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                             ----------------------
                             Introduction to NETLIB
                             ----------------------


                              Frederick W. Chapman
                               (fc03@Lehigh.Edu)
                             Senior User Consultant
                        Lehigh University Computing Center


                                  July 7, 1992




       1. General Description
       ----------------------

            NETLIB is a network-based facility for the automated
       distribution of the source code for public domain scientific
       software.  Most of this software is written in FORTRAN, but some
       software is available in C, C++, and PASCAL.  Software is
       available for a wide variety of applications.  The following list
       -- which is far from exhaustive -- should give the reader an idea
       of the scope of the NETLIB collection.


       NUMERICAL METHODS:

          * Linear Algebra (eigenvalue and eigenvector computations,
              matrix factorizations, least squares)
          * Sparse Matrix Calculations
          * Numerical Optimization
          * Spline Interpolation
          * Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations
          * Fast Fourier Transforms
          * Special Functions

       WELL-KNOWN SOFTWARE:

          * Collected algorithms of the ACM "Transactions on
              Mathematical Software" (TOMS)
          * LAPACK, LINPACK, EISPACK, and BLAS subroutine libraries
          * AMS TeX and SIAM typesetting macros
          * MATLAB applications packages

       SOFTWARE FOR ADVANCED COMPUTER ARCHITECTURES:

          * Libraries for supporting parallel computation
          * Libraries for computation on vector-processor machines

       MISCELLANEOUS:

          * Packages supporting multiple-precision floating-point arith-
              metic (e.g., Brent's MP; Smith's FM, from TOMS algorithms)
          * Benchmark programs for comparing computing platforms
          * Collections of problems for testing numerical software
          * Programming aids such as single-precision-to-double-
              precision and FORTRAN-to-C conversion utilities
          * Companion software to various textbooks (e.g., Cheney and
              Kincaid; Forsythe, Malcolm, and Moler)
          * Bibliographies


       2. NETLIB Mail Servers
       ----------------------

            Information (such as NETLIB usage instructions) and software
       (such a routine from LAPACK or an algorithm from the ACM TOMS)
       can be obtained by sending requests -- via electronic mail -- to
       a NETLIB mail server at one of the following Internet addresses:

          netlib@research.att.com     (AT&T Bell Labs, New Jersey, USA)
          netlib@ornl.gov             (Oak Ridge Nat. Lab, Tenn., USA)
          netlib@unix.hensa.ac.uk     (Univ. of Kent, UK)
          netlib@nac.no               (Oslo, Norway)
          netlib@cs.uow.edu.au        (U. of Wollongong, NSW, Australia)

            Upon receipt of an appropriately worded request, the NETLIB
       mail server responds by sending the information or software
       requested to the electronic mail address of the requestor.
       Depending on your location, the amount of network traffic, and
       other factors, you may actually receive a reply within minutes of
       submitting your request!  Note that the software available may
       differ slightly from one NETLIB site to another.


       3. Accessing NETLIB via Electronic Mail
       ---------------------------------------

            To obtain more detailed instructions on the use of NETLIB,
       as well as an index of the software currently available from a
       particular NETLIB site, send an electronic mail (e-mail) message
       containing the line

            send index

       to a NETLIB mail server listed in Section 2 (usually the site
       which is geographically closest).

            The collected algorithms of the ACM journal, "Transactions
       on Mathematical Software" (TOMS), constitute a particularly
       worthwhile part of the NETLIB collection.  To obtain an index to
       the ACM TOMS algorithms available from NETLIB, include the
       following line in your e-mail message to a NETLIB mail server:

            send index from toms

            Many of the NETLIB packages make use of a collection of
       routines referred to as the CORE library, which contains routines
       for determining machine-dependent constants (e.g., the machine
       epsilon), and a set of Level 1, 2, and 3 Basic Linear Algebra
       Subprograms (BLAS).  To obtain an index to the CORE library,
       include this line in your e-mail message:

            send index from core

            Note that some mail trailers may "confuse" the NETLIB mail
       servers.  If you encounter problems, you might consider
       suppressing the use of your usual signature file when sending
       requests to NETLIB via e-mail.


       4. Accessing NETLIB via FTP
       ---------------------------

            In addition to the standard e-mail method for accessing the
       NETLIB software, the AT&T Bell Laboratories site also provides
       access to the NETLIB software via FTP; simply run FTP locally and
       connect to the Internet node "research.att.com", login with user-
       name "netlib" (in lowercase), and give anything as the password.
       The individual NETLIB libraries are arranged in separate subdi-
       rectories; for example, the ACM TOMS algorithms are stored in a
       subdirectory named "toms", and the CORE library is stored in a
       subdirectory named "cor" (*not* "core", oddly enough).

            Note that accessing NETLIB via FTP makes it easier to obtain
       *all* of the routines in a particular library, but requires a
       greater degree of sophistication on the part of the user; i.e.,
       the user must possess a certain amount of network and UNIX savvy,
       and a solid understanding of how the NETLIB collection is
       organized.  Accessing NETLIB via e-mail rather than FTP is
       recommended for new users, since the NETLIB mail servers
       automatically resolve subroutine dependencies (which must
       otherwise be resolved manually).


       5. X-Windows Version of NETLIB
       -------------------------------

            In addition to the standard e-mail based NETLIB, the Oak
       Ridge National Laboratory site supports "XNETLIB" -- a new, X-
       Windows version of NETLIB.  According to a recent announcement,
       "XNETLIB uses an X-Window graphical user interface and a socket-
       based connection between the user's machine and the XNETLIB
       server machine to process software requests".  Of course, XNETLIB
       requires that the user's computer or terminal be capable of
       supporting X-Windows.  The user will therefore need an engineering
       workstation that runs X-Windows, or an X-terminal, or a personal
       computer with X-terminal emulation software in order to take
       advantage of the benefits of XNETLIB.

            To obtain a copy of XNETLIB, send e-mail to the NETLIB mail
       server "netlib@ornl.gov" containing the lines

            mailsize 300k
            send xnetlib.shar from xnetlib

       Upon receiving the shar file via e-mail, save the message to a
       file (say, a file named "xnetlib.temp"), edit the file to remove
       the mail header, and then issue the UNIX commands

            sh xnetlib.temp
            sh xnetlib.shar

       After this, follow the instructions in the README file.  Comments
       on XNETLIB should be directed via e-mail to "xnetlib@cs.utk.edu".
-- 

David Clay Patton                                  patton@phy.uab.edu
Physics Department
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Al 35294