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What's Up DOCumentation
Robelle Consulting Ltd.
8648 Armstrong Rd., R.R.#6
Langley, B.C. Canada V3A 4P9
Telephone: (604) 888-3666
Fax: (604) 888-7731
Date: October 5, 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 #8
What You Will Find in This News Memo:
News Tidbits
Technical Tips
Robelle Prize Winners
About Robelle
Linking PowerHouse with QEDIT, Part III
Robelle Products: Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions
News Tidbits
San Francisco Meeting. The INTEREX meeting in San Francisco was a huge
success -- the crowds were incredible. Our booth was swamped with people the
entire time -- many thanks to our dealers who volunteered their time to help
answer questions in the booth. HP announced the 960 and a cheaper LaserJet.
Robelle hosted a bay cruise party for 743 users who were lucky enough to get
a ticket (our regrets to those who couldn't get on the boat; we tried to keep
it a secret, but...). We announced the winner of the $2500 Robelle prize:
see the article in this news memo. At the management roundtable, HP
announced changes to licensing and support fees for multiple CPUs -- better
check with your HP salesman for the details (will save some people money and
cost other people money). HP says that the new NM Spooler will be part of
FOS and not an extra-charge product. HP expects to ship multi-processing MPE
XL and HPUX machines in 1990, but won't have a small MPE XL machine until
1991.
New UK Dealer for Robelle. For ten years, various staff members at the
London Business School have been our dealers in the UK and have done a fine
job of promoting and supporting Robelle software there. Now the user base
has grown to the point where Robelle software needs full-time attention in
the UK.
Accordingly, Clive Oldfield has consented to become the new Robelle dealer in
the UK and devote all his efforts to our products. Clive will still be
working with Gordon Miller at the London Business School, so we haven't lost
LBS completely. Jeremy Smithers has found his other commitments too great to
continue working on Robelle projects. We at Robelle would like to thank
Jeremy for the great job he has done since taking over Robelle in the UK.
Since the first Robelle sales in the UK, Clive has provided local technical
support on our products, so most of the customers should know him well. For
the past two years, he has been an independent consultant and developed
software for the HP 3000 and the HP 9000. Clive's inauguration to computing
was in 1967 at University College of London on an IBM 360/65 mainframe. He
was lured to London Business School in 1971 as the sole systems programmer,
assigned to install an Interdata minicomputer and develop a HASP Remote Job
Entry system in Assembler. Ah, those were the days!
For any sales or technical questions, contact Clive at:
Clive Oldfield
91 Cumberland Road, London E13 8LH
Telephone: 01 473 2558, or 01 262 5050 ext 201 (LBS)
Fax: 01 724 7875 (LBS)
Technical Tips
Workstation Configurator Is Free, BUT... We reported a rumor that the
Workstation Configurator (WSC) was now free, but when users tried to get it
from Hewlett-Packard, they were often told that it cost money. We called the
Response Center and found out that the rumor is true.
To get the WSC for V-Delta-4 or later, call the Response Center and ask for
Power-Patch WS0068. It is okay to tell them that all you want is the
Workstation Configurator. They had planned to include it on the FOS tape,
but it wouldn't fit! The product number of the Workstation Configurator is
30239 and the program requires three files that go into PUB.SYS. When you
get the patch tape, restore three files into PUB.SYS and RENAME them:
Program File: p00p239a => ttutil.pub.sys
Catalog File: c00c239a => cattutil.pub.sys
Forms File: v00v239a => vttutil.pub.sys
Then run TTUTIL.PUB.SYS. According to the Response Center, there is no
charge for the software or for support. However, you do need to purchase
documentation. The following manuals are recommended:
Workstation Configuration User Manual, 30239-90001
Point to Point Workstation Manual, 30000-90250
We ordered the patch tape, it did come, we RESTOREd and RENAMEd the three
files listed above, then ran ttutil.pub.sys and we found we had the
Workstation Configurator. Among other functions, this program allows you to
define startup Escape sequences for your LaserJets.
Robelle Prize Winners
Gary Dietz and Kevin Kelly of Whitman College won the Robelle prize for the
best new contribution to the HP 3000 library in the last year. The winning
contribution, an electronic mail system, was announced by Robert Green,
President of Robelle Consulting, and Isaac Blake, Chairman of the Library
Committee. The Whitman Electronic Mail System was selected by Mr. Green
from among ten programs chosen by the library committee. The award carries
with it a $2500 prize, courtesy of Robelle.
The winning entry is a fully-functional electronic messaging system for a
single HP 3000, with many powerful features, including function keys for all
tasks, built-in message editor (or link to external text editor), central
directory of mail users, password control, logon mail check, distribution
lists, reminders, saving and printing messages, and aliases. Some of the
features are unusual in a contributed program: spelling check using HPSPELL
or Boeing SPELL, split-screen mode for replying, an extensive on-line help,
detailed documentation, an incredibly slick installation program. And the
system is completely compatible with the Boeing Mail system, which many sites
have already picked up from the Tech account. There were many fine programs
in the contest, but this electronic mail system provided the most user value.
Many sites have been put off E-mail by the cost and complexity -- now they
can try E-mail at virtually no cost, and with a system that is extremely
accessible. Whitman mail is a great way to get started. Later, if you need
a multi-CPU network, file transfer or other specific features, you can
purchase a supported product.
The winning program was designed by Gary Dietz, Director of Computer Services
at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and implemented by Kevin Kelly
of his staff. The winner was announced at our Harbor Cruise party and Gary
accepted the prize at an awards ceremony during the INTEREX conference.
Long-time HP users will recall that Whitman College was the site of the first
coordinated library release and maintained the library for several years.
The college also contributed another program, an expanded version of
Enforcer, that made it into the final ten contestants.
Runner-Up Award for Fast Query Program
David Hurst of Reliance Electric has been singled out as runner-up in the
"best contribution" of the year contest for his program FQ, Fast Query.
Bob Green explained the unexpected runner-up award this way: "There were so
many good programs that I had a difficult time selecting a single winner.
Finally, I decided to award another $1000 for a runner-up so that I could
acknowledge how much I liked David Hurst's Fast Query program."
FQ is a report writer for TurboIMAGE databases and MPE files. It uses MR
NOBUF techniques to dramatically improve the performance of many reports.
The syntax of report statements in FQ is copied from QUERY, but with many
extensions (such as conditions on detail lines: d1,"Overdue Account",50,if
overdueflag = 1). The data-access statements are like SUPRTOOL's (a Robelle
product) and allow access to multiple datasets from multiple databases, plus
reports from MPE files. As in SUPRTOOL, you can tell FQ that an MPE file has
the same format as a dataset. The DEFINE command allows you to define the
structure of a file or re-define the fields of a dataset.
David Hurst was not able to attend this year's conference, but his award will
be mailed to him. David also contributed another program, a rewrite of
PASSUTIL, that made it to the final ten contenders for the contest.
Both Programs in Release F0
The Whitman Mail system and Fast Query are in Release F0 of the contributed
library, which is being distributed now. F0 contains the other eight
finalists in the contest, plus many other useful new contributions.
Installation members of INTEREX receive a copy of the library on magnetic
tape as part of their yearly membership fee ($400 per year).
About Robelle
Bob Green to Speak at HP Factory. As part of a "Customer Quality Forum
Series", HP has invited Bob Green of Robelle to address the lab, marketing,
and support engineers in Cupertino.
Topic: "Improving Software Quality"
Date: Tuesday, November 7, 1989
Time: 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Place: Oak Room Auditorium, Bldg. 48, HP Cupertino Site
Linking PowerHouse with QEDIT, Part III
[Last issue, we showed how to link QEDIT to QDD, QDESIGN, and QTP.
This issue, we conclude by discussing invoking QEDIT from within
PowerHouse modules, including ARCHITECT, tips for managing your source
files, and linking QEDIT to Native-Mode PowerHouse.]
The REVISE Command
Added to PowerHouse in 5.06, the REVISE command has this basic syntax:
REVISE filename
This invokes the COGEDITR program with the BASICENTRY option to edit the file
named and then compile the program after editing. (To execute it also, you
would include GO in the source file.)
You specify the COGEDITR program via a FILE equation:
FILE COGEDITR=QEDIT.PUB.ROBELLE
The default command, REVISE *, edits the "current" program in the scratch
area. Unfortunately, the scratch area is, by default, cumulative. In other
words, the scratch area does not erase itself when you USE a new file.
Everything you have executed since you started is in the scratch area when
you edit. Therefore, I recommend that you REVISE with an explicit filename.
This option will work with QEDIT, but is not ideal, because QEDIT cannot be
suspended. Instead, QEDIT must be re-created for each new file that you
edit. This means waiting repeatedly while your UDCs are loaded into QEDIT
for every run. I prefer to work from inside QEDIT, calling PowerHouse as I
need it. This lets me suspend or activate PowerHouse, usually within a few
seconds of instantly.
ARCHITECT
ARCHITECT is Cognos's workbench for the programmer/analyst. ARCHITECT is
written in QUICK and provides screen menus for tasks such as maintaining the
data dictionary, cross-referencing data elements with source modules, editing
and testing PowerHouse modules, and invoking external utilities such as SPOOK
or SUPRTOOL. ARCHITECT will also generate an application prototype (screens
and reports) as well as automatic documentation.
One of the choices on the ARCHITECT main menu allows you to edit a file, and
you can use the Configuration screen to select QEDIT as your text editor.
ARCHITECT allows you to specify the editor filename, a file equation for the
source filename, and a run command with PARM=, INFO=, and an entry point.
The :FILE equation appeared to work only for FILE EDTTEXT. The RUN command
worked, but ARCHITECT won't hold onto a suspended QEDIT process, although it
did properly "kill" excess processes. The best choice seems to be to use the
BASICENTRY entry point with QEDIT, just as with EDITOR. Otherwise, if you
have a lot of UDCs, re-creating a new QEDIT for each edit operation can be
irritating due to the repeated waits. I suggest using SET UDC FILENAME to
avoid searching COMMAND.PUB.SYS, and putting just the UDCs you really need in
the file.
Note that, in ARCHITECT, you must define the "current" USE file before you
can invoke QEDIT to edit it. If you want to examine or edit a USE file that
you found via the inquiry screen of the data dictionary cross-reference, you
must jot down the name (or keep mumbling it to yourself), jump back to the
main screen, and make it the current USE file. Then you can edit it.
What Is the Format of PowerHouse Source Files?
Many QEDIT sites use LANG=SPL or LANG=JOB in QEDIT for their PowerHouse
source files. This works because PowerHouse strips off and ignores the line
numbers. The maximum length of a source line is more than 80 columns, but
the absolute maximum varies from module to module and release to release.
PowerHouse identifiers are alphabetic with numerics including, by default,
these special characters: - _ ' % # (dash, underbar, single quote, percent,
cross-hatch). You can change the list of special characters allowed in
identifiers by using option special characters "string" in the QDD dictionary
source.
Correcting Syntax Errors
Correcting syntax errors in your PowerHouse code can be difficult when the
source file is large, because PowerHouse prints only the source line and the
error message. It does not print the line number. You must search through
your source code for the exact match to the source code, and keep your
fingers crossed that there are no duplicate lines.
Conditional Compile Parameters
PowerHouse, like COBOL and other compilers, allows conditional compilation.
You may have pieces of source code, possibly even alternatives, that are
included in the executable module only if certain "parameters" are True at
compile time. This feature allows you to have one source module that handles
several incompatible situations, such as one module that runs on both HP and
DEC.
@if test
heading ...
@elseif prod
display "production"
@endif
The if, elseif, and endif commands must start in column one of the source
file. In this example, test and prod are the CC parameters. By default they
will be False. You set them to True when you RUN PowerHouse and specify them
in the INFO= string:
Run QUIZ; info="CC=(TEST)"
The CC parameters remain set for the entire RUN of PowerHouse. They cannot
be changed, and QEDIT can hold PowerHouse suspended forever, so you may
wonder how to switch from "test" to "prod". One solution is to :KILL your
suspended PowerHouse programs, then invoke the UDC again with a different CC=
value. Another solution is to have separate UDCs for each CC= value, and
invoke PowerHouse a second time.
Warning About Numbered JOB Streams
If you compile PowerHouse modules in batch, you should ensure that all of
your job stream files are LANG=JOB, not LANG=SPL; that is, they should be
"unnumbered" files. In most cases, having sequence numbers in a PowerHouse
batch job will work fine, but if your PowerHouse source program contains
embedded PowerHouse commands and/or MPE commands, the sequence number can be
treated as part of the command. This leads to syntax errors. For example,
!job test,user.acct 00001000
!quiz $stdinx 00002000
:file abc=x1 00003000
access abc link to... 00004000
...
MPE reads each line of the job and strips the line numbers from its commands.
QUIZ gets its commands from $stdin, which have line numbers in columns 73
through 80. When QUIZ encounters a line with a colon in column 1, it sends
it directly to the COMMAND intrinsic. This is what the intrinsic receives:
:file abc=x1 00003000
MPE chokes on the line number, giving back an error message such as
Encountered unexpected, extraneous special character, and doesn't execute the
command. This was a problem in QUIZ 5.01F, but may have been fixed since
then.
Suspending QEDIT Inside PowerHouse
On both MPE and MPE XL, Cognos lets you run regular MPE programs from within
PowerHouse and, if the programs suspend, PowerHouse has an option to hold
onto them. The advantage of holding a suspended son process is that
subsequent invocations can be much faster. Since most Robelle tools,
including QEDIT, suspend when invoked from another program, it is useful to
know the PowerHouse syntax for this capability:
>:comment $cognos suspend
>:run qedit.pub.robelle
This special comment in QUIZ says that the "next" run command will be held if
the program should suspend.
MPE XL and PowerHouse
Compatibility-Mode (CM) PowerHouse is exactly the same on MPE XL as it is on
MPE V, which is no surprise. This includes the names and locations of the
UDC files.
Native-Mode (NM) PowerHouse is a complete re-implementation, with some
differences.
The NM UDCs are in PHNMUDC (assumes files are all in CURRENT group) and
DDNMUDC (files not moved to CURRENT), and the same UDC now works with or
without HP's DICTIONARY/3000. The location of both files is in the DD503D
group. There is no discrimination between QDD and QDDR for NM PowerHouse,
since QDDR runs only in Compatibility Mode.
The SUSPEND option is ON by default in the NM version of PowerHouse. The
REVISE command, to edit a source file using your favorite editor, will be
available in version 5.09.
Several users report that NM PowerHouse still reads QEDIT files.
So far, the only reported problem with NM PowerHouse and QEDIT is one
involving the UDCs; they are coded using an unnecessary "keyword" parameter,
which can be removed.
We have revised these UDCs and distribute them as the file
phnmudc.catalog.robelle on our tapes. As an example of the changes, here is
the revised QUIZ NM UDC:
QUIZ source,INFO=" ", VERS=CURRENT
comment NM PowerHouse, modified by Robelle for QEDIT Use
file qsource=!source
SETJCW CIERROR 0
CONTINUE
SETPOWERHOUSE ,!VERS
IF CIERROR = 0 THEN
CONTINUE
RUN QUIZ.!VERS.COGNOS2;INFO="auto=qsource suspend !INFO"
ENDIF
setpowerhouse true
****
Robelle Products: Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions
SUPRTOOL Version 3.1.1
Flattening an SD file. Once SUPRTOOL has created a file in its OUTPUT,QUERY
format, it always treats this file as an SD (Self-Describing) file. If you
need to convert this file back to a non-SD disc file, here's the procedure:
Example: convert SD file FOO into flat file BAR
:run suprtool.pub.robelle
>in foo
>:file bar;code=0
>set userlabels off
>out bar
>xeq
QEDIT Version 3.7 and 3.7.1
SET VIS BELL. When editing job streams with bells in them in visual mode,
the lines with bells will be shown with a ?, indicating that the line
contains unprintable characters and cannot be edited in visual mode. To get
around this, Qedit allows you to specify a replacement character to represent
bells in visual mode. The trick is to choose a character (I use ║) that is
typed as Extend-char-G (or Alt-Z G using Reflection). [Mike Shumko]
/set vis bell "║"
Data Files Treated as Numbered Files. Sometimes you will try to List or Text
a data file, and Qedit will appear to go crazy. The reason may be that the
data file contains digits in the last eight columns of the record, so Qedit
assumes that these digits are the record line numbers. The solution is to
remember to List or Text these files using the UNN option. For example, the
file is a list of the following ten-digit part numbers:
0004001007
0004001010
0004002059
/list thefile
4001.007 00 The file is interpreted as a
4001.01 00 two-character file with
4002.059 00 eight-digit line numbers.
/list thefile,unn
1 0004001007
2 0004001010
3 0004002059
Am I Using ;TEMP Correctly? If you have a permanent file named XYZZY and do
the following commands, QEDIT will leave your file XYZZY open:
/file xyzzy;dev=disc;temp
/list xyzzy
The file is still open by QEDIT and each subsequent LIST command leaves
another dangling FOPEN. What's going on?
QEDIT opens XYZZY with the "either OLD temporary or OLD permanent" option of
FOPEN. The ";TEMP" option on the File command does not override this aspect
of FOPEN. Instead, it forces any FCLOSE on XYZZY to save it as a temporary
file. But since it is already a permanent file, the FCLOSE fails. There is
no way to get around this in QEDIT. What you probably meant to do was
file xyzzy=xyzzy,oldtemp;dev=disc;temp
which would have forced QEDIT to look only for a temporary file and ignore
the permanent file with the same name. This problem will occur with any
program that opens a file as either OLD temporary or OLD permanent.
QZMODIFY Response Time on MPE XL. QZMODIFY operates by doing
single-character reads to the terminal. The DTC cannot keep up with these
single-character reads as fast as people can type. Possible workarounds
include running QEDIT in the B queue to get better response from the CPU, or
OCTing QEDIT. We don't think that these will really help, though, since the
problem is not with the CPU but with the DTC. Native Mode probably won't
help either, but we are going to keep looking for a solution.
People have been complaining about QZMODIFY for as long as it has existed.
It works well only in specific instances, and is bad for almost everything
else. The requirements for success are 1) that your CPU have plenty of spare
power to service the individual read requests, and 2) that you be operating
over a vanilla datacomm hookup, with no networks, fancy modems, multiplexers,
etc. The DTC violates point 2, because it is, in effect, a network.
Networks typically have slower turnaround than a direct-connect hookup
because of the character buffering and packetizing they do. Usually they are
optimized for large transfers, and are at their worst for tiny reads.
XPRESS Version 2.6
The XPRESS Experience. "Continually pressing the RETURN key ought to speed a
program up, but never does. My favorite feature of XPRESS is that pressing
the same function key twice does make it go faster! Pressing f2 once lists
the messages waiting in my IN Basket -- pressing f2 again causes XPRESS to
display those messages in order. No need to enter message numbers at all,
and f2 works immediately, no matter where I am in XPRESS at the moment.
Likewise with f3 for the OUT Basket: once prompts you for the subject and
text of a new message, while twice prompts for the subject of a new edited
message, sending you automatically into your favorite text editor for
composing the text (double f3 is in the newest XPRESS--think of this as a
sneak preview of version 2.6)." [Bob Green]