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Conference bulova::decw_jan-89_to_nov-90

Title:	DECWINDOWS 26-JAN-89 to 29-NOV-90
Notice:	See 1639.0 for VMS V5.3 kit; 2043.0 for 5.4 IFT kit
Moderator:	STAR::VATNE

Created:	Mon Oct 30 1989
Last Modified:	Mon Dec 31 1990
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3726
Total number of notes:	19516

204.0. "Usage of DECW$SERVER_DEVICE_SETUP_xx.COM and DECW$SERVER_n_INPUT.DAT" by OIWS20::BRYSON () Tue Feb 14 1989 21:31

Here are two more files that I can't seem to find any documentation.  They are
both referenced by DECW$STARTSERVER.COM.  I think I've got the 
DECW$SERVER_DEVICE_SETUP_xx.COM file.  I assume it is that command procedure
for configuring third party devices for use by DECwindows (i.e., pointing or
keyboard devices).  Is this correct?

Also, when the server is started, the input is set to DECW$SERVER_n_INPUT.DAT.
It does not exist on the system and I don't see it getting created, so 
what is it's usage and what type of information would be contained?

Thanks,

David

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
204.1	FWIW	YGDRSL::SANTIAGO	Drinking deeply of the Pierian spring	`Tue Feb 14 1989 23:04`	6
	DECW$SERVER_DEVICE_SETUP_GB.COM is for use on Firefox, whose graphics device is called GBA0:. It is not for a third party device. Currently, this file sets up for a nice big mouse pointer and sets the WSQUOTA for the server to something reasonable.
204.2	Escape hatch	DECWIN::FISHER	Burns Fisher 381-1466, ZKO3-4/W23	`Wed Feb 15 1989 09:14`	19
	It was not intended for third-party devices. It was basically an escape-hatch for Firefox. When DECwindows shipped, there was some concern that there might be something that Firefox would need which we had not discovered yet. Since FF was shipping before the next real DECwindows release, we wanted to allow for some modifications to be made by an extra file which the FF distribution would contain. I think you will discover another hook too...somewhere there is some magic that can run an alternate server under some conditions. Same deal. No support. Don't use it without expecting it to break in the next release. Certainly don't use it for customers. As to the input, I can't think of a single thing that the server reads in via stdin. I can only imagine that this might have been put there by the devo who wrote the startup commands as a "just in case" measure. So far as I know, it is not used. Burns
204.3		VWSENG::KLEINSORGE	Toys 'R' Us	`Wed Feb 15 1989 10:50`	8
	It was pretty handy, and my hacked UIS-based server uses a _GV file. In fact, the command files were done so flexible that (except perhaps for DECW$DEVICE.COM) completely new servers can be added without modifying any of the DECwindows files.
204.4	Catastrophic bugs...	OIWS20::BRYSON		`Wed Feb 15 1989 11:49`	15
	re .1 and .2: Thanks. I thought it might be for third party devices since everything appeared to be covered in the other .com files. However, I see that my suspicions were not exactly incorrect as seen in .3 in that a different driver is being used. Oh, and I like the comment above the magic in DECW$STARTSERVER.COM: $! Catastrophic bugs could case us to need a device specific server... Thanks for the info! David