What's Up, DOCumentation? 1998 # 5
October 1998
From:
- Robert M. Green, President
- David J. Greer, Vice President
- Paul Gobes, Editor pro tem
To: Users of Robelle Software
Re: News of the HP 3000 and of HP-UX, 1998 #5
What You Will Find in This News Memo:
- Get Ready for Qedit 4.7
- Qedit for Windows Celebrates a Successful Year
- Suprtool Training
- Book Review
- Staff Spotlight: Eunice Sheehan
- Final 16-Bit Version of Qedit for Windows
- HP-UX 11.0 Drops Block Mode
- Staying One Step Ahead
- Cool New Listf Option
- Emast File Chokes Store Command During Backups
- Get vs. Chain in Suprtool
- Adding Headings to HowMessy Web Pages
- Emergency Repair for NT Users
- Multiple String Searches in Qedit--No Problem!
- Form for Every Dataset
- Neutralizing Positive-Signed Packed and Display Fields
- Streaming Workfiles to Other Software
Get Ready for Qedit 4.7
Version 4.7 of Qedit has been released, with refined features and increased capabilities. U.S. and Canadian customers currently on support can expect to receive their new version by the end of November. International customers should receive theirs a month or two later. You can look forward to these new developments:
Qedit Supports Wide Records
For years Qedit has supported very long files, even up to 99,999,999 lines. Now with version 4.7, Qedit can handle extra wide records with 8,172 characters, up from the former limit of 1,000 characters. So no matter how big your data file, it’s pretty safe to say that you can edit it with Qedit!
Print Reports in Even and Odd Pages
New options on the List command allow you to control the number of pages produced on a hard-copy listing. $Even ensures there is an even number of pages in the report. $Odd ensures there is an odd number of pages.
Improved UDC Handling
Improvements on how Qedit handles UDCs with comments on the separator lines. A UDC separator is a line that starts with a single or double asterisk (*). Qedit simply ignores the rest of the line.
More Control of Timestamps
Qedit now lets you disable the timestamp warning when you use the Open and Keep commands. Timestamps continue to be stored in the workfile, but warnings no longer automatically appear with these commands. Even when you disable the warnings, you can still check the timestamp by using the Verify Keep or Verify Open commands.[Paul Gobes]
Qedit for Windows Celebrates a Successful Year
Since Qedit for Windows was unveiled at last year’s HP World conference, it has been continually enhanced. Here are just a few of the new features we’ve added:
- Qedit now maintains a document database. It recalls each file’s attributes
such as your last cursor position and tab settings. Every time you open a
file, Qedit remembers what you were last doing even if you don’t!
- Qedit remembers the 20 most recently used file names. You can open any of
these files with the Recent Files command of the File menu.
- For MPE connections, the file directory now shows file codes.
- There is a new Save All command in the File menu, and a new Save All button
has been added to the toolbar.
[Dave Lo]
Suprtool Training
Robelle offers two-day classes on Suprtool. Recent "graduates" of the
Suprtool Supr-School rated the course as excellent. Here are some of their
comments:
-
"...very accommodating to our mixed skill sets."
"Course was interesting throughout and Hans [Hendriks] was very knowledgeable."
"Excellent use of lab and instruction."
[Mike Shumko]
Book Review
Burn Rate--How I Survived The Gold Rush Years on the Internet by Michael Wolff
"Burn rate: the amount of money a promising start-up consumes each month in excess of its income. Burn capital too fast, and you are out of business; burn capital too slowly, and you risk falling behind in the competition to innovate, expand, and gain market share."Michael Wolff takes us on a roller-coaster ride with his company, Wolff New Media LLC, as it grows from a three-person publishing company to a seventy person Internet start-up. Learn about East Coast content versus West Coast technology, familiar Internet start-ups (Netscape, Yahoo, Excite, and others), venture capitalists, bankers, and what you have to do as a CEO to keep the money coming to support the burn rate.
Read about the start of Wired magazine, the launch of Time Warners’ Pathfinder, and meet the Internet visionaries. You’ll read about companies that have gone from nothing to millions, even billions.
Burn Rate shifts between the highs of making deals and the lows of running out of money. Once a journalist by trade, Mr. Wolff’s ability to intrigue makes it difficult to put this book down. If you are in the software business or interested in the Web business, Burn Rate is worth reading.
[David Greer]
Staff Spotlight: Eunice Sheehan
If you’ve called Robelle with questions about your account, chances are you discussed the details with Eunice Sheehan.
Eunice has been with Robelle for a little over three years, and is still surprised by the frequency of her job "enrichment." She’s progressed from part to full time, with her profile of responsibilities growing along the way.
Eunice originally hails from Bradford, England in the county of Yorkshire. Before departing for Canada with her family in May of 1987, she studied Business and Commerce at Bradford and Newcastle Universities.
A true Vancouverite, Eunice enjoys hiking, bicycling, gardening and other outdoor pursuits. She is an avid reader, preferring biographies and mysteries. Eunice also volunteers time as a mentor in a College and Career youth group, helping young people stay focused and motivated. When you next chat with Eunice, perhaps she will do the same for you!
[Ken Robertson]
Final 16-Bit Version of Qedit for Windows
Because a vast majority of our customers indicated that they no longer have
Windows 3.x systems, version 4.7 will be the last Qedit for Windows release
that supports 16-bit Windows operating systems (Windows 3.x including Windows
for Workgroups).All new developments on Qedit for Windows will be on 32-bit operating systems (Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT).
HP-UX 11.0 Drops Block Mode
Hewlett-Packard has changed its terminal drivers to Streams PTY and discontinued support for block mode in HP-UX v. 11.0. In this and later versions of HP-UX, full-screen visual mode will not work in Qedit/UX.Robelle has contacted Hewlett-Packard about this issue, but has been unable to get this policy changed. As a result of HP’s decision, Qedit for HP-UX customers have the following options:
- Complain directly to the HP Response Center and ask them to continue support
for block mode. HP is more likely to act if more customers make their
opinions known. In your call please refer to our open call ID A5361935, and
also let us know your new call ID so that we can keep the pressure on HP.
- Use screen mode instead of visual mode in Qedit/UX. Full-screen mode is
designed for VT terminals which use CTRL keys for editing functions. Some
terminal emulators, like Reflection, can support both HP and VT terminal
modes. By using Qedit’s Set Visual Screen On command followed by the F1
function key, you can determine if you can use screen mode. The Qedit command
Help VT will give you more information.
- Switch to Qedit for Windows, our client/server based editor, by upgrading
your version of Qedit for HP-UX to include the server option. We have
extended the deadline for early discount server upgrades for HP-UX 11.0
customers to December 31, 1998.
[Paul Gobes]
Staying One Step Ahead
Are you tired of waiting for Robelle’s popular newsletter to make the rounds in your office? Would you like to receive our newsletter first, not last? Then send us your e-mail address and we will add you to our growing list of electronic mail readers. You’ll receive your copy automatically, without the wait.Right now this is a text-only version, but otherwise it has all the same great Robelle news, tips and technical information you get in our printed version. Send your request by e-mail to support@robelle.com.
Cool New Listf Option
The latest Powerpatch to MPE/iX can show you who is accessing a file or program. This can really come in handy when you need to install new software. The listing below shows some interesting details:- the job or session number
- the user name
- the number of processes accessing, locking, writing and reading the file
- the IP address for remote sessions, or the $stdlist spool file ID for job
accessors, or the LDEV number for local session accessors
:listf qedit.pub.robhelle,8
********************
FILE: QEDIT.PUB.ROBELLE
7 Accessors(O:7,P:7,L:0,W:0,R:7),Share
#S252 ROBYN,MGR.ISDEV P:1,L:0,W:1,R:1 LDEV:13
#S251 ROBYN,MGR.ISDEV P:1,L:0,W:1,R:1 REM:198.14.25.10
#S249 NEIL,MGR.SOURCE P:2,L:0,W:2,R REM:136.14.10.82
#S240 FRANCOIS,MGR.SOURCE P:1,L:0,W:1,R:1 REM:201.13.15.11
#J2339 MAILJOB,MGR.XPRESS P:1,L:0,W:1,R:1 SPID:#O2492
#J2337 KBLOAD,MGR.IS P:1,L:0,W:1,R:1 SPID:#O2499
[Paul Gobes]
Emast File Chokes Store Command During Backups
We’ve had several support calls from folks who are seeing an error message in their backup jobs after their systems have been updated to MPE/iX 5.5.The latest version of the MPE/iX Store command is more paranoid than earlier versions and chokes on the Emast file in Pub.Robelle. By incorrectly identifying Emast as the root file of a database, the command runs into a problem when it can’t find the associated datasets. In fact Emast is not a root file; it is a Priv file that was used only by the DBMGR program bundled into our Xpress e-mail application.
If you don’t have Xpress, you can delete Emast because it is just a relic of an expired Robelle demo tape.
[Hans Hendriks]
Get vs. Chain in Suprtool
Which is faster, the Get or Chain command? Like many questions in the
computer business, the answer is "it depends." It depends on how many records
are in the database, how many chains you want to read, and the length of
those chains.The Get command always takes the same amount of time to read a given dataset, regardless of how many records you want to select. The Chain command takes more time as you select more chains and records. In other words, it’s data- dependent. So the question becomes, "Given that I want to select this many chains/records, which is faster, Get or Chain?"
Let’s try a few no-brainer examples. It’s pretty obvious that selecting against one key value should be done with the Chain command, and selecting 99% of the key values should be done with the Get command. But for less obvious numbers of records, where is the break even point where you should switch from Chain to Get? The question really is, "At what point do the Get and Chain commands take the same amount of time?"
When you know the answer to that question, you’ll know the best point to switch from using a Chain command (for low numbers) to Get a command (for higher numbers).
The balance point can be given in terms of the number of disc accesses (a.k.a. I/Os or input/output operations) it takes to read the data.
Suprtool’s Get command, as stated above, always takes the same number of I/Os to read a given dataset. Suprtool’s Get command reads up to 50,000 bytes of data with every disc access, so the rule of thumb is to multiply the number of records by the record size in bytes, then divide by 50,000. The resulting number is the approximate number of I/Os Suprtool will need to read the dataset. For example, our d-notes dataset has 155,054 80-byte records. The ballpark estimate is 248 disc accesses to read the whole dataset ([155,054 x 80] / 50,000 = 248).
The ballpark estimate does not take into account block sizes, the number of blocks that fit into Suprtool’s buffer, and other overhead bytes embedded in the records, but it’s accurate enough for a rough calculation. You can see the exact number of I/Os by doing a Suprtool Get task with statistics enabled (Set Stat On). The number appears in the Input FREAD calls. For example,
>get d-notes
>set stat on
>out $null
>xeq
IN=155054, OUT=155054. CPU-Sec=6. Wall-Sec=7.
** INPUT **
Input buffer (wds): 24576
Input record len (wds): 40
Input logical dev: 2
Input FREAD calls: 281 <----- LOOK HERE
Input elapsed-time (ms): 2915
Input records/block: 23
Input blocks/buffer: 24
As you can see, Suprtool is actually taking 281 I/Os to read the dataset in
this example. That tells you the balance point for disc accesses.But how do disc accesses relate to a specific number of chains or records? First you need to know the average number of records in each chain. If you know your data really well, you may already know this. If you’re not sure, Suprtool can help you figure it out, as can HowMessy.
Suprtool will tell you how many records there are in the dataset, and how many different chains. Divide one number into the other to see the average number of records per chain. For example,
>get d-notes
>sort key-field-name
>dup none keys
>out $null
>xeq
IN=155054, SEL=155054, OUT=3748. CPU-Sec=31. Wall-Sec=34.
In this example, the average chain has 41.3 records. (155,054 records / 3,748
keys = 41.3)HowMessy can give you a dizzying number of statistics per dataset, including the average chain length. The following example is an abbreviated listing,
... Max Ave Std
Data Set Capacity Entries Factor ... Chain Chain Dev
D-NOTES Det 219098 155054 70.8% ... 511 41.37 43.11
The last bit of information you need to know is exactly how Chain does its
job, so that you can calculate the number of I/Os for a given Chain
operation.In detail datasets, for every key value you want to retrieve using Chain, Suprtool does one DBFIND (that’s one I/O) and as many DBGETs as there are records on the chain (assume one I/O per DBGET). So if the average chain has 41.3 records in it, then on average it would take 42.3 I/Os to retrieve the records for a given chain. If there are 10 key values (chains) to retrieve, it would take 423 I/Os (42.3 x 10 = 423).
For master datasets, there is no DBFIND, but there is still one DBGET per key value.
Now you can answer the basic question: "What is the balance point where Get and Chain take the same amount of time?" You already found that out (in our example it is 281 I/Os). Divide that by the average number of I/Os per chain (in our example it is 42.3), and you get the balance point in terms of the number of chains. The example numbers give a balance point of 6.6 chains (281 / 42.3 = 6.6). As long as you want the records from six or fewer chains, use a Chain command. If you want the records from more than six chains, use a Get command.
To code this choice in a job stream, where the key values you want to retrieve are stored in the file called Values, you would use the following commands:
!
!setvar number_of_chains,finfo("values",19)
!
!if number_of_chains > 6 then
!
! run suprtool.pub.robelle
base mybase
get d-notes
table t,key-field-name,file,values
if $lookup(t,key-field-name)
...<other suprtool statements>
xeq
exit
!
!else
!
! run suprtool.pub.robelle
base mybase
chain d-notes,key-field-name=t
table t,key-field-name,file,values
...<other suprtool statements>
xeq
exit
!
!endif
!
There is another cooler, sneakier way of doing this. Place the commands that
are different into a file and perform a Use command of this file as part of a
Suprtool task.
!
!setvar number_of_chains,finfo("values",19)
!
!if number_of_chains > 6 then
!
! echo get d-notes > myfile
! echo if $lookup(t,key-field-name) >> myfile
!
!else
!
! echo chain d-notes,key-field-name=t > myfile
!
!endif
!
!run suprtool.pub.robelle
base mybase
table t,key-field-name,file,values
use myfile
...<other suprtool statements>
xeq
exit
!
One obvious drawback of this method is that you have hardcoded the balance
point (6) right into the job stream. If the balance point changes (because
the size of the dataset has changed or the average number of records per
chain changes) you will have to update this job stream, as well as the dozens
of associated job streams you have coded.How can you make job streams avoid using a hardcoded cutoff value? That’s the subject of part 2 of this article, which will appear in the next issue of What’s Up, DOCumentation?. Stay tuned.
[Mike Shumko]
Adding Headings to HowMessy Web Pages
Some customers like to publish
HowMessy reports directly to an internal Web
page. Each time you run HowMessy, a temporary self-describing file is created
called Loadfile. You can use STExport to convert this file to an HTML
document. Here is how to add a heading:
$in loadfile
$heading fieldnames
$html table title "Store Database Howmessy Report"
$out /apache/www/howmessy.html
$exit
[Neil Armstrong]
Emergency Repair for NT Users
If you use NTFS on your PC hard drives, then you will want to pick up a DOS- based utility called DELPART and put it on your MS-DOS emergency boot disk. You do have one of those don’t you?DELPART is a utility that allows you to delete an NTFS partition. FDisk will not do this. If you have to rebuild your PC from scratch and can’t get NT to recognize your CD-ROM, then you will need this utility.
I found DELPART at http://www.tmco.co.uk/nt.html.
[Neil Armstrong]
Multiple String Searches in Qedit--No Problem!
Finding just one string wasn’t quite good enough for one customer who wanted
to have a file with many strings and then list all the occurrences, much like
Suprtool’s Table command.The Qedit command file below can be used to search a file for multiple strings and print them in the original line order. It takes 3 parameters: the filename of the file you want searched, the listname of the file of strings and the maximum length (stringlength) of each string. Save this command file as Findmany, then invoke it from inside Qedit:
/findmany custlist, strings, 10The command file loops through the Strings file. For each string, it saves the results in a temporary file and performs a Text command. The strings are cleaned up, sorted and printed. Here is the Findmany command file:
parm filename, listname, stringlength
purge found,temp
setvar num,1
setvar eof, finfo('!listname',19)
while num <= !eof do
print !listname;start=!num;end=!num > temp
input inline < temp
setvar string str("!inline",1,!stringlength)
:/list !filename "!string" > > found
echo inside loop !string
setvar num, num + 1
endwhile
/text found
/deleteq "line found"
/deleteq "lines found"
/lsortq all
/listq $lp all
[Paul Gobes]
Form for Every Dataset
Consultant Greg McCoy at the Red Cross wanted the Form statement in Suprtool
to act the same as Query, which performs the Form dataset command for every
set. Here is a usefile that manipulates Form Sets to generate another usefile
that does what he wants:
:file formout;dev=disc
form sets
:reset formout
in formout
def pc,62,1
if pc = "%"
def set,4,16
ext "fo ",set
o use2,temp
x
u use2
:file formout=$stdlist
[Paul Gobes]
Neutralizing Positive-Signed Packed and Display Fields
Sometimes in IMAGE/SQL datasets, packed (Pn) and display (Zn) data type
fields hold positive-signed data. To get Suprtool to convert these fields to
neutral-signed data, you can use an arithmetic operation on the Extract
command. In the example below, a zoned display field is entered with a
positive sign. Notice the List command shows the sign and the Output command
shows it with an alphabetic E overpunch.
Item:
CUST-ACCOUNT Z8
>get d-sales
>extract cust-account
>list
>output *
>x
>GET D-SALES (8) >OUT $STDLIST (0)
CUST-ACCOUNT = +5
0000000E {overpunch}
Now try the same task with an arithmetic operation on the Extract command:
>get d-sales
>extract cust-account = cust-account * 1 {multiply by one}
>list
>output*
>x
>GET D-SALES (8) >OUT $STDLIST (0)
CUST-ACCOUNT = 5
00000005 {no overpunch}
[Paul Gobes]
Streaming Workfiles to Other Software
One of our Swedish customers was using MAESTRO from CCC/UNISON (now TIVOLI) and wanted to pass the current Qedit workfile to its Mstream program.The customer wanted
/mstream *to work the same way as
/stream *The Mstream command file contained:
parm jobfile
run
MSTREAM.MAESTRO.CCC;info="!jobfile"
The following simple command file called Qstream can be used inside Qedit to
create a temporary file that the Mstream UDC can read.
1 /lq @ > tempfile
2 mstream tempfile
Consultant Michael Abootorab enhanced this command file to be usable both
inside and outside of Qedit, with a file name or with an asterisk (*).
if bound(insideqedit) and insideqedit = 0 then
mstream !filename
else
if '!filename' = '*' then
/holdq all {or lq @ > filename}
mstream hold
else
mstream !filename
endif
endif
[Hans Hendriks]