From: postmaster@ntsc-rd.navy.mil (SMTP MAILER)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Mail not delivered yet, still trying
Date: 22 Nov 92 18:27:16 GMT


 ----Mail status follows----
Have been unable to send your mail to <rubel@ntsc-rd.navy.mil>,
will keep trying for a total of three days.
At that time your mail will be returned.

 ----Transcript of message follows----
Date: 22 Nov 92 04:20:00 EST
From: info-unix@BRL.MIL
Subject: INFO-UNIX Digest  V17#007
To: "rubel" <rubel@ntsc-rd.navy.mil>
cc: "slosser" <slosser@ntsc-rd.navy.mil>

Return-Path: <info-unix-request@sem.brl.mil>
Received: from SEM.BRL.MIL by ntsc-rd.navy.mil with SMTP ; 
          Sun, 22 Nov 92 04:08:46 EST
Received: from SEM.BRL.MIL by SEM.BRL.MIL id aa24935; 21 Nov 92 7:08 EST
Received: from sem.brl.mil by SEM.BRL.MIL id aa24687; 21 Nov 92 6:53 EST
Date:       Sat, 21 Nov 92 06:52:36 EST
From:       The Moderator (Mike Muuss) <Info-Unix-Request@BRL.MIL>
To:         INFO-UNIX@BRL.MIL
Reply-To:   INFO-UNIX@BRL.MIL
Subject:    INFO-UNIX Digest  V17#007

INFO-UNIX Digest          Sat, 21 Nov 1992              V17#007

Today's Topics:
               System V msgrcv and msgsnd help requested.
                    Re: UNIX --> DOS remote printing
                    Searching for a database program
                           Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
                     Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (very long)
                                  FAQ
                  Unaccessible files, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
                Re: Unaccessible files, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
                          Question about write
           Why do the C programs that I download never work?
                   Re: Overflow warnings (SCO SV3.2)
              Re: How do I increase number of screen rows?
                  Re: A few more quick C questions...
                        how to change bk color?
                       Re: diff in scripts again
                       Decompress while merging?
                        Re: IS UNIX DEAD (long)
       Distribution of cs.general (WAS Re: diff in scripts again)
           Re: how to search/replace over an entire directory
                lockf in SV is there anything in 4.3BSD
                        Re: Unattended execution
                        Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (long)
                    where no vi has gone before...?
              where no vi has gone before...? (CORRECTION)
                background exection from startup scripts
                                Re: grep
    Re: problems with awk: output redirection and getline in a pipe
                        info? Unix standard(s)!
        Library maintenance with SunOS 4.1.1 make (bug report?)
                  Re: How to delete a file named -l??
                   C Source Code for Pattern Matching
                         What's HP Boat Format
                           Net File Question
                                popen..
                      what does 8-bit clean mean ?
                          Re: C Program error
                  mapping extended keyboard in vi /ksh
                           Re: UUENCODE help!
                      Suppressing the 'w' command
                         IS UNIX DEAD? 13 of 22
                        How do I restore Files??
-----------------------------------------------------------------

From: Scott Howell <scotth@gdfwc3>
Subject: System V msgrcv and msgsnd help requested.
Date: 9 Nov 92 21:03:14 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil


If any one has an example of a program that uses system V message queue
access routines (particularly msgrcv and msgsnd) could you please send
it my way.  

We are having problems in particular with the msgbuf structure found in 
msg.h.  This structure looks like:

  struct msgbuf {
     long mtype;
     char mtext[1];
  };

The problems seems to stem from the fact that mtext is a 1 char array, but
it can contain from 1 - 8k bytes.  Any example code or ideas would be
appreciated.  We are running on a Data General Aviion Workstation and a Harris
Nighthawk computer (V6.1).

-----------------------------

From: "David A. Wolf" <daw@vivanet.com>
Subject: Re: UNIX --> DOS remote printing
Keywords: dos unix esker printing
Date: 12 Nov 92 23:33:29 GMT
Followup-To: daw@vivanet
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <31455@hydra.Helsinki.FI> karell@cs.Helsinki.FI (Esa Karell) writes:
>Hi,
>
>Is anyone aware of packages (PD or commercial) that
>allow UNIX boxes to send print requests to a DOS box
>on a lan?
>
You don't mention which LAN but here some solutions...

ESKER puts out a product called "TUN UNIX,TUN PLUS, TUN/X"
The TUN UNIX product has "VPRINT" which provides access to
the local MS-DOS printer from all workstations on the network.
"RPRINT" provides access to UNIX printers from the MS-DOS PC.
VDKNET provides access to UNIX file systems and backup perpherals
from the MS-DOS PC.  I have sold and installed ESKER products
and they work very well after initial set-up.  They also have an
excellent terminal emulation package. ESKER is a French company
that has recently open a USA office.  For resellers, MERISEL
distributes the full ESKER Line.

Contact: William Desmole                 IN FRANCE: ESKER
         1181 Chess Drive #C             20, rue Gabriel Peri
         Foster City, CA 94404, USA      69100 VILLEURBANNE
         415-341-9065                    FRANCE
                                         Tel.:(33)78 93 55 36

-good luck...


David A.Wolf
VIVATRON Corporation                       Voice: 800-836-UNIX
Rochester, New York, USA                     Fax: 716-272-7627
SCO Advanced Product Center                email: daw@vivanet
*******************************************************************

-----------------------------

From: "Daniel W. James" <dwj@sactoh0.sac.ca.us>
Subject: Re: UNIX --> DOS remote printing
Date: 13 Nov 92 19:00:14 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

twriter@rd.hydro.on.ca (Timothy Writer) writes:

:)karell@cs.Helsinki.FI (Esa Karell) writes:

:)>Is anyone aware of packages (PD or commercial) that
:)>allow UNIX boxes to send print requests to a DOS box
:)>on a lan?

:)BWNFS is not the only TCP/IP and NFS package which provides a printer
:)daemon (TSR).  I believe Wollongong and FTP software also provide one,
:)there may be others.  However, IMHO BWNFS is far superior.  BWNFS is
:)available from:

Take a peek at *any* recent issue of UnixWorld and you'll find a mention of
about a zillion of these packages.

Locus Computing sells one  (800) 95-LOCUS.
James River Corp (ICE.TCP) (612) 339-2521

You should be able to find both of these mail order as well.
-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
  #include <stdisc.h>                       |  dan!ccpoabt@sactoh0.SAC.CA.US
      CCPOA Benefit Trust Fund              | ...!pacbell!sactoh0!ccpoabt!dwj

-----------------------------

From: kevin mcfadden <kevin@sherman.pas.rochester.edu>
Subject: Searching for a database program
Date: 13 Nov 92 20:47:42 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil


I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a database program, text or in
X, that will run under SunOS 4.1.x and Openwindows.

Also, does anyone know of a list that supplies a description of what is
available, either brief or verbose?  Some sites have descriptions
at the ftp level but they are usually Dos/Mac.

Thanks a bunch.

Kevin

-----------------------------

From: Peter Busser <peter@global.hacktic.nl>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 14 Nov 92 13:32:14 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

pfcouvar@unix.amherst.edu (Peter F. Couvares) writes:

>peter@global.hacktic.nl (Peter Busser) writes:
>>dmcquaid@csws19.ic.sunysb.edu (Devin McQuaid) writes:

>>>>Where can I get toll-free support for Linux?
>>>comp.os.linux
>>>you won't get an answer in 20 min. but you will get your answer
>>USENET costs $$$ too. And administration.

>	That's a dumb response--so does a phone. The support itself is free,
>which is what was initially asked for. Any kind of free support, be it via
>phone, mail, or net account, will cost something to access.

Well, that's the point, here you need a modem (which implies a phone
connection) and possibly long distance calls to get comp.os.linux (the USENET
provider in Holland doesn't have a toll free number). You can't get c.o.l when
you need it, you have to poll every day.

Besides whom you're gonna call to setup UUCP and USENET? The gostbusters? ;-)

-----------------------------

From: Budi Rahardjo <rahardj@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 15 Nov 92 19:56:53 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

peter@global.hacktic.nl (Peter Busser) writes:

>pfcouvar@unix.amherst.edu (Peter F. Couvares) writes:

>>peter@global.hacktic.nl (Peter Busser) writes:

>>>>>If you want a nice graphical interface
>>>>>like Windows or Os/2, you have to ftp and make that too.
>>>>Um, no ... you just install X from the SLS disks, I believe.
>>>Yep. But then, how do I know to type in 'startx' on the command line?

>>	The same way you know to type "win" to start MSWindows or to
>>double-click to start a Mac application -- you read the short intro
>>documentation. It's not the least bit difficult.

>I don't need to type anything to boot OS/2 in a graphics environment.

I don't have to type anything to start my NCD X terminal.

Typing one word (like 'win' or 'startx' or 'openwin') is not that difficult.
You have to type something anyway...(like editing a note/letter/mail).

-- budi
-- 
Budi Rahardjo <Budi_Rahardjo@UManitoba.Ca>
Unix Support - Computer Services - University of Manitoba

-----------------------------

From: Budi Rahardjo <rahardj@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 15 Nov 92 20:02:28 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In <1992Nov14.133214.1004@global.hacktic.nl> peter@global.hacktic.nl (Peter Busser) writes:

>pfcouvar@unix.amherst.edu (Peter F. Couvares) writes:

>>peter@global.hacktic.nl (Peter Busser) writes:
>>>dmcquaid@csws19.ic.sunysb.edu (Devin McQuaid) writes:

>>>>>Where can I get toll-free support for Linux?
>>>>comp.os.linux
>>>>you won't get an answer in 20 min. but you will get your answer
>>>USENET costs $$$ too. And administration.

>>	That's a dumb response--so does a phone. The support itself is free,
>>which is what was initially asked for. Any kind of free support, be it via
>>phone, mail, or net account, will cost something to access.

>Well, that's the point, here you need a modem (which implies a phone
>connection) and possibly long distance calls to get comp.os.linux (the USENET
>provider in Holland doesn't have a toll free number). You can't get c.o.l when
>you need it, you have to poll every day.

>Besides whom you're gonna call to setup UUCP and USENET? The gostbusters? ;-)



You want phone # or mail addres for linux ? Here's an example (taken from 
comp.os.linux today ):

 -----
From: BARRY TITMARSH <BTITMARS@ESOC.BITNET>
Subject: Re: SLS on Disk in Germany !

Appaling!!
I live in Germany DARMSTADT
My address is B. Titmarsh  Im Niderfeld 10  W-6100 Darmstadt

This week alone i have dispached 900 disks to 30 users
last week i did the same
I distrubute this CODE as FREE no charge!!
all i ask is that i have the disks sent to my home address with return post
paid in stamps.  Nothing more..
GNU software is FREE is it not ?

Barry...
B.Titmars  Im Niderfeld 10  W-6100 Darmstadt Germany..
mail me your disks ill copy them for FREE.

 -----
From: Michael_Kraehe@hb.maus.de (Michael Kraehe)
Organization: MausNet (Mitglied im IN e.V.)

 > Linux SLS 0.98 will soon be available as 20 Disks (a1-a4,b1-b5,c1-c4,x1-x7)
 > from eMedia in Hannover for 99.- DM

everbody who lives in Bremen can get it without paying :-) Talk to 04204/1497

Tschaui Michael.
 -----

From: mykee@cs.tu-berlin.de (Marco Scheibe)
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany

> everbody who lives in Bremen can get it without paying :-) Talk to 04204/1497

I offer the same service for Berlin -- talk to (030)4017848 (answering machine)
or send me Email.



---- end of included msgs

-- budi
-- 
Budi Rahardjo <Budi_Rahardjo@UManitoba.Ca>
Unix Support - Computer Services - University of Manitoba

-----------------------------

From: Anthony Shipman <als@bohra.cpg.oz.au>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 16 Nov 92 05:55:25 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick) writes:

>In article <0105002B.ibrvd6@digtype.airage.com> jeff@digtype.airage.com writes:
>>Sun has also put their full documentation on CD-ROM--it's called Answerbook.
>>It includes Postscript versions of all of the standard man pages,
>>plus the full paper documentation set (normally 8 or so volumes weighing
>>in at 80 or so pounds!). I also have hardware and configuration manuals
>>for most of the desktop systems. It completely fills a 600 meg CD.

>First, I completely agree with Jeff's enthusiasm for this system.  It is good
>and probably is the wave of the future.  I do have one gripe, however.
>As I have said, in other postings, Postscript is a half-finished job until
>somebody comes up with a method for converting it back into standard ASCII
>text like the lines you are reading, now.  The windows-oriented approach is
>totally useless for those of us who are blind and use speech synthesizers.
>We were able to cobble together a small C program to strip out all that
>Postscript language and display a completely deformatted stream of data.
>It beats nothing, though not by much.  I would love to help fix this problem,
>but I need to find a document explaining Postscript in electronic form so
>I can read it and figure out how to tackle this beast.

You have the wrong end of the stick.  Postscript is for describing the visual
appearance on a page.  To try to convert it back to unformatted text strikes me
conceptually as being a bit absurd.

To help you you want the documentation supplied in a format-independent way
such as SGML.  SGML describes the information and structure of the document
without being tied to some particular output device.  Then the hypertext links
will be explicit and you can have a voice operated navigation system.
High-end documentation systems such as Framemaker and Interleaf deal with SGML
these days so it should all be technically feasible.

-- 
Anthony Shipman                 "You've got to be taught before it's too late,
CP Software Export Pty Ltd,      Before you are six or seven or eight,
19 Cato St., East Hawthorn,      To hate all the people your relatives hate,
Melbourne, Australia, 3121       You've got to be carefully taught."  R&H

-----------------------------

From: Bob Goudreau <goudreau@robin.rtp.dg.com>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:50:48 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <BxMFry.20I@eonsw.demon.co.uk> ian@eonsw.demon.co.uk (Ian Leonard) writes:
>
> Why does it [IBM PC] have an ESC key?

Probably because IBM realized that a keyboard that wasn't able to
generate all of the characters in the ASCII standard would not sell
as well as one that was.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Goudreau			Data General Corporation
goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com		62 Alexander Drive	
+1 919 248 6231			Research Triangle Park, NC  27709, USA

-----------------------------

From: Peter Busser <peter@global.hacktic.nl>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (very long)
Date: 14 Nov 92 14:20:16 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

rhodesia@wixer.cactus.org (Felix S. Gallo) writes:

>Definitely not.  My keyboard doesn't have an F1 key.  If it did, there
>would be no guarantee that it would produce what your F1 key does.

That's what we have curses and termcap for...

>Why don't you take some courses on human-computer interaction and
>ergonomics and try to get back to Unix later?

Have you?

-----------------------------

From: "Jethro H. Greene" <jhgreen@cs.sandia.gov>
Subject: FAQ
Date: 15 Nov 92 03:18:41 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Originator: jhgreen@cs.sandia.gov
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I downloaded the November 6 posting of the FAQ list.  I never found part 4/7.
Would someone please mail me the fourth part?

-----------------------------

From: Frank Pinto <rolls@cis.umassd.edu>
Subject: Unaccessible files, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 15 Nov 92 06:33:28 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Hello all
Recently, while I was connected to school via my MAC
from home, apparently I got disconnected , however, 
I believe that some of the signal from the line
created files in my directory.
They have wierd names, eg. vH?
t){}8uUytR99*-)]09)9ll08k, etc
I've tried deleted them, but the system says
It can not access them, I tried to move them into a dummy
dir. , no avail.
How do I Delete them?
Also, what does it means for a file to be called with
the following:  #filename#  , char "#" surrounding it?

Thanks in advance

Frank Pinto

-----------------------------

From: Fiona Wong <a1001032@cdf.toronto.edu>
Subject: Re: Unaccessible files, HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 16 Nov 92 03:44:52 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <BxqvJx.J0G@umassd.edu> rolls@cis.umassd.edu (Frank Pinto) writes:
>Hello all
>Recently, while I was connected to school via my MAC
>from home, apparently I got disconnected , however, 
>I believe that some of the signal from the line
>created files in my directory.
>They have wierd names, eg. vH?
>t){}8uUytR99*-)]09)9ll08k, etc
>I've tried deleted them, but the system says
>It can not access them, I tried to move them into a dummy
>dir. , no avail.
>How do I Delete them?
>Also, what does it means for a file to be called with
>the following:  #filename#  , char "#" surrounding it?
>
>Thanks in advance
>
>Frank Pinto

Can "rm -i *" work?

---
Fiona.

-- 
This is the story of bee.		Whose sex is very hard to see.
You cannot tell the he from the she.	But she can tell, and so can he.
The little bee is never still.		She has no time to take the pill.
And that is why, in times like these.	There are so many sons of bees.

-----------------------------

From: HOU-SHENG LIN <hl00@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu>
Subject: Question about write
Date: 15 Nov 92 06:34:27 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I was wondering how the write command sends output to the other person's
terminal since I noticed that I cannot directly write to the person's /dev/tty
file... (anything to do with the command temporarily shifthing so a su?)  On a
related note, is there a way to turn off the write's beeping without turning
the beeping entirely off for the system?

-- 
-Sheng
hl00@pl122.eecs.lehigh.edu
hl00@m180k.cc.lehigh.edu
hl00@lehigh.edu

-----------------------------

From: "Jethro H. Greene" <jhgreen@cs.sandia.gov>
Subject: Why do the C programs that I download never work?
Date: 15 Nov 92 16:22:25 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Originator: jhgreen@cs.sandia.gov
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Hi.

I assume that the problem is some act of blatent stupidity on my part, but
why is it that every program without an included makefile that I download 
from an FTP server never compiles?  I try cc, gcc, and all of the other C
compilers and I always get a page of errors.  Would someone please inform
me of my mistake?

Thanks

 --------------------------- |\_/| --------------------------------------------
| Jethro H. Greene (Jed) | \`0.0'/ | Massively Parallel Comp. Research Lab., |
| jhgreen@cs.sandia.gov  | =(_-_)= | Sandia National Lab., Albuquerque, NM   |
 ---------------------------   U   --------------------------------------------

-----------------------------

From: "Karl-P. Huestegge" <karl@robots.in-berlin.de>
Subject: Re: Overflow warnings (SCO SV3.2)
Date: 15 Nov 92 16:55:53 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

dmunday@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu writes:

>I have just started getting the fallowing two messages on our 486
>SCO Unix System V/3.2 box
> 
>WARNING: Region table overflow
>NOTICE: File table overflow

Increase NREGION and/or NFILE (Options 3 and 4 of the kernel configure
script).

NREGION should be 210 for 2-3MB RAM, 250 for 4-6MB RAM and 300 for 6-15MB
RAM.
NFILE should be 150/300/400 for upto 4/6/15 MB RAM.

Look for details in your System Administrator Guide (Chapter 18).
There are some nice tables (System error messages -> affected Kernel
parameters, Amount of RAM -> tunable Parameters etc..).

Hope this helps,
     Karl-Peter.

-- 
Karl-Peter Huestegge                          karl@robots.in-berlin.de
Berlin Friedenau                              ..unido!fub!geminix!robots!karl

-----------------------------

From: Kristian Ejvind <krej@electrum.kth.se>
Subject: Re: How do I increase number of screen rows?
Date: 15 Nov 92 17:21:08 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <lux.721768908@sol.UVic.CA> lux@sol.UVic.CA (Michael O'Henly) writes:
>       I want to increase the number of rows displayed by things like
>   emacs and nn from 24 to 35.
>
>       When I dial into my machine, the terminal window is defined as
>   24x80 and I can't quite figure out how to change it. I suspect it
>   involves the stty command, but 'stty rows 35' doesn't seem to tell
>   "full screen" emacs whatever it needs to know in order to address the
>   extra rows.

   IF you are using tcsh (I don't know how any other shells do this) the
problem surely is in tcsh, as it uses the scroll regions of a vt100-terminal.
I had the same problem and have solved it with a little script that sends the
'set scroll-region' command to the terminal like this:
 ------8<----cut,cut-----
stty rows 29 cols 80
echo -n "<ESC>[1;29r"
clear
 ------8<----cut,cut-----
where <ESC> is the escape character, which sets the display to 29 lines, 
just substitute 29 for 35 on the first two lines and it will work for you.

/Kristian

-----------------------------

From: John Gordon <gordon@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: A few more quick C questions...
Date: 15 Nov 92 17:48:18 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

cecchinr@hornsby.cs.rpi.edu (Ron Cecchini) writes:

>Hi again -

> Thanx to everyone who responded to my read/write question of a few days ago.

> I just have a couple of *quick* C questions:

>1) Is there a command to see if a file exists?
>   [Can't just use fopen() - it returns NULL for more than one reason...]

	Try access().

>2) Is there a command to determine a file's size?
>   [I think the data structure pointed to by a FILE contains a ->_cnt feild
>    that can be used - I'll try it in a minute...]

	Try fstat(), in particular the st_size element.

>3) Is there a command to determine if a user is logged in?
>   [I don't want to bother with a system("who | grep user > temp"), etc.]

	Well, if you REALLY wanted to avoid the "who" route, you could
write a program that reads the /etc/utmp file, which is supposed to
contain a list of current users.  The format is pretty weird, though.

>4) Is there a command to determine if a user is running a certain process?

	Err....how about "ps" ?

---
John Gordon                        My incredibly witty saying has been 
gordon@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu         Politically Corrected into oblivion.

-----------------------------

From: Wei Jin Mai <cl820@cleveland.freenet.edu>
Subject: how to change bk color?
Date: 15 Nov 92 20:26:52 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil


   How do I change the background color? (not in a window enviroment)

please reply by email if you can, thank you.
-- 
Weijin Mai

-----------------------------

From: Christopher JS Vance <Christopher.Vance@adfa.oz.au>
Subject: Re: diff in scripts again
Date: 15 Nov 92 22:53:10 GMT
Originator: cjsv@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <9231818.21238@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> asni@ecr.mu.oz.au (Astria_Nicole PRICE) writes:
| In article <1992Nov9.102409.3369@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>, rwhelan@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Ryan A. Whelan) writes:
| > In article <ssuhook.720712389@reading> ssuhook@susssys1.reading.ac.uk (Roger Neil Hook) writes:
| > >Why on earth have we got an article from this place in cs.general????
| > 
| > what IS cs.general ANYWAY!?!?!?!?!
| > 
| Well I always thought it was the newsgroup of the computer science
| department at my university.
| 
| Obviously wrong.

Partly right.  A newsgroup of computer science departments in many places.
Unfortunately many of them leak into each other....

-----------------------------

From: "frederick.d.true" <ft@cbnewsi.cb.att.com>
Subject: Decompress while merging?
Keywords: merge compress
Date: 15 Nov 92 23:13:22 GMT
Followup-To: ftrue@attmail.att.com
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Is anyone aware of an existing method to merge/sort compressed files
given a sort key? In other words, say I have 10 large compressed
files, sorted by a particular key (ie: position 5-10), and I need to
merge them in sorted order into another compressed file.  The files
are too large to have all uncompressed on the system, so using regular
sort is out of the question.

What I need is some sort of utility ala 'sort -m' which will
decompress and buffer input files while merging. Is there such a
beast? Is there another obvious way of doing this that I'm neglecting?
Perhaps a way to decompress several files to different file
descriptors, and a way to merge files based on file descriptors?  I
realize that I could polyphase merge them two at a time, but I'd
rather not. The files are very large and each merge stage would take
hours.

I'm just about to write my own merge routine, building in the compress/
decompress routines as an option for each input file, but I thought I'd 
see what's out there before I started.

Any suggestions would be appreciated,

Please e-mail to: ftrue@attmail.att.com

--
Fred True
AT&T

-----------------------------

From: Andy Newman <andy@research.canon.oz.au>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD (long)
Date: 16 Nov 92 01:52:01 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Josef Moellers <mollers.pad@sni.de> writes:
>My 2ct:
>UNIX doesn't have these "user friendlyness" of DOS, because it isn't DOS
>that's user friendly, it's the applications that were written for it.
>One OS is no more "user friendly" than the other.
>

I'm really sick of this and I'm sorry for using you as an example
Joesf but you were in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Define what "user friendly" means? The word "user" in the phrase means
that the "friendliness" of this piece of computer software depends
upon the user. I find UNIX user-friendly, the user being me.

And another thing for the people who rm to hold their hands...Rm, like
a power drill can be dangerous when used without care. Do people
really expect machines to think for them? If yes then these people
have got a big shock coming to them!
-- 
Andy Newman (andy@research.canon.oz.au)

-----------------------------

From: Sabina Wolfson <swolfson@nyx.cs.du.edu>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD (long)
Date: 16 Nov 92 02:49:26 GMT
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

peter@global.hacktic.nl (Peter Busser) writes:
>rm72@prism.gatech.EDU (Robert B. McCullough) writes:
>
>>MY opinion like or not--DOS BLOWS!! Girlie OS.
>
>I agree.

I'm offended.

MY opinion like or not--DOS BLOWS!! Little penis OS.

-----------------------------

From: Simon Hawkin <cema@cs.umd.edu>
Subject: Distribution of cs.general (WAS Re: diff in scripts again)
Keywords: distribution cs.general
Date: 16 Nov 92 02:02:05 GMT
Followup-To: cs.general
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <1992Nov15.225310.25079@sserve.cc.adfa.oz.au> Christopher.Vance@adfa.oz.au (Christopher JS Vance) writes:
>In article <9231818.21238@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> asni@ecr.mu.oz.au (Astria_Nicole PRICE) writes:
>| In article <1992Nov9.102409.3369@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>, rwhelan@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Ryan A. Whelan) writes:
>| > In article <ssuhook.720712389@reading> ssuhook@susssys1.reading.ac.uk (Roger Neil Hook) writes:
>| > >Why on earth have we got an article from this place in cs.general????

>| Well I always thought it was the newsgroup of the computer science
>| department at my university.

>| Obviously wrong.

>Partly right.  A newsgroup of computer science departments in many places.
>Unfortunately many of them leak into each other....

As was noted some time before, if you send an article to 
both cs.general, whose distribution area is local, 
AND something more global like comp.unix.questions, 
then it will appear in cs.general on all machines that
accept comp.unix.questions along with (their local) cs.general, 
as far as the title (demanding its appearance in cs.general) remains.

This is really unix.question :-)

Maybe, the simplest cure is not to couple the groups.

=====================================================
	...hacked up beyond all recognition
=====================================================

-----------------------------

From: Dave Eisen <dkeisen@leland.stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: how to search/replace over an entire directory
Date: 16 Nov 92 02:20:48 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Email bounced. Pardon me for posting something that is not really
clean enough for general consumption.

gdfwc3!kuwait!scotth@uunet.uu.net writes:
>Is there an easy way to do a search and replace of a string over an 
>entire directory or a list of files.  It would be nice it was something
>like like
>
>$ search_replace -search string1 -replace string2 -directory this_directory

This should work. I changed the usage to 

   search_replace string1 string2 this_directory

because as far as I could see, the -search, -replace, -directory
weren't buying you anything. It would be easy enough to adjust.

And I also am assuming that none of the arguments has any
spaces in it or any characters (such as .) that have special
meaning as regular expressions. All of this could be dealt
with by quoting things appropriately, but this is just a
quick off-the-top-of-my-head solution.

I also assume your system supports the #! syntax for launching
scripts. If not, figure out some other way to get /bin/sh
to interpret this.

Put this into a file and execute it as

   filename string1 string2 this_directory

#! /bin/sh

[ $# -eq 3 ] || {
     echo "Usage: $0 srchstring replstring dirname" >&2
     exit 1
}

srch=$1
repl=$2
dname=$3

find $dname -type f -print |
     while read fname
     do
	   ed - $fname <<-EOF
	   1,\$s/$srch/$repl/g
	   w
	   q
     done
    	
exit 0


I tested it out and it worked, but I do tend to make mistakes when
using ed, especially when I don't have my docs at hand. I'd test it
before unleashing it on real data.

If you have any questions about how either of this script works or 
about how to improve it to add better error checking or more flexibility, 
feel free to drop me a note. Shell programming can be tricky.



-- 
Dave Eisen                               Sequoia Peripherals: (415) 967-5644
dkeisen@leland.Stanford.EDU              Home:                (415) 321-5154
       There's something in my library to offend everybody. 
          --- Washington Coalition Against Censorship

-----------------------------

From: MONK <asriniva@vela.acs.oakland.edu>
Subject: lockf in SV is there anything in 4.3BSD
Date: 16 Nov 92 02:51:36 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

hi gurus

I am trying to write a server which would provide record locking mechanism for
the clients. We have lockf in SV but we have only flock and funlock in 4.3BSD.
I would like to know how can record locking be implemented.

Thanks
athi
-- 
_________________________________________________________________________
athi			
_________________________________________________________________________

-----------------------------

From: Steve Manes <manes@magpie.nycenet.edu>
Subject: Re: Unattended execution
Date: 16 Nov 92 03:15:07 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Bob Lee (rlee@bgsu.edu) wrote:
: 
: This is a question to all you Unix experts out there.
: 
: There is a task I want to perform, it includes recursively searching over
: 200 directories and over 1000 files for an occurance of a text string in
: any of the files. As you probably guessed, this task takes quite a while
: and I want to do it for more than one text string.

See at(C).
-- 
Stephen Manes					   manes@magpie.nycenet.edu
Manes and Associates/Commontech-NoHo		   New York, NY, USA  =o&>o

-----------------------------

From: Lachlan Cranswick <lachlan@dmp.csiro.au>
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD? (long)
Date: 16 Nov 92 03:16:17 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

gglass07@ursa.calvin.edu (Gideon Glass) writes:

>papresco@napier.uwaterloo.ca (Paul Prescod) writes:

>>Why is it, in VI if I try to save a file without a name it doesn't prompt
>>me for a name?  Instead it kicks me back to vi.  Or if I try to quit without
>>saving.  Why doesn't it ask me "Save y/n."  There is no reason VI couldn't
>>have an "expert" mode that got rid of messages for those that don't want
>>them.
>[Lots more deleted]

>Listen, if you don't like VI, don't use it.  Can't you get the point?
>Those of us who like UNIX use it.  Those of you who don't can find
>yourselves another operating system.  I'm tired of hearing your
>marketing-inspired bullshit hype about how no one's going to use UNIX
>after Window NT (or whatever) comes out.  Plenty of people like UNIX
>fine without your stupid hypothetical novice-friendly user interface
>strapped on.


WOOHH - Someone got out of wrong side of the bed this morning!!

It is no news that
novice users hate UNIX (aka vi) and think
it is the pits.  

In my previous posts about novice users hating UNIX and especially 
vi, I got flamed but I also got a brilliant piece of advice - PICO.

I've posted this before, but the PICO editor for UNIX
has been written by GODS!!  It is a very simple editor
and has a zero learning curve for new users and experienced
vi users who still hate vi.

It only took me three days to get almost all the site
users to fall in love with this editor.  It also came with
a number of makefiles for different computers so I didn't have
library problems to get the thing to compile.

FEATURES:-
It has the menu at the bottom on the screen with all the options.
Line wrap.
REALLY USER FRIENDLY.

Try it out it is totally brilliant!!

I no longer have to feel guilty about introducing
new users to UNIX by warning them to leave an afternoon
or two free to learn vi.

It is very easy to get elm to use it as its default editor
and you can make nn use PICO as its default editor by putting
the line

setenv EDITOR /bin/pico  (or wherever the editor is)

in your .cshrc file.

(I still use vi, mainly because I have had quite a few thousand
spent on me to learn the thing at UNIX courses.  Also I am quite addicted to
vi.)

HOPE this helps.  Stay cool dudes,  Lachlan.
-- 
  Lachlan Cranswick  -  CSIRO             _--_|\  lachlan@dmp.CSIRO.AU
  Division of Mineral Products           /      \ tel +61 3 647 0367
  PO Box 124, Port Melbourne 3207        \_.--._/ fax +61 3 646 3223
  AUSTRALIA                                    v 

-----------------------------

From: Vinay Kashyap <kashyap@oddjob.uchicago.edu>
Subject: where no vi has gone before...?
Date: 16 Nov 92 04:41:52 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I have this list of questions (problems/wishes/...) on vi, and wonder
if anyone has come across similar occurances.  If so, please email me,
and I will post a summary.

(I am using X11R5, 
tcsh 5.20.02 (Cornell) 12/07/90 options 8b,nls,el,dl,al,dir
on Sun Sparc)

1. I keep a list of macros in a file and pick them up by first going to
   the file with :e <file> and then moving to the necessary map and
   typing (the equivalent of) "aY@a (this is mapped to a key...)
   The problem is that the following map does not work, while all the
   others do:
   :map [f :!echo -n "^V^[]2;%^G"^V^M^V^M
   (where ^V is ctrl-V, ^[ is ESC, ^G is ctrl-G, and this is exactly what
   it LOOKS like from inside vi)
   upon typing "aY@a on this line, the echo sequence is mapped to [f
   (looks perfect when you do a :map)
   now, if I type [f in command mode (and provided that I am using
   xterm) the name of the file should be echoed on the titlebar.
   however, it exits with the error
   Unmatched ".
   and does nothing.
   On the other hand, if I were to actually type
   :!echo -n "^[]2;%^G"^M^M
   (with the necessary ^V before ESC) it works as expected.
   What is missing here?

2. Is there a simple macro that yanks text from a marked position up
   to and INCLUDING the cursor position?  The method should work even
   for end-of-line characters.

3. Is there a way to prepend or append characters to macros without
   (a) introducing newlines between the additions, &/or
   (b) writing to the file and deleting to a named buffer

4. Typing ^G or :se nu in the command mode tells us the line number
   the cursor is on.  Are there equivalent commands/macros that tell
   us the column number?

5. I recently read on the net that someone has a macro that can extract
   a rectangle.  I would like more information on it, please.

6. For some reason, I cannot get the <ctrl-SPACE> (^@) to echo on my
   terminal.  Nor in vi.  Every time I try, a beep is emanated, and
   nothing happens.  It is not mapped to anything that I can see.  Is
   this a tcsh 'feature'?  Why does it not echo with a preceding ^V in
   vi?

7. Similar to the previous question: Can I echo mouse keyclicks on the
   command line, and/or can I map them in vi?

8. Is it at all possible to position the cursor by clicking with the
   mouse?

Vinay (kashyap@oddjob.uchicago.edu)

-----------------------------

From: Vinay Kashyap <kashyap@oddjob.uchicago.edu>
Subject: where no vi has gone before...? (CORRECTION)
Date: 16 Nov 92 23:07:18 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I had posted a list of questions on vi, and Tuomas Lukka pointed out
that question 3 didn't make sense:

>3. Is there a way to prepend or append characters to macros without
>   (a) introducing newlines between the additions, &/or
>   (b) writing to the file and deleting to a named buffer
It should have read as follows (I apologize for the error):

3. Is there a way to prepend or append characters to BUFFERS without
   (a) introducing newlines between additions (yanking to an uppercase
   buffer appends to text already in the buffer, but on a new line) &/or
   (b) writing to the file and deleting to the named buffer (in other
   words, are there ways to put characters in named buffers other than
   yanking/deleting text)?

Vinay (kashyap@oddjob.uchicago.edu)

-----------------------------

From: Vinay Kashyap <kashyap@oddjob.uchicago.edu>
Subject: where no vi has gone before...? (CORRECTION)
Date: 16 Nov 92 23:12:46 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I had posted a list of questions on vi, and Tuomas Lukka pointed out
that question 3 didn't make sense:

>3. Is there a way to prepend or append characters to macros without
>   (a) introducing newlines between the additions, &/or
>   (b) writing to the file and deleting to a named buffer
It should have read as follows (I apologize for the error):

3. Is there a way to prepend or append characters to BUFFERS without
   (a) introducing newlines between additions (yanking to an uppercase
   buffer appends to text already in the buffer, but on a new line) &/or
   (b) writing to the file and deleting to the named buffer (in other
   words, are there ways to put characters in named buffers other than
   yanking/deleting text)?

Vinay (kashyap@oddjob.uchicago.edu)

-----------------------------

From: Senthil Sankarappan <senthils@netcom.com>
Subject: 'AWK' to 'C' conversion program
Date: 16 Nov 92 05:45:10 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil


     is there a program available in the market which will convert the
"awk" script into "c" code?

    or is there "awk compiler" available? 

    if there is no "awk compiler", can anybody explain me what is the
theoretical difficulty in having a "awk compiler"?


thanks in advance,
vs senthilkumar

-----------------------------

From: Ramez Naam <naam@cecer.army.mil>
Subject: background exection from startup scripts
Date: 16 Nov 92 05:48:08 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I'm having trouble forcing a c-shell script to be executed in the
background from my .login.  Just enterring
	myprogram_name &
in the .login creates a self-spawning process.  Is there anyway to
get around this?  Also, can anyone explain to me why this occurs?

On a related note, what's the easiest way to cause *any* shell script
to execute another script in the background, and then terminate without
waiting for its child process to exit?

--
Ramez Naam
naam@lorax.cecer.army.mil

-----------------------------

From: Michael Salmon <etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se>
Subject: Re: grep
Date: 16 Nov 92 09:26:45 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <1992Nov13.113839.25046@dlpinc00.rn.com>, 
dlparker@dlpinc00.rn.com (David L. Parker) writes:
|> In article <1992Nov12.144322.11444@ericsson.se> 
|> etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se (Michael Salmon) writes:
|> >In article <6370@sersun1.essex.ac.uk>, 
|> >peter@essex.ac.uk writes:
|> >|> A quick question I was asked this morning. "Why is grep so called?"
|> >
|> >It comes from an ed command:
|> >
|> >g/re/p
|> >
|> >i.e. globally search for a regular expression and print those lines
|> >that match.
|> >
|> 
|> Actually it's Global Regular Expression Parser.

Unfortunately Brian Kernigan and Rob Pike disagree with you, see
page 18 of:

The Unix Programming Environment
Prentice Hall
ISBN 0-13-937699-2

-- 

Michael Salmon

#include	<standard.disclaimer>
#include	<witty.saying>
#include	<fancy.pseudo.graphics>

Ericsson Telecom AB
Stockholm

-----------------------------

From: Michael Salmon <etxmesa@eos.ericsson.se>
Subject: Re: problems with awk: output redirection and getline in a pipe
Date: 16 Nov 92 09:36:44 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <34071@adm.brl.mil>, 
Guenter.Partosch@hrz.uni-giessen.dbp.de writes:
|> Subject: problems in awk: output redirection and getline in a pipe
|> 
|> I have written the following shell script:
|> 
|> awk 'BEGIN {print "...something"}
|>            {print " ...anything for every line"}
|>     END    {printf("%2d\n", NR) >"awk.tmp" }' |
|> sort |
|> awk 'BEGIN {getline < "awk.tmp";
|>            numberoflines = $1}
|>            {print "---anything for every line"}
|>      END   {printf("%2d\n", numberoflines)} '
|> 
|> In this script awk is called and an input file is processed. Output
|> is written into a pipe, temporary results are stored on a temporary file.
|> 
|> The data in the pipe is transferred to UNIX sort and to a second awk program,
|> which
|> also reads the data on the temporary file by getline.
|> 
|> If I start this script the first time I get 0 as result. If I start the
|> script the next times I always get a number written on the temporary file
|> in a previous run.
|> 
|> What is to do now. Any help appreciated.
|> Thanks in advance.

When you start this command line you start up 3 processes
simultaneously, awk, sort and, awk. awk.tmp is not created until the
end of the first awk task. The second awk task reads from awk.tmp then
proceeds to read input from the pipe where it halts until sort is
finished. Solution: getline returns 0 if it reaches the end of its
input file so, always remove awk.tmp before this command line and then
loop waiting for getline to return something other than 0.

-- 

Michael Salmon

#include	<standard.disclaimer>
#include	<witty.saying>
#include	<fancy.pseudo.graphics>

Ericsson Telecom AB
Stockholm

-----------------------------

From: "Durrant;f110or89;[05306" <jmd6@unix.brighton.ac.uk>
Subject: info? Unix standard(s)!
Date: 16 Nov 92 10:57:02 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil


I am currently doing some research for a disertation for the final
year of my degree in computer science. I have chosen to do the
research on unix and its standadisation.

I therefore interested if any one has any interesting articles on
unix stadadisation on SVR4 or OSF/1 or perhaps other standards. I
am finding that articles are hard and slow to get hold of through
interlibrary loans so any electronic articles you can send me 
would be of use.

I'm also intresting in peoples views of what might happen to unix in
the next few years. So please send me any strong view you have. 

My reseach has covered some intresting articles such as 
IS UNIX DEAD from Byte
THE CASE AGAINST UNIX STANDARDS from UKUUG comference
and is now heading in the direction of the following questions:

Will open systems save unix?

Has POSIX compatibility on proprietry systems (eg OPEN VMS) killed
unix?

Is SVR4 the new unix standard?

Will any one use OSF/1?

Will Windows NT replace UNIX?

Also does any one know if open systems has taken unix SVR4 to be
its standard, and if any other POSIX standards besides 1003.1 have
become ISO standards.


Thanks for you help

Jon Durrant 

-----------------------------

From: Michael Wraa-Hansen <mwh@csd.cri.dk>
Subject: Library maintenance with SunOS 4.1.1 make (bug report?)
Date: 16 Nov 92 13:16:56 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I have been trying to use the make utility with object file library
maintenance and I think that I have spotted a bug. I am aware that bug
report 1010592 reports something similar, but don't think it applies here.

Consider the following makefile and defaults file (I cannot use a
solution without a defaults file):

##### Makefile
OBJECTS=foo.o bar.o
LIBRARY=A

all: libA.a libB.a

include default.mk
##### end Makefile

##### default.mk
lib$(LIBRARY).a: lib$(LIBRARY).a($(OBJECTS))
	ar rv $@ $?
	ranlib $@

lib$(LIBRARY).a(%.o): %.o
	@true

libB.a: libB.a($(OBJECTS))
	ar rv $@ $?
	ranlib $@

libB.a(%.o): %.o
	@true
##### end default.mk

If I display (make -p) the specific dependencies for this I get the
following (omitting irrelevant rules):

##### make output
all: libA.a libB.a
lib.a(%.o):	%.o
	@true
libB.a(%.o):	%.o
	@true
libA.a(%.o):	%.o
	@true
libB.a(%.o):	%.o
	@true
lib.a: lib.a()
	ar rv $@ $?
	ranlib $@
libB.a: libB.a() libB.a(foo.o) libB.a(bar.o)
	ar rv $@ $?
	ranlib $@
libA.a: libA.a(foo.o) libA.a(bar.o)
	ar rv $@ $?
	ranlib $@
##### end make output

Whether using the indirect version (libA.a) or direct version (libB.a)
make is generating wrong rules - and in the latter case this prohibits
make from finishing it's job.

Any solutions or oppinions?

-Michael
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Michael Wraa-Hansen                  | email       mwh@csd.cri.dk           |
| Computer Resources International A/S | phone       +45 45 82 21 00 ext. 3224|
| Bregnerodvej 144                     | direct dial +45 45 82 22 66 + 3224   |
| DK-3460 Birkerod, Denmark            | fax         +45 45 82 01 22          |
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+

-----------------------------

From: Richard Batty <cmh061@cck.coventry.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: How to delete a file named -l??
Date: 16 Nov 92 16:50:57 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil


Try a simple C program to unlink it sometimg like this will work !!

#include <stdio.h>

main()
{
	unlink("FULL PATH & FILENAME HERE !");
	}

It should work .... but dont quote me on that !!

-- 
   __                           | JANET cmh061@uk.ac.cov.cck
  /  )      _/_                 | AKA R.Batty
 /--<  __.  /   ____  __.   __  |
/___/_(_/|_<___/ / <_(_/|__/ <_ | "All I Want From Life Is To Get Out Alive !"

-----------------------------

From: Larry Bright <leb@edgar.jpl.nasa.gov>
Subject: C Source Code for Pattern Matching
Keywords: text pattern matching source
Date: 16 Nov 92 17:34:05 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Could anyone tell me where I could find C source code for some
simple text pattern matching s/w, preferably with a syntax and
semantics based on "regular expressions" as in grep, awk, sed, etc.
Anything that implements a non-trivial subset of these functions
would be useful.

Thanks,

Larry Bright (lbright@mazurka.jpl.nasa.gov)

-----------------------------

From: dong hao zhang <donghao@leland.stanford.edu>
Subject: What's HP Boat Format
Keywords: Disk Format
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:09:50 GMT
Followup-To: donghao@leland.stanford.edu
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

I have a 3.5 inch floppy disk to read. The disk is marked HP boat format.
Is this the disk format for HP workstations ? I appreciate any response to
donghao@leland.stanford.edu

Sorry if this isn't quite a unix question, but couldn't find any place better.

Dong Hao Zhang 11/16

-----------------------------

From: zzang <zzang@stat.ufl.edu>
Subject: Net File Question
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:10:00 GMT
Originator: zzang@whale
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Hello,
I am wondering how to get access
to the files on another host or server.
the question is raised when I try to
install emacs myself in my bin/
the problem is that I don't want to
keep the lib/ myself in my home dir, it takes disk
spaces. the system has the emacs lib/
already, so I can just borrow the
system lib/

my file is at host manta(DEC), and the lib files
are at the server marlin(SUN). so how can tell the
emacs during installation as where to get the 
emacs lib/ file. (the path for the server marlin)

the trouble is, host manta is DECstation and
it uses another DECstation mako as its server.
I can get access to the mako's files.
but I don't know how to get access to the
SUN host marlin's file without using rsh.

Thanks very much !

-- 
Zhuo Zang[~{j0WA~}]
Department of Statistics
University of Florida            Email: zzang@stat.ufl.edu

-----------------------------

From: Fiona Wong <a1001032@cdf.toronto.edu>
Subject: popen..
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:31:40 GMT
Originator: a1001032@eddie.cdf.toronto.edu
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Hi,netters:

If a command yields nothing on stdout, what will popen(command,"r") point to?
How can I distinguish between pointing something and nothing?

---
Fiona.
-- 
This is the story of bee.		Whose sex is very hard to see.
You cannot tell the he from the she.	But she can tell, and so can he.
The little bee is never still.		She has no time to take the pill.
And that is why, in times like these.	There are so many sons of bees.

-----------------------------

From: Liming Ren <ren@function.mps.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: what does 8-bit clean mean ?
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:53:08 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: function.mps.ohio-state.edu
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Somewhere I read that the C-compiler cc is not 8-bit clean. I am not sure
what It means?

Also from the manpage of lex in UNIX, it says:

     The lex command is  not  changed  to  support  8-bit  symbol
     names,  as  this  would  produce lex source code that is not
     portable between systems.

Does this mean that lex can only be used for lexical analysis of text
of ascii code 0-127? 




Many thanks!!!

-----------------------------

From: Dave "Van Damme" Ratner <ratner@ficus.cs.ucla.edu>
Subject: Re: C Program error
Date: 16 Nov 92 21:51:13 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

ferguson@wizard.etsu.edu (Jason M Ferguson) writes:

>	slight modification, I typed that statement slightly wrong:
>typedef void (*setvarproc)(char *,int)

>	I'm using cc to compile.
>	Thanks for your help.

I know that many generic "cc" compilers (like SunOS) do not understand
ANSI syntax, which is what you are trying to compile.  Try gcc.

Dave
-- 
* *  ***  *     *    |   Dave "Van Damme" Ratner
* *  *    *    * *  / \  ratner@cs.ucla.edu
* *  *    *    ***  \ /  
***  ***  ***  * *   |   "Wham Bam, thank you Van Damme!"	

-----------------------------

From: Brian Montgomery <brianm@meaddata.com>
Subject: mapping extended keyboard in vi /ksh
Date: 16 Nov 92 22:11:01 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

hi netters,
       I need your expertise in vi to help figure out this problem.

I want to map the extended keyboard to some macros in vi.  

Like for example I want to map the 
pageup key to ^B
pagedown key to ^F 
home   key to ESC:1G
end    key to ESC:G


Another problem is mapping of the arrow keys. 

I use the kornshell and I would like to map the arrow keys to 
up arrow to    ^[k 
down arrow to  ^[j
right arrow to ^[l
left arrow to  ^[h


Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Emailing me your responses would be a good idea
as I don't frequent the net often. I will summarise and post , if
I get enough requests (> 10).

Thanks in advance 

-----------------------------

From: "John N. Stewart" <jns@ace.nas.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: UUENCODE help!
Date: 16 Nov 92 23:59:42 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

In article <gf0hoqi00iUyE6umUp@andrew.cmu.edu> jd4q+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joe Eddy Demers) writes:
>To get uuencode to work right, do the following:
>
>Say you want to uuencode the binary file blah.mid into the text file blah.uu:
>    At the unix prompt, type:
>        uuencode blah.mid blah.mid > blau.uu
>
>I know that sounds weird, but it works.  I'm not sure why you have to
>put the source filename as both the desired file AND the remote file,
>but that's the only way I've been able to get it to work, and it works
>just fine that way.



It allows you to specify that the "outgoing" file be named something
different (which by the way, can actually be quite dangerous. Be very
careful about uudecoding anything as root)

So "uudecode %real-file% %when-it-gets-decoded-give-it-this-file-name% \
    > %put-the-encoded-stuff-in-here%"

--Ace

-----------------------------

From: Fahad A Hoymany <fahad@cs.pitt.edu>
Subject: Suppressing the 'w' command
Date: 17 Nov 92 00:26:37 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Could someone tell me how to stop other people from checking up on me
with the 'w' command?  (As you know 'w' tells what other users are running
at that particular time)

p.s. I could not find information on this from previous postings.

privacyLESS in Pittsburgh
 ..Fahad

-----------------------------

From: Harley Hahn <harley@engrhub.ucsb.edu>
Subject: IS UNIX DEAD? 13 of 22
Date: 17 Nov 92 01:18:28 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

This is number 13 in a series of 22 responses to the question:
 
What do you think about the Byte magazine cover that asked:
IS UNIX DEAD?
 
(moderated by Harley Hahn)
 
 ----------
From: manmetha@gauss.rutgers.edu (Rajesh Malhotra)
 
IS UNIX DEAD???
 
Preposterous
 
==========
 
From: navarra@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (John Navarra)
 
I will give you two responses. The first relates more to our 
situation with the Schaum's Outline, the second relates to the 
question "Is Unix Dead" in general.
 
I would tell the editor that there is some truth to the article 
(I read it last night). However, that truth is not threatening to 
the sales of the book. The audience for Schaum's Outlines are 
primarily college students or academic professionals. In this 
arena, Unix is certainly not dead -- in fact it grows. The BYTE 
article even talks about this.
 
The concern is the private, cut-throat PC and workstation market. 
Small businesses, and individuals in general do not need the all 
the power Unix offers. Thus, for many, the question is over 
difficult-to-learn vs speed/power/efficiency. Unix's mindset from 
the start was not to provide a tool that was easy to learn. This 
has always been a knock on Unix (but in some sense, it is a 
strong point too). As you say, "Unix is difficult to learn but 
easy to use." 
 
For many years, different individuals have had different views on 
the direction Unix should take. For that reason, many many many 
things have been done. Unix is probably the single-biggest joint 
effort among countries, governments, students, industry, and on 
and on in existence. However, as we all know, once business is 
involved, so is the need for profit. And that is one of the 
things which has plagued Unix.
 
The bigger it gets, the more of a need for standardization. And, 
the more business that are involved, the less the need for 
standardization. For every business wants to have "MY OWN Unix" 
to keep clients depending on them. 
 
The gist of the article was that Windows NT will alleviate some 
of these problems by providing a working standard functional 
across many boundaries -- something Unix (i.e. vendor A Unix, 
vendor B Unix, ... vendor N Unix ) is not too good at. But, as we 
should all know (and as BYTE points out), Microsoft has an 
uncanny ability to sucker the market into believing whatever it 
says well before any product is on the market. (Translation: We 
have no idea that Windows NT will be as good as Microsoft says it 
will be.)
 
However, we do have the old workhorse Unix. And the effort of 
many people behind it, shaping it, molding it, improving it. That 
is a certainty. And perhaps the fact that there is so much to 
Unix is also a blessing. Everyone is almost assured of finding 
what they want out of it. With Windows, you get what they give 
you!
 
Now back to the outline. Our outline deals with the heart and 
soul of Unix -- that which made Unix into the great OS it is 
today. The OS was written for smart people, by smart people; and 
that continues to be true today (even though a new sect has 
sprung up which writes Unix code to make money -- and that can be 
very contradictory to code for the average small business owner 
looking for something to balance his budget vs coding for the 
academic institutions around the world).
 
The situation is very synonymous to the reason why there are such 
a thing as Schaum's outlines for topology, circuit analysis, 
organic chemistry etc. The *average* person has no need for such 
a book because he is not taking topology or circuit analysis, 
etc. Same is true of Unix. The average person that would decide 
between some Unix brand and Windows NT would not need all the 
computing power of Unix.
 
However, the average college student requires more. And the 
average math/computer science/ engineer/ professor etc DOES need 
more and this is why we have Schaum's Outlines. They are written 
by smart people, for smart people.
 
==========
 

-----------------------------

From: Frank Pinto <rolls@cis.umassd.edu>
Subject: How do I restore Files??
Date: 17 Nov 92 02:33:58 GMT
To:       info-unix@sem.brl.mil

Hello all

Inadivertadly I "rm" 2 files from my
usr/ dir.
How do I restore them?

Thanks 
Frank Pinto

-----------------------------


End of INFO-UNIX Digest
***********************
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions