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Vancouver Area Rainbow Users Group N e w s l e t t e r March and April, 1991; Volume 5, Number 2 Editor: David P. Maroun, 9395 Windsor Street, Chilliwack, BC, Canada V2P 6C5; telephone (604) 792-4071 Publisher: DECUS Canada, 505 University Avenue, 15th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1X4; telephone (416) 597-3437 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This newsletter is provided free of charge to members of the Vancouver personal computer local users group (Vancouver PC LUG) also called the Vancouver Area Rainbow Users Group (VARUG). The group forms part of the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS) of Canada. Membership in the local users group is free for anyone using a personal computer made by Digital Equipment Corporation or used with Digital products. Members need not live near Vancouver. Unless the contrary is indicated, any part of this newsletter may be freely copied or distributed unaltered and with credit given to the original source. While the information provided is believed accurate, the editor cannot take responsibility for contributions of other writers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table Of Contents Page Editorial: More Problems With Computing Canada .......................... David P. Maroun ..... 2 Corrections And Clarifications .............................................. 2 Wanted: A Representative At The Next Leadership Conference ........................ David P. Maroun ..... 2 In The News ................................................................. 3 When A Monitor Goes Blank ............................. Carl Neiburger ...... 4 GST Bulletin Boards ................................... David P. Maroun ..... 6 New MS-DOS Compression Utilities ...................... J.K. Sharma ......... 7 Using A Modem As A Tone Dialer ........................ Wilson C.Y. Chang ... 10 Making A Copy-Protected Copy .......................... Gaetan Boucher ...... 11 DECUS Canada Election Update .......................... Marcus E. Schack .... 13 DECUS Europe 1991 Symposium ................................................. 14 Questions And Answers ....................................................... 21 Buy, Sell, Or Swap .......................................................... 22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deadlines: For our May and June issue: April 30, 1991 For our July and August issue: June 30, 1991 Almost any legible format is acceptable for submissions, but the ideal is ASCII form on magnetic materials. Diskettes or tapes should be accompanied by covering letters describing the files and indicating disk or tape format. We prefer Rainbow CP/M or Rainbow MS-DOS but can handle most other CP/M and MS-DOS formats too (check about them) as well as Tandy Color Computer tapes and diskettes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial: More Problems With Computing Canada by David P. Maroun Through the services of DECUS, I have a free subscription to Plesman Publication's newspaper Computing Canada. Regular readers of this newsletter may remember that I got the subscription only after filing a complaint with the federal department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. More recently, I noticed an article in Computing Canada which I thought might interest readers of this newsletter. So, I wrote to Computing Canada and asked permission to reprint the article. I got no reply. I wrote again, repeating my request. Months later, I still have had no reply. I do not expect any government agency to help me in this case. I have not tried to find out whether any would. In case you are curious, I mention that the article was "Adding memory doesn't always pay off" by Harry Hardman. It appeared in the August 16, 1990, issue of Computing Canada. I suggest that Plesman Publications should have more dedication to public service. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corrections And Clarifications In our last issue, we mentioned that Ashton-Tate lost copyright protection for dBASE III Plus as a result of a United States court decision. This decision applies to dBASE II and III as well as dBASE III Plus. Ashton-Tate is attempting to have the decision reversed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wanted: A Representative At The Next Leadership Conference By David P. Maroun We are still looking for someone to represent our local users group at the next DECUS leadership conference. The conference is scheduled for Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the Fall of 1991. DECUS arranges the details, and pays basic travel, lodging, and food expenses of all those attending. Does anyone in the Vancouver PC local users group want an expenses-paid trip to Halifax, the opportunity to learn more about DECUS, and perhaps help guide DECUS Canada in its future development? If so, please contact me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In The News Silicon Valley Rainbow Quits ---------------------------- For the past four and a half years, Carl Neiburger has edited Silicon Valley Rainbow, the newsletter of the Silicon Valley DEC PC Users Group. In the January, 1991, issue, Carl announced that no more issues would be published. Information about the DEC Rainbow computer is still available in California from such sources as the San Francisco DEC PC Fido bulletin board, which operates free of charge to users at night and on weekends at (415) 981-3325. OS/2 Will Continue ------------------ Reports indicated that Microsoft Corporation's operating system OS/2 would be abandoned. Jonathan Sachs, Microsoft Canada's national marketing manager, denied the reports, saying his company believed "very strongly in OS/2". DEC Canada Lays Off, Then Plans More Work ----------------------------------------- Digital Equipment Corporation of Canada announced that it would lay off employees-- 33 from the Kanata, Ontario, plant alone--but subsequently indicated it would add 76 new manufacturing and engineering jobs to manufacture the VAX 4000 in Canada. DEC Stops Proposed Alliance --------------------------- Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) has prevented the formation of an alliance between a third-party maintenance company and a software supplier. The maintenance company, Testpoint Technical Services is based in Toronto, while Computertime of Montreal was the software vendor. According to the two companies, DEC representatives said that DEC would cancel an agreement with Computertime if it became involved in software maintenance. DEC Enhances Network Products ----------------------------- In an announcement dated last February 12 in Boston, Digital Equipment Corporation announced enhancements to its PATHWORKS family of personal computer networking products. The new items included two new operating system releases, support for Microsoft's Windows 3.0 and MS-DOS 4.0, and the ability to run Novell NetWare at the same time as PATHWORKS on MS-DOS personal computers. Users of NetWare can connect to PATHWORKS to gain access to IBM, UNIX, and VMS resources anywhere in the network. One PATHWORKS product gives PATHWORKS capabilities to users of multivendor TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol) networks, thus providing more choices in connectivity for users of personal computers. DEC also announced DECquery for MS-DOS and for Windows 3. DECquery allows personal computer users access to information stored by VAX Rdb/VMS and RMS; Oracle; and IBM's DB2, VSAM, and IMS. DECquery is designed to work with PATHWORKS and NAS (network application support) information access services. PATHWORKS is based largely on Microsoft's LAN Manager, and DEC's announcements have been described as showing commitment to "open standards" common to many vendors rather than to just DEC's own products. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When A Monitor Goes Blank By Carl Neiburger (Editor's note: This article is taken from the January, 1991, issue of Silicon Valley Rainbow.) This can be a very scary sight: Turning on your Rainbow, hearing it go through a normal boot, but seeing . . . nothing. You adjust the brightness and contrast knob in back of your monitor, and still, nothing. It looks as if the tube has gone out. But wait, before you pay for a replacement or, worse yet, consign your Rainbow to the scrap heap. You may be able to solve your problems with nothing more sophisticated than a couple of screwdrivers. You will also need to use a substantial amount of caution, though, because solving the problem involves opening up the monitor, and being careless risks a dangerous electrical shock. Judging from experiences of quite a few Rainbow users, including myself, the problem may be simply oxidation on the trim potentiometers--"trim pots" in electronics jargon--inside the monitor housing. Trim pots are little adjustable resistors used to adjust things like the horizontal and vertical hold. Television sets generally have little holes in the chassis where you can poke in small, plastic screwdrivers to make the adjustments. These potentiometers can get a coating of rust that interferes with their function, possibly causing a wavering image or screen static, or causing the entire screen to blank out. The solution is simply to twist them back and forth so that their brushes rub the corrosion off, and then readjust the monitor tube. Digital Equipment Corporation, unfortunately, wasn't so thoughtful as to provide holes in its monitor to reach the trim pots. Its failure to do so means that, to fix this simple but common problem, we have to take precautions to avoid electrical shocks. The reason for the shock hazard is that the monitor has a capacitor that holds more than 12 000 volts, even when the power is off. It is possible, however, to handle the monitor safely provided that you use these precautions: Always turn your computer off and disconnect the monitor before opening the monitor, and repeat the procedure before reassembling the monitor. Avoid touching any of the electrical wiring on the tube, especially the wiring at the back of the tube, the anode--a navel-like wire connection at the bottom of the tube--and the link-shaped flyback transformer at the top of the tube. Here's a procedure that I have used several times safely: 1. Turn off the computer, disconnect the tube, put a layer of paper down on your desk as padding, and put your tube screen down on the paper in a position so that it can be lifted gently backward into the normal viewing position. 2. Depress the plastic lever on the left side of the tube and pull the adjustable white plastic foot all the way out. This is absolutely necessary, because the top part of the foot could otherwise catch on inside wiring. 3. Use a small screwdriver to pry up the white cap in the center of the back of the monitor. This cap hides a little Phillips-head screw, the only screw holding the back of the monitor on. Remove the screw and gently lift the back of the monitor off. If there is any resistance, check the adjustable foot. Do not force anything. 4. Reconnect the monitor cable and carefully, touching only the plastic sides of the front of the monitor, lift it back so that the screen faces you. 5. Now restart your computer. 6. Looking at the side of the monitor at your left, near the top, you will see five plastic disks with screw slots in their centers. There are two more of these on the side of the monitor at your right. These are the trim pots. If you're lucky, the monitor will have a paper covering on top with letters abbreviating the names of the pots. Those on the left are, going back to front, vertical hold, height, vertical linearity, horizontal hold, and horizontal center. On the right, the focus adjustment is nearest the front of the tube, followed by the cutoff. 7. Put the blade of an insulated screwdriver in each of the pots, one at a time, and move them back and forth to loosen them up. Try to return them to their original positions, but don't worry about this too much. Somewhere in this process, if your tube was dark, the image should come on. If it doesn't, make sure that the brightness control is turned up enough before deciding that something more serious is wrong. 8. After all the pots are loosened up, call up some text that fills the whole screen. This could be a directory, a text file, or the function on one of the Rainbow diagnostic diskettes that fills the screen with Es. 9. Now adjust all the pots till you get the best image possible. Most of their functions are pretty obvious. Vertical linearity adjusts the relative height of characters on the top of the screen versus those on the bottom; obviously, you should try to get them equal. The cutoff control adjusts the signal strength needed to blank a spot on the screen; just try to keep it the same as the original setting. 10. When you're done, turn off the computer, detach the cable, and carefully turn the monitor screen-side down. Then carefully replace the housing back--watching that adjustable foot--and reattach the screw and its plastic cover. Reattach the cable, and you're done. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GST Bulletin Boards By David P. Maroun Those who have computers and modems, and would like information about the Canadian goods and services tax (GST), can call two bulletin boards for information. I tried both briefly, though I am not particularly interested in the GST. Calling toll-free 1-800-267-4500 got the GST Questions and Answers service provided freely by QL Systems Limited, while 1-800-267-5979 connected me to the GST Questions and Answers service provided free of charge by GST Policy and Legislation, Excise Branch Revenue Canada (I am describing the two bulletin boards as they introduce themselves to callers). I used terminal mode on a DEC Rainbow 100A, obtained by typing 'T' just after turning on the computer and getting the start-up menu. I chose eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit, and (on different occasions) transfer rates of 300 and 2400 bits per second. I also used half-duplex; that is, I had the computer turn on the local echo so I could see what I typed. I set these features by pressing <Set-Up> (the <F3> key) and selecting from the menus. I used half-duplex because neither bulletin board echoed my typing back to me. Since the computer was echoing my characters, I told the modem not to provide an echo, which would have made every character I typed appear double when I was addressing the modem. For the modem I used, and for many others, the command to turn off the echo is ATE0<Return> . Once I connected with a bulletin board, I pressed the <Return> key several times until the board responded. Then I just followed the prompts and read the messages. Both boards gave me the choice of using either English or French. Many bulletin boards allow users to communicate with each other. I noticed no such option on the GST boards. But then, I did not explore much. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New MS-DOS Compression Utilities By J.K. Sharma Remember the good, old days when the .ARC format was more or less standard for archives, not only under MS-DOS but under several other operating systems? Now we have .ZIP, .ARC, .PAK, .LZH, .ZOO, .DWC, and some old .LBRs (CP/M users may be quick to point that .LBR format is still going strong, but for the time being, I am concentrating on MS-DOS). Anyone who dials into computer bulletin boards, or generally deals with public domain or shareware programs, is obliged to have recent archivers for these formats, on pain of not being able to use many programs. ARJ --- As if the variety of archivers were not enough, Robert K. Jung's ARJ appeared. Does this add confusion? Of course, but by now, I am resigned to dealing with incompatible archive formats. I tried ARJ test versions 0.14, 0.15a, 0.20, and, just recently, version 1.00. According to its author, ARJ is inspired especially by LHARC, which produces the .LZH type of archive. Such inspiration is understandable; LHARC's source code is available to anyone who wants it. ARJ is available free on bulletin boards, though commercial users are expected to pay for continued use of the utility. ARJ has a feature which Phil Katz promised for PKZIP (which produces .ZIPs) but, as far as I know, has never delivered: ARJ can spread an archive over more than one disk, even splitting up a single file over two disks in the process. That makes ARJ useful for backing up hard disks. Since ARJ compresses files, backing up requires fewer diskettes than other back-up utilities need, a definite convenience. I used ARJ 0.15a and 0.20 to back up a directory with subdirectories on a DEC Rainbow 100B's hard disk. I told ARJ to judge for itself the size of the diskettes, and to make optimum use of the space on them. ARJ left 512 characters free on the first RX50-format diskette before requesting another diskette. Files were compressed to less than half their original sizes. This was a notable achievement because some of the files had been set up for saving space in the first place. Path names were stored with the files, so directory structure was maintained. The author warns that updating an archive spread over several disks may be difficult. This problem seems minor to me. You use one set of diskettes for a complete back-up of a hard disk, then another set to back up those changed or added after the complete job. ARJ has an option for archiving files created after a specified date, so you need only remember the date of the last complete back-up. The degree of compression depends on the files being compressed, but in my trials, ARJ compressed a little more than LHARC 1.13c, PAK 2.10, or PKZIP 1.10. When used for maximum compression, ARJ was also slower than any of these three. However, the more recent ARJ versions allow sacrificing compression in favor of speed. I verified that ARJ with maximum speed was faster than PKZIP 1.10 (usually considered the fastest of the bunch), while still providing respectable compression. ARJ 0.20 and 1.00 came in self-extracting archives. The self-extracting module added some 15 000 characters to the archive--far more than the 2 500 or so used by LHARC. That tends to defeat the purpose of archiving. Furthermore, MS-DOS 3 was needed for the self-extraction, though ARJ itself runs under Rainbow MS-DOS 2.11-1. Another problem: ARJ needs some 300 000 characters of memory. PAK Version 2.51 ---------------- PAK version 2.51 provides about the same compression as version 2.10, but can handle .ZIP format as well as .ARC and .PAK, which is an extension of .ARC. PAK 2.51 can also convert among .PAK, .ZIP, and the various .ARC formats. In my trial, PAK 2.51 produced an archive compatible with PKZIP 1.10 but provided noticeably less compression than PKZIP at its optimum. PAK has become quite big. PAK.EXE now contains 106 236 characters. The program, like previous versions, also demands fairly large amounts of memory and disk space. LHA version 2.11 ---------------- LHARC's author, Haruyasu Yoshizaki, has updated his program. Now named LHA 2.11, it remains an example of compactness and versatility. I used PKLITE (which I discuss a bit later) to compress LHA 2.11. The result had only 25 948 characters. In my trials, LHA compressed more than ARJ, which certainly means LHA is up to current standards. On the other hand, as Yoshizaki mentions, LHA 2.11 compresses some small files (less than 1 000 characters) less than LHARC 1.13c does. LHA 2.11 is also faster than its predecessor, though not up the speed of PKZIP or ARJ at its fastest. In one trial I made, LHA 2.11 was slower than LHARC 1.13c in extracting from an archive but faster in compression. The author says that speed is greater in extraction but only a bit greater in compression. I plan to examine this situation more. I usually find that PKZIP 1.10 compressed larger text files (greater than 10 000 characters or so) more than LHARC 1.13c. My tests indicate that LHA 2.11 is more than a match for PKZIP 1.10 in dealing with larger texts. Yoshizaki says that LHA 2.11 is free to private corporations and government agencies, though commercial users should pay for it. The source code is available. I got a copy of the source, but did not examine it in great detail. LHA's documentation is written partly by Irv Hoff, someone well-known in the CP/M public domain. Nevertheless, that documentation is a weakness, as it is for LHARC 1.13c. More detail is needed. For example, LHA has a '/p' command-line option. This option is described as allowing precise specification of a file name, to distinguish between 'SYS\STAT.H' and 'STAT.H'. The documentation also says that '/p' has sub-options '1', '2', and '3', allowing you to specify '/p0' or '/p1'. However, I found nowhere a description of the differences among these sub-options. On the other hand, the documentation does attempt to explain the differences among '/r0', '/r1', and '/r2' (differing ways of handling recursion through sub- directories), but I am still sure what those differences are. This problem is aggravated by several obvious errors, such as writing a file name as 'EX' and then calling the file 'SX', or repeating parts of sentences one after the other. I suggest you not be discouraged by the documentation. You can probably overcome the difficulties by trying out the features. I think that the program deserves the effort. PKLITE ------ The November and December, 1990, issue of the VARUG newsletter contained a review of LZEXE, a utility for compressing executable files while leaving them ready to run. I should have guessed--there are now several competing programs for the same purpose. I tried one of them, Phil Katz's PKLITE 1.03. PKLITE is provided free of charge for non-commercial use, though a fee is requested from anyone who finds the program worthwhile. Rainbow users will likely be happier with PKLITE than with LZEXE. Whereas the latter required MS-DOS 3 and Code Blue, PKLITE ran under Rainbow MS-DOS 2.01 and 2.11-1. PKLITE has other features which will appeal to users of any MS-DOS computer. The program allows specifying an output name and output directory different from the current, and is capable of undoing its own compression. LZEXE does neither. PKLITE can compress both .EXE and .COM files; LZEXE requires conversion of .COMs to .EXEs before compression. Supplied with PKLITE is HDROPT.EXE, a utility for rearranging the header of a .EXE file to get greater compression. In my brief trials, PKLITE compressed about as much as LZEXE (perhaps slightly more, but results are likely to vary with the program compressed), and PKLITE successfully compressed programs which failed after LZEXE compression. If English is your only language, you will also appreciate PKLITE's English- language prompts and comments in place of LZEXE's French. One problem: As of this writing, McAfee Associates' SCAN and CLEAN programs for dealing with computer viruses can undo LZEXE compression but not PKLITE compression. A program that was infected, then compressed by PKLITE, might escape detection by SCAN. One can, of course, use PKLITE itself to undo PKLITE compression, then check for viruses. According to the documentation, even that possibility does not exist for a professional version of PKLITE which is supplied to registered users. This version has an option to render programs incapable of being decompressed by PKLITE--a dangerous option, in my opinion. PKLITE comes with CHK4LITE.EXE, a program for deciding whether a program was compressed by PKLITE. CHK4LITE can help in dealing with possible viruses. Whether you use LZEXE or PKLITE, or both, you can save considerable space on your disks. Some programs are reduced to less than half their original sizes. On the other hand, LZEXE and PKLITE are not as necessary as ARJ, PAK, or LHA. Even if you do not have LZEXE or PKLITE, you can still use programs compressed by them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using A Modem As A Tone Dialer By Wilson C.Y. Chang In my review of the SupraModem 2400 in the last issue of the VARUG newsletter, I mentioned using the modem for services which required tones even though I called on a telephone line designed only for pulses. The services I had in mind are not computer bulletin boards. Rather, they provide communication by voice. I thought I should give a few details of the procedure; hence this article. One service I called is Revenue Canada's Tax Information Phone Service (T.I.P.S.), also called Info-Tax. I got the computer set-up for communication, which in one case just meant putting a Rainbow into terminal mode. Users of other systems can load a communications program, go into terminal mode, and ensure that the modem is echoing the user's commands. Users of ProComm must make a special effort to arrange the echo, since the supplied configuration turns off the modem's echo. Typing 'ATE1<Return>' turns on the echo for the SupraModem and for other so-called Hayes-compatible modems. Once I was set up, I used the modem to call Info-Tax in Vancouver by pulses. The command for this purposes is ATDP 1-800-663-0739<Return> . The telephone number is one of several I had available. Others are listed near the end of the guide supplied with income tax forms. Once I got the connection (I could hear the voice at the other end through the modem's speaker), I picked up the telephone receiver and pressed the <Return> or <Enter> key. Then I typed ATX0<Return> This command told the modem not to wait for a dial tone before dialing. I needed this command for dialing while I had the connection. Meantime, the voice on the telephone was telling me about the service. It said I should dial 1 to get general information. So, I typed ATDT 1<Return> . Note that 'T' after the 'ATD'. The final 'T' indicates dialing by tones, not pulses. I held the telephone receiver away from my ear in anticipation of the dialing of the number 1. A few moments after I gave the command, I heard a loud tone. The tone was for the number 1. T.I.P.S. proceeded to give me general information. I pressed the <Return> key a second time. This prepared for the next dialing command. The voice at the other end said to dial 999 to get a list of available messages. I typed ATD 999<Return> . I left out the final 'T' after the 'ATD'. The modem used tones because it had used tones for the previous dialing command. After I heard the tones, I pressed the <Return> key again. The voice on the phone said to dial 200 to get information about making deductions on an income tax report. I typed ATD 200<Return>, moved the receiver away from my ear so I would not get the full force of the tones dialed, and after I heard them, pressed the <Return> key again in anticipation of the next dialing command. I continued in this way until I got the information I wanted. Conclusion: You need not pay the telephone company for a tone line. You can use a tone dialer--in particular, a computer with an auto-dialing modem--to send tones over a pulse line. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Making A Copy-Protected Copy By Gaetan Boucher Since Lotus Development Corporation has stopped protecting its products from copying, I suppose I can pass along a technique for defeating the copy protection on an older version of the company's 1-2-3 spreadsheet. I understand that there are ways to remove the copy protection completely, but the method I want to describe makes a copy which preserves copy protection. And I know that some people are still using the older software, and may even prefer it to newer versions. Please note: I do not encourage piracy. I am providing this information to allow making legitimate back-ups of original diskettes as insurance against accidents. I experimented with the DEC Rainbow version of Lotus 1-2-3 version 1A. The system diskette (I actually used the back-up system diskette provided by the manufacturer) has bad sectors in the last two tracks. Apparently, when you try to run 1-2-3, the program looks for those bad sectors on drive A:. If it does not find them, it quits. Furthermore, the bad sectors prevent successful duplication of the system diskette with the DISKCOPY command; both CP/M and the MS-DOS versions of DISKCOPY failed when I tried them. The secret of making a duplicate of the system diskette is to put bad sectors onto the last two tracks of the proposed duplicate. You can create these bad sectors with the CP/M FORMAT command version 2.01, which is available from the VARUG library in FORMATER.ARC. Here, basically, is the procedure I used: Load MS-DOS in a Rainbow. Format a diskette for MS-DOS in drive B:. Use the MS-DOS FORMAT command's '/S' option to put the system files onto that diskette. Leave the diskette in drive B:. Now, place the Lotus 1-2-3 system diskette into drive A: and type COPY A:*.* B:/V<Return> (the '<Return>' means pressing the <Return> key). When the copying is done, do not remove the diskette from drive B:, but load CP/M in the Rainbow. Run FORMAT.COM version 2.01. You will see the following screen: +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | RAINBOW Diskette Formatting Program V2.01 | | | | RAINBOW Track Format | | | | Press EXIT to QUIT | | | | | | | | | | | | CAUTION: FORMAT overwrites all information on the selected diskette! | +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Selected drive: B | | | | Select drive for formatting (A, B, C, D, or <Return> for NO CHANGE) | | | | | | | | | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Press the <Return> key. The bottom part of the screen will look like this: +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Selected drive: B | | | | Insert diskette to be formatted into the selected drive. | | | | Ready to format diskette in selected drive? (Y/N) | | | | | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ DO NOT TYPE 'Y' OR 'N'. Instead, press the <S> key. The bottom part of the screen will provide the prompt: Type TRACK-Nr to contain BAD-blocks [or CR] : Type 78<Return> . The bottom part of the screen will say: Format/Verify complete to drive B Do you want to format another diskette? (Y/N) Type 'Y' (without the quotation marks) and repeat the procedure to put bad blocks onto the diskette in drive B:, but this time specify track 79 instead of 78. The diskette in drive B: is now a usable copy of Lotus 1-2-3 version 1A. Put the diskette into drive A:, boot the Rainbow with the diskette, and run 1-2-3 to verify the result. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DECUS Canada Election Update By Marcus E. Schack, Nominating Committee Chair DECUS Canada The Nominating Committee has received the name of another person who has stepped forward to have her name placed on the ballot for the DECUS Canada Board of Directors elections. Pat Stroman has submitted her nominating form complete with the required 50 signatures and is now officially added to the ballot. This requires that we hold an election since we have four people vying for three positions available on the Board. The ballots are scheduled to be mailed on April 19, 1991, and will contain the following four names along with a short biography on each of the candidates. Ruben Boiardi Grace Brauen Alan Clifford Pat Stroman You will be asked to choose three of the four people by marking the ballot accordingly and returning it no later than June 3, 1991, to the DECUS Canada Office. Please, take the time to vote when you get your ballot! This is YOUR chance to have a direct say in the make-up of your Board of Directors. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DECUS Europe 1991 Symposium (Editor's note: The deadline for submissions to this symposium was March 8, 1991. I provide this article--an abbreviation of the original--for the benefit of anyone who might wish to attend the symposium.) `New Styles Of Computing' ------------------------- The evolution of computing has been accompanied by a devolution of power from the computer room to the desktop. But with the transition to distributed computing came a multitude of architectures, user interfaces, and data access methods as well as the frequent need for users to gain system management skills. Now, the client/server approach to a unified environment lets users enjoy all the advantages of distributed data and resources together with the benefits of centralized management. Applications are being designed to cooperate with each other, and power sharing, rather than power division, becomes a reality. Client/server technology brings many new opportunities and, for users, developers and system managers, it opens the door to `New Styles of Computing'--the theme of the 1991 DECUS Europe Symposium. The 1991 DECUS Europe Symposium will be held in The Hague, Holland, from Monday, September 9th, to Friday, September 13th. A series of full day technical training seminars will be held on Monday, to be followed by an intensive four day session programme. User involvement has always been at the heart of the DECUS Europe organization. When founded nearly 30 years ago, its objective was to promote the exchange of information concerning the use of Digital hardware and software products, both within the user community and between the user community and Digital. This objective has not changed. Special Interest Groups Provide A Forum For Information Interchange ------------------------------------------------------------------- As well as sessions and training seminars sponsored by the DECUS SIGs (Special Interest Groups), the Symposium will include a more informal forum for information interchange in the SIG club rooms. The club room is the place to meet members sharing your interests, and members of Digital's engineering teams. Many SIGs will be organizing club room activities such as technical discussions and software demos. For more information on SIG activities, contact the SIG chairmen directly--their phone numbers are listed later. Training Seminars ----------------- The day preceding the official start of the DECUS Europe Symposium--Monday, September 9th--will be devoted to full day training seminars. These give those attending a more in-depth view of a subject while letting them benefit from the knowledge and experience of some of the leading experts in their fields. Session Topics Proposed By The Special Interest Groups ====================================================== Artificial Intelligence ----------------------- The Artificial Intelligence SIG focuses on the practical applications of AI and knowledge engineering. Topics of interest include: .Knowledge representation .Reasoning paradigms .AI languages and tools .AI and databases .AI and security .Expert systems .Neural networks Examples of real-life applications as well as the integration of AI with conventional systems are also welcomed. Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) --------------------------------------- The CIM User Interest Group (UIG) covers the application of Information Technology in the manufacturing environment at the following levels: .Strategies and tools for integration and communication .Enterprise-wide systems; for example, MRP II, EDI .Factory-wide systems; for example, scheduling, Quality/SPC .Cell/plant-wide systems; for example, SCADA, DCS Graphics -------- The Graphics SIG is essentially applications oriented, but it also has a great interest in graphics hardware such as workstations and their specific graphics coprocessors and graphics input/output devices. Topics of interest include: .Window systems and graphical user interfaces .Graphics workstations, terminals and printers .Graphics libraries: GKS, GKS 3D, PHIGS, PEX, Display PostScript .CAD/CAM: Interfaces, digitizers, scanning, plotters .Graphics in electronic publishing .Page description languages .Imaging: Applications, scanning, printing .Visualization, animation Information Management ---------------------- The Information Management (IM) SIG covers issues concerning the management and distribution of data. Topics of interest include: .Data management .Databases .Data dictionaries and repositories .Database design and performance .Data security .Fourth generation environments .Architectures for integration .Strategic planning .Transaction processing .Benchmarks .Standards Large Systems ------------- The Large Systems SIG is concerned with issues surrounding the planning, implementation and operation of large computer sites. Topics of interest include: .Hardware (including large CPUs, fault-tolerant CPUs, storage systems) .Software (including EMA, capacity planning, disk striping, PCSA, gateways) .Services (including maintenance, education, training and security) Methods, Languages And Tools ---------------------------- The Methods, Languages and Tools (MLT) SIG covers the methods, languages and tools for improving the productivity and quality of software development. Topics of interest include: .Computer aided software engineering (CASE) .Object oriented systems .Languages such as APL, BASIC, BLISS, C, COBOL, DIBOL, FORTRAN, Macro, MODULA 2, Pascal, PL/I, and Scan .Programmer productivity tools including CMS, debuggers, DTM, editors (such as ETC, EMACS, Eve, LSE, Teco, TPU), MMS, PCA, and SCA Networks -------- The Networks SIG concentrates on the management and operation of networks. Topics of interest include: .Networking products (such as Ethernet, FDDI, DECnet) .Standards (including ISDN, X.25, TCP/IP) .Communications with non-Digital platforms .Electronic mail .Network management and security .Network applications .File servers Office Automation ----------------- The Office Automation SIG concentrates on the technical and organizational aspects of office automation and office integration across all computing platforms, as well as on standardization of the office environment. Topics of interest include: .Office systems (ALL-IN-1) and the integration of office applications such as word processors, business graphics, spreadsheets, and convertors .communications and document interchange in a multivendor office environment (MAILbus, electronic data interchange, distributed directory services .Text and document retrieval and archiving systems .Desktop publishing in the office (ALL-IN-1 DESKtops, DECwrite) .User interfacing in the office environment (windows applications) .human factors (training, support, organizational changes, costs, strategies) Realtime -------- The Realtime (RT) SIG focuses on realtime applications and performance. Topics of interest include: .Signal processing and data analysis .Biomedical applications .RT data acquisition and control applications .Distributed data acquisition .High speed data acquisition .Operating systems (including RT, VMS, ULTRIX, POSIX) .Laboratory automation systems .VAXELN .Pattern recognition .Robotics RSX --- The RSX SIG focuses on Digital's RSX operating system. Topics of interest include: .PDP-11 systems .Realtime data acquisition and control, industrial automation .Laboratory applications .RSX-based networks .Front-end processing .Back-end processing .RSX system management .Mixed environments--RSX, VMS, PC, and DECnet Security -------- The Security User Interest Group covers all aspects of computer security. Topics of interest include: .System security .Application security .Security hardware .Security policies and procedures .Security standards .Facility and site security .Computer law and computer crime .Data protection UNIX ---- The UNIX SIG covers the UNIX and `UNIX-inspired' operating systems as well as UNIX-specific applications and software tools. Topics of interest include: .Tutorials on UNIX tools .Digital's ULTRIX operating system .UNIX system management .UNIX-based applications .UNIX hardware platforms .RISC .Windowing systems under UNIX/ULTRIX .Electronic mail and networking in the UNIX environment VAX --- The VAX SIG focuses on Digital's VAX family of computers and the VMS operating system. Topics of interest include: .VAX CPUs, storage and workstations .VAX/VMS internals, performance, and management .VAXclusters .DCL .VMS utilities (including mail, debugger, phone and so on) .Networking and security Workstations And PCs -------------------- The Workstation and PC (WSPC) SIG covers all aspects of single-user systems from standalone applications to supporting single user systems in a large, integrated, multivendor environment. Topics of interest include: .Digital's PC and workstation products including PCSA and PATHWORKS .Industry-compatible single user systems such as the Apple Macintosh and IBM PC line .Management and user support of networked single user systems .Distributed computing .DECwindows, Motif, MS-Windows, Presentation Manager For more information... Symposium registration information will be sent to all DECUS members during June. For further information concerning the 1991 DECUS Europe Symposium, please contact: DECUS Europe 12 Avenue des Morgines 1213 Petit-Lancy Geneva Switzerland Telephone: +41 22 709 4264. Telefax: +41 22 709 4099 X.25:DTE number: 02284881143540, account name: EURODECUS X.400:C=CH;A=ARCOM;P=DIGITAL;O=DIGITAL;S=DECUS Internet:EURODECUS@SHIRE. ENET. DEC.COM Easynet:SHIRE::EURODECUS For further information on SIG activities, please contact the SIG chairmen directly: Artificial Intelligence SIG Guy Delafontaine Tel: +41 (21) 693 4766 Fax: +41 (21) 693 4660 CIM UIG Paul Sawyer Tel: +44 (225) 891 436 Fax: +44 (225) 891 141 Graphics SIG J°rgen Bent Ipsen Tel: +45 (44) 682 255 Fax: +45 (42) 972 551 Information Management SIG Andreas Verbay Tel: +41 (31) 590 485 Fax: +41 (31) 539 283 Large Systems SIG Hans van Veen Tel: +31 (30) 348 246 Fax: +31 (30) 348 200 Methods, Languages and Tools SIG Vesa Lehtisalo Tel: +358 (0) 455 3455 Fax: +358 (0) 455 3451 Networks SIG Cliff Evans Tel: +44 (81) 427 4380 Fax: +44 (81) 863 4798 Office Automation SIG Danuta Zimmermann Tel: +41 (61) 324 4742 Fax: +41 (61) 324 9786 Realtime SIG Zoran Bozovic Tel: +38 (11) 681 466 Fax: Not available RSX SIG John Pickard Tel: +44 (81) 450 8911 Fax: +44 (81) 452 2961 Security UIG Kees de Groot Tel: +31 (8370) 83 557 Fax: +31 (8370) 82 970 UNIX SIG Peter Churchyard Tel: +44 (71) 589 5111 Fax: +44 (71) 823 9497 VAX SIG Lars Sj÷str÷m Tel: +46 (13) 212 440 Fax: +46 (13) 213 452 Workstation and PC SIG Per Arne B°rresen Tel: +47 (2) 954 440 Fax: +47 (2) 954 444 Published by DECUS Europe Communications, Geneva, Switzerland. Copyright 1991, DECUS Europe. All rights reserved. Printed in Switzerland. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions And Answers Do you have a computer-related problem? Send it to us. We can publish it, and if we do not know a solution, perhaps someone else in the users group can provide one. QUESTION: A friend has a DEC Professional 380 (the old DEC PC) whose hard disk has died. Can he replace this hard disk with, say, an XT-style hard disk? ANSWER: Yes. The Pro 380 accepts hard disks with the Seagate ST506 interface, that is, the MFM interface. The CMI 6640 and the Quantum Q540, both 40 million character disks, have both been successfully installed in Pros. Installation is easiest if your friend has version 2.0A or later of the operating system. For more information, contact Tony Klanchar 1259 Dalhousie Drive Kamloops, British Columbia V2C 5Z5 Telephone (604) 374-9717 (work) (604) 579-8345 (home) QUESTION: I was given some texts in WordPerfect format. I do not have WordPerfect. Is there a program which will convert these files to ASCII format? ANSWER: Yes. If you can find someone with WordPerfect, he or she can use it to convert the files to "DOS text files", to use the WordPerfect terminology for ASCII-format files. Alternately, you can use Eric Meyer's VDE editor/word processor for MS-DOS. Version 1.52 was reviewed in a previous edition of this newsletter. Version 1.54 is now in our group library, and was mentioned briefly in the last issue. VDE is free for personal use. To use VDE to convert, proceed as follows: Suppose the file WPFILE.DOC is a text in WordPerfect format and is on the same disk as VDE.COM. Run VDE with the command VDE WPFILE.DOC /P<Return> . When you have loaded WPFILE.DOC into VDE, type control-K N (that is, press the <Ctrl> and <K> keys together, then press the <N> key). In reply to the prompt, give the new name of the file as WPFILE2.DOC /A . This tells VDE to use ASCII format when it saves the file. We suggest changing the name from 'WPFILE.DOC' to 'WPFILE2.DOC' so as not to overwrite the original file, just in case something goes wrong and you wish to start over again. You can use '/N' instead of '/A' to indicate non-document mode so VDE does not try to reformat the text. Next, type control-K X. This saves the file and quits VDE. You should find WPFILE2.DOC in ASCII form. We have used VDE 1.54 for MS-DOS in this fashion to convert WordPerfect 4.1 and 5.0 text files to ASCII format. We have not tried converting WordPerfect 5.1 texts. Please note: Eric Meyer warns that some formatting features used by WordPerfect may be lost in the conversion, though the main body of the text should be conserved. QUESTION: Is there a personal computer version of the text editor TECO? ANSWER: Yes. An MS-DOS version of TECO was posted on CompuServe, and one member of our group was kind enough to get it and pass it along to this newsletter. We plan to add TECO to our library soon. QUESTION: I have just started using computer bulletin boards, and am having trouble with the language. What is the difference between a BBS and an RBBS? What do 'sysop', 'TTUL', 'BTW', 'download', and 'upload' mean? ANSWER: A BBS is a bulletin board system, and an RBBS is a remote bulletin board system. Obviously, any RBBS is also a BBS. A sysop is a system operator, someone who runs a board. 'TTUL' means talk to you later. 'BTW' means by the way. 'Download' means to receive a file from the board, while 'upload' means to send a file to the board. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Buy, Sell, Or Swap This section is presented as a service to members. There is no charge for advertizements placed here, though donations will be accepted. Only items related to computing will be advertized; if you wish to sell an old car, we respectfully suggest that you publicize elsewhere. Advertizements are not accepted from suppliers. In accordance with DECUS policy on commercialism, we do not print prices. Ads should preferably be submitted to the editor in writing or as ASCII computer files, but may also be phoned in. ---------------------------------- AVAILABLE: Kwantlen College is clearing out a stock of DEC Rainbow and DECmate accessories, including graphics packages, floor stands, and cables, as well as Rainbow and DECmate software such as Select-86, Multiplan-86, Multiplan-80, MBASIC-80, CP/M-86/80 version 2.0, MS-DOS 2.05, Peachtree List Manager, and Poly-Com communications. Some items are in the original unopened packages. Contact Randy Bruce at (604) 599-2068. AVAILABLE: Intergraph 785, which is an augmented VAX 11/785. Telephone (604) 664-4452 during business hours. FOR SALE: Rainbow 100 with 256 k of memory, Multiplan, WPS-80 word processor, accounting programs, and other software. Contact Doug Nicol at (604) 792-0025. FOR SALE: Poly-XFR CP/M communications software for Rainbow 100; the software is in the original package with all documentation. Three 65 536-character DRAM (memory) chips. One serial-to-parallel interface. These items are just taking up space now, so all offers will be considered. Telephone David P. Maroun at (604) 792-4071. FOR SALE: Peachtree business modules for MS-DOS: PeachCalc spreadsheet, personal calendar, job cost system, and inventory control. Any offer will be seriously considered. Note: These modules require Code Blue and maximum memory to run on Rainbows. Contact David P. Maroun at (604) 792-4071. FOR SALE: One memory expansion board, nominally 192 k, for a DEC Rainbow. Contact Ken Alger at (604) 390-4482. FOR SALE: DEC LA50 printer; needs some repair. Contact David Camp at (604) 640-4104 (work) or (604) 737-1904 (home). WANTED: Read-only memory (ROM) chips to allow a DEC LA100 printer to print 8-bit characters and to print letter-quality text at twelve characters per inch. Telephone David P. Maroun at (604) 792-4071. FOR SALE: DEC Rainbow and DECmate computers, accessories and software for these computers, and DEC LQP02 and LQP03 printers. PERLE PDS 350/525 protocol converter for communication with IBM SYSTEM/34, SYSTEM/36, and SYSTEM/38. Contact Shayne Dunlop during business hours at (604) 664-3194. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What Do You Think Of This Issue? Please tell us what you liked and did not like. The best articles were:__________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ The worst articles were:_________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Comments or suggestions: Send your opinions to The Editor, VARUG Newsletter, 9395 Windsor Street, Chilliwack, BC, Canada V2P 6C5.