JLW@PSULIAS.BITNET (Lance Wilkinson) (02/01/90)
On Thu, 1 Feb 90 09:16:29 CET, Berthold Pasch said, > This is to inform you that automatic routing table generation by NETSERV > will no longer respect subscriptions in the :inform/:info tags of the > node entries in BITEARN NODES file. > Starting in March 1990 NETSERV will only honour routing table > subscriptions done via the :routtab tag in the node entry or via the > NETSERV AFD function (Automatic File Distribution). .... other text omitted .... This announcement that as of the March 1990 nodes, only the :routtab specification will be used to issue table information rather than the :inform tags is all well and good, but the January tables I got were only for RSCS Routing, they were issued in the wrong format, I complained to both NODMGT-L@BITNIC and UPDATE@BITNIC and UPDATE_INFO@BITNIC and so far have gotten exactly one respondent back to my complaint -- another node contact like myself who tried to explain what was going on, but of course could do nothing about it himself. I appreciate his reply, but there hasn't been any response from anybody else, like BITNIC or Mr. Pasch or anybody, who might be in a position to *DO* anything about it. We were asked to verify the reception of the tables, and I reported that I did not recieve acceptable tables. There has been *NO* response trying to determine what went wrong. If I can't depend on tables recieved from BITNIC, then I might as well disconnect from the network. I'm not in a situation where pulling BITEARN NODES or any of that other IBM VM gobbledegook and then roll my own, either. My :inform tags subscribe two 'incoming message servers' to receive the RSCS Routing Table (ROUTING@PSULIAS) and the RSCS Links Table (LINKS@PSULIAS). Both have always recieved PUNCH data; that's the *ONLY* thing we can recieve, since we are *NOT* an NJE node, but rather a *HASP* node (for those IBM'ers reading this, that's Houston Automatic Spooling Protocol, not some euphemism for NJE over a BISYNC connection). In early January, ROUTING@PSULIAS got both the legitimate Chris Thomas format RSCS Routing Table, *AND* the new 'improved' NETSERV distribution which was apparently in NETDATA format, and thus totally unusable by my software. *** FLAME ON *** Don't *ANYBODY* suggest I can 'write an easy filter' to convert the file I got. That's not my job. Somebody (at BITNIC, preferably) needs to tell me they know what happened and it won't happen again or what specifically needs to be changed in my NODEENTRY to correct the problem. I only expect to support this Homebrew connection to BitNet for another 3-6 months, before switching over to JNET, so I have *NO* intention of working on new software for an interface to be discontinued here in so short a time. Don't think when I go to JNET the problem will go away, however, There are other sites running this software that I run who still need to have the problem corrected even if I wind up ignoring all NETSERV-generated routing tables until I switch to JNET. ANY other node running CP-6 could well be subject to the same problem. They may not have even realized that NETSERV sent them hosed tables for January yet, since we got legitimate tables from either Chris Thomas or U of Chicago (where mine actually come from) in January, too. Meanwhile, since the :inform subscribed me to both RSCS Routing *AND* RSCS Links tables (I use the LINKS table to maintain a HELP file for my users, describing the attributes of reachable nodes on the network), where am I supposed to get the LINKS tables now? I need specifics in this regard, since unlike the VM gurus out there I don't have the time or inclination to peruse the various archives to find out some other obscure method of getting the LINKS file on a reasonable schedule. *** FLAME OFF *** J.Lance Wilkinson <JLW@PSULIAS.BITNET> Systems Design Specialist - Lead Penn State University Library Computing Services (814) 865-1818
PASCH@DHDIBM1.BITNET (Berthold Pasch) (02/02/90)
>This announcement that as of the March 1990 nodes, only the >:routtab specification will be used to issue table information >rather than the :inform tags is all well and good, but the >January tables I got were only for RSCS Routing, they were issued >in the wrong format, I complained to both NODMGT-L@BITNIC and You are right. Your :routtab tag shows RSCS. Therefore Netserv sent you an RSCS routing table. The RSCS tableformat has been copied from your existing :info4 tag. If that's wrong, please correct it. If it's the RSCS table that you want, but you don't like the comments in it (which are different from the comments in Chris' tables) then I can't help. >My :inform tags subscribe two 'incoming message servers' to >receive the RSCS Routing Table (ROUTING@PSULIAS) and the RSCS >Links Table (LINKS@PSULIAS). Both have always recieved PUNCH >data; that's the *ONLY* thing we can recieve, since we are *NOT* >an NJE node, but rather a *HASP* node (for those IBM'ers reading The format of the file you received (NETDATA) is what you have specified in the :fformat tag. You may have received the tables in the past in PUNCH format, but probably only because nobody took care of your :fformat specification. Netserv, on the other hand, tries to do its best and sends files in the preferred format as specified in :fformat tag. If you cannot receive NETDATA then please correct the :fformat tag in your node entry. Regarding the Links Table: This file contains (to my knowledge) no customized information. Therefore it need not be generated individually for each node. The administration center (BITNIC) may provide this file on a monthly basis and store it in NETSERV and LISTSERV where you can subscribe to it. Regards, Berthold Pasch