[comp.sys.ncr] Problems with "xsend"

nbladt@aut.autelca.ascom.ch (Norbert Bladt) (02/15/91)

Hi, there !

We have a NCR Tower 32/650 with a X.25 interface running Sys V Rel. 2.
On the other side of the PSDN (Telepac in Switzerland) there
is a PAD with one terminal and one printer.

We use "xsend" to print on the printer. Now, our problem
is the following:

	1. "xsend" works sometimes (the first time per day ?)
	2. Whenever it doesn't work well, the last
	   lines of the file are not printed on the
	   printer.

I checked the communication between the PAD and the printer,
Telepac and the PAD and finally between the NCR Tower and Telepac.
I found out that the data is lost at the Tower, i.e. the last
lines of the file are not send to Telepac, instead a "clear request"
packet shows up on the line ! The answer of Telepac is, of course,
"clear confirm" and that's it.

I can imagine two reasons for this problem:

	1. "xsend" is OK, but after issuing the ioctl to
	   disconnect the X.25 line, the driver sends a
	   "clear request" immediately without flushing the
	   buffer first and blocking "xsend".
	2. "xsend" is OK, but the driver doesn't block "xsend"
	   after the ioctl to disconnect the X.25 line. Now
	   "xsend" exits and closes the X.25 device which
	   results in a "clear request" packet send by the
	   driver.

It boils down to the question:
	Should there be a "sleep" before the ioctl, the exit
	(resp. close) or before both ?

We don't have the sources to "xsend", of course. So there is no
chance for us to change that. However, we would like to print
via X.25.
I think, we could write a simplified "xsend" program, because we are
just using it for printing. But nobody here knows how to program
the X.25 subsystem, etc.
So, does somebody know whether there is a working version of
"xsend" or another program to print via X.25 which is OK ?
We will consider PD, shareware or commercial programs for NCR Tower 32/650
running Sys V Release 2.

I suspect that the real error is in the X.25 subsystem used by "xsend" !?

Thank you for your help,

Norbert Bladt.
-- 
Norbert Bladt, Ascom Autelca AG, Worbstr. 201, CH-3073 Guemligen, Switzerland
Phone: +41 31 52 92 14
Mail: nbladt@autelca.ascom.ch  UUCP: ..!uunet!mcsun!chx400!hslrswi!aut!nbladt