** ** ****** ** ** ******** ** ** ***** ** ** ** * ** ** ** *** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** * **** **** ** * ** ** ** ** ** **** ** ** ** ** ** *** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** ****** ** ** ** ***** ***** ** ** ** ****** ****** ***** ** **** ******** ****** ****** ** ** ** ** * ** ** * ** ** ** ** ****** **** ** ** ** ** **** ****** ** ** ** ** **** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ****** ***** ** **** ** ****** ** ** **** KY REGISTER **** KY REGISTER **** KY REGISTER **** KY REGISTER *** JULY 1989 TABLE OF CONTENTS Dialup Numbers Changed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 HP Laser Printer to be Removed from Service . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 1989 IBM 3090 Supercomputing Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 UKCC Short Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Weather on VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Holiday Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 How Computers Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Service Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481 ************************************************************************* DIALUP NUMBERS CHANGED On July 1, 1989 the dialup modem phone numbers were changed. The phone numbers affected and what they became are: 257-2400 changed to 258-2400 for 2400 baud access. 257-9200 changed to 258-1200 for 1200 baud access. All lines are 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit. After the conversion there are twenty 2400 baud modems and sixteen 1200 baud modems. If you have questions or need help, contact Robert Lee at 257-2201, SYSBOB@UKCC.UKY.EDU, 9 McVey Hall. ************************************************************************* HP LASER PRINTER TO BE REMOVED FROM SERVICE Effective August 1, 1989, the Hewlett Packard 2680 laser printer will be removed from service. If you're currently using the HP laser printer, please make the necessary changes as soon as possible to ensure an orderly conversion. You can determine if your print is being done on the HP by examining your separator page: PRT1 indicates the HP laser printer. PRT3 indicates the IBM 3800 laser printer. For online help, enter HELP 3800 If you have questions or problems, contact one of the following people for help: Bob Crovo 257-2258 109 McVey Hall CROVO@UKCC.UKY.EDU Joe Williams 257-5632 122 McVey Hall UKA048@UKCC.UKY.EDU ************************************************************************* 1989 IBM 3090 SUPERCOMPUTING COMPETITION The IBM Corporation and IBM Canada Ltd. are sponsoring the 1989 IBM 3090 Supercomputing Competition IBM invites authors from industry, research, and academia to submit papers in competition for major cash awards. The competition will be for First, Second, and Third Prizes in each of these four divisions: 1) Physical Sciences and Mathematics 2) Engineering 3) Life and Health Sciences 4) Social Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts The prizes in each division are: First Prize - $25,000 US Second Prize - 15,000 US Third Prize - 10,000 US An additional $10,000 will be awarded to universities that provide substantial assistance to first place papers. All papers must describe analysis and modeling work done using an IBM 3090 supercomputer as the primary computational system. Judging will be by panels of noted non-IBM experts in each division. Winning and other selected papers will be published in IBM's "Proceedings: 1989 IBM 3090 Supercomputing Competition." To enter the competition, submit an abstract by October 2, 1989. All necessary information is provided in the general information brochure which is available from your local IBM Branch Office or by contacting one of the competition administrators: In the United States: IBM Corporation Dept 72/BNG 44 S. Broadway White Plains, NY 10601-4495 (914) 686-6318 In Canada: IBM Canada Ltd. Dept 2/645 245 Consumers Road North York, Ontario M2J1S2 (416) 758-4136 Details are also available at the CCS, 325 McVey Hall, 257-8737. A preliminary abstract and registration must be postmarked by October 2, 1989. Final papers must be received by January 15, 1990. Results of the competition will be announced by March 1, 1990. ************************************************************************* UKCC SHORT COURSE The following short course is free to all UK faculty, staff, and students, but preregistration is required. If you register and then find that you will be unable to attend, please cancel your registration by calling 257-UKCC. Failure to do so may jeopardize your right to register for future UKCC short courses. You can register online. Enter PUBLIC, and then type SHORTCOUrse, or enter VIEW UKCC SHORTCOURSE. If there are prerequisites for a particular class, they'll be listed in the class description. If you have questions about class content or bypassing prerequisites, call the instructor for that class. Introduction to PHOENIX Monday and Tuesday July 17 and 18 Noon to 2:00 p.m. 104 King Library The UKCC has purchased PHOENIX, a courseware authoring and presentation system, to run on the IBM 3084. This software greatly simplifies the task of creating computer-based training packages and computer test bank applications. The system provides a powerful full screen editor for creating presentation screens. Standard question types which are supported through a complex answer analysis feature are short answer, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, and true-false. The entire system from sign-on to sign-off is menu-driven, making it relatively easy even for non-programmers to develop quality computer courseware to supplement or enhance existing classroom instruction. Students can access courseware written for the IBM 3084 from any of the terminal cluster sites on campus. This introductory course is intended for anyone who has an interest in developing computer-aided instruction. No previous computer experience is required. Pat Murphy will be your instructor (257-2244). ************************************************************************* WEATHER ON VIEW Kentucky weather forecasts and other weather-related information are now being supplied by the Agricultural Weather Center in the Department of Agricultural Engineering of the College of Agriculture. The forecast is updated three times each day, Monday through Friday. Severe weather information is not available at this time. To access Kentucky weather information, just enter VIEW WEATHER Details about this new service are available in the help information for Weather on the main VIEW menu. For more information about the weather list, contact Tom Priddy at the Agricultural Weather Center, 257-5850, WEATHER@UKCC. For more information about VIEW, contact Dave Elbon, SYSDAVE@UKCC.UKY.EDU, 257-2230. ************************************************************************* HOLIDAY SCHEDULE Tuesday, July 4 is an official UK holiday. The UKCC offices, Consulting Room, and Micro Lab will be closed. The Data Center and Users' Rooms in 103 and 111 McVey Hall will be open from Noon until 12:30 a.m. The IBM and PRIME systems will be in operation, as usual. ************************************************************************* HOW COMPUTERS WORK The functional design of a computer as a central processing unit, memory, and input/output has changed little since the birth of computers in the thirties. We will discuss these units in terms of the typical microcomputer, although most of the layout comes from the mainframe computer. Previous articles have described how simple electronic circuits made of miniaturized solid-state components such as transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors can be made to respond in a repeatable fashion to a series of input electronic signals. More complex assemblies of circuits can do such tasks as adding numbers, storing and retrieving numbers, and testing a circuit to see if certain conditions are present. Extremely complicated operations, involving thousands of simple operations, are practical in computers because of the small size of the circuits and the speed of the execution of instructions. Despite the complexity of any individual operation, a computer's circuitry can be categorized into a few groups. These groups also happen to coincide with the design and construction of computers as groups of "chips," each chip having a different job to do. Computer components are basically tiny layouts of silicon and aluminum, but as we look at the organization of each computer chip, differences appear. Some chips are designed with a custom layout specific to one job and one machine. Other chips are generic. They can do many jobs or can be segmented to do different jobs in the same chip simultaneously. There are three main functional blocks of a computer: the central processing unit (CPU), the memory units, and the peripheral input-output control units which handle transfer of data to the outside world. These usually reside on separate chips. The CPU is the heart of the computer. This chip controls the flow of data and instructions within the computer. A CPU chip has four main subunits: the clock, the arithmetic-logic unit, the control unit, and input-output unit which handles data transfer between the CPU and memory or any supporting circuits outside the CPU. The CPU clock is the master time control of the computer, and its frequency of pulses determines the speed of the computer. Computers are designed as groups of interlocking units, each unit with a particular function. Each unit passes information as a series of electronic pulses to the other units. The information may be an instruction to do something, it may be a piece of data to manipulate, or it may be information about the state of the computer. The pulses must move in a timed sequence, or the instructions could run in the wrong order or the data could become garbled. The clock circuit sends a timing pulse to each unit in the computer. That pulse sets every circuit in motion and regulates when each circuit is allowed to send, receive, or process information. The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) handles what most people believe the whole computer is doing: performing arithmetic on numbers. The ALU is an array of logic circuits that can add and subtract numbers and handle basic logic operations, involving comparisons. Operations such as multiplication and division can be handled by a form of repeated addition or subtraction. The control unit (CU) has two functions: handling instructions and controlling how the ALU and the input-output unit (I/O U) interact with main memory and the rest of the computer. The CU is in charge of fetching program instruction codes from the main memory, interpreting the instruction code for the operation required, and then executing the instruction once it has been interpreted. This requires control over the I/O U which not only moves and stores pieces of data or instruction, but also keeps track of the address where it got everything and the address of where to put it back. The addresses refer to locations in another set of chips which do not directly process the data, yet perform another indispensable duty in the computer: memory. Each computer has to store information. Storage circuits are called the memory. Memory can store data or instructions. Yet there are two different types of memory circuits in computers, and the difference is in the way they store data, not the type of data stored. One type of memory is configured permanently. This type of memory stores instructions even when the computer is turned off. Instructions are designed into the circuits that make up the memory. This memory is designed to be read when a computer is turned on, to perform the "wake-up" instructions, telling the machine that it's a computer, instead of a toaster. Because this information is designed in a particular way, it can only be read, not written to. This is called Read-Only Memory, or ROM. The ROM is used for instructions to be read quickly, the same way every time. When a microcomputer is powered up, ROM tells the CPU where to find the address of its first instructions, and how to test itself and the rest of the computer. A ROM chip can also hold entire programs. Some computers come equipped with ROM chips that hold word processing programs, spreadsheets, or databases. Many simple computers use ROM chips in a cartridge to hold individual programs, such as the Atari or Nintendo game cartridges. The other type of memory is more flexible. Its circuits are just repetitions of a basic memory element, the storage circuit. This type of memory can remember data as long as the computer is turned on. Once computer power is turned off, any information is lost. Each element in the memory has its own unique address. Any data can be read from and written to any address in memory as easily as another. For this reason, it is called Random-Access Memory, or RAM. RAM can be part of any chip as a place to temporarily hold data or instructions, but a part of the computer is usually set aside as a general purpose memory location, and this location is called the RAM. Software may be loaded into RAM as program instructions, and RAM can also be used for data storage. RAM is usually partitioned off for both purposes simultaneously. Programs are usually loaded into RAM from external storage, such as a floppy disk or hard disk. Then, as the program executes, data is put into RAM for quick access by the CPU. This is why losing power in the middle of a program can cost you an hour's worth of work. The data, in the form of a spreadsheet or a document, are in temporary storage only, until it is specifically saved to a magnetic media that doesn't require continual power to remember data. RAM memory is what is usually meant when someone asks, "How big is your computer?" Memory units start with the bit. A bit is a storage circuit that holds one binary number, either one or zero. Think of it as a single switch circuit that is on or off. A set of eight bits is a typical "word" to a computer and is called a byte. Data are usually moved around in bytes, from one storage register, or address, to another. System RAM is measured in thousands of bytes, or kilobytes. Typical microcomputers today have 500 to 2000 kilobytes of RAM. For comparison's sake, UKCC's IBM 3090 mainframe has about 1,000,000 kilobytes, or one gigabyte; a billion bytes. This compares with the average memory of a thousand IBM PS/2 Model 50's. RAM memory is controlled by the CPU and interfaces with the outside world as data and program instructions are loaded into it from a variety of sources. To load RAM, the computer depends on circuits that handle input and output from several peripheral devices. Most of the input to RAM comes from the magnetic memory devices known as the disk drives. The floppy disk and the hard disk are storage memories that code information onto rotating magnetic disks. These disks can retain information without power being continually applied. This gives the computer a large reserve library, without requiring huge amounts of RAM storage and continual power. Disk storage does not require any translation of data to human-perceivable form, so it is relatively efficient in terms of speed and space. Other input-output circuits handle the work of translating human information to the computer, and making computer language intelligible to humans. These circuits deal with input from the keyboard and mouse and output to the video screen or printer. Pressing a key causes a coded signal to go to the computer, telling it which key was pressed. An interpreter translates keyboard-entered data or commands to machine-usable form. Moving the mouse causes another type of signal which signifies direction of movement, and this signal is fed to a program in RAM which knows what each movement signifies. Output to a printer is fed to an interpreter which decides what shape to make each character of output. Output to a video screen also goes to a character generator, but is then further recoded because video screens do not spell out each word or graphic one letter or picture at a time. Instead, the video circuit decides what each screen will look like, sorts it out, and scans the whole screen from top to bottom, one row of dots at a time, very quickly. The very simplest computer consists of a CPU, a memory, and some I/O circuitry. The most complicated computers have multiple CPUs, complicated multiple memories, input-output networks which can tie in the processors of other computers, circuitry which allows the resources of the computer to be shared among hundreds of simultaneous users, and exotic separate arithmetic processors. Yet when any computer is turned on, the same things happen: the switches open and close, and the electrons move from one circuit to another. The ROM tells the CPU where to look for its first instructions, the system checks itself, operating systems load into RAM memory, and the video display blinks to life. -- Tom Faller ************************************************************************* SUGGESTIONS 1. When will CMS 5 become the default for UKCC? >>>It won't. Instead, we will switch to CMS 5.5 running under VM/XA SP sometime this summer. 2. I can't get KERMIT to work. It worked before. I reset my storage to 4m and still received the same error message. >>>We've found a new version of Kermit. LOGOFF and LOGON again to get it. 3. I'd like to know more about how NetNews works, and how I might set up a bulletin board for family issues. >>>Contact Bob Crovo of Academic User Services at 257-2258, CROVO@UKCC.UKY.EDU, 109 McVey Hall. He'll be glad to help. 4. How can we obtain access to Usenet newsgroups on UKCC? I'm considering a study of electronic newsgroupings, and from most sources around the country Usenet seems to be the best place to gather data. >>>There is Usenet software available for VM, but we don't have it. 5. Vanity ids are a hassle to those of us who have nicknames for users that correspond to a particular vanity id. For example, I can't use DEBBIE as a nickname because a CMS id of DEBBIE already exists, and that user would receive mail I might send to the nick- named person. While vanity ids are nice for their owners, this causes the rest of us to modify our thought processes to accommodate this. >>>When you use the TELL and MAIL commands, your nickname file is always checked first. Only if you don't have a nickname set up for DEBBIE would the CMS userid DEBBIE be the recipient of your mail. If you need help setting up a nickname file, contact a Consultant in 110 McVey Hall, 257-2249, SUGGEST@UKCC.UKY.EDU. 6. I'm trying to determine my BITNET address so I can access ISAAC. Do I need to do anything special to get one? >>>Your BITNET address is your userid and node name. 7. I have been using BITNET for a few months to talk with someone at Vanderbilt. We have had a lot of mail that does not get through; more than 75% of it gets lost. There are no "return to sender" messages waiting for either of us when mail fails to get through. My friend uses BITNET extensively for her own work, but has trouble only with mail to me. Is my account restricted, is there a problem with the mailer here, or are we doing something wrong? >>>We don't know of any general problems with BITNET mail. Contact Herman Collins, SYSHERM@UKCC.UKY, 257-2256, 210 McVey Hall for help with your particular problem. 8. I need help with the Help facility. After entering the HELP command, if I place the cursor on Online Manuals, Online News, or Information Online, and press ENTER, I receive the error message "Help cannot find the information you requested." All other choices on the HELP menu work. Another problem I've encountered is after entering HELP A3270 TASK. A list of terminals is provided with the instructions to place the cursor on the desired topic, and press enter to get more help. Following these instructions resulted in the same error I received in HELP. >>>You're logged on to UKAG, and most of those items aren't available on UKAG. The 7171 information should be though; we'll investigate. 9. When I issue LWSCRIPT from flist it now removes me from flist after the command is executed. Is this a new option with XA? >>>This is an old problem with XA. Many commands carry an exit from flist. 10. Could you make one of the PF keys in the Manual Menu for going to the bottom of the list? Thanks. >>>Good idea. We'll look into it. 11. Can the APRINT command be used to print on a printer attached to a Macintosh? If so, how? I don't see any subcommands in the online help facility specifically for Mac printers. >>>Not directly. If you are using Kermit you can enable session logging, and APRINT output will go to the log file which can be printed using a word processor. MacTerminal has a similar feature. 12. I would like to print some manuals to my terminal and not to a printer. I haven't been able to properly use the TPRINT option for the MANUAL command. It used to be that I could GRAB MANUAL and use KERMIT to download it, but that no longer seems to be possible. Any suggestions? >>>Use MANUAL MENU. SELECT the manual you want, and then enter SAVE fn ft A. You'll get a CMS file on your A-disk. 13. The :rscs field works great for TELL, but it doesn't work for SENDFILE. Rscs does work for SHIP, though. >>>Yes, the :rscs tag is supported only by SHIP and TELL at this time. We recommend using SHIP rather than SENDFILE since it supports this feature and a wider array of addressing styles. 14. SENDFILE does not recognize RSCS.rscsname. Instead, it uses the NODE.nodename. Can SENDFILE be updated to work with nnames and NAMES on CMS release 5? >>>Use SHIP rather than SENDFILE to get support for the RSCS tag. 15. I've tried ftping from here to s.ms.uky.edu and I get connecting to s.ms.uky.edu 0.0.0.200. The screen stays blank and I get no other response. The correct ip address for s.ms.uky.edu should be 128.163.128.19. >>>For some reason NAMESRV on UKCC had the wrong value cached; the real name servers (like ncc.uky.edu) had the right number. We restarted NAMESRV, and it's working OK now. Let us know of any other problems. ************************************************************************* 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 128 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 121 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 218 Database - IDMS Rick Chlopan DBA003@UKCC 257-2211 230E Data Center 257-2222 61 Data Entry Frank McCormick OPFRANK@UKCC 257-2216 72 Disk Rental Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 130 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 130 Facilities Operations Joe Williams UKA048@UKCC 257-2231 122 Graphics Consultation Bob Williamson ROBERTT@UKCC 257-2227 207 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 Machine Room 257-2222 59 Management Information Systems Forrest Hahn UKA006@UKCC 257-2260 123 Memos and Manuals Consulting Room 257-2249 110 Micro Lab 257-2207 107 Network/Telecommunications UKT101@UKCC 257-2229 New Accounts Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 130 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 130 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 130 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 130 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 120 Lorinda Wang UKC333@UKCC 257-2204 109B Statistical Consulting Steve Thomson STEVE@UKCC 257-2259 120 Tapes to Borrow, Tape Storage Data Center 257-2222 61 Tours of UKCC Lavine Thrailkill UKC105@UKCC 257-2257 121 User Account Services Janet Hyatt HYATT@UKCC 257-2212 130 Larry Johnson JOHNSON@UKCC 257-2217 130 Vectorization Consulting Tom Faller TOMFAL@UKCC 257-2236 314 ************************************************************************* UNIVERSITY COMPUTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE Douglas E. Hurley, Central Administration H. Clay Owen, Central Administration A.J. Hauselman, Community Colleges James W. Phillips, Community Colleges Raphael Finkel, Lexington Campus Leonard K. Peters, Lexington Campus N. Clare Detraz, Medical Center David A. Nash, Medical Center T. Earle Bowen, Ex Officio Ben W. Carr, Ex Officio Wimberly C. Royster, Ex Officio Donald E. Sands, Ex Officio Eugene R. Williams, Ex Officio *************************************************************************