ftp.robelle3000.ai 2014/2014.06.ftp.robelle3000.ai.tar/ftp.robelle3000.ai/newsletter/1991/w1991-04.txt

Text File | 1994-04-12 | 24KB | 538 lines

        What's Up DOCumentation



       Robelle Consulting Ltd.
       Unit 201, 15399-102A Ave.
       Surrey, B.C.  Canada  V3R 7K1
       Phone:  [phone]
       Fax:  [phone]

Date:  June 18, 1991

From:  Robert M. Green, CEO
       David J. Greer, President
       Michael Shumko, Customer Support
       Jim Bird, Customer Support

To:    Users of Robelle Software

Re:    News of the HP 3000, 1991 #4

     What You Will Find in This News Memo:

       News Tidbits
       Suprtool 3.3 Goes Native!
       Technical Tips
       About Robelle
       Robelle Products:  Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions


                                 News Tidbits

SCRUG Interview with Dr. Codd.

The  highlight  of this year's Scrug conference in Pasadena, California was an
interview of Dr. Ted Codd by Adager's Alfredo Rego.  Dr. Codd is the  computer
scientist  who  first developed and pushed for relational databases.  Dr. Codd
was scholarly, precise, witty and sardonically humorous about his long  battle
to  add mathematical rigor to databases.  He described how the same people who
opposed him  for  years  now  claim  "relational  is  our  strategic  database
technology  and  we  were  always  in  favor of it." The overall thrust of the
session was that SQL is not equivalent to the relational model of a  database,
and  that  although  SQL  is better than the DL/1 database that preceded it at
IBM,  the  euphoria  of  its  newness  is  causing  people  to  overlook   its
deficiencies.   The  two  main  problems with SQL are that it allows duplicate
rows in a table and that it  does  not  support  domains  as  extended  types.
Dr. Codd  is  afraid  that  the  trend  toward  the  relational  model will be
unsuccessful if the world standardizes on SQL.  As Alfredo commented, there is
an  abstract model of an airplane but we don't expect the world to standardize
on the DC3.

News from the SPARC conference in Melbourne.

HP is gaining market share at the expense of competitors, and  recently  moved
up to number 29 on the Fortune 500 list, ahead of DEC.

The  980/200  "RISC  mainframe"  is  rated by HP as equal in performance to an
air-cooled IBM ES/9000 (but at a much lower price), and one-third the power of
IBM's  high-end  water-cooled  ES/9000.   Expect  even  more powerful high-end
systems from HP by the end of 1992.

More on the new high-volume laser printers: they will be  LaserJet  compatible
(PCL 4), and print at speeds of 100 to 250 pages per minute!
In 1992, look for Allbase/Turbo Write Connect: SQL update access to TurboIMAGE
databases.

By the end of 1992, HP will introduce user-based pricing: how many people  use
the software, not the size of the CPU it runs on.

Hot  tip: look for an announcement Real Soon Now of cheaper, faster series 900
(MPE XL) and series 800 (HPUX)  systems  based  on  HPPA  RISC  II,  the  same
technology used in the high-performance series 700 "Snakes" workstations.  The
model numbers will end in "7".

All about hooking programs.

If you want to know more about how we hook the MPE  compilers  to  read  Qedit
files,  and how VESoft's MPEXHook lets you execute any command (including UDCs
and Redo) inside any program, check out Eugene Volokh's article "Making  other
people's  programs  do  what they were never intended to do: the MPEX Hook" in
the April 1991 Interact.

                          Suprtool 3.3 Goes Native!


At  Robelle  we are always busy programming, improving our software.  Our goal
is to release a major new version of all of our products each  year.   If  you
are a Suprtool customer, you should have received an update tape recently with
the latest version of  Suprtool  (3.3).   For  those  of  you  who  don't  use
Suprtool, here is a brief introduction:

If  you have an HP 3000 and you want the fastest possible access to your data,
you should look at Suprtool.  How  does  Suprtool  work?   Suprtool  uses  the
technology  of  multi-record  access (NOBUF/MR) to achieve large reductions in
CPU overhead, 1/8th that of serial  Dbget  in  many  cases.   On  a  CPU-bound
system,  such  significant  savings  mean that you can run Suprtool when other
programs would strain your system and curdle your users' tempers.

It takes only a few steps to add Suprtool to your current  reports.   You  run
Suprtool  to  extract some data for your report, then feed the Suprtool output
file into the final report program.  For example, you might  use  Suprtool  to
fill  a  Quiz subfile with the subset of data needed, then report that subfile
with Quiz.

On MPE V systems, Suprtool has always shown a 2 to 10 times  performance  gain
in  serial  reads.   On MPE XL systems, Suprtool can make serial reads up to 8
times faster.  This means that you could get a report that  used  to  take  20
minutes -- in 3 minutes flat!

Suprtool  also  enables  you  to  perform time-consuming programming functions
easily, with a few simple commands.  You can  restructure  and  print  fields,
edit databases interactively, and access multiple datasets with Suprlink.

The enhancements in this year's release of Suprtool include:


*  Suprtool,  Suprlink,  and  Speed Demon are available in both compatibility-
   and native-mode.  Suprtool/XL and  Suprlink/XL  support  any  MPE  command,
   UDCs, and command files.

*  NEW COMMANDS:  Listredo, Redo, and Do will review or repeat any of the last
   1000 commands, and handle multi-word searches and @-searches.

*  You can select duplicate output records using the new Duplicate Command.

*  In the List Command, there is a new date-format that includes the century.

*  Suprtool works with native-mode KSAM, and reads KSAM/XL  files  built  with
   the reuse option.

*  The Chain Command supports integer search-fields.

*  Suprlink supports keys of any data-type except real or long.

*  Suprtool and the Suprtool2 interface now support up to 15 total fields.

Along  with  this  newsletter you'll find a data sheet that introduces some of
the features of Suprtool.  If you are already a  Suprtool  customer,  why  not
pass  it  on  to  someone  less fortunate.  If you would like more information
about Suprtool, call us at [phone].  Trial tapes are free, of course.

Remember, there is no upgrade charge for the MPE XL version of Suprtool.



                                Technical Tips

Watch Out for that Break Key!

In  our  last newsmemo, we mentioned a problem with the :Stream command on MPE
XL 2.2.  If you enter ":" to terminate input, MPE returns a  hard  end-of-file
condition, which terminates the program that you are executing or logs you off
if you are at the CI (the same thing happens if you  enter  ":"  to  terminate
HELP).  The patch for this :Stream problem is MPE DXP9.

One  of  the  workarounds  suggested by the HP response center is to terminate
:Stream by pressing the  Break  key.   After  we  published  this  advice,  we
received this in the mail:

   "A technical tip from your most recent What's Up Doc made me jump off my
   chair.  It instructs MPE XL 2.2 users to work around a  :Stream  problem
   by  pressing the Break key.  Watch out, doing so on MPE XL 2.1 can cause
   a system abort 2559 (I've been through the painful  experience  lately).
   A patch is available from HP." [Sylvain Bouchard]

ATP 3-pin connectors.

According  to  Bill  Shanks  at Waianae Coast, you can get ATP 3-pin connector
kits at half the HP price from:

   Cable Management Systems Inc.
   3200 West Warner Avenue
   Santa Ana, California  92704
   [phone]

Checking to see if a file is on tape.

In our March 15 newsletter we asked for advice on how to find out  if  a  file
was  on  tape before opening it (to prevent a tape request in Qedit's Keep and
Text and List Commands, which implicitly recognize :file equations).   We  got
replies  from  Mike Abootorab at Nash Engineering and E.A. Kilroy at Orbit, as
well as a response from Walter Manise in his  Q&A  column  in  Interact.   The
solution  is  to  call  the  Flabelinfo  intrinsic  with mode 1 (must use file
equations) to return the device name of the file (option 23).  If there is  no
file equation, Flabelinfo fails with FSERR 54 (which is fine, since if there's
no file equation, we don't have to worry if the file is on disc or  not).   If
the file equation is to a device other than a disc drive, Flabelinfo will also
fail with FSERR 54.

Don't try this at home.

Segmenter's Cleansl command is used to re-pack code segments in SL files.   Be
careful  that  you  don't use this command on an SL file outside of your logon
account.  If you don't specify a new SL filename, Cleansl writes the  contents
of  the  SL  file  to a temporary copy, purges the original file, and tries to
save the new copy with the same name as the  old  SL  file.   Of  course,  MPE
doesn't  allow  you  to  save files across accounts.  Segmenter will return an
FCLOSE error, but by then it's too late - you've lost your SL file.


                                About Robelle

CEO got hitched.

Last  month, our CEO Bob Green was wed to Mary Ann Coates on the sixth hole of
the Gleneagles Golf Course (in West Vancouver, not Scotland).  Dinner and live
50's  rock-n-roll  followed, with the guests including the numerous relatives,
computer nerds, and Mary Ann's unique friends from her 12 years living in  the
Queen  Charlotte  Islands  (see  North, far North).  The couple honeymooned in
Bermuda with their golf  clubs,  then  hurried  back  so  Bob  could  work  on
native-mode Qedit.

RUG Meetings.

Bob  Green  will be going to MARUG and the All Texas Rug Oct 10-11 (Marug) and
Oct 14-15 (All Texas).  Bob will be presenting his latest paper, "The  Warning
Signs - a Pop Quiz on Quality."

San Diego Interex Conference.

Don't forget, the next Interex Conference will be August 5th in San Diego.  If
you need some added justification to attend, come to  see  Bob  Green  present
David  Greer's  paper  on  the  MPE  XL  System  Debugger,  or  attend David's
eye-opening tutorial on the design of user interfaces.  You can also get  some
free  training,  straight from Robelle's development lab.  Bob Green and David
Greer are teaching one-hour  tutorials  on  advanced  features  of  Qedit  and
Suprtool at the conference.  Even experts are sure to learn valuable tricks on
how to use their favorite tools.

Tutorial attendees will have a chance to win a Robelle golf shirt.  Just  clip
out  the  coupon  and bring it along to the tutorial (feel free to make copies
for any of your friends who will be  coming  along  to  the  tutorials).   But
remember, you have to be there to win.  And you have to sit through the entire
hour - the prize draw will be made at the end of the tutorial.  Limit 1 coupon
per person.


   QEDIT Interex Tutorial - Prize Coupon     Room 16A, Tuesday 5:00 PM

   Name:  _____________________________________________________

   Company Name:  _____________________________________________

   Telephone:  (____) _________________________________________

   Do you use Qedit?         Yes              No

   If not, what is your reason for attending the tutorial?



 SUPRTOOL Interex Tutorial - Prize Coupon  Room 16A, Thursday, 11:00 AM

   Name:  _____________________________________________________

   Company Name:  _____________________________________________

   Telephone:  (____) _________________________________________

   Do you use Suprtool?      Yes              No

   If not, what is your reason for attending the tutorial?


           Robelle Products:  Problems, Solutions, and Suggestions

Updating to MPE XL 2.2.

If you are updating to MPE XL 2.2,  you  should  have  no  problems  with  the
following  versions of Robelle software: Qedit 3.9.1, Suprtool 3.3, and Xpress
2.7.

Qedit Version 3.9.1.

Putting today's date into a file.

A customer on MPE V needed to update a date field in a file with today's  date
in YY/MM/DD format, using Qedit.  Here is a Qedit command file to do this:

USER DEFINED COMMAND FILE:  TODAY.CMD.TECHSUP

   /t file
   /c 1/8 "!hpyear/!hpmonth/!hpdate"     {replace columns 1/8 with date}
   setjcw qeditcount 0
   /l "/" (5/5) *                        {is there a "/" in column 5?}
   if qeditcount = 1
      /c 4 "0"                           {insert leading 0 before month}
   endif
   setjcw qeditcount 0
   /l "/" (6/6) *                        {is there a "/" in column 6?}
   if qeditcount = 1
      /c 7 "0"                           {insert leading 0 before day}
   endif

The  value of the JCWs HPMONTH and HPDATE may be single digits (for example on
January 1, 1991) so we need to insert leading 0s  (91/1/1  becomes  91/01/01).
We  do  this  by  testing  for  the existence of the "/" character in specific
column positions (if there is a "/" in column 5, we know that the month  value
is only 1 digit).

Lock part of your display screen for reference.

A  line-mode  Qedit command that can be handy is $, memory lock.  To keep part
of your display from scrolling away, type $ under the line you want  to  save.
From  the  top of the display to the point where you typed $, the display will
be locked.  Beneath it, the display will scroll as  usual.   You  can  keep  a
complicated  set  of commands or other reference material on display while you
continue working.  Type $- to turn memory lock off.

Editing non-displaying characters.

If you need to edit non-displaying characters in a file (like escape sequences
and  control  characters),  you  may  find Qedit's Set Decimal function handy.
When Set Decimal is ON, you can refer to non-displaying characters by entering
the ASCII character code in decimal, preceded by an apostrophe:

     /set decimal on
     /list '7                  {list all lines with bells}
     /cq "^" '27 all           {change "^" to <escape>}
     /list $c '27              {list all lines with <escape>}

Note:  list  $c  (short  for  list $character) will convert escape and control
control characters (and other non-displaying characters) to dots when the line
is displayed on the terminal or printer.

You can refer to character strings of more than one character in decimal mode,
as long as you know the decimal values of all of the characters.  Use  Qedit's
calculator to help you with this:

     /="]"                     {what is decimal value of "]"}
     Result=93.0
     /set decimal on
     /cq "^]" '27'93 all       {decimal '27'93 is <esc>]}

In  Visual  mode, Qedit will mark lines that contain non-displaying characters
with a "?"  in  column  4  of  the  screen,  and  convert  the  non-displaying
characters   to   dots,  except  for  display  enhancements  and  line-drawing
characters (which can be edited).  Lines marked with a  "?"  are  not  updated
when you press enter.

To  edit  bells  in  Visual  mode,  use  Set Visual Bell to convert bells to a
reserved displaying character - we  recommend  using  extend  G  (Alt-Z  G  in
Reflection).   To  edit  escape sequences other than display enhancements, use
Set Decimal On and change the <escape> character to a reserved character  that
does  not occur in your file (such as "^").  When you are finished editing the
file in visual mode, change the reserved character back to <escape>.  You  may
want to setup some command files to simplify this procedure:

USER DEFINED COMMAND FILE:  ESCOFF.CMD.TECHSUP

   /set decimal on
   /cq '27 "^" all
   /set decimal off

USER DEFINED COMMAND FILE:  ESCON.CMD.TECHSUP

   /set decimal on
   /cq "^" '27 all
   /set decimal off

Next year's release of Qedit will have a Set Visual Escape function which will
let you edit escape sequences in the same way as Set Visual Bell.

Suprtool Version 3.3

Set Limit Tablesize maximum value.

Suprtool's Table Command lets you load large tables of  test  values  for  the
Chain  Command and the $LOOKUP function of the If Command.  You can have up to
5 different tables loaded at one time.  By default, these tables must fit in 1
megabyte  of  memory.   If you need to load tables larger than 1 megabyte, use
the Set Limits Tablesize Command.

Since Suprtool stores its tables in Extra Data Segments, the maximum tablesize
is  restricted  by  certain  system  parameters:  the  max  #  of  extra  data
segments/process (limit 255) and the max extra data segment size (limit  32764
words).   To  reduce the number of extra data segments Suprtool needs to store
tables, you should configure the maximum extra  data  segment  size  as  32764
words.

The  absolute  limit for tablesize is 15 megabytes (255 extra data segments of
32764 words).  Remember that MPE takes at least 1 megabyte of real  memory  on
Classic  HP3000s,  and  that  as  the  amount of memory consumed by Suprtool's
tables approaches the size of real memory on the  system,  system  performance
starts to degrade.

Checking character fields for nulls.

How  can  you  use  Suprtool  to  check a character field for null values (all
binary zeros)? Easy - lie to Suprtool.  Tell Suprtool  that  the  field  is  a
binary  number, then check for a zero.  For example, to check if an eight-byte
character field is set to nulls:

   >define A,existing-field,8,integer      {existing-field is X8}
   >if A=0

Note that the largest integer you may define in Suprtool is eight bytes, so if
you  need  to  check  a larger field for nulls, you'll need a series of Define
commands, and a more complex If command:

   >define A,existing-field[1],8,integer   {existing field is X20}
   >define B,existing-field[9],8,integer
   >define C,existing-field[17],4,integer
   >if A=0 and B=0 and C=0


Redirecting Suprtool program file name in Suprtool2.

In the latest version of Suprtool2 (released with Suprtool 3.3),  we  added  a
new  option  to  redirect  the  Suprtool  program  file  to  a name other than
Suprtool.Pub.Robelle.  This is done by setting a JCW and using a file equation
for the program file:

   :setjcw suprtool2filecommand = 1
   :file suprtool.pub.robelle = suprtool.pub.util
   :run example.pub;lib=p

This  option works on MPE XL, but not on MPE V.  If you want to take advantage
of this feature on MPE V, please contact our  Technical  Support  team  for  a
patch.

Deleting entries from an IMAGE dataset.

Suprtool's  Get Command uses high-speed serial access technology to scan IMAGE
datasets much faster than programs calling DBGET.  However, to delete  entries
from  an  IMAGE  dataset,  Suprtool must call standard IMAGE intrinsics (DBGET
followed by DBDELETE).

If you are deleting entries from a master dataset or if you are  deleting  all
of  the  entries  in a detail dataset, Suprtool calls DBGET to read all of the
entries in the dataset.  But if you are using the If Command to select entries
to  be deleted from a detail dataset, Suprtool will scan the dataset using its
high-speed MR NOBUF routines.  If an entry is selected, Suprtool  calls  DBGET
to  re-read  the record and setup the necessary IMAGE pointers, before calling
DBDELETE.  This is very fast if you are deleting a small  number  of  selected
entries from a detail dataset.

If you are deleting a large number of entries, you should consider opening the
database in MODE 3 (exclusive) and using  the  Set  Defer  Command  to  enable
"output  deferred"  processing.  Suprtool will call DBCONTROL to defer posting
of IMAGE control information to disc and reduce disc I/O.  You  should  ensure
that  you  have  a  backup of the database or have transaction logging enabled
when using this option, as the database will be damaged if the system  crashes
while  the  database  is  being updated in output deferred mode.  You can also
enable output deferred processing as the default mode for  all  users  of  the
database with DBUTIL:

   >>enable base for autodefer


Printing Suprtool documentation on a LaserJet.

In  the  printed  Suprtool  3.3  reference  manual  that we sent you with your
license tape we forgot to update the instructions for printing your own copies
of  the  manual on a LaserJet.  The instructions have been updated in the disc
copy of the manual (Suprtool.Doc.Robelle), and in the online help (type  "help
laserjet").  Here are the instructions:

You  can  print  copies of all the Suprtool user manuals on a LaserJet without
editing the files.  If you have an HP LaserJet and an "F" font cartridge,  you
may  be  able  to  produce  documents with italics, boldface, and proportional
spacing.  We provide a text formatter, Prose, free  in  our  QLIB  Contributed
Library.

You  may  be  able  to  use a few other font cartridges, such as the "B".  The
QLIBDATA group contains Include files to configure the document to  your  font
cartridge.   "All-in-one"  cartridges  that claim to be compatible with "B" or
"F" usually do not work  because  the  characters  are  actually  of  slightly
different  sizes.   We  don't  provide  configuring  Include  files  for every
cartridge, but if you don't have a font cartridge that  we  support,  you  can
still print the User Manual on your LaserJet just as if it were a Lineprinter.
It will come out in your default font -- which should have a fixed pitch,  not
a proportional pitch -- with underlining instead of bold and italics.

To change the include file for a different font cartridge, first determine the
include filename that you need.  Then type

     :file f92286f.qlibdata.robelle=filename.qlibdata.robelle

If the LaserJet is attached (not spooled), to your CRT, you need to set a JCW:

     setjcw outrecord=1

If you are printing to a duplex LaserJet, or in other words, want double-sided
output, set this JCW:

     setjcw outdouble=1

For printing on a LaserJet with an include file, set the LaserJet output JCW:

     setjcw outlaser=1

   :file infile = suprtool.doc.robelle  {name of doc file}
   :file output;dev=ljet                {insert your LaserJet device}
                                        {if you have a spooled printer}
   :run prose.qlib.robelle

The Table of Contents prints last, and must be  manually  inserted  after  the
title  page.  You can get collated copies on a spooled printer by changing the
:File Command.  For more information on printing documents with Prose, see the
Prose  User  Manual (in the file Prose.Qlibdoc.Robelle), itself formatted with
Prose.

Xpress Version 2.7

Leaving messages in your In Basket.

After you have read a message in your Xpress In Basket, you may want to  leave
it  there,  so  that  you  can look at it again later when you have more time.
When Xpress asks you where to move the In Basket  message,  simply  enter  "1"
(option  1  is  "Exit").  Xpress will leave the message in your In Basket, but
will not exit Xpress.

Howmessy Version 1.8

New Howmessy released with Suprtool.

Included with Suprtool 3.3 is a new release  of  Howmessy  which  has  several
fixes.   The  major change in Howmessy 1.8 is that the average chain length is
now computed using the number of  unique  keys  in  the  detail  dataset.   In
earlier  versions  of  Howmessy,  this  average was calculated using the total
number of entries in the related master dataset.  The new calculation is  much
more accurate.

Howmessy  1.8 runs in compatibility-mode on MPE XL.  Howmessy cannot be object
code translated on systems running MPE XL 2.1 or later.  With Suprtool 3.3  we
distribute  an  object  code  translated copy of Howmessy called MessyOCT.  We
recommend that MPE XL  users  execute  this  object  code  translated  program
(rename   MessyOCT   to   Howmessy)   as   it   runs   much  faster  than  the
compatibility-mode program.



   Nostalgic Fortune Cookie of the Month

   You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.