Table of Contents From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-1 Letter(s) to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . RST-2 DCL Trick of the Month. . . . . . . . . . . . RST-2 Software Performance Report (SPR) Log . . . . RST-4 Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-5 Session abstracts for Fall Symposium. . . . . RST-5 Wishlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-13 Ethernet programming. . . . . . . . . . . . . RST-14 =============================================================== From the Editor Terry Kennedy Well, the promised DECNET issue is here - not all of it, but enough to make things worthwhile. Many of you have responded to the questionnaire in the back of the Newsletter stating that you use DECNET/E between RSTS machines, as well as between RSTS and VMS systems. I'm going to take the rest of my editorial space this month to say a few things to both you, the users, and to DEC. Digital's literature has stated that networking is the wave of the future, and that Digital plans to be a big part of that future. Digital has also stated that PDP-11's and RSTS/E are a part of the company's future as well. DEC has spent a good deal of effort in the last few years to bring RSTS 'up-to-date', with enhancements which make it more compatible with VMS, adding Ethernet support to DECNET/E, etc. As a user and as Newsletter Editor, I appreciate the amount of effort DEC has put into the product. DEC has also indicated, both in the Software Dispatch and in individual SPR answers, that more effort will be expended in the future. This makes me all the more confused when I see that for all of this effort, RSTS does not yet have full functionality for simple operations such as network file copies, SET HOST, LAT support, and PBS operations across the network. Not all of this is the fault of the RSTS development group. A change to the way VMS handles DECNET operations broke some COPY operations from VMS systems to RSTS systems. The strange thing, from my personal point of view, is that most of the hard work has already been done - implementation of Ethernet support and DECNET Phase IV is complete. What is left is mostly some loose ends, although a full implementation of the DEC standard 'SET HOST' protocol, known as CTERM, is not a trivial matter. I have seen a system configured with a MicroVAX 2000 simply to act as a load server for a network of DECServer 200's used to connect terminals to RSTS/E machines. Twice the number of servers was needed because RSTS does not currently support LAT access except indirectly through another DECserver. It is certainly unrealistic to expect all of this software support to simply spring into being. Wishing alone won't make it happen. However, several of you who I have spoken with have indicated that you are abandoning RSTS, and sometimes DEC, because you feel that the pace of development is too slow. If you are currently using DECNET/E, and you feel the same way, submit an 'Informational' SPR, or contact your DEC representative. Development cannot exist in a vacuum without user input. On a related topic, several of you have sent me messages saying 'here is a bug - submit a SPR if you want to, but I won't because I've given up'. All I can say is that my personal experience with the SPR service has been better lately. Remember - if you don't SPR a problem, you have only yourself to blame if it is still in the next release. =============================================================== Letter(s) to the Editor There aren't any letters this month. As a matter of fact, there aren't any articles from users either (hint, hint). How long do you think I'm going to write the whole darned thing myself? If you have anything of interest, send it in! =============================================================== DCL Trick of the Month This month's DCL trick isn't really about DCL at all, but it implements a feature which many of you have asked for in DCL. VMS has an option to notify you when your batch job is complete. This has been a frequent request at the Wishlist sessions. The way to do this involves modifying the PBS server task, similarly to the way we modified the DCL tables last month. NOTE: THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE IS DANGEROUS. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH RSTS, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. ALL MODIFICATIONS MADE ARE AT YOUR OWN RISK. DON'T BLAME ME! We want to replace the string '$_LOGOUT/BRIEF' in PBS$:PBS.TSK with another command. Probably the best thing to do would be to invoke a .COM file. Oddly enough, the string '$_@$BATFIN.COM' is exactly the same length, so that is what we will replace it with. Let's use SCAN from last month's issue to find the correct place: $ run scan Binary file search 1.10 - 14-Jul-87 TMK File? pbs$:pbs.tsk Search string? $_LOGOU Found in block 99 (000142), offset 504 (000767). Done... We can compute the address used by ODT as follows: Disk block (in octal): 000142 + Offset (in octal): 000767 --------- 000142767 (or 142767 for short) Now that we know the ODT address, we will need to know the octal values for the replacement text. As we did last month, we can determine these values from the chart in HELP ADVANCED ASCII. Now we will run the ODT program to actually modify the text in our copy of the PBS task.. The text in BOLD ITALICS is what you type. $ run auxlib$:odt ODT V9.4-01 RSTS V9.4-05 Newsletter Sys. File? pbs$:pbs.tsk *142767/ 044 " $ 142770\ 137 " _ 142771\ 114 " L [look at the data to make sure we're in the right spot] *142771\ 114 100 142772\ 117 044 142773\ 107 102 142774\ 117 101 142775\ 125 124 142776\ 124 106 142777\ 057 111 143000\ 102 116 143001\ 122 056 143002\ 111 103 143003\ 105 117 143004\ 106 115 143005\ 015 [enter the new text] *142770/ 040137 " _@ 142772/ 041044 " $B 142774/ 052101 " AT 142776/ 044506 " FI 143000/ 027116 " N. 143002/ 047503 " CO 143004/ 006515 " M [verify changes] *^Z Now, make SURE that you have only changed the bytes that you wanted to change. ANY extraneous changes will cause SEVERE problems sooner or later. If you have any problems with PBS because of this change, simply restore PBS$:PBS.TSK from your most recent backup (you do have one, don't you?). Next, we will need to create the .COM file in the $ account. Remember that this file will be executed by users who may not have requisite privileges for some operations. However, with some deviousness, you can work around this. You could also write a program privileged <232> to accomplish the same thing. Make sure that the .COM file is protected <104> so users can execute it. Below is a sample .COM file: $_SET NOVERIFY $_SET NOON $WHO = F$USER $WHICH = F$JOB $_IF F$PRIV("NOSEND") THEN _GOTO CANT $_BROADCAST/BELL 'WHO' "Batch job ''WHICH' has completed" $_GOTO DONE $CANT: $_IF F$SEAR("MAIL$:MAIL.HLP") .EQS. "" THEN _GOTO NOMAIL $_SET DATA $_CCL SEND "Batch job ''WHICH' has completed" TO I Y $EOD $_GOTO DONE $NOMAIL: $_WRITE 0 "Couldn't notify user!" $DONE: $_LOGOUT/BRIEF $ ! Sample .COM file to notify user of batch completion. If the $ ! batch job has SEND priv, then we simply send a message. $ ! Otherwise, if the system has DECMAIL, we will MAIL ourself $ ! a message. Failing in that, we write a comment to the batch $ ! logfile saying we can't notify the user. =============================================================== 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. We have received several SPR's from users. However, most of the ones of general interest should have patches available by the time you read this. There is a lag of about a month between the time that I write this and when you read it in the Newsletter. 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. =============================================================== Questionnaire In the back of this newsletter, you will find a questionnaire. Please fill it out and return it to the editor, if you have not already done so. This will help us serve you better by defining the areas you're interested in. There is a section for your comments, as well. =============================================================== Anaheim Session Abstracts As usual, the RSTS SIG will be sponsoring many sessions at the Anaheim Fall Symposium. The SIG will also have a campground where you can meet other users, the SIG officers, and DEC personnel. If you haven't been to a Symposium yet, you don't know what you're missing. This is where the SIG really gets going. It's been said before, but I'll repeat it for those who are new to this - if you can't get your company to pay for the trip, consider taking the time as vacation and go anyway - you'll come back with enough material, information, and gossip that they'll ASK you to go next time. Following is the short-form session list and also the abstracts which were available at press time. As this is late- breaking news and subject to change, don't take the following list as the exact schedule, but it should be very close: Monday 12:00 to 12:30 RSTS Roadmap 12:30 to 1:30 RSTS Announcements 1:30 to 3:00 RSTS - VMS Compatibility 6:00 to 7:00 Intro to Decnet 7:00 to 8:00 Intro to DCL 8:00 to 9:00 Intro to RSTS Optimization 9:00 to 11:00 RSTS Performance Tuning Tuesday 1:30 to 2:30 RSTS/E 9.4 Technical Changes 2:30 to 3:30 VMS System Management Concepts for RSTS System Managers 3:30 to 4:30 File Transfer from RSTS to VMS 4:30 to 6:00 V9 Upgrade - The Real World Wednesday 10:00 to 11:00 RSTS Tech Tips (SPRs, Bits & Bytes) Thursday 9:00 to 10:00 Async I/O from BP2 10:00 to 11:30 Advanced DCL 11:30 to 12:30 OPSER Futures 1:00 to 1:30 RSTS SIG Tape 2:00 to 3:00 RSTS EMTs from BP2 3:00 to 5:00 Converting Basic Plus & BP2 to VAX Basic 5:00 to 6:00 RSTS/VMS Tech Q & A 6:00 to 7:00 RSTS Interprocessor Link Friday 12:00 to 1:00 RSTS V9.2 & V9.3 Internals Update 1:30 to 2:30 Decnet System Management 2:30 to 3:30 Print/Batch Overview 4:00 to 5:00 RSTS Wishlist RSTS SIG OPENING SESSION AND ROADMAP An overview of the RSTS (and related) sessions will be presented. In addition the session provides assistance in planning for and surviving the week. Introductions of the RSTS SIG Steering Committee members and the representatives from RSTS Digital Product Engineering are made. Attendees also have a chance to interact with the SIG leadership on matters of concern involving the current and future directions of the SIG. An open discussion follows as time permits. All RSTS oriented attendees are encouraged to attend this session. Orientation: Novice/General RSTS ANNOUNCEMENTS This session reviews what is new in RSTS since the last DECUS symposium, and discusses what will be happening in the near future. It also presents changes to policies and programs, and provides attendees with the look at Digital's long-term priorities for RSTS development. Orientation: Novice/General INTRODUCTION TO DECNET/E With the proliferation of low-cost micros and Ethernet, Digital Network Architecture (DNA) networks are quickly becoming the most cost effective means of distributing business processing needs. While DECnet/E is by no means a new product, it's marketplace is quickly expanding in this new environment. The purpose of this session is to introduce to the new or potential user, and to recap for the experienced, the various ways in which DECnet/E can help meet the needs of day-to-day computing. Discussion range from selection of hardware to use of software. Examples include not only the use of Digital supplied utilities, but additionally, how user written applications can take advantage of the power available through networking. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Novice/General INTRODUCTION TO RSTS DCL COMMAND PROCEDURES This "primer" session is intended for users interested in learning how to write DCL command procedures for interactive or batch use. All of the major DCL commands and functions used in command procedures will be reviewed. Several sample command files will be used to illustrate how DCL command files can be used to use and manage tasks easier. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical INTRODUCTION TO RSTS/E OPTIMIZATION This session is oriented toward first time or beginning system managers. It addresses optimization of RSTS, and applications on RSTS from a very elementary view. It covers material which is scattered through the various manuals, and puts it together in one place. The discussion also includes some of the folklore of optimization, and an introduction to the statistics. This session does NOT cover advanced optimization. If you already know how to optimize your system, then this session is NOT for you. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS/E PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION AND TUNING RSTS/E systems are highly susceptible to performance improvements through system tuning. A properly tuned RSTS/E can be many times faster than an untuned system. This session discusses the techniques used to properly tune a RSTS/E system for optimum performance. Available tools and their use for determining problem areas in system performance are explained. A set of goals is provided for determining efficient use of system resources. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS/E V9.4 AND LATER TECHNICAL CHANGES This session will look at some of the changes that have taken place in the RSTS/E software since the last DECUS symposium. RSTS/E V9.4 and its following release will be considered. This session will take the overview from the announcement session, and add some of the technical detail that is of interest to RSTS user community. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical VAX/VMS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS FOR RSTS/E SYSTEM MANAGERS This session is designed to acquaint a RSTS/E System Manager with the equivalent VMS system management functions. Some of the topics to be discussed are: o Account management o Terminal management o System security o System generations o Layered product installations. This session is geared toward the RSTS users who are con- sidering migrating from RSTS to VMS. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical FILE TRANSFER FROM RSTS TO VMS This session will provide an overview of the methods and tools currently available to transfer files from RSTS to VMS. Topics to be discussed include o tape transfers using RSTS/BACKUP to VMS/BACKUP o or RSTS/PIP to VMS/EXCHANGE o disk transfers using RSTS/FLEX to VMS/EXCHANGE o or RSTS/PIP to VMS/EXCHANGE o network transfers using DECNET. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS/E V9 UPGRADE - THE REAL WORLD RSTS/E V9 has been called "VMS for the 11s"; but upgrading from prior versions has some glitches and other issues, such as o How do I convert from OPSER to PBS? o Where are the major bugs? o What are the performance issues? o What are the hardware problems? The discussion includes upgrading from pre-V9 and also "point" releases within V9. The speaker has performed many upgrades and relates his experiences. Plenty of time for questions will be allowed. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS TECHNICAL TIPS (SOFTWARE PERFORMANCE & BITS & BYTES) At each symposium the RSTS SIG sponsors Technical Tips sessions. The purpose of these sessions is to provide a forum for users with problems and/or questions to ask a panel of knowledgeable users and Digital Developers. This Technical Tips session is a combination of our normal Tech Tips I and Tech Tips II. As such, it will cover both Software Performance Reporting (questions addressed to the developers) and Bits and Byte (highly technical) issues. Both Digital Development and users in the audience may respond. (Users often encounter the same, or similar, problems and have already found an answer, or workaround.) Orientation: Intermediate/Technical USING ASYNCHRONOUS I/O FROM BASIC-PLUS-2 Asynchronous I/O allows programs to continue processing without waiting for I/O operations to complete. This allows significant performance improvement for certain types of programs. However, use of asynchronous I/O requires knowledge of assembly language which makes it difficult or impossible to use for many people. This session describes several routines that were written to provide asynchronous I/O capability from BASIC-PLUS-2. These routines provide access to most of the asynchronous I/O capabilities of RSTS. This session includes an overview of the use of asynchronous I/O. The source code for the routines is provided as well as a discussion of how they work. A sample program that uses these routines to copy files is provided. The routines and sample program will be avail- able on the RSTS SIG tape. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical ADVANCED RSTS/E DCL COMMAND PROCEDURES This session is intended for users already familiar with writing DCL command procedures on RSTS, but wanting more information on how to develop more effective and creative procedures. The focus will be on "hints and kinks," and will provide, through examples, ways to better utilize the many features of DCL command processing, and ways to work around some of the package's current restrictions. special attention will be given to these topics: o Handling errors o Controlling terminal I/O o Communicating with a program o Writing secure command files o Optimizing command files for speed You will be invited to share their own ideas and exper- iences with others in the session. A question and answer will follow the presentation. Orientation: Advanced/Technical OPERATOR SERVICES ON RSTS (A MODEL) This session will review the operator features provided by the older OPerator SERvices (OPSER) package on RSTS, and compare them to those under consideration as part of a possible future Operator Message Services (OMS) package. The presentation will focus on the differences between the two packages, and the extended features offered by the proposed OMS package. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS SIG TAPE/LIBRARY SESSION This session reviews past RSTS SIG tapes. It also previews submittals for the current symposium. A question and answer session follows. Orientation: Novice/General RSTS EMT CALLS FROM BASIC-PLUS-2 This session is designed for someone who has an inter- mediate working knowledge of RSTS Basic-Plus-2 and an novice working knowledge of RSTS SYS calls. Through the use of some very simple Map statements and Task Builder options it is possible to execute all the RSTS System Directives (Emulator Trap, or EMT calls). Without these techniques a Basic-Plus-2 programmer can only execute the Undefined User Operation (UUO) system directives (SYS(CHR$(6%)+). This session will cover the basic techniques of executing RSTS system directives from BASIC-PLUS-2. It will cover some simple examples, such as changing the programs name during execution. It will cover how to work with a Job's User Logical Name Table (LNT). You can have more than the 3-4 User Logicals RSTS allows. Finally, it will cover the usage of the .PLAS directives. Using the .PLAS directives you can have 171KW programs. The functions that will be used in this session will be submitted to the DECUS library before the symposium. They will have the title "RSTS EMT Tool Kit". They will also be published in the RSTS Newsletter. After the initial presentation the remainder of the session will be a question-and-answer workshop. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical CONVERTING RSTS/E BASIC-PLUS & BASIC-PLUS-2 TO VAX BASIC This session is designed for RSTS/E system managers and programmers who will be migrating from RSTS (BASIC-PLUS and BASIC-PLUS-2) to VAX BASIC. Orientation: Advanced/Technical RSTS/VMS TECHNICAL Q&A This session provides an open forum for current RSTS users who are coexisting with or migrating to VMS. RSTS and VMS representatives will be present to answer questions and provide "how to" hints. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS DISK SHARING WITH AN INTERPROCESSOR LINK This session describes the design, implementation, and use of an interprocessor link for RSTS/E which provides trans- parent sharing of disk data between two processors. The use of DR11 parallel Direct Memory Access (DMA) interfaces to connect the systems will be described as well as per- formance and usage issues. Although this session describes the development and use of a commercially available product, no pricing, availabil- ity, or other commercial information will be discussed. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS/E MONITOR INTERNALS, V9.2 AND V9.3 UPDATE This session describes the RSTS/E monitor data structures that have been changed in RSTS V9.2 and V9.3. Included in the discussion are the Job Data Block (JDB), Job Control Region (JCR), Memory Control Sub-Blocks (MCBs), and fixed memory locations. Attendees are assumed to be knowledgeable of previous monitor data structures from the "RSTS/E V9 Internals and Data Structures" manual from Digital or the "RSTS/E Monitor Internals" manual by Michael Mayfield. Orientation: Advanced/Technical DECNET/E SYSTEM MANAGEMENT Version 4.0 of DECnet/E has introduced several new con- cepts in RSTS/E network management, due to Phase IV architectural changes and Ethernet concepts. The purpose of this session, however, will not be simply to focus on these new areas, but additionally, to take a general over- view of network management for the RSTS/E system manager. Several of the more obscure techniques and tools will be discussed and tips will be given as to how to tune your network to suit your needs. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Advanced/Technical RSTS PRINT/BATCH SERVICES (PBS) OVERVIEW This session looks at Print/Batch Services (PBS) from the perspective of a new V9.x user or system manager. It exam- ines what features are available, and what features are missing (when compared to OPSER). It is hoped that this information will aid users of earlier versions of RSTS to plan their upgrades to RSTS/E V9.x. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical RSTS SIG WISHLIST SESSION One of the unique advantages of the DECUS symposium is that it provides the user community and Digital personnel with the opportunity to exchange ideas. This wishlist session is sponsored by the RSTS SIG as one method for ideas to be heard. A form is provided for users to submit their wishes. The wishlist form is used to submit ideas for new features which might be added to RSTS, or for suggestions for improvements to existing features. Good wishlist items provide: o the user's objective, o the reasons for adding this feature, and o a suggested implementation. When submitting a wish the user should avoid making the implementation the objective. A box, labeled 'RSTS/E WISHLIST BOX', and a supply of forms are provided near the meeting room area. Orientation: Intermediate/Technical =============================================================== Wishlist As mentioned in the abstract for the Wishlist session, the RSTS SIG sponsors a session at each Symposium where attendees are able to submit requests for enhancements of RSTS/E directly to the RSTS developers. The developers then rate each request in three categories: How well the suggestion fits with DEC's goals for RSTS/E, how hard it would be to do, and how much fun it would be to do it. The developers frequently make witty comments about some of the suggestions as well. This session has been a lot of fun in the past. I feel that it is much more useful than the complicated voting systems some other SIGs use, since it is guaranteed that the RSTS developers will see your suggestion. This year, for the first time, RSTS users not attending the Symposium will be able to submit wishes as well. There is a form at the back of this issue. Make as many copies as you like and send in your wishes to the address on the form. Your wishes MUST arrive by December 1st in order to be processed. DEC's responses to the wishes will be published in the newsletter after the Symposium is over. =============================================================== Ethernet Programming David Miller of RSTS Development has made available the text and listings from his talk at Nashville. His session dealt with programming the Ethernet interfaces directly without using DECNET/E. This is a new feature of RSTS/E, and is only available in version 9.4 and newer. The listings are available on the Newsletter dialup system at (201) 435-2546. It was felt that the length of the listings would take too much space in the Newsletter, and those that wanted them would rather download them than type them in. They will also be available on the combined Spring/Fall 1987 RSTS SIG Tape Copy tape when it is released. So, without further delay, here is David's article...