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What's Up DOCumentation
Robelle Consulting Ltd.
Unit 201, 15399-102A Ave.
Surrey, B.C. Canada V3R 7K1
Phone: (604) 582-1700
Fax: (604) 582-1799
Date: May 3, 1991
From: Robert M. Green, President
David J. Greer, Research & Development
Jim Bird, Customer Support
To: Users of Robelle Software
Re: News of the HP 3000, 1991 #3
What You Will Find in This News Memo:
News Tidbits
Setting Your PC's Keyboard Repeat Rate
Technical Tips
Another Perspective on "Life at Robelle"
About Robelle
Robelle Products: Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions
News Tidbits
What do you think of our user manuals?
Do you read our user manuals for Qedit, Suprtool and Xpress?
We want your input.
Send us your scrawled-on, highlighted, marked-up user manual and we will send
you back two fresh copies of the latest manual. This is your opportunity to
point out where our documentation could be more helpful and accessible. We
have included a mailing label with this news memo to make it easier for you to
reply.
New high-volume laser printers on the way.
The long-awaited release of high-volume laser printers from HP is imminent.
These laserjet-compatible PCL printers will reportedly run at speeds of 50
pages per minute (double-sided) or 100 ppm (single-sided).
Lottery winner.
One of our customers called with questions about licensing and support
agreements. It seems that our previous contact at the company had recently
won $9 million in a state lottery. Surprisingly, he did not retain his keen
interest in Suprtool and had quit his job!
HP 3000 Consultant.
Dave Rochford, one of our long-time users in Indianapolis, has started his own
company, Pinnacle Computer Consulting. He is available for all sorts of data
processing work, including hardware and software selection, custom
programming, installation and training, and technical support and service.
Dave's phone number is (317) 353-0959. Good luck, Dave.
SigIMAGE. Steve Cooper of Allegro Consultants is the
chairman of SigIMAGE, the special interest group for IMAGE users. Steve has
been busy talking to HP about TurboIMAGE. Here are some of his comments: HP
will not budge from their decision to unbundle TurboIMAGE. One theory is that
HP unbundled TurboIMAGE just to make the TPC-A benchmark look good (an
industry standard price/performance benchmark for transaction processing).
But HP has not stopped enhancing TurboIMAGE -- there are more people in the
IMAGE lab now than there have ever been.
For MPE XL 3.0, we should expect these changes: a new buffering scheme,
logging of multiple-database updates as a single logical transaction,
DBXBEGIN, DBXEND, and DBXUNDO intrinsics for informing the MPE XL transaction
manager about logical transactions (ironically DBXBEGIN does not support
multiple databases), and the MUSTRECOVER flag. TurboIMAGE also required
performance tuning to take advantage of multi-processing on the Series
980/200, the new HPPA machine with two cpus in the same box (for details see
the excellent article on TurboIMAGE XL by Tu-Ting Cheng, HP's TurboIMAGE
product manager, in the March 1991 edition of Interact). Beyond MPE XL 3.0,
HP is working on critical-field updates (details only), IEEE reals (a type "E"
is being introduced), roll-back recovery, and third-party indexing integrated
directly into TurboIMAGE.
People wishing to be added to the SigIMAGE mailing list should write Steve at
2101 Woodside Road, Redwood City, CA 94062 or fax him at (415) 369-2304.
IMAGE users should be sure to attend the SigIMAGE meeting in San Diego.
MPE XL Transaction Manager. One of the little-known ways of
improving MPE XL performance on some systems is to separate disc drives into
multiple volume sets. On large systems that do a lot of writing and updating
to files under control of the transaction manager (e.g., TurboIMAGE or
KSAM/XL), this change often improves performance 10-12%. Configuring multiple
volume sets is described in HP Performance Note #4 for MPE XL. You wouldn't
want to do this on small disc drive configurations. For example, it takes 96
MBytes on the master drive for each extra volume set, but splitting eight
Eagle drives into two volume sets of four each would likely gain the full 10%
performance improvement for systems doing heavy database modifications.
Setting Your PC's Keyboard Repeat Rate
If your PC's keyboard repeat rate is too slow, there is a way for you to make
it repeat faster. If you are using an XT, you will have to use a Terminate
and Stay Resident (TSR) utility program to increase the repeat rate. There
are public domain utilities that do this, so check with your local PC expert.
If you are using an AT with DOS 4.0, then you can use DOS's Mode command to
increase the repeat rate. The format of the command is
mode con rate=r delay=d
The rate parameter r controls how fast the repeat rate is. The possible
values for r are 1 to 32, with 1 being the slowest (2 characters per second)
and 32 the fastest (30 characters per second). The delay parameter d controls
how much time to wait after you press a key before the repeat starts. The
possible values for d are 1 to 4, with 1 being the fastest (.25 seconds) and 4
being the slowest (1 second).
If you are using an AT with DOS 3.3 or earlier, then you have to use DOS's
Debug command to write a tiny program to set the repeat rate. Even though DOS
already has a function call to set the repeat rate, there are no DOS commands
that call it. Type in the statements that are underlined. Note that after
you type "int 21", the next line is a blank line which will end the assemble
and return you to Debug's prompt.
C>cd \ {or go to a directory in your Path}
C>debug {Execute the DOS Debug program}
-n fastkey.com {start a new program called fastkey}
-a {start assembling}
xxxx:0100 mov ax,0305 {select function to set key rate}
xxxx:0103 mov bh,0 {delay: 0=fastest, 3=slowest}
xxxx:0105 mov bl,0 {rate: 0=fastest, 31=slowest}
xxxx:0107 int 16 {call function}
xxxx:0109 mov ax,4c00 {select function to end program}
xxxx:010C int 21 {call function}
xxxx:010E <return> {blank line to end assemble}
-r cx {set CX (program size) register}
CX 0000
:e {Hex "e" is 14 decimal}
-w {write program to disk}
Writing 000E bytes
- q {quit/exit Debug}
This creates a 14-byte program called fastkey.com that sets the repeat rate to
the fastest setting. The "mov bh,0" line sets the delay. You can use a value
from 0 to 3, with 0 being the fastest and 3 being the slowest. This is
similar to the Mode command's delay parameter. The "mov bl,0" line sets the
repeat rate. You can use a value from 0 to 31, with 0 being the fastest and
31 being the slowest. That is the reverse of the Mode command's rate
parameter.
You can then modify your autoexec.bat file to execute the Mode command or run
the Fastkey program. [Dave Lo]
Technical Tips
EOF on :Stream Command logs you off.
On MPE XL 2.2, when interactively streaming a job from your terminal, entering
":" to terminate input will generate a hard end-of-file condition. If you
enter the :Stream command from within a program such as Qedit or MPEX, the
program will terminate immediately when you return from :Stream. If you enter
the :Stream command from the MPE XL command interpreter, you will be logged
off. Very irritating. The workaround is to terminate :Stream with the break
key (if you are in the CI) or execute another CI process in which you can then
enter the :Stream command. A patch is available from HP [KPR 5000594671].
Angels on the Head of a Pin.
We once figured that we'd need 150 feet of shelf space to hold our new MPE XL
manuals. We were wrong - we needed more. With all of those manuals, it's
difficult to locate information quickly. Sometimes we're not sure which
manual we'll actually need to look in. Time consuming? Frustrating? You
bet. To the rescue comes HP's LaserROM software with a CD-ROM drive. All of
the MPE XL 2.2 manuals, MPE XL Communicators, System Status Bulletins, etc.,
are available on just one CD-ROM, and the new Windows 3.0 compatible software
makes finding things a snap. Even though the seek-time on a CD-ROM seems
sluggish, it sure beats thumbing through ten different manuals to find what
you're looking for! The CD-ROM software and hardware can be installed on any
IBM PC-XT or AT compatible, running Windows 2.x or 3.x. The 3.x version of
the software is much quicker and easier to use, though. It comes in two
versions: LAN-server and single-station. [Ken Robertson]
Another Perspective on "Life at Robelle"
Last year we had Michael Redmond from Co-Cam visiting us for three months of
on-the-job training in technical support. This year it was Hans Hendriks from
Synergy Computing. Here are Hans' observations of "Life at Robelle":
Nobody read Michael Redmond's "Aussie Perspective" of life at Robelle more
carefully than I did, knowing that I was to be the next candidate for the
Robelle "treatment". I'd corresponded with the good Robelle folks over the
years, and they seemed fairly bright and normal, at least via fax, but you
never can be sure, and Michael's article made it clear that this was no normal
office environment. Certainly, he gave examples of how their setup was
different from your run-of-the-mill software shop, but what worried me was
what he wasn't telling. After all, he'd been there for a few months, and
could his judgement still be trusted?
It turns out that his article did contain some major inaccuracies. For
example:
* Marie's desk is at least 20 meters from the spaghetti pot
* I've never seen Bob Green in surfer shorts (granted, it did snow during
my stay ...)
* Mike's tee shirt messages aren't all cerebral
* Kraft dinners aren't that bad
Of course, things may have changed since Michael (locally referred to as
"Markle") went back to Auz.
Robelle now has a proper office, and a really smart one, at that! They have
the upstairs floor of a modern two-level block in Surrey, with conference
room, full kitchen with dishwasher, microwave oven and seating for twelve, and
plenty of space for everyone to stretch out.
The support techies are clustered in the western corner around the glacier
dispenser, where their babbling doesn't intrude on the efforts of the sales
and admin teams, who are lined up against the northern windows, occasionally
casting wistful glances at the faraway mountains. The development techies,
i.e. Dave Lo, are stored in the southeast corner, away from all the noise and
activity. David Greer and Barbara Janicki have desks here, for days when they
are in the office. Somewhere in the middle there's space for Bob Green to sit
when he visits, and, under the Nerfball net, a large white leather lounge
suite which nobody ever uses, at least not if there's anybody watching.
Life at Robelle is pretty organized, despite first impressions. From
Michael's article I'd got the idea that your average Robellian was quite a
laid-back type, surfer shorts and Simpsons tee shirts, spaghetti and M&Ms at
lunch time, yacht cruises at Interex meetings, and occasional spurts of
programming to pay the rent. It took me a while to realise that this wasn't
the whole picture. With hindsight, I should have known that this couldn't
possibly be the case, given the quality of the products, and service that
comes with them.
This may sound like sales talk, but I've never found a more dedicated group of
people, working towards common goals. They've created an environment without
all the formality of your more traditional office setup, and without losing
sight of what they're ultimately there for and good at.
Fortnightly (that's every two weeks), Robellians are kept informed of what
their colleagues are up to, at a meeting where each Robellian submits a status
report of what they've been doing, the highlights and low points of their
reporting period, their plans and hopes for the next fortnight, and any
matters they'd like discussed at the meeting. These status reports are
circulated some time before the meetings, which keeps the meetings reasonably
short and productive. Problems are addressed, decisions are made, and
immediately implemented. This all sounds like normal stuff, but it actually
works here. Robelle, as a company, is pretty quick on its feet.
Technical support is handled in a similarly constructive way. Calls are
taken, and logged into the Karnak system (named after Johnny Carson's
all-knowing character). All new entries to Karnak are circulated via Xpress
e-mail to all the techies, including those responsible for development. Any
comments, questions, or ideas for solutions from other techies are similarly
entered and circulated, and are stored with the original problem. The call
logging system has Omnidex keywording, so it's easy to look up previously
reported problems. Calls are flagged as open, closed, mysteries, or
enhancement requests, and product development is very much driven by the call
logging system.
The techies have a weekly conference call on Thursday mornings, where
outstanding problems and enhancement requests are discussed. This is where
the support techies have access to the development techies, for better
insights into the tougher calls received that week. Enhancement requests are
evaluated, problem areas are defined, and once again decisions are made.
This seems like a very ordinary way of setting about things. What makes the
difference here is the attitude of the people involved. Authority is
delegated wherever it's required. Robellians are answerable to their peers,
and it's not bad manners to make suggestions on how they may improve the way
they do things. They're proud of the job that they do, and are keen to make
it even better. And above all, they're able to address problems, when they
arise, examine the alternatives, make a decision, and move on.
I've enjoyed my time at Robelle. I've learned some valuable lessons, made
some friends, and had some fun.
Hope to visit again sometime ....?
About Robelle
Reorganization.
We have just completed a reorganization at Robelle which began in December.
Our General Manager, Annabelle Green, retired on January 1st. Annabelle was
one of the founders of the company, and is the first person to ever leave.
She will be missed. Kerry Lathwell has taken over accounting, payroll and
policy issues, and everyone else's job has been "enriched" by a natural
trickle-down process. David Greer, who you may know as our manager of R&D and
the person in charge of Suprtool, has purchased Annabelle's share of the
company, become President, and added responsibility for Administration to that
of R&D. Bob Green has been bumped up to Chief Executive Officer and retains
responsibility for Sales, Marketing, and Technical Support. Bob is also the
programmer in charge of Qedit, but works for David in that capacity.
Onsite training for Qedit and Suprtool.
In the last two years, Robelle has offered tutorials on Suprtool and Qedit to
local users at our office in Vancouver. Response has been so overwhelming
that we have decided to make training available at customer locations. Our
Customer Support Manager, Mike Shumko, teaches one-day Qedit seminars, and
Beginner and Advanced Suprtool sessions, each one day long. Class size: Up
to 25 people.
Call us for details.
Users Group meetings.
Bob Green and Marie Froese will be at the HPCUA meeting in Glasgow, Scotland
July 7-10, helping our dealer Clive Oldfield cope with the massive crowds that
will want to see Native-Mode Suprtool. If you will be there, don't miss Bob's
paper on Software Quality and his tutorials on Qedit and Suprtool.
Reminder: the North American Interex show is in San Diego, Aug 5-8. A full
team from Robelle will be looking forward to seeing you there.
Robelle Products: Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions
Qedit Version 3.9.1.
Listing the $stdlist of a job.
With the new Native-Mode spooler on MPE XL you can access spoolfiles in Qedit
by referencing the spoolfile id number in a Qedit command:
/text #o232 {the "o" is optional}
/lj #o232
/destroy #o232
Here is a Qedit command file that makes it easy to browse the $stdlist of a
job (even if it is still executing) without having to know the spoolfile id
number of the $stdlist:
USER DEFINED COMMAND FILE: LJOB.CMD.TECHSUP
PARM jnum=" "
setvar ljob_jnum ups("!jnum")-"J"-"#"
if not numeric("!ljob_jnum") {not a job# - they need help}
spoolf o@;seleq=[filedes="$STDLIST"];show
echo --- Select a $stdlist from this list
echo --- LJOB expects a job# (ie., #J50 or J50 or 50 or #50)
return
endif
setjcw cierror = 0
spoolf o@;seleq=[jobnum=#j!ljob_jnum and filedes="$STDLIST"]&
;show >ljobtmp
if cierror = 0
continue
/sh {shut current workfile}
file qeditscr=ljobscr
/t ljobtmp
/set length 80
/dq "$STDLIST" (nomatch)
/cq 10/80 ""
/cq 1 "ljq "
/uq * {execute the ljq command}
reset qeditscr
purge ljobscr,temp
endif
If you enter the command ljob #j100 this command file will display the
$stdlist of job #j100 one page at a time. You can enter the job number in
various formats (#j100, j100, 100, or #100).
How does this work? First, it upshifts the job number and removes "J" and "#"
if present (using a nifty trick courtesy of VESoft), so that it should now
have a numeric job number (this allows the user to enter the job number in
several formats). If you don't enter a valid job number, it assumes that you
need help and shows you a list of all $stdlists to which you have access.
Otherwise, ljob uses the :Spoolf command to write the spoolfile number of the
job's $stdlist to a temporary disc file (that's what the >ljobtmp does),
closes the current workfile, if any, and Texts the temporary file into another
scratch file (so that we don't overwrite Qeditscr). Then it reformats the
:Spoolf output file into a Qedit command to list the $stdlist, and executes
that command.
Coberr does not support old COBOL II compilers.
The Coberr program, which processes COBOL compiler listings to help you find
and correct syntax errors, does not recognize older versions of the COBOL II
compiler. If you have encountered this problem, call us and we'll send you a
new version.
Cutting and pasting between files.
In Qedit you can make changes to only one file at a time, but if you save your
files in Qedit workfile format, you can switch quickly and easily between
files with the Open command:
/o file1
Open FILE1.GROUP.ACCOUNT List * = 20
/o file2 {implicitly shuts file1}
Shut FILE1.GROUP.ACCOUNT
Open FILE2.GROUP.ACCOUNT List * = 48
/o * {open the last file that was shut}
Shut FILE2.GROUP.ACCOUNT
Open FILE1.GROUP.ACCOUNT List * = 20
/o * {open the second file again}
Shut FILE1.GROUP.ACCOUNT
Open FILE2.GROUP.ACCOUNT List * = 48
Note: The * shortcut refers to the last Qedit workfile that was shut.
Using visual mode's cut-and-paste functions, you can copy and move blocks of
text between files. To copy a block from file1 to file2, use the HH function
to hold the block in file1. Then open file2, and use AH or BH to paste the
text from the hold file into this file. To move a block from file1 to file2,
use the DD function to delete the block of text from this file. The deleted
block will now be stored in a temporary hold file called hold0. Now
immediately open file2 and use A0 or B0 to paste the text from hold0 into this
file.
Reflection for Windows does not widen display memory.
In our last newsmemo we described how Qedit takes advantage of Reflection's
ability to widen display memory when editing long lines of text in visual
mode. Unfortunately, this feature is not implemented in the first release of
Reflection for Windows. At the moment, Reflection for Windows is limited to a
24 x 80 character display. This will be corrected in an upcoming release.
Set Lang COBOLX All On.
When editing COBOL source, you can use columns 73-80 to tag source changes
with a string or the date if you have the language set to 'COBX'. Qedit will
tag the lines changed with the value specified in Set X.
/set lang cobolx
/set x "ver 1.1" {tag changes with a string}
/set x date {tag changes with date 19Apr91}
/set x yymmdd "bg" {tag changes with date and initials}
/set x list off {suppress listing of the tags}
If you want all COBOL source to default to language COBOLX, you need to add
this command to your Qeditmgr file:
/set lang COBOLX all on
A side effect of this command is that your New or Add commands will create a
COBOLX file, which may not be what you want. To force the COBOLX flag on for
COBOL source, but have the default language set to something other than
COBOLX, just add a second Set Lang command to your Qeditmgr file:
/set lang COBOLX all on {force all COBOL source to COBOLX}
/set lang job {default language is 'Job'}
Changes to PowerHouse UDCs.
In Catalog.Robelle we provide sample UDCs to access PowerHouse from Qedit
(PHudc.Catalog.Robelle and PHNMudc.Catalog.Robelle). These UDCs have been
customized to hold the PowerHouse programs suspended within Qedit (so that it
will be much faster to get back into the PowerHouse program the next time you
invoke it), and to add a new parameter to specify the name of the source file.
This lets you invoke Quiz to conveniently compile and test your current
workfile:
/Quiz *
A problem with these UDCs is that you cannot invoke PowerHouse to
interactively enter commands, without specifying a source file. To correct
this, change the source parameter to default to $NULL:
QUIZ source=$NULL,INFO=" ",VERS=CURRENT
If you want to return to the suspended PowerHouse program with the :Activate
command, you should change the statement "reset qsource" immediately following
the run of the PowerHouse programs to "file qsource=$null". [Hans Hendriks]
Suprtool Version 3.3
Sort problem on MPE XL.
Suprtool 3.3 is now being distributed to customers in North America. There is
a problem with native-mode Suprtool 3.3 on MPE XL when specifying more than 15
sort keys. Suprtool/XL will not sort the file in the correct order, or may
fall into a hard cpu loop. Here is a patch to correct this problem:
:hello mgr.robelle
:run sompatch.pub.sys
>open suprtool {native-mode suprtool only}
>modify perform_sort+80
perform_sort + 80 b4c601f8 {sompatch prints this}
b4c60290 {you enter this}
{sompatch prints a response here}
>exit
Note for overseas customers, this patch will be incorporated into the version
of Suprtool that you will receive from our dealers.
Suprtool Version 3.2/3.3
Long IF expressions.
Suprtool's powerful If command lets you enter complex expressions to select
records from an input file or dataset. You will often find that the If
command will not fit on a single line. Long If commands can be entered using
an ampersand (&) to continue the command over several lines. This is awkward
to use and, like all Suprtool commands, the maximum length is restricted to
256 characters. The $READ function makes it easier to enter long If commands.
The maximum length is not restricted to 256 characters, but by the complexity
of the expression (long and complicated If statements may overflow Suprtool's
internal code and data tables).
The $READ function accepts the If expression from $STDINX or from a use-file.
$READ continues to prompt for input lines until you press Return or enter
"//". You must remember to enter all the necessary parts of the If
expression, including connectors like AND and OR and commas.
>get m-supplier
>if $read {prompt for the expression}
-cust-status = "20" and {$READ prompts with "-"}
-state = "AZ", {the comma is still needed}
- "CA",
- "OR" {no comma on the last line}
- {blank line to terminate $READ}
For more information, refer to the Suprtool user manual.
Fortune Cookie of the Month
All power corrupts, but we need electricity. [D.W. Jones]
------
Message from the In Basket of JIM BIRD
DAVID GREER 28 Jun91 14:42 ljet88.qlibdata.robelle
has already been installed on Pluto and Goofy. This file provides 11-pt TMS
Roman and 15-pt HELV which DLo, <bj>, and I all think is better looking than
the 10-pt and 14-pt. /djg
cc: Ken and Jim
I think that David meant LjetIII not 88. Maybe we should tell people that
this font include file is now available??????????????