EAGLE Visions, Fall 1995

Contents

• CEO look-alike office automation product available for AViiON
• EAGLE launches Internet presence
• Support staff backs products with round the clock help
• Beam of Canada cleans up system with EAGLE's management utilities
• Software migrates ALL-IN-1 documents to UNIX, MS-DOS, Macintosh platforms
• Hot backups available for Oracle using COBRA and Alexandria
• Tech Tips: Navigating DISK_PAK and EagleFax
• EAGLE staff attends show in UK; trade show schedule set for 1996

Intuitive Office is virtually keystroke-for-keystroke compatible with CEO, and therefore doesn't require retraining personnel to learn a new office automation package. Intuitive Office also allows users to keep existing equipment, and does not require extensive rewiring or the purchase of new hardware.

Intuitive Office builds on the three basic components of CEO, and provides:

1. a user-friendly and fully functional mail system;
2. time management tools to help users manage their days; and
3. a document management system that is familiar to CEO users and eliminates the need to learn the complexities of the UNIX filing systems.

Windows and DOS PCs can be integrated with Intuitive Office using Intuitive Office-Connection. This add-on product uses terminal emulators to provide features not otherwise available on standard character-based terminals. With IO-Connection, users can create and edit documents with PC applications, and store the documents in the Intuitive Office filing system.

Using CABINET CONVERTER, EAGLE Software's CEO migration utility, CEO drawers, folders, and documents can be moved to Intuitive Office, maintaining the CEO attributes associated with each file. CABINET CONVERTER can also translate CEO Decision Base data tables and spreadsheets to Lotus 1-2-3 formats, eliminating the need to recreate spreadsheets.

EAGLE launches Internet presence

Duffey is 17 and a junior at Salina High School South. His interest in computers developed when he ws about seven years old, he said, on his family's Tandy Color Basic. He has had a number of computers since then, and has honed his skills through high school and college courses.

Support staff backs products with round the clock help

Mary Tiede, customer support representative, provides front-line customer service. She handles support contracts for both the UNIX and Eclipse lines. She also writes and designs product manuals. Mary has been at EAGLE since 1991.

Beam of Canada cleans up system with EAGLE's management utilities

The tools we ultimately purchased were VS_TOOLBOX and DISK_PAK OnLine! Using the VS_Toolbox Architect and Rebuilder, over a weekend, we optimized our INFOS databases and saw an immediate and drastic improvement. Checkpoints that previously lasted 15 minutes now averaged about 2 minutes. Batch jobs that typically ran 8 hours were completed in an hour. Users no longer commented that it took two minutes just to log in. Using the VS_Toolbox Inspector before and after Rebuilder, I was able to confirm that the organization of our databases had improved by a factor of several hundred percent. All the empty pages were removed, indirect records were eliminated, and the physical size of the database we needed to backup was reduced by about two thirds. We now faithfully run the Rebuilder once a month to keep our INFOS files organized. Doing so means we see very little performance degradation during the month as well as over the entire year.

For many years we had the common problem of users neglecting to log out when leaving for lunch or at the end of the work day. Other users would log in and sit idle for hours at a time. The most serious case was of users locking a record for extended periods. For years, we kept in shape by running from terminal to terminal trying to locate the culprit. By using the Senator to create a very specific set of rules, and allowing the Terminator to enforce them, these concerns have been eliminated. Users now receive two "friendly reminders" at 15-minute intervals that their console has been idle. After a third interval, users are cleanly terminated.

DISK_PAK OnLine! is a tool that we use twice a week. It runs quietly and reliably in batch during off-peak periods to keep our disks clean. The drives installed in our MV/15000 have had a very poor track record, requiring replacement every 12 to 15 months. Since DISK_PAK OnLine!, we have not replaced a single disk. I must conclude that DISK_PAK OnLine! has dramatically extended the life of these disks by keeping them optimized and reducing the amount of work the drives have to do.

By using VS_Toolbox in conjunction with DISK_PAK, we have been able to maintain a consistent (and reasonable) level of performance over the past two years. We have extended the life of our equipment and made more efficient use of its scarce resources. More importantly, we bought ourselves some much needed time before the dreaded "migration." Our MV is now entering its sixth year of continuous service. At this point, it owes us nothing. Migration to open systems is only a question of when. I am optimistic knowing that EAGLE will have comparable tools for us when we arrive.

Beam of Canada: business excellence

The largest suppliers of built-in vacuums in the world, Beam of Canada, Inc. is headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The company manufactures vacuums under the name Beam in Canada, and internationally under the name Smart, as well as private labels. Beam and Smart Vacuum Systems, Inc. also manufacture and market a line of high-quality water filters under the label Beam-Clean Water Systems.

The company operates a U.S. sales and distribution center in Syracuse, New York. Beam of Canada, Inc. and Smart Systems, Inc. have 18 stores, as well as a network of independent dealers. In total, all products manufactured by the companies are available in more than 1,000 outlets across North America, and in 26 other countries.

The companies started in 1976. In 1987, Beam of Canada, Inc. received the Canadian Government's Gold Medal Award for Business Excellence in Marketing Achievement. Gillian Smart, owner and manager of both companies, was recently named one of Canada's top 10 entrepreneurs of the decade.

Software migrates ALL-IN-1 documents to UNIX, MS-DOS, Macintosh platforms

EAGLE Software has announced that CABINET CONVERTER file migration software will convert Digital Equipment Corporation's ALL-IN-1 Integrated Office Server documents to UNIX, MS-DOS, and Macintosh platforms.

Companies getting ready to migrate from OpenVMS to a different operating system can use the custom conversion utility provided by CABINET CONVERTER to convert large numbers of documents, eliminating the time-consuming and costly job of converting documents manually. CABINET CONVERTER is a safe, flexible tool, allowing documents to be selected or excluded for conversion based on their time of creation, time of last access, time of last modification, and by several other criteria.

CABINET CONVERTER maintains many ALL-IN-1 attributes associated with the file during conversions, and can handle the conversion of shared documents.

For transfer to a UNIX environment, CABINET CONVERTER automatically creates UNIX-compatible file names. Migration can be done to many document management or office automation systems, including: WordPerfect Office, Windows for Work Groups, Lotus Smart Suite, PC Docs, Microsoft Office, Uniplex, Applixware, Saros and Soft Solutions. CABINET CONVERTER pricing is based on the number of documents to be converted. Custom conversions performed by EAGLE Software staff members are also available.

Call us for more information about CABINET CONVERTER and EAGLE's migration services.

Hot backups available for Oracle using COBRA and Alexandria

COBRA, a backup software solution for Oracle databases that allows users to keep their system on-line throughout the backup process, has been introduced into the Alexandria network backup solution. Available from EAGLE Software, Alexandria Backup Librarian software works with 8mm and 4mm Spectra Tape Carousels and other robotic libraries to provide automated solutions for UNIX backup and recovery needs.

COBRA (Comprehensive On-line Backup and Recovery Agent) offers a highly automated solution for executing either hot or cold backups on an Oracle database by generating and managing Alexandria op-cards for the user. During hot backups, the database is available to users throughout the backup process. Cold backups place the system in an inactive state during the backup.

Op-cards define operations Each store (or restore) operation in Alexandria is defined by an "op-card." A store op-card defines: which files will be backed up, when the backup will occur, what devices will be used, where and for how long the database inventory will be stored, how frequently incremental backups will be made, and other information.

COBRA interacts with Alexandria through parent and child op-cards. COBRA backups are launched from the parent op-cards, while child op-cards are created by COBRA to backup Oracle datafiles and specific recovery information. COBRA then assigns the management of the child op-cards to Alexandria. Since multiple child op-cards can be submitted and managed simultaneously, massive amounts of data can be backed up very quickly.

Automated backup process

COBRA receives data from Oracle at the datafile level, and issues commands to Oracle on a tablespace level. When the backup is ready to proceed, several storage processes are launched and monitored. Once COBRA is launched, it creates and manages the child op-cards and performs a variety of tasks, including launching new operations, as required; ensuring every child operation runs successfully and reporting that success; starting, stopping and rolling log files as table spaces associated with a database become clear; creating recovery files; and clean up of the process.

There are a variety of options with COBRA to customize the process to fit the user's exact needs. User defined environment variables, configuration files, and command lines options allow the user to set specific parameters.

As databases continue to increase in size, companies will have to depend on reliable backup and recovery plans to ensure the data is safe. COBRA and Alexandria provide a software solution to address these issues, providing efficient, reliable backups.

Information for this article was taken from a white paper written by Andrew Gup, Spectra Logic.

Tech Tips: Navigating DISK_PAK and EagleFax

Some users of DISK_PAK for UNIX and EagleFax encounter problems navigating the various screens in text mode. This may be due to a nonstandard terminal type, term variables, or termcap files not being set correctly. EAGLE Software provides a utility that allows the user to configure DISK_PAK and EagleFax to interpret the key values being sent by the terminal correctly . The utility is called text_key. It should be executed from the shell prompt on the terminal that will be used to run Eagle's products. Pressing any key while text_key is running causes that key's value to be displayed. This information is entered into a configuration file that is read by DISK_PAK. For example, if the arrow keys cause a problem, press each key and note the numbers that are displayed. Then edit the file called keys.{platform}, where platform represents the operating system being used:

sun = Sunos
sol = Solaris
dgx = Data General
hpx = Hewlett Packard
sco = SCO
aix = RS/6000 AIX.
The keys.{platform} file is in the text subdirectory of each product.

These files contain codes telling DISK_PAK what functions associate with the given key values.

Users can change the values of any functions that aren't working properly to the values of the keys they would like to use.

A similar utility is available for correcting values under X11. the program is called x11_key and it should be run in an xterm window on the display that will be used. The configuration files are in the subdirectory X11.

If you require more information, don't hesitate to call the EAGLE suppport staff at 913-823-7257.

EAGLE staff attends show in UK; trade show schedule set for 1996