From: aboulang@bbn.com (Albert Boulanger)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs
Subject: Xnetlib idea for AVS
Date: 12 Aug 92 23:39:38 GMT
Reply-To: aboulanger@bbn.com
Organization: BBN, Cambridge MA
NNTP-Posting-Host: tiryns.bbn.com


 
I thought the Xnetlib tool was really neat. Does anybody have a desire
to do something like that for the AVS archive? It would be neat to do
something like this in AVS itself!

Here is the readme for Xnetlib:




     xnetlib(2.0)               (11 Mar 92)               xnetlib(2.0)



     NAME
          xnetlib - an X interface to netlib

     DESCRIPTION
          Xnetlib is a new version of netlib recently developed at the
          University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
          Unlike netlib, which uses electronic mail to process
          requests for mathematical software, xnetlib uses an X Window
          graphical user interface and a socket-based connection
          between the user's machine and the xnetlib server machine to
          process software requests.  Xnetlib is available to anyone
          who has access to the TCP/IP Internet.

     INSTALLATION
          To install type:

          % xmkmf

          % make

          and

          % make install

          or, perhaps more likely

          % cp xnetlib ~/whereEverYou/Want/it/bin

          Xmkmf uses imake to create a makefile from the provided
          imakefile.  Both xmkmf and imake should be installed on your
          system as part of the X distribution, so if you get an error
          on the xmkmf command talk to your system manager or check
          your command search path.  As a last resort, you might also
          try editing Makefile.std as necessary and typing 'make -f
          Makefile.std'.

          The Xnetlib.res file contains some resources you may want to
          edit and include in your .Xdefaults or .Xresources file.
          See also the postscript map of xnetlib resources,
          resourcemap.ps.  (Note: there are reports that
          resourcemap.ps wont print on some older printers, we are
          working on a fix for this.)

          To run xnetlib type:  % xnetlib

          (The Athena Widget set is required to build xnetlib.)

     OPERATION
          Each time xnetlib starts up it contacts the netlib server at
          Oak Ridge National Laboratory, (surfer.epm.ornl.gov) to get
          the latest list of index files.  Any new or updated index
          files may then be downloaded as you wish. (When xnetlib is



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     xnetlib(2.0)               (11 Mar 92)               xnetlib(2.0)



          started for the first time you really ought to get them
          because xnetlib is not very useful otherwise.) At this time
          there are about 200 of these files, each about a page or two
          in size. By default, these files are placed in
          $HOME/xnlData. To begin the transfer of these files press
          the 'set up' button, then 'download new index files'. If you
          Cancel this process or if for some reason a file can't be
          transferred, xnetlib will forget it ever got any of the
          batch. The good files will still be used but they will be
          treated as out of date the next time you start xnetlib.

          If several people at the same site are using xnetlib, you
          may want to maintain one shared collection of index files
          instead of maintaining several separate collections. To do
          this set the resource to that directory. The effect of the
          'publicData' resource is that the xnlData directory and
          files in it are world writable so that anyone may update the
          indices. (You might even set this as the default in the
          source. See the fallback_resources in main.c.) To avoid
          problems the index directory is locked when someone is
          downloading index files.  If the lock gets stuck for some
          reason remove the xnlPath/LOCK file.

          To get files from xnetlib, click on 'library' (for example)
          and then select from the list of libraries. Click on the
          files you want and then click 'download'.

     INDEX FILES
          The index files are stored locally in your xnlPath directory
          under indexitems. They are written with the '.desc' suffix.
          These are the same files you might get by sending for the
          index by email from netlib.

     PLATFORMS
          Most development of xnetlib is being done on an IBM RS/6000
          running the X11R5 server and libraries. It has been tested
          on Sun, Decstation 5000, Sequent, NeXT (w/CoExist), HP9000,
          and Convex. It has been tested under these window managers:
          olwm, mwm, dxwm, twm.

          Please tell us about other environments it runs (or doesn't
          run) under.

     FUTURE DIRECTIONS
          The most important improvement in the next release of
          xnetlib will be index file caching.  This feature will give
          users the option of eliminating or reducing in size the
          local database of index files.  Requested indices not found
          in the local database will be retrieved on the fly from the
          xnetlib server.

          Multiserver support - perhaps you want to get files from



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     xnetlib(2.0)               (11 Mar 92)               xnetlib(2.0)



          other servers.

          General FTP support - with or without special index files on
          the remote machine.

          More.

          Please send us your comments. (xnetlib@cs.utk.edu)

     A ONE LINER
          We have included a command line interface to netlib. It was
          a last minute sort of thing and has not been well tested. To
          make it, type:

          cc -DSTANDALONE -o netlibget nl_access.c

          or your system's equivalent. Type 'netlibget' to see the
          usage line. Netlibget uses the same routines to talk to
          netlib that xnetlib does.

     X RESOURCES
          whoEntrySep: the separator displayed between entries in the
          NA-NET white pages database. The default is '-------'.

          whoPrintCommand: the format string for the print command of
          the NA-NET white pages database. The string must contain a
          %s which is replaced with the name of the file which is
          printed. The default is 'lpr %s'.

          showWhoInfo: whether to show instructions for adding your
          name to the NA-NET white pages database. The default is
          True.

          xnlPath: path to the local xnetlib database. The default is
          $HOME/xnlData.

          publicData: if True, save index files world writeable. The
          default is False.

          xnlDownloadPath: path to directory where the files you
          select are downloaded. The default is $HOME/xnlFiles

          depCheck: if True then any files required by the items you
          explicitly request are downloaded also. The default is True.

          showReceiveAnyway: if True then the receive button is not
          greyed out when there is nothing to download. The default is
          False.

          confirmQuit: if True you are asked if you truly want to exit
          when you press the Quit button. The default is True.




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     xnetlib(2.0)               (11 Mar 92)               xnetlib(2.0)



          dontWarp: sometimes xnetlib tries to help you out by placing
          the cursor where it thinks you may want it. Set to True if
          you don't care for this type of behavior. The default is
          False.

          These colors affect the status window background:

          okColor: the happy color, normally green

          badColor: the 'something's wrong' color, normally red

          cautionColor: the 'something's almost wrong' color, normally
          yellow

     BUGS
          On Ultrix, you MUST either have MIT X windows (not
          DECWindows) installed, OR have the "Unsupported X11
          Components" software subset loaded, in order to compile
          HeNCE.  The include files supplied with vanilla DECWindows
          are incompatible with those supplied by MIT and required by
          Xnetlib.

     AUTHORS
          This work is directed by Jack J. Dongarra, Univ. of
          Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Tom Rowan,
          Oak Ridge National Laboratory, supported in part by the
          Applied Mathematical Sciences subprogram of the Office of
          Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy, under contract
          DE-AC05-84OR21400, and in part by the National Science
          Foundation under contract NSF ASC-9103853.

          Xnetlib has evolved over a period of time between 1991 -
          1992 and has had help from: David Bolt, Univ. of Tennessee
          Jennifer Finger, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Andy Pearson,
          Univ. of Tennessee Bill Rosener, Univ. of Tennessee Jon
          Richardson, Univ. of Tennessee Andrea Van Hull, Northwestern
          Univ. and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

          Xnetlib 2.0 was written by:  Reed Wade, Univ. of Tennessee

          Fasthelp code from:  Ken Bateman, Virginia Tech and Oak
          Ridge National Laboratory

          A very special thanks to victims of the prerelease code.

          Convex fixes from:  salevin@drl.mobil.com









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Newsgroups: comp.graphics.avs