are superb, b· the ..,.,) - its the distributed management, support, end 1ogtst1cs costs thlt t111 uou.
NIN thet w lwve tdenttfted 1 Med for 1 netwrk, ve knw vhet it is supposed to do, end ve knw that there ere a lot of thtngs thet can etrect the cost, the next thtng to do ts rule number three of netvork deai9n: the lite aurve,.
The atte aunev ta nDt e trivtel thtng. Site aunep involve the canful exemtnetton of compenv flctltttea, building erchtttctun, pho· flctlttiea (tf IJOU are using pho· ltnea), extattng computer hint.tare end sottwre components, mmtneuon of extst1ng contracts (to see 1f some
elreed' CO¥er the needs for the network), power fectlttta, HYAC fectltties, wi rewp and vi n
centers, electromagnetic interference possibilities, radio freq·nclJ interference possibilities, 111etu 1asues, ·urttg 1ssues, building vtrtng end ftre codes, electr1ca1 codes, recept1on end 1htpP1ng fectlttta, building ntntenence capebtlttta, on-lite or vendor metntenence capebtltttes, end other related items. Whtle this mllJ tntttellu ·m to be nDt neceaseru, consider vhet happened to 1 friend of mtne vhen he WIS designing the cable laVout for 1 larve electric compen,. He carefullg IMllUnd t.. cable length needa end Uled ·building diagram Given to him bu the c.to·r a the bests for leuout of the vi re plan. Whit he did not know WIS that he WIS using en old plan end thet meng of the wlls end virewp hid changed. Al 1 result, he planned wire runs dlrectlg through the wmen's restroom, vhlch WIS not on the building diagnm. fortunetelg, stnce 1 proper stte tunev tnvolves the c.tomer, softwre, hint.tare, ·les, ·rvice, end other ·lected per.n·l, the mia-l·Vout of the vtre plen vea caught befon the
plan ws ft neltzed end corrections wre made. Site survep tnvolve menu people end require quite 1 btt oftime to properl'J l·V out the netwrk tn the envtronment t nwhich it "'111 function end to t·un thet 111 the ·p111J1ra· 1n vhere t..v1n auppoeed to be vhen thev an 1uppoeed to
be there to 1naure 1 smooth tnsta11et1on of the netvort.
Rule number four ts the beslc netwrk design, date collection/nductton, end date 1nelpts. Netvork del1Qn, a I se1d before, 1s not a stmple a throwing the vtre dlNn, hoot1ng tt up, end toatng ·me Mftwn on the mechl·. Netvork delt9n t1 · ICtence thet hie 9rwn quite complicated · more end more sophtsttceted netwrb hive evolved. Anetvork desioner starts out bg acttwlgand eggnsstvelvtnvestigattng 111 the needs, vents, hopes, and aptnttons for the netwrk thlt 1compang viahel to implement. He then tabs the just1ftcatto· thet e compeng hie vrttten up., the functtone11tu statement, end ti· atte survelJ end tdenttftes mtastng perts end pieces necn11r, to the network desi9n. folloving collection of date to .ttlfg the perts end
pieces thet en mtatng, the designer sets out to tnvestt911t the proper tvpe of technD109· thet the companu requl res now end to achieve thet r future Q081s for the netvork. lsolet1on of the
proper techno109v ta a critical step tn ·ltd netvork deat9n. Bv providing elternettve technologies, the netvork destoner can Clive the customer e fev aood opt1ons bu vhtch to
NTW-32
t
implement t· Mtwrk, vhtch cen result in time end cost SIYinge 11 wll 11 reducing t· risk of 1 single netwrk technologg ceustng netwrk failures due to flws.. bugs.. or other problems. Once 1 aeries of techmlogtes 111¥1 ·n defined, tt. dest9ner tt.n uses mett.mlticel modeling teols (manual end computer-bleed) to figure out date flov ratios, problbiltttea of error, queueing delep., Interconnect problems., least-cost netwrk topoloatcel leuout., routing paths., redundlncu pethl, end menu ·re nece111ru items eaeentiel to aoltd network dest9n. Tim mdeled date ts collected and reduced to nmnlntful flCtl end ft9urea about t· des19n end compared to netwrlc requl rements dictated bV t· customer. If the results tit the requlrements vindlni, the netwrk deat9n being enelped meu lie .tul int· cuetomer't eRYtronment (pnwlded it meets phptcel needs, support needs., etc.). This pncess ta repeated for everu reeeonable netwrk· technol09u until 111 t· potential technologies ere completelv modeled. following t· modeling of netwrk date, 1 ftnanct1l 1nelpts is done to determine hov much t· network ta 91ring to cost to Implement., start-up, metntetn., end expend. Thts la another exhaustive enalpta thlt requires thought on the future of t· network 11 wn 11 epplvt ng pncttcel experience vtth the theorettcel network model. Ffnallu, an 1191SSment analysts ts perform.I to identifu netvorb thlt ere ·moat· useful (cl.at to the desired functtonamv> end ieest· useful (on the right track, but not cl...t to the deal red combtnation of price/performance/... of uee, etc...). Once en of these items hM been done, the netwrk designer takes the results beck to the site surveu teem alll wries vtth them to iron out enu perttculer problems vtth t· netwrlc dest9ns 11 wll 11 ·lp i·lete vhich deat9n beet suits t· needs oft· cuetomer.
Another document the network dest9ner vtll t'ptcallv generate i1 one *fintng penonnel needs and operational considerations. Thts document tvptcalhJ describes the tupe of penonnel
nece.rv to get the Job do· end vhlt lctnd of penon·l vtn be necesserv for the ·v-to-dlv
tupport oft· Mtwrlc end tts related componentt. In addition tot· beee penonnel needt, 1
breelcdovn of costt ng for such penonnel might also be t ncl uded.
Once a particular netwrk deat9n hit ·n identified bg t· netwrk deai9ner and t· site survev teem, · formal design document la drifted vhtch documents the ntto·le for the destan. a description of the components, e network topologv, a vtring diegrem, expansion capabilities,
expected life cvcle, applications support eRYtronment (and r-bte descriptions, if applicable),
netwrk maneaement environment, potential problems, dlta throughput anelpta, testing and veriftcetton pncedura, identifiCltion of Mtwrk inatelletton ret0urca, en implementation timetable, penon·l end tretntng needs.. cost analusts.. end rtsb. The formal desion document ta the blckbone to the network design 1111 aerves 11 1 9utdelt ne for implementation 1111 expansion. Follovtng generation oft· deat9n document, a preeentltion is al· cneted for t· cuetomer's management so thlt ell perttes Involved thoroughl v understand vhlt t· network loob 1tIce, vhat it ts capable of doing, what resources are required, hov long it vtll take to implement tt and hov much it vill cost to fmplement, support, end maintain.
Bv nov veu hive problblv reelized that t·re ta not 1 .twrk in piece, vet, end still t·re hive been quite a fe'i people Involved end an obvious amount of vork his been done. Whv oo throuoh
ell thta 9rief just for 1 netwrlc?
TM anaver 1s 11mple end vet complex (the utn end VIAD of netwrb): proper bustMll
procedure and reduction of potenttel risks. I hid a management friend of mt ne come up to me once and 11ked me vhv ell of thta ws lllCIS9lrv for the ·Ice of installing a Yin, some controllers, end some sottwre. I told htm thlt It ls Hice plegtng the stock market. There ere people vho buv ·
stock llecauee tt ioots· toOd; thev mev not hM qualified the prospect, but thev hive a toOd feeling about tt, so thev buv the stock. Thia ts the ·out felr eppr.h. Sometimes tt vorb,
NTW-33
, - - - - - - - - - - · - - .. ,,,-,..........,.,,
aomettm11 it dolln't, but studies have proven thlt tt doll not wrlc more often thin not (about
78Sfltlures).Granted, tMreereaomethlt ·mto lcnw lw to ueethegut feel ·PP"*hver,
reed·· wll 1111 are wr, pd et tt, butt'- people ere wr, few 1111 fir betwen. T,. .colll t,pe tr.,
to plet ta. steclc nrbt on their wn. ra.., reed up on tt for 1vhtle,
enelpia wrk on
Qlven atoclc tupes, end proceed to uee 1 dlacount broker to Invest thetr moneu tn atocb thlt the'
·lect. Thta ·PP"*h ta ua·llv not suceSlful for 1wrt long timed· to the long leerntng curve
necemrlJ to plelJ t· stm:lc 919· 1111 t· wd to vetch stocb over 1 prettlJ fltr piece If tia.
The aelf-brolcer stock plever ts ··ll· dlsmell1 profttable et ftrst end me1 Improve later on 1f
· doll not Git fruetreted 1111 quit ft rst. TM tlri rd t.,pe If steck ple'8r ta t,. ht9h-rl1k optione
pleuer. Thts t'pe C1n be 111mbler tgpe end CIA nice 1 lctntng or GO buet tn · ntter of····
Opttom pleuers 111¥1 to r111lg understelll tlm nrlcet to pl11 wll 1111 profit. Tim fourth t1pe ts
ta. steck plever thlt . . a broker to Invest Iris monev in stecb in hepes thlt tlm broker can
ptclc tlm right stocb end melce the right decisions to generate 1 proftt for the atoclc plauer. Thts
ts aomwhlt attn to using aconsultant: there ere wr'J, ver, pd stock brokers, but there ere a
lot of mediocre or paor stm:t brokers vhe ere not overlu cautious Yith their customer·s
111¥1Stnntt 1111 C1n ruin potenttellu reaoneble dells. The ftnel t'Jpe of stock plever ts one vho
1· 1 atoclc expert end CIA pl·'J tlm 91n himeelf vtth confidence d· to lri· in-depth 1111 expert
understanding of tlm stack merbt. I then told mu friend thlt most people ere veru l·ru about
pl1..,tng t,. stocb bt t,.maelws. Iaked Mm lw nn, options pl1vers he knew and how nmnv
expert steck plavers Im knev. He answnd thlt hi didn't lcniN anv. Most people interested in the
stack market tru to ft nd 1 QOOd broker end the amount the1 PIU the broker ts wrth tt for the
lower risk thlv ere taking, the lack of need to become 1 ·9uru· in the stock nrlcet methodologv,
not to mention t · reduction in time thlt it takes to monitor their investment.
WMn looking et network design and ··1pis, the nt n nriatalce thlt menv companies nice is
that theu ·PP"*h 1 netwrk tn the seme manner that theu mtoht ·PP"*h the self-broker methodolOQv. Nothing could be wrse. Hetwrb hive some flt rl v·rious restrictions on them that nnv aptems do not as wll as the feet thlt there are nn1 more sptems ·experts· thin
there ere netwrk ·experts· due to the complexttu of netvork design es vell es the leek of
91neral netvork desi9n educetton end information. Host sptems hive training end documentt available for learning the hovs and vhp of sptems hlnlvlre and softvare. Hetwrb,
unrortunatel1, ere subject to the vh1ms of multiple t1pes of sptems trQtng to talk to one
another, freq·ntl1 on differing technolOQ'J, end talces on dimensions thlt most sptems never
hive to wrru about. Compound thlt vtth 1 aevere leek of QDOd, clear ueer documentation, technolOQI tnforlllltion, and design documentation, netvork desi9ners capable of designing superior networb ere fev end far betveen end ue·llv relv on hllYV experience end leerning netvorkt ng ,he hlrd veg:
If IOU have been scared to death about netwrlc dest9n end ··l'Jlis es· result of redng thts treatise, QOOCI! It also means thlt VDU mev nw realtze thlt the proper desl9n of· net.tort ts critical to nlcing the network cost effective over the long run· wll ·understanding thlt juet beceuee ueu 111¥1 sharp sustems people, the1,1 me' not be able to desion 1 netwrk properludue to leek of tnforlllltion end experience. Ustng consultants tn the net.tort desiQn phase can help
drasticall1 reduce the risk factor of the netwrk and 1 pd consultant can tell VDU vhat hi can do end vhlt gou can do. Th1s vtll seve moneu 1n the short end long term es ven es provide IOU a
aoltd netvork desi9n. Wlrile it is true that VDU can desi9n VDUr network VDUrself, it is not necessarll v true that the netwrlc Yill survive over the long haul nor cen VDU feel comfortable
thlt 1t Yill perform es expected 1f VDU hive not done a performance anelvsts before the netwrt 1s t n plece. One of mv partners calla network Mtgn the ·frem-011 Principle,· named after the
Fram-on commerctels on TY vhere 1 greesu mechanic ts shoving off a blovn engtne end ·us
NTW-34
1
"You cen PIV me DIN# or PIV me Jeter.· Netwrlct en much the 11me. Proper netwrt desi9n cen 11ve a ton of momu do'.'n the road and ts cost-effective up-front tf done correctlg. If uou are
penng-Yiae and dollar-foolish# gou will# indeed# end up pevf nv 11fer. The next tt me uou loot at destgnt nv a netwrt for uour compeng or uour friend. ao dovn the 1tst
of benefits at the be9ining of thit article end est ljOUnelf if ljOU he¥e received 111 of them. If not# gou mag hive misaed aomethi ng aonwhen. If gou cen cllimthlt gou hive them all# gou hive
benefttted from a good netwrk des19n and can expect veers of cost-effective aervfce from gour
netwrt.
NTW-35
1
OFFICE AUTOMATION SIG STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairman Katherine' Kif Trimm Pivotal, Inc. Tucson, AZ
ALL-IN-1 Working Group Leon E. Ottley Evans and Sutherland Salt Lake City, UT
Vice Chairman Ralph Bradshaw Johnson and Johnson Raritan, NJ
Symposia Assistant Sal Gianni Northeast Utilities Hartford, CT
Communications Committee Representative E. Catherine Ditamore ARA Services Philadelphia, PA
Symposium Coordinator Mitch Brown Gen Rad, Inc. Waltham, MA
Store Coordinator Mike Jackson Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Kirtland AFB, NM
Personal Computer SIG Liaison Cheryl Johnson Grinnell College Grinnell, IA
Special Projects Gene LeClair HO Dept. of Army Washington, DC
Networks SIG Liaison Gene Leclair HQ Dept. of Army Washington, DC
BOF Coordinator Ray Kaplan University of Arizona Tucson, AZ
DECUS Europe OA SIG Andreas Verbay Telinco AG Spiegelstrasse 20
Newsletter Editor Therese LeBlanc Wheeling, IL
Library Bob Hassinger Liberty Mutual Research Center Hopkington, MA
Tape Copy Coordinator Randall Buck Columbia Savings Irvine, CA
Digital Counterparts Les Agigian Digital Equipment Corporation Merrimack, NH
Geof Bock Digital Equipment Corporation Merrimack, NH
Session Notes Martha Rudkin GM F Robotics Troy, Ml
OA-i
FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome to an exciting new year of sharing information through the OA SIG Newsletter. The OA SIG Steering Committee has been growing and the Fall Symposium in Anaheim, CA marked the several changes and additions to our ranks. The new list of committee members, and the positions they hold is on page OA-i. One of the changes you will notice is that I have volunteered (or was I volunteered?) as the Newsletter Editor fdr the OA SIG, but I need your help! Our newsletter is the place for you to share technical information, software fixes, customization ideas and a host of other information regarding Off ice Automation with each other. So why not send me something to publish? Send your submissions to me at:
Therese LeBlanc 275 London Wheeling, IL 60090 (312) 459-1784 Please follow these simple guidelines when submitting material: - Make sure the information is clearly, darkly printed - Check your spelling ··· please - If you send multiple pages, number them - Include your name, address and phone number so I can contact you if I have any questions
Wishing you all health, happiness and success in 1986.
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OA-1
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NEXT OA SIG CHAIR NAMED Katherine "Kit" Trimm was named Off ice Automation SIG Chair Elect at the OA SIG Managment meeting held December 8, 1985. Kit has been a key member of the OA SIG Steering Committee and Symposium Coordination team for the past two years. She has demonstrated her leadership and organizational skills in all phases of Symposia support, particularly in preparing, scheduling and running the OA sessions. Founder and current OA SIG Chair Thomas Orlowski, will continue in his roll as Chair until the Spring Symposium in Dallas. He will then provide ongoing support to the SIG Steering Committee. The members of the OA SIG would like to thank Tom for his vision and persistance in founding the SIG, and for the excellent leadership he has provided them with for the past three years. As Chair Elect Kit will be working closely with Tom for the next four months developing her knowledge of this position and preparing for the Spring Symposium. We congratulate Kit and wish her continued success as a DECOS leader.
OA-2
NOTES FROM THE FALL SYMPOSIUM
From the opening Roadmap session Monday morning to the Wrapup Friday afternoon, the attendance and participation in the OA SIG symposium sessions was outstanding.
We had five full days of sessions cove~ing a variety of topics: OA concepts, new products, system management, message router, communications, work stations, user panels, VTX and much more. The user presentations were excellent and we had several highly technical sessions which were well received.
Strong involvement by our DEC counterparts helped make two of the week's highlights possible; the OA Question & Answer session, and the OA Wishlist (things users would like to see done or added to DEC products).
We're not certain, but we may have broken a record at the Q&A session on Wednesday evening. We had close to 20 DEC representatives in the same room for two hours! Eleven"Of them were the official 'answer' panel and another six or seven were in the audience to help out if needed. The best part of all this was that they were there to listen and respond to user questions.
The OA Wishlist session on Friday morning began with DEC representatives responding to the wishlist items presented to them last May in New Orleans (a reprint of those responses will appear in the February newsletter). A steady stream of new wishes gave DEC reps. another list to take home with them and respond to at the Spring Symposium.
There were also many informal Birds Of a Feather (BOF) meetings held by OA users with similar interests and concerns. The Executive Track day (on Thursday) for senior management helped to provide high level management from many different companies with the dynamic concepts of Office Automation and some real life case studies.
This is just a sampling of the sessions and activities sponsored by the Off ice Automation SIG in Anaheim. Our SIG is growing and evolving at a rapid pace and we look forward to more exciting programs at the next symposium. We invite each of you to attend and participate in the Spring Symposium, April 28 - May 2, in Dallas Texas.
OA-3
mALL-IN-1111
NEWSLETTER December 1985 DECUS Edition
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First Printing, December 1985
Copyright (c) 1985 by Digital Equipment Corporation. All Rights Reserved
The information in this document is subject to change without notice arid should not be construed as a c0111Ditment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no
responsibility tor any errors that may appear in this document.
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
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ALL-Ill-1 DATATRIEVE
DEC DEcmail DEcmate DECnet DECspell DECsystem-LO
DECsystem-20
DECtalk DECUS
DECVriter DIBOL MASS BUS
PDP P/OS Professional Rainbow
RSTS RSX UNIBUS
VAX
VMS
VT
Work Processor WPS-PLUS
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CONTENTS
The DECUS 1985 ALL-IN-1 Newsletter l ALL-IN-1 Release Notes 3 Sending Mail to VMSmail Recipients 5 VAX/VMS 4.2 Mail Fetcher 6 Converting DECmail Messages to ALL-IN-1 7 Upgrading ALL-IN-1 from VAX/VMS Version 3.n to
VAX/VMS Version 4.n 8 Time Management 9 Performance Management 11
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The DECUS 1985 ALL-IN-1 Newsletter This is ·the ALL-IN-1 Newsletter for DECUS 1985. It tells you about tuning ALL-IN-1 to improve performance and how to best use and manage your ALL-IN-1 Version 2 system.
Do You Nead Support In Running ALL-IN-1 version 2?
DIGITAL offers a variety of services that can make it easier to run ALL-IN-1 Version 2 systems.
l Startup Services Startup Service Packages are available to get ALL-IN-1 operational and accelerate your productive use of ALL-IN-1.
2 Software Product Service Agreements
* DECsupport Service is the most comprehensive level of
service, offering critical problem on-site assistance and scheduled preventative maintenance. You receive telephone support that gives you timely answers and solves most software problems. In addition, you get revised versions of the software and documentation, and system newsletters or dispatches.
* BASIC Service is ideal for customers who have a staff whose
experience and expertise enables them to analyze and communicate a software problem to DIGITAL remote support centres. You receive telephone support that gives you timely answers and solves most software problems. In addition, you get revised versions of the software and documentation, and system newsletters and dispatches.
* Self-Maintenance Service is designed for customers who
require revised versions of the software and documentation from DIGITAL. In addition, you get system newsletters or dispatches and may submit software performance questions.
A variety of service options may be added to an existing Software Product Service Agreement, such as service for multiple-like systems.
3 Training From Educational Services To ensure customer success with DIGITAL products, Educational Services sells training for the installation, maintenance and/or management of DIGITAL software. The training available for ALL-IN-1 users is:
* ALL-IN-l Version l to Version 2 Migration Planning and
Training
* ALL-IN-l version 2 User Update Training
* ALL-IN-1 Version 2 system Manager Training
If you need these or any other services, please call your DIGITAL Account Manager.
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4 ALL-IN-l Release Notes
What do you use your ALL-IN-1 Release Notes for? Do you ···
l. Use them when you install ALL-IN-l ? 2. Refer to them when you have a problem with ALL-IN-1?
nI I
3. Pass on relevant information in them to your users?
1-1
You ticked every box, of course!
You didn't?
Why not read through them? As well as giving you extra information for when you install ALL-lN-1, they contain extra information about the day-to-day running of ALL-lN-1 that is not
found in any other documentation.
Sections 4 and 5 describe late changes to ALL-lN-l, particularly aspects of ALL-lN-1 that changed after the documentation was
typeset, and details about the use and management of ALL-IN-1 version 2 that you should be aware of.
ln Section 4 you will find information on the day-to-day running of ALL-lN-1, for instance Electronic Messaging, printing, using the Scratch Pad and Time Management.
Section.5 gives information about the optional products that can be used with ALL-lN-1, for instance, DATATRIEVE and WPS-PLUS/ALL-IN-1.
Some of the information in sections 4 and 5 is for you, the system manager, but there is other information which your users will need to know.
For instance, in section 4 there is a descr.!ption of how to subtract from the result of a calculation. The guide describes
where to place the equals sign in the chain of calculations.
For example: Instead of entering 562 * 25 = 1450 - 50 = ···· enter 562 * 25 - 50 = ····
ln Section 4 you will also find an addition to the ALL-IN-1
documentation concerning WPS and EDT which DECmate users should know about. It tells you that if you transfer a document from a DECmate using CX (character transfer) to ALL-IN-1 on VMS Version 4.0 or later, the transferred document may lose some characters. To avoid this, users should change their VMS terminal set-up by cutting the command $ SET TERMINAL /HOSTSYNC into their LOGIN.COM
'le.
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So, make good use of your Release Notes.
Pass useful information on to your users to save them from unnecessary problems.
And next time you have a problem with ALL-IN-1, have a look through your Release Notes. They might have the answer to the problem.
5 Sending Mail to VMSmail Recipients
Do all the systems to which you send mail, have Message Router and the Message Router VMSmail Gateway (MRGATE) installed?
If not, you may be having problems sending ALL-IN-1 mail to VMSmail recipients.
If Message Router and MRGATE are not installed on every system in the network, use the address format:
TO: username @nodename @MRGATE @gateway_node
where gateway node is the name of the node that is running MRGATE, and can be omitted if it is the local node name.
The address format given in the ALL-IN-1 documentation is:
TO: username @MRGATE @nodename
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This format is the correct way to address mail to VMSmail recipients only if every system in the network to which you send VMS mail has Message Router and MRGATE installed.
6 VAX/VMS 4.2 Mail Fetcher
If you are running VAX/VMS version 4.2 on your system, the Electronic Messaging fetching routine will not finish if a mail
message containing an attachment is received by the Fetcher from a remote system. The fetching routine has the process name of
"Al Fetcher· and is queued as a batch job called OAMTIMAIL. This problem causes excessive use of CPU time.
Workaround: If you see that the batch job OAMTIMAIL is running continuously, stop the Fetcher using the DCL command STOP "process name·. You can then use the RF option in the Electronic Messaging System Management menu in ALL-IN-1 to interactively fetch the message. The batch job OAMTIMAIL will start again when another message is received.
This problem·is fixed in ALL-IN-1 Version 2.1.
7 Converting DECmail Messages To ALL-IN-1
o Converting DECmail messages to ALL-IN-1 takes approximately 40 minutes for 100 memos. The more memos there are, the longer it takes to transfer each memo. Therefore it is advisable to ask users to delete any unwanted memos before transferring DECmail accounts to ALL-IN-1.
o Even if only one account from a save file is being transferred into ALL-IN-1, all the accounts in the save file are transferred, and the unwanted ones are later deleted by ALL-IN-1. For this reason, it is recommended that you do not put too many accounts into one save file.
o The conversion program runs as a batch job. Do not run the conversion program in a batch queue which has time limits set.
If a conversion for a user fails, you must complete the following steps before attempting the conversion again:
1 Log into the ALL-IN-1 system manager's VMS account (or the account where the conversion was initiated) and run ALL-IN-1. Delete the folder called Decmail Conversion, if it exists.
2 Log into the user's ALL-IN-1 account and run ALL-IN-1. Delete the folder called Odm Master, if it exists. Enter ti following ALL-IN-1 command while in the user's account:
<CAB GET_PENDING "DMCONV","WASTEBASKET"
In ALL-IN-1 Version 2.1 these tasks will be done automatically,
Converting DECmail messages to ALL-IN-1 is described in the ALL-IN-1 Installation Guide. The ALL-IN-1 Release Notes contain additional information--ui'it you should read when converting DECmail messages to ALL-IN-1.
8 Upgrading ALL-IN-l Vers_ion 2 .s from VAX/VMS Version
3.n to VAX/VMS Version 4.n 4.n
If you are, or have been, running ALL-IN-l Version 2.e on VHS version 3.n, then ALL-IN-l's indexed data files will have a Prolog o.f l. If you upgrade to Version 4 .n of VHS, you must convert the indexed data files to Prolog 3 to allow ALL-IN-1 to access the files correctly.
You can see the Prolog of a file using the DCL command DIRECTORY/FULL.
When you have upgraded your VAX/VMS system to Version 4.n, carry out the following procedure to convert the relevant ALL-IN-1 files to Prolog 3:
$ SET DEFAULT OA$DATA $ CONVERT/PROLOG·3/FDL=OA$LIB:NETWORK.FDL NETWORK.DAT NETWORK.OAT $ PURGE NETWORK.OAT $ CONVERT/PROLOG·3/FDL·OA$LIB:ATTENDEE.FDL ATTENDEE.DAT ATTENDEE.OAT
$ PURGE ATTENDEE.DAT $ CONVERT/PROLOG·3/FDL·OA$LIB:MEETING.FDL MEETING.DAT MEETING.DAT
$ PURGE MEETING.OAT
and for each. ALL-IN-1 user:
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$ SET DEFAULT <user's ALL-IN-1 directory> $ CONVERT/PROLOG·3/FDL·OA$LIB:DOCDB.FDL DOCOB.OAT DOCDB.DAT $ PURGE DOCDB.DAT
$ CONVERT/PROLOG·3/FDL·OA$LIB:ACTITEM.FDL ACTITEM.DAT ACTITEM.DAT
$ PURGE ACTITEM.DAT
9 Time Management
You should be aware of the following attributes of Time Management which are not described in your Release Notes. These are all corrected in ALL-IN-l version 2.l.
o When an apostrophe (') is typed in the meeting location or description field,-the meeting is scheduled but when an attendee tries to read the message they will cause an access violation.
Solution: Do not enter an apostrophe ('I in these fields.
o Someone whose ALL-IN-1 user name contains a comma can delete a meeting that he or she schedules, but attendees cannot delete the meeting from their calendars.
Solution: If possible, avoid creating user accounts with names containing commas.
o When the Advanced Calendar (AC) option on the Reminders (REI menu is used, the file ACTITEM.DAT is left open if a date without any reminders scheduled is selected.- Eventually the limit for the number of files that may be left open is reached and an error message is displayed.
Solution: Exit from ALL-IN-1 when the open file limit is reached. ALL-IN-1 closes all open files when this is done. You can then enter ALL-IN-l again.
o If you send a meeting notice to an attendee who has the same name as yourself but is on another node, you will never receive the attendee's reply.
Solution: If possible, create user accounts with names that are as unique as possible, for example FTSMITH instead of SMITH.
o If you send a meeting notice to an attendee whose User Profile language is different from yours, the meeting will not be scheduled.
Solution: Under development.
o When scheduling a meeting, ALL-IN-1 does not find all of the attendee's free time and sometimes states that attendees are free when they are not.
Solution: Under development.
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o Time Management does not find all conflicting meetings and appointments.
Solution: None currently available.
10 Performance Management
Your ALL-IN-1 system must be carefully managed to maintain a consistently high level of performance. Effective performance management of your ALL-IN-1 system involves:
o Reviewing the hardware and software configuration
o Reviewing and monitoring system performance and workload
o Tuning VMS
o Keeping the ALL-IN-1 File Cabinet and Electronic Messaging system well maintained
These four activities are essential for maintaining good performance and avoiding performance problems.
There is a complete discussion of ALL-IN-1 performance management in the ALL-IN-1 Performance Management Guide. A summary of the key issues is given below:
10.1 System Set-up
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It is important that your system has adequate hardware resources
cb
to meet its workload. Make sure your system been configured according to DIGITAL recommendations for processor power and
memory size particularly as your system requirements change, for
instance, when the number of users increases.
Review the user working set parameters (WSDEF, WSQUOTA and WSEXTENT) in the system authorization file.
When ALL-IN-1 is installed on your system, you will almost certainly need to increase the size of your PAGE and SWAP files and you will probably need to allocate secondary PAGE and SWAP
files to different disk devices. Refer to your ALL-IN-1 Performance Management Guide for further details.
10.2 Monitoring and Reviewing the System
Monitoring system behavior and usage is the most important aspect of performance management. A good understanding of the performance characteristics of your system gives you a starting point for system tuning and performance troubleshooting and provides you with the information needed to plan ahead and avoid problems.
It is recommended that you:
o Monitor system resource usage on a daily basis and keep summary records of day-to-day resource usage in these areas: Average and peak processor load Avearge and peak page fault rates Average and peak disk 1/0 traffic for each disk device
The VMS supplied MONITOR utility provides the facilities to do this.
o Periodically review memory usage characteristics, particular!y:
Paged and non-paged pool usage against availability
Request packet (SRP, !RP and LRP) usage against availability
PAGE and SWAP file space in use
The DCL SHOW MEMORY command provides this information.
o Run process level accounting on a daily basis to keep track of which users or groups of users are using system resources. Summary statistics on a user-by-user basis should be kept for
analyzing trends which can be used to assist with growth prediction.
Refer to the VAX/VMS Accounting Utility Reference Manual for
details of how to use the ACCOUNTING utilLty.
~~~
10. 3 Tuning VMS
There are a small number of VMS SYSGEN parameters which should be checked and, if necessary, adjusted to get the best out of your ALL-IN-1 system. The most important SYSGEN parameters to review are:
NPAGEDYN and NPAGEVIR PAGEDYN LRPCOUNT and LRPCOUNTV SRPCOUNT and SRPCOUNTV IRPCOUNT and IRPCOUNTV MPW HILIMIT MPW-LOLIMIT MPW-THRESH MPW:WAITLIM
Please refer to the following additional sources of information:
o ALL-IN-l Performance Management Guide
o .9.!!!!!! ~ VAX/VHS Performance Management
o VAX/VMS System Generation Utility Reference Manual
You should not adjust any VMS system parameters unless you know exactly what you are doing and why. It is easy to degrade the
performance of any VHS system by careless or uninformed adjustment of system tuning parameters. Only make changes to the system if you have an informed reason for doing so.
If you are unfamiliar with VAX/VHS performance characteristics
and the effects of the SYSGEN parameters listed above, contact
your DIGITAL Account Manager.
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10.4 Housekeeping and Maintenance
10.4.l File Cabinet Reorganization
From time to time, the ALL-IN-1 File Cabinet must be reorganized using the File Cabinet Reorganization option. How frequently you reorganize the File Cabinet varies from system to system depending on the workload. It is recommended that you reorganize
at least once each week, but it may be necessary to do it more frequently if you notice that performance is becoming degraded.
The most visible indication that the performance of the File Cabinet has been degraded is the response time to perform File Cabinet access operations such as:
0 Selecting a document 0 Deleting a document 0 Creating and editing a document 0 Sending mail messages 0 Indexing the file cabinet
19.4.2 File Cabinet Index OA$DATA:DAF.DAT is an indexed file that holds reference data on every document in the File Cabinet. It can grow very rapidly and thereby degrade system performance. It is important to make sure that unwanted documents are deleted when they are no longer required.
If a user keeps a large number of unwanted files in the File Cabinet, it can degrade system performance. Encourage your users to delete unwanted documents regularly. In particular, Electronic Messaging can lead to large numbers of documents being kept in the File Cabinet unnecessarily.
19.4.3 Housekeeping the Electronic Mail System The ALL-IN-1 Electronic Messaging system maintains two log files defined by the logical names OA$MTI_LOG and OASHTI_ERR.
o OA$MTI LOG keeps a record of each mail message sent on the system7
o OA$HTI ERR keeps a record of any error messages caused by sending and receiving mail messages to and from remote addressees.
As these files increase in size, it takes longer to append new records to them and the speed at which mail is sent is degraded. It is recommended that you periodically close, archive and replace these files to prevent them from becoming too big.
10.4.4 Removing Unused Facilities If you customize ALL-IN-l, you may have forms and scripts that you do not use. You can save memory and improve performance by removing unwanted forms and scripts from the installed memory shareable libraries, OAFORM.FLB and AlTXL. Refer to Chapters 15 and 16 of the ALL-IN-1 Application Programmer's Reference for details.
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DECUS
PERSONAL COMPUTER SIG NEWSLETTER
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PERS~L COMPUTER SIG STEERING CIJ't'IITTEE
Chairman Barbara Maaskant UT Health Science Center 7703 Floyd Curl Drive
t~~ 2~n~~~~~g5p< 78284
Symposia Coordinator Rick Eliopoulis 5258 Vickie Drive
r~~ 9~i~~g! 7~7 92109
DECmate Working Group Chairman Cheryl Johnson Grinnell College P. O. Box 805
~~l~)e~1G-1~70 50112-0810
Pro Working Group Chairman Thomas R. Hintz U. of Florida IFAS Computer Network, 1022 McCarty Hall Gainesvillei FL 32611 (904) 392-5 81
Rainbow Working Group Chairman Lynn Jarrett Union Tribune Pub. Co. P. O. Box 191
f~~9~i~g~!3~1 ~;f~~O)
Newsletter Editor Caroline M. Mack 9007 Mears Street
~~b~~a~~0~40 ~2031
National LUG Organization Rep Pierre Hahn (acting) SUNY HSC-Tl0-02808101 Stony Brooki NY 11794 ( 516) 444-1<162
Library Comm. Rep/PC Librarian Kurt Reisler Hadron, Inc. 9990 Lee Highway Fairfaxi VA 11030 ( 703) <159-6100
PC/RSX Liason Peter Flack ~~mg~t~~xsf~~3§es Corp. ~~~8~rch Triangle Park, N ( 919) 541-4669
PC/Graphics Liason Dr. Khin Maung Yin Kent State University 1411 Clarindon-Troy Road
~~r~)n95~~14~~ 201
Pre-Symposia Session Coordinato Frederick G. Howard Eastman Kodak Company 901 Elmgrove Road D345-L
~~f~~s~~4!5~1 14650
Session Notes Edjtor Alan Bruns Allied Electronics 401 E. 8th Street
~gr~>w~~~~~4~ 76102
Members-at-Large Rockey Salwinski UT Health Science Center 7703 Floyd Curl Drive
t~~ 2~n~~~~~35rx 70204
Jim Christine SPSS, Inc. 1815 S. Cuyler Berwyni IL 60402 (312) ;;129-3580
~~;ai~eN!~r~~~r Labs
Div 8352
z~Y~)m~~~!2~3 94s50
Michael Bowers University of California Animal Science Department
~~Y~!·7~-6i~~16
PC-i
Digital Counterparts
DECmate: Ron Gemma Digital Equipment Corp.
PRO:
John E. Bennett ~[3i!~c~8uipment Corp. 146 Main Street Maynard, MA 01754-2571
Rainbow:
Ke~ant~rJinfa~
Holman Equipment
Corp.
30 Porter Road
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Littleton, MA 01460
PC-ii
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RSTS
RSTS
Chairman Charles Mustain Stark County School System Louisville, OH
Vice SIG Chairman Wish Lists & Tape Copy Coordinator
Philip Hunt System Industries Milpitas, CA
Symposium Coordinator Scott W. Pandorf Kittie's Home Furnishings Indianapolis, IN
Assistant Symposium Coordinator Wef Fleischman Software Techniques Cypress, CA
EDUSIG Liaison George Wyncott Purdue University Computing Center W. Lafayette, IN
4
RSTS Product Planning Coordinator Errol E. Ethier Shrewsbury, MA
Newsletter Editor Open
Library Representative Susan Abercrombie Ventrex Laboratories Inc. Portland, ME
DEC Counterpart Joel Arker Digital Equipment Corporation Merrimack, NH
I
Pre-Symposium Seminar Coordinator
Bruce Gaarder
Macalester College
St. Paul, MN
Wish Lists Coordinator Neal E. Goldsmith Software Techniques, Inc. Cypress, CA
Members-At-Large Ed Beadel Instructional Computer Center Oswego, NY
Scott Daily Great Lakes Chemical Corp. W. Lafayette, IN
Mark Gilmore Cal State University Long Beach, CA
Mark Hartman Jadtec Computer Group Orange, CA
J~ff Killeen Information Design & Management Hopedale, MA
Newton J. Munson Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY
RST-i
RSX
MULTI-TASKER
[Q]
DECUS
i
Chairman Dan Eisner Perkin-Elmer Corp. Garden Grove, CA
Vice-Chairperson Elizabeth Bailey Tennessee Valley Authority Muscle Shoals, AL
Symposium Coordinator Rick Sharpe Toledo Edison Toledo, OH
Pre-Symposium Seminar Coordinator · Hans Jung Associated Press New York, NY
Communications Committee Representative Allen Bennett Lear Siegler Rapistan Grand Rapids, MI
Newsletter Editor Dominic J. DiNollo Loral Electronics Yonkers, NY
Store Coordinator Bob Freeborn Savin Corporation Binghamton, NY
Session Note Editor Burt Janz Northern Telecom Inc. Concord, NH
Librarian Glenn Everhart Mt Holly, NJ
Campground Coordinator Jerry Ethington Prolifix Inc. Frankfort, KY
DEC Counterparts Tim Martin Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
Dick Day Digital Equipment Corporation Nashua, NH
Bruce Webster Digital Equipment Corporation Nashua, NH
Working Group Coordinator Ed Cetron Center for Biomedical Design Salt Lake City, UT
RSX
Working Group Chair Evan Kudlajev Philadelphia Electric Co. Philadelphia, PA
RSX Group Chair Software Clinic Coard. Roy S. Maull U.S. Air Force Offutt AFB, NE
Software Clinic Coordinator Bruce Zielinski RCA Moorestown, NJ
Volunteer Coordinator Gary Maxwell U.S. Geological Survey Menlo Park, CA
Multi-Processors Working Group Coordinator Bruce Mitchell Machine Intelligence & Indus. Magic Hudson, WI
Networks Working Group Coordinator Mark Podany Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
SRO Working Group Coordinator Bob Turkelson Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD
Accounting & Performance Working Group Coard Denny Walthers Amencan McGaw Irvine, CA
Menu Coordinator Ed Cetron Center for Biomedical Design Salt Lake City, UT
Members-At-Large Jim McGlinchey Warrenton, PA
Jim Neeland Hughes Research Labs. Malibu, CA
Anthony E. Scandora, Jr. Argonne National Laboratory Argonne, IL
Ralph Stamerjohn Creve Coeur, MO
Jim Hopp Carleton Financial Comp. South Bend, IN
RSX-i
I I THE .l.a.1"ke·· DECUS
11111111111111111111111111111111111 RT-11 SIG NEWSLETTERll II 111111111111111111111111111111
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Chairman John T. Rasted JTR Associates Meriden, CT
RT SIG Steering Committee
MACRO Contact Nick Bourgeois NAB Software Services, Inc. Albuquerque, NM
Symposium Coordinator Ned Rhodes Software Systems Group Rockville, MD
Communications Committee Representative FMSContact
Susan Rasted Software Dynamics, INc. Wallingford, CT
TECO Contact Product Planning Contact
John Crowell Crowell Ltd. Los Alamos, NM
DECNET Contact Ken Demers Adaptive Automation New Haven, CT
Newsletter Editor COBOL Contact
Bill Leroy The Software House, Inc. Atlanta, GA
UNIX Contact Wish List Contact
Bradford Lubell LA. Heart Lab Los Angeles, CA
Pre-Symposium Seminar Coordinator Suite Manager
Bruce D. Sidlinger Sid linger Computer Corp. San Antonio, TX
Standards Coordinator Kenneth L Aydlett Teledyne Hastings-Raydist Hampton, VA
RT-11 Hardware Contact Carl Lowenstein University of Calif., San Diego San Diego, CA
TSXContact C Contact
Jack Peterson Horizon Data Systems Richmond, VA
-Digital Counterpart Diana L Miller Digital Equipment Corporation Maynard, MA
Tape Copy Generation Contact Ralston Barnard Sandia Laboratories Albuquerque, NM
APL Contact Doug Bohrer Bohrer& Company Wilmette, IL
Library Contact Tape Copy Distribution
Tom Shinal General Scientific Corp. Rockville, MD
BASIC Contact Ed Stevens EMDAlnc. Pasadena, CA
CAMAC Contact J.W. Tippee Kinetic Systems Inc. Lockport, IL
RT-i
Personal Computer Contact LUG Contact
William K Walker Monsanto Research Corp. Miamisburg, OH
FORTRAN Contact RUNOFF Contact
Robert Walraven Multiware, Inc. Davis, CA
RT-ii
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DECUS
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Chairman David Hunt Lawrence Livermore National Lab Livermore, CA
SITE
Librarian Larry W. Hicks Relational Database Services Kernersville, NC
Symposium Coordinator Michael Weaver OJCS/JAD/TSD Washington, DC
Hardware Management Emily Kitchen A.H. Robins Co. Richmond, VA
Communications Committee Representative
Staff Management
·
Terry C. Shannon
Adam Zavitski
Digital Review
Tulsa, OK
160 State Street
6th Floor Boston, MA 021 09
Members-At-Large George Hilton
Compucard International
Newsletter Editor
Stanford, CT
Gregory N. Brooks Washington University Beh. Res. Lab St Louis, MO
Debbie Boole Texas Instruments Dallas, TX
LUG Coordinator Doug Bickford UVM Academic Computing Center Burlington, VT
Session Note Editor Gary Bremer Emerson Electric Co.
St. Lou is, M 0
HMS SIG Liaison Jim Corrigan Tl Research Richardson, TX
DEC Counterparts Rogers Bent Digital Equipment Corporation Stow, MA
Lil Holloway Digital Equipment Corporation Bedford, MA
Susan Porada Digital Equipment Corporation Marlboro, MA
Gary Siftar Digital Equipment Corporation Tulsa, OK
Assistant Librarian Timothy Frazer Specialized Bicycle Components Morgan Hill, CA
SIT-i
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DECUS
UISIG Chair Kurt L Raisler Hadron Inc. 9990 Lee Highway Fairfax, VA 22030 703-359-61 00
UNISIG Symposia Coordinator Stephen M. Lazarus Ford Aerospace Palo Alto, CA 94303 41 5-852-4203
UNISIG Newsletter Co-editor James W. Livingston, Jr. Measurex Corporation 1 Results Way Cupertino CA 95014 408-255-1 500 X4468
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UNISIG
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UNl-i
NEWSLETTER OF THE VAX SYSTEMS SIG
Editor's Workfile · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · VAX-3
Enhancing the VAXTPU EDT Keypad Emulator · · · · VAX-4
Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests · · · VAX-18
Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot · VAX-39
FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS · ·
· · ·
VAX-44
VAX System SIG Committee List
· · · · · · VAX-57
INPUT/OUTPUT · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · VAX-60
Forms at the End
INPUT/OUTPUT Submission Form · · · · · · · · · System Improvement Request Submission Form VAX Systems SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot · ·
OU-3 OU-5 OU-7
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7
General material for publication in the Pageswapper should be sent {US mail only -~ no "express" services please) to:
Larry Kilgallen, PAGESWAPPER Editor Box 81, MIT Station Cambridge, MA 02139-0901 USA
Preferea~e is given to material submitted as machine-readable text (best is Runoff source) · Line length should not exceed 64 characters. Please do not submit program source, as that is better distributed on the VAX SIG tape.
Change of address, r~ports of non-receipt, and other circulation correspondence should be sent to:
DECUS U.S. Chapter \ttention: Publications Department 149 Northboro Road {BP02) 1arlborough, MA 01752 JSA
Only if discrepancies of the mailing system are reported can they be analyzed and corrected.
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Editor's Workfile
Editor's Workfile
by Larry Kilgallen, Pageswapper Editor
DOD Security Rating for VMS -
Product Evaluation Bulletin number CSC-PB-01-85 dated October 28, 1985 states that the US government security evaluation of VAX/VMS Version 4.2 for the C2 class is scheduled for completion "by the end of the second quarter of FY1986". I think that means the end of March, but I am sure those to whom this matters already have good information as to how US government fiscal years run.
DEC Electronic Store update -
on December 6, to my great surprise, I received something I had ordered from the Electronic Store {I had been invoiced for it in August). With that as a model, I am hoping to receive my July order of Pascal {invoiced in November) sometime in the next three months.
VAX-2
VAX-3
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PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Enhancing the VAXTPU EDT Keypad Emulator
Enhancing the VAXTPU EDT Keypad Emulator
by Michael L. Penix
and Richard D. Piccard
Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo, Michigan
December 1, 1985
Abstract
We report the development of customizations to
the VAXTPU EDT Keypad emulator that closely
parallel those reported in the past for EDT
itself:
word
processing
enhancements,
multi-buffer operations, etc. In addition, the
reported customizations include dual-window
operation and overstrike mode text entry. We
discuss the choices made in coding, some basic
techniques for debugging with TPU, and several
portions of the code itself. This article, the
code, and a companion article describing the
customized environment are being submitted for
inclusion in the VAX SIG Symposium tape for the
December, 1985 DECUS Symposium.
Introduction
VMS Version 4.2 includes the new VAXTPU Text Processing Utility, together with two user interfaces, EVE (the Extensible VAX Editor) and the EDT Keypad Emulator. For those users who have been working with "plain-vanilla" EDT, the latter is likely to prove quite adequate, requires very little re-learning, and will therefore be chosen on the basis of its far superior performance: in one benchmark it finished in half the elapsed time while consuming CPU time at one quarter the rate that "real EDT" consumed it. For those of us, however, who have customized EDT with extensive EDTINI.EDT files, and especially for managers who have provided standard EDTINI.EDT files to new users, the choice is not immediately obvious. Our experience at Kalamazoo College should prove quite encouraging to others, since we made the transition in about a week, for over 95% of our usage, and we had extensive EDTINI.EDT files in place for all of our users. This paper discusses the choices made in coding the enhancement
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files, the techniques that proved effective for us in making the transition, and several portions of the TPU code itself. Listing 1 is the EDTINI.EDT file we started with. As can be seen, we have a variety of commands, one making EDT even more pleasant to work with for programmers by selecting alternate delimiters for "WORD" motion and deletion commands, and many enhancing EDT for word processing (defining keys for sentence and paragraph motions, for example). This file had evolved from one presented several years ago in The DEC Professional.
Choices
TPU provides two layers of enhancement, "section" and "command"
files. Section files are pre-compiled, and therefore should be
chosen for the stable bulk of the enhancements.
The
DIGITAL-supplied section file for the EDT Keypad Emulator is
SYS$LIBRARY:EDTSECINI. (The filename extension is .TPU for the
source code and .GBL for the binary code; the default when used
by TPU as a section file is .GBL and when used as a command file
is .TPU.) TPU looks for a section file in SYS$LIBRARY: named
TPUSECINI.GBL unless the command line includes a /NOSECTION or a
/SECTION=filename option.
Command files are read-in and
compiled at edit session startup, and should therefore be kept
short and used for the volatile portion of the enhancements.
TPU looks for a command file named TPUINI.TPU in the current
default directory, unless the command line includes a
/COMMAND=filename option, or a /NOCOMMAND option. (If you
specify /NOSECTION/NOCOMMAND, then the only action possible is
to exit by CTRL/Y.) A simple method to put a section file to
work is to define a DCL symbol by a line such as the following
at some point in a login command file:
$ ED*IT :== EDIT/TPU/SECTION=filename
Since no /COMMAND option is specified, it will search the
current default directory, as mentioned above, for TPUINI.TPU. Although our ultimate goal was of course the creation of a custom section file, we worked for quite a while with a (rapidly growing!) command file. The time to turn the nascent section file into a real one is when the start-up delay becomes irritating, or when you are far enough along that you want others to start trying to use the product of your efforts. we will discuss below the modifications needed to change a working command file into a working section file. The most reasonable items to leave in the command file are the two items most likely to be modified by individuals: the word wrap margin and the first tab size. These should be initialized in the section file, also, so that new converts need not have a copy of TPUINI.TPU in their directories. In order to assist ambitious
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users by providing examples, a few stable routines and key definitions should also be placed in the version of TPUINI.TPU that is made available for users to copy.
Techniques
Probably the key technique to rapid implementation is the prompt switching over to the partly customized editor as soon as possible. As you work with it to implement further changes or to refine those already in place, the lack of a customization you are used to in real EDT will act as a goad to keep working. It will also ensure that you implement the most important (i.e., heavily used) features first. We have followed the method discribed in the VAXTPU Users Guide for creating new section files layered on top of existing ones. In particular, our file "KAZSECINI" is layered on their "EDTSECINI". During the early development phase, then, we dealt with our code as a command file and used theirs as the section file. Later on, the "old" portion of our code, together with their code, served as section file and the "new" portion of our code served as command file or was the file being edited. The advantages of layering deserve some discussion: we can use their code when it serves our purpose and replace it if we want to. The design of TPU as a programming language includes named procedures as well as local and global variables, and DIGITAL's code in EDTSECINI.TPU is carefu~ to start the names of all procedures and global variables with "edt$", so by observing reasonable naming conventions we can keep track of which portions of our code are vulnerable to changes in theirs. We chose to name all of our procedures and global variables with names starting "KAZ$". During the first development phase, when all customizations are in the form of a command file, the structure is as shown in Fig. 1: procedure declarations and code, followed by key definitions to implement those procedures, and finally assignment statements initializing the global variables. During this phase the file is used as the command file, either by naming it TPUINI.TPU or by defining a symbol for DCL that includes specific designation of the command file. In the later phase, when the initial customizations are in the form of a section file, the structure is as shown in Fig. 2: first, a procedure named TPU$LOCAL !NIT (see below), second, all the other procedure declarations- and code, third, a procedure (in our case named KAZ$DEFINE KEYS) that, as you might suspect from its name, includes all of the key definitions, and finally, the commands to SAVE the current context in a named file and to QUIT. The filename given should be different, either in directory or extension or both, from the current production section file. The DIGITAL file EDTSECINI ends with a call to TPU$LOCAL !NIT, as well as including an empty definition of that procedure: By including a procedure
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with that name in our file, we replace their empty one. This procedure includes initialization of our global variables, re-initialization of some of the EDT$ global variables (changing the default first tab size and word wrapping margin, for example), and a call to our procedure KAZ$DEFINE KEYS. Although the following sequence may seem cumbersome in wrTting, it works well in practice. The main problem is the obscurity of the error messages that TPU provides, a traditional problem with the
first release of any compiler which is compounded here by the limited size of the message buffer and the consequent default terseness of those messages. It is therefore essential to maintain efficiency by incremental enhancements, checking each new procedure and key definition as you go along. As few changes as possible should be made at one time! For the sake of discussion, assume that these logical names have been defined: WORK: for the device and directory containing the evolving section file, and GOOD: for the device and directory containing the section file and standard command file most recently released for public use. Several DCL symbols are useful, as well; the following lines were included in the author's LOGIN.COM:
$ NEWTPU :== EDIT/TPU/SECTION=SYS$LIBRARY:EDTSECINI-
/COMMAND=WORK:KAZSECINI
$!
$ NED
:== EDIT/TPU/SECTION=SYS$LOGIN:KAZSECINI.NEW-
/COMMAND=GOOD:TPUINI
$!
$ WED
:== EDIT/TPU/SECTION=SYS$LOGIN:KAZSECINI.GOOD-
/COMMAND=GOOD:TPUINI
These definitions were used with a SAVE command that specified the new binary file as SYS$LOGIN:KAZSECINI.NEW. Thus, each time we thought the code was correct, we gave the command NEWTPU and watched to see if any error messages were displayed. If all seemed well, then we used the command NED to use the new editor and tried out the modified or newly introduced routines. If all was well, we RENAMED the .NEW file to .GOOD, thereby setting aside a working enhancement. At the same time a copy of the source code was set aside with a suitably distinctive name in WORK:. From then on routine editing was done with the command WED, using those working enhancements. As each round of enhancement is completed, WORK:KAZSECINI.TPU is copied to GOOD:* and SYSLOGIN:KAZSECINI.GOOD is copied to GOOD:*.NEW. Then the protection of GOOD:KAZSECINI.NEW is set correctly and finally GOOD:KAZSECINI.NEW is RENAMED to *.GBL, thereby replacing the one in use. If there is a mistake in the code (even as simple as a missing ";" termination for a statement), the only message usually visible is "compilation aborted at line l." In order to debug at all efficiently, we took the advice offered us by the Customer Support Center and used the following command sequence from the "TPU Command: " prompt elicited by <PFl> + <KP7>:
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SET (INFORMATIONAL,ON)
COMPILE(CURRENT~BUFFER)
and then, if errors are reported, type CTRL/Z and at the "*"
prompt, "= message", to inspect the message buffer (our code
includes a less clumsy way to switch buffers, <PFl> + Bl. If
the buffer being compiled includes routines with names the same
as any already in place (from DIGITAL's EDTSECINI, or the local
customizations, or previous compilations during the same edit
session) , an informational message that the old procedure was
replaced will be generated. Since the message buffer is limited
in size, the unit being compiled should ordinarily be limited to
as few procedures as possible. For enhancements, our routine is
to write the new procedure and the key-binding command in a
separate file, compiling and re-compiling as we go. When it
seems logically complete and generates no compiler errors, we
cut it out of that buffer and paste it into the growing section
in the main buffer, placing it at the end of the regular
procedure declarations and finally cutting and pasting the
key-binding statement into the procedure KAZ$DEFINE KEYS. In
the case of a flawed procedure that we seek to correct, once the
full file is in place, we create a separate file with the
suspect procedure as its only contents. Then we edit that file.
After
modifying
it
we
give
the
TPU
command
"COMPILE(MAIN BUFFER)", and then (if no compiler errors were
generated) select an alternate buffer and include text from a
file known to elicit the misbehavior whose correction we seek.
Because the revised procedure has the standard name, the
compilation of the main buffer re-defined the procedure that
will be executed upon typing of the standard key sequence bound
to that procedure.
Code
Search Patterns
A search pattern may be as simple as the string being sought itself, or it may include TPU builtins and operators to describe that string. In search patterns the symbol '&' is the CONCATENATION operator. Thus the pattern defined by
'a' & 'b' _& 'c'
is identical to that defined by 'abc'. The symbol 'I' is the OR
or ALTERNATION operator. Thus the pattern defined by
'a' I 'A'
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PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Enhancing the VAXTPU EDT Keypad Emulator
will be matched by any a, regardless of the case. These two symbols may be used to form more complex search patterns. The pattern
('a'l'A') _& ('b'l'B')
will match any sequence 'ab' regardless of the case of either
letter. The VAXTPU Reference Manual, section 2.8.4, "Modes of
Searching", discusses incremental and seek searching. The
latter is the default because it is more efficient if it will
produce the desired result. They differ on the handling of
alternate parts of the pattern. This will matter only if there
may be more than one location in the buffer that matches the
pattern.
Seek searching essentially "multiplies out" the
pattern, like the distributive law of algebra, producing a set
of pure concatenation possibilities. A search is then
performed, through to the end of the buffer for each of those
possibilities in turn.
The overall search terminates
successfully upon encountering of the first instance of any of
these possibilities. Thus, an earlier instance of a later
possibility will be skipped over by a seek mode search if there
is any instance of the earlier possibility. Incremental mode
searching, on the other hand, will terminate with a successful
match at the first instance of a string matching ~ of the
possiblities. Any alternation that is enclosed in parentheses
and preceded by a concatenation will be searched using the
incremental mode. This is why we have on occasion started our
patterns with the string ''&.
Bug Work-arounds
With help from William White of the Colorado Customer Support
Center, we have implemented a work-around for a bug in the FILL
command. The problem manifests itself whenever the beginning of
the SELECTED region is at the start of or within a word that
ends beyond the margin for wrapping. The result of executing
the FILL command under these circumstances is that a line break
is inserted at the start of the select region, whether it is
beyond the margin for wrapping or not, and whether it is in the
middle of a word or not! The concept of the work-around is
simply to ensure that the beginning of the SELECT region is
moved to the start of the line before executing the FILL
command. The work-around is implemented by copying DIGITAL's
procedure EDT$PRESERVE BLANKS(flag), creating a procedure named
KAZ$FIND BEG OF LINE(b-mark),
and
then
modifying
EDT$PRESERVE-BLANKS, by adding a call to KAZ$FIND BEG OF LINE,
at the third line of the main sequence of the code, just-prior
to
the
call
to
EDT$SKIP LEADING SPACES(b mark).
KAZ$FIND_BEG_OF_LINE moves b_mark from Tts origTnal location to
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the beginning of the line that it had been in.
Replacement Customizations
The following procedures are among those that implemented equivalent functions to those that we already had in place through EDTINI.EDT.
Word Delimiter Changes
PROCEDURE KAZ$SWAP DELIM The procedure KAZ$SWAP DELIM allows the
user to toggle back and forth between two sets-of characters to
be taken as the delimiters between words. The two sets are
optimized for word processing and for programming. The word
delimiters in word processing are a space, a tab, a form-feed, a
line-feed, a carriage return, and a vertical tab. The word
delimiters for programming include all the above as well as the
characters "/<>[]{},.:*&!;+-=()\I"' which constitute most of the
"algebraic punctuation" that is used in FORTRAN, DCL, and PASCAL
programs. DIGITAL's code includes a global variable EDT$X WORD
that is the set of characters used to identify word breaks.- We
maintain a variable called KAZ$WORD DELIM with the value of
either 'text' or 'program' to indicate the current editing
context:
word
processing or programming.
Procedure
KAZ$SWAP DELIM uses an if-then-else statement to determine the
current -editing context from the variable KAZ$WORD DELIM and
then toggles the two variables, EDT$X WORD and KAZ$WORD DELIM.
For instance, if upon entering this procedure KAZ$WORD DELIM has
the value 'text', then the old context is word processTng. The
programming delimiters are assigned to EDT$X WORD and the value
'program' is assigned to KAZ$WORD DELIM, indicating the new
editing context.
-
Word Processing Conveniences
DEFINE KEY ('READ FILE (''STANDARD.RNO'')' 1 KEY NAME('R',SHIFT KEY), "Insert a copy of the file STANDARD.RNO.");
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This defines <PFl> + R to include a file named 'STANDARD.RNO' on
the lines preceding the line containing the current position of
the cursor. This filename results from the routine usage of
this
command
to include a user's standard RUNOFF
initializations. Obviously, any sort of contents could be
maintained in that file. This definition can be easily modified
to include any frequently used file into the current editing
buffer by substituting the appropriate name for STANDARD.RNO.
Logical name assignments would provide yet another mechanism for
generalizing the use of this command. PROCEDURE KAZ$GET OUT
This procedure eliminates the following command sequence:
"CTRL/Z + EXIT + <RETURN>". This command sequence does a normal
exit out of TPU, saves the current buffer under the filename
that was used at the starting of the editing session and deletes
the journal file. We have chosen <PFl> + CTRL/Z to cause the
execution
of this procedure.
The
first
line,
"write file(main buffer)", writes out the main buffer. The
second-line, "set(no write,main buffer ,on) 11 , indicates that upon
the termination of the editing session the main buffer is not to
be written out, since we just performed that function in the
previous line. The last line, "exit", simply tells TPU that the
editing session is to be terminated and the journal file is to
be deleted. The TPU command "quit" would have worked equally
well here because we took care of writing out the buffer
ourselves. KAZ$FILL PARAG This permits an entire paragraph to
be re-filled at once. We take real EDT's default definition of
a paragraph: a block of text bounded by a line containing no
characters, or by the beginning or end of the buffer. The right
margin used is the same as the current EDT "wrap" emulation.
The cursor is returned to the original location in the buffer.
The entire operation is performed without ongoing screen
updating. Our procedure to move to the beginning of the current
paragraph is used to establish the start of the range to be
filled. Then a search is conducted forwards for the end of the
paragraph. If it fails, the paragraph ends at the end of the
buffer. If it succeeds, we move back one character to avoid
swallowing the blank line between paragraphs.
The word
separators used for the fill operation are the current word
delimiters, EDT$X WORD. KAZ$END SENT First a short discussion
on the search- command is warranted. Search uses three
parameters: the first parameter is the search pattern. The
second parameter is the direction of the search. The third
parameter is a qualifier on the search. In this proceedure the
direction is always FORWARD and .the qualifier is always EXACT.
The search command, as used in this procedure, returns the range
of the first exact pattern match that is forward of the cursor
position. The returned range will be 0 if the pattern was not
found. In KAZ$END SENT, the search command is used three times.
The first search looks for the end-of-sentence delimiters that
are defined by the search pattern KAZ$SENT DELIM. one character
string that will match that pattern is ". - .. , a period followed
by a space character. The initialization of KAZ$END SENT will
be described later. In this procedure, if the pattern is not
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found, i.e., the search range returned to end sent range was 0, then the procedure is exited. If the pattern Ts found, then the cursor is positioned to the beginning of the delimiter. The second search looks for either a space character or the end of the line. The cursor is then positioned to the beginning of that pattern if it was found (thereby skipping over the printing characters of the sentence delimiter) or the procedure is exited. The third search looks for either line begin or the first non-space character (thereby finding the beginning of the next sentence). If the next sentence is found, the cursor is positioned there, otherwise the procedure is exited. KAZ$SENT DELIM is initialized in procedure TPU$LOCAL INIT. The search pattern consists of the concatenation of the empty string (to force incremental searching) with two alternations: first, the punctuation, '.', '?', or '!',and second the conclusion which may include a "concealing" character such as '] ', '}', ') ', or 1111 , and terminates with a space or line end. The second alternation is rather extended, since the- various combinations of concealment and termination are all explicitly given. This implementation is significantly more versatile than true EDT's +SEN and -SEN commands, since those do not recognize any "concealed" sentences.
New and Wonderful Options
KAZ$WINDOWS This procedure permits selection of single· or double-window editing. After interactively specifying the number of windows, the user is asked for the name of the second buffer. If the buffer is new, the user is asked for the name of the file to edit and whether that file should be written to disk upon exit. The windows and buffers are established and mapped, and keys are suitably re-defined for moving between buffers. Global variables are established containing the names of the first and second windows and buffers. In normal usage, before executing KAZ$WINDOWS, we define PFl + M to execute a procedure that moves the cursor to the main buffer and map that buffer to the main window. That procedure was created by copying the
support routine for the EDT line mode "= buffer" command from
page 22 of EDTSECINI, and then specializing it to go for the main buffer. In normal usage, before executing KAZ$WINDOWS, we define PFl + B to execute a procedure (even more closely modeled
on the "= buffer" support from EDTSECINI) that prompts for the
name of the buffer, moves the cursor to it, and maps it to the main window. Thus, those keys are routinely used to return to the main buffer or to shift to a named buffer. KAZ$WINDOWS restores these definitions whenever single-window editing is specified. When dual-window operation is to commence, PF 1 + M is defined to move to the first (upper) window, and PFl + B is defined to move to the second (lower) window. We have defined
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PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Enhancing the VAXTPU EDT Keypad Emulator
PFl + <UP ARROW> to jump back a screen, and PFl + <DOWN ARROR> to jump forward a screen. This is implemented using a global variable, KAZ$WINDOWSIZE, whose value is initialized to 21 for single-window editing and is set to 10 for dual-window editing. The action of the screen jump command is thereby adjusted to avoid either overlap or skipped lines as one moves through a buffer. The sizes of the windows are adjusted appropriately to allow for status lines at the bottom of each window, clarifying the boundary between them. The scrolling limits are set so that a reasonable amount of context is presented before and after the cursor, while still permitting some range of motion without stimulating excessive output to the terminal. KAZ$0VERSTRIKE This procedure is used to swap between the overstrike and insert modes using one key definition rather than using a key definition for each mode. The procedure KAZ$0VERSTRIKE uses a global variable called KAZ$ENTRY MODE to indicate the current editing context. This allows the defined key to take on a dual function depending on which 'state' the variable KAZ$ENTRY MODE is in. For example: if KAZ$ENTRY MODE is 'insert', the current editing context is insert mode and the procedure should switch into overstrike mode. In the procedure an if statement implements the above logic; if the mode is not 'insert' then the else clause is executed to switch to 'insert' mode. The commands
SET(OVERSTRIKE, CURRENT BUFFER); and SET(INSERT, CURRENT~BUFFER);
switch the current editing context of the current buffer to overstrike and insert respectively. After the editing context is set, then the variable KAZ$ENTRY MODE is updated to 'overstrike' or 'insert', respectively. -Conclusion The VAX Text Processing Utility has certainly demonstrated its utility! It provides virtually the full functionality of the EDT Keypad environment, and can be readily enhanced both in ways that EDT can and in ways that EDT cannot. While providing this superb editing capability, it consumes significantly less CPU time than EDT itself to do the same job. Thus users see a more friendly system that responds faster, too. Acknowledgement We wish to express our thanks to the staff of the Customer Support Center in Colorado Springs, several of whom have provided quite useful suggestions. The file EDTSECINI.TPU provided with VMS 4.2 contained many useful examples. In fact, some portions of the code we used were simply copied from there and modified slightly. A variety of useful examples from the VAXTPU Users Guide have also found their way into our code. The users of Kalamazoo College's Educational Computing VAX system tolerated being forced from EDT onto an early version of the customizations reported here, and have survived the various stages of refinement or brutalization it has gone through since, so to them we owe especial thanks.
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Enhancing VAXTPU EDT
M.L. Penix and R.D. Piccard
Procedure
Endprocedure
l
Key-definitions
I
I
Assignment statements
I
Figure 1: TPU Command File Organization
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Enhancing VAXTPU EDT
M.L. Penix and R.D. Piccard
I
Procedure TPU$LOCAL_INIT
I
]
other procedures
I
I
Procedure KAZ$DEFINE_KEYS
I
I SAVE ~YS$LOGIN: fi~e~ame-.NEW-1 QUIT
Figure 2: TPU Section File Organization
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests
Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests
*** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE *** VOTE ***
Gary L. Grebus
HOLD ITI DON'T PUT THIS OFF! THE DEADLINE IS APRIL 1. You have an opinion about what is right or wrong with VAX. Here is your chance to influence the directions of future DEC development. The VAX Systems SIG System Improvement Request (SIR) program is an important method for the VAX user community to provide input to Digital. Your opinion is important, and every ballot adds to the influence of the SIR program.
On the following pages, you will find the current collection of System Improvement Requests. Please take the time to review these SIR's and assess their effect on your use of VAX's. Then indicate your preferences as described below. THE NEW, SIMPLIFIED BALLOT FORM APPEARS THE "QUESTIONNAIRE" SECTION OF THIS NEWSLETTER. Also, please fill out the questionnaire portion of the ballot. This information is important to DEC, as it points out which requests are important to a particular segment of the VAX community.
The returns from this ballot will be totalled, and Digital will provide a formal response to the 10 items which receive the most votes. The results and DEC's responses will be given at the VAX SYSTEM SIG SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT REQUESTS session of the Spring 1986 DECUS Symposium in Dallas. At the same session, we also hope to have an update on the status of past top-10 items.
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Instructions For Voting The ballot form contains two sections, a "support" section and an "oppose" section. To indicate your support for an SIR, enter its number in the "support" section of the ballot. You may list from zero to fifteen SIR's in this section. To indicate your opposition to an SIR you consider detrimental, enter its number in the "oppose" section. You may list from zero to five SIR's in this section. Please return your ballot IMMEDIATELY. The very tight schedule before the Dallas Symposium makes this a tough ballot to do. To allow time for DEC to respond, BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER APRIL 1 MAY NOT BE COUNTED. Any ballot not specifying a DECUS membership number will not be counted. Only one ballot per member will be accepted. SIG members who have voted in past ballots may notice a radical change in the method of voting on this ballot. This is an experiment to (hopefully) make it less time-consuming to participate in the SIR ballot. The continued decline in the number of ballots returned has prompted such changes. Your comments are welcomed.
Finding the Ballot As with all "forms" in the combined newsletter package, the ballot may be found at the back of the entire volume you are now reading on the QU· pages. Nominally it goes in alphabetic order by SIGs, putting VAX at the end, but there have been exceptions.
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VMS Internals
SIR: S86-l
Abstract:
Provide routines for accessing the DECnet
configuration
Description: There should be some way of obtaining information about the current configuration of the network: which nodes are available, number of hops, next hop to node, etc.
through runtime calls. The only currently available method is to direct the output of SHOW NETWORK to a file and parse the file.
SIR: S86-2
Abstract: Provide system wide event flag clusters.
Description: UIC group based event flags cause considerable inconvenience when an existing event-flag based application must be expanded to serve users in multiple UIC groups. It
should be possible to create and manipulate system-wide common event flag clusters. Use of this feature should be
controlled by a privilege or quota independent of existing controls on system-wide resources.
SIR: S86-3
Abstract:
Provide better support for hardcopy terminals
through SMG routines.
Description: In release 4.e of VMS, the TERMTABLE entries for DEC hardcopy terminals' do not contain all of the applicable escape sequences for the devices. For instance, many hardcopy terminals support automatic underlining and boldfacing, similar to the DEC CRT's. Even if local modifications are made to the TERMTABLE entries, the SMG routines do not use the additional information (say when SMG$SNAPSHOT is called) · It would be nice to support the VT100 line drawing character set (or that kind of line drawing) when the device supports it.
SIR: S86-4
Abstract: Allow DUMP files to be moved off the system disk.
Description: A cluster of fully configured 8600's sharing the
system generates a need for most of the disk to be
dedicated to system DUMP files.
Recently announced
increases in memory size make this problem worse. The
current mechanism of combining dump and paging files is
unacceptable, since a shared system disk cannot tolerate
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the 1/0 load generated by a large page file.
SIR: S86-5
Abstract: Support TCP/IP on VMS.
Description: The TCP/IP protocol is probably the most widely supported protocol for networking among workstations and mid-sized computers. It is frequently necessary to connect VAX's into such a mixed-vendor network. The TCP/IP protocol should be supported under VMS to allow such connections.
SIR: S86-6
Abstract: Provide for wildcard $GETDVI.
Description: The $GETDVI service should provide a wildcard facility similar to that available with the other $GETxxx services. There is currently no acceptable way to find out
the device configuration of a system. This is particularly true since VMS now has many devices which dynamically appear and disappear (virtual terminals, MSCP disks, etc).
In a VAXcluster, this facility should ideally be able to show all devices connected to the cluster, including
node-local devices.
SIR: S86-7
Abstract: Eliminate the necessity for trailing commas in system service argument lists.
Description: Even when one or more arguments at the end of a system service argument list are optional, it is still necessary (according to the system services manual) to include trailing commas in the system service call. (This is unlike the run-time library routines, where it is not necessary to include the commas.) This is annoying, and error prone. Could this be changed?
SIR: S86-8
Abstract: Provide a terminal attribute to request filtering of BELL characters.
Description:
It would be useful to provide a terminal
attribute which supressed sending of the BELL character to
the terminal. Having many terminals beeping in a small
area can be distracting. Ideally, it should be possible to
specify an alternate sequence to be sent in place of the
BELL so that CRT's for example could display some visual
equivalent.
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SIR: S86-9
Abstract: Allow a privileged user the ability to link one terminal to another.
Description: VMS should support a facility which would allow a privileged user to link his or her terminal to another terminal. This link would at minimum allow the privileged user to issue commands as if they were typed from the other keyboard. This capability would be useful to "cleanup" whatever was running on the remote terminal before its process was deleted. Ideally, the facility should also allow the privileged user to see all output directed to the target terminal. This would allow for fully interactive
"hand-holding" or consulting for user problems.
SIR: S86-10
Abstract: Provide a facility to list the VMS timer queue.
Description: VMS should provide a service and a DCL command to list the entries in the timer queue. Appropriate privilege (e.g. WORLD) would be needed to list other users' queue entries. This would be useful to verify that periodic tasks were correctly scheduled, or that an idle process was in fact waiting for a timed event.
SIR: S86-ll
Abstract: CREATE/DIR should set owner protection to RWED, not only RWE.
Description: A VAX directory file cannot be deleted until all
files have been removed from it. Therefore, it is not a
hazard to have OWNER:DELETE access to the file as it was in
earlier versions of VMS. The CREATE/DIRECTORY command
should, by default, grant OWNER:DELETE access.
This
simplifies cleanup of files and directories, since an extra
step (protection-change on only directories) is avoided.
SIR: S86-12
Abstract: VMS.
Provide a supported virtual memory disk driver for
Description: VMS should provide a supported device driver which implements a disk using pages of virtual memory. Optionally, some or all of the virtual disk could be locked into physical memory. Such a facility could provide very fast access for frequently used files. Note that this facility is orthogonal to any file system or RMS caches -the benefit would apply for any access method or file structure, even simple sequential, text files. suitable
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privileges and quotas should be required to create and destroy such a device (the scope seems similar to permanent mailboxes). The falling prices of semiconductor memory make this facility attractive when short access times are
vital.
SIR: S86-13
Abstract:
SYSGEN should flag autoconfigured devices in
SHOW/CONFIG.
Description: It would be potentially useful if the SYSGEN SHOW/CONFIG command could indicate if a device was autoconfigured.
SIR: S86-14
Abstract: All utilities should use a standard format for printable output.
Description: Printable output generated by VAX utilities and compilers comes in a great variety of record formats and carriage control conventions. A particularly awkward convention is the use of embedded ASCII control characters to generate multiple print lines from a single record. There appears to be no standard for this or any other mechanism. As a result it is very difficult to print "printable" output on non-DEC printers or transmit it through heterogeneous networks. Digital should document a standard record format and carriage control convention and modify all facilities to conform to this convention. As a alternative, Digital should provide a utility which converts all currently used formats into a standard format. It seems that this functionality currently exists, distributed between the print symbiont, device driver, and
"DEC standard" printers.
SIR: S86·15
Abstract:
Proposed changes to SMG$READ STRING and
SMG$READ_COMPOSED_LINE screen management routTnes.
Description:
When
using
the
SMG$READ STRING
and
SMG$READ COMPOSED LINE screen management routTnes, when the
display-id argument is included, there is a restriction
that the cursor for the virtual display associated with the
routine(s) must be in column 1, and also that this virtual
displays to its right. It would be very useful if these
restrictions did not exist.
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SIR: S86-16
Abstract: Provide a call interface that parallels the DCL show queue functionality.
Description: The interface to the symbiont manager is useful as long as you already have information (i.e., the job i.d.). There should be a call interface that permits an application to "look up" what jobs are in the queue(s).
SIR: 586-17
Abstract: The VMS source kit should be cheaper.
Description: We need to have parts of the source kit available
for SEARCHing to quickly find out how VMS does certain
things. We are a DEC OEM and third-party supplier; we have
a non-disclosure agreement for a new type of hardware for
which we will be building compatible products with DEC's
cooperation and assistance. Unfortunately this cooperation
and assistance does not extend to helping us to write the
system software (device drivers) which are necessary to use
our product. $25,000 seems excessive for the source kit;
it seems designed to discourage people from buying it (it
certainly has discouraged us) rather than as a reasonable
price based on the cost of production and support (since
DEC doesn't support it, or anyone's use of it). I
understand that DEC does not want versions of VMS to
proliferate the way Unix systems have. This could be
addressed by leaving out something that was necessary (or
very, very, very helpful) to actually use the kit to build
a system. The system and module build command procedures
come to mind. A price of $5,000 would surely result in
more than five times as many sales of the source kit as DEC
currently gets.
Thus the suggestion makes sense
financially.
From a philosophy standpoint it makes sense too. DEC has
been successful partly because it has been relatively easy
for third-party suppliers to get information on how to do
things that complement DEC hardware and software, filling
market niches that DEC is too big or too slow to respond to
and thereby enabling sales of DEC systems to customers who
would otherwise have to look· elsewhere.
It seems
unreasonable for DEC not to follow this philosophy in VMS,
their flagship operating system and the system they are
trying to sell to almost everyone. To say "you can look at
the microfiche" is not responsive; it's hard to issue a
SEARCH command to a fiche reader. To "market" a source kit
that costs more than the low-end configuration of the
MicroVAX II, which will surely put VMS into more sites than
all the other VAXes to date combined, seems to be
completely contrary to DEC's (former?) way of doing
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business.
SIR: S86-18
Abstract: Make SWAPPER multi-threaded.
Description: Given increasingly large VAX systems with lots of memory and disks it appears as if SWAPPER could become a
bottleneck when performing large writes of working sets and modified pages. It would be nice if SWAPPER could format writes to all of the disks it accesses in parallel.
SIR: S86-19
Abstract: Add description of file to header.
Description:
Long file names aren't good for elaborate
descriptions of files because you have to type them. What
if
$SET FILE file/DESCRIPTION="text"
could put up to 80 or 90 chars in the headers, which could
be displayed by:
$DIR/DESCRIP
or
$DIR/FULL
This facility should also be available via RMS and QIO
interfaces. Ideally, the description would be copied along
with things like record attribute when you $COPY, $EDIT,
etc. perhaps by having it appear in an XAB.
SIR: S86-20
Abstract: Support a PRINTABLE attribute on files
Description:
Binary-type files can do awful things to
terminals and printers when PRINTed or TYPEd. An attribute
which would cause the commands to reject such files unless
overridden would save many confused and frightened users.
Modifying just compilers and the linker as a first step
would probably eliminate 90% of the problem.
This item appeared as a past top-10 SIR in which DEC proposed an alternate solution in which the printing software would make an empirical decision about the printability of a file it was given. However, this solution seems increasing difficult to implement given the proliferation of "intelligent" printing devices.
SIR: S86-21
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Abstract: Proposed improvement to RMS user control block run time macros
Description:
The RMS control block run time macros,
$fab store, $nam store, $rab store, and $xabxxx store have
a number of options which allow one to set various RMS
attributes (such as fop-cbt, for contiguous best try, in
the $fab store macro). There is, however, no way to turn
these attributes off using these macros. (one has to use
symbolic offsets, such as fab$1 fop and fab$v cbt,
instead). It would be convenient if-each store macro had a
clear, or unset, form of its on/off attributes (such as
fop=nocbt in the $fab_store macro).
SIR: S86-22
Abstract: Support a per-user logical name table
Description: Extend the logical name table system to provide
user-level (not group-level) tables which remain after a process goes away. They should behave much as group tables do but should be unique to a full UIC. An appropriate privilege (USERNAM?) may be required since this would entail the use of system resources.
SIR: S86-23
Abstract: Better program control of output to sys$error is needed, especially for detached processes.
Description: In detached processes it is desirable to merge the sys$output and sys$error files. The ways/orders in
which they are opened causes difficulties. For example, two files appear when one is desired. A possible solution is to give user programs control over where error output is
to appear, e.g., traceback output. There is no control over how a process opens sys$error.
DCL and Utilities
SIR: S86-24
Abstract: Increase the 255 byte limit on foreign command lines.
Description: User commands that utilize the foreign command interface to get argument data may now exceed the 255 byte limit that is enforced with VMS 4.0. This is now a problem since the limit was not enforced in VMS v3.x software and longer arguments were working and are now not. Also the
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expansion of file names and extensions to 39 characters adds to the need for longer argument strings.
SIR: S86-25
Abstract: Enhancements to the VMS MAIL facility.
Description: There are several enhancements to mail that would generally increase the ease of use and functionality of mail:
1. Include the subject of the mail message in the broadcast message mail sends to logged in users.
2. In captive accounts which run from controlled command procedures some way to prevent users from using the spawn capability in mail is needed. This facility might also be useful elsewhere, restricting the subprocess count is not a solution since the running application may need to create a subprocess.
3. The ability to delete more than one message at a time would be desireable. I.E. DELETE 1:10 to remove message l thru 10 or DELETE 1,3,5,7 to remove messages 1, 3, 5, and 7.
4. Some form of search facility on the mail folders to aid in finding specific entries is needed. This could be restricted to the folder names or extended as far as searching thru the actual messages themselves. The syntax and command capabilities in the VMS SEARCH command are an excellent example.
5. When using the @FILESPEC method of sending mail to many people it is very desireable to have the option to specify that the detailed list expansion be included in the message in some form. This will allow a newly added member of the list to see who comprises the list. Additionally the number of redundantly forwarded mail messages could be reduced.
SIR: S86-26
Abstract: Show open files for a process.
Description:
It is frequently necessary to attempt to
determine the files that a specified process has open.
With many devices on a system this can be a time consuming
exercise to search through all of them. A more desireable
method would be some form of show command, possibly SHOW
FILES/PROCESS=pid or SHOW PROCESS/ID=PID/FILES
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SIR: S86-27
Abstract: SHOW PROCESS/CONT is inadequate for large images.
Description: When watching large processes with SHOW PROCESS/CONTINUOUS the actual memory that is in use by the process is not shown by the fixed window. Some form of window specification where the user declares the memory range to be shown or some form of automatic selection of the window address is needed.
SIR: S86-28
Abstract: Add restarting to DIRECTORY command.
Description: Some mechanism is needed for either specifying a start point for the command or a restart from last file shown if interrupted by a control c. For example, DIRECTORY/FROM=oldprog would start at-the first file entry that in the normal sort. order came after oldprog. Additionally a /UNTIL=stoptext would be very useful. With both features management of large directories would be very easy. It is understood that subdirectories are a more efficient way of organizing files, however this is not always possible.
SIR: 586-29
Abstract: Enhance DCL command recall.
Description: Additional desirable features in the command line recall facility:
1. When a command is recalled from the saved commands, move it to the top of the stack and erase it from the position it occupied. This eliminates loosing the oldest command. This also changes the recall facility to remember the last 20 unique commands.
2. Allow some method of specifying the number of commands to store.
3. Allow a method of ignoring short commands that are less than a specified length.
SIR: S86-30
Abstract: SHOW SYSTEM display should have the old form of UIC numbers.
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Description: The enhanced version of SHOW SYSTEM maps UIC entries into named entries. Some method of getting the old
UIC entry back is needed. Possibly SHOW SYSTEM/OLD would display the numeric UIC entries only, UIC entries that are not of the old numeric form would not be displayable by this command.
SIR: 586-31
Abstract: Enhanced DCl substitution and parsing capabilities.
Description: DCL would be more useful to advanced and expert users if the following concepts were implemented.
1. Direct substitution of parameters in DCL commands.
2. Multiple command entries on one DCL line.
For example: BUILD:==MACRO/LIST APl !LINK/MAP APl
BUILD FOO expands to MACRO/LIST FOO
LINK/MAP FOO The syntax shown is only for the purposes of writing an example.
SIR: S86-32
Abstract: Enhance the DEASSIGN command.
Description:
In many cases a simple enhancement to the
DEASSIGN command would simplify writing command procedures
and increase clarity and execution speed.
For example DEASSIGN LNAME1,LNAME2,LNAME3 would deassign all three logical names and is easier to write than.
DEASSIGN LNAMEl DEASSIGN LNAME2 DEASSIGN LNAME3 This general ability to restart the DCL command for more than one action would be useful in as many places as possible such as:
CLOSE LNAME1,LNAME2,LNAME3 REWIND LNAME1,LNAME2,LNAME3 etc.
VAXClusters
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SIR: S86-33
Abstract:
Provide a feature to keep system times on a
VAXcluster synchronized.
Description: It is extremely important for the time-of-day to be consistent across all nodes in a VAXcluster. Often, applications involve cooperating processes on several nodes. Without synchronized times, it becomes extremely difficult to consistently handle any operation which requires timestamping. Even coordinated processing of accounting or performance data is impossible without coordinated times. Manual synchronization impossible to do if high accuracy is required.
SIR: S86-34
Abstract:
Provide support for cluster-wide print queues
spooled via a device.
Description: In single node systems, it is possible to declare a printer device as spooled so that files written to the
device are printed without the necessity of using a PRINT command. Applications are written to take advantage of
this behavior. In a cluster, this mechanism no longer works, since the device will not be present on every node
of the cluster. A mechanism is needed which provides a "dummy" alias for the printer, which appears on every
system. Defining a logical name to include a DECnet nodename (e.g. DEFINE LP NODE:LPA0:) is not acceptable
since username and account information might not be the same for the DECnet server process.
SIR: S86-35
Abstract: Provide cluster-wide system management tools.
Description: Digital stresses that a VAXcluster should be managed as a single domain. To do this, the standard VMS system management tools need to be expanded to work cluster-wide. Cluster-wide ACCOUNTING and and cluster-wide MONITOR are two examples.
SIR: S86-36
Abstract: Provide a capability similar to the NCP TELL to pass DCL commands to other nodes on a cluster.
Description: It is frequently necessary to execute the same, or similar, commands on more than one node of a cluster. This is typically a command that has just been put in SYSTARTUP.COM, for example an INSTALL command, which is needed before the next reboot. We are currently using
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DECNET and batch jobs which are slow and inconvenient. What is needed is DCL TELL for use on a cluster.
SIR: S86-37
Abstract: Provide high-speed task to task communication on a
cluster using scs, not DECNET.
Description: Some applications need to get large amounts of data (100-300 Kbytes) from one node to another as fast as possible. At present, this can only be done using a shared file or DECNET transfers - neither of which is fast enough. The bandwidth of the CI is fast enough. What is required is the ability to do 'block' mode transfers via the CI. A simple device driver interfacing to SCS would suffice.
Security
SIR: S86-38
Abstract: Mechanism needed that allows one user to grant other users access to a file only via a user-defined image.
Description: Non-privileged users sometimes need to give other non-privileged users controlled access to data files through a program. Through this facility any user would be able to control who could access his data files and what kind of access they may have. In the current system, in order to allow another user to add a record to a file, that user must be given WRITE access to that file, which means he could alter existing data or delete records from the file.
Presently this requires the system manager to install the program with privilege, which is both an administrative nuisance and a security problem, as the privileged image would also have access to other system data files as well as the intended files. This mechanism should be under user control, i.e., the user should be able to determine which images could access a file. For example, the UIC of the image and data file could be required to match before access would be permitted. This could be accomplished by an option on the compiler or linker when the image was being created. It could also be implemented by allowing the system manager to install an image with a particular identifier. Then the user could set up the access control list for that file to permit access by that Identifier. This would be less flexible but would permit a user to allow access from images other than his own, e.g., a data base manager. This capability could also be provided by
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file passwords, since the passwords could be imbedded in the programs that were intended to have access to the files; however, file passwords would be difficult to administer and prone to disclosure.
SIR: S86-39
Abstract: Implement mandatory security controls in VMS.
Description: Many VAX systems are being operated by government agencies or contractors and either are processing or need to process classified data. Mandatory security controls are needed in VMS to support such classified processing. An operating system that could be evaluated by the National Computer Security Center at the Bl level or higher would encourage more VAXes to be used for classified processing and make system management much easier for those already doing classified processing on existing systems. The system manager should be able to specify a security level for each user account using the AUTHORIZE utility. When a file is created, it should be given the security level of the creating process, and any subsequent access to the file should be controlled in accordance with the mandatory security policies. If a file is edited or copied, it should retain it's classification. A utility should be provided to allow a person with a special (SECURITY) privilege to change the classification of a file.
SIR: S86-40
Abstract: End-to-end encryption of logical connections within DECnet-VAX.
Description: The assumption made by DECnet that all nodes and communications paths are trustworthy is not viable in many environments. End-to-end encryption of the data portion of network packets is required in these environments to assure that eavesdropping is fruitless, both in Local Area Networks (broadcast) and Wide Area Networks (multi-hop). This encryption should be implemented so as to be transparent to the application programmer and user, i.e., the mechanism should be located in the NSP (or OSI session) layer. New encryption keys should be generated for each logical connection between cooperating, encryption-capable processors. (Some nodes will not be capable of encryption and should be allowed to participate in the network without performing encryption.) Intermediate nodes should not be required to participate in, or be knowledgable of, the key distribution/management or the encryption process. The DES algorithm should be utilized in the near term but should be readily replaced as NBS standards change. Provisions should be made for encryption hardware to boost performance where necessary.
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SIR: S86-41
Abstract: DECnet-VAX Node Authentication
Description:
In both Local Area and Wide Area Network
environments, a malicious node can readily assume the
identity of another node. Node passwords are inadequate
protection, are easily circumvented, and are applicable
only to adjacent nodes on point-to-point links.
An
encryption based node authentication mechanism is required
(perhaps using the RSA algorithm).
This improved
authentication mechanism should provide the (local) node
manager with a high degree of certainty that a remote node
is who/what it claims to be.
The authentication mechanism should also be immune to eavesdropping by intermediate routing nodes. After this capability is developed within DECnet-VAX, it will also be needed in other DECnet implementations, so that routers and PC workstations can take advantage of enhanced security in their communications with VAX systems.
SIR: S86-42
Abstract: Record attempted usernames on login failures.
Description: An OPTION is needed that permits the system
manager to record login failures in more detail, including the ATTEMPTED USERNAME, terminal name, and time, even if the username is invalid. This would help the system manager to assess whether login failures are the result of
penetration attempts, noisy lines, or just merely a user who is having difficulty. The system manager would be responsible for protecting the accounting file appropriately to prevent the disclosure of passwords.
This capability must be an OPTION, as large numbers of system managers have indicated a strong need for this capability, and many others have expressed an equally strong concern that passwords might appear in their accounting files. Both groups of person have valid arguments and should be given a choice in the recording of login failure information.
SIR: S86-43
Absti;act: Security alarm messages to a file.
Description: Add an option to the Access Control Entries (ACE's) that specifies a file into which security alarms
for that file/directory are written. This would allow a user to review security alarms for his own files, rather than depending on the system manager to perform the
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auditing. Of course, security alarms requested by the system manager via the SET AUDIT command should be written to the system-wide security log.
SIR: S86-44
Abstract: Prevent users from re-using passwords.
Description: When passwords expire, users can change them to some other password such as XXXXXX, and can then immediately change them back to the original password. A mechanism is needed to prevent users from re-using old passwords. This might be implemented via a MINIMUM password lifetime or by maintaining a list of "n" previous passwords for each user.
SIR: S86-45
Abstract: Control access to printers through ACL's.
Description: ACL's are needed to control the usage of print devices, print queues, and batch queues. The UIC-based protections are now available on queues, but ACL's are not, so the system manager does not have sufficient granularity in granting access to the system queues and print devices. ACL's can be placed on physical devices, but they only control the ability of users to allocate the devices and do not control their ability to use shared devices such as printers. This is undesirable in cases where the user is expected to use some shared devices and not others.
SIR: S86-46
Abstract: ACL's are ignored for images installed open and header resident.
Description: In some cases, the system manager may wish to control the use of images (such as compilers and the linker) through ACL's, but would still like to take advantages of the efficiencies of installing the images OPEN and/or HEADER RESIDENT. In VMS 4.2, ACL's applied to these images are- ignored, even though UIC protection is enforced. Full ACL protection should be included.
SIR: S86-47
Abstract: Make password validation a user-callable service.
Description: Username/password validation should be made a user-callable system service or run-time library routine. Such a routine should one-way encrypt the password, open the UAF, read the record for the specified username, and return a status indicating whether the username/password
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pair is valid. For security reasons this service should only be available to users holding system privileges, e.g. SYSPRV. Such a capability would be useful for applications requiring users to log into shared or captive accounts, which would then need to further validate the individual users.
SIR: S86-48
Abstract: Allow OPER to override LOGINS=0 only if it is a DEFAULT privilege.
Description: It is useful to give OPER privilege to certain users, so that they can control print and batch queues. However, granting OPER as an AUTHORIZED privilege also allows that user to login even when logins are disabled. VMS should check the DEFAULT privileges (not the AUTHORIZED privileges) for an account when determining whether or not to allows that user to override disabled logins.
SIR: S86-49
Abstract: Asynchronous data security erase on file deletion.
Description: The data security erase occurs on file deletion when the disk volume or an individual file is set to /ERASE ON DELETE. If the file is large, this erasure can take -a -long time. The erasure should be performed asynchronously to the user process, so that a performance degradation is not seen by interactive users.
~ Languages and Tools
SIR: S86-50
Abstract: Allow EDT to set tabs in any column.
Description: Currently, only the first tab stop in EDT can be changed. The rest are in multiples of 8 (16, 24, etc.). A user should be able to tab to any column. This feature is useful when entering data that is not in every 8th column.
SIR: S86-51
Abstract: Provide windowing capability in EDT.
VAX-35
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 ~ Volume 7 Number 7 Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests
Description: A window capability in EDT would be useful, so that several portions of a file could be viewed and editted, It should also be possible to view and edit multiple files,
SIR: S86~52
Abstract: Provide column editting capability in EDT.
Description: It would be useful to easily insert, delete, or swap columns of text in EDT. Currently, these operations are quite awkward, compared to inserting, deleting, or swapping rows of text. It would also be useful if the column number of the current cursor position could be displayed.
SIR: S86-53
Abstract: Provide a SPAWN command in EDT.
Description: It would be useful to SPAWN from an editting session so that mail could be read, that status of batch jobs could be examined, etc.
SIR: S86-54
Abstract: Provide insert and overwrite modes in EDT.
Description: It would be useful if both insert and overwrite modes were available, and toggling between them would be easy. Overwrite mode would be especially useful in editting formatted files.
SIR: S86"55
Abstract: Provide depth-level numbers on Fo_rtran listings.
Description: It would greatly aid debugging programs, if the Fortran listing would include the depth level of DO loops and the depth level of nested IF's. The level number could be printed on the left margin of the listing, to the right of source code line number and sequence number.
SIR: S86-56
Abstract: Provide a qualifier on the Fortran compiler that would make all integer and real variables and constants use 64-bit fields.
VAX-36
-
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests
Description: A qualifier on the Fortran compiler is needed that would make all real variables and constants double precision, and all integer variables and constants occupy
64 bits. This qualifier would also cause functions to return a 64-bit quantity, unless otherwise specified. The IMPLICIT statement is not adequate, since constants are not affected.
SIR: S86-57
Abstract: Provide more support for structure variables in Fortran.
Description: It would be convenient to have an aggregate constant feature that could be used to initialize the fields in an aggregate assignment statement. It would also be convenient if aggregate fields could be specified in formatted I/O statements.
SIR: S86-58
Abstract: Provide a DO UNTIL construction in Fortran.
Description: A DO UNTIL construction is needed in Fortran. There are occasions when a DO UNTIL is simpler to use than a DO WHILE, and cleaner code will result.
SIR: S86~59
Abstract: Provide a qualifier on the linker that would force inclusion of all modules in the library.
Description: It would be useful if the linker could be directed to include all modules in a library, when building an executable program. This feature is useful when there are common routine names in libraries that are used to build an executable, and you need to be sure that all
modules from a particular library are used.
SIR: S86-60
Abstract: Provide source line debugging in MACRO.
Description:
The debugger does not always effectively
translate offsets and other symbolic information. Source
line debugging would remedy this problem. Source line
debugging would be useful for programs that make extensive
use of macros. The capability to STEP and SET BREAK points
according to source lines would also be useful.
VAX-37
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Spring 1986 System Improvement Requests SIR: S86-61 Abstract: Provide LSE Support for VAX MACRO. Description: The Language-Sensitive Editor should support VAX
MACRO. Support would include a /DIAGNOSTICS qualifier on the MACRO command, assembling from within LSE, and templates for the commonly used system services. SIR: S86-62 Abstract: Provide a word count in the RUNOFF output log. Description: It would be useful to know how many words are in a document that RUNOFF processes. This number could be included on the output log file, along with the number of pages. This word count would not include section headings, chapter headings, etc.
VAX-38
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
Gary Grebus
SIR Coordinator and
Richard Merewood VMS Engineering
At the Anaheim Symposium, Digital responded to the VAX SIG's most recent system Improvement Request ballot. The
ballot was originally published in the September issue of the Pageswapper. Only 172 ballots were returned, a disappointing decrease in participation by the SIG membership. A complete summary of the ballot appeared in last month's Pageswapper. Below is a summary of the top 10 items along with with Digital's responses, as presented by Richard Merewood of the VMS Engineering group.
SIR F85-ll
Position: 1
Points: 847
Abstract: Provide a means to perform an in-place compression of a disk.
Response: While the importance of on-line compression is obvious in retrospect, this is a new request for us in that it has never appeared so prominently in past SIR ballots. We do not have any current plans to build such a facility.
However, we understand its importance and we understand that it will increase as time goes on.
There are a number of difficult problems to deal with, including coordinating ongoing file activity with the compression process, and solving the performance problem on large disks (since disk reorganization is inherently an
n-squared order problem).
We will investigate this for future VMS development.
(Note: comments offered from the audience at the symposium
session suggested that support of ongoing file activity was
not a requirement, particularly in
an
initial
implementation.)
SIR: F85-55 Position: 2 Points: 588
VAX .. 39
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
Abstract: Enhance the SHOW command of AUTHORIZE. Specific suggestions included the ability to show a particular item across a group of users, selection of records by the contents of various items, and better support for wildcarding UIC's.
Response: It has been recognized that the user friendliness of the VMS AUTHORIZE utility falls short of requirements, and therefore a major re-work is being planned.
These suggestions are good ones and they will certainly be considered.
SIR: F85-06 Position: 3 Points: 494
Abstract: This is actually a layered software specific improvement request and is not within the realm of the operating system to address.
However, we agree that the ability to support running multiple versions of layered products in a given environment would be an attractive enhancement to the VAX/VMS system family. As noted in the SIR, many dependencies such as images, shareable libraries, DCL tables, etc. must be considered as well as any enhanced or revised features in a product that would preclude an existing or new function in that product.
Other ramifications that make the implementation of this SIR complex are VAXclusters and the various flavors of clustered environments that might exist in a customer environment (such as complex database locking scenarios on both common and non-common disks throughout the cluster). These pose resource allocation and file/record access considerations. A new release of a product could introduce advance features incompatible with databases jointly accessed with an older version of the product.
Additionally, product validation, test complexity, and ensuring system compatibility grows rapidly in order to ensure continued quality in each product.
There are ways of accomplishing this to some extent with today's products by the use of alternate system roots, if you system environment is flexible enough to allow this. These alternate roots, however, must reside on alternate system disks and cannot be an alternate root on a common system disk.
VAX Datatrieve accomplishes this by allowing a unique suffix per additional version (at the installer's request).
In summary, we agree that this is an attractive and useful
VAX-40
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
feature to add and would consider implementing it on a product by product basis as the design and implementation of each allows.
SIR: F85-27 Position: 4 Points: 477
Abstract: Enhance DELETE command behavior so that when a version number was omitted, the command would be interpreted as ";*/CONFIRM" (as is done in RSX-11.)
Response: Historically, when the VMS DELETE command was pla'nned, it did parallel the behavior of the RSX DELETE command; it originally gave an error message when the ";" was omitted. The RSX version was changed after the VMS command was implemented.
Any inconvenience to the user of the DELETE command caused by the accidental omission of a file version specification is easily minimized by the use of the command recall feature of DCL.
SIR: F85-42 Position: 5 Points: 471
Abstract: Enhance network support in BACKUP. Particularly, support a remote magnetic tape server, rudimentary DECnet capability for standalone BACKUP, and the ability to boot stand-alone BACKUP over Ethernet.
Response: a) Remote BACKUP Server: This is an interesting and useful idea. We will consider it for a future VMS release. While there are some dependencies involved in building such a facility, we do not see any insurmountable problems.
b) Rudimentary DECnet capability for stand-alone BACKUP: Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a rudimentary DECnet capability. DECnet/VAX consists of a considerable number of components, all of which must be present and functioning before any level of DECnet capability is available. Also, the operation of DECnet requires the presence of DCL, RMS, and the file system, non of which are currently present in stand-alone BACKUP. To provide DECnet support in stand~alone BACKUP would require expanding stand-alone BACKUP to incorporate most of the full VMS kernel.
c) Boot stand·alone BACKUP over Ethernet: Because the Kernel that stand-alone BACKUP runs on is simply a VMS executi've, this amounts to booting the VMS executive and a single~task system over the Ethernet. This is obviously a rather complex job.
We feel that the solutions b) and c) are sufficiently complex and costly that it is unlikely that they will be
VAX-'41
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 ~ Volume 7 Number 7 Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
implemented. However, we are looking at alternatives to improving system installation and maintenance in the Ethernet environment.
SIR: F85-ll4 Position: 6 Points: 375
Abstract: Provide enhanced CPU usage reports in MONITOR, particularly breakdown of kernel mode time by system component, and breakdown of per-user CPU time by access
mode.
Response: This is a good idea because it eliminates a lot of the guess work that's involved in determining the culprit in a system performance problem.
However, implementation of this type of collection requires many hooks to be placed in the executive and some analysis work to make sure that these hooks do not create new
performance problems.
At this point we have not researched any aspect of this feature and have no plans to do so in the immediate future. But, because the information is highly beneficial, it may be a candidate for a future release.
In the meantime, information of this kind can be obtained using the performance analysis products VAX SPM and PCA.
SIR: F85-49 Position: 7 Points: 371
Abstract: Provide a screen editor for AUTHORIZE
Response: Again, it has been recognized that the user friendliness of the VMS AUTHORIZE utility falls short of requirements, and therefore a major re-work is being planned.
This request, or something very similar, is also being given active consideration.
SIR: F85-l8 Position: 8 Points: 364
Abstract: Add a class based scheduler to VMS
Response: We also feel that a class-based scheduling capability
is very important, and believe that it is applicable for
both single-node and cluster configurations. This is
particularly
true
in
large timesharing service
environments. We also noted with interest that this
particular request has risen from 16th to 8th place in the
ballot.
Note however, that its implementation requires major and
VAX-42
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
extensive work in the executive and could therefore only be shipped in a major release.
Although preliminary research has taken place, this work is not included in the modifications expected to be completed prior to the next rebuild of the executive. Therefore, it will be some time before this feature is available.
SIR: F85-24
Position: 9
Points: 330
Abstract: Add an automatic closing option to DCL file opens so that when a procedure aborts for some reason, all files it
opened would be closed.
Result: We currently don't plan on implementing the file closing feature that is requested because A) it would require several design changes in DCL's file processing, and b) an easy work around exists which will provide the
functionality required.
The context that is saved whenever DCL opens up a file contains neither the procedure level at which the file was opened, which is irrelevant to an opened file, or the
logical name associated with the file.
As a work around, you can specify exit handlers that are activated by either by an error condition or control-Y, by using the ON command. By use of the "/NOLOG" qualifier on the CLOSE command, you can suppress the error message generated by trying to close a file that wasn't yet opened
at the time of the error.
SIR: F85-36
Position: 10
Points: 326
Abstract: Provide delivery tracking for VMS MAIL, including support in a network configuration.
Response: Receiving the "MAIL>" prompt back is actually instantaneous notification that the message is in the mail file of the receiver. If MRGATE (part of the ALL·IN-1 product) is being used, say to get VMS MAIL to an ALL-IN-1 system then return of the "MAIL>" prompt means that the message is in control of the Message Router for delivery.
The ability to inform a sender when a message is actually read is a very contentious issue since many individuals would consider this to be an unacceptable invasion of privacy. Thus, there are no plans to implement such a feature in VMS MAIL.
DIGITAL is currently investigating producing an enhanced VMS MAIL product that has directory services and an interface directly into the Message Router for store and
VAX·43
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 Digital Responds to the Fall 1985 SIR Ballot
forward capability. Also, the Message Router will probably have a message trace capability in the future.
FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
Gary Grebus SIR Coordinator Those of you who managed to find the Fall SIR Ballot in the September Pageswapper were hopefully pleased with its contents. I think it contained a very interesting collection of requests involving many substantial issues. However, it appears that the confusion and overwhelming size of the first combined newsletter may have prevented some SIG members from finding the ballot. In fact, the largest distribution of the SIR ballot yielded the POOREST return ever, with only 172 ballots returned. The summary of this voting appears below. Digital's response to the top 10 requests overall will be presented at the Fall 1985 DECUS Symposium in Anaheim. Interpreting the SIR Ballot Results The results of the System Improvement Request ballot are show on the following pages. All of the reports have the same one page format. Following the report title is the number of ballots counted for that report. The number shown ·on the "All Users" report is the total number of ballots which were returned. The SIR's are listed on the page in order of points received, from highest to lowest. The entry for each SIR begins with the SIR number (from the ballot), a brief description, and the total number of points received by that SIR. Next are listed the number of ballots which assigned positive and negative points points to the SIR. These numbers are expressed as a percentage of the total number of ballots represented on the report. Finally, the mean number of points assigned and the standard deviation of the points are show.
VAX-44
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR's AS RANKED BY ALL USERS
Total ballots in this category:
172
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
11 Support in-place disk compression 55 Enhance AUTHOR! ZE SHOW command
6 Multiple versions of layered products 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior 42 Enhance network support in BACKUP
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE 18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS 24 Add automatic file close for DCL 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 34 Add match 1 imi t to SEARCH 10 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 6 7 Enhance EDT search command 46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ
8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 17 Support standard print-file format 50 Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS 19 Provide for extended error info 20 Add keyword search to HELP 45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP 33 Utility for setting file attributes 37 Add wildcard send to MAIL
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command 2 Provide a quota on buffered I/O RATE 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP 30 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY 41 Add field support to DCL READ 56 Log one process stopping another
38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP 62 Support descending keys in RMS 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to OCL
15 Provide TCP/IP support 59 Support pr inters on term servers 14 Alter the priority boost mechanism 57 support pcint/batch job dependency 63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs. 40 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT220 22 Allow DCL procedures in libraries 39 Add /NOADVANCE to DCL WRITE 6111 Add tape AVR and label security 47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk 23 Provide a DCL optimizer
74 Add DECnet End-to-end encryption
Total Pts
847 588 4H 477
~l
TI5 371 H4 330 326 325 n2 297 297 H6 H6
~6
286 266 H2 H9 239 238 232 230 223 221 ll0 208 201 U2 U4 U4 U2 170 lU U3 U2 161 161 160 158
l"
146 129
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
59. 9 48 .8 41.9
39.0 33. l 35. 5 33. l 30.8 31.4 29. l 30. 2 29. l 33. 7 24 .4 25.0 26. 2 27. 3 27 .9 26. 7 26. 2 22. 7 20. 9 26. 2 21.5 19.2 19. 8 22. 7 21.5 21. 5 18. 6 20 .9 15. 7 17 .4 12. 8
14 .o
16. 9 14. 0 12. 2 16 .9
14 .o
17 .4 11.6
14 .o
16. 3 9.9
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
o.·
0 ··
o. 6
l. 7
o.o o.o o··
l. 2 0.6 0.6
0 .o
0.6 2. 3
...0.6
0 ··
o.o
0 .o
0 .6 0.6 0 .0 0.0 l. 7
o .e
l. 7 0.0 l. 7 0.6
o0 ..o·
0.6
o.o
0.6
...0. 6
o. 0
1.2
o. 6
0. 6 1.2
o. 6
0 .0
o. 6
2. 3 0 .0
Avg Pts Given
8.22 7. 00 6. 77 6 .81 8. 26 6.15 6. 51 6.62 6.00 6. 39 6. 25 6. 31 4. 79 6.91 6. 88 6. 58 6. 09 5. 96 5.66 5 .48 6. 38 6. 64 4 .96 6. 27 6. 39 6. 56 5.26 5. 79 5.62 6.28 5.19 6 .Bl 5 .61 7. 48 7 .08 5.29 6. 79 7. 36 5. 37 6.19 5.16 7. 90 6.16 4.56 7. 59
VAX-45
Std Dev of Pts
2.7078 2. 8999 3.6573 3. 5684 2.3109 3 .1190 2. 7654 4 .1522 3. 3884 3.4472 3.3599 3.6742 3.6581 3. 9989 2.8885 2. 9961 2. 9769 3.11111132 3.9081 3. 8629 3.2169 2. 8998 3.5667 2.9781 4.0798 2.9969 4. 6068 3.9192 2.8901 2.6789 2. 9518 3.3286 4 .1607 3. 9413 3.0205 3.6805 2. 9632 3.7613 4.4138 4.4544 4.0996 2. 9182 3. 6134 5.6622 2.6939
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR 1 s AS RANKED BY BUSINESS EDP USERS
Total ballots in this category:
53
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct Of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
11 Support in-place disk compression
297
64. 2
0.0
55 Enhance AUTHOR! ZE SHOW command 42 Enhance network support in BACKUP
159
43. 4
0.0
157
34. 0
0 .o
6 Multiple versions of layered products
155
37. 7
0.0
36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior 34 Add match limit to SEARCH
143
35. 8
0.0
137
34 .o
1.9
133
39 .6
o. 0
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 18 Add class-based scheduler to VHS 49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE 67 Enhance EDT search command
133
41. 5
0.0
132
34 .Ill
0 .o
123
32 .1
0 .o
114
24. 5
o. 0
24 Add automatic file close for DCL
109
32.1
0.0
56 Log one process stopping another 46 Add some OCL to S/A BACKUP environ
104
28. 3
0.0
104
24. 5
o. 0
5111 Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS
102
26. 4
0.0
57 Support print/batch job dependency
101
28. 3
o. 0
3111 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY
92
24. 5
0.0
20 Add keyword search to HELP
84
28. 3
0.0
28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 41 Add field support to DCL READ
83
30. 2
l. 9
81
24. 5
o.o
4111 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT220
78
24. 5
1.9
59 Support printers on term servers
77
18.9
0. 0
33 Utility for setting file attributes
77
17 .0
0.0
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command
75
22. 6
0.0
62 support descending keys in RMS
74
2111. 8
0 .0
38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP
1 Retain control of a MOUNT'ed device
73
17 .0
0. 0
72
15. l
o. 0
69
18 .9
o. 0
44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP 39 Add /NOADVANCE to DCL WRITE
69
20. 8
0. 0
68
20. 8
0 .o
2 Provide a quota on buffered I/0 RATE
64
17 .0
0.0
66 Editors must avoid simultaneous update 19 Provide for extended error info
64
18.9
0.0
64
26. 4
o··
21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL 8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT
47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk
63
18 .9
0. 0
59
18 .9
o. 0
55
15.1
o. 0
63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs. 10 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 53 Support restricted DCL environments 60 Add tape AVR and label security
55
13. 2
0.0
53
17 .0
o. 0
52
11. 3
o. 0
52
11. 3
o. 0
72 Allow image-controlled file access 75 Improve node authentication in DECnet
51
13 .2
0.0
50
9. 4
o.o
37 Add wildcard send to MAIL 45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP
47
15. l
l. 9
46
13. 2
o.o
7 support "keyboard" filters
46
13. 2
0.0
8. 74 6.91 8. 72 7. 75 7. 53 7. 21 6. 33 6. 05
7. 33 7 .24 8. 77 6.41 6.93
8 .oo
7. 29 6. 73 7. 08 5. 60 4. 88 6. 23 5. 57 7. 70 8.56
6.25 6. 73 8 .11 9. 00 6. 90 6. 27 6.18 7 .11 6. 411J 4. 57 6. 30 5.90 6. 88 7 .86 5. 89 8. 67 8. 67 7. 29
10 .oo
5. 22
6. 57 6. 57
VAX-46
Std Dev of Pts
2.4533 3. 0288 2.0809 2.8631 2.9130 3. 7502 3. 3665 3.3163 2. 7865 2.6108 2.4205 3.3365 3. 2834 2.7689 3.3381 2.8900 3. 4269 3.0190 3. 4074 2. 7127 5.6120 3.0930 2.9627 2.6671 3. 2586 2.0883 2.1381 3.0714 2.9357 3.3412 2.8916 2. 7162 2. 7376 2.6687 3 .0714 3. 4821 2.8536 3.2575 2.4221 2 .1602 3 .14 72 0.01110111 4.3525 3. 3594 3.4572
PAGESWAPPER ... February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR' s AS RANKED BY SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
Total ballots in this category:
128
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
11 Support in-place disk compression SS Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command
6 Multiple versions of layered products 42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR
49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE
19 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 24 Add automatic file close for DCL 34 Add match limit to SEARCH
B Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ 67 Enhance EDT search command 17 Support standard print-file format 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 4S Provide time estimates for BACKUP 33 Utility for setting file attributes 39 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY 19 Provide for extended error info
S9 Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS
37 Add wildcard send to HAIL 29 Add keyword search to HELP
2 Provide a quota on buffered I/O RATE 62 support descending keys in RMS
s Enhance the ALLOCATE command 41 Add field support to DCL READ 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP
38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL S6 Log one process stopping another 63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs.
44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP
47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk 23 Provide a DCL optimizer 14 Alter the priority boost mechanism lS Provide TCP/IP support S7 Support print/batch job dependency S9 Support printers on term servers
3S DIFFERENCE should support C comments 7 Support "keyboard" filters
49 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT229 61 Support segmented keys of mixed type 66 Editors must avoid simultaneous update
Total Pts
629 414 369 3S4 31S 397 298 282 267 2S8 247 243 223 222 222 21S 289 294 199 194 188 188 178 174 174 162 1S8 1S7 1S6 lSS 141 13S 133 131 131 127 121 119 189 186 184 182 192 lH
97
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
69.2 46. l 42.2 32.9 33.6 32.8 37 .s 33.6 32.9 39.S 38.S 29. 7 2S.9 24.2 2S.8 27 .3 33.6 24.2 23.4 2S.8 24.2 2S.8 26.6 24. 2 19.S 17. 2 19.S 21.l 18 .e 18.9 18.8 18.8 13. 3 18.8 lS.6 16.4 16.4 11. 7 12.S 13. 3 12.S 14. l 14. l 18.2 lS.6
Pct of Ballots
Neg Pts ,
9.9
9.8 9.8 9.8
9.8 2.3
9.9 9.9
9.8 9. 8 8.9 8.9 8.8 9.9 9.8 9.8 3.1 8.8 8.lf 8.8 e.8
8.9 1.6 8.8
2.3 8.9 8.8 8.8 9.8 9.8
8.8 8.8 9.8 8.8
8.8 1.6 1.6 8.8 8.8
9.8 8.8 8.8 9.8 8.8 2. 3
Avg Pts Given
8.17 7 .82 6. 71 8.63 7 .16 6·82 6.21 6.S6 6. 36 6.4S 6. 33 6. 39 6.97 7 .16 6.S3 6.14 4.4S 6.S8 6.63 S.71 s.63 S.4S 4.94 S.44 6.21 7. 36 6. 32 S.61 6. 78 6.74 S.88 S.87 7 .39 S.24 6.SS s.s2 S.26 6.88 6.81 6.24 6.S8 S.37 S.37 7 .69 4.22
VAX-47
Std Dev of Pts
2.8971 2. 9S87 3.8S22 2.9827 3.7938 3. 8981 3.1SS3 2. 89S6 3. 7923 3.S379 3. 8464 3.373S 3.9S31 3.Hll 4.2913 3.1168 3. 8SS8 3. 3144 2. 9998 3.6887 4. 2786 2. 9S98 3.48S4 4 .1963 4. 3662 3. l 78S 3 .14S4 4. 3148 2. 87SS 2. S97S 4. S23S 2.943S 3. 9S77 3 .1791 2. 7818 4.971S 4 .1S84 4. 3348 3 .1669 3.8317 3.366S 3 .1397 S.1778 3.1469 4. S821
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR 1 S AS RANKED BY EDUCATIONAL USERS
Total ballots in this category:
22
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
11 Support in-place disk compression
SS Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command 6 Multiple versions of layered products
19 Provide for extended error info Si Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior lS Provide TCP/IP support 18 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC
24 Add automatic file close for DCL 2 Provide a quota on buffered I/O RATE
28 Modify behavior of PURGE command
44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP 23 Provide a DCL optimizer 49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE
42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 14 Alter the priority boost mechanism 41 Add field support to DCL READ 39 Add /NOADVANCE to DCL WRITE 22 Allow DCL procedures in libraries
17 Support standard print ... file format 28 Add keyword search to HELP 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ
9 Propagate file ERASE attribute 8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT S3 support restricted DCL environments 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP 34 Add match 1 imi t to SEARCH
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 16 Add l!'ILE ID to $GETQUI S6. Log one Process stopping another
37 Add wildcard send to MAIL S9 Support printers on term servers 63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs. S4 "Unbundle" the CAPTIVE login flag 7S Improve node authentication in DECnet
39 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY 7 Support "keyboard" filters
43 Enhance ACCOUNTING summary report 69 Add tape AVR and label security 67 Enhance EDT search command 3S DIFFERENCE should support C comments 49 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with V'l'22fl 32 Increase LIB$GET FOREIGN buffer 68 Keep EDT select i'egion active
122
63.6
1.9
89
S8.8
8.9
78
S9.9
9.9
74
S4.S
9.9
72
S9.9
9.9
64
4S. s
4.S
S4
31.8
9.9
Sl
36.4
9.9
Si
4S. s
9.9
49
31.8
9.9
49
4S.S
9.9
48
31.8
9.9
47
36.4
·· s
46
27.3
8.9
43
22. 7
9.8
41
31.8
9.9
48
27 .3
8.8
39
31.8
9.9
38
22. 7
4.S
38
22. 7
8.9
37
36.4
8.9
37
27 .3
4.S
37
27. 3
9.8
36
27 .3
8.8
34
22. 7
9.8
31
18.2
8.8
31
27 .3
9.8
39
27 .3
9.8
39
36.4
9.0
28
22. 7
8.8
2S
27 .3
8.8
24
22. 7
4. s
24
13.6
9.8
24
13.6
8.9
23
13.6
4.S
23
13.6
9.9
22
18.2
9.9
21
22. 7
4.S
21
18.2
9.9
29
9.1
9.9
18
9.1
8.9
16
13.6
8.8
lS
13.6
8.9
lS
9.1
8.9
14
13.6
9.8
8.71 7 .27 7.99 6.17 6. SS S.82 7. 71 6.38 S.99
7 .99 4.99
6.86 S.22
7 .67 8.69 S.86 6.67 S.57 6. 33 7 .68 4.63 S.29 6.17 6.98
6.88 7. 7S S.17 S.99 3. 7S S.68
4.17 4.89 8.99 8.89
s. 7S 7 .67 s.sg
3.S9 S.2S 18.89 9.99 S.33 S.89 7 .S8 4.67
VAX-48
Std Dev of Pts
2.9913 3.9361 3. S342 3. 32S7 2. 88S8 4. 9763 3.9461 3. 92S6 2. 7487 3. 78S9 2. 7264 3. 9237 s. 9S3S 3.9111 2.1999 3.9237 2. S828 2. S728 4. 7618 3.361S 2.44S8 4. 8892 3 .188S 3. 2249 2.9496 3. 3848 3. 3116 2.6977 l.S811 3.8471 1.3292 S.S8S7 3.4641 3.4641 s. 6789 4.941S 3.3166 3.8341 9.S989 9.HH 1.4142 4.841S 3.9899 3.S3SS 2.8868
-
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR's AS RANKED BY COMPUTER SCI. RESEARCHERS
Total ballots in this category:
12
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots
POS Pts
Pct of Ballots
Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
Std Dev of Pts
11 Support in-place disk compression 6 Multiple versions of layered products
19 Provide for extended error info 8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 2 Provide a quota on buffered I/O RATE
10 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs. 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL
42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 55 Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command 54 "Unbundle" the CAPTIVE log in flag 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 23 Provide a DCL optimizer 14 Alter the priority boost mechanism
7 Support "keyboard" filters 15 Provide TCP/IP support 66 Editors must avoid simultaneous update 17 support standard print-file format 33 Utility for setting file attributes 44 Volume ini t parameters to S/A BACKUP 46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ 18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS
SUI Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS 75 Improve node authentication in DECnet 67 Enhance EDT search command 58 Enhance handling of TAB's in SORT 59 Support printers on term servers 6UI Add tape AVR and label security 61 Support segmented keys of mixed type 62 Support descending keys in RMS
49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE 45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP 34 Add match limit to SEARCH
78 Unnumbered FORMAT statements in FORTRAN 74 Add DECnet End .. to-end encryption 47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk 41 Add field support to DCL READ 37 Add wildcard send to MAIL 38 Provide callable interface to MAIL
39 Add /NOADVANCE to DCL WRITE 35 Dil!'FERENCE should support C comments
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command
6UI
58. 3
e.UI
48
58.8
8.8
47
58.8
8.8
45
u. 7
8.8
4e
33.3
Ul.9
35
33.3
8.8
34
33.3
8.8
33
33.3
8.8
32
41. 7
8.8
31
33.3
8.8
38
33.3
8.8
24
33.3
8.9
24
25.9
8.8
23
33.3
U1.ra
28
25.9
8.8
28
16. 7
8.8
28
16. 7
8.8
18
25.8
8.8
18
25.8
8.3
16
16. 7
8.8
15
16. 7
8.8
15
16. 7
8.8
15
16.7
8.8
15
16.7
U1.ra
l4
16. 7
8.8
l4
16. 7
8.8
13
16. 1
0.8
ll
16. 7
8.8
l8
16. 1
0.0
l8
8.3
0.0
l8
8.3
0.0
18
8.3
8.8
11'1
8. 3
"·"
l8
16. 7
8.8
l8
8.3
8.8
l8
8.3
8.8
18
8.3
8.8
l8
8.3
8.8
l8
8.3
8.8
9
16.7
8.8
8
16.7
8.8
8
16.7
8.8
8
8.3
8.8
8
16.7
8.8
7
16.7
8.8
8. 57 8.liHiJ 7 .83
9.88 18.88
8. 75
8.59 8.25 6.48
7. 75 7. 58 6.88 8.88 5. 75 6.67 18.88 18.88 6.88 4.58 8.88 7 .58 7 .58 7 .58 7 .58 7 .88 7 .88 6. 58 5. 58 5.88 18.88 18.88 lUl.9UI
10.ee
5.88 18.88 18.88
18.88 18.88 18.88
4.58 4.88 4.88 8.88
4.88 3.58
2.4398 2. 4495 3. 3714 2. 2361 8.8888 2. 5888 3. 8888 3. 5888 2. 5188 2.6388 2. 8868 2. 7888 3. 4641 2. 9861 2. 8868 8.8888 8.9888 4.8888 7 .1414 2. 8284 3. 5355 3. 5355 3.5355 3. 5355 4. 2426
2. 8284 4. 9497 8. 7871 8.8888 8.8888 8.1818 8. 1888
"8·.8"8""8"8
8. 8888 8.8888 8.8888 8.8888
8.8888 8. 7871 l.4142 l.4142 8.8888 l.4142 8. 7871
VAX-49
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR's AS RANKED BY DATA ACQ./CTRL USERS
Total ballots in this category:
44
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pas Pts
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
11 Support in-place disk compression 55 Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command 42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior
8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS 19 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 4 6 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP env i ran
2 Provide a quota on buffered I/0 RATE 34 Add match 1 imi t to SEARCH 19 Provide for extended error info
6 Multiple versions of layered products 59 Support pr inters on term servers 45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP 24 Add automatic file close for DCL
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL 33 Utility for setting file attributes 38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 61 Support segmented keys of mixed type 44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP 62 Support descending keys in RMS 63 Provide VHS definitions for all langs. 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP 17 Support standard print-file format 67 Enhance EDT aearch command
66 Editors must avoid simultaneous update 14 Alter the priority boost mechanism 15 Provide TCP/IP support 47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk 26 Provide a "catch symbol" for DCL 29 Add keyword search to HELP 74 Add DECnet End-to-end encryption
SUI Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS 57 support print/batch job dependency 41 Add field support to DCL READ 23 Provide a DCL optimizer 38 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY 65 Enhance MACRO support in DEBUG 53 Support restricted DCL environments 75 Improve node authentication in DECnet
32 Increase LIB$GET_FOREIGN buffer
243
63.6
8.8
158
52.3
8.8
146
48.9
8.8
189
36.4
8.8
181
34.l
2.3
96
27.3
8.8
96
31.8
8.8
96
36.4
8.8
93
43.2
4.5
98
27.3
0.8
86
29.5
2.3
84
31.8
8.8
82
31.8
8.8
82
36,4
2.3
7l
22. 7
8.8
78
22. 7
8.8
68
22.7
8.8
67
27.3
8.8
66
22.1
8.8
65
25.11
8.8
65
25.8
8.8
64
28.5
8.8
63
15.9
8.8
62
31.8
2.3
61
18.2
8.8
58
13.6
8.8
57
28.5
8.8
56
28.5
8.8
55
28.5
8.8
49
18.2
4.5
48
28.5
4.5
47
15.9
2.3
46
13.6
Ul.ra
46
15.9
8.8
45
28.5
8.8
45
13.6
B.8
4l
28.5
8.8
48
15.9
8.8
36
13.6
8.8
36
15.9
2.3
36
15.9
8.8
35
15.9
8.8
35
ll.4
0.8
35
9.l
8.8
34
ll.4
8.8
8.68
6.52 8.ll 6.81 6.31 8.88 6.86 6.88 4.43 7. 58 6.14
6.88 5.86 4.82 7.18 7.81 6.88 5.58
6.68 5.91 5.91 7.ll 9.88 4.13 7.63 9.67 6. 33 6.22 6.ll 4.98
4.36 5.88 7 .67
6.57 5.88 7 .58 4.56
5.71 6.88 4.58 5.14 5.88 7.18 8. 75 6.88
VAX-59
Std Dev of Pts
2. 4845 3 .1823 l.9863 2. 3443 3.5538 2.4863 3. 7181 2. 7889 3.4579 2.6112 3. 9973 3.5734 3.3936 4. 7281 2.9981 3.6515 3.5214 3. 8588 3. 8355 2.8794 2.5867 2.5712 2.6458 3 .1593 3.6621 8.8165 2. 7839 2 .9987 2. 9768 4. 3321 4. 7597 5.5484 2.3381 3. 4572 3. 9378 2. 7386 3.3953 3.4983 3. 2249 4. 3895 2. 8536 2. 9439 2.9155 2.5888 2. 7749
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR'S AS RANKED BY CAD/CAM USERS
Total ballots in this category:
2B
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
6 Multiple versions of layered products
111
S3.6
0.0
11 Support in-place disk compression
111
50. 0
0. 0
42 Enhance network support in BACKUP
103
42.9
0.0
SS Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command
99
50.0
0.0
28 Modify behavior of PURGE command
73
42.9
0.0
67 Enhance EDT search command
6S
35.7
3.6
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR
64
35.7
0.0
36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL
51
42.9
0.0
27 Enhance DELETE command behavior
S9
32.1
0.0
10 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC
SB
35.7
0.0
15 Provide TCP/IP support
SB
32.1
3.6
8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT
S6
32.1
0.0
49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE
S6
32.1
0.0
18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS
S3
35.7
0.0
46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ
46
25.0
0.0
44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP
42
28.6
0.0
38 Provide callable interface to MAIL
40
2B.6
0.0
59 Support printers on term servers
39
17.9
0.0
48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP
39
21.4
0.0
40 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT220
37
2B.6
0.0
63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs.
3S
14.3
0.0
34 Add match limit to SEARCH
34
28.6
0.0
58 Enhance handling of TAB' s in SORT
34
2S.0
0.0
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command
34
21.4
0.0
30 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY
34
25.0
3.6
S0 Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS
34
21.4
0.0
17 Support standard print-file format
33
28.6
0.0
20 Add keyword search to HELP
32
25.0
3.6
24 Add automatic file close for DCL
32
28.6
0.0
74 Add DECnet End-to-end encryption
30
14.3
0.0
60 Add tape AVR and label security
2B
10.7
0.0
2 Provide a quota on buffered I/O RATE
27
17.9
0.0
72 Allow image-controlled file access
27
14.3
0.0
4 7 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk
27
14.3
0.0
41 Add field support to DCL READ
2S
17.9
3.6
37 Add wildcard send to MAIL
2S
21.4
0.0
19 Provide for extended error info
24
17.9
3.6
1 Retain control of a MOUNT'ed device
21
UL7
0.0
14 Alter the priority boost mechanism
21
21.4
0.0
75 Improve node authentication in DECnet
20
7. l
0. 0
33 Utility for setting file attributes
19
14.3
0.0
56 Log one process stopping another
19
14.3
0.0
43 Enhance ACCOUNTING summary report
lB
14.3
0.0
7 Support "keyboard" filters
lB
14.3
0.0
45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP
lB
17.9
0.0
7. 40 7. 93 8. 58 7. 07 6. 08 5. 91 6. 40
5.08 6. 56 5 .80
5. 80 6. 22
6. 22 5. 30 6. 57 5. 25
s. 00
7 .80 6. 50 4. 63 8. 75 4. 25
4. B6 5.67 4. 25
5. 67 4 .13 4. 00 4. 00 7. 50
9. 33 5 .40 6. 75 6. 75 4 .17 4 .17 4. 00 7. 00 3. 50 10.00 4. 7S 4. 75
4. S0 4. 50 3 .60
VAX-51
Std Dev of Pts
3.6410 3. 3619 1.9752 2.9733 3. 6794 6. 07 38 3.6271 3.6794 3.2830 2.6162 5.0288 2.9907 2.4889 3.3015 2. 7603 2.0529 2.2039 2.5884 2.5884 3.6621 2.5000 3.1510 2. 7343 2.8752 4.7734 3.2042 2.1671 6. 2335 2.8284 2.8868 1.1547 2.5100 3.3040 2. 7538 7.8592 3.S449 7.8994 2. 6458 1. 3784 0.0000 3.8622 3.7749 4. 0415 2.5166 1. Sl66
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR'S AS RANKED BY SERVICE BUREAU OPERATORS
Total ballots in this category:
12
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
11 Support in-place disk compression 6 7 Enhance EDT search command 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior 57 Support print/batch job dependency 55 Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command 37 Add wildcard send to MAIL
6 Multiple versions of layered products
56 Log one process stopping another 42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 34 Add match limit to SEARCH
8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command 50 Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS 72 Allow image-controlled file access 60 Add tape AVR and label security 66 Editors must avoid simultaneous update 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 19 Provide for extended error info
23 Provide a DCL optimizer 38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 22 Allow DCL procedures in libraries 53 Support restricted DCL environments 20 Add keyword search to HELP 39 Add /NOADVANCE to DCL WRITE 45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP 40 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT220
63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs. 1 Retain control of a MOUNT'ed device
25 Enhance CTRL-T capability 3 Provide for parsing a privilege string
62 Support descending keys in RMS 24 Add automatic file close for DCL
9 Propagate file ERASE attribute 59 Support printers on term servers 12 Enhance use of swapping to page files 52 Enhance SHUTDOWN procedure
2 Provide a quota on buffered 1/0 RATE 29 Improve /CONFIRM qualifier 47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-=-protected disk 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP 74 Add DECnet End-to-end encryption
4B
S0.0
0. 0
46
41. 7
0. 0
37
50 .0
0. 0
34
41. 7
0.0
33
41. 7
0. 0
30
33. 3
0. 0
2B
33. 3
0. 0
27
33. 3
0. 0
26
25 .0
0. 0
2S
33. 3
0 .0
2S
33. 3
0. 0
2S
33. 3
0. 0
22
33. 3
0. 0
22
25.0
0.0
21
25.0
0.0
20
25 .0
0. 0
20
16. 7
0 .0
20
16. 7
0 ··
19
25. 0
0. 0
19
33. 3
0. 0
lB
25. 0
0. 0
lB
33. 3
0 .0
17
16. 7
0 .0
17
16. 7
0. 0
16
25.0
0. 0
16
25 .0
0. 0
16
25 .0
0 .0
lS
16. 7
0. 0
lS
16. 7
0.0
lS
16. 7
0.0
14
16. 7
0. 0
14
16. 7
0 .0
13
16. 7
0. 0
12
25 .0
0. 0
12
33. 3
0.0
11
25 .0
0. 0
11
25 .0
0 .0
10
B. 3
0.0
10
B. 3
0.0
10
16. 7
0.0
10
B. 3
0 .0
10
B. 3
0.0
10
B. 3
0 .0
10
B. 3
0. 0
10
B. 3
0.0
8 .00 9. 20 6.17 6. 80 6 .60 7. 50
7. 00 6. 75 8. 67 6. 25
6. 2S 6. 25
s. S0
7. 33 7. 00 6.67 10. 00 10 .00 6. 33 4. 75 6 .00 4. 50 B. s0 8. 50 5. 33 5. 33 5. 33 7. S0 7. S0 7. 50 7. 00 7 .00
6. S0 4. 00 3. 00 3. 67 3. 67 10. 00 10. 00
5. 1trn
10. 00 10. 00 10.00 Hl.00
10. 00
VAX-52
Std Dev of Pts
3.1623 1.7889 3.0605 3.1145 3. 2094 3.3166 2.1602 3.9476 2.3094 2.6300 4. 5000 2.9861 3.3166 2.5166 2.64SB 3.0551 0. 0000 0.0000 4. 0415 1. B930 3.6056 0. 5774 2.1213 2.1213 0.5773 4.1633 0. S773 3.5355 3.5355 3.S3SS 4.2426 4.2426 4.9497 1.0000 1.4142 1. 5275 1. 5275 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0. 0000 0.0000 0. 0000 0. 0000 0.0000
-
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR' s AS RANKED BY HARDWARE DEVELOPERS
Total ballots in this category:
21
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
HJ Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 6 Multiple versions of layered products
42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 11 Support in-place disk compression 46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ 55 Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command 49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE 18 Add class-based scheduler to VMS 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 63 Provide VMS detinitions for all langs.
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 24 Add automatic file close for DCL 17 Support standard print-file format 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior 14 Alter the priority boost mechanism 20 Add keyword search to HELP 67 Enhance EDT search command 74 Add DECnet End-to-end encryption 50" Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS 35 DIFFERENCE should support C comments 66 Editors must avoid simultaneous update 38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 19 Provide for extended error info 37 Add wildcard send to MAIL 41 Add field support to DCL READ
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command 1 Retain control of a MOUNT'ed device 2 Provide a quota on buffered 1/0 RATE 59 Support printers on term servers 72 Allow image-controlled file access 8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 56 Log one process stopping another
75 Improve node authentication in DECnet 58 Enhance handling of TAB' s in SORT 33 Utility for setting file attributes 62 Support descending keys in RMS
64 Add /D LINES support to VAX C 39 Modify-treatment of SET VERIFY
29 Improve /CONFIRM qualifier 23 Provide a DCL optimizer
7 Support "keyboard" filters 45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP 68 Keep EDT select region active
Bl
47 ,6
0,0
75
52.4
0.0
75
42.9
9.0
65
47.6
0.0
64
42.9
0.0
64
42.9
0.0
51
42.9
0.0
4B
2B.6
4.B
46
2B,6
0.0
46
42,9
0,0
46
23.B
0.0
43
33,3
0.0
43
33.3
0.0
41
3B.l
0.0
40
33.3
0.0
40
2B.6
0.0
3B
2B.6
0.0
35
23.B
0.0
35
2B,6
0,0
35
19.0
0.0
34
33.3
0.0
32
2B.6
0.0
32
2B.6
0.0
30
23.B
0.0
29
23.B
0.0
29
33.3
0.0
28
19.0
9.0
27
19,0
0,0
26
14.3
0.0
25
14.3
0.0
25
14.3
0.0
23
14.3
"·"
21
23.B
0.0
20
9.5
0.0
20
9.5
0,0
19
23.B
111.0
lB
23.B
0.0
17
9,5
0.0
15
9.5
0.0
15
14.3
4.B
14
19.0
4.B
14
19.0
0.0
13
14.3
0.0
13
14.3
0,0
13
9.5
0.0
B.10 6.B2 8. 33 6. 50 7 .11 7 .11 5.67 6.B6 7 .67 5.11 9. 20
6.14 6.14 5.13 5. 71 6.67 6. 33 1 .01i 5. B3 B. 75 4. B6 5.33 5.33 6.00 5.B0 4.14 7 .00' 6. 75 B. 67 8. 33
B. 33 7 .67 4 .20 10 .00 10 .00 3.B0
3.60 B. 50 7 .50 3. 75 2. B0 3. 50 4. 33
4. 33 6. 50
VAX-53
Std Dev of Pts
2. 469B 3. 5726 2. 2913 3.B944 2.848111 2.B4B0 2. 5981 5.4903 2.65B3 2.6667 l.7BB9 3. 2367 2.7946 2.4749 2.Bll5 3. 7771 4.0332 4. 2426 3.3116 2. 5000 2.1931 3. BB16 2. 5820 2. 5495 3.1937 2.1931 3. 5590 4.2720 2.3094 2.BB6B 2.BB6B 4.0415 3. 3466 0. 0000 0. 0000 1.7889 1.6733 2.1213 3.5355 6. 7515 4.6043 2.3B05 2. 5166 4.9329 4.9497
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR'S AS RANKED BY SCIENTIFIC/ENGINEERING USERS
Total ballots in this category:
99
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
Std Dev of Pts
11 Support in-place disk compression
472
5B,6
0.0
55 Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command
328
49.5
Ill.Qi
27 -Enhance DELETE command behavior
281
41it.4
1.0
42 Enhance network support in BACKUP
277
35.4
0.0
6 Multiple versions of layered products
230
3B.4
1.0
49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE
226
35.4
0.0
17 Support standard print-file format
209
33.3
Ill.Ill
24 Add automatic file close for DCL
207
31.3
0.0
8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT
203
31.3
0.0
28 Modify behavior of PURGE command
19B
30.4
2,0
18 Add class!.based scheduler to VMS
19B
30.3
2.0
46 Add some DCL to S/A BACKUP environ
196
27.3
0,0
10 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC
193
31.3
1.0
45 Provide time estimates for BACKUP
1B9
27.3
0.0
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR
1B6
30.3
0.0
34 Add match 1 imi t to SEARCH
161
26,3
0,0
19 Provide for extended error info
159
26.3
1.0
48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP
149
23.2
0.0
33 Utility for setting file attributes
147
25.3
0.111
37 Add wildcard send to MAIL
145
28.3
0".0
20 Add keyword search to HELP
13B
23.2
1.0
5 Enhance the ALLOCATE command
137
22.2
0,0
2 Provide a quota on buffered 1/0 RATE
136
21.2
3.0
30 Modify treatment of SET VERIFY
133
24.2
2.0
15 Provide TCP/IP support
132
lB,2
1.0
67 Enhance EDT search command
131
21.2
1.0
36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL
125
24.2
111.e
50 Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS
115
22.2
0.0
44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP
114
23. 2
1.0
47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write-protected disk
10B
15.2
0.0
38 Provide callable interface to MAIL
100
lB.2
0.0
41 Add field support to DCL READ
87
17.2
1.0
63 Provide VMS definitions fo·r all langs.
B4
11.l
1.0
35 DIFFERENCE should support C comments
B3
15.2
0.0
14 Alter the priority boost mechanism
Bl
lB.2
2.0
21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL
B0
16.2
1.0
39 Add /NOADVANCE to DCL WRITE
79
16.2
1.0
49 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT2211l
7B
16.2
0.0
7 Support 11 keyboard 11 filters
77
14.l
0.0
22 Allow DCL procedures in libraries
76
11.l
1.0
60 Add tape AVR and label security
75
10.l
0.0
62 Support descending keys in RMS
75
12.l
0.0
9 Propagate file ERASE attribute
73
16.2
0.0
74 Add DECnet End-to-end encryption
71
10.l
0.0
59 Support printers on term servers
69
11.1
0.0
B.14 6.69 6.85 7 .91 5. 90 6. 46 6. 33 6,6B
6.55
4.95 6.19 7 .26 6.03 7 .00 6, 20
6.19 5. B9 6. 4B 5.88 5. lB 5. 75 6. 23 5.67 5.12
6.95 5.95 5.21 5. 23 4. 75 7. 20 5. 56 4 .83 7 ,00
5. 53 4. 05 4. 71
4. 65 4. BB 5. 50 6. 33 7 .50 6.25 4.56 7, 10 6. 27
2. 793B 2. 74 78 3. 2059 2.4177 4.0183
2. 6717 2.9333
3. 0701 2. 964 7 3 .1619 4. 9019 2,639B 3.8895
3. 0000 3.0332 3.4412 4.4B36 2,9675 2.6932 2 .6674 4.5612 3. 0B50 4. 46B9 4. B442 4,1563
4.7256 3. 256B 2.7243 2.6744 2. 67B0 2. 3066 4.6935 4. 3901 3.5429
3. 5314 4. 7666 4,B211
2. 9411 3. 0064 5.B205 3. 3417 3.6213 2.5025
2. 5144 2. 9357
VAX-54
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR' s AS RANKED BY OFFICE AUTOMATION USERS
Total ballots in this category:
SB
Fall 1985 Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of
Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
11 support in-Place disk compression
SS Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command 42 Enhance network support in BACKUP 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior
6 Multiple versions of layered products
49 P;-ovide screen editor for AUTHORIZE
24 Add automatic file close for DCL
28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 18 Add class-based scheduler to VHS 67 Enhance EDT search command
36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL
34 Add match limit to SEARCH 8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT
46 Add some OCL to S/A BACKUP environ 63 Provide VHS definitions for all langs. l 7 Support standard print~file format
3B Provide callable interface to MAIL 47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write ... protected disk
21 Add keyword search to HELP
s Enhance the ALLOCATE command 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP 48 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT2211
33 Utility for setting file attributes 37 Add wildcard send to HAIL 19 Provide for extended error info 41 Add field support to DCL READ
44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to DCL
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 72 Allow image-controlled file access
74 Add DECnet End·to ..end encryption
S3 Support restricted DCL environments 4S Provide time estimates for BACKUP
lS Provide TCP/IP support l8 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC S6 Log one process stopping another S9 Support pr inters on term servers 3S DIFFERENCE should support C comments 62 Support descending keys in RMS S7 support pr int/batch job dependency
7 Support "keyboard" filters l Retain control of a HOUNT'ed device 7S Improve node authentication in DECnet 22 Allow OCL procedures in libraries 31 Modify treatment Of SET VERIFY
231
SB.B
e.0
178
s6.e
e.8
141
36.8
8.0
136
48.8
2.0
128
36.8
a.a
l2a
36.a
a.a
111
42.a
a.a
118
42.8
2.8
189
34.8
a.8
181
3a.8
8.0
96
34.8
8.8
93
38.8
8.e
BS
28.8
B3
26.8
Bl
22.1
Bl
28.1
...1.8
8.e 8.8
80
24.8
8.e
B8
24.S
I.I
78
26.8
8.8
76
28.e
8.8
76
24.8
0.a
76
28.a
0.e
7S
22.0
1.8
72
32.0
78
26.1
6B
2a.8
67
24.9
...···2.0
0.1
67
28.o
8.1
65
24.8
a.e
6S
16.8
8.a
6S
16.8
8.8
63
lB.8
8.e
63
22.8
8.0
62
lB.I
2.8
61
28.1
8.0
6·
22.8
8.e
61
14.1
8.e
SS
14.1
8.1
SS
18.8
8.a
SS
18.1
8.8
S4
lB .8
0.8
S3
16.8
0.1
S3
12.1
8.8
S2
16.a
8.8
49
22.0
a.8
7 .93 6. 36 7 .83 6.48 7.11 6.67
s. 29 S.88 6.41 6. 73 S.6S 6.20 6.87 6.3B 7 .36 s. 79 6.67 6.67 6.08 S.43 6.33 S.43 6.82 4.24 s. 3B 6.Ba 5.58 6. 71 S.42 B.13 B.13 7.88
s. 73 6.28 6. ll S.4S 8.S7 7 .86 6.11 6.11 6.08 6.63 8.83 6.S8 4.4S
VAX-55
Std Dev of Pts
2.6313 3.9818 2. 382S 3. 41S8 3.2879 3.Ba98 3. Bl9a 3. 8SSl 3. 46S2 3. 2616 3. 7239 3. 7834 3.2691 2.9388 2.6S61 3.1929 2.2293 3. 82Sl 3.ISSl 2. 6B8B 2. 982S ).S673 2.6H7 2. 9692 3. 3798 2. 8216
2~6443
3.6833 3.1176 2.9881 2. SB77 3. 3166 2. 969S s. 24Sl 3.2472 3.416S 2.439B 3.6711 3.2S7S 3.8S96 3. S3SS 3.2923 2.8S77 2. 72SS 2. S442
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 FALL 1985 SIR BALLOT RESULTS
THE TOP 45 SIR' s AS RANKED BY TELECOMMUNICATIONS USERS
Total ballots in this category:
23
Fall 198S Ballot
SIR
SIR
Nr.
Description
Total Pts
Pct of Ballots Pos Pts
Pct of
Ballots Neg Pts
Avg Pts Given
11 Support in-place disk compression 6 Multiple versions of layered products
42 Enhance network support in BACKUP SS Enhance AUTHORIZE SHOW command
4 Enhance CPU usage reports in MONITOR 8 Provide a SYSGEN DISCONNECT 19 Provide for extended error info 28 Add keyword search to HELP 28 Modify behavior of PURGE command 67 Enhance EDT search command 33 Utility for setting file attributes 44 Volume init parameters to S/A BACKUP l0 Allow INSTALL with priority and UIC 48 Add manual recover mode for BACKUP 49 Provide screen editor for AUTHORIZE 36 Add delivery tracking to MAIL 47 Fix S/A BACKUP on write·protected disk 24 Add automatic file close for OCL 2 Provide a quota on buffered I/O RATE 27 Enhance DELETE command behavior lB Add class-based scheduler to VMS 48 Better SET TERM/INQUIRE with VT2211 3S DIFFERENCE should support C comments s Enhance the ALLOCATE command
37 Add wildcard send to HAIL 63 Provide VMS definitions for all langs. 73 Implement government classifications 62 Support descending keys in RMS l4 Alter the priority boost mechanism 38 Provide callable interface to MAIL 21 Add /NOIMAGE debugging option to OCL 61 Support segmented keys of mixed type 38 Modify treatment of SET VERIJ!'Y 41 Add field support to DCL READ 34 Add match limit to SEARCH 31 SET PROTECTION for logical name tables SI Add /INTERACTIVE and /IMAGE to SHOW SYS
7 Support "keyboard" filters
l 7 Support standard print... file format 39 Add /NOADVANCE to CCL WRITE 61 Add tape AVR and label security 22 Allow DCL procedures in libraries
9 Propagate file ERASE attribute S9 Support printers on term servers
64 Add /D_LINES support to VAX c
84
47 .8
a.a
77
43.S
8.1
76
39.l
8.8
69
47 .8
a.a
63
39.l
8.a
S9
39.l
8.a
sa
34.8
a.8
46
38.4
8.8
4S
34.8
4.3
4S
26.l
8.8
43
26. l
8.8
43
38.4
1.8
4l
38.4
8.a
41
26.l
a.a
40
21. 7
8.8
39
21. 7
a.a
39
21. 7
8.8
39
38.4
8.8
3S
21. 7
4.3
3S
38.4
8.8
33
3a.4
8.8
33
31.4
a.a
33 32
1371·.4'
8.8 1.8
31
26.l
38
13.a
38
13.a
1··.8·
8.8
2B
17 .4
8.8
28
21. 7
a.8
27
21. 7
8.8
27
17.4
8.8
2S
13.8
2S
17 .4
2S
13.8
···o.8
1.e
2S
13.8
a.e
2S
13.8
8.e
23
13.1
8.8
22
13.8
8.a
21
21. 7
1.8
21
13.8
e.a
21
13.8
8.8
21
13.a
1.8
2·
17 .4
8.1
21
B. 7
1.1
19
B. 7
4.3
7.64 7. 1a 8.44 6. 27 7.88 6.S6 6.2S
6.S7 S.IB 7.S8 7.17
6.14 S.B6 6.B3
a.ea
7.88 7.88 S.S7 s.B3 S.88 4.71 4.71 B.2S 4.S7 s.11 18.88 ll.88
7.18 S.68
S.48 6. 7S B.33 6.2S 8.33 8.33 B.33 7.67 7.33
4.2a 7.H 7.18 7.88 s.80 18.80 6.33
VAX-56
Std Dev of Pta
3.8421 2.94SB 2.3Sll 3.2277 3.3S41 3.4681 3. 6936 3. 3894 4. 8927 3. 7283 3.3714 2. 7343 2 .1931 3.B687 2. 73B6 3. 8987 3.1937 3. 3894 s. 7a67 3.1891 2.4976 3.8617 3.5888 l.912, 3. l2S2 a.8888 a.1111 3. 5S98 2.SlH 3.6469 3. 7749 2.BB6B 4. 3493 2.886B 2.886B 2. BB6B 3. 2146 4. 6lBB 3.7114 3 .61S6 3.61S6 l.8088 3.SS98 a.1881 6.3Slf9
-
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 VAX System SIG Committee List
VAX System SIG Committee List
As of October 28, 1985
Osman K. Ahmad - TOPS-VAX Association of American Railroads Technical Center, Research and Test Department 3140 South Federal Street Chicago, IL 60616
Joe Angelico - Assistant Symposium Coordinator US Coast Guard CCGDB(DT) Hale Boggs Federal Building 51110 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Elizabeth Bailey - Volunteer Coordinator 222 CEB Tennessee Valley Authority Muscle Shoals, AL 35660
June Baker - Planning Computer Sciences Corporation 6565 Arlington Boulevard Falls Church, VA 22046
Joe L. Bingham - Librarian Mantech International 232111 Mill Road Alexandria, VA 22314
Bob Boyd - Commercial GE Microelectronics Center MS 2P-1114 Post Off ice Box 1341119 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
C. Douglas Brown - Security Sandia Labs Division 2644 P.O. Box 581110 Albuquerque, NM 87185
Jack Cundiff - Assistant Symposium Coordinator Horry-Georgetown Post Off ice Box 1966 Conway, SC 29526
Tom Danforth - Handout Editor Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Woods Hole, MA 02543
VAX-57
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 VAX System SIG Committee List
Jim Downward - Migration and Host Development, VAXintosh KMS Fusion Incorporated 3941 Research Park Drive Ann Arbor MI 48106
Jane Furze - Campground 3830 West Cochise Phoenix, AZ 85064
Dennis Frayne - Real Time/Process Control McDonnell Douglas 5301 Bolsa Avenue Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Carl E. Friedberg - Internals In House Systems 165 William Street
New York, NY 10038
Don Golden - Publications Coordinator
c/o Shell Development Company, Westhollow Research Center Post Office Box 13480 Houston, TX 77001
D-2132
Gary Grebus · System Improvement Request Battelle Columbis Labs Room 11·6011 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201-2693
B. Hancock - Network Dimension Data Systems, Incorporated 2510 Limestone Lane Garland, TX 7504111
Jeffrey s. Jalbert ~ Historian J cc
Post Office Box 381 Granville, OH 43023 614-587-0157
Ken Johnson - VAXcluster Working Group Meridian Technology Corporation Post Office Box 211106 St. Louis, MO 63011
Ray Kaplan - VAXeln Pivotal Incorporated 6892 East Dorado Court Ticson, AZ 85715
VAX-58
PAGESWAPPER · February 1986 ~ Volume 7 Number 7 VAX System SIG Committee List
Lawrence J. Kilgallen · Newsletter Editor Box 81, MIT Station Cambridge, MA 02139-0901
Margaret Knox - Chair Computation Center University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712
Ross w. Miller - Vice Chair and Working Group Coordinator Online Data Processing, Inc. N 637 Hamilton Spokane, WA 99202
Eugene Pal - Multiprocessor US Army CAORA (ATOR-CAT-CJ Fort Leavenworth, KA
Thomas Provost - Hardware MIT/LNS Bates Linac Facility Post Office Box 846 Middleton, MA 01949
Susan Rehse - System Management Lockheed Missiles 3251 Hanover Street Palo Alto, CA 94301-1187
Bob Robbins - Advisor Array Computer Consultants 5364 Woodvale Drive Sarasota, FL 33582
Larry Robertson - Real Time/Process Control Bear Computer Systems Inc. 5651 Case Avenue North Hollywood, CA
David Schmidt - LUG Coordinator Management Sciences Associates 5100 Centre Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Al Siegel - Advisor Battelle Memorial Institute 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201-2693
D. Slater - Artificial Intelligence Institute for Defense Analysis 1801 North Beavregard Street Alexandria, VA 22314
VAX·59
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 ~ Volume 7 Number 7 INPUT/OUTPUT
INPUT/OUTPUT
A SIG Information Interchange A form for INPUT/OUTPUT submissions is available at the back of the issue.
INPUT/OUTPUT 480
Caption: VI for VMS? wordstar for VMS?
Message:
Does anyone know where I can get a VI·like editor for VMS without buying a layered UNIX? I would also like to find a Wordstar lookalike for VMS without buying a hardware/software solution.
Contact:
Greg Collver Josephine County Schools 706 NW A Street Grants Pass, OR 97526 Telephone (503) 476·7721
Date:
December 12, 1985
INPUT/OUTPUT 481
Caption: YACC, LEX and LINT for MicroVAX under VMS
Message: We are looking for versions of the UNIX utilities YACC, LEX and LINT that will run on a DEC MicroVAX I
under VMS 4.1 with DEC c.
Contact:
w. E. Wilson Nuclear Radiation Center Washington State University Pullman, WA 99164-1300 Telephone (509) 335-8317
Date:
December 16, 1985
VAX-60
-
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 INPUT/OUTPUT
INPUT/OUTPUT 482
Caption: Program to read IBM·PC floppy disks on a MicroVAX I
Message: Contact:
We desire to be able to read 5-1/4" floppy disks generated on an IBM-PC on the RX50 drive of a MicroVAX I. The July 1985 issue of the Pageswapper (I/O 431} indicated that Allison Hamilton in Canada had written a FORTRAN program that would perform this function. I wrote to Mr. Hamilton but did not receive a reply.
w. E. Wilson
Nuclear Radiation Center Washington State University Pullman, WA 99164-1300 Telephone (509} 335-8317
Date:
December 16, 1985
INPUT/OUTPUT 483
Caption: Dialing out on the VAX using a DF112 Modem
Message:
I wrote a Macro program which under VMS 3.7 would successfully dial out and connect our VAX to remote locations. Now under VMS 4.1 the program no longer works. Has the QIO function or related functions changed or is the problem in the terminal line set up?
Contact:
Tim Barrett Chalet Susse International, Incorporated Chalet Drive Wilton, NH 03086 Telephone (603} 654~2000 ext 276
Date:
December 24, 1985
VAX~61
J
[Q]
OECUS
LIBRARY
-
DECUS PROGRAM LIBRARY
NEW LIBRARY PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR THE PDP..11 COMPUTER FAMILY
DECUS ORDER NO: 11-813 Title: PEP: A Peptide Sequencing Program, Version:June 1985
Author. Charles Hamm, National Institute of Environmental Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, Operating System: RSX-11 M V4.1 C, Source Language: FORTRAN 77, Memory Required: 19KW, Other Software Required FORTRAN 77 compiler or resident FCS library
Abstract This program is intended to help researchers find possible constructs of peptides given the mass spectrum as generated by a fast-atom bombardment (FAB) tandem mass spectrometer and the suspected composition of the peptide. The program compares all permutations of a given combination of amino acids forming a peptide to the spectrum of the actual peptide. The comparsion is made by mathematically breaking each permutation at each of its possible cleavage points and counting the number of ion fragments that have a corresponding mass in the spectrum list. Only the permutations that have the highest number of matched fragments are considered candidates for the actual peptide and are listed in an output file.
Documentation on magnetic media Media (Service Charge Code): Floppy Diskette(KA),600' Magtape(MA), Format Fl LES-11
NEW LIBRARY PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR THE PDP..11 COMPUTER FAMILY
A rounding routine is included to round each value to the nearest cent
Documentation on magnetic media Media (Service Charge Code): Floppy Diskette (KA), 600' Magtape (MA), Format RT-11
DECUS ORDER NO: 11-815 Title: DPRINT, Version:V1 .6, December 1984
Author. Ed Mills, HarrisSemiconductorCorp., Melbourne, FL Operating System: TSX, RT, Source Language: PASCAL Other Software Required: OMSl-PASCAL (if recompilation is required); RT-11 MACRO language, Special Hardware Required: LA-1 00 printer or LA-1 00 compatible; VT-100 or compatible terminal with terminal attributes.
Abstract DPRI NT is a PASCAL program written to control DEC LA-100 printers. It allows the user to enter one or more file names and set the print parameters (i.e. letter/draft quality; margins; font etc.), as heorshedesires. It is very user-friendly and performs error-checking/ recovery. It was written for a DEC PDP 11 /23 under the TSX operating system, although it should run under RT11 as well. The user fills out a print menu and exits. The print control characters are seen, followed by the queued files. Lastly, the printer default parameters are reset. Contro~characters within the text change the printer parameters as they normallly would when sent to a printer.
Release Notes are included with each order.
Restrictions: The software is designed to run underTSX or RT-11 only. Since the package makes MACR0-11 calls, it will not run under RSX without modifications.
Documentation on magnetic media Media (Service Charge Code): Floppy Diskette(KA),600' Magtape(MA), Format RT-11
DECUS ORDER NO: 11-814
Title: LOANS. Verslon:V1 .o, October 1985
Author. James H. Norman, US Army, White Sands Missile Range, NM, Operating System: RSX-11 M V3.2, RT11 V4.0, VAX/VMS V4.0, Source !-anguage: FORTRAN IV Memory Required: 1450 KW
Abstract LOANS is a program to compute a repayment schedule of a loan. The user inputs the loan amoun~ the interest rate, and the length of the loan.
The program then computes the monthly paymen~ the amount applied to the principal, the amount of interest paid and the loan balance. The output is a disk file which contains a table of the Orabove values. The total interest paid on the loan is written at the end of the table. The file may be listed on a terminal or printed on a line printer.
NEW LIBRARY PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS
DECUS ORDER NO: 20-SP-10 Title: Symposium Tape from DECSYSTEM-20 SIG, Spring 1985, New Orleans, Version: Spring 1985
Author. Various, Submitted By: Steve Attaya, Wiener
Enterprises, Harahan, LA, Operating System: TOPS-20 V5.1 Source Language: MACR0-1 0
Abstract The TOPS-20 Symposium Tape from Spring 1985 (New Orleans) contains JKILLR, SETERM and N NFT mods from Eastman Kodak; terminal control, wide directory display, and file searching utilities from Computer Sciences Corporation; a set of MACRO macros
LIB-1
with sample programs and DUMCPY, a DUMPER tape copying facility, a user mode COMND% JSYS simulator forTOPS-10/20 from SOHIO Petroleum; TAPSAV, a usermode replacement for DUMPER and WPSIM, a lowoverhead, sophisticated word-processing editor from Wesleyan University; MSG DAE, a genera~purpose IPCF message handler and LPTSPL patches for TTY lines from American Mathematical Society.
No guarantees are made as to the completeness, usability, or quality of the programs on this tape; and the material has not been checked or verified
Complete sources not included Documentation on magnetic media, Media(Service Charge Code): 2400' Magtape (PS)
REVISIONS TO LIBRARY PROGRAMS
DECUS ORDER NO: PR0-143 Title: RT on P/OS. Version: V2A, October 1985
Author. Chester Wilson, Charleville, Australia, Operating System: RT-11 V5, Source Language: MACR0-11, Other Software Required: RT-11 distribution Special Hardware Required: Professional-350
Abstract RT on P/OS allows a PR0-350 to run RT-11 from a contiguous file on a portion of the hard disk set up for P/OS. The" DC" handler is actually a modified" DW' handler, with an ability to allow the user to specify a "device" size and offset position within the hard disk.
The distribution is provided on a DZ( RX50) disk with instructions for mating with a foreground/background or virtual memory monitor from the RT-11 distribution kit
Documentation on magnetic media Media (Service Charge Code): 5 1/4" Floppy Diskette (JA), Format RT11
DECUS ORDER NO: VAX-129 Title: FORTRAN Programming Tools, Version:Vll.O, September 1985
Author. Arthur E. Ragosta, US Army, Moffett Field, CA, Operating System: VAX/VMS V4.0, Source Language: DCL FORTRAN 77, MACR0-32, Memory Required: Varies
Abstract The FORTRAN ProgrammingToolsareaseries of tools used to support the development and maintenance of FORTRAN source codes. Included are a debugging aid, source code maintenance aids, print utilities, a CPU time monitoring program, a NAMELISTlike package, and a library of useful, wel~documented routines. These tools assist in reducing development
time and encouraging high quality programs. Although intended for FORTRAN users, some of the tools can be used on data files or other programming languages.
Release Notes are distributed with each order.
Note: UsesVMSVersion4.0 BRKTHRU System Service.
Changes and Improvements: Major bug repairs were in the BUGO UT system and in several routines in MER LIB. Major enhancements are utility to assist transfer of files across card-oriented communications systems and inclusion of uninitialized variable checking and global variable cross-reference in the BUGOUT system. All of the PASCAL programs from previous versions were replaced with FORTRAN programs to enhance coherence and efficiency of package.
Complete sources are not included Documentation on magnetic media Media (Service Charge Code): 600' Magtape (MA), Format VAX/ANSI (Blocked at2048)
DECUS PROGRAM LIBRARY CHANGES
DECUS Program Library CHANGES: · For DECUS Order Number V-SP-3, Symposium
Tape from the VAX SIG, Spring, 1980 Chicago, the Catalog lists the format as VAX/ANSI (Blocked at 2048). This is incorrect, it should read RMSBCK Format · For the revision to DEC US Order Number11-SP-46, PORTACALC, please add the media, Manual (EA).
LIB-2
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HOW TO SUBMIT TO A SPECIFIC SECTION OF THE NEWSLETTER
The following is a listing of the Newsletter Editors with their addresses and phone numbers. All submissions to the newsletter should be submitted directly to the appropriate Editor.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Terry Shannon 160 State Street Boston, MA 02109 (617) 367-7190
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS Thomas Byrne L Karp& Sons 1301 Estes Elk Grove, IL60007 (312) 593-5705
LARGE SYSTEMS Michael Joy 1st Church of Christ Scientist Boston, MA 02115 (617) 262-2300 x3903
NETWORKS Vicki Hancock 2510 Limestone Lane Garland, TX 75040 (214) 495-7353
DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Russ Poisson Seed Software Corp. 2121 Eisenhower Avenue Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 783-4944
DAARC Ellen Reilly William H. Rorer 500 Virginia Drive Ft Washington, PA 19034 (215) 628-6547
PERSONAL COMPUTER Caroline Mack 6415 Adelphi Road University Park, MD 20782 (301) 927-01 OB
RSX Dominic DiNollo Loral Electronics Engineering Computer Center Ridge Hill Yonkers, NY 10710 (914) 968-2500 x2210
GRAPHICS APPLICATION Michael Anton P.O. Box 591293 Houston, TX 77259-1293 (713) 928-4838
IAS John Ross Roman McDonnell Douglas 600 McDonnell Blvd. Hazelwood, MO 63042 (314) 234-0984
SITE MANAGEMENT & TRAINING Gregory Brooks Washington University Behavior Research Lab. 1420 Gratton St. St Louis, MO 631 04 (314) 241-7600 x257
VAX SYSTEMS Larry Kilgallen c/O DECUS Office 219 Boston Post Road. (B P02) Marlboro, MA 01752
HOW-i
APL Doug Bohrer Bohrer& Company 903 Ridge Road, Suite 3 Wilmette, IL60091 (312) 251-9449
COMMERCIAL LANGUAGES Ted Bear RAMTEK 2211 Lawson Lane Santa Clara, CA 95950 (408) 988-2211
DATATRIEVE Joe H. Gallagher Cleveland Clinic Foundation 9500 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH 44106 (216) 444-2551
EDUSIG Fred Bell Taft College 29 Emmons Park Drive P.O. Box 1437 Taft, CA 93268 (805) 763-4282
HMS William Walker Monsanto Research Corp. P.O. Box 32 A-152 Miamisburg, OH 45342 (513) 865-3557
LANGUAGES & TOOLS Alan Folsom Jr. Fischer & Porter Company E. County Line Road Warminster, PA 18974 (215) 674-7154
MUMPS Janet Berryman 2405 N. Bush Santa Ana, CA 92706 (714) 953-1025
OFFICE AUTOMATION Margaret Drake Univ. of TX Health Science Ctr. 7703 Floyd Curl Drive San Antonio, TX 78284 (512) 691-6105
RSTS Bill Hobbs ComManD. Inc. 6535 E. 82 nd St., Suite 102 Indianapolis, IN 46250 (317) 842-5320
RT Bill Leroy The Software House, Inc. 470 E. Paces Ferry Road Park NE 1020 P.O. Box 52661 Atlanta, GA 30355 (404) 231-1484
UNISIG William Toth Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. for Astrophysics 60 Garden Street P353 Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 495-7181
Bruce Bergman UserWare International 2235 Meyer Avenue Escondido, CA 92025-1070 (619) 741-8825
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SUBMITTING ARTICLES TO THE HMS SIG NEWSLETTER
The purpose of the HMS SIG Newsletter is to serve as a forum to share information related to DEC hardware with the members of the SIG. As such, the existence of the newsletter is entirely dependent on your contributions. If you have an HHK item, a better or safer way to do something, product news, a tutorial article of general interest, etc., we are interested in publishing it in the newsletter. It is intended that the HMS SIG Newsletter be published at least
four times a year.
There are several ways to submit material for the newsletter:
o The Hardware Submission Form in the back of the newsletter can be used for brief items <there is
not enough room if you have a lot to say).
o You can send me camera-ready hard-copy <this saves me a lot of typing).
o I will accept submissions on floppys. I can handle RX50's or 8" diskettes <either density, single or double sided>. I prefer RT-11 format, if possible, but I can probably handle RSX or VMS stuff somehow. I will return your diskette(s), of course.
o Those of you that have access to DCS can send things to username WALKER. I check DCS daily.
o I am also on CompuServe as "Bill Walker 71066,24".
In any event. if you have anything to submit, send it! If it is a mess, but I can read it, I will get it in the newsletter somehow. Finally, if you have any question about submitting material, call me. My telephone number is listed below.
Contributions can be sent to:
HMS Editor
DEC US
OR
BP02
249 Northboro Road
Marlboro, MA 01752
William K. Walker Monsanto Research Corp.
P.O. Box 32 A-152
Miamisburg, OH 45342 (513) 865-3557
If you need to get something to me quickly, send it to my work address.
HOW-1
Cl
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PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 INPUT/OUTPUT Submission Form
INPUT/OUTPUT Submission Form
A SIG Information Interchange Please reprint in the next issue of the Pageswapper If this is a reply to a previous I/O, which number? Caption: Message:
Contact: Name Address
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Mail this form to: Larry Kilgallen, PAGESWAPPER Editor Box 81, MIT Station, Cambridge, MA 02139-0901, USA
QU-3
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PAGESWAPPER · February 1986 · Volume 7 Number 7 VAX Systems-SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot
',
Tear out or photocopy reverse to vote on SIRs
'
Gary L. Grebus Battelle Columbus Division Room 11-6011 505 King Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43201·2693 USA
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 System Improvement Request Submission Form
System Improvement Request Submission Fonn
Submittor: Address:
Firm: Phone:
Page 1 of
How to write an SIR: Describe the capability you would like to see available on VAX systems. Be as specific as possible. Please don't assume we know how it's done on the XYZ system. Justify why the capability would be useful and give an example of its use. If you wish, suggest a possible implementation of your request.
Abstract (Please limit to four lines):
Description and examples (use additional pages if required)
QU-5
PAGESWAPPER · February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 System Improvement Request Submission Form
Tear out or photocopy reverse to submit an SIR
Gary L. Grebus Battelle Columbus Division Room 11·6011 505 King Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43201~2693 USA
PAGESWAPPER - February 1986 - Volume 7 Number 7 VAX Systems SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot
VAX System SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot
DECUS membership number
(six digits)
Our site uses the following VAX models (check all that apply)
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11/782
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We use VAX's in the following applications (Check all that apply)
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~~
I support the following as the most important System Improvement Requests. (List from zero to fifteen SIR's):
SIR Number:
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----------
__ ..... 1;;_.._ ..... _
----"'-------
I oppose the following SIR's as detrimental. (List from zero to five SIR'S):
SIR Number:
--------.'"9.- ---------- ---~------
Mail to:
Gary L. Grebus Battelle Columbus Division Room 11·6011 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201
To be counted, you ballot must be received by April 1.
QU-7
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PAGESWAPPER · February 1986 ~ Volume 7 Number 7 VAX Systems SIG Spring 1986 SIR Ballot
Tear out or photocopy reverse to vote on SIRs
Gary L. Grebus Battelle Columbus Division Room ll-6fi!ll 5fi!5 King Avenue Columbus, Ohio 432fi!l·2693 USA
Printed in the U.S.A.
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Copyright 11 DECUS and Digital Equipment Corporation 1985 All Rights Reserved
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation or DECUS. Digital Equipment Corporation and DECUS assume no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
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It is assumed that all articles submitted to the editor of this newsletter are with the authors' 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 of liability for articles or information appearing in the document. The views herein expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily express the views of DECUS or Digital Equipment Corporation.
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