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.