** ** ****** ** ** ******** ** ** ***** ** ** ** * ** ** ** *** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** * **** **** ** * ** ** ** ** ** **** ** ** ** ** ** *** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** ****** ** ** ** ***** ***** ** ** ** ****** ****** ***** ** **** ******** ****** ****** ** ** ** ** * ** ** * ** ** ** ** ****** **** ** ** ** ** **** ****** ** ** ** ** **** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** ***** ** **** ** ****** ** ** **** KY REGISTER **** KY REGISTER **** KY REGISTER **** KY REGISTER *** MAY 1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS Improved Handicap Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 038 PUBLIC Disk Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 046 VIEW - A New Information Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 067 Frankenstein, Pandora & The Cat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 090 Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Service Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515 ************************************************************************* IMPROVED HANDICAP ACCESS The new elevator in McVey Hall is now operational, allowing easy access throughout the UKCC. The access ramp is located on the south side of McVey Hall on Funkhouser Drive. ************************************************************************ PUBLIC DISK CHANGES There have been some recent additions and enhancements on the CMS PUBLIC disk. The homebrew archiving facility (see HELP for ARCHIVE, ARCHLIST, and ARCHRETR) has been fixed to work with MVS. This can be used to offload CMS files to tape for backup purposes. Don't use ARCHIVE for datasets that you plan to send to another computer site. PSCALEN is a program written in PostScript and submitted by Ralph Henderson, a local user. The program is used to print Gregorian calendars with a layout set up by the user. The output device may be any PostScript-driven printer, such as the Apple LaserWriters in 111 McVey Hall. Remember: to use PUBLIC files you must first issue the PUBLIC command to access the disk. HELP is available on PUBLIC for all these commands. -- Bob Crovo ************************************************************************* VIEW - A NEW INFORMATION SERVICE VIEW provides access to information from a variety of sources. The initial services are campus news from UK Public Relations and information from the UKCC. Additional services will be added in the coming weeks. To use VIEW, just enter: VIEW from your CMS userid and VIEW will display a menu of services. Move the cursor to an item and press ENTER to select it for viewing. If you know the name of an item you can bypass the menus. For example, to see the campus news you could enter: VIEW NEWS and go directly to it. -- Dave Elbon ######################################################################### FRANKENSTEIN, PANDORA, AND THE CAT The three characters named in the title of this article have something in common: their efforts to extend their knowledge produced severe penalties. Curiosity killed the cat. Dr. Frankenstein's investigations brought pain to others, and poor Pandora has been credited with releasing all the world's ills because of her ill- founded need to know. What has all this to do with you? Enter author with moral: Exercise prudence when you explore the unknown. In particular, exercise due caution when you open electronic "packages" of mysterious origin. The Business Section of the Sunday "New York Times" featured front page news on January 31st: "Computer Systems Under Seige." The caption explained, "Virus' programs that can elude most barriers have begun to infect computers around the world." The February 3rd issue of the "Chronicle of Higher Education" carried a story "Virus' Destroys Campus Computer Data," and included a box captioned, "How Computer Center Officials Thwart Electronic Diseases." The electronic networks hummed with discussion of the problem. On February 3rd, a special mailing list, devoted to ethics in computing, carried a long article by Andy Boddington of Britain's Open University. The article summarized the background data prepared for the British press on the "virus" phenomenon. Early in January, network correspondence discussed the "Israeli" or "Friday the 13th" virus, and later in January, we saw the first reported case of a virus which allegedly attacked Macintosh hard disks. What is all the fuss about, and what does it mean to you? Let's see. One of the important concepts that traditionally has been difficult for the innocent to grasp is that computers are very dumb. But, for some things (compared with humans) computers are very fast. Computers allow us to scan text and do complicated computations very quickly. Computers allow us to make mistakes very quickly. Computers also allow humans to play practical jokes very quickly. Why do people play practical jokes? Without scanning the research on the subject, here are some guesses: for fun, for malice, or to show how clever they are. An unfortunate reality: those who play for fun or to demonstrate their cleverness often are ignorant of the negative impact their pranks may have. Take as an example the notorious Christmas routine that shut down IBM's internal network, VNET, for an unprecedented time. The CHRISTMA EXEC originated at a German university. The person who created it sent it to the people on his electronic mailing list. When the "victim" received the file and invoked the routine, the program displayed a drawing of a Christmas tree and sent itself to all the people for whom the recipient owned electronic addresses. The quantity of 'traffic' generated by the repeated execution of this program created a crisis situation throughout the world. Each person who invoked the CHRISTMA EXEC spawned dozens, or sometimes hundreds, of copies which dispatched themselves across the global network. When the routine hit IBM's network, where electronic mailing lists tend to be rather large, supersaturation was inevitable. It is extremely unlikely that the programmer who created the CHRISTMA EXEC was aware of the extent of the damage his work would create. Other programmers are not so naive. If a malicious programmer had created the CHRISTMA EXEC, those receiving and invoking the routine might have suffered more personal loss. That is, they might have lost all their stored computer files. There are numerous recorded instances of programs which erase PC hard disks, and which even lurk unsuspected on a PC hard disk to destroy floppy diskettes when they are inserted. More recently, we have seen the first report of a program which erases Macintosh hard disks and which has the alleged further distinction of being hidden on a disk containing commercial software of a prurient nature. Most of the destructive software arrives as "public domain" items, free routines that are obtained from software bulletin boards or other public repositories. Sometimes the name of the item suggests it is a useful utility or exciting game (such programs are referred to as "Trojan horses"). When the innocent individual opens the "package," destruction ensues. While some destructive software conceals itself and strikes from hiding at a later date, most pests of this kind strike immediately, with a "gotcha" message. Some routines have only "single strike" capability and others appear to be aggressively infectious. What can be done? Professional programmers at BITNET institutions engaged in outstanding detective work to track down the origin of the CHRISTMA EXEC, and also used their informal network to alert responsibile folks around the globe. Two "anti- virus" mechanisms were developed, one actually a "good guy virus" which tracked the path of the CHRISTMA EXEC and gobbled up any copies it found. The ingenuity of the responsible programming professionals is hard to beat. When it comes to the microcomputer, defense is a tougher job, because it largely falls on you. Obviously, one way to protect yourself against invaders is to be very, very careful about what software you bring home. Extra protection: make certain you have backups of all the software on your hard disk and of all your important files. If something beyond your control destroys your data, your backups will help you restore the disk. You also might want to try looking into a program's code, or having someone who understands programming languages look into the code with you, before running an item of uncertain performance. What we're suggesting is the exercise of reasonable care and caution to protect yourself from these electronic plagues. Even among the technological wonders of the twentieth century, the old adage about the worth of an ounce of prevention holds true. -- Rita Saltz (This article was reprinted from the March/April 1988 issue of "OpCit," the computing newsletter of Princeton University.) ######################################################################### SUGGESTIONS 1. Someone has been playing with the Hot Printer again -- the lines are not in sequence with the pages. >>>The problem has been taken care of. If it should happen again, contact someone in the Data Center. 2. Does anyone have any good advice on connecting Macs and PCs? I have ordered PhoneNet for the Macs to share the Apple LaserWriter, but I would like to continue to access that printer from my PC or even keep it attached to my PC and permit Mac's printing capability. Any suggestions? >>>Several companies sell boards and software for IBM PCs that allow them to connect to an AppleTalk or PhoneNet. We have one in the Micro Lab. 3. Is the print utility deceased? I'm getting no response to my attempts to print files. >>>Could you give us some more information about the problem you are having with printing? 4. If you're going to prevent logon because of a negative account balance, it would be nice to know your account balance on a daily basis! Even with the printed monthly statements balances can go negative in the middle of the month. >>>Thanks for the suggestion. We recognize users' need to have access to current account status information and we're working on addressing that need. 5. Someone should look at port #C76. It's very frustrating to connect to that port so many times and then find out you have a dead port. >>>If you happen to get a connection that isn't working, put the connection on hold and reconnect. You can do this as ho - puts connection on hold. c - to just connect again. We're changing a lot of IBM ports at the moment and there may be problems until we get everything settled. Please remember to keep reporting any problems you might have. Thanks. 6. I was poking about with the WHOIS command and found the following problem. If I use WHOIS from another machine (in this case, UKMA) with the equivalent of "sm net cmd ukcc whois doyle" (i.e., "netexec ukcc whois doyle") I get a message saying From UKCC: INVALID COMMAND WHOIS >>>The correct command would be "SM NET MSG UKCC WHOIS DOYLE". (Note "MSG" rather than "CMD"). WHOIS accepts commands via interactive messages, not RSCS commands. It also accepts commands via MAIL. 7. It has come to my attention that many 3090 users don't realize they can "optimize" their FORTRAN codes. I suggest that OPT(3) become the default when using FORTVS2 rather than OPT(0). Now is an excellent time to make this upgrade since many system features are changing. >>>This isn't really a good suggestion because OPT(0) requires less time to compile, so when you're debugging your program it's more efficient to use OPT(0). OPT(1) will perform branch and register optimization - variables are retained in registers, and branching is improved. OPT(2) and OPT(3) are designed to optimize as much as possible - common expressions are eliminated and code is moved, but OPT(2) doesn't move any code out of a DO loop if it would cause an interrupt that would not occur without optimization. OPT(3) will move code which causes an interrupt, but will not give incorrect answers. If you're planning to run your program many times, then use OPT(3) - compilation time will be longer, but the code will execute faster. Check that you're getting the same results as under OPT(0). The next step is to use the vector compiler, LEVEL(1) or LEVEL(2). The vector compiler uses OPT(3) for all levels of vectorization. 8. Could someone please look at the Hot Printer in 111 McVey Hall? It's making some loud funny noises when it prints. >>>Please contact an Operator in the Data Center as soon as you notice a problem like this. 9. The NOLOG option to the NOTE command doesn't work; the utility still logs the outgoing message in a notebook. >>>NOLOG controls whether the sending of the note is to be logged in your NETLOG file. NONOTEBOOK is the option you want to keep from saving the text of the note in your notebook. However, you might keep in mind that MAIL is considerably more flexible than NOTE. 10. I noticed a typographical error in the HELP file for the MAILBOOK command. In the explanation for the NOSCREEN option, one "is" should be "if," I think. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. 11. HELP for the GRAB command is in a rather strange format. Also, it lists as an option STACK, which doesn't seem to be available. >>>Thanks. The STACK option of GRAB is now available. 12. How come when I type CONNECT HELP, it tells me there are 12 ports to the Engr 3B20, but when I try to connect and two of them are busy when there is only one person logged on (and that person isn't using UKnet)? PRIME 3 ports have been very scarce lately because of the suggestion that people not disconnect after logging off (it used to go IDLE for you) was the problem. Well, the 3b20 automatically disconnects you after logging off. What's the deal? If there are only two ports, then tell us. >>>Questions about the 3B20 should be directed to the Engineering Computing Center. Eight of the 3B20 network ports had to be shut off because of a hardware problem, and notices were posted in the the 3B20's news. The problem has now been taken care of and the ports are now back in operation. The connection to HELP is an unofficial information service which is not well-maintained and it makes no pretense of being completly accurate. 13. Would you consider changing all system references to time zones from EST to EDT? We're considering changing all time zone references to eastern time. 14. a) I'm confused about how file modes are searched through, especially when a disk has a file mode which is a read-only extension of my A-disk. >>>Q SEARCH will return the search order of all accessed disks. b) At UKCC I've only used this feature for jobs submitted using CMS batch. When I submit a job via CMS BATCH, my A-disk is automatically accessed as a read-only extension with mode C/A. The batch job also has its own (temporary) a-disk to write upon. If a batch job refers to a file JOE FILE which exists only in my permanent disk (not on the batch job's temporary A-disk), under what circumstances will it be found? Is it sufficient to just specify JOE FILE without an explicit file mode (since the appropriate disk is a C/A extension)? Must I specify JOE FILE C or JOE FILE *? It seems as though some utilities find the file without any explicity mode and some utilities don't. An example from interactive access is the way XEDIT JOE FILE always finds JOE FILE (on whatever disk it resides), while TYPE JOE FILE would need a * or an explicit mode if JOE FILE weren't on the A-disk. >>>TYPE should search the A-disk and its extensions for the file unless a filemode is specified. In this case, only the named disk is searched. A * will cause all accessed disks to be searched until the first file is found matching the filename and filetype. XEDIT searches all disks if the filemode isn't specified. TYPE and XEDIT are both IBM products. Why they behave differently is a corporate secret . . . c) If JOE FILE exists both on the temporary A-disk and the permanent disk, will the file accessed by JOE FILE or JOE FILE * be the local (temporary) file? I expect this to be the case: to get the permanent file I suppose I'd have to use JOE FILE C. >>>You're right. d) Is there an online explanation of this? >>>The documentation for a specific command should be consulted to see how that command behaves with regard to searching disks. The online CMS Reference can be browsed from the MANUAL command, and the IBM CMS Reference has a more complete description. 15. I submitted a four-minute job 5 1/2 hours ago and it still isn't in execution. This isn't the first time I've had to wait so long for relatively short jobs to even enter execution. What's the problem? Since the new system has been installed, it's become incredibly difficult to schedule research time because turnaround times are so slow . . . will this continue to be a problem? Will "ordinary" users like me have to wait excessive amounts of time until "super" users are finished with their research? This new system was heralded as a real breakthrough for computing at UK . . . is it really? >>>Jobs with CPU time estimates of four minutes are not considered short and are not given a high priority. How long a job takes to go into execution depends upon its priority with respect to other jobs of the same class awaiting execution. Generally, jobs requiring tapes during the week have to wait longer to run since there are more of them and tape drives can't be shared. It helps to put as low a CPU time as possible on your jobs. Several users have recently submitted hundreds of jobs that length, which would take precedence over jobs of similar lengths, since jobs are treated on a first-come, first-serve basis. The "super" users run on the IBM 3090 and the MVS batch jobs run on the IBM 3081 -- they don't compete with each other at all. We're trying to find a new classification scheme to help solve problems like this. Thanks for your patience. 16. What would cause the turnaround on a 10-second job to be so slow at 12:00 on a Sunday morning? My last job just took 30 minutes to move into execution. Is it my imagination, or is the system with the superfast supercomputer actually slower than it was last spring? >>>Occasionally short maintenance is done on the systems on Saturday evenings. Jobs with ten or fewer seconds estimated CPU time and which do not use tapes should have fast turnaround time. You can check with the Operations Supervisor to see if there is a problem with the systems. We try to advertise long periods of downtime well in advance. 17. Can you please update the list of UKnet nodes? I'd like to know how many campus and off-campus computers I can access through UKnet. The list obtained by typing "connect Help" at >> prompt isn't up to date, since we have a node but aren't yet included on the list. Is there another place to get an updated list? >>>The connection to help is an unofficial service and is maintained by the network technicians in their spare time (of which there is little). Any information presented is simply "to the best of our knowledge." At the present time, the operators of systems attached to the network are primarily responsible for making sure their users are informed that they can be accessed through the network and what procedures are to be used. If system operators would like us to put information in the help file (or take any out), they should notify us. For the time being, send such requests to SYSWMC@UKCC. It is impossible to provide a list of all off-campus systems which can be reached through UKnet. The only means of getting virtual terminal access to remote machines at present is through the TCP/IP Telnet (or tn3270) protocol. This can be used to access machines with internet addresses when they allow such access. The operators of remote systems can tell you whether they can be accessed through the Internet. Telnet and tn3270 can be used from the IBM mainframe (see the appropriate HELP files). Telnet can be used by asynchronous terminals on UKnet by connecting to telnet. 18. Is it possible to have old issues of the online Register? They sometimes contain useful information. >>>The April 1988 issue of "The Kentucky Register" is the first issue in several years to be online. Current and future online newsletters will be kept online indefinitely. To access the latest issue GRAB REGISTER VIEW can do this, too. Follow the menus or VIEW UKCC REGISTER There are copies of old issues on file in the Consulting Room (110 McVey Hall) and in the Publications Office (200 McVey Hall). 19. What is the appropriate domain to be used to the Community College system computer? Should I send mail to USER@CCOL.UKY.EDU or should I use some other designation? >>>CCOL.UKY.EDU is the correct address for the Community College System's machine. 20. Is there a way to print a bunch of files without issuing a separate PRINT or FPRINT command for each of them? >>>Here's a technique that works pretty well: LISTX fileid specification (Exec SPLPREP PR ( GROUP CMS FPRINT SPLPREP PR ( ENDGROUP route options LISTX with the Exec option generates a file called CMS EXEC which is set up to process all the files that meet the fileid specifications on the LISTX command. See the Help for LISTX for details on file specs. The SPLPREP GROUP and ENDGROUP options will keep all the files together in one listing, each starting on a new page. CMS FPRINT invokes the CMS EXEC file created by LISTX and processes all the files named therein with the FPRINT command. The CMS EXEC file can also be modified or created by hand so that only those files you want to print are named in it. 21. Why wouldn't the mailer accept node ULKYVX03 when it's in the routing table at UKCC? >>>Mail can now be sent to ULKYVX03. That machine is part of a VAX cluster and, in general, mail should be sent to ULKYVX rather than to a specific machine. 22. I've just begun to use Waterloo C on CMS, and I've already run into a snag. The backslash character, which I have been using in printf statements, is not being interpreted correctly when entered from my PS/2 terminal emulating VT100 under Kermit. All is fine when I use the backslash on the newer terminals in McVey 111, so my program itself is not at fault. Has this problem been encountered by other C users, and, more importantly, how do I fix it? Thanks for your help! >>>There is no way to directly enter a backslash from a terminal (or personal computer) connected through a 7171. The backslash character is translated to a cent sign on input. You could use SET INPUT to get around the translation. When using a 7171, enter the command: SET INPUT \ E0 E0 is the EBCDIC code for a backslash. This causes the backslash character (\), which the 7171 translates to a cent sign (¢), to be translated by CMS back to a backslash. To get the backslashes to display correctly when using the 7171, enter: SET OUTPUT E0 \ BEFORE entering the SET INPUT command. The SET OUTPUT causes CMS to translate backslashes to cent signs, which the 7171 will translate to backslashes before displaying them. 23. When in MAIL READ mode, is there some way to find out where the letter I'm reading will be logged? Some way besides logging it, that is, since I don't want to clutter my notebooks or chase the letter around . . . ? In MAIL SEND mode, the QUERY OPTIONS command tells me this, but it doesn't work in READ mode. >>>If you LOG it it's going into a notebook, whether you know which one or not. To LOG mail into a specific notebook, use LOG notebook There has been some discussion about whether QUERY OPTIONS will be an available option. ************************************************************************* UKCC SERVICE DIRECTORY McVey Service E-Mail Address Phone Hall Vice President, Information Services Eugene R. Williams DPS128@UKCC 257-3609 Director, University Computing Services Dr. Douglas Hurley HURLEY@UKCC 257-2900 132 Director, Communications & Distributed Systems Doyle Friskney DOYLE@UKCC 257-6225 Director, Computational Sciences Dr. John Connolly CONNOLLY@UKCC 257-8737 324 Academic Consulting Services Lavine Thrailkill UKC105@UKCC 257-2257 122 CMS Consulting Bob Crovo CROVO@UKCC 257-2258 109 Complaints Carol Lotz LOTZ@UKCC 257-2213 129 Consultant for Remote Sites Wanda Dixon Spisak WANDA@UKCC 257-2206 115 Consulting Consultant on Duty SUGGEST@UKCC 257-2249 110 Contingency Planning & Security Jack L. Coffman UKA051@UKCC 257-2273 230E Database - IDMS Rick Chlopan DBA003@UKCC 257-2211 218 Data Center 257-2222 61 Data Entry Pat Taylor DEN101@UKCC 257-2216 121 Disk Rental Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 105 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 105 Facilities Operations Joe Williams SYSDATA@UKCC 257-2231 72 Information Center Judy Kisil UKA041@UKCC 257-2241 222 Information Resources Dr. Jon Hesseldenz UKA045@UKCC 257-3904 230D Instructional Software Wayne Beech WAYNE@UKCC 257-2238 100 Lost Claim Cards Selwyn Zerof SYSPGMR@UKCC 257-2218 211D Machine Room 257-2222 59 Management Information Systems Forrest Hahn UKA006@UKCC 257-2260 205 Memos and Manuals Consulting Room 257-2249 110 Micro Lab 257-2207 107 Network/Telecommunications George Broomell UKT101@UKCC 257-2229 127 New Accounts Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 105 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 105 Numerical Analysis Consulting Anne Leigh ANNE@UKCC 257-2205 109B Optical Scanner - NCS Chris Corman CHRIS@UKCC 257-2243 109 Bob Crovo CROVO@UKCC 257-2258 109 Passwords Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 105 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 105 PRIME Information Peggy Akridge PEGGY@UKCC 257-2237 100 Program Documentation/Libraries Consulting Room 257-2249 110 Publications Office Marguerite Floyd EDITOR@UKCC 257-2219 200 Refunds Consulting Room 257-2249 110 SAS and SPSS Consulting Steve Thomson STEVE@UKCC 257-2259 116 Lorinda Wang UKC333@UKCC 257-2204 109B Tapes to Borrow, Tape Storage Data Center 257-2222 61 Tours of UKCC Lavine Thrailkill UKC105@UKCC 257-2257 122 User Account Services Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 105 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 105 *************************************************************************