[comp.os.vms] Info-Vax Digest V0 #26

Info-Vax-REQUEST@KL.SRI.COM (Ramon Curiel) (05/19/87)

Info-Vax Digest          Tuesday, 19 May 1987      Volume 0 : Issue 26

Today's Topics:
  Re: UNIX <-> VMS Mail Transfer
  Raxco VMS utilities
  INDEXF.SYS extension problems
  Re: Raxco VMS utilities
  VMS <---> Unix
  Re: Info-Vax Digest   V0 #24
  Quotes in VMS mail addresses
  OFFICE EXPRESS
  Has anyone tried the Gbyte storage tape devices?
  How good is LAVC and are there any snags?
  Information about DECUS C needed
  Re: Information about DECUS C needed
  Re: TPU virtual memory loss problem (Info-VAX 12-May-1987)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 14 May 87 22:33:19 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!stl!dww@seismo.css.gov  (David Wright)
Subject: Re: UNIX <-> VMS Mail Transfer

In article <3625@garfield.UUCP> dave@garfield.UUCP (David Janes) writes:
> .... HOWEVER, VMS 5.x is changing the mail protocols ...

Is this true?   We use a version of Kevin Carruso's mail server interface
for various purposes, and although I know that we cannot expect DEC to
guarantee to continue an undocumented interface unchanged, I hope we don't
really have to replace that mail interface.    If we have to, would someone
from DEC (or otherwise 'in the know') please tell us what the new interface
is so that we can be ready when VMS 5 comes out.  Otherwise we will not
be able to use VMS 5!      Thanks.
--
Regards,
        David Wright          STL, London Road, Harlow, Essex  CM17 9NA, U.K.
dww@stl.stc.co.uk <or> ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!stl!dww <or> PSI%234237100122::DWW

------------------------------

Date: 15 May 87 02:07:17 GMT
From: ihnp4!alberta!calgary!ingoldsby@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Terry
      Ingoldsby)
Subject: Raxco VMS utilities

We are contemplating purchasing some VMS utilities from Raxco Rabbit software.
Specifically we're looking at the Rabbit-7 Disk Optimizer, Rabbit-5 Backup,
Rabbit 1 Resource Accounting packages.  Has anyone had any experience with
any of these packages?  We are particularly concerned that if a system
crash occurs during a backup or compress that nothing is lost (as apparently
can happen on some packages).  Any opinions would be appreciated.

                                         Terry Ingoldsby

                               ihnp4!alberta!calgary!ingoldsby

------------------------------

Date: 15 May 87 14:15:25 GMT
From: eagle!rde@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (R.D.Eager)
Subject: INDEXF.SYS extension problems


I have recently followed with interest the discussion on cluster disks being
trashed by concurrent attempts to extend INDEXF.SYS. I believe a fix is
available from DEC.

DEC (UK) disclaim knowledge of the problem, and will not progress it until
I can provide specific details and perhaps an ECO number for the fix. Can
anyone help with this information please?

    Bob Eager
--
           Bob Eager
           rde@ukc.UUCP
           ...!mcvax!ukc!rde
           Phone: +44 227 764000 ext 7589

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 87 09:03:55 MDT
From: cetron@cs.utah.edu (Edward J Cetron)
Reply-to: cetron@cs.utah.edu (Edward J Cetron)
Subject: Re: Raxco VMS utilities


        1. as for disk optimizers - I would never use one, the odds of a crash
are too great. I'd rather specify my systems to have >1 disk drive and simply
do a full backup/restore instead.

        2. I have explored raxco resource accounting and ended up with pacs
plus instead - 'nuff said.

        3. vms backup can be just as fast as rabbit backup IF YOU TURN OFF ALL
OF THE ERROR CHECKING.... so why pay for rabbit, if you want fast backup, use
vmsbackup with no error checking, and if you want reliability, use vms backup
WITH error checking.

-ed
computer systems manager
center for engineering design
univ of utah
cetron@cs.utah.edu

------------------------------

Date: 16 May 87 15:53:47 GMT
From: unc!mcguffey@mcnc.org  (Michael McGuffey)
Subject: VMS <---> Unix

I'm using a VAX running VMS and a VAX running 4.2.  We have a uVAX running
DECnet-ULTRIX acting as a gateway.  I have a few questions concerning this
set-up:

        1.  I can copy files from the 4.2 vax to/from the VMS vax while
                logged into the 4.2 vax by using rsh's to the gateway then
                rcp's to the VMS VAX.  Is there a way to copy files to/from
                the 4.2 vax while logged onto the VMS machine?

        2.  Is there a way for the VMS vax to take advantage of my 66x80
                xterm windows when I log in from a GPX?  Right now it only
                uses the top 24 lines for screen oriented displays like HELP.


--mike

mcguffey@unc.csnet

------------------------------

Date: 16 May 87 19:24:48 GMT
From: tedcrane@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu  (Ted Crane)
Subject: Re: Info-Vax Digest   V0 #24

This nice fellow:
>From: "ERI::SMITH" <smith%eri.decnet%mghccc@harvard.harvard.edu>
says:
>I keep doing this stupid thing:
>
>        MAIL> send/edit
>        TO:   node::user
>        SUBJ: Real long, important memo
>I then spend fifteen or twenty minutes composing this important memo
>in EDT and exit, expecting it to get sent.  Instead, I get informed
>that the partner has exited and the logical link is broken. And, of
>course, the temporary file is gone and there is no .JOU.

Yes, this and a number of other wonderful things happen to a lot of us.
Personally, I tend to send a message and then realize I should have sent
a copy to myself with SEND/SEND.  It amounts to the same problem, except I
cannot call VMSmail brain-dead when I have been the fool.

THERE IS A SOLUTION!

No, not a brain stem transplant for yours truly! VMSmail thoughtfully includes
a feature for situations like yours and mine, Mr. Smith.

        MAIL> send/last
        To: yourself

From my point of view, I have my copy.  From your point of view, you can
retransmit (I suggest you use FORWARD/NOHEAD/EDIT...the NOHEAD so you don't
exhibit your previous mistake, and the EDIT so you get a chance to update
your message) the saved message at a later time.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 87 14:29 EDT
From: "Eliot Moss, GRC A351B, x5-4206"
      <MOSS%cs.umass.edu@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Quotes in VMS mail addresses

Quotes are needed when one has special characters -- but you need to make
sure that the quotes actually appear in the equivalence string. This is done
by doubling them in the DEFINE command.  Here is an example:

$ define joe "bigvax::foonet%""abc!joe%def.uucp@bellcore.bellcore.com"""

If one then does SHOW LOG JOE, you'll get something like this:

"JOE" = "bigvax::foonet%"abc!joe%def.uucp@bellcore.bellcore.com""

I use this all the time, quite successfully. In fact, to send this message
to INFO-VAX, I used the address:

        vax::in%"info-vax@kl.sri.com"

Hope this helps folks out ...                           Eliot Moss
                                                        Moss@cs.umass.edu

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 87 06:59 EST
From: <GROVER%IUBACS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu>
Subject: OFFICE EXPRESS

I've been asked to help a visiting professor from Australia do
a quickie demo of a package called OFFICE EXPRESS, which is supposed
to make VMSmail<=>PROFSnote communications much easier.  I have no
information about installation, and I won't be able to talk to the
prof until the day he arrives for the demo.  Can anyone help?

Doug Grover
Manager, Large Systems Support
Indiana University

------------------------------

Date: 16 May 87 12:37:55 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!stl!dww@seismo.css.gov  (David Wright)
Subject: Has anyone tried the Gbyte storage tape devices?

I hear rumours of new tape drives offering >2000 MBytes of storage, using video
tapes or cartridges.  Does anyone have hard information about such things,
and in particular does anyone have practical experience in using them?

We are currently putting together the budget/justification for an enhancement
to our computer system (uVAX's with VMS), and it would be nice if we could
solve the backup problem caused by lots of 600MByte disks.  But only if the
new drives are reliable!

All help gratefully received.
--
Regards,
        David Wright          STL, London Road, Harlow, Essex  CM17 9NA, U.K.
dww@stl.stc.co.uk <or> ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!stl!dww <or> PSI%234237100122::DWW

------------------------------

Date: 16 May 87 12:59:50 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!stl!dww@seismo.css.gov  (David Wright)
Subject: How good is LAVC and are there any snags?

We currently have a number of uVAX-II's, and are thinking of adding more.
They are used for simulations, VLSI design etc. (for some of which the
tools are only available on VMS), plus general editing, mail, etc..

Clustering looks a good idea, both in reducing the need for separate large
disks and in reducing the system management time that having lots of separate
machines involves.   There should also be availability gains.   So I've been
waiting for DEC to offer clustering on the Ethernet for years.
But now they have - should we buy?

DEC have told me the advantages, but are there disadvantages too?  DEC have
warned that the Ethernet load would be high, so we'd need a bridge to keep that
off the rest of our net, but what about performance and load on the 'boot
member'?   And are there any less obvious problems?     We do not want to go
through all the trouble of converting to LAVC then find we have to revert!

Any advice and experiences - good or bad - from those who have already gone
LAVC would be most useful.           Thanks.


P.S. Please no more Digests!   Yes I know you can sort-of page them in 'rn'
with ^G, but it's a pain to reply to items, or to keep just the bit you want.
And when I see items in a digest titled "Submission to ..." and find that I've
already read them twice in unpackaged form, I really wonder what the disgest
format is supposed to achieve.
--
Regards,
        David Wright          STL, London Road, Harlow, Essex  CM17 9NA, U.K.
dww@stl.stc.co.uk <or> ...seismo!mcvax!ukc!stl!dww <or> PSI%234237100122::DWW

------------------------------

Date: 17 May 87 20:41:56 GMT
From: amdcad!cae780!leadsv!dan@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Dan Gold)
Subject: Information about DECUS C needed

I have heard that a C compiler is available through DECUS.  Does it run
under VAX/VMS?  If so, will it run on 4.* systems?  If so, where can I get
it and how much does it cost?

Dan Gold
Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.

UUCP: ...!{atlas1, cae780, cfcl, endotsew, esl,
          excelan, hhb, hoptoad, krent, lll-lcc,
          mycroft, rtgvax, scampi, sunncal, tdms2}!leadsv!dan

INTERNET: ucdavis!lll-lcc!leadsv!dan@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU

------------------------------

Date: 18 May 87 02:07:46 GMT
From: maynard!campbell@think.com  (Larry Campbell)
Subject: Re: Information about DECUS C needed

In article <1530@leadsv.UUCP> dan@leadsv.UUCP (Dan Gold) writes:
>I have heard that a C compiler is available through DECUS.  Does it run
>under VAX/VMS?  If so, will it run on 4.* systems?  If so, where can I get
>it and how much does it cost?

Rather than posting to thousands of machines, would not a more direct
and sensible approach be simply to telephone DECUS and ask them??
--
Larry Campbell                                The Boston Software Works, Inc.
Internet: campbell@maynard.BSW.COM          120 Fulton Street, Boston MA 02109
uucp: {alliant,think,wjh12}!maynard!campbell        +1 617 367 6846

------------------------------

Date: 16-May-1987 1851
From: winalski%psw.DEC@decwrl.DEC.COM  (Paul S. Winalski)
Subject: Re: TPU virtual memory loss problem (Info-VAX 12-May-1987)

Regarding the problem you reported with TPU losing chunks of virtual memory,
this has long been a known problem with both TPU and LSE (which shares TPU's
basic editing engine).  The good news is that one of the LSE developers
finally located and fixed a heap storage management problem that causes TPU
to drop one page of memory every time certain text insert operations have
been done.  This sounds like exactly the bug you encountered.  Each of the
COPY_TEXT operations can drop one page of virtual memory on the floor.
Given this, it's easy to see why performance goes downhill rapidly.

The sample TPU procedure you posted to the net shows the worst case behavior
of this particular bug.  Fortunately, this does not happen on *all* COPY_TEXT
operations--the bug would have been found long ago if that were the case.
It does occur often enough to be annoying, though.

This bug is fixed in LSE Version 2, which has just recently gone to software
manufacturing and therefore should be shipping soon (if it isn't already).
The bug has been fixed in source in TPU, and should ship with some future
release of VMS.

--PSW

--------------------

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End of Info-Vax Digest
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