Conference bulova::decw_jan-89_to_nov-90

2091.0. "UISX "IFT" Location" by SITBUL::KLEINSORGE (So sue me.) Fri Jan 19 1990 19:36

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|d|i|g|i|t|a|l|      I N T E R O F F I C E    M E M O R A N D U M

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To: Distribution                       Date:  January 19, 1990

                                       From:  Fred Kleinsorge

                                       Dept:  UISX Development

                                       Enet:   SSPENG::KLEINSORGE

                                       Loc/Mail Stop: GSF1/K10







Subj: Internal VMS/UISX kit for testing















    The VMS/UISX Runtime Library has been made  available  for  internal

    DIGITAL  users.   The library allows many UIS applications to run on

    VMS/DECwindows Workstations.  This preliminary kit is  part  of  the

    next  planned  release  of the VMS Workstation Software and is being

    made available to Internal DIGITAL users to assist UISX  Development

    in  debugging  prior  to  external  testing.   No  date for external

    testing has been set and this  software  MUST  NOT  be  provided  to

    anyone outside of DIGITAL for ANY reason without the express written

    consent of UISX Development Management.



    A notesfile for UISX will be opened up on VWSENG::  in the next week

    and  the  VWS  V4.3  QAR database will be opened on SWSQAR::.  These

    will be announced via the standard distribution and notesfiles.



    Please copy this short memo, print and read it before using UISX.



    The kit may be obtained from:



    VWSENG::UISX$FT1:UISX020.A, .B, .C, .D, .E



    Online release notes are provided by the kit.  There are a number of

    important items that are not in these notes:



     o  VMS/UISX will be supported by VMS Version 5.3 and later.  Due to

        problems  that  could not be resolved with DECwindows Version 1,

        UISX will be supported only on DECwindows Version 2 (VMS Version

        5.3)  and later.  While this kit will install on any VMS Version

        5.1, 5.2 or V5.3 system, users may experience program exits  and

        access violations.



     o  There is no IVP implemented on the IFT kit.


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     o  After installation, the server must be reset to pick up the  new

        X11  fonts.   This  may  be  done  simply  by logging out or the

        workstation and logging back in.



     o  In  this  version  of  the  software,  graphic  text  (text   or

        characters  which  are  scaled, rotated or sheared) REQUIRES the

        availability of the native VWS fonts to the client  application.

        Either  monochrome or color versions (.VWS$FONT and .VWS$VAFONT)

        of the VWS fonts may be used.  If the VWS font is not available,

        graphic text will be drawn blank.



     o  UIS   "formatted"   text   (UIS$SET_TEXT_FORMATTING)   is    not

        implemented.



     o  VMS/UISX is in the process on transitioning from  it's  original

        internal  name  of "XUIS".  Image and file names have changed to

        reflect the new name, but logical names are  still  prefixed  by

        XUIS$.  All names will change by Field Test to the UISX$ prefix.



     o  Colormap Segments and Shared Colormaps are not yet implemented.



     o  If the UIS application pauses in any way  (pause,  suspend,  the

        debugger  prompt),  input events such as mouse movement may hang

        the server for the server timeout period before causing the link

        to be aborted.  This is a inherent problem with X11 and there is

        no known workaround for it.  Functions like window resizing that

        could  be  done  from a paused state in VWS using the mouse will

        NOT work under DECwindows.



     o  VMS/UISX does NOT support any code  which  requires  inner  mode

        access.   This  precludes  the use of both the TEK4014 and VT200

        emulators.



     o  The TEK4125 emulator "should" function under VMS/UISX, since  it

        executes in user mode.  See the file SYS$MANAGER:VWS$TEK4125.COM

        for how to start the TEK emulator.



     o  The UIS  Create  Terminal  function  will  only  create  DECterm

        terminals,  it will not create TEK4014 windows.  The PTY drivers

        and DECterm terminal controller must be active on the client for

        the function to succeed.



     o  The dragon DOP interface and the common video QIO interface  are

        NOT available and are not likely to ever be provided.



     o  VMS/UISX  will  work  from  non-workstation   VAX/VMS   systems.

        Install  the  software both on the client VMS machine and on the

        workstation (for the X11 fonts).  The startup  command  file  on

        the  client will set up everything that is needed for use except

        defining the workstation which can be done through  DECW$DISPLAY

        or  SYS$WORKSTATION  logical  names.  VMS/UISX can connect to an

        unlimited  number  of  remote  workstations  (limited  only   be

        DECwindows  limits) and can drive up to 16 seperate workstations

        (with an arbitrary number of windows  on  each)  from  a  single

        virtual display.


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     o  VMS/UISX should be capable of display on non-VMS  servers.   The

        fonts   are   provided   only   in  VMS  Server  Natural  Format

        (.DECW$FONT) only.  All text output will  use  client  side  VWS

        native  fonts.   VMS/UISX  uses the fallback of "fixed" for it's

        default font when no other font can be found.  Fontnames can  be

        redirected using logical names (with up to a nesting depth of 10

        logical names), and the fontnames can be standard X11/XLFD  font

        names.   So  a  failure  for  font "UIS_FONT_09" can be fixed by

        defining  a  logical  name  of  UIS_FONT_09  with   a   suitable

        (available)  X11  font.   X11  fontname  wildcarding  should  be

        acceptable.



     o  Do NOT mix Xlib and XToolkit programming with UIS programming at

        this point in time.





    There are a number of logical names defined by the command  file  in

    SYS$STARTUP named UISX$STARTUP.COM.  This command file is invoked by

    SYSMAN during VMS startup.  It can also be invoked for non-privleged

    definition  of  the  logicals by supplying the keyword "USER" as the

    first parameter.  VMS/UISX logical  names  are  contained  within  a

    logical  name  table  and are accessed via a search list.  Users can

    override system wide settings locally by  defining  process  logical

    names.



    The most important logical names are:



     o  SYS$WORKSTATION - this logical should be set to the X11  display

        identifier  string  NODE::SERVER.SCREEN  or  should  point  to a

        DC_WORKSTATION device.  It may also be redirected by  up  to  10

        logical  name  redefinitions.   The  default for this logical is

        DECW$DEVICE.



     o  XUIS$BACKING_STORE - this logical controls the allocation  of  a

        backing  store  PIXMAP.   By  default  backing  store  is always

        enabled and windows will not lose their contents.  By  disabling

        this  logical  by defining it as FALSE, no backing store is done

        and performance is approximately twice normal speed.



     o  XUIS$FLUSH - Xlib  does  not  automatically  flush  it's  output

        buffer.   To  cause  XUIS  to  do the flush, set this logical to

        TRUE.  Setting this to true may cause a significant decrease  in

        performance.  Not setting this true may cause things to "appear"

        not to work.



     o  XUIS$SYNCHRONIZE  -  defining  this  to  true  causes  the  Xlib

        XSynchronize function to be called and all X11 output to be done

        synchronous.  This may cause  random  exits,  server  hangs  and

        server errors.  It should only be used for debugging.



     o  UISSHR - this is the name  of  the  UIS  Runtime  Library.   The

        startup  file  for  UISX  redirects access to UISXSHR.EXE.  This

        should normally not be altered.




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    A message file has also been provided in SYS$MESSAGE - UISXMSG.EXE.

    
    As a quick program example, I have also included:
    
    		VWSENG::UISX$FT1:QIX.BCK
    
    This is a slightly modified version of the original VWS QIX program.
    It creates 4 windows each displaying one quadrant of the virtual
    display.
    
    The windows are created using the logicals (which you must define):
    
    		SYS$WORKSTATION
    		SYS$WORKSTATION_2
    		SYS$WORKSTATION_3
    		SYS$WORKSTATION_4
    
    When logicals _2 through _4 are defined to SYS$WORKSTATION, this
    application will run on a standard VWS system
    
    Define these logicals to DECW$DISPLAY and this application will run
    on a non-UIS VMS/DECwindows system.  Define each logical to a seperate
    DECwindows server/screen string and the windows can run remotely and/or
    locally on seperate (or the same) display devices.  The devices can be
    any mixture of types including TrueColor, Mono, PseudoColor, Unix, PC's
    and VAX/VMS.  DEFINE the logical XUIS$SYNCHRONIZE TRUE to force the X11
    display to sychronize drawing and all of the output (while *much*
    slower) will be in sync.
    
    The source code is included in the saveset, as you will see a single
    plot command draws a WC line that spans multiple windows and displays.
    No special logic is required.  Each window may also be resized to
    show more or less of the display.
    

       
       
       
       	I was under the impression that starting something up using SYSMAN
       was not reccomended at this time.. SQM should have the straight
       scoop.
       
       							mike

    
    If it's not, I'm sure SQM will let me know.  Since both DECwindows and
    VWS use this mechanism, it seemed the appropriate means to define the
    environment (note, it doesn't "start" anything).  The alternative was
    to drive it from the STARTVWS command file which *IS* started from
    SYSMAN which would have the same net effect.
    
    _Fred
    

I thought I saw somewhere recently that using the database to start things is
ok (it is documented functionality...), but using the undocumented VMSINSTAL
callbacks to make this happen automatically during layered product installation
is not ok. (This restriction on the use of the callbacks has a release note 
in X5.4)

    
    There is now a notesfile for this subject:
    
    
    			VWSENG::UISX
    
    _Fred

       RE: .3,.4
       
       	Ah, ok.. Yup, the Callbacks are the wrong thing.. I believe that
       the DECwrite installation does this.. (and breaks on my advanced
       baselevels of VMS)
       
       							mike