[comp.os.vms] VAX/L&T SIG Tape Reviews: VAX90B - GRC

ted@nieland.DAYTON.OH.US (Ted Nieland) (04/15/91)

Tape:		VAX90B
Section:	[.GRC]
Reviewer: 	Dr. E. Loren Buhle, Jr.


Installation: 4
Documentation: 3
Intended Audience: systems programmers, systems managers
Ease of Use: 3
Usefulness: 4
Sources Included: FORTRAN, DCL, MACRO, ADA
Source Languages: yes
Objects Supplied: no

There is quite a collections of useful utilities here. [.GRC] is divided into
[GRC.DAVID] and [GRC.GREG], reflecting the first names of the contributing
authors. The collection includes:

- AUTOLOGIN, an example program to remotely log into a terminal
- DEALLOC, a program using ASTs to a target process to force the target to
deallocate a device.
- DOC - documentation of analyses of systems crashes using SDA, analyzing any
process on a running system using SDA, DCL from within a process using system
services instead of SPAWNing, documentation regarding multi-dimensional array
traversal in FORTRAN, as well as information regarding modem ports (pin-outs,
signal on which pins, etc.)  and a quote from Knuth regarding "random" numbers.
- EDX - The very latest version of the EDX editor which now includes a built-in
spelling checker and the ability to edit modules in VMS text libraries.
- FRAGMENT/DEFRAG - are programs which assist in transferring very large files
over flaky telephone lines. The routine creates a backup set of the sources,
chops this backup set into pieces, uses KERMIT to copy over all the pieces, and
puts it all back together again.
- SHODIR - FORTRAN subroutine to do the same as the DCL command DIR/SIZE/DATE
without spawning.
- ZEROACC - used to play with the accounting system in VMS to allow system
managers to give discount rates at specified times. This is an update of a
previous submission.
- EXCEPTION_INTERCEPTOR - an ADA routine to handle exceptions as they are
intended to be handled under VMS using the VMS Condition Handling Facility.