Conference necsc::cdmt

    Hi Kiyoshi,
    
    I don't understand the need for a set of product keywords for SMARTSTART.  
    SMARTSTART is an information service provided by Compaq only to certain
    groups of authorized service providers of Compaq support (like Digital).  
    
    The intention of entries in ALL_PRODUCTS.DAT (and MAINT_REF.DAT) is to
    provide a way for Digital Employees to write articles about the
    specified product.  I don't see why Digital Employees would want to 
    write articles about this service.  
    
    Also, based on what I know about the technical information management
    agreement between Compaq and Digital, Compaq wants Digital to use only 
    Compaq's call handling system and information feeds and may not even 
    allow Digital to write articles about Compaq products, especially about 
    a service which has a limited distribution.  Hence, we don't have a TIMA 
    .COMPAQ database under THIRD_PARTY or a similar one under DEC_THIRD_PARTY. 
    Below is a description of SMARTSTART from the technical information
    management agreement.  Let me know if your understanding is different.
    
    
    Best Regards,
    
    Lynn Beckner
    
    
      
    Distribution & Access Method:
    
    SMARTSTART is a multi-volume CDROM set containing approximately 16 CDs.
    This CD set includes 1 bootable master CD plus many operating system 
    specific CDROM titles.  These are enabled by separate floppy disk key and
    software license agreement. 
    
    Information Content:
    
    CIM Software		CIM Agent Software
    Insight Manager		Version Control Software
    Diagnostic Tools		Configuration Tools
    Product Builder		Operating System, Database & Backup SW
    Operating System Upgrades
                                                                        
    Update Frequency:
    
    CDROM is updated quarterly. WWW updates for some components as they
    become available.
    
    Restrictions:
    
    This information set is a substantial distribution and usually
    accompanies the delivery of a Compaq server to the end customer.
    Most likely target within MCS is the CSC contacts who maintain a Compaq
    hardware lab. 
    
     
    

Hi Lynn,

One of the support engineers in Japan wrote the RAY article (just
like local BLITZ) concerning deficiency of

	NTSSD (Windows NT support software diskette) V1.2J Rev.A created
	by SmartStart V3.2A

It is also for Windows NT, so Windows NT maintenance line was
added of course.

In addition, I would like to add keyword "COMPAQ" to distinguish.

Actually I searched \VEND=COMPAQ on THIRD_PARTY and DEC_THIRD_PARTY
databases. The result was that hit articles were 67. One maintenance
line was as follows:

\\ DB=DESKTOP LOG=DESKTOP_RSL VEND=COMPAQ PROD=SYSTEMPRO LT

The above was found in "COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO LT RSL" article.

Can I use keyword VEND=COMPAQ or simply COMPAQ in the maintenance line
for our local RAY artilces, probable without PROD=xxx keyword?

As for this SmartStart article, Windows NT may be PRODuct.

Kiyoshi,
 

    Hi Kiyoshi,
    
    Sorry for the delayed response.  Perhaps it would be best to post the
    article here, but to avoid any further delays, just put it in the
    DEC_THIRD_PARTY database by using PROD=MS-WNT *and* SOURCE=DIGITAL
    since it is valuable NT-related information for the field.  
    
    You can put VEND=COMPAQ on it for now, but we are currently researching
    any issues around Digital-authored Compaq information being distributed
    via Digital databases.  A further read of the information management
    agreement indicates that this is probably fine (especially for Digital
    internal use only), but no formal worldwide agreements "allowing
    unhindered copying and re-use" have been negotiated since the document
    was written 1 year ago.  Also, there may be separate territory
    agreements.
    
    Since there is currently no VEND=COMPAQ keyword in ALL_PRODUCTS.DAT, the 
    67 articles you found in DEC_THIRD_PARTY were assigned this keyword
    in Europe without going through a formal entry into ALL_PRODUCTS.DAT back 
    between 1992 - 1994 before any official alliance was begun.  Also, I 
    noticed that these are all hardware articles, containing parts/logistics
    information and as such, probably should have been entered into the VES
    database instead!...
    
    In any case, since there may be territory-specific agreements, I'm
    wondering what process if any has been used to date in Japan for 
    capturing/distributing *other* Compaq product information outside of
    their propriety call handling system or is this truely a first? 
    
    Best Regards,
    
    Lynn      

Hi,

We will use VEND=COMPAQ keyword then. These articles will be entered
into Japan local TIMA databases and NOT customer readable.
    
>    In any case, since there may be territory-specific agreements, I'm
>    wondering what process if any has been used to date in Japan for 
>    capturing/distributing *other* Compaq product information outside of
>    their propriety call handling system or is this truely a first? 

I asked DIGITAL Japan manager who is responsible for COMPAQ service delivery
planning.

He said COMPAQ technical articles (all written in Japanese) are stored
into shared folder which is protected by password. File types are .TXT,
.DOC and so forth. Currently used call handling system is CORE, not
their proprietary one.

These are not stored into TIMA of course.

"Do not enter customer readable COMPAQ articles into TIMA." he said.


Kiyoshi

We do not have the COMPAQ specific, such as Proliant, local technical
articles yet. 

However, when a support engineer in Japan writes articles on
them, which product name be entered into MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT file,
	generic product name COMPAQ-PC or
	specific names PROLIANT, PRESSARIO, and so forth?

Furthermore is it possible to add the above products maintenance lines to
MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT file beforehand? Are there any other different principles?

Thanks in advance,
Kiyoshi

Hi Kiyoshi,

> However, when a support engineer in Japan writes articles on
> them, which product name be entered into MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT file,
> 	generic product name COMPAQ-PC or
>	specific names PROLIANT, PRESSARIO, and so forth?

I believe the current thinking is to keep product name keywords generic and 
thus simplier, unless you anticipate a big volume of articles containing a 
large variety of PC products that would be difficult to retrieve unless they
were broken out into logical databases.  

> Furthermore is it possible to add the above products maintenance lines to
> MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT file beforehand? Are there any other different principles?

It has been our goal to enter keywords for TIMASTARS articles shared worldwide
into ALL_PRODUCTS.DAT/MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT proactively.  The problem has been 
that to do this successfully, we need a responsive "well oiled" new products 
introduction process that doesn't really exist, especially for multivendor 
information.  

> He said COMPAQ technical articles (all written in Japanese) are stored
> into shared folder which is protected by password. File types are .TXT,
> .DOC and so forth. Currently used call handling system is CORE, not
> their proprietary one.
> 
> These are not stored into TIMA of course.
> 
> "Do not enter customer readable COMPAQ articles into TIMA." he said.

However, I must admit that after reading the last couple of replies, I'm 
confused about what kind of articles you are putting where.  Are the articles
mentioned above which are written in Japanese and stored outside TIMA in a
shared folder written by Digital employees or supplied by Compaq (translated 
to Japanese)?

> We will use VEND=COMPAQ keyword then. These articles will be entered
> into Japan local TIMA databases and NOT customer readable.

Likewise, are the articles mentioned above which you are now putting the 
VEND=COMPAQ keyword on and entered into local TIMA databases written by 
Digital employees and only in Japanese?  If so, is there anyway they can be
translated to English so they can be shared worldwide? If much of the Compaq
support (and new knowledge capture) is starting up in Japan, I think this new 
knowledge would be of great benefit to the rest of Digital.  

Also, worldwide sharing is the premise of using the ALL_PRODUCTS.DAT and 
MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT files. In other words, they is no need to get worldwide 
agreement (via this notesfile) on a common set of article keywords if you 
don't intend to share the articles worldwide.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't 
mind assisting you with assigning attributes on your local TIMA articles, it's
just that there is no need to even use these guidelines otherwise - basically 
you can do what you want and you don't have to wait for our delayed responses!

However, we certainly hope that you decide to share the articles worldwide.
We have since received an official response from corporate PSMG about this 
saying that it is OK to do this.  In fact, they would like to see us attempt 
to share our Digital-authored information with Compaq.  (I'm going to send you
separate mail about this).  

Let me know if have I have confused the issue. I'm sure a concall would help, 
but with the 14 hour time difference, this would be difficult.  

Best Regards,

Lynn

>However, we certainly hope that you decide to share the articles worldwide.
>We have since received an official response from corporate PSMG about this 
>saying that it is OK to do this.  In fact, they would like to see us attempt 
>to share our Digital-authored information with Compaq.  (I'm going to send you
>separate mail about this).  

I responded in the separate mail.

>> He said COMPAQ technical articles (all written in Japanese) are stored
>> into shared folder which is protected by password. File types are .TXT,
>> .DOC and so forth. Currently used call handling system is CORE, not
>> their proprietary one.
>> 
>> These are not stored into TIMA of course.
>> 
>> "Do not enter customer readable COMPAQ articles into TIMA." he said.
>
>However, I must admit that after reading the last couple of replies, I'm 
>confused about what kind of articles you are putting where.  Are the articles
>mentioned above which are written in Japanese and stored outside TIMA in a
>shared folder written by Digital employees or supplied by Compaq (translated 
>to Japanese)?

I asked DIGITAL JAPAN planning manager for COMPAQ services on where we have
COMPAQ information in details. I already wrote them in the mail to Lynn,
but it was not table-style. 

The following is the answer:

Where              What information  Who write      Who read    Written in
=====              ================  =========      ========    ==========
PC shared folder   maintenance       COMPAQ-J       DIGITAL-J   Japanese
within DIGITAL-J

Web page           product           COMPAQ-US      DIGITAL-J   English
(?.compaq.co.jp)   others            COMPAQ-J                   Japanese

TIMA               deficiencies      DIGITAL-J      DIGITAL-J   Japanese
(RAY articles)

Three repositories are all protected by passwords.

Kiyoshi

>> We will use VEND=COMPAQ keyword then. These articles will be entered
>> into Japan local TIMA databases and NOT customer readable.
>
>Likewise, are the articles mentioned above which you are now putting the 
>VEND=COMPAQ keyword on and entered into local TIMA databases written by 
>Digital employees and only in Japanese?  If so, is there anyway they can be
>translated to English so they can be shared worldwide? If much of the Compaq
>support (and new knowledge capture) is starting up in Japan, I think this new 
>knowledge would be of great benefit to the rest of Digital.  

As for COMPAQ specific articles, we do not translate it to English.

According to our contract or verbal agreement between DIGITAL-J and COMPAQ-J,
Deficiency information is sent from DIGITAL-J to COMPAQ-J TSC. And if this
information is worldwide, they will probably translate and escalate it to
COMPAQ-US.

>Also, worldwide sharing is the premise of using the ALL_PRODUCTS.DAT and 
>MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT files. In other words, they is no need to get worldwide 
>agreement (via this notesfile) on a common set of article keywords if you 
>don't intend to share the articles worldwide.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't 
>mind assisting you with assigning attributes on your local TIMA articles, it's
>just that there is no need to even use these guidelines otherwise - basically 
>you can do what you want and you don't have to wait for our delayed responses!

I am sorry currently we will not translate local articles into English.
The followings are reasons why we use maintenance lines in the
MAINTENACE_REF.DAT.

(1) In the future, w/w articles may be translated into English.
    (Actually completely (now and future) local articles on such as
     alphabet-to-Japanese conversion software have Japanese-specific
     maintenace_ref.dat locally. Its filename is
     TKTVFS::TIMAJ$SYSTEM:JAPAN_MAINTENANCE_REF.DAT.)

(2) The second reason is for AES (DSNlink, WIS, DIA). When an AES customer
    select some logical DB and select something, he/she will see English
    articles first, and seamlessly, Japanese articles. Database definition for
    AES is modified so that cutomsers can see in the above mentioned way.
    So maintenance lines should be consistent with w/w ones.

>Let me know if have I have confused the issue. I'm sure a concall would help, 
>but with the 14 hour time difference, this would be difficult.  

While you are in the summer time, time difference is 13 hours.

Time pairs which your time 21:00 and my time the next day 10:00, or your time
9:00 and my time 22:00 would be fine.

Kiyoshi