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October 2002
To: Users of Robelle Software Re: News of the HP e3000 and Robelle If you haven't been visiting the Robelle web site, www.robelle.com, at least once a week, here is what you have been missing. Included are many of the stories posted to the web since the last newsletter.If you are reading a PDF or text version of this newsletter, remember that the headline of every story is actually a web link to the full story or more information. If you want to follow a link to get more information, go to the web home of the current newsletter: http://www.robelle.com/library/newsletter/latest.html Table of Contents: |
Press Release: "Organized for the Future"
Robelle is committed to servicing the 3000 market, as well as the segment that migrates to HP-UX, with current and continually enhanced solutions. We will be supporting Suprtool and Qedit for many years to come. Robelle is here to stay, and Robelle has the resources to do it. We have streamlined the company and our business processes to better enable us to service your changing needs at the highest service standards. ... Just because HP is retiring MPE, does not mean that we have stopped work on it. Quite the contrary!... We have been very busy. Click the link above for more information on our plans.
"Getting Started with Eloquence"
One of the most interesting duo talks at HPWorld show this year was by Tien-You Chen and Michael Marxmeier Tien-You has been the Database Architect at CSY for years and is sorry to see TurboIMAGE retired, but he is "happy to tell you we have found a perfect replacement."
Michael Marxmeier, of Marxmeier Software AG and the author of Eloquence, explained that Eloquence was first released in 1989 as a solution to move the HP 250/260 to HP-UX and was intended to be a 2-3 year solution. It now has 2500+ installations worldwide and is used by about 60+ vars/isvs in a wide range of applications.
Neil Armstrong, Michael Marxmeier and Bob Green
Click the link above for a full report.
Click link for some photos from HPWorld, including our Robelle team (Tammy Roscoe, Bob Green, Mary Ann Green and Neil Armstrong), our choice for the most fun booth (Strategic Memory with car racing), Quantum giving away a new Mini Cooper, and Forsythe with a life-sized Chess game.
Reported by Gavin Scott, Allegro (gavin@allegro.com)
At Tuesday afternoon's two hour OpenMPE session, HP's Mike Paivinen and Kriss Rant provided details about the decisions HP has recently made that affect the topics of concern to the OpenMPE and MPE "homesteading" community. The results are positive.
Click the link above to read Gavin's full report.
Direct from the show floor and the sessions:
Acucorp Cobol stopped by our booth to let us know that their HP3000 Cobol compiler version 5.22 and higher now reads Qedit format files. You can get more information about their products from www.AcuCorp.com
At the Management Roundtable on Thursday morning, Interex tried to bar the press from attending! Security was called when Ron Seybold of the NewsWire tried to enter, but the audience spoke up for him and he was allowed to stay. One of speakers announced that support for MPE systems could be extended beyond 2006 for selected North American customers.
Dave Wilde of HP announced that HP has a new Investment Protection Program where users of A and N class MPE systems can get 50% trade-in against a future HP-UX upgrade. In regard to the future of MPE, Dave said that HP intends to pursue license transfers and license creation to enable creation of MPE emulators.
SIGIMAGE meeting was well attended and SIGIMAGE will continue to exist. Tien-You Chen gave an overview of new features in the latest version of TurboIMAGE, including the second round of scalability enhancements, known as the Extended HighWater Mark enhancement. One other important note is if you are going to use the Large File database feature on MPE/iX 7.5 you will need to get the patch TIXMXA4. Stay tuned for more details.
Carly gave the opening keynote speech and did not mention the HP 3000 even once.
Michael Marxmeier, who created Eloquence in 1989 and whose firm still supports and enhances it, announced a "letter of understanding with HP to transfer all the rights to Eloquence to Marxmeier Software". Since they already do all the support and R&D, nothing will change, except dropping "HP" from the product name. This is great news for users, since it means that a small, focused, nimble software company will take over all aspects of Eloquence. Bob Green says: "I was so impressed with Eloquence, that I decided to be a reseller. Check out eloquence3000.com and email me when you are ready for a demo."
Orly Larson, famous MPE booster, has retired from HP after 30 years, but he is at the show greeting old friends.
HP announced new N-class servers today. According to this HP N-class brochure: The new HP e3000 N-Class server packs the new PA-8700, and up to 750-MHz, into a high performance into a sleek package. Its superior rackability—with four servers to a rack—provides massive performance density to give you maximum power per square foot.
9/4/2002
HP announced new servers today based on the PA-8700 chips: A400-100-150, A500-100-200, and A500-200-200. According to this HP brochure: the updated HP e3000 A400 and A500 servers double the performance and capability of the previous A-Class servers in the same compact package—and at the same affordable price.
HP has released a new version of MPE/iX (probably the last one). Read about 7.5 at the link above or in this PDF brochure. Regarding Robelle products and 7.5, you should have at least Suprtool version 4.3.03 and Qedit version 5.0 (or a higher version!) and you probably do.
"We've been using Qedit for Windows to edit MPE COBOL source code on our HP-3000, as well as accessing UNIX files on our HP-9000. It's been a huge time-saver on the 9000, because we no longer have to telnet into the box and vi the file - we just edit it right here on our PC's. We have an employee directory on our web site, which is driven from a flat CSV file. There are constant updates to the directory, and the time savings will pay for Qedit in the very short term."
- Dave Phillips Programmer/Web Developer, Gavilan College
Visual Basic and HP 3000 Examples
Remote Procedure Calls allow you to run subroutines across a a network. This example from Transformix shows how to issue TurboIMAGE calls from a Visual Basic program across an network.
For more Windows tips, visit the permanent location of these articles.
We have produced a new flier for the Suprtool/UX product and you can download the PDF version from our web site. Or you can email sales@robelle.com and request a printed copy by slow mail. From the Suprtool/UX brochure:
On the day after HP's obsolescence notice, Robelle identified the Eloquence database as a valuable option for HP 3000 sites moving to HP-UX. In a few short weeks we produced a new Eloquence version of Suprtool and had it in user hands for testing.
From the 3kworld web site, read this fascinating history of the IMAGE-lookalike database.
HP e3000 Hardware Conversion Kits provide real value for your server investment. They enable you to convert your existing HP e3000 A-Class and N-Class server hardware to HP-UX server hardware at no cost.
Click link for HP PDF file.
HP has six new white papers on their web site, including business planning guide, compilers and user interfaces, KSAM and MPE file system, MPE commands and networks, technical planning guide, and TurboIMAGE and databases.
HP Webcast Online: Database Issues
George Stachnik has been hosting a series of webcasts on issues related to the HP 3000 end of life. The July 23rd webcast was on "Database Issues" and is now archived for online viewing.
The HP web site now has the last part of George's 3000 transitions webcasts: "Putting It All Together."
Transformix: Migration Software and Services
TransforMix tools include middleware, application renovation tools for adding graphical user interfaces and web-enabling applications. They were the first ones to recognize the potential of HP Eloquence for MPE users, long before HP announced the retirement of MPE.
robelle.com: a 3000 Information Hub
Explore the riches of the Robelle website! At Robelle we're continually researching various sources and updating our website with industry software tips, information resources and current happenings of interest to the HP 3000 customer. Whether you need to answer questions about Qedit and Suprtool, boost your MPE and HP-UX skills or hear about the latest happenings in the 3000 world, the Robelle sites have something for you. Plus…it's easy to navigate through our many layers of great information.
Just scroll down the left side of our home page to find dozens of useful links. And the right side contains daily news and tips about the HP 3000 and Robelle.
White Papers | Product Manuals | Training Courses | HP Encyclopedia on MPE/ HP-UX | Technical Tips | Downloadable Product Updates & Demos | Links to HP 3000 and HP 9000 Resources | Newsletters | Daily News | Migration Resources | Directory of Consulting Services for HP 3000 & Robelle Products | Tutorials like… Speeding up Quiz using Suprtool, IMAGE Internals & Performance, HP-UX for MPE Users
Homesteading: Recycled 3000s from Phoenix Systems
With many sites thinking of staying on the 3000 as long as practical, this page of Frequently Asked Questions from Phoenix Systems is very timely.
Allegro: Our Technical Support Resource
Since fall 2001, Robelle has been phasing in Allegro Consultants of San Jose, California (www.allegro.com) as a technical support resource for our customers. We are very pleased with the results. Now they are handling all the initial support contacts, with our in-house programming team which is as always still available as backup for difficult and perplexing issues.
Allegro has the strongest team of technical expertise in the HP 3000 area, plus years of experience in HP-UX as well. This is the reason we selected them to assist us. With the prospect of declining volume in the future, it made sense to outsource the first line of support to a firm that already has an MPE/HP-UX staff in place, already knows our products from using them, and already provides tech support for other firms. By sharing these great people, we can ensure economical and knowledgeable support for our customers for years ahead.
Click the link above for more of the Allegro story.
Transforming to SAPdb Datatypes
Recently we explored the benefits and drawbacks of using SAPdb as an alternative enterprise-level DBMS. Now we are going to take a closer look at the datatypes available for transforming a TurboIMAGE database.
Users often tell us that they know there are lots of Qedit features that they have never tried. While the best way to learn may be to "Just Do It", this can be dangerous unless you also have a way to "Just Undo it". That's where the appropriately-named Undo command comes in.
Click link above for the details.
Robelle Solutions Technology Inc. provides the What's Up, DOCumentation? newsletter as a service to our customers. The newsletter is available on the web: in HTML format for browsing and PDF format for printing. Visit www.robelle.com/library/newsletter/
Comments about this issue, as well as ideas for future issues, including news, tips, and suggestions for articles, can be sent to bgreen@robelle.com.
The September 2002 issue of Robelle's newletter is still available. Some of the highlights from this issue:
* The Story Behind Suprlink
* HP Advisor Link: Myths and Truths About "Eloquence"
* User Gives Advice for HP-UX Newcomers
* Qedit: Checking Comma-Delimited Files
* Test Drive of an Open-Source Enterprise-Level Database
* Suprtool: Adjusting the Display Width
* Avoid the "vi" curse
* Robelle Press Release: No Rush to Migrate, Until You Are Ready
Browse the HTML issues by clicking the link above or download the PDF issues at http://www.robelle.com/library/newsletter/w2002-09.pdf
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