___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ____ ___ \ \ \ November 30 / / / /| / / /_ /__/ / /__ \ \ 1994 /__ /__/ / |/ /__ /__ / / ___/ \ \ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------\ This newsletter / info-pack is generated by Tower Concepts, Inc., and is provided to our users and specific members of the net community. Concepts is generated and distributed every few weeks as necessary. If you do not want to remain on this distribution list, please send a note to 'concepts@tower.com'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents... Introduction and General Notes . E-mail Lists Did You Know . - ACCENTServer - Motif on OpenLook window manager . - SunFlash & FlashBack - You can have it both ways . - Explosive Cargo Current Versions . Tips & Tricks What's New in Razor . - Monochrome X terminals - In both 3.3j and 3.4b . - Customizing the function keys - Only in 3.4b . - Header bars, Razor Getting Razor by FTP . - Header bars, cmdtool ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction and General Notes... - If you'd rather not remain on this distribution list, please send a note to 'concepts@tower.com' and let us know. Similarly, if you think there may be other people at your site that could benefit from this type of newsletter, please forward it along, or have them write to the address above, and we'll put them on the distribution list. - Reminder: please send all service related e-mail to 'support@tower.com'. It's notably better than sending directly to an individual; it gets read by a wider audience which may become important as we approach holiday vacation periods. The same is true for general suggestions and comments on how we can improve the tool set. It guarantees that your input will be logged. On a similar note, sales type questions (for quotes, etc) are best sent to 'sales@tower.com'. Thanks. - Although we were fairly good about getting all the mugs out to people who responded to the User Survey, we were a little delinquent about getting the frisbees and letter openers out. To make up for that, we're giving out at least one of of each to all the people still waiting. If you wanted a frisbee, you're also getting a letter opener, and vice-versa. Thanks for your input, and your patience. - The overhaul of the manual set is coming along fine, and we expect to have it completed before the end of '94! This effort is a direct result of the input we received from the User Survey this year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did You Know... (of interest only to Sun users) - You can run the Motif Razor on an OpenLook window manager! All X stations need to run a window manager of some sorts. It coordinates the interplay between the various programs that are competing for screen real estate and resources. It handles the root menu, how programs go iconic, deciding which window is in front of which, how window resizing is done, etc, etc. What goes on within a window, however is a different story; that's largely up to the application itself. There are all sorts of window managers out there (mwm, twm). Most Sun stations use an OpenLook window manager (olwm/olvwm) because that's what Sun shipped and felt most comfortable with for a long time. Your choice of whether you want to use the Motif or OpenLook form of Razor is independent of which window manager you use. It's also independent of whether your station runs Solaris or SunOS. In light of that, we are actively encouraging people to begin switching over to the Motif form of Razor. It runs faster, has more configurability, runs better on X terminals, and is completely compatible with existing databases. - You can have your cake and eat it too! It's possible to set things up such that users can choose at run time whether they want to use the OpenLook or Motif form. The two work off the same database, and can connect to the same database server. The only difference is in the three executables; Issues, Versions, and Threads. If you presently have the OpenLook form of Razor installed (3.3j), then pull down and uncompress the Motif form (3.4b) into a temporary directory. Then, when nobody is using the tool... mv $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Issues $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Issues_o mv $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Versions $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Versions_o mv $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Threads $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Threads_o cp <3.4b>/bin/Issues $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Issues_m cp <3.4b>/bin/Versions $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Versions_m cp <3.4b>/bin/Threads $RAZOR_HOME/bin/Threads_m Now, entering 'Issues_o' brings up the OpenLook form of the tool, and 'Issues_m' brings up the Motif form. >>> PLEASE... print and read the Motif_supplement.ps found in $RAZOR_HOME/doc of the 3.4b release. It provides all sorts of notes relevant to the Motif form of the tool. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Versions... Below are the latest supported and available versions of Razor. All can be obtained by ftp (below). If that's not an option for your site, let us know and we can arrange a surface shipment. Platform Operating System Window System Current Version ======== ================ ============= =============== Sun SunOS 4.1.x OpenLook 3.3(j) Sun SunOS 4.1.x Motif 3.4(b) Sun Solaris 2.3 OpenLook 3.3(j) Sun Solaris 2.3 Motif 3.4(b) HP HPUX 9.0x Motif 3.4(b) SGI IRIX 5.2 Motif 3.4(b) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New in Razor For a full and detailed breakdown of how things have changed from one release to another, with Razor, you're encouraged to pull down the latest release and review the RELEASE_NOTES file within. Below are just some of the key points. - Both 3.3j and 3.4b - There's a new command line ability for getting a report of Issues. - The 'razor' command will now let you bring the database up (as opposed to using the 'rz_startup' script). It's also been extended to ease the entry of license keys. - Added the ability to increment the major version number of files being checked in. - Significant options for improving speed and mechanism of doing reports from Issues main screen. - Extra safety checks in 'rz_add_group' and similar scripts. - Provided for user definition of the Thread script template. - Add new script, rz_checked_in_since which will output a list of files which have been checked in since the data/time specified. - Only in 3.4b - Greater customizability available through Xdefaults file: Check-in and Introduce dialogs can now have the default setting for the file control (leave readonly copy, take files, check out for edit) defined; vertical spacing control of widgets on Issue form. - The title of the Browse window icon will now contain the name of the file being browsed. - Added an 'Include file...' menu option to the text panels on the Issue form. This menu is brought up by using the right mouse button in the direct text panel. - Notable speed improvements to both Issues and Versions. - Added an option to the Uncheckout notice which allows users to put a readonly copy back to the check out directory after completing the uncheckout operation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting Razor by FTP... As most of you already know, we've been making everything we have be available for ftp download for some time. Since we're now on so many different platforms, we've restructured the layout of what's being offered. The following notes should help you find whatever you are looking for... # ftp ftp.uu.net <=== [192.48.96.9] # login: ftp # password: # cd /vendor/tower-concepts # dir INDEX <== Text file describing what's here. Razor_info.ps.Z <== Postscript form of one sheet ad. Razor_manual.tar.Z <== User's Manual & Programmer's Guide. Razor_prices.ps.Z <== Postscript form of full price sheet. HPUX <== A directory for each of our IRIX <== supported platforms. Just 'cd' Solaris <== in and get the latest for what you SunOS <== need. # bin # get bye Note that the SunOS & Solaris directories contain separate files for both the Motif and OpenLook executables, where as the other platform directories contain only the Motif form of Razor. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail Lists... This Concepts NewsLetter is just one of hundreds (thousands?) of mailing lists that are available on 'the net'. Below are some notes one a couple others that you may find useful. If you know of others that may have good general appeal, let me know and I'll include them here in future issues. The descriptions below are excerpts from the named lists. - ACCENTServer "ACCENTServer(tm) is a monthly electronic publication of National Information Systems, Inc., (NIS) with over 4,000 subscribers on the Internet. ACCENTServer contains interesting UNIX-related news and views, and some hearsay from around the globe. Send a message to ACCENTSERVER@NIS.COM with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject to sign up for your FREE subscription." - SunFlash & FlashBack This is an excellent mailing list that we've subscribed to for years. Now with over 140,000 subscribers, it's put out by John J. McLaughlin of FlashBack, Inc. There are two main offerings... SunFlash: Articles about Sun from Sun. The types of articles posted here include: o Sun Press Releases o Edited Sun Producted Announcements (aka SunIntro) o Sun e-newsletters (e.g. "Sun Hottest", "Hot of the Press") o Sunergy announcements and e-newsletters The Sun FlashBack: Articles about Sun or of interest to the Sun community from companies other than Sun. The types of articles posted here include: o Sun User Group announcements o Product announcements o Company newsletters o Conference/Seminar/Trade-Show announcements o Sponsored technical articles Since there are dozens of subscription options, probably the best way to get started is to send an empty mail message to... FlashBack@FlashBack.COM with a subject line of simply '9001'. You'll get a full description of what's available and how to subscribe. - Explosive Cargo From the author... "What is explosive-cargo? By golly, that's a good question. I wish my answer was half as good. But, well, frankly, it isn't. In fact, I'd say that the best it could manage in open bidding was perhaps one tenth the price, with the promise of a minor discount on future witticisms. Explosive-cargo is a column that shall be offered for free to anyone wants it and can't afford the psychiatric help necessary to get over the problem. It's weekly, or reasonably weekly, and readers will please refrain from "weakly" jokes on the grounds that my ego bruises easy and beside, if anyone is going to be making weak puns around here, it's going to be me [Michael J. Tucker]. The column will, for the most part, attempt to be humorous, though there will be occasional lapses into political and social commentary, but I promise to keep it short and I'll wash my hands afterwards." To subscribe, send email reading: subscribe explosive-cargo to the following address: majordomo@world.std.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips & Tricks... We have the benefit of seeing how all sorts of sites have come to use Razor for all sorts of different applications. This section of the newsletter is meant to be a forum for exchanging the little tricks related not only to the use of Razor, but UNIX and X as well. We'd very much like your inputs to appear in future editions of this section of the newletter. Please, send in some of your UNIX / X / Razor / Shell tips and tricks. - Monochrome X terminals Yes Virginia, some people do have Black and White X terminals. If you're one of them, and you use the Motif version of Razor, you may have to add the following lines to your .Xdefaults to make sure that the program comes up okay for you... Issues*foreground: #000000 Issues*background: #ffffff Versions*foreground: #000000 Versions*background: #ffffff Threads*foreground: #000000 Threads*background: #ffffff - Customizing the function keys Wouldn't it be nice if you could finally get some utility out of those extra keys that are scattered around the keyboard, especially the 'F' keys across the top? For example, what if we wanted the 'F2' key to enter a date-stamp directly into a text area? Or suppose we wanted to do some processing (fmt) on some selected text just by hitting the 'F3' key? Well, it turns out that users of Sun's textedit program have always had the ability to make the various function keys along the top of the keyboard do special things. Unfortunately, it was not well documented how users tapped into that power. For OpenLook, modify/create the file '~/.textswrc' and add lines similar to the following... KEY_TOP(2) FILTER echo -n `date "+%y/%m/%d"` " (Sue) " KEY_TOP(3) FILTER fmt If you are using the Motif version, you can define key translations by adding the following to your '~/.Xdefaults' file Issues*XmText.translations: #override\n\ F2: razor_cmd("echo -n `date +%y/%m/%d` '\(Sue\) '")\n\ F3: razor_cmd("fmt")\n Note that the OpenLook mods above will take affect for every textedit window, even those in mailtool and such. The .Xdefaults edits will only affect the Issues (or Versions, or Threads) programs that you specify. Note also that it's possible to have the 'F' keys act differently for each of the programs. - Header bars, Razor In the last Concepts, I described a method for setting the text in the header bar for OpenLook users of Razor. It should have been noted that there's an even better route naturally supported by the tool, and which works for both Motif and OpenLook. You can set the text in the title bar by placing a string into the file: $RAZOR_UNIVERSE_DIR/Name This file doesn't naturally exist, so you'll have to create it. - Header bars, cmdtool (Sun users only) There are all sorts of escape sequences available for special control over the appearance of Sun's cmdtool. For a complete list of them, just get the man pages for 'shelltool' (go figure). Through them, you can change the text in the header bar and icon label. Normally, these remain static from the time the window was first brought up. The uuencoded file below changes all that. It decomposes to a file that can be sourced in by C-Shell users (ie. in your .cshrc) and provides a nice collection of aliases. The net effect is that your present machine name and directory are always reflected through your header bar. As you 'cd' around, the header bar changes. I've seen several varieties of this floating around the net for the past several years, so it seems to have entered the public domain. Below is the latests form I've seen of what originated with Dr. Charlie LaBrec of Sun Microsystems. Standard disclaimers apply. Your mileage may vary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C U T H E R E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - begin 644 fancy_header M(R$@+V)I;B]C2!$7-T M96US+B @2&4G2!M86X@22!K;F]W('1H870*(R!U;F1E6 B"FEF("@B)%]T='E?(B ]/2 B;F]T(&$@='1Y(B I(&5X:70*:68@ M*"$@)#]PV538T%P17U=;%PA*B1[95-C07!%?5PB)PH)86QI87,@ M:6ADV538T%P17U<(B<*96YD M:68*"G-E="!F86YC>5]U+W1M<%]M M;G0O.UPO.R(@+64@(G,[7B]A:&]M93LO:&]M93LB("UE(")S.UXD:&]M93M^ M)%5315([(B<*96QS90H)86QI87,@+V%H;VUE.R]H;VUE M.R(G"F5N9&EF"@HC"B,@