ted@nieland.DAYTON.OH.US (Ted Nieland) (05/25/90)
Fall 1989 VAX/L&T SIG Tape Reviews
Earle Ake
Science Apllications International Corporation
Todd Aven
COmputer Associates International
E. Loren Buhle, Jr.
Univeristy of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Geoffrey Brunkhorst
Mayo Foundation
Tom Comeau
Space Telescope Science Institute
David Hittner
Pioneer Standard Electronics
Ray Kaplan
Ted Nieland
Control Data Corporation
Mark Shannon
Carnigie-Mellon University
Ric Steinburger
SRI International
This is part of the review of the Fall 1989 VAX/L&T SIG Tape.
Due to the large amount of overlap between the L&T and VAX SIG tapes, the
Tape editors decided to combine the tapes into one large tape with no
overlap. This SIGs tape contains many useful items for people with VAX
Computers and people interested in Languages and Tools.
The reviewers have scoured through most of the tape and have jotted down the
following notes on the material that is on the tape. Not everything on the
tape is reviewed due to the shear volume of material, but it is hoped that
this review will help people in deciding what on the tape might be useful to
them.
The SIG tapes are a project started by the SIGs a while back as a method of
distributing free software that might be helpful to others. Not all of the
material on the tapes are "finished" products.
This review is sponsered by the VAX and L&T SIGs and is coordinated by
the L&T Public Domain Working Group. Anyone wishing to help with future
reviews can contact the the Public Domain Working Group Chair, Ted Nieland. He
can be contacted on DCS at NIELAND or at TED@NIELAND.DAYTON.OH.US on the
Internet.
This is the fourth SIG tape to be reviewed. The VAX and L&T SIGs are
interested in your comments on the reviews and what can be done to improve
them. Comments can be sent to DECUS_REVIEWS@NIELAND.DAYTON.OH.US or
to NIELAND on DCS. Or contact any VAX or L&T SIG Steering committee member.
The material reviewed here is included on the VAX portion of the tape.
The encapsulated reviews are rated on a 1-5 scale with 5 being excellent.
[.FAUST]
Ease of Installation: n/a
Documentation: 5
Intended Audience: System Managers.
Ease of Use: n/a
Usefulness: 5
Sources Included: n/a
Objects Supplied: n/a
Richard Faust's submission consists of a document titled "A Practical to
the SYSMAN Startup Utility", several DCL command procedures, and
examples. All concentrate on how layered products and customer
procedures are handled during VMS startup.
Faust's Guide is an outstanding description of the startup process, and
the SYSMAN utility's interface to startup. His description of the
startup process is very well researched and written, his examples are
crisp and complete, and his submission is complete and well organized.
His Guide is something Digital should have provided, and should be read
by every manager of a clustered VMS system.
[.FINGER]
Installation: 4 - VMS V5 or later
Documentation: 4
Intended Audience: System managers and general users
Ease of Use: 4
Usefulness: 5 - for anyone in a network environment
Sources Included: yes, in ZOO format
Source Languages: VAX Fortran (Version 4 required), Macro-32
Objects Supplied: yes
This package may be a real blessing to users in a network environment
who want to learn who is where, etc. The documentation assumes you know what
FINGER has done in the past, but it isn't hard to figure out without looking
at prior tapes. This is release V51_1_22 and seems to be a well supported
package. The images were linked under VMS V5.1-1 and should be relinked if
another VMS version is used.
(from the ABSTRACT.TXT file)
VMS Finger performs three main functions:
o Lists the current users on the system, along with the location, pro-
gram name, etc. In this mode it functions like a personalized SHOW
SYSTEM program.
o Searches for a specific user, displays the above information if they
are logged in and additionally shows information about their mail,
last login, and a personal message file they may supply.
o Functions as a DECnet server for both in-bound and out-bound links.
Remote users may finger the local system, and local users can finger
other systems on the network. As part of the network finger protocol
it performs explicit route-through. This is valuable in an internet
situation such as going from DECnet to TCP/IP, etc. This program can
communicate with other VAXen, RSTS/E systems, and DECSYSTEM-20's
over DECnet, as well as TCP/IP (Internet) and RSCS (Bitnet) hosts,
if the appropriate communication package is available. It can also
communicate with LAT devices (terminal servers) if the DEC TSM pro-
duct is available.
In a large network Finger can be an invaluable tool to locate users,
see if they got your mail, etc.
This is a new version of VMS Finger, which was originally submitted by
Dr. Richard Garland of Columbia University, New York, NY. Many others
have contributed to the development of this package as well. Please
refer to the sources for detailed credits.
[.flowers]
Ease of Installation: 4
Documentation: 3
Intended Audience: system manager
Ease of Use: 4
Usefullness: 5
Source Included: Yes, DCL
Objects Supplied: Not Applicable
Submission contains:
CHKFRAG - Check File fragmentation. Gives number of fragments, largest
frag size and smallest frag size. Not excessively useful,
since all it does is wrapper around a
DUMP/HEADER filename/BLOCK=COUNT=0.
CHKPAS - Password Checker. Requires you to get the VMS$SECUREPWD.EXE
off your VMS 5.0 tape (VMS050.A... VMS05n.A should also have it
if it is a remastered release (5.0,5.1,5.2,5.3). It's a quick
check, but I still prefer Joe Meadows GUESS_PASSWORD program,
with its dictionary. If you have a LOT of users, then this may
be okay, since it is a lot faster.
Essentially checks each user (or an individual username) password,
reporting whether it is weak, unsecure, or valid password.
CVTHLPTEX - Convert a .HLP file to .TeX file for processing by LaTeX
CVTTXTTEX - Convert a .TXT file to .TeX file for LaTeX
DISK_WATCHER - Checks disks and warns if getting too full. It also does not
work as-is with allocation-class mounted disks (my patch to
openfiles [see below] will fix it), and it may not be exceptional
robust to be trusted as a defense against impending doom. I
thought its abort routine may be a little weak, since it just
rolls over and dies if an error occurs. A routine like this
should try and recover from non-fatal errors (like a disk going
off-line). By default, it runs detached, and consumes few
resources.
A good useful, simple com file. I am going to start to use it
tomorrow!
KILLER - Idle Process Killer. The author admits the code is only to be run
during off-hours and is to be stopped and restarted occasionally,
because it uses a lot of symbols per active process on the system.
I like it because it is very straightforward to modify, and can
be a good prototyping tools for a final, executable version.
I suggest modifying for 15 minute checks, and warnings at 45, 60
and 75 minutes, and killing processes at 90 minutes (especially
if you have a lot of after-hours users, who run to the coffee
shop during the night!)
MENU - A really good menu shell. If you need to 'menu-ize' user accounts
on your system, this is a really good shell to start from. It
is really easy to modify, shows some good examples, and seemed
very efficient (read: snappy screen updates) for a DCL script.
Appears to be work in progess.
OPENFILES - Shows open files on a system. It strips out INSTALLED files and
any files from shadow disks (I think, I don't have shadow sets).
It's ok, but i had to patch it to work with allocation-class
mounted disks. Here is the change:
$ DISKNAME = F$EDIT(F$EXTRACT(0,24,ALINE),"TRIM")
To
$ DISKNAME = F$EDIT(F$EXTRACT(0,F$LOCATE(" ",ALINE),ALINE),"TRIM")
It only shows files mounted on the local node... it will not
show files mounted on any other cluster nodes.
[.FULLERTON]
Ease of Installation (1 - 5): 5
Documentation (1 - 5): 4
Intended Audience (General, Programmers, System Managers, etc.):
General, Programmers
Ease of Use (1 - 5): 5
Usefulness (1 - 5): 3
Sources Included: Yes DCL, FORTRAN
Objects Supplied : No
Description:
Part One - Directory movement command procedures. These let
one change the current default directory using tree-oriented
commands rather than the flat, boring syntax provided by the
SET DEFAULT command.
Part Two - FORTRAN INCLUDE modules. These modules define
useful entities for FORTRAN programmers.
Observations:
Having seen so many SET DEFAULT replacements already, I can't
help but feel that this constitutes re-invention of the wheel,
but we *are* living in a democracy, after all. The FORTRAN
include modules contain a great deal of useful information
that is not specific to FORTRAN programming. There are
definitions of fundamental math constants, transmitted and
received terminal escape sequences, line drawing character
codes, etc. The submission contains a help file which
contains the list of 'Compose Character' keystroke sequences,
which I personally find to be of great convenience.
[.gcef89]
Ease of Installation: 2-5 (several, if not hundreds of goodies here, some more
or less complicated than others)
Documentation: 4 (Mr Everhart is meticulous communicator, but a lot of the
stuff is complex and is written for systems programmers)
Intended Audience: programmers,system managers,etc
Ease of Use: 2-5 (again, the number of items here don't allow
a single number)
Usefullness: 5 (If you can't find something useful in here, you
must not use computers!)
Source Included: Mostly Yes, (Various languages)
Objects Supplied: Mostly No.
Mr. Everhart's copious submission is filled with all sorts of goodies.
ANALYTICALC - A multi-OS spreadsheet. and calculator. Amiga and VAX /PDP
versions. Very Functional. Very good documentation. Some source
is ZOO format, so a little busy work is necessary to rebuild
from the sources. Written in Fortran, with objects included.
NET89B - A generous helping of programs, discussions, and postings off the
Internet (Info-VAX, primarily). Contains several useful programs,
examples, discussions, and bug-fixes, etc. The files
are named to point out the contents within. Software comes
in several flavors: SRC - various source languages imbedded in
VMS_SHARE format; ZOOed files, TAZ (TAR/lzcmp format), BCK_Z
(VMS BACKUP/lzcmp format)
While this directory contains several examples, one should be aware
extracting this information may require a little effort.
Familiarity with the [VAX000.TOOLS] programs is necessary, as is
an understanding of what VMS_Share is used for (a quick
definition: VMS_Share is a program that converts one or several
files in to mailable pieces for distribution via electronic mail.
The files are then 'reconstituted' by executing the share file as
a DCL command procedure. VMS_Share is the VMS version of
'shar', the unix 'shell-archive')
CKSLID - A slightly buggy version of C-Kermit for VMS. Has Sliding Windows
implemented (allows for double the serial line bandwidith
utilization). Not at all like VMS-Kermit; it is more unix-like.
It includes the ability to build scripts. Source is in
ZOO format.
Quick non-scientific benchmark:
Remote system MS-DOS AT; running MS-KERMIT 3.0
connected via a DECserver 500 19,200baud line to
a VAX 8600 with ALTYPAHD ( SYSGEN MAXBUF=2048
and TTY_ALTYPAHD=2048).
Kermit-32 V3.3.117 620 characters/sec (95 char/packet)
C-Kermit 1356 char/sec (2000 char/packet)
(10 packet window)
PGPLOT - Device independent plotting package from Caltech. Subroutine
based. Provides drivers for several devices, including postscript
Tek4010/4014,REGIS,HPGL,Epson FX100, and Versatec.
Source is in ZOO format.
VAXNET - Robin Miller's VAXnet program (V12.1). Well documented program for
building dial in/out scripts for automated data transfer. This
submission has some fixes to the Xmodem CRC routines. ZOO format.
VMSVD - Glenn Everhart's Virtual Disk Driver. Allows for mounting
a file as a disk, mapping process memory as a disk, mapping a file disk
into memory (fast reads at memory speeds, writes are backed up to
disk), networked disks, en/decryption of disk data.
A complex submission, but all the source is there (Macro, FORTRAN,
CLD). Needs a tutorial on the whys and hows of virtual disking.
[.HUNTER]
Installation: (4) very simple, CMEXEC priv required to install/run some pieces
Documentation: (4)present in text files or inline in the code
Intended Audience: (3) System Managers and programmers
Ease of Use: (5) once installed, very simple
Usefulness: (3) nice for programmers
Sources Included: yes
Source Languages: MACRO32
Objects Supplied: assembler supplied, recompiling and relinking suggested
This set of macro routines has been published in VAX Professional and was
submitted by Hunter Goatley. Some of these routines require CMEXEC priviledge to
run and are most useful to programmers and other developers who require fast
logins and repetitive use of DCL commands. Most of these commands could be
performed via DCL, but perhaps not as quickly. Many of these routines can be
called from code without SPAWNing to DCL and therefore may be quite useful.
A MACRO-32 routine, LOGIN.MAR, was supplied to make replace the slow DCL
processing in a long LOGIN.COM. Symbols must be replaced in the macro to
specify the individual user's requirements, desired process names, etc. A mild
familiarity with MACRO-32 would be nice, but not necessary, to make these
changes. If the user has many logins via BATCH or NETWORK that must process a
large DCL file in LOGIN.COM, this code would be of interest.
Several routines for extending and manipulating the DCL command buffer are
supplied. CMD.MAR can be recompiled/relinked to save commands to a nonascii
file, clear the command buffer, or restore the command buffer from the stored
file. CMEXEC priv. is required to flush the buffer. CMD works under both VMS
VMS V4.X and V5.X. Callable code to define keys (e.g. PF1), similar to
the standalone DCL DEFINE/KEY is supplied. Patches to VMS V5.0 and V5.2 are
supplied to extend the command buffer beyond the last 20 lines. These
were not tested by the reviewer, as they involve patching the DCL.EXE file. VMS
V4.X does not appear to be support in extending the command buffer beyond the
last 20 lines. A MACRO32 routine similar to LIB$GET_INPUT is supplied using SMG
routines. Finally, a MACRO32 routine is supplied to change the DCL prompt from
either a standalone program (i.e. like $SET PROMPT) or via callable code.
[.LEVINE]
Ease of Installation: 4
Documentation: 3
Intended Audience: System Managers, Programmers
Ease of Use: 5
Usefulness: 4
Sources Included: Yes
Objects Supplied: Yes
This submissions consists of several utilities. CHECK is a recoding and
enchancment of the VMS CHECKSUM command for use in checking images for
alteration. COMPAND is a data compression/expansion program. INDEX is
a FORTRAN cross reference and flow chart generator, MACRO is a macro
portability preprocessor, NEWS is a system manager tool for telling
users about news items. NET is a set of programs and networks objects
for extending the SHOW NET command to nonrouting nodes. VT300 is a set
of utilities and demos for VT300-series terminals.
The CHECK, NET, and NEWS utilities are useful system management tools;
COMPAND is a straightforward data compression system with a good user
interface. MACRO and INDEX appear to be too site-specific for most
users. The VT300 demos are interesting, and good examples of ways to
use VT300 series graphics. Documentation is spare, but adequate, and
building the tools is straightforward.