3000 NewsWire Online Extra

Update of Volume 2, Issue 5 (February, 1997)

Welcome to our 14th edition of Online Extra, the e-mail update of articles in the February 3000 NewsWire and items of interest since we last mailed our First Class issue. This service is an exclusive to our paid subscribers. We'll e-mail you this file between the First Class issues you receive by mail, updating stories you've read and adding items that have developed between issues.

More TurboIMAGE links via Java
The longer Java stays in touch with the HP 3000, the more its traditional tools suppliers seem to provide to work with this new interface. DISC has posted a demo on the World Wide Web of a Java applet working with a TurboImage database. The applet, which loads in about three minutes of 28.8 modem time, reads the database through a Java interface that Rich Trapp of DISC says "is much nicer than HTML." And that points out one of the more visible advantages of learning to use Java with your HP 3000 applications -- an interface that's better than any Web page you can write with HTML.

You can check out the demo at http://www.disc.com/de mo/turboimage/ib/smjava.html. Trapp points out that Internet Explorer works with the applet, but some sites could not access the applet because of firewall security settings. That illustrates one of the current downsides to using Java applets for interfaces: external users can still be blocked from accepting any applets by the settings at their sites. After all, applets are executable code that's loaded onto your client. That breaks security rules for some site administrators.

If you're working on getting Java into your HP 3000 environment -- and you should be thinking about it since HP's offering a Java Developer's Toolkit for MPE/iX this spring -- tools are coming online quickly. Trapp said Symantec's Visual Cafe software latest version is a much better tool than those DISC found six months ago. DISC (303.444.4000 x2400) offers a set of tools that combine its well-regarded Omnidex indexing tool with the Internet. DISC's offering is Omnidex for the Web.

Minisoft also posted a demo of its Web tools, showing off FrontMan WebPage Server. A VPlus application runs over the Internet in a demo which is a raw import of a VPlus Forms File into Minisoft's FrontMan. Steve Chappel of Minisoft adds, "we then install the FrontMan WebPage Server on an NT box and bang -- VPlus on the Web!"
The new tool also lets you create applications that access TurboIMAGE or ODBC databases -- so anything you create in FrontMan can be an instant Web Page. See the demo at http://www.minisoft.com/sample.htm

HP has a hot first quarter, and so does the 3000
HP announced a 15 percent increase in profits, 11 percent growth in revenue and a 9 percent increase in orders for the 1997 fiscal year's first quarter, which ended Jan. 31. The HP 3000 did its share in the increased order department, according to Wayne Lukacsko of the HP 3000 SWAT Team. Speaking at the Showcase Event held in Cleveland, Ohio on Feb. 26, Lukacsko, the CSY Product Line Sales Manager for the midwest region, said that HP 3000 sales for the first quarter are ahead of the same period last year. HP's last fiscal year was the one in which the 3000 beat quota by 30 percent, so this is a strong indication that the 3000's sales are still on the rise after more than a year.

HP accomplished its profit growth on a smaller increase in sales than it saw during 1996, in part by trimming its expenses. HP racked up $10.3 billion in sales, but CEO Lew Platt said that the next quarter may show some tougher sledding, as "economic conditions in some major markets are sluggish, and we expect an extremely challenging competitive environment in the months ahead."

Another Year 2000 tool surfaces
Kriss Rant of HP, who's been working on delivering a Year 2000 White Paper on solutions any day now, pointed to another longtime HP 3000 supplier who's got software to help. Productive Software Systems (612.471.8866). Their ROBOT/3000 package provides on-line inquiry to a cross-reference database that contains indexes to all your source programs, form files, job streams, UDCs, data names, fields, datasets, and databases. ROBOT's database, typically located on a development 3000, can also be used to cross-reference files, such as job streams, on networked production CPU's.While still you're working in ROBOT you can change a file with your favorite editor after tracking it down with the ROBOT search tools.

You build and maintain ROBOT's database by defining the files you want to cross reference, (@.@.SOURCE) and ROBOT automatically updates its database. If you run ROBOT daily, all files that have changed are updated. These kinds of tools, such as Diamond Optimum System's D-Day 2000 set, can play a big part in your Year 2000 impact analysis.-- providing metrics for estimating the size of your project. Get in touch with Productive on the web at http://www.prodsoft.com/prod06.htm

Get a line on 3000 job opportunities and talent
You can get the latest information on available jobs in the HP 3000 community online not far from the NewsWire's web site. 3k Associates, which hosts our Web services on its HP 3000, has posted job listings organized by job type at Springfield CyberLink. To find HP 3000-related positions in North America, cruise to http://www2.3kassociates.com/jobs
or follow the link from the 3k home page at http://www.3kassociates.com. Managers searching for talent can also post listings online for free, and the site include a section for placement agencies to list their services.

Cool free stuff at 3k
With just an FTP or Web link you can get your hands on the latest shareware at the 3k Associates site, too. Jump to http://www.3kassociates.com/progs.html for a Web page listing of things like the SAMBA/iX client-server for MPE/iX that lets you access(read/write) files on Windows, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 or Windows NT systems and allows you to create a shared area on your 3000 available to those systems. Other goodies at the 3k site include a single-printer version of an HP 3000 print spooler for TCP/IP connected JetDirect printers (see below), the VT3k package (a freeware implementation of HP VT protocol for Unix systems), and a freeware version of NetMail/3000 that gives you two SMTP/POP/MIME e-mail mailboxes on any 3000.

Loading your soft fonts from MPE to a networked laser
If you're looking for a way to get soft fonts from an HP 3000 into networked printers, you might want to check out a free solution on the 3k site. SMM Software Ltd. in the UK has developed an HP 3000 product called IPS which prints files to JetDirect cards. It also tracks the electronic forms actually resident in the printer before commencing the print run. The software "associates fonts with a baby electronic form, and thereby always prints with the correct font," says tech director Kirk Whelan. "IPS works in a mixed printing environment. In other words there is no need to transfer a spoolfile across the LAN to another host just to print it back across the LAN. A single printer version is available at ftp://ftp.3kassociates.com/PROGS/ips3000.zip

Slice down those spams with NetMail
3k also shares its spam list with the freeware version of NetMail, giving you an easy way to cut peddlers out of your mailbox by refusing their mail in the first place. Chris Bartram of 3k explains:"There's a file called "refuse.data.threek" that we ship with a list of known spammers, which can be customized. It causes any incoming mail from any address listed in the file to be refused before it ever even enters your system. A somewhat satisfying side-effect of this technique is that the mail bounces back to the sender without ever entering (and taking up space in) your system. The actual sender of the message (not just the possibly forged e-mail address within the message) gets a bounce in his/her mailbox, with a message informing him/her that "your mail was refused because this site does not accept trash mail from spammers". I got a lot of satisfaction just COMPOSING that message! We even send a one-line message to the console telling you that a spam message was refused. I LOVE seeing those messages."

At the risk of taking up too much space here, we'll run down the list of known spammers. Here's a couple dozen lines that could cut down lots of bandwidth when used with the right mail filter:
# records starting with "*" mean anything from that domain.org
# records starting with "#"s are comments
#
# financial spams
wiseowl@gti.net
*creditwise.com
# pyramid marketing spams
*valleynet.net
# Jeff Slaton's SpamHaus
*sftcell.com
# spamming company
*moneyworld.com
# promote your website spams
delores*@ix.netcom.com
delores*@gis.net
# spammers
*ppgsoft.com
*ppginc.com
*bristol.com
*edo.com
*cvcom.com
walt*phoenixnet.com
*bluefin.net
*exd78295*interramp.com
*cyber0.*sprynet.com
*cyber0.*ix.netcom.com
*KORBS*ix.netcom.com
*homebiz@info.mwci.net
# grocery club spam
*sel@cyberhighway.net
# travel club spam
*clubdiscount.com
# care financial group
*royal@95net.com
# Lifestyle E-Mail Network
*len-update.com
# Assorted others
*sunsetdirect.com
*promo-ent.com
*natureplus.com
*cyberdevinc.com
owl@owlsnest.com
solution1@earthlink.net
*earthstar.com
websites@http2.nyic.com
*lvsweeties.com
*progressfort.com
tt@akula.com
*softcell.net
# computer h/w spammers
jumbo@tpts1.seed.net.tw

A new FTP client that understands the 3000
Whisper Technology, based in the UK, has announced Whisper FTP Plus, an FTP client for Windows 95 and Windows NT with full HP 3000 support. Whisper FTP Plus, which works in conjunction with HP's FTP Server as well as servers on Unix and Digital systems, includes an Explorer-like shell for navigating directories and files and a Notepad-like editor for viewing and modifying text files online. Specific HP 3000 features include editing of numbered files like those in COBOL, support for file labels (compatible with WRQ Reflection), support of lockwords, support for Native MPE and POSIX file systems, the ability to stream MPE/iX jobs, MPE security and viewing of HP 3000 specific file information.

The company includes Graham Wooley, formerly of DISC Europe, as one of its members "fused from HP3000, Unix and Windows engineers." We remember Wooley as a fellow so concerned about HP's treatment of the 3000 in 1993 that he bet Alfredo Rego that HP wouldn't advertise the system -- mostly as a prod for HP to do so. Wooley lost his bet, happily, when HP put ads in both US and European publications for the 3000 at the 11th hour.

A full-function evaluation copy of Whisper FTP Plus can be downloaded from http://www.whispertech.com/ftpmpe.h tm The software starts at $99 a copy and goes down to $79 each for 5-9, with discounts all the way down to $39 a client. Order though the Internet, or phone a sales line at 44.1372.360080 in the UK.

Free paging software that works with your 3000
If you're looking for cool free stuff, Telamon has a program that lets you integrate a pager with the HP 3000. Telamon recently upgraded its freeware numeric paging program DIALPAGR to be able to send alphanumeric messages using the IXO/TAP protocol. PAGER, the new software, handles both numeric and alphanumeric messages, and runs on both MPE/V and MPE/iX machines.The new program is located at: ftp://ftp.telamon.com/dist/pager.nm for an MPE/iX Native mode version, and ftp://ftp.telamon.com/dist/pager.cm for an MPE/V Compatibility mode version.
After you download it, run the program with no INFO string for a short help display.
Before you start, you'll need to have a text or numeric pager, a Hayes compatible modem attached to a serial port, a paging service provider that supports IXO/TAP and a suitable modem phone number for the above service provider. While Telamon doesn't want your phone calls about supporting this present to the 3000 community, Randy Medd of the company says he'll respond to e-mails, time permitting, at randy@telemon.com.

That IPROF tape is gonna be great
Michael Hensley of Lund Performance Solutions was working overtime in the week of Feb. 28 to create the first ever user tape for HP 3000 managers. It's not truly a swap tape in the sense that people didn't need to contribute a program to get a tape. (And in the era of the Internet, that's not surprising. Exchanging information is just so much simpler now).

The tape will be available after the show to anybody who wants it for a nominal fee to cover tape costs, shipping and handling. Hensley promises to update us by mid March on how to get it. To make you want it, here's the list of what's included, a treasure trove of the latest freeware and shareware advances for the HP 3000 including Java tools for the 3000, Samba, the Apache and HTTP-D web servers, the GNU C++ compiler and much more. It's just the thing for sites that want to get into the Posix and Internet fast lane and extend the capabilities of their 3000s -- but don't have hours to spend downloading and unpacking software.

The FREEWARE account contains the following groups:
ADAGER -- some utilities contributed by Adager
ALLEGRO -- some utilities contributed by Allegro
APACHE -- The Apache web server for MPE
FREEMAIL -- A free two-mailbox email server from 3K Associates
GNUCORE -- Mark Klein's port of the GNU software
GNUGCC -- The GNU C++ compiler
GNUGROFF -- The GNU text formatting and man tools
GNULIBS -- The GNU C++ libraries and headers
GNUPERL -- GNU Perl
JAVADOC -- The JAVA API documentation in html format
JAVAJDK -- The JAVA Developer's Toolkit
JAVAVM -- The JAVA Virtual Machine
NCSAWEB -- The NCSA web server for MPE
PYTHON -- Gavin Scott's port of the Python language
SAMBA -- The Samba client/server for MPE

3000 EDI supplier adds new CEO in prep for IPO
St. Paul Software, whose EC solutions run on HP 3000s, announced that it appointed Steve Waldron as president and chief executive officer. Former President Gary Anderson will remain chairman of the board of St. Paul, and said that Waldron is "one of the essential components for positioning St. Paul Software for the completion of an Initial Public Offering and maintaining the company's stock price after the IPO." Waldron, with 28 years of experience in the software and telecommunication industries, came to St. Paul after a stint as president of Innovex, a $70 million developer of computer software and manufacturer of precision components for the computer disk drive and medical device markets. Innovex' software product won "Best of Show" at Comdex 1995.

Watch out for that report of whether a DAT tape is online
If you're doing unattended backups, keep an eye out for a bug where MPE incorrectly reports whether a DAT tape is online. Several customers report that they can mount a tape, and MPE says it sees the tape. Then they dismount the tape, and don't write to it, just put it in their pocket. When they do a SHOWDEV n, MPE happily reports you still have a tape mounted.

NewsWire subscriber Jim Phillips reports that the bug didn't exist in MPE/iX 4.0, which he recently migrated from to MPE/iX 5.5. subscriber Lars Appel of HP says "DDS or TAPE drives send an interrupt to the 3000 when you put a DDS or TAPE media online (which AVR = Automatic Volume Recognition picks up and looks for the volume label); This is not the case when you remove the media." Stan Sieler reports that the HPDEVCONTROL intrinsic has a "serious" problem in that it still has a bug that can result in a system failure. A call to HP's Response Center reveals it's a reported problem; the SR is 5003318774. No word on fix yet.

Getting Telnet enabled with no TAC
Wondering if you I need a Telnet card in your DTC to Telnet into your HP 3000? Or can you just run a networking service, and if so, how do you start that Telnet/iX server on MPE/iX 5.5 PowerPatch 1?

Subscriber Gilles Schipper says, "It depends."

"The most efficient way is via a Telnet card in a DTC - or stand-alone Telnet box - both which require HP's OpenView DTC Manager for Windows software to configure and manage. The Telnet server is started via this Windows software. Otherwise, if you have MPE/iX 5.5 with PowerPatch 1, you can telnet into the HP3000 via software.

To start the Telnet server via software, you need to:
1. log-on as MANAGER.SYS and copy incnfsmp.net.sys to inetdcnf.net.sys
2. modify inetdcnf.net.sys to remove the #'s, which serve to comment out the lines, from the lines containing telnet, bootp, and tftp (the last 3 lines in the file).
3. chdir /bin
4. ./ln "-s /SYS/NET/INETDCNF /etc/inetd.conf
5. ./ln -s /SYS/NET/BOOTPTAB /etc/bootptab

These above 5 items are performed once.

Then, to start the Telnet server, stream JINETD.NET.SYS. This will launch a job will runs at all times. You can simply abort the job to bring down the Telnet server."


Copyright 1997, The 3000 NewsWire. All rights reserved.