Info-Vax-REQUEST@SRI-KL.ARPA.UUCP (03/12/87)
Info-Vax Digest Wednesday, 11 Mar 1987 Volume 0 : Issue 3
Special note:
Due to an unusual backlog of info-vax messages we have decided to
place them all together in a series of digests for more efficient
mailing. Please do not mail comments on the digest format to the
info-vax list. We anticipate returning to the old direct mailing
system shortly. Thank you.
Today's Topics:
MAJOR SWING problem
Blank Mail Note
Tape/blocks.
MTACCESS
Tape/disk blocks - another comment.
ARC 5.12 ported to VMS
VAX 2000 & DEC Window
Termination status record (and lack thereof)
VT241 with Gold/Amber -- clobbered by EDT
Scanning logical name tables
Re: DISK QUOTA overdraft
GNU emacs
uVax 2000
Maxtor Drives on uVax Would you do it?
Default parameter values for (BASIC) subroutines.
VAXMATE
What is format of .DIA files?
ARC 5.12 ported to VMS
VaxMates and VMS/Dos services
Submission for mod-computers-vax
VMS Fortran (v.4.5) NAMELIST bug
New LISTSERV list at BITNIC
testing mail address
smg$put_virtual_display_ENCODED
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 12:09 O
From: <BEN%TECHMAX.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: MAJOR SWING problem
It seems that swing is a great program, except that users in the same root
directory can swing to each others directories and delete whole trees! This
is even more compunded by a problem of a user doing set defaulkt to syslib
or some other such area and deleting the whole structure. Isn't there some
owner prot/id routine in SWING? I see a problem here...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|Ben Pashkoff xx xxxxxxxx |
|System Engineer xx xxxxxx |
|Biomedical Engineering xx xx |
|Technion, IIT xx xx |
|Haifa, Israel 32000 xxxx |
|BEN@TECHMAX.BITNET xx |
------------------------------
Date: 10 Mar 87 05:29:16 PST (Tuesday)
From: "Thomas_W._Taylor.WBST147"@Xerox.COM
Subject: Blank Mail Note
TWIMC:
My copy of SWING came through fine (I think), however I had a lot of
trepidation. Please, please, please for the future: if such large
sources are sent, send along a checksum(s) so we can determine if
everything is as intended. The command is simple:
$CHECKSUM 'file'
$SHOW SYMBOL CHECKSUM$CHECKSUM
This will make a lot of us sleep a lot sounder.
Thomas W. Taylor
Xerox Corp
800 Phillips Rd. W147-59C
Webster, NY 14513
------------------------------
Date: 10-MAR-1987 14:43:20
From: MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK
Reply-to: MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK
Subject: Tape/blocks.
The 'Guide to VAX/VMS Disk and Magnetic Tape Operations' explains the
differences between disk and tape blocks ( Page 1-8 in my VMS 4.4/5/6
copy ) - at least there there are two sentences on the subject.
VMS/RMS could reduce the confusion by displaying file size in, say, bytes
as well as blocks although, as most devices use 512-byte blocks, this
information is redundant most of the time.
John
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 15:57:06 SET
From: ESC1318%ESOC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: MTACCESS
Date: 10 March 1987, 15:38:44 SET
From: Mike Brett ESC1318 at ESOC
To: INFO-VAX at SRI-KL
$MTACCESS is described in the System Services Manual...
I was left a little confused by it all, particularly in
trying to decide what the 'installation supplied routine'
MTACCESS.EXE can/should do.
I'd be grateful if someone could take the time to give me
a few (simple ?) words of explanation.
Thanks.
Mike.
------------------------------
Date: 10-MAR-1987 14:57:05
From: MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK
Reply-to: MACALLSTR%vax1.physics.oxford.ac.uk@Cs.Ucl.AC.UK
Subject: Tape/disk blocks - another comment.
There's been a lot of @*^% going back and forth regarding tape blocks. In
principle you can use any blocksize/record blocking you please on tapes
through the MOUNT command, 'OPEN' statements in languages,etc and COPY will
cope with all ( or most ) of them if the blocking has been properly defined
before the copy is attempted. There is a maximum blocksize of 64Kbytes
( 32K from FORTRAN,etc ) but apart from that the user has a free hand. It
will, of course, be more efficient on the use of space to use multiples of
512 bytes for copying between tape and disk.
Unless you have to read tapes directly from user programs or are transferring
data to non-VMS systems, you ought to be using BACKUP for moving data between
tape and disk. It is more secure and BACKUP/LIST gives sizes in terms of
disk blocks which reduces the confusion.
John
------------------------------
Date: 24 Feb 87 11:53:00 EST
From: <todd@cincom.umd.edu>
Reply-to: <todd@cincom.umd.edu>
Subject: ARC 5.12 ported to VMS
If you are from the PC world, you probably know about ARC, from
System Enhancements Associates. It is a very nice utility which
stores files in a near-optimally compressed format in an 'archive',
and allows extraction of files at a later date. Someone was kind
enough to port it to System V and 4.3 BSD Unices, so I decided to
take it all the way to VMS. Funny thing is, it works!
Most file formats can be stored, but because the program is in C and
I haven't learned any RMS hacking the files are extracted in Stream_LF
format. Now, this is not as bad as it sounds--if you store an .EXE file
in an archive and extract it later (into a Stream_LF file), it can
still be run (actually passes ANALYZE/IMAGE just fine).
I tried storing an .OLB library, and it choked, but we can't have
everything.
If someone wants to clean it up, hack on it, or whatever, I
can send a copy of the sources.
THIS IS NOT A GENERAL OFFER FOR DISTRIBUTION (I ain't got the time!).
But it works.
Todd Aven
the Softwear Sweatshop
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 17:50:08 GMT
From: Domenico Rotondi <ROTONDI%IBACSATA.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: VAX 2000 & DEC Window
Hello VAX fans,
is there someone who can give details on the new VAX2000
and a new product called DEC Window?
I heard, about DEC Window, as the VAX/VMS implementation of the MIT
X Window| Is there any possibility to handle icons, mouse, window
and so on from an application program (in a manner similar to the
Screen Management utility)?
About VAX2000:
how many users & what kind of terminals are supported?
what is its standard configuration?
...
Thanks in advance
Domenico
------------------------------
Date: 20 Feb 87 16:28:00 EST
From: <todd@cincom.umd.edu>
Reply-to: <todd@cincom.umd.edu>
Subject: Termination status record (and lack thereof)
Although I'm sadly lacking in knowledge about processes
disappearing from bugchecks, I do know that the accounting
record *does not necessarily contain the termination status*.
I had a process that would disappear every time I tried to read
a certain file from a FORTRAN program, and it turned out that it
was dying from bugchecks while in exec mode (RMS choked on the file).
The way to determine exactly what happened is to examine the error
log (analyze/error ...). The termination status in my case was
either empty or SS$_NORMAL, neither of which was very informative,
but the error log told a good story. Hope it helps.
Todd Aven
the Softwear Sweatshop
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 12:12 CST
From: UOWRAK%UOFMCC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: VT241 with Gold/Amber -- clobbered by EDT
Recently Dave Dorosz asked why, if he changed the colour
of his VT241 terminal to amber, it would get clobbered
by EDT.
Elizabeth Gayman pointed out that EDT did a full reset
(of the whole terminal, I guess); VT241's cannot do a
permanent reset of the screen colour. (If only I had
my Tek 4105 back, sigh!).
I have the same problem, and am in the process of switching
to TPU. In the meantime, I have the following command
procedure; if you cut it out, be sure to replace the
string <ESC> by an escape character (two places).
--- GOLD.COM -------------- Cut Here --------------- GOLD.COM ---
$ !++
$ ! File : GOLD.COM
$ !
$ ! Change a VT241 to gold (amber) for normal intensity and
$ ! aquamarine, medium for bold intensity. See the VT240 PRF,
$ ! pages 139-147 for information.
$ !--
$ WRITE SYS$OUTPUT "<ESC>P0pS(M3(AH150L50S60)2(AH280L50S60))<ESC>\"
$ EXIT
--- GOLD.COM -------------- Cut Here --------------- GOLD.COM ---
This gives me a work-around; I invoke GOLD.COM whenever I leave
EDT.
I am only "in process of going to TPU" because I prefer to use
a WPS-style keyboard; I do 70% of my text editing in WPSplus
under All-in-One, and about 30% with EDT and a quasi-WPS
initializer of my own devising. I have not yet noticed anyone
flogging a WPS-style interface for TPU.
Question -- is there a PD WPS-style TPU section file or command
file out there in VAX land, which implements most of a VT240
WPS keypad.
I have started generating one of my own (yesterday), and have
it up to what might generously be called V0.05; I would really
not like to spend much time on it.
Roger Kingsley,
University of Winnipeg
===================== Standard Disclaimer Starts ===============
My employer, being a University, never even asks what I say to
other people, and would certainly deny my existence if queried.
My wife and children, on the other hand, disclaim me without
being asked, but agree with everything I say.
==================== Standard Disclaimer Ends ==================
When the Ark had come to rest on Mt. Ararat, Noah said to the
animals, "Go then forth, all ye creatures, and multiply."
All the animals went forth, except for two snakes.
Noah said to the snakes, "Did I not command you in the name
of the Lord to go forth and multiply? Why then have you not
obeyed?"
The snakes replied, "Behold, we are adders, and cannot multiply."
[Pause for substantial quantities of groaning at such an old
chestnut.]
Then Noah sent forth his sons from the Ark, bidding them to
seek and hew a mighty tree. The sons of Noah returned,
bearing with them the trunk of a great tree. Then did Noah
bid his sons to strike the tree into pieces, and make there-
from a great table of wood.
Noah then said unto the snakes, "Behold where my sons have
made for you a table of logs, wherewith you now can multiply,
being adders!"
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 11:01 EDT
From: welch%UMASS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu
Subject: Scanning logical name tables
I have several projects in mind which could use a routine that returns
all the logical names in a given table. If anyone has such a routine,
or the data structure of the VMS V4.x logical name tables, I would be
glad to hear from you.
Jonathan Welch
Bitnet: jhwelch@amherst
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 10:13:38 EST
From: munnari!murdu.oz!u3369429@seismo.CSS.GOV (Michael Bednarek)
Reply-to: u3369429@murdu.oz.au (Michael Bednarek)
Subject: Re: DISK QUOTA overdraft
In article <8703052108.AA04566@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
<LEICHTER-JERRY@YALE.ARPA> writes:
>
>If an RMS operation requires you to allocate additional disk blocks, and you
>are at your quota limit but have an overdraft available, the operation will
>fail with a special status value.
which is hex 0001c022, decimal 114722, symbol RMS$_EXT
> If you re-try the operation, it will
>succeed. (I'm being vague here because the documentation is vague and I've
>never played with this enough to REALLY understand it. If, for example, you
>have two jobs running, and one runs into the quota limit and stops, will
>the other's next attempt to use the overdraft succeed without an error? I'm
>not sure.
>
I don't know about the special case of two jobs, but for one job, simply
re-issuing the RMS $PUT service works.
>No, RMS will not retry the operation automatically, nor as far as I know will
>the FORTRAN I/O system; it will simply pass the error back to the calling
>program to deal with. Very few programs deal with this error intelligently.
>I believe BACKUP does. I've seen complaints that indicate that EDT does not -
>most annoying, as it means you can lose your edit. I'm not sure if TPU is any
>more clever.
Well, I know that EDT here (4.5) uses overdraft.
Of course, FORTRAN I/O doesn't. But I ceased to use FORTRAN I/O for large
applications ten years ago. I love FORTRAN, but there is nothing like a
fast little assembler I/O routine.
>Unfortunately, the documentation of this whole area is pretty thin. Then
>again, so is the implementation. In my experience, the overdraft feature is
>pretty useless as currently implemented - it requires special-case handling
>by every program that wants to write files, and hardly any bother.
> -- Jerry
I use assembler I/O routines in my FORTRAN programs. So if I want to use the
overdraft facility, all I have to do is smarten up my PUT routine, and voila,
all my programs are smart.
(Pre-empting your questions: my GET/PUT routines stem from Pageswapper, about
two years ago.)
Michael Bednarek (u3369429@murdu.oz.au)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 14:41 PST
From: "Paul Traina (GM Hughes - DSO/SB)" <C43PST@CONDOR.SB.DELCO.COM>
Subject: GNU emacs
I understand that the latest version of GNU emacs supports VMS "natively"
(i.e. the VMS code is directly in the distribution now). Is this true?
Paul
C43PST%CONDOR.SB.DELCO.COM@YMIR.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 11:41 O
From: <BEN%TECHMAX.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: uVax 2000
has anybody seen any pricing on the uVAX 200? Our local dec reps, do not
seem to be ready to give quotes, and I would like to prepare a request
soon.
Thanks
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|Ben Pashkoff xx xxxxxxxx |
|System Engineer xx xxxxxx |
|Biomedical Engineering xx xx |
|Technion, IIT xx xx |
|Haifa, Israel 32000 xxxx |
|BEN@TECHMAX.BITNET xx |
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 87 17:38:57 EST
From: hurf@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Hurf Sheldon)
Reply-to: hurf%batcomputer.UUCP@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Hurf Sheldon)
Subject: Maxtor Drives on uVax Would you do it?
We have an Ultrix1.2/uVaxII ba123 with tk50, 3 RD53 discs, rqdx3 controller
We are about to really buy some extra disc storage and for reasons
of price and space we are looking hard at the Maxtor drive. At present
the two controllers we have found are Systems Industries QDA4EC and
an Emulex - I don't have the number. I have had two favorable reports on
the Emulex/Maxtor/uVax setup. DEC will maintain them and they cost
a bit less than the Systems Industries setup. However, SI will support
4 drives, Emulex will support 2. SI has 1mb of cache, Emulex 256k.
Some things I think are right that have aided my decision making:
The qbus can only go at 1.2mb so the faster thruput of the Eagle would
be wasted anyway.
The finished system will be 2 rd53/rqdx3 & one Maxtor- load averaging
will probably accomplish as much as having one 20ms seek drive(Eagle)
rather than the Maxtor in most cases.
Maintaining them myself is not a good idea.
Questions:
Has anybody had experiences good or bad with these drives? Companies?
Are there alternatives I may have missed?
(for cost or availability we have passed on an SI/Eagle (14k),
an RA81(16k, DEC won't install it on a ba123 anyway), RD54(more $/mb
than an RA81))
Would the Cache memory really help if we swapped to that drive?
(our user i/o loads are generally light so I don't see a big
advantage otherwise)
Is ther an advantage or disadvantage to having 4 drives on one controller
vs four drives on two controllers?(We are looking at future possibilities)
Am I wrong in any of the above?
What would you do?
Any & all comments appreciated - I will summarize mailed responses.
hurf
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 08:17:37 EST
From: Mark H. Granoff <mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Subject: Default parameter values for (BASIC) subroutines.
I am writing a package of subroutines in BASIC (v2.3) and I would like
to be able to have the users who use these subroutines be able to
leave parameters out and have them default to some specified value.
The documentation is not very good in this area, but I assume it can
be done *somehow*. I know it can be done in Pascal and Macro.
Has anyone ever done this in BASIC? If yes, I am interested in how
the subroutine is declared and anything else that is required to pull
off this stunt...
Any is help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Mark H. Granoff
mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 16:08:10 GMT
From: Domenico Rotondi <ROTONDI%IBACSATA.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: VAXMATE
Hi VAX fans,
can someone help me to solve the following problems?
1) The DEC VAXMATE makes use of the Microsoft NETBIOS interface in order
to support VAXMATE-VAX/VMS communications?
2) Is it possible to implement task-to-task communication between
user applications on a VAXMATE (using the NETBIOS interface) and
user application under VAX/VMS?
3) On the VAX/VMS side, is it available an interface to the MS-NET?
4) Is that interface contained in the VAX/VMS Services for MS-DOS?
Thanks
Domenico
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 07:22:12 PST
From: KARNEY%PPC.MFENET@nmfecc.arpa
Subject: What is format of .DIA files?
Can anyone tell me the format of the .DIA files produced, e.g., by
FORTRAN/DIAGNOSTIC? I'd like to use the .DIA file to locate my errors in
Emacs. Thanks.
Charles Karney
Karney%PPC.MFENET@NMFECC.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: 11 Mar 87 07:56:00 EST
From: "TODD AVEN" <todd@cincom.umd.edu>
Reply-to: "TODD AVEN" <todd@cincom.umd.edu>
Subject: ARC 5.12 ported to VMS
If you are from the PC world, you probably know about ARC, from
System Enhancements Associates. It is a very nice utility which
stores files in a near-optimally compressed format in an 'archive',
and allows extraction of files at a later date. Someone was kind
enough to port it to System V and 4.3 BSD Unices, so I decided to
take it all the way to VMS. Funny thing is, it works!
Most file formats can be stored, but because the program is in C and
I haven't learned any RMS hacking the files are extracted in Stream_LF
format. Now, this is not as bad as it sounds--if you store an .EXE file
in an archive and extract it later (into a Stream_LF file), it can
still be run (actually passes ANALYZE/IMAGE just fine).
I tried storing an .OLB library, and it choked, but we can't have
everything.
If someone wants to clean it up, hack on it, or whatever, I
can send a copy of the sources.
THIS IS NOT A GENERAL OFFER FOR DISTRIBUTION (I ain't got the time!).
But it works.
Todd Aven
the Softwear Sweatshop
------------------------------
Date: 11 Mar 87 15:26:24 AST
From: "David L Cairns" <CAIRNS%UPEI.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: VaxMates and VMS/Dos services
Greetings,
I have a couple of questions which I hope someone on the network can answer.
1) Has anyone used/seen/purchased one of Dec's VAXmates? Are they IBM
compatible? CGA? EGA? I know they run windows and the sales literature
looks great but..
2) Dec has a product called VAX/VMS services for MS-DOS. Any comments
on function and host system loading would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help,
David Cairns
p.s. Thanks to all who replied to my last query re: ibm<=>VAX connections.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David L Cairns (Dave) Bitnet: cairns@upei.bitnet
UPEI Computer Center Arpa: cairns%upei.bitnet@wiscvm.arpa
Charlottetown, PEI CANADA
(902) 566 0388
------------------------------
Date: 6 Mar 87 01:40:52 GMT
From: mende@aramis.rutgers.edu (Bob Mende)
Subject: Submission for mod-computers-vax
Path: aramis!mende
From: mende@aramis.RUTGERS.EDU (Bob Mende)
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: Re: Another editor in MAIL
Message-ID: <310@aramis.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: 6 Mar 87 01:40:52 GMT
References: <8703051619.AA29224@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 25
If you want to run emacs as your editor when you enter your mail...
.....It is *REAL* easy to do .....
set the logical symbol MAIL$EDIT to the name of a .com file that you
want to be executed. In my example.
$ define mail$edit disk$userfiles:[mende.com]maildef.com
this lives somewhere in my login.com... the file maildef.com looks
like
$! maildef.com.... Bob Mende and Dave Katinsky
$! Modified from _H*'s edt controler
$ defile /user sys$input 'f$trnlnm("SYS$OUTPUT")
$ emacs 'p2
$ exit ! like magic..
and wala.... you have emacs to type your mail in.
Bob Mende
--
{Both Reality and this message are figments of my imagination}
ARPA: mende@rutgers.edu BITNET: mende@zodiac.bitnet
UUCP: {anywhere}!rutgers!mende Voice: Yo Bob will do.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 10:27:58 PST
From: CUNNINGHAMR%HAW.SDSCNET@nmfecc.arpa
Subject: VMS Fortran (v.4.5) NAMELIST bug
I'm SPR'ing the following to DEC.
Variables used in a NAMELIST statement are not always treated correctly
under VAX/VMS Fortran (version 4.5, at least). To demonstrate, try
the following simple program:
$ ty nmlist2for
C DEMONSTRATION FOR PROBLEM FO NAMELIST
C-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAMELIST/LIST/W0,PER
c
c defaults
c
W0 = 20.
PER = 24.
C
write (6, NML=list)
C --for testing purposes, enter a W0 value < 0.0
read (5, NML=list)
write (6, NML=list)
if (w0.lt.0.0) then
write(6,*) 'yes, W0 is less than 0, W0=', W0
else
write(6,*) 'no, W0 is not less than 0, W0=', W0
end if
end
$ r nmlist
$LIST
W0 = 20.00000 ,
PER = 24.00000
$END
$list w0=-100.00$
$LIST
W0 = -100.0000 ,
PER = 24.00000
$END
yes, W0 is less than 0, W0= 20.00000
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 16:17:07 EST
From: Scott Earley <EARLEY%BITNIC.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: New LISTSERV list at BITNIC
List: JNET-L@BITNIC
Coordinator: INFO@BITNIC
This list is intended as a forum for discussing Jnet running under
VAX VMS. Some possible topics include VMSmail, Interactive Messages
(SEND), file transfers (SEND /FILE, RECEIVE), POSTMASTER, hints about
hooks into Jan_Lib:BitLib.OLB.
Other related topics might include RSCS emulations (non-Jnet), GMAIL
(a VMS utility for BITNET-to-Internet communications), conversion of
non-VMS tools (VM, NOS, UNIX, etc.) to VMS, file servers (KERMSERV),
list servers, etc.
To subscribe send RFC822 mail to LISTSERV@BITNIC containing the command
SUBSCRIBE JNET-L Your Name
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 87 11:31:34 EST
From: Ross Miller
<ross%ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu%tektronix.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: testing mail address
Yes, I got it. Can you send me a message that you get back about
bounced messages and I will attempt to deal with it. We are currenlty
changing our whole network around, and finding bugs left and right in
the new things we are trying.
Ross
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 87 17:25:51 EST
From: Mark H. Granoff <mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Subject: smg$put_virtual_display_ENCODED
I am trying to use SMG$PUT_VIRTUAL_DISPLAY_ENCODED in BASIC (v.2.4)
but I am having problems contructing the data structure that the
function call requires. When I call the SMG routine, I get an access
violation error.
Has anyone successfully implemented this routine? Any example would
be apprecieted (preferably in BASIC, though).
Thanks --
Mark H. Granoff
mhg@mitre-bedford.ARPA
------------------------------
End of Info-Vax Digest
**********************