======================== SSC News, February, 1995 ======================== This is the SSC News. This monthly electronic newsletter will keep you informed about recent changes on the SSC computer networks. We hope this information will help improve communication between the SSC computing staff and all of you computer users out there. Inside this issue... SOCDISK1 is full! -- Group Leaders Please Note SSC Spring Training Schedule Sending Internet Email from VMS Large Jobs are Running Out of Memory on VMS Mail from Consultant SSC Staffing Changes Consulting Question of the Month ---------------------------------------------- SOCDISK1 is full! -- Group Leaders Please Note ---------------------------------------------- All space available on SOCDISK1, one of the Sociology user disks, has been allocated. There is no more space to give to groups already on that disk. New users, for example, will have to be given space that has already been allocated to (but, one hopes, unused by) others in the group. The best way to free up space on the disk is for group leaders to ask to have defunct users and their files removed from the disk. You can check how your group is using space on the disk by executing the ADJQUOTA program. If you notice that users who are no longer with us still have files on the disk please notify CONSULTANT that you would like them removed from your group and their files deleted. ---------------------------- SSC Spring Training Schedule ---------------------------- Note: All SSC training sessions now require preregistration. If no one has preregistered for a course one week prior to its start date, the class may be cancelled. To preregister for a class, send mail to SSCCLASS indicating which class(es) you plan to attend. You will be reminded about your pre- registration through e-mail a day or two before the class begins. Date Time Topic Room Instructor ---- ---- ----- ---- ---------- 2/8 W 12:00-1:30 UNIX Basics:Mail,files,shell commands 2470 Wald 2/9 R 12:00-1:00 Text Editing on UNIX with EMACS 2470 Brandreth 2/15 W 12:00-1:00 Internet Access (w/ FTP) from Home 3432 Flory 2/16 R 3:00-4:30 VMS Basics:Mail,files,DCL 2470 Pan 2/17 F 3:00-4:00 Text Editing on VMS with EVE 2470 Pan 2/22 W 12:00-1:30 WordPerfect for Dissertations 4452 Clear 2/22 W 3:30-4:30 Internet Overview (listservers,etc...) 4452 Sandor 2/23 R 3:00-4:30 UNIX Basics:Mail,files,shell commands 2470 Wald 2/24 F 3:00-4:00 Text Editing on UNIX with EMACS 2470 Brandreth 3/1 W 12:00-1:30 Intro to PINE: A Menu Driven Mailer 4452 Wald 3/1 W 3:30-4:30 Gopher Use and Resources 4452 Sandor 3/2 R 3:30-4:30 Off-Line Storage Alternatives 4452 Cooper 3/3 F 12:00-1:00 UNIX Job Management for Novices 4452 Palenske 3/6-10 MWF 12:00-1:00 Intro to Stata 3432 McDermott 3/8 W 3:30-4:30 WWW and its browsers (Mosaic,Lynx,etc..) 4452 Brand 3/9 R 3:30-4:30 Working with the NSFH Data 3432 Sweet 3/20-29 MW 12:00-1:30 Intro to SAS 3432 McDermott 3/22 W 3:30-4:30 Internet Tools including FTP and TELNET 4452 Sandor 4/6 R 3:00-4:30 Intro to SPSS 4452 Brandreth 4/11,18 T 2:30-4:00 Intro to SAS/GRAPH 3432 Brown 4/12 W 12:00-1:00 Working with the PSID Data 3432 Dechter 4/19 W 12:00-1:00 Moving ASCII Data Hither and Yonder 4452 Cooper/McD 4/21 F 12:00-1:00 Moving Binary Data Hither and Yonder 4452 Cooper/McD 4/26 W 12:00-1:30 Categorical Analyses in SAS 4452 McDermott TBA Intro to NCD X Terminals on VMS 2470 Flory TBA Intro to NCD X Terminals on UNIX 2470 McDermott TBA Extracting Data Interactively w/ BADGER 2470 Fassnacht Descriptions for each of the above training sessions is posted in SSCGOPHER. ------------------------------- Sending Internet Email from VMS ------------------------------- It is now possible to use the IN% prefix on Internet email addresses from all VMS nodes. The advantage of this syntax is that your outgoing Internet mail will not have to be "gatewayed" first to eunice via DECnet. This improves reliability when the connectivity between the VMS and Unix networks is dicey. The exact syntax is as follows. If you want to send email to the Internet address ELVIS@GRACELAND.TENN.EDU you would specify the address within the VMS mail utility as follows: To: IN%"ELVIS@GRACELAND.TENN.EDU" Note that the address must be bracketed by quotation marks. It continues to be possible to send Internet mail via eunice as follows: To: eunice::"ELVIS@GRACELAND.TENN.EDU" We think the IN% prefix will be a little more reliable and now it is not limited to certain nodes. ------------------------------------------- Large Jobs are Running Out of Memory on VMS ------------------------------------------- Several users have reported that since the VMS operating system upgrade last month, their larger jobs are no longer running to completion. The error message is usually "process or global sections table full" or "insufficient virtual memory." Both messages boil down to the same thing -- not enough memory. Part of the reason this is happening is because the new operating system itself needs more memory to run. The other reason is that we may need to tune your process a little more so that more memory is available to you. So, be sure and report this problem to consultant so we can check some system settings on your account. In the long run, we have requested a purchase of more memory on the next capital exercise. -------------------- Mail from Consultant -------------------- Have you noticed a change in the format of e-mail messages from consultant this week? The consulting service is now using a software package called UIS-HELPLINE to help us more efficiently track problems that are reported by users. This should mean a significant improvement in service to you over the manual system we have always used in the past for several reasons: - Over time the database, where UIS-HELPLINE stores problems and their solutions, will become a knowledge base that users as well as support staff can access for past solutions to current problems. - The software keeps track of problems submitted and which support staff they have been assigned to, making it difficult for problems to get lost. - Eventually, when we give all users access to UIS-HELPLINE, you will be able to use the software to check on the status of a problem you have submitted. Let us know what you think of UIS-HELPLINE. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. -------------------- SSC Staffing Changes -------------------- We have a few staffing changes to report. First, Sandi Lenz joined us last month as a Program Assistant to replace Dixie Lang who left to go back to school. Sandi will be a familiar face to many of you because she was an LTE in the Sociology Department before. Sandi will be responsible for software licensing, hardware maintenance, and inventory. The user accounts function that Dixie used to do will be carried out by Sandra Wald, our helpdesk coordinator. -------------------------------- Consulting Question of the Month -------------------------------- Since the upgrade of the VMS operating system to version 6.1, a lot of users have been asking what is happening to their log file after they submit a job to a batch queue. They seem to disappear! In fact, VMS is printing these log files and then deleting them. This only affects you if you have defined symbols for SUBMIT (i.e. a "nickname" like SUB1 to submit to the ONETAPE queue). Don't worry though, you don't have to live with this. You can edit your SUBMIT symbols in your login.com and add the qualifiers /NOTIFY/KEEP/NOPRINT, or add the following line to your login.com some place BEFORE your other SUBMIT symbols: $ SUB*MIT == "SUBMIT/NOTIFY/KEEP/NOPRINT" TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS NEWSLETTER, just reply to this mail message indicating you want to unsubscribe. We will remove you from the distribution list for future electronic mailings. If you ever change your mind, just notify the SSC Consultant or send mail to SSCNEWS asking to get back on the list.