ftp.robelle3000.ai 2014/2014.06.ftp.robelle3000.ai.tar/ftp.robelle3000.ai/newsletter/1989/w1989-03.txt

Text File | 1999-04-28 | 26KB | 487 lines

         What's Up DOCumentation



        Robelle Consulting Ltd.
        8648 Armstrong Rd., R.R.#6
        Langley, B.C.  Canada V3A 4P9
        Telephone: [phone]  Telex: 04-352848
        Fax:  [phone]

 Date:  April 14, 1989
 From:  Robert M. Green, President
        David J. Greer, Research & Development
        Michael C. Shumko, Customer Support
 To:    Users of Robelle Software
 Re:    News of the HP 3000, 1989 #3

      What You Will Find in This News Memo:

        News Tidbits
        Technical Tips
        About Robelle
        QEDIT's VISUAL Mode
        Mental Migration From MPE-V to Spectrum, Part 3
        Robelle Products:  Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions
        The Real Precision Architecture


                                 News Tidbits

 April Fools.  As many of you noticed, on March 30 all copies of QEDIT in the
 world printed Happy Easter on the CRT screen.  Even in non-Christian lands.
 And it wasn't Easter, at least not on our calendar.  Call it a bug.

 Robelle Tutorial in Vancouver.  Our recent day-long tutorial on QEDIT and
 SUPRTOOL in Los Angeles was a resounding success.  Seventy people attended,
 asked a lot of questions, and went away with several pounds of training
 material.  Thanks to VESOFT for arranging everything.  We are planning a
 repeat in Vancouver this June.  Call if you are interested.

 Hollywood Gossip.  Reliable sources report that James Orr, who wrote the
 screen play for the fabulously successful film, Three Men and a Baby, has
 bought an HP LaserJet.  Apparently he is using it for his next project,
 Mister Destiny, starring Sean Connery and Tom Hanks.

 Powerhouse Cross-Reference Reads QEDIT Files.  QX is a cross-reference system
 for Powerhouse users from Brand X Software.  They claim it costs thousands
 less than any other similar product, and it reads QEDIT files!  For more
 information, call [phone].

 Where There's Smoke, There's HP.  One of our users, Jerry Kopecky at the
 Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, reports that a number of his
 700/92 terminals started smoking.  This set off the smoke detectors,
 automatically alerting the fire department.  The fire department arrived at
 the police station, only to discover that there was no fire.  This, it seems,
 is an embarrassing thing.  The cause was some too-small capacitors which
 eventually burned out.  HP repaired the units.

 Nifty MPEX Command.  How do I find out who has one of my files open? I use
 MPEX from within QEDIT.  [Kerry Lathwell]
      /set extprog mpex.pub.vesoft
      /%listf custbks.kerry,ACCESS

 Transform/3000??  For several years HP has had a product to convert
 applications from the IBM 36 to the HP 3000.  A user with a lot of ancient
 36s would appreciate knowing if this conversion process really works.  Has
 anyone tried Transform?


                                Technical Tips

 Fix for the QUERY Bug.  HP has released a new version of QUERY to replace the
 buggy version that comes with V-Delta-2 thru V-Delta-4.  The patch is known
 as BV37, and you can get it by calling your Response Center.  [Gilles
 Schipper]

 Serious SPOOK Bug.  It has always bothered us that SPOOK does not close the
 currently "TEXTed" spool file when you EXIT.  Now a user has reported a case
 where this "feature" can cause the spooler to hang.
      :run spook5.pub.sys
      >run spook5.pub.sys          {nested RUN command}
      >(1)text #o123
      >(1)alter #o123;p=8          {make a spoofle READY}
      >(1)exit                     {son suspends, father holds}
      >kill spook5.pub.sys         {this messes up the o123}
      >exit
 The spool file seems okay (i.e., READY at priority 8), but the spooler hangs
 when it tries to print it (use RESUMESPOOL to restart).  And SPOOK cannot
 Text it later.  Workaround:  use QUIT instead of EXIT inside SPOOK, or type T
 before EXIT to close the current spoofle.

 Turn Your PC Into a Line Monitor.  You can use Reflection on your PC as a
 cheap line monitor.  Here's how:  press f10, f1 (device control), f3 ("to"
 devices), then f2 (TO DISK).  Reflection will prompt you for the name of a
 DOS file to write into, so type in a filename.  Now press ALT-Y and type set
 trace yes.  From now on, all datacomm traffic will be written to the trace
 file.  Data from the host has a "<" preceding it and data from the PC has a
 ">".  Perform the application task you want to monitor, then do ALT-Y and
 type set trace no and press f10, f1, f3 and f2 to disable TO DISK.  To
 examine your trace file, press ALT-RSH to get into DOS and use DOS DEBUG:
      C:>debug trace
      -d             {dumps next chunk of file in hex/char}
      -d 100         {dumps starting at location 100}
      -q             {gets back to DOS, then press ALT-RSH}


                                 About Robelle

 US Postage Reminder.  Postage from the US to Canada is 30 cents!

 Why Does the Robelle Account Have Privileged Mode? The ROBELLE account has PM
 capability so that the programs suprtool.pub, howmessy.pub, sue.qlib, and
 tuner.qlib will run.  If you do not plan to run any of those programs, you
 may remove CAP=PM from the account.  And it has OP capability so that our
 installation jobs can log on using hipri, and use the deallocate command.  OP
 is not required to run our products.  You can remove OP capability if you
 tailor the jobstreams not to use these commands.


                              QEDIT's VISUAL Mode
              How I learned to stop worrying and love the screen
                              by Barbara Janicki

 When I joined Robelle, I needed to write and edit documents on the HP 3000.
 I knew how to use PC editors.  Editing on the 3000 with control-characters in
 line-mode was not as friendly as the PC editors I remembered.  So I tried
 VISUAL Mode, which is QEDIT's full-screen editor.  This environment made me a
 lot more comfortable.  I use Reflection on a PC, and some PC keyboards have
 special editing keys to make life easier, like End (of line).  How I'd missed
 those keys in line editing.  With VISUAL Mode, I had them back!

 VISUAL Mode makes a good introduction to the HP 3000 for users who don't work
 on the 3000 all day.  Every system has its novice users, users who run QEDIT
 only to update a report skeleton once a week, or users whose only need is to
 edit mail messages.  VISUAL mode can help everybody.  The occasional user no
 longer has to try to memorize editing commands ("All right, who stole my
 Quick Reference Guide, the one with pink hi-liter?").  The novices have a
 familiar environment where they can make changes to the entire screen, just
 like on the PC editors they sneak off to when you're not looking.  You can
 even configure some mail packages (XPRESS, HPDESK) to pop your users directly
 into VISUAL mode when they edit a message.

 QEDIT's full-screen editor works in "block mode".  You edit by moving the
 cursor around the screen, inserting and deleting lines and characters.  Since
 your CRT is off-line from the computer, you can use the CRT's cursor and
 editing keys.  You press Enter to save your changes.  To move through the
 file, you have eight user function keys, such as f6 Forward One Page.  You
 copy, move, hold, and delete blocks of text via "cut and paste" indicators at
 the start of the line.

 Columns 3 and 4 on the screen are reserved for the cut and paste indicators.
 Cut and paste is quite simple to learn.  It works like this.  To delete a
 block of lines, you type DD in columns 3 and 4 on the first line you wish to
 delete and on the last line you wish to delete.  Then you press Enter, and
 the block of lines surrounded by the DD indicators will be deleted.  Copying
 lines works similarly, using CC for indicators; you move lines with MM, and
 you hold lines with HH.  To indicate the point to insert the copied or moved
 block, place A for After, or B for Before, in column 3 or 4 (AH or BH for a
 "held" block).  If you wish to operate on just one line rather than a block,
 use a single-letter indicator, D, C, M, H, in one of the reserved columns.
 You can indicate a block of lines that spreads beyond the visible screen,
 too.  Type your first indicator, then page through the file in any fashion
 until you reach the other end of your block of lines.  You will see a prompt
 as QEDIT waits for your second indicator.

 You can still use any line-mode editing command while you're in VISUAL mode.
 Type line-mode commands at the ===> line, or homeline, at the top of the
 screen.  Execute the commands by pressing Enter or the f7 key.  Note: on a
 PC, Reflection maps the Enter key onto the "+" key on the numeric keypad (or
 numeric Enter), or onto Shift-f10.  After executing your line-mode command,
 for example, changing all occurrences of " A " to " B ", QEDIT prompts you
 for more commands until you hit Return, which returns you to VISUAL mode.

 What else should you know before you start?  I mentioned the status line
 earlier, in an indirect way, when I said that QEDIT would "prompt" you to
 complete your multi-screen cut and paste job.  Look for this and other
 prompts on the second line on the screen (under the homeline).  The status
 line displays your current line number.  Since VISUAL mode uses relative line
 numbers, you can use the status line to determine your location in the file
 as a whole.  The status line also shows the current string.  This is the
 string for which QEDIT will search when you use the "one-touch" Find keys, f3
 and f4.  You can get a list of the features available in VISUAL mode by
 typing a "?" on the homeline and pressing f7.  Finally, to exit VISUAL mode,
 and return to line-mode, press f8.

 Some trouble spots for beginners: if you make changes to the screen, then
 decide not to keep them, how do you get your original text back?  You refresh
 the screen by typing a * on the homeline, then pressing the function key f7.
 Something everyone runs into, and usually in the first five minutes, is
 inserting so many new lines that you push the column template line right off
 the bottom of your screen.  Without the template line to indicate the end of
 screen, QEDIT won't update your screen.  Don't worry, the template line is
 not really gone; press Next Page (Pg Dn) to pull up the next screen of
 display memory.  You have a problem only if you inserted so many lines that
 you pushed the template line right out of display memory, and even then you
 can still recover your changes.  Refer to the User Manual for a thorough
 discussion of errors in VISUAL mode.

 You have a great deal of control over how VISUAL mode operates.  The
 Configuring Visual section of the User Manual will show you how to change the
 number of lines per screen, where the current line will appear, and other
 options.  I recommend that, for new users, you Set Visual Update On.  This
 option does an automatic screen update whenever you press any function key
 (except f7).  This saves your changes even if you forget to press Enter while
 shuffling screens.

 To get hands-on experience with VISUAL mode, try the QDEMO.  The demo will
 take you on a guided tour of VISUAL mode.

    :run qedit.pub.robelle
    /set udc udc.demo.robelle
    /QDEMO                   {use QDEMOPC for Reflection on a PC}


                Mental Migration From MPE-V to Spectrum Part 3
                     by Jeff Kell, UTC Computing Services
                        Reprinted From SIGED Newsletter

 Finally, everything else is in place, and the CPU arrives by padded truck.
 Installation is scheduled, and a CE from Memphis is flown in to install it
 (the first for the Knoxville area, the second for the Memphis crew).  The 950
 is just another gray box like the 930, but has a small display at the top
 right.  After figuring out how to get inside (not obvious) I inspect the
 right bay.  A transformer, fans, and power supplies; nothing interesting.
 Opening the left front reveals nothing other than a solid metal RF shield
 over the card cage where the CPU should be.  Opening the left rear reveals a
 few cables, the console MUX panel, a few I/O cards, and a lot of air.

 Back to the front, and consulting the CE manual, I finally get the RF shield
 removed.  Aha!  At one end, the power supply and processor monitor board; at
 the other end, the processor dependent hardware board (with the ROM
 identifying it as a 3000).  In the center, the infamous CPU board, plugged
 into the "PC0" slot (worthy of note, there are four such slots).  The cooling
 fins of the big VLSI chips are clearly visible.  Nearby is the memory
 controller (there are slots for two controllers) and its four 16 Mb memory
 cards.  The rest is air.

 I returned after lunch to find the CPU powered up and the peripherals cabled
 and ready.  The CE ran a disc "exerciser" from the diagnostic tape (yes, it
 started by logging in as "root" to a Unix kernel), and after several other
 tests declared the system available.  I searched the carton that came with
 the CPU to find the boot tape and, much to my surprise, found them:  two
 reels of boot tape, three reels of FOS, and yet another SUBSYS reel.  So much
 for 2-reel V/E releases.

 The first step is an INSTALL, which gives you one disc, one tape, the
 console, and a minimal account configuration.  Next, you AUTOINST the FOS
 tapes and SUBSYS tape, concluding with the creation of a new SLT tape (cold
 load) which you then update from.  Then back online again for configuration,
 basically taking a cookbook configuration as a base and deleting out what you
 don't have, followed by another shutdown and start to activate the new
 configuration.  Now you can add your other discs (it will label and format
 them online) and start the terminal configuration through NMMGR.  After one
 last shutdown and restart, you're back up, and with terminals.  The whole
 process can be done with fewer steps, but separating the different steps
 allows you to drop back and punt if anything goes wrong.

 With the system up, we then used the directory migration (DIRMIG) utility to
 recreate our accounting structure on the 950.  Following this, we were able
 to :RESTORE the :SYSDUMP from the previous night as well as the "STUB" group
 we created at the migration center.  The system was then up, with live data
 (well, almost live); CM tests verified everything was OK (after remembering
 the two SLPATCHes from the migration center).

 On the following day, our "real" SUBSYS tape arrives which includes NS
 software.  Another round with NMMGR to define the LAN connection, and we are
 back up and running.  NS started perfectly and we could now access the 950
 from existing systems.

 After NS was activated, we encouraged our programmers to remote over and
 explore.  They were, for the most part, timid at first, but seemed to adapt
 rather quickly to general use of the system.  I spent the next few days
 creating command files for compilation and testing which included the
 necessary hooks into our stubs, as well as maintaining necessary CM programs
 should they be needed on the existing 52 or 58.

 We soon realized we needed not only a code migration procedure, but also some
 facility for testing.  Previously the 52 was used for all development and
 testing, and the account structure duplicated the production account on the
 58, with "test" databases in the proper groups.  Now that we are moving to a
 single CPU, this no longer is possible.  We adopted a fairly straightforward
 approach:

 A "DEV" account was created with groups duplicating the production groups.
 The testing databases were moved to the DEV groups, and the SOURCE group
 moved to a CMSOURCE group in DEV.

 All "PUB" files were merged from the two systems and restored onto the
 production account on the 950.  In addition, a "CMPUB" group was created.

 As programs are converted, they are moved from CMSOURCE to SOURCE, leaving us
 clear indication of our progress.

 A compilation command file was created which takes a given filename and does
 the following:
      *  Does a native compile of filename.SOURCE,
      *  Does a LINK into filename.PUB with stub hooks,
      *  Does a CM compile of filename.SOURCE,
      *  Does a PREP into filename.CMPUB

 Another command file was created to install production code after testing
 which, with proper NS sessions, moves the PUB and CMPUB versions to the DB
 account and then moves the CMPUB version over to the 58.

 In summary, after the creation of a few supportive command files, a working
 development environment was created and the programmers were transferred
 permanently to the 950.

 Migration started slowly, but fueled by exceptional performance improvements,
 quickly gained momentum.  Native Mode conversion for a typical program was
 reduced to an editor "USE" file, and this was suitable for about 90% of our
 COBOL programs.  It was taking longer to test the results than to do the
 migration.  However, the results were astonishing.  Some specific timings are
 given below.  The production 58 is a 6 Mb machine with the 7933XP hardware
 cached discs; the 950 is a 64 Mb machine with 7937 discs.  Timings show CPU
 seconds/wall minutes.

 Subject program description              Series 58    Series 950
 Spring semester grade posting           1027s/126m      141s/ 6m
 Financial Aid "Holds"                    414s/ 22m       50s/ 2m
 Accounts Receivable "Holds"              198s/ 10m       33s/ 1m
 Parking "Holds"                         3094s/157m      413s/11m
 Financial Aid Cancels                    373s/ 20m       46s/ 1m
 Financial Aid Checks                    2473s/140m      294s/ 7m
 FinAid Course Progress Report           2671s/116m      339s/11m
 Enrollment by semester (110,000 recs)   1060s/ 32m      103s/ 3m
 Class Tallies (Summer semesters)         543s/ 22m       51s/ 1m
            * Series 58 jobs are done standalone overnight
            ** Series 950 timings are for Native Mode

 With the programming staff now successfully launched into the migration
 project, I returned to system issues.  The main thing wrong was an almost
 complete lack of utilities, other than those supplied with the system.  There
 was no SOO, or SURVEYOR, or TUNER, or anything similar to let you know what
 is going on inside.  We also use RSPOOL, a package that allows multiple
 systems to share a printer transparently, moving "ready" spool files over
 with NS.  We use it a great deal in production to access the HP2680 which is
 physically connected to the academic system.

 There are "some" utilities now available, if you ask the right people and/or
 look in the right places.  I am confident that more will appear over time,
 but presently the cupboard is nearly bare.  After a two-week telephone and
 HPDesk chase by my SE, we located an RSPOOL for MPE XL from "somewhere up
 north" that floated down to Memphis and later to Chattanooga.  By another
 stroke of luck we found SURVEYOR/XL (Jim Knoop, the author, was at the
 Atlanta migration center when we were there, and he sent my SE a copy).  The
 SE's are also supposed to have access to SMT (the equivalent of OPT for XL),
 XLDCP and XLDRP (the HPSnapShot for XL), and some other cryptic utility
 OBJPIG that maps memory usage.  But getting your hands on these is like
 getting blood from a turnip thus far.  There are still no reports of other
 handy utilities such as the ones in TELESUP that we grew accustomed to, like
 LOGUTIL, GETFILE, or Predictive Support.  Some utilities still work, like
 TAPETEST, STORCOPY, and the more harmless ones.  The :STORE-related utilities
 will *not* work on the native XL store tapes, but will work on old V/E tapes
 or an XL :STORE;TRANSPORT tape.

 Surveyor is quite nice and similar in function to the MPE/V one, at least in
 principle, but the displayed data is very different.  Stats are given for CPU
 busy, wait times, percentage of CPU in CM, number of NM/CM mode switches, and
 other factors.  Disc I/O is profiled with transfers per second per device and
 the transfer sizes.  Memory usage can be profiled into CM stacks/code, NM
 code, data, and stacks, file buffers, IMAGE and KSAM, and other uses plus the
 number and percentage of page faults for each category.  Active processes can
 be shown much like SOO or Surveyor/V.

 MPE XL has a considerable number of system processes, most of which I have
 yet to decipher.  The more you look, the stranger it gets.  MPE XL adds
 several LDEVs to the configuration for some purpose.  Virtual terminals for
 NS/3000, which you must configure on V/E but you cannot configure on XL,
 simply appear and disappear as necessary.  There is the usual complement of
 logging processes and memory logging, plus a DIAGMON procedure which monitors
 the system diagnostics and logging.  It can, in theory, spawn off diagnostics
 when device errors are reported; there is a reserved logfile record type for
 "Auto-diagnostic summaries".  There are various IP-related processes (as with
 NS on V/E) but many MPE processes use these IP sockets themselves.

 There are still many mysteries, but mainly to those of us who need or want to
 know more about their system than how to sign on and run programs.  For the
 casual user, migration to the 950 is a piece of cake.  For the programmer,
 migration is a piece of cake, minus the frosting.  For the system manager, it
 is a bit of a challenge.  But for the technical specialist, it's quite an
 adventure.  At this stage of the game, I feel like a proud father of a
 somewhat eccentric son; but I have no idea what the little bugger will grow
 up to be!


            Robelle Products:  Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions

 SUPRTOOL  Version 3.1.1

 Documentation Error.  On the bottom of page 51 in the SUPRTOOL 3.1 User
 Manual, Volume I, the example should read [5] and [9] instead of [4] and [8].
 And on page 9 of Volume II, the ,10 and ,16 in the def statements should read
 ,11 and ,17.

 Error in Last News Memo.  Eugene Volokh points out that the command if myyear
 >= "88" and mymonth >= "11" in the last news memo does not do what we want.
 It will select only November and December, for all years >= 88.  It should
 be:
      >if (myyear = "88" and mymonth >= "11") or (myyear > "88")


 QEDIT  Version 3.7 and 3.7.1

 WHILE looping.  Something you've wanted to do for years:  find all
 occurrences of a string, and for each one, list that line and the next three
 lines.  Piece of cake.  Build a file with the following commands, and /keep
 it.
      /listq first                      {slash is for qedit commands}
      setjcw cierror = 0                {no slash is for mpe commands}
      while cierror=0 do
        continue
        /findq "my'string"
        if cierror=0 then
          /list */*+3
        else
          showjcw cierror
          display NOT FOUND
        endif
      endwhile
 Call it LOOPER, and invoke it as a command file:
      /open myfile
      /looper
      /shut
 Voil╚.  No need for EDITOR.

 WHILE looping not required.  Question:  How to find all occurrences of "!job"
 in the first four columns and change "oldpass" to "newpass" in each of those
 lines?
 Answer:  /change "oldpass","newpass" "!job"(1/4)






                        The Real Precision Architecture
            Additional RISC Instructions for Greater Functionality

 MnemonicInstruction             MnemonicInstruction
 AAC     Alter All Commands      EO      Execute Operator
 AAR     Alter At Random         EPI     Execute Programmer Immediately
 ASM     Alphabetize, Starting in MiddleEROM  Erase Read-Only Memory
 BBW     Branch Both Ways        EXPP    Execute Political Prisoner
 BCIL    Branch Creating Infinite LoopFLI   Flash Lights Impressively
 BDC     Break Down and Cry      GFD     Go Forth and Divide
 BEW     Branch Either Way       GFM     Go Forth and Multiply
 BH      Branch and Hang         GRE     Generate Random Error
 BO      Byte Operator           HCF     Hang and Catch Fire
 BOB     Branch On Bug           IAI     Ignore All Instructions
 BOM     Branch On Mood          IBP     Insert Bug and Proceed
 BOPO    Branch On Power Off     JSOW    Jump to Subroutine On Whim
 BTNI    Branch To Nowhere ImmediateLPA   Lead Programmer Astray
 CG      Convert to Garbage      LAP     Laugh at Programmer
 CLR     Clobber Register        MMI     Munch Memory Immediate
 CLRI    Clobber Register ImmediatelyNMJM  Not My Job, Mon!
 CMD     Compare Meaningless DataPFEM    Print False Error Message
 CNC     Close, No Cigar         RDS     Read Sideways
 CRN     Convert to Roman NumeralsRLI    Rotate Left Indefinitely
 CSF     Circular Shift Forever  ROC     Randomize Op Codes
 CSL     Curse and Swear Loudly  RPM     Read Programmer's Mind
 DBZ     Divide By Zero          RR      Randomize Result
 DMPE    Decide to Major in Phys. Ed.RWST  Rewind and Stretch Tape
 DNL     Do Nothing Left         SAS     Sit And Spin
 DNR     Do Nothing Right        SDDO    Swap Disc Driver Out
 DO      Divide and Overflow     SLP     Sharpen Light Pen
 DP      Destroy Program         SMR     Skip on Meaningless Result
 DSTM    Don't Shoot The MessengerSOT    Sit On a Tack
 DTRT    Do The Right Thing      SRZ     Subtract and Reset to Zero
 DTVFL   Destroy Third Variable From LeftSSD   Seek and Scratch Disc
 DWIM    Do What I Meant         SSJ     Select Stacker and Jam
 DWMNS   Do What I Mean, Not what I SaySSRA  Scream and Shout and Run About
 EAO     Execute in Any Order    STA     Store Anywhere
 EDF     Execute "DEAD" Forever  STM     Shoot The Messenger
 EEOI    Execute Every Other InstructionSTROM Store in Read-Only Memory
 EFYTD   Execute "F--- You", Then DieTDB   Transfer and Drop Bits
 EIOC    Execute Invalid Op-Code UER     Update and Erase Record
 ELE     Execute Loop Eternally  WTFIT   What The F--- Is It?
 ENF     Emit Noxious Fumes      ZAR     Zero Any Register
 BBSL    Break for Bob Shields Lunch (long break!)
 CDOOZ   Calm Down, it's Only Ones and Zeroes
 PFM     Perform F'ing Magic (for Data Center Managers)
 PMI     Perform Magic Immediate (for Systems Programmers)
 SLVDBDL Shift Left Variable, Drop Bits, Dim Lights
         [Thanks to Mark Klein]