Table of Contents

     From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-2
     Letter(s) to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . RST-3
     Opinions Wanted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-3
     New Phone Number for the Newsletter System. . RST-3
     Newsletter Bulletin Board Status Report . . . RST-3
     New Version of Command Line Editor Available. RST-4
     Software Performance Report (SPR) Log . . . . RST-4








===============================================================

                        From the Editor
                         Terry Kennedy

     After  a brief absence, we're back. We were over our  page 
limit because of the October issue anyway.  Anyway, you  should 
be receiving this issue just before you leave for Anaheim.

     If  all goes as planned, you should see our  mascot  above 
the  table  of contents.  As you can see by the tail,  RSTS  is 
giving the disappearance of the Cheshire Cat a new meaning! [If 
you don't get it, take a look at the first page of the VAX  SIG 
Newsletter]

     There  has been a very lively debate among the  Newsletter 
Editors  about the large number of forms found in the  back  of 
each  issue.  As you may know, each issue is allowed a  certain 
number  of  pages.   Going  above this  count  causes  a  steep 
increase in the cost, both in printing and postage expenses.  I 
have maintained that it is not the large amount of forms in the 
back  of  the Newsletter that is causing the problem,  but  the 
shortage of material in the front.  After all, reading the how-
to  section  is only slightly more interesting than  reading  a 
phone book!  However, I am discontinuing publication of our SIG 
forms   in  the  back.  The  questionnaire  form  will   appear 
quarterly,  and the Wishlist form will appear only in  the  two 
issues preceding each Symposium.

     Since  the  how-to form has been removed, here is  how  to 
contact me for submissions, etc.:

     Via US Mail:                   Via UPS, FedEx, etc.:

     Terence M. Kennedy             Terence M. Kennedy               
     St. Peter's College            St. Peter's College              
     Department of Comp. Science    Department of Comp. Science   
     2641 Kennedy Blvd.             121 Glenwood Avenue              
     Jersey City, N.J. 07306        Jersey City, N.J. 07306          
     (201) 435-1890                 (201) 435-1890                   

     You may electronically submit material by calling the RSTS 
SIG bulletin board system (see the section on it below), or you 
may reach me as user KENNEDY on both DCS and DECUServe, if  you 
have access to either of those systems.

     You  may submit material on RX50's or RX33's (in  RSTS  or 
RT11 format), on 800, 1600, 3200, or 6250 BPI 9-track tape  (in 
DOS, ANSI, BRU, RSTS BACKUP or VMS BACKUP format), or on PC-DOS 
floppies (54 or 32 inch format).  If you are really  desperate, 
I can also accept RSTS or RT11 format RL02 and RK07 disks.  You 
may also submit hardcopy documents, but these will take  longer 
to get into print.
===============================================================

                    Letter(s) to the Editor

     Letters  have  been  detected on the  horizon,  but  there 
hasn't been enough time to type them in for this issue.   Maybe 
we can have four or five next month!

===============================================================

                        Opinions Wanted

     Frequently,  I  get calls and mail saying "why  don't  you 
publish  the  patches in CPATCH format, or  in  ONLPAT  format, 
or...".   I  have  been publishing the object  patches  in  ODT 
format  because the offsets change between versions.  With  the 
combination of the SCAN utility and ODT, the patch can be  used 
for  any recent system version.  However, if an  ONLPAT  format 
would  be  helpful  either instead of or  in  addition  to  the 
current   method,   let  me  know.    Similarly,   the   source 
modification  are shown as differences from the existing  file. 
If  I  used  CPATCH, you would have to be  running  the  latest 
version to use the patch.  Again, let me know.

===============================================================

          New Phone Number for the Newsletter System

     We  are in the process of converting our telephone  system 
from  a  PBX to a Centrex system.  One of the  side-effects  of 
this  change  is that the Newsletter System phone  number  will 
change.  The telephone company is currently keeping the numbers 
a secret, but it appears that the new number will be (201) 915-
9361.   If  you  receive the message  "enter  class"  when  you 
connect, you've gotten a partially wrong number.  Enter "NEWS!" 
(no quotes, but including the exclamation mark) and press  some 
[RETURN]s, and you will be connected to the newsletter  system.  
At the same time, I am adding another modem, so you should  get 
a  busy signal less often.  The number is scheduled  to  change 
before  you  read this.  You can call the  same  voice  number, 
(201)  435-1890. I will have a recording stating what  the  new 
number is.

===============================================================

            Newsletter Bulletin Board Status Report

     The newsletter bulletin board system has been upgraded  to 
dual  RD53's,  for 140 Meg of on-line storage. Also,  a  second 
telephone line has been added.  This is to accommodate a larger 
variety  of  software for downloading, as well  as  an  on-line 
NOTES-like  conferencing  system  (which  still  needs  to   be 
written).   The system currently logs several callers per  day.  
I  will  be  changing  the system shortly  to  allow  users  to 
automatically  create  accounts when they first log  on.   This 
will replace the current "guest" facility, and will allow me to 
make  future  changes to the system software.  For  the  latest 
information,  dial  the system at either 300 or 1200  baud  and 
press  [RETURN]  until you get the welcome  message.   All  the 
latest  changes will be reported in that message.  If you  have 
any  suggestions for the system, or software you would like  to 
see available, drop me a MAIL message on the system.

===============================================================

      New Version of Command Line Editor (CLE) Available

     A new version of Brian Nelson's CLE is now available.  For 
those unfamiliar with the package, it gives RSTS users the same 
command  line editing capability that VMS users have.  The  new 
version adds the following features:

     1) No longer requires any privileges for operation
     2) Supports the new VT300 family of terminals
     3) Better trapping of the LOGOUT command
     4) Response to ^X changed to be identical to ^U
     5) Insert mode is reset between commands
     6) VT52 mode is cleared before command input

     The  files  are  available on  the  Newsletter  system  in 
account  [49,1].  They  are  CLE.MAC,  K11EDI.MAC,  K11MAC.MAC, 
CLEBLD.COM,  and LOGOUT.PAT.  Please be aware  that  CLEBLD.COM 
must be executed exactly as given for the resultant CLE package 
to work.  This is because the new version must have the special 
directory  attributes and protection as set by the  .COM  file.  
LOGOUT.PAT is a patch to the LOGOUT utility to ensure that  the 
CLE memory region is removed when the user logs out.

===============================================================

               Software Problem Report (SPR) Log

     Please send the newsletter editor copies of any SPR's (and 
Digital's   answer)  on  RSTS/E,  DECNET/E,  or  RSTS   layered 
products.  We will print any that are of general interest.  The 
reason for this is that many SPR's are answered with a patch or 
a notice of restriction, but due to space considerations,  they 
are  not  published  in the  Software  Dispatch.   Since  we're 
desperate  for material, this should be useful information  and 
we will print it.

     The Newsletter system will be expanded in the near  future 
to  allow bulletin-board style messages to be posted for  users 
to  exchange this information, which should make it  much  more 
timely.

     Several SPR's have been received.  The highlights are:

     1) Basic-Plus 2 V2.4 has a number of problems, mainly the
        failure to recognize the LINE keyword and some double-
        precision math comparisons being done with the single
        precision routines. Version 2.5 is supposed to correct
        these problems, and should be released soon.

     2) The RSTS LOGIN program will not allow a non-privileged
        user to ATTACH to a detached job, since it does not
        allow a password to be specified.

     3) VMS V4.6 causes DECnet/E to print a spurious error
        message when terminating a SET HOST session to the VAX
        from the RSTS system.  This is a VMS problem, and is
        being addressed by the VMS group.





































������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������