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Here is the ASCII version of the newsletter. It's not as fun as the PostScript
version, but just as exciting !


Hello one and all.  Here is the September 1992 Newsletter for OCSUG. 

Meeting is Fri, Sep 18 at Odetics. 09:00 - 12:00

-----------------------Begin newsletter-----------------

What's HOT !!!!

Welcome to the third issue of OCSUG.  Who would have thought that the fun
could last this long. As usual SUN is spoiling us with announcements or
shipments of new products and upgrades. See the new Solar Flares section which
will provide a synopsis of new items from SUN. Anaheim played host to the Sun
EXPO in July and there is an article documenting the brave souls who did
battle in the booth during the July membership drive. Last, but not least, see
if you can guess the identity of the person in the mystery photo.  No hints!

 So get a cup of coffee, sit back and relax, and get ready to enjoy this
issue.

What Happened Last Time ...

When last we looked in on our intrepid little group, we were sitting around
the monitor held absolutely spellbound over the presentation of the 
SPARCstation 10. Sun Microsystems was very generous to send us a copy of the
product announcement video from the show that took place in Long Beach, CA on
May 19. After rousing cheers and applause from all present, the room quickly
emptied as we all ran to find telephones to call our local salespeople and
place our orders!

Next up was Solaris 2.0 for Intel presented by Pat Moore from SunSoft. In case
you weren't there, this presentation included a lot of meat and potatoes stuff
about what's really inside this beast. Product information was presented and
passed out to all attendees. If you didn't receive the spec sheet, please
contact me and I will see if I have any left. 

The next item was presented by by Mike Rembis. It was a short presentation
about Uninterruptible Power Supplies, and specifically the details were
centered on the Best unit installed at Ericsson.


The Steering Committee:

Mike Rembis - Ericsson  (Chairperson)
Dave Rossman - Odetics
Gene Saunders - Sun Microsystems
Jim Rice - Western Digital
Kathryn Fielding - Genisco
Virginia Baca - IMA



Meeting Topics 



This month's agenda consists of:

Sun EXPO Review
Sun Net Manager 2.0
Alantec PowerHUB 
SUG CD-ROM 1992.2


We will start the meeting with a retrospective of the Sun EXPO that took place
in July at the Anaheim Convention Center. I would like to thank David Rossman
and John Mangrich for donating their time in the booth in the pursuit of new
members. Also a big thanks to the national SUG for providing space for  us.

Next up will be the presentation of the latest and greatest features of Sun
Net Mgr 2.0. It really works now and it's fun to use ! 

Greg Sonn of Alantec will then present the PowerHUB. The PowerHUB can be
thought of as a virtual network backbone.

And finally, time permitting,  I will tell all the details about  The Contest
!

The meeting will be held at Odetics in Anaheim near Disneyland. See the map at
the end of this newsletter for details. The next scheduled meeting for the
OCSUG is Friday, November 20. 

 "Who is this person ?"

(See PostScript version newsletter)



"Pardon me, is that the Sun up there in there in the sky?"

[soapbox mode on]

I don't know - I'm a stranger in town.  Yes, it's an old joke, however it
seems very appropriate at the minute. Of course, in my case, I'm seeing double
or triple. OK, let me explain. For months now, we have been told that the
breakup of Sun into the many planets is good for us. Its good for business
(whose?) and its good for the competition (again, whose?). So exactly what I
am babbling about ? Well ever since this strategic move, I have experienced
more hassle and headaches while attempting to purchase items  from Sun(so).  

First,  I find it impossible to obtain information necessary to purchase
something without making at least three phone calls to different planets. It
is nearly as impossible to return anything to the planets. Thirdly, the
planets do not seem to understand each other's role in the universe.

Why is this ?  Why is it so difficult just to order something? Logic dictates
that if I have found out about something through one Sun channel, then all
other Sun channels should know about  before I do.  I don't work for Sun nor
any Sun subsidiary. 

The trouble doesn't seem to exist at the local level. It seems to be happening
on a more global scale.

Let's experience one of my typical calls to Sun. (For the record, this has
happened four times this year)

Sunsoft announces and releases a new product. In the product release, it
provides a phone number for information. You call the number. They then point
you to two locations, SMCC in Mountain View, the product manager, and the
other is SunExpress. So you call SunExpress and ask to order the new product.
They tell you that they don't have part numbers nor pricing yet. They will
call you back. Well, is it released or not ? You be the judge.

There are too many Suns now. I don't feel the competition, although they may
be competing with each ether I don't feel the circle of support. All I feel is
confusion. What are your experiences? 

[soapbox mode off]



"The Great T-Shirt-Contest"

If you can successfully identify the mystery person depicted earlier in this
issue, you will receive a finely crafted, Made-In-The-USA SUG T-Shirt !!!!!! 

(See PostScript version newsletter)


What's the catch? You knew that there would be a catch. The only catch is that
you must be present to win!!! (I know, I'll get you to the meeting one way or
another)



The following is an unpaid and unsolicited editorial.

 "Alantec PowerHub"

If your network users are connected directly into your fileserver, or you have
multiple 10BaseT Hubs connected together, or you simply want to increase the
performance of your network, we have the solution for you. The PowerHub
provides two FDDI connections and 12 Ethernet ports. Each Ethernet port is a
separate, full 10 Mb/sec.

Operating as a true Spanning Tree bridge and TCP/IP router, the PowerHub obeys
the rules of Ethernet, unlike Ethernet Switches. Switches do not provide CRC
checks nor do they care about packet integrity, therefore will forward runts,
giants, fragments and collisions. Additionally, typical LAN switches do not
provide any means to manage them with SNMP or any other standard protocol. And
because they are not routing they cannot prevent Broadcast storms. The
PowerHub offers true Ethernet compatibility with optional FDDI, while
providing standard routing and bridging with unparalleled performance.

The PowerHub can bridge in excess of 60,000 pps (Packets Per Second) and route
in excess of 55,000 pps, because of its patented "Pipeline DMA Architecture".
The PowerHub utilizes a single board design without the use of slow and costly
backplanes. Packets enter directly into a shared memory and are simply either
shipped or filtered. For secure environments, the PowerHub supports DOD
SECURITY RFC 1108 without taking a hit in performance

If you want to know more - come to the meeting !!!!!



Tips'n'Tricks 

 Custom Commands in File Manager

by John Lewis II, john.lewis@sun.com

The File Manager Tool allows you to add your own  custom  commands under  the
"File / Custom Commands" menu. Once you add a new command, it will always show
up on the "Custom Commands" menu for  you  to  use.  In Sunview/OpenLook and
OpenWindows 2.0, you will see the command itself on the menu, and in
OpenWindows 3.0, you can have a label show  up  on  the menu  that  represents
 the  command. Let's look at some useful commands that you can add to File
Manager...



A SIMPLE EXAMPLE

Suppose you have a text file that you created with Text Editor, and  you would
like to spell-check it before printing it out.  UNIX has a command called
"spell" that you can use on a file that will  display  any  words that were in
your file but not in the system dictionary. You could go to a shelltool and
type "spell filename" but it will be  faster  to  spell- check from File
Manager.

First, menu select "Create Command"  under  "File  /  Custom  Commands". Enter
 the  command "spell $FILE". The word "spell" is the UNIX command, and "$FILE"
tells File Manager which file to perform the "spell" command on.  This  is  a
special name ($FILE) that has to be capitalized. If you are using OpenWindows
3.0, you can give the command a label like  "Spell Check  File",  which  will 
be on the menu instead of the actual command "spell $FILE". Now apply this
change to the menu by pressing "Apply"  on the pop-up window.

Next, select the file you want to spell-check. (The file icon  that  you have 
selected with the mouse, is the file represented by "$FILE" in the command.)

Now, with the file highlighted, menu select your custom command, and any words
 not  found  in  the  system  dictionary  will be displayed in the console
window.

________________________________________________________________________

FILES

When you add commands to the menu, they are saved in a special  file  in your 
 home   directory.   The  File  Manager  in  Sunview/OpenLook  and OpenWindows
2.0 save the commands in a  file  called  ".fvcmd",  and  in OpenWindows 3.0
they are saved in a file called ".fmcmd".

You can add to the files through the menu  selection  "Create  Command", but
when modifying, it may be easier to make the changes directly to the file
using vi or Text Editor. If you make changes this way, a  new  File Manager
will have to be launched to see the change on the menu.

________________________________________________________________________

MORE EXAMPLES

Now that you have spell-checked your text file, you may want to print it out 
with  a  different  font than the default, which is courier on most printers.
Try these commands for printing text files:

enscript -B -fHelvetica12 $FILE enscript -B -fTimes-Roman13 $FILE

Here are some other commands to try:

ls -l $FILE (display long listing of file) 

file $FILE  (display type of file) 

head $FILE (display first 10 lines of file) 

tail $FILE(display last 10 lines of file)

compress $FILE (compress a file to a smaller size) 

uncompress $FILE (uncompress a compressed file) 

cp `echo $FILE`% $FILE (restore from backup "%" file) 

cat $FILE > /dev/audio (listen to audio file) 

spell $FILE | fmt -46

(spell-check with more errors visible without scrolling the console
window)

________________________________________________________________________

ADVANCED EXAMPLES - (OpenWindows 3.0 Only)

The example commands above have been  fairly  short.  You  could  create
commands  that  total  256  characters  on  the command line. You may be
wondering, "Why does a command ever need to be that long, and how  could it 
be displayed on the menu?". The answer is that it can't be displayed on the
menu, which is why the following  examples  are  only  for  those using 
OpenWindows 3.0, because you can put a command label on the menu, and not see
the long command.

The File Manager in OpenWindows 3.0 uses  the  special  variable  called
"$FILE",  and  another one called "$ARG" that lets you pass arguments to the
command. One argument you may want to pass to the "enscript" command is  the 
name  of a printer, so that it doesn't always have to go to the default
printer. Here are the entries needed  on  the  "Create  Command" pop-up window
that will let you select a printer:

             ----------------------------------------------               MENU
LABEL:      Print Postscript Helvetica 12

UNIX COMMAND: cat $FILE | enscript -B  -fHelvetica12 -P$ARG

PROMPT WINDOW:           Yes

PROMPT:              Printer Name?             
----------------------------------------------

You may notice a few things  about  the  above  command  that  could  be
improved.  It  would  be nice to have a text file unformatted so that it wraps
to what-ever size window  you  are  using,  but  then  prints  out formatted, 
with  the return characters aligned correctly. Let's add the "fmt" command to
format text before sending it to the printer:

cat $FILE | fmt -s -94 | enscript -B -fHelvetica12 -P$ARG

Another thing that you may notice, is that  when  the  prompt  asks  you which
 printer you want, you may just want to press the "Run" button and have it go
to the  default  printer,  without  typing  in  your  default printer  name. 
But  this  will give you an error message in the console window, because you
didn't give the "-P" argument  any  information.  We can put the entire
command inside a "C" shell and trap the error message like this:

csh -cf "cat $FILE|fmt -s -94|enscript -BfHelvetica12 -P$ARG|& egrep -v
argument"

Obviously you can get carried away and create some very  long  commands. Here 
are  two examples that will allow the OpenWindows 3.0 user to send and receive
encoded mail files from Sunview/OpenLook and OpenWindows 2.0 mailtool users:

                          VERY LONG COMMAND #1

  -------------------------------------------------------------------- MENU
LABEL: OW3 File -> OW2 Mailtool User

UNIX COMMAND: compress -cf $FILE>$FILE".Z";echo ' ';echo "Send`echo $FILE| sed
's/\// /g'|fmt -1|tail -1`.Z to OW2 Mailtool User As Attachment"

     (Note that this must be one continuous line without a return)

  --------------------------------------------------------------------

                          VERY LONG COMMAND #2

  -------------------------------------------------------------------- MENU
LABEL: OW2 Mailfile -> OW3 File

UNIX COMMAND: echo Creating File: `grep begin $FILE|sed -n 's/.Z{}$//p'|awk
'{print $3}'`; cat $FILE|sed -n 's/{}$//p'|uudecode;uncompress `grep begin
$FILE| sed -n 's/{}$//p'|awk '{print $3}'`;sleep 3;rm $FILE

      (Note that this must be one continuous line without returns)

OUTPUT WINDOW: Yes

  --------------------------------------------------------------------

The output window is used in the above example because you  may  already have 
a  file  that  has the same name as the one about to be created. A prompt from
the uncompress command will ask if you  want  to  over-write the  existing
file. The output window also displays the name of the file it is creating so
you know which file to look for in file  manager  when the process is
complete.

________________________________________________________________________

CONCLUSION

With a little work, creativity, and UNIX knowledge, you can  incorporate the 
most-used  (or  most  required) commands in your organization, into Menu
Selectable Custom Commands that will enhance  the  productivity  of your
entire organization!

 Solar Flares 

New this  month

SunNet Manager 2.0
SunSolve 1.0
Sun SearchIt 1.0
Solaris 1.1A (SunOS 4.1.3) 
Netware/Sunlink



 Tidbits 

"Items overheard during the last two months ..."



*	Sun views Microsoft, Apple/IBM as the major competitors in the future
	marketplace.

*	Sun is predicting that the ratio of system administrators to users 
	will drop
	to 1 sysadm for every 20 users. This is why Sun is actively producing
 	system administration tools.

*	Sun is projecting Q4-1993 for simultaneous SPARC / INTEL releases.

*	Bristol Technologies is working on a compiler that takes raw MS/Windows 
	code and recompiles for OpenWindows 3.0

*	SunSoft is creating an IHV program for device drivers, tools, 
	sample code and certification.

*	Ask your local sales rep about Sun-WWN.

*	There are two Solaris Migration Kits. Version 1.0 is OW2 based and 
	Version 2.0 is OW3 based.

*	A recent unsolicited review of the installation of Solaris 2.0 reported
	that it took 69 minutes to install, adding that it will not fit on the
	207 Mb disk.

*	What's actually in Solaris 2.0 ? How about QuickCheck, Online DiskSuite,
	Filesystems up to 1Tb, Backup Co-Pilot, CD-based Installation, and 
	NIS+. q.v. - All administrative tools use NIS+



Final note:

Please come and join us at Odetics for this month's meeting. If it was good
enough for President Bush, then it's certainly good enough for you !!!!



Newsletter Information:
This newsletter was published by Mike Rembis

Ericsson Business Communications, Inc.
525 N. Muller St..
Anaheim, CA 92803       (714) 491-6259
Mike.Rembis@ebu.ericsson.se



Subscription requests should be mailed to:

oc-slug-request@sunkist.West.Sun.com


Meeting Location:

Odetics, Inc.
1515 So. Manchester Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92802-2907
David Rossman  (714) 774-5000 x6941

rossman@odetics.com



Meeting Time:

Sep. 18  from  09:00 - 12:00
SPECIAL NOTE:

Meeting room has moved! 

Use entrance to right and ask for SUG or David
-----------------------End newsletter-----------------

			Here is a "map" to Odetics...


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   Ave.    /  |         \  \\   V
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    o o       | Grand      |    | _\\  |
    (m)       | Hotel      |    |/   \\|
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 Disneyland   |    Freeman | Way       | \\
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