This Technical Note contains a collection of archived Q&A's relating to a specific topic--questions sent the Developer Support Center (DSC) along with answers from the DSC engineers. Current Q&A's can be found on the Macintosh Technical Q&A's web site.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
What should I be doing with A/ROSE versions? My application links with X.25_Interface_Library.o, IPCGlue.o, and FSDES.o. Should I be using the latest IPCGlue.o that is on the Developer CD, or should I use the one that came with the X.25 Developers Kit? Also what about A/ROSE itself? Can I safely replace the existing one in my Extensions folder with the latest one from the CD? If I do should I relink the app with the corresponding IPCGlue.o? What about the MacX25 Admin? Will it be happy with the latest copy of A/ROSE in the Extensions folder? My code resources also link with IPCGlue.o. I assume I should link the code resources and app with the same IPCGlue.o, right?
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Changes to A/ROSE are typically made to A/ROSE itself. In general, you should follow the guideline that you describe--link with the library file for the version of A/ROSE you plan to ship with. Interestingly, the A/ROSE IPCGlue.o file shipped with MacX25 1.0.1 is still fine for linking with. You should also relink your application with the (MacX25 1.1) X.25_Interface_Library.o as there are a number of memory management bugs fixed between 1.0.1 and 1.1, some of which caused system crashes.
Over the past several years, new releases of A/ROSE have been made to fix bugs and to support new hardware. If you plan to be compatible with new CPUs, you might want to supply the latest release of A/ROSE.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
Are there any of the X.25 segments from X25_Interface_Library.o that need to be locked or should be specified as resident in my application's 'res!' resource? In, particular I am wondering about the segment X25_VBL.
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The X25_VBL segment contains code that is executed at interrupt time, and the rules for dealing with interrupt driver code should be followed--that is, the VBL code and VBL task record should be locked down.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
When writing data with the X25_Write routine, I seem to need to break up the data to write according to the current packet size and then make separate calls for each data chunk/packet. I had hoped the X25_Write would have figured that out by itself. Am I missing something? What about when using X25_Read? Should I be reassembling packets with the M_Bit set, into big chunks of data?
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No, At present, the X25_Write routine does not do anything very useful in the domain of segmentation and reassembly of X.25 data. The routine only handles the segmentation and assembly of one packet's worth of data. Unfortunately, the same comment applies to the X25_Read routine.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
Is it possible to intercept an A/ROSE message from the X.25 server that was destined for the X.25_Interface_Library? The server and the client are running on the same machine, and I connect to the server with X25_Server_Connect(gTcb, connect_via_best).
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A/ROSE is dependable for delivering messages to your task, that are sent to your task, and not to other tasks. To date, there have not been any problems reported on this subject.
Last reviewed: 6/24/93
Is there an Apple-recommended method for converting 8-bit Apple text characters to that which can be sent over 7-bit media while observing X.400 rules, and only submit 7-bit text into the x.400 IA5Text body parts?
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MacPAD used to support only 7-bit file transfers, but it's now possible to translate from 8 bit characters to 7 bit.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
Where can I find documentation on the X.400 and X.500 electronic-mail standard?
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There are a few interesting articles about X.400 in the Technical Information Library on AppleLink. One of them mentions that Apple has a forthcoming X.400 solution that is an X.400-compliant MTA (Message Transfer Agent) that runs on any modular Macintosh under System 7. It includes the seven layers of the OSI model. It works either over X.25 (on top of the MacX25 product) or over 802.3. (This is the most used link in the U.S.) It lets Macintosh users gain access to public X.400 networks or to connect to their private X.400 backbone.
For standards and specifications on X.400 and X.500, check with your local library for an IEEE periodical index. IEEE documents this type of stuff fairly regularly.
Last reviewed: 6/24/93
What's the feasibility of internet routers for AppleTalk networks over MacX25?
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Internet routers for AppleTalk networks over MacX25 are not only feasible, they're available. Apple's internet router 3.0, with the X.25 internet router extension, provides this function.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
Is it feasible to develop general "listeners" on the MacX25 servers? This would allow users to connect to MacX25 servers and request specific services to be provided. Other non-Macintosh systems could also communicate with such listeners.
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MacX25 does indeed provide a listener agent. Please refer to the MacX25 product documentation. If, however, you want to develop your own listener, one could be provided via access to A/ROSE.
Last reviewed: 6/14/93
How do we go beyond the Macintosh X.25 user list entry limit of 256?
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The size of the X.25 user list can be modified by modifying the 'Maxu' resource in the X.25 Admin program using ResEdit. If you're using the latest revision of ResEdit version 2.1, a template for the 'Maxu' resource exists to assist with this modification. The other recommended change is to increase the program partition size of X.25 Admin by 32 bytes for each additional user to ensure that there is enough memory to hold all of the names. Note that this change does not increase the number of simultaneous connections.