Sun-Spots-Request@RICE.EDU (William LeFebvre) (06/17/88)
SUN-SPOTS DIGEST Thursday, 16 June 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 113
Today's Topics:
Re: CDC Sabre series drives [ basically OK ]
Re: ArborText Preview vs. VorTex dvitool
uucp and SunOS Release Sys4-3.2
SunOS 4.0 & sed
textedit dumps core when embedded binary bytes selected
Garbage collector
A distributed programming environment that works on SUNs.
writemasks and retained pixwins
Menus on SUN 3/75?
ALM-2 Terminal multiplexor?
enhancement requests?
Request Unix box recommendations
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 12:57 BST
From: Piete Brooks <pb%computer-lab.cambridge.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: CDC Sabre series drives [ basically OK ]
Reference: v6n105
> Does anyone have experience with the CDC 9720 series of disk drives?
> (these are 1/2 width drives -- two fit in the space of a single Eagle)
* This is real neat !
> Model Mb (unformatted) Avg Seek(milli) Transfer(MB/s) $$
* 9720-850 850 16 2.4 5566
> These come with either an SMD, EMD or SCSI interface.
* Note that SMD/SMD-E is a switch setting.
> Horror stories anyone?
They used the wrong parameters when it was installed ! It worked most of
the time, but then became very sick. Power cycling fixed it.
Eventaully they got back to us and told us to set it to 600 bytes/sector,
and to connect SWPD and SWP1 [ manual says only SWPD needed ]. [ Does it
really need 600 bytes ? Every 5 less bytes per sector would give an extra
10Mb formatted ] The config parameters were then cyl 1378, alt 2, 600b/s 0
0 heads 15, 850 "CDC 9720-850 Sabre" sectors 67, interleave 1 => 676Mb
formatted. [ 67 as 1 slip sector + 1 runt ]
There are NO accessible buttons (nor any visible flashing lights ... sigh
...) The power switch is behind the cover and the WRITE-PROTECT is a DIL
at the back of the unit ..
Being the wrong side of the pond, an 850 cost us 6500 pounds (with
mounting) from Computer International Ltd, of Aylesbury, UK.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 16:40:53 EDT
From: dlr@arbortext.com (Dave Rodgers)
Subject: Re: ArborText Preview vs. VorTex dvitool
Rusty Wright recently posted an item comparing ArborText's preview with
the VorTeX dvitool. I'd like to clarify a couple of points and amplify on
a couple of others.
ArborText has two distinct product lines: (1) a family of TeX support
products (i.e., preview and printer support software) for popular
mainframe, workstation, and microcomputer systems; and (2) an integrated
electronic publishing system for producing *structured documents* that
uses an upwardly compatible version of TeX as a formatting/print engine.
The Publisher is currently available for Sun workstations.
The Publisher supports a WYSIWYG equation editor, interactive table
editor, and a paint and draw capability. It is intended as a publishing
system and *not* simply as another way to use standard TeX. It is
intended to provide people of the sort Rusty identifies as good candidates
for The Publisher with an easy to learn, easy to use environment. It
retains the capabilities, power, quality, and flexibility associated with
TeX.
EMACS is a great editor--but it is not for everyone. Many people are not
in a good position to master its fine points. Many do not need all of its
power. Some people prefer a menu interface to keyboard commands. The
editor in The Publisher supports both menu selections and keyboard
commands. The keyboard is user defined and a map command allows sequences
of the editor's primitives to be bound to keys in ways that can simulate
commands in other editors, including EMACS. Quite a large subset of EMACS
commands can be defined and used in The Publisher. The current
implementation does not support named buffers or conditionals so Rusty's
characterization of The Publisher's editor as a "step down" is right
(sic). We plan to add these features and to implement and distribute one
or more of the popular EMACS schemes for TeX keyboarding.
The next release of The Publisher will have a much higher degree of TeX
compatibility.
The porting platform for The Publisher is X-window (V11). The release
schedule depends on availability of robust implementations of X-window and
on tool kit considerations.
ArborText's TeX Preview is very widely used on Sun, PC, Apollo, and
VAXstation platforms.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 15:15:59 EDT
From: bdrc!jwc@mcnc.org (Joan Curry)
Subject: uucp and SunOS Release Sys4-3.2
Thought I'd share something I learned from a bad experience, in hopes that
it may save someone else from spending as many hours as I spent trying to
find a uucp problem. Apologies if this has been recently discussed, but,
well, like I said, I've had this problem with uucp....
The problem will occur if you install SunOS Release Sys4-3.2 (which comes
on 3 tapes, if you get reel-to-reel) rather than Sys4-3.2_REV2 (which
comes on one tape, if you get reel-to- reel). The first symptoms will be
that you can't receive mail or news from the outside world via uucp. The
uucp LOGFILE will have messages about XQT DENIED, and if you are lucky
(well, relatively lucky), mail may get sent to the remote uucp site saying
things like uuxqt cmd (rmail user) status (DENIED).
If this happens, it won't do any good to change your USERFILE or L.cmds or
file permissions. The solution is to get hold of Sys4-3.2_REV2, which has
a version of uuxqt that works.
------------------------------
Date: 9 Jun 88 21:02:51 GMT
From: fed!m1rcd00@uunet.uu.net (Bob Drzyzgula)
Subject: SunOS 4.0 & sed
I have been struggling with installing SunOS 4.0 for the first time over
the past week or two. I have learned an important lesson: Everything you
know is wrong. Anyway, here's the least tractable problem I have yet
encountered:
We have always used a prompt that keeps track of your history number. We
accomplish this by putting the following in .cshrc:
set prompt = `(echo $prompt | sed -f /.cshrc1)`' '
where /.cshrc1 contains:
s/\([a-z0-9]*\)\([#%]\)\(*\)/\1(\!)\2/
so your prompt might look like:
machine(15)%
after executing fourteen commands. This is, as you might guess, very
usefull. Unfortunately, it does not work in SunOS 4.0. The prompt remains
unchanged. Executing the command in back-quotes by hand results in your
original prompt spit back at you without the trailing space. Executing
prompt = machine\(\!\)%\ (with a trailing space)
gives the desired result.
Any guesses?
Bob Drzyzgula
Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC 20551; uunet!fed!rcd
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 88 08:38:59 +0200
From: mcvax!lavi!wyle@uunet.uu.net (Mitchell Wyle)
Subject: textedit dumps core when embedded binary bytes selected
I assume this bug has been reported before, but I don't remember seeing
it, and we don't have STBs on-line for grepping (hint hint) so:
Synopsis: textedit dumps core when binary data selected (color screen only)
Release: Sun OS 3.4EXPORT
Description:
On a Sun-3/180 with 8-bit color monitor, when certain embedded binary
bytes are selected, textedit dies with:
attempting Store to textedit.12895 ... finished; aborting for post-mortem ...
Notifier assertion botched: More then 1 paranoid using enumerator
IOT trap (core dumped)
The bytes causing this error are (in uuencoded form):
begin 644 badtext
(_O[^_O[^_OX
end
Work around:
Remove all embedded binary from text files before using textedit or
edit the text on a monochrome sun.
-Mitchell F. Wyle wyle@ethz.uucp
Institut fuer Informatik wyle%ifi.ethz.ch@relay.cs.net
ETH Zentrum
8092 Zuerich, Switzerland +41 1 256-5237
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 17:33:17 CDT
From: Hans Boehm <boehm@flora.rice.edu>
Subject: Garbage collector
I am posting a "conservative" garbage collecting storage allocator
designed to operate with most run-of-the-mill C programs. Since it cannot
distinguish pointers from integers with absolute certainty, it is not
guaranteed to reclaim all inaccessible storage. However, for programs
involving complex data structures, it typically does better than a C
programmer inserting explicit "free" calls into his code. The allocator
itself is considerably faster than many implementations of malloc, thus
partially compensating for collection overhead. We have used the
collector with good success in a number of applications of substantial
size. (If you've been using the constructive real caculator posted
earlier, you've already been using an earlier version.)
More details are given in a paper entitled "Garbage Collection in an
Uncooperative Environment", by Mark Weiser and myself. It should appear
shortly in Software Practice and Experience.
The posted version will run on Sun 3s, Sun 2s and Vaxen. It is somewhat
machine specific C source, but has proved relatively easy to port.
Hans-J. Boehm
boehm@rice.edu
[[ The shar file has been placed in the archives as "sun-source/gc.shar".
It is 64903 bytes long and it can be retrieved via anonymous FTP from the
host "titan.rice.edu" or via the archive server with the reqeust
"send sun-source gc.shar". For more information about the archive server,
send a mail message containing the word "help" to the address
"archive-server@rice.edu". --wnl ]]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 09:53:25 EDT
From: ken@cs.cornell.edu (Ken Birman)
Subject: A distributed programming environment that works on SUNs.
This is to announce the availability of a public distribution of
the ISIS System, a toolkit for distributed and fault-tolerant
programming. The initial version of ISIS runs on UNIX on SUN,
DEC, GOULD, and HP systems, although ports to other UNIX-like
systems are planned for the future. No kernel changes are needed
to support ISIS; you just roll it in and should be able to use it
immediately. The current implementation of ISIS performs well in
networks of up to about 100-200 sites.
--- Who might find ISIS useful? ---
You will find ISIS useful if you are interested in developing
relatively sophisticated distributed programs under UNIX (eventu-
ally, other systems too). These include programs that distribute
computations over multiple processes, need fault-tolerance, coor-
dinate activities underway at several places in a network,
recover automatically from software and hardware crashes, and/or
dynamically reconfigure while maintaining some sort of distri-
buted correctness constraint at all times. ISIS is also useful
in building certain types of distributed real time systems.
[[ This message was far too long to be included in its entirety. Just to
clarify, ISIS is public domain software and everything is free except for
bound copies of the manuals. The entire message has been placed in the
archives as "sun-spots/isis" and is 18133 bytes in length. It can be
retrieved via anonymous FTP from the host "titan.rice.edu" or via the
archive server with the request "send sun-spots isis". For more
information about the archive server, send a mail message containing the
word "help" to the address "archive-server@rice.edu". --wnl ]]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 88 14:11:12 PDT
From: nosun!cvedc!grimm!billt@sun.com (Bill Tracy)
Subject: writemasks and retained pixwins
While working with graphics on a Sun, I had a problem when trying to use a
retained pixwin. We use writemasks to disable writing to or clearing
areas, but the retained data was getting clobbered. It turns out that the
writemask affected only the displayed data. The retained pixrect did not
have a writemask, so it would get cleared or scribbled on, etc. and would
no longer match what was displayed. The included program example shows
the needed fixes.
Bill Tracy ..tektronix!ogcvax!cvedc!wtracy
Computervision ..sun!cvbnet!cvedc!wtracy
14952 NW Greenbrier Parkway Phone (503)645-2410
Beaverton, Oregon 97006 FAX (503)645-4734
/*
* Set up a color canvas with a retained pixrect that works with
* a writemask (pw_putattributes() and pw_getattributes()).
* There are two problem areas: the retained pixrect's private data
* (mpr_d(pr)); and the pw_xxxattributes() (which set the mask
* of the display device only, not the mask of the retained pixrect).
*/
/* To compile:
cc -g -o writemask_fix writemask_fix.c -lsuntool -lsunwindow -lpixrect
*/
#include<stdio.h>
#include<sys/types.h>
#include <suntool/sunview.h>
#include <suntool/canvas.h>
#include <sunwindow/cms_rainbow.h>
extern Notify_error notify_dispatch() ;
Frame base_frame;
Canvas canvas;
Window tty ;
Pixwin *pw;
Pixrect *pr;
static unsigned char red[CMS_RAINBOWSIZE];
static unsigned char green[CMS_RAINBOWSIZE];
static unsigned char blue[CMS_RAINBOWSIZE];
main()
{
int i,w,h,d,tty_fd,device_num;
int nbnds=1, npts[1],mask,oldmask;
struct mprp_data *mprd;
base_frame = window_create(NULL,FRAME,
WIN_WIDTH, 500,
WIN_HEIGHT, 500,
0);
canvas = window_create(base_frame, CANVAS,
WIN_HEIGHT, 400,
0);
pw = canvas_pixwin(canvas); /* get pixwin of canvas */
/* show window */
window_set( base_frame, WIN_SHOW, TRUE, 0);
(void) notify_dispatch();
/* set up colormap before modifying pixrect data structure */
cms_rainbowsetup(red, green, blue);
pw_setcmsname(pw, CMS_RAINBOW);
pw_putcolormap(pw, 0, CMS_RAINBOWSIZE, red, green, blue);
/* modify pixrect data structure (must be done AFTER pw_putcolormap()) */
pr = pw->pw_prretained ;
mprd = mprp_d(pr);
mprd->mpr.md_flags |= MP_PLANEMASK; /* this wasn't set
* (but should be) */
pw_getattributes(pw, &mask) ; /* get current mask of pw (for dbx) */
pr_getattributes(pw->pw_prretained, &mask) ; /* get current mask of
* pw->pw_prretained
*/
mask = 0x7;
pw_putattributes(pw, &mask); /* set mask of pw */
pr_putattributes(pw->pw_prretained, &mask); /* set mask of
* pw->pw_prretained
*/
window_main_loop() ;
}
------------------------------
Date: 9 Jun 88 18:15:54 GMT
From: jan@philabs.philips.com (Jan Bohn)
Subject: Menus on SUN 3/75?
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO CREATE MENUS ON THE SUN ???
==============================================
I'm trying to create menus on the Sun 3/75 using Suntool and Sunwindow in
my C-program, but I'm having problems.
Basicly, I would like to have on a window of type 'Panel' a horizontal
list of menu-headings. When I click the right-most button on one of these
headings, I wish to have the menu exposed as long as the button is held
in, and when I move the cursor (with the button pressed) across the
displayed menu, the item should be highlighted. An item is selected when
when it is highlighted and I let go of the button. If no item is
highlighted when I let go, then no selection was made.
I'd be gratefull to receive any help in this matter.
Jan Bohn
Philips Laboratories
jan@philabs.philips.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 10:18:29 PDT
From: pixar!unicom!dv@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (David Vezie)
Subject: ALM-2 Terminal multiplexor?
I've heard this mentioned. What is it, and why is it good? Can someone
send me some info about it (esp, a manufacturer & phone number).
David W. Vezie, Systems Hacker
{{sun,ucbvax}!pixar,pacbell}!unicom!dv
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 88 14:17:44 PDT
From: telesoft!souza@ucsd.edu (Steve Souza @eldest)
Subject: enhancement requests?
Spot-Dom:
Can anyone tell us where in Sun (?) requests-for-enhancements/features to
SunOS software would best be sent?
Appreciate any info!
Steve Souza ucsd!telesoft!souza, telesoft!souza@ucsd.edu
TELESOFT Inc., San Diego, CA (619)457-2700 x277
------------------------------
Date: 9 Jun 88 18:12:22 GMT
From: restuccia%mergvax@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Request Unix box recommendations
[[ This message was originally cross-posted to 7 different Usenet lists.
--wnl ]]
I am in the market for a reasonably priced Unix box. Does anyone out
there have any suggestions, recommendations, caveats, etc.?
I know that this request has most likely appeared on the net before, so
pardon the repeat. To avoid cluttering up the net again, please respond
directly to me by email.
Thanks in advance.
Philip Restuccia
...!philabs!mergvax!restuccia
------------------------------
End of SUN-Spots Digest
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