Conference 7.286::digital

No, no, no.  You do not need a workstation.  You need a telecommuting 
switching interface (TSI).  It does not need to reside in an office.  
Environmental conditions and security dictate that it reside in an
SER (Satellite Equipment Room).  Get with the program, ok?

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more.

MS

    
    Re: .1
    
    >> It does not need to reside in an office.  Environmental conditions and
    >> security dictate that it reside in an SER (Satellite Equipment Room).
    
    I concurr with you. Is there a program to have "Corporate facilites" 
    establish these "SER's" which would accomodate these "workstation
    connections", at a "minimal" cost to the ofending cost centers...?!?!

    RE: .0
    
    At least Tampa will continue to stay open!
    Pensacola shuts down on April 28, and sometime before then GCUVAX will
    be pulled from the Easynet, along with all the files and mail I've
    collected and used in my work over the last five years.
    
    I've been telecommuting since November, and have raised this issue
    several times.  To date, I've gotten little better answer than "we
    understand this may be a problem."  Well, starting in May, it will be
    more than a problem for me; it will be a major hindrance to my work,
    and thus the success of the accounts I support for Digital (read that
    as bottom line impact!).
    
    Small things besides just the problem of copying large files at dialup
    speeds over long distance: I have yet to figure out how to successfully
    move a VMS saveset from the Easynet to my VAXstation at home via my
    PC's SLIP connection.  Everything I've tried munges the file to where
    BACKUP says it's not a saveset.  Guess I'll have to go to Atlanta and
    hang a tape on ODIXIE every time I need a patch kit for a customer or
    FT software, but then only if the file doesn't cause me to exceed my
    20 kiloblock quota.
    
    And it was even suggested to me (two days after Pensacola was told we
    would be closing) that telecommuting may not be appropriate for my job
    function.  Guess I'll start doing a 360 mile round-trip commute to
    Tallahassee now.  (NOT!)
    
    Forgive me for blowing off steam.  I've about had enough, and .0
    just put me over the edge.  I'm convinced no one has considered what
    the real needs of field telecommuters may be.
    
    --Ed (currently @PSO, but God only knows where after this month!)

re Note 3797.3 by GCUVAX::PALMER:

>     move a VMS saveset from the Easynet to my VAXstation at home via my
>     PC's SLIP connection.  Everything I've tried munges the file to where
>     BACKUP says it's not a saveset.  

        A new development may help:  the version of UCX now in field
        test (T3.3) supports SLIP.

        Also, a relatively minor fix to the file may satisfy BACKUP; 
        if you have VMS V6.1 or later:

        	$ set file your-save-set-file-name /attr=(lrl:32256)

        Bob

        P.S.  It certainly seems that the corporation is relying upon
        individual resourcefulness, including extra time and effort,
        to solve the problems of downsizing.

    Bob:
    
>    A new development may help:  the version of UCX now in field
>    test (T3.3) supports SLIP.
    
    Great idea, but the way I'm set up now my VMS system at home doesn't
    have any way to connect to the network; the PC doesn't route IP from
    its SLIP connection to my home's Ethernet.  However, I'm going to give
    your other suggestion a try and see if it gets me past the problem. 
    Fortunately, I can set things up so anything I copy goes straight on
    the VAX and I don't have to be concerned with disk space limits on my
    PC (considerable).
    
>        P.S.  It certainly seems that the corporation is relying upon
>        individual resourcefulness, including extra time and effort,
>        to solve the problems of downsizing.
    
    That's a very accurate statement, especially the "extra time and
    effort" part.
    
    --Ed
    
    

Couple SLIP (via UCX) with the latest release of OpenVMS DECnet/OSI (v6.1) and
you have the capability to run DECnet over TCP/IP.  of course this only
works to other systems which are running DECnet/OSI; whoever, there are
a lot of hidden area gateway systems out there that might be able to
double as not only a pasthru node in the regular DECnet sense, but also
as pasthru for DECnet over TCP/IP to plain DECnet.

re Note 3797.3 by GCUVAX::PALMER:

>     move a VMS saveset from the Easynet to my VAXstation at home via my
>     PC's SLIP connection.  Everything I've tried munges the file to where
>     BACKUP says it's not a saveset.  
    
    Another useful method of preserving saveset attributes is to use the
    current version of FTSV to turn the saveset into a self-extracting 
    EXE file.  First use $ SPOOL COMPRESS /METHOD=DCX_VAXEXE (or DCX_AXPEXE) 
    to create an EXE with fixed 512 attributes.  Using the BINARY/IMAGE
    file type with FTP or KERMIT or your favorite transfer protocol will 
    create a fixed 512 output file which you can then RUN to recreate the 
    original saveset.  Moving an image file is less tricky than moving a
    saveset with a big block size.  

rE: .3

	Or yet another option is to use the VMS_ZIP.EXE program to
	compress the saveset. Compress the saveset, uuencode it, then
	mail it to your customer. Uudecode/unzip it when you arrive
	onsite.

	I've provided a mail message that I sent to a co-worker on
	how to do this below. We were talking about MS-Word .DOC files,
	but the same applies to VMS Savesets.

	The files you need are at http://axel.zko.dec.com/kits/vms
	or at Bill Lin's system on TARKIN. 

							mike

From:	AXEL::FOLEY        "One word: GREAT!" 26-SEP-1994 14:34:38.12
To:	FOLEY
CC:	
Subj:	zip/unzip/uue/uud

Hi Anil,

	Currently, the way I would send a DOC file from a VMS system is
	this way:

	ZIP the .DOC file

	UUENCODE the .ZIP file

	You now have an ASCII file you can mail. It's also compressed so
	you save some time and space in transmitting it.

	The VMS utilities for ZIPping a file are in:

	WORK201:[FOLEY]ZIP.EXE & VMS_UNZIP.EXE

	You need to add the following to your login.com

	$zip :==$sys$login:zip.exe
	$unzip :==$sys$login:vms_unzip.exe

	UUENDCODE and UUDECODE are already on STAR. Foriegn commands for them
	are:

	$ uud	:==$UCX$UUDECODE
	$ uue	:==$UCX$UUENCODE

	Zip the file as follows:

	$ zip "-V" foo.zip foo.doc

	The "-V" is important. It preserves any VMS-isms..  $zip -h gives you
	a help for zip.

	Now, uuencode the file

	$ uue foo.zip foo.uue

	Mail the foo.uue file.


	On the recieving end, they need to decode the file.  On VMS this
	would be:

	$ uud foo.uue foo.zip

	Then unzip the file

	$ unzip "-V" foo.zip

	All Unix systems should come with uuencode and uudecode. I'm
	not sure about zip and unzip but if need be, I can find a location
	for that on the Internet.

	Let me know if you need additional help.

							mike

    OK...so we've proven there are a few ways to solve my problem with the
    savesets, but look at how much additional time, effort and disk space
    it takes for all the methods which do not require my home VMS system to
    be connected to the Easynet (which is the situation at present and for
    the forseeable future).  Exception: I'll admit I still haven't tried
    the SET FILE command from one of the early replies.
    
    IF telecommuting is supposed to improve my productivity, WHY must I
    take steps that remind me of when I KERMITed the VMS V5.2 kit over the
    9600 baud MUX we had in Pensacola when I first moved there six years
    ago?  (That took two weeks elapsed time, FWIW, working nights and
    weekends).  This is a step BACKWARD that hurts my ability to react in
    our fast-changing marketplace.  
    
    However, let me put this thread back on the original topic, as the base
    note does raise an interesting question.  Why is it that facilities is
    asking for a three year committment on space in a facility?  Can they
    expect that any organization which signs up for this can see that
    organization's future well enough to know that there will be a business
    need for that space three years hence?
    
    --Ed

    You have SLIP? I was told to go home about 6 months ago and have no
    access except terminal. Against corporate policy to dial into anything
    other than a corporate dial in line and I've been told that there are
    no corporate SLIP dial in lines. Would love to have this - is there
    someone out there I should be talking to??????????

    
    
    Im not sure that there are NO corporate slips connections but Im very
    sure that individual sites/BU's have them
    
    Bill