DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 1
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS
Release Notes
- 1 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 2
Preface
DECwindows is DIGITAL's window based distributed application
environment and is based upon the industry standard X Window
System (tm)*, developed by Project Athena and the Laboratory
for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
VWS is a tightly coupled kernel based windowing system for the
VAXstation. Its procedural interface, the User Interface
Services (UIS) provides a high-level programming interface to
the graphic subsystem designed and optimized for the VAX
Workstations and the VMS Operating System. DECwindows is a
distributed window system that is operating system independent
and is compatable with X11 implementations across a wide
variety of environments. DECwindows provides the standard X11
low-level interface in addition to the industry standard
Application Programming Interface for its Toolkit.
DIGITAL is working to assist in the migration from VWS to
DECwindows, and as part of this effort a preliminary baselevel
of a DECwindows/X11 Server has been included in the VWS V4.1
DEMO kit, an unsupported VWS feature, used for demonstration
purposes only. It is not the intention that this software be
used for production work as NO performance issues have been
addressed. Its sole purpose is to provide current VWS users
with a look at the DECwindows environment, and to allow
limited DECwindows development while continuing to use VWS as
the main windowing system.
The VWS DECwindows/X11 Server provides a standard DECwindows
device driver and server which allows a single UIS window to
be used as a virtual workstation. This UIS window provides a
monochrome workstation environment that simulates the VS2000
workstation and can be run on any workstation with both
DECwindows and VWS installed. DECwindows is provided as part
of VMS V5.1 and is installed separately.
* The X Window System is a trademark of MIT.
- 2 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 3
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
This document provides information on installation, use, and
restrictions of the VWS DECwindows/X11 Server.
1.1 Installation
Before you install this software, you must first install
DECwindows on your workstation. DECwindows is provided as
part of the VMS V5.1 software distribution and is installed
separately from VMS. The installation of DECwindows is
described in the VMS Version 5.1 Installation Guide, section
2.2. DECwindows can be installed on a workstation running
VWS; its installation does not require changing the windowing
system. The DECwindows workstation device support MUST be
installed, however, the programming environment is optional.
To install the kit:
1. Invoke VMSINSTAL.
o If you are installing from a tape cartridge, enter the
following command to invoke the VMSINSTAL command
procedure:
$ @SYS$UPDATE:VMSINSTAL VWSDECW010 ddcu:
where ddcu: is the name of the tape unit,
o If you are installing from diskette, locate the fourth
demo floppy labeled:
VMS/WS DEMO V4.1 BIN RX33 4/4
Enter the following command to invoke the VMSINSTAL
command procedure:
$ @SYS$UPDATE:VMSINSTAL VWSDECW010 ddcu:
where ddcu: is the name of the disk unit,
2. Answer the questions asked by the procedure. A sample
installation is provided as Appendix B to these notes.
This kit will not install if you are not running VMS V5.1 and
will ask to verify that DECwindows has already been installed.
The installation will adjust some of the minimum requirements
- 3 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 4
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
for SYSGEN parameters to allow DECwindows to operate, the
installation will perform AUTOGEN and (optionally) reboot the
workstation.
1.2 Operation
The VWS DECwindows/X11 Server is started by invoking the
standard DECwindows startup command files from the SYSTEM
account. The usual mechanism is to invoke
SYS$MANAGER:DECW$STARTUP.COM (See section 2.3 in the VMS
Version 5.1 Installation Guide). The server will insure that
VWS has completed initialization prior to creating a VWS
window and it will check to see that VWS is installed,
therefore, the DECwindows startup may be done at any time.
By default, the server window is full-screen with no border or
banner, providing the same screen geometry as the VS2000
workstation. Because no border or banner is created, the
default setup allows pressing and holding the
CTRL-SHIFT-REMOVE keys to shrink the window to a standard VWS
icon.
The server window can be made smaller than full-screen and can
also have a border and banner. In addition, a number of
options are provided to tailor the environment. These options
are set when the server is started by creating a file named
DECW$SERVER_DEVICE_SETUP_GV.COM in the SYS$MANAGER directory.
A .TEMPLATE version of this file is provided in
SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR] that can be edited to tailor the
environment.
Among the options available are:
o Initial state (icon/window)
o Window size (in pixels)
o Window border and banner
o Window banner text
o Initial window and icon placement
o Output operation batch count
o Initial keyboard state
- 4 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 5
VMS OVERHEAD
2 VMS OVERHEAD
The DECwindows requirements in both CPU and memory are much
higher than VWS. When the server is in active use, it will
consume a great deal of CPU and will demand a great deal of
memory. When the server is running, but has no activity, it
will present only additional memory demands. All of the
DECwindows resources, except a small amount of memory for the
DECwindows drivers, can be removed by stopping the server.
The server may be stopped by selecting DELETE from the menu
icon, or by using the STOP command from DCL on the server
process.
The VWS/DECwindows server kit consumes less than 600 blocks of
disk space; however, the DECwindows kit may require much more.
See the VMS installation guide for Version 5.1 for more detail
on the disk requirements for DECwindows.
To repeat, this server is NOT INTENDED to be of production
quality or performance. It is intended purely as a
development environment.
3 RESTRICTIONS
Because VWS dedicates F1-F5 LK201 keys to system functions,
these keys are not available for general application use.
Under native DECwindows, these keys may be used by application
software.
In this release both mouse and keyboard input use normal UIS
program mechanisms and must simulate the input which
DECwindows expects. There may be slight incompatabilities,
but none have yet been found.
Additionally, there are no means to change LK201 attributes
from the server. This means the LED's cannot be controlled
from DECwindows, nor can autorepeat, or other LK201
characteristics, be altered or the BELL sounded. Many of
these can be changed by using the UIS Workstation Options menu
to alter the LK201 characteristics. The server expects the
Keyboard to report the North American layout, and the
DECwindows software will do any translation to other country
keyboard layouts.
NOTE: In DECwindows, holding COMPOSE-SPACE is required to
start a compose sequence and the COMPOSE key is used as an
"ALT" function shift key.
- 5 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 6
USING NATIVE DECWINDOWS
4 USING NATIVE DECWINDOWS
The window system is selected by the WINDOW_SYSTEM SYSGEN
parameter. To use VWS, set the WINDOW_SYSTEM to 2, to use
native DECwindows set the WINDOW_SYSTEM to 1. The STARTVWS
command file will simply report the condition and exit when
the WINDOW_SYSTEM is set to 1. This parameter can be set by
booting interactively (B/1) and using the SET command in
SYSBOOT.
The installation of the VWS/DECwindows kit should provide a
compatible SYSGEN settings to allow switching between window
systems. If VWS will no longer be used in favor of native
DECwindows, invoke AUTOGEN to remove any excess VWS settings
while running DECwindows.
- 6 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 7
APPENDIX A, FILES INSTALLED BY VWSDECW010
5 APPENDIX A, FILES INSTALLED BY VWSDECW010
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSHLP]VWSDECW010.RELEASE_NOTES
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]GVADRIVER.STB
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYS$LDR]GVADRIVER.EXE
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSLIB]DECW$SERVER_DDX_GV.EXE
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSMGR]DECW$DEVICE.COM
SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSMGR]DECW$SERVER_DEVICE_SETUP_GV.TEMPLATE
- 7 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 8
APPENDIX B, SAMPLE INSTALLATION
6 APPENDIX B, SAMPLE INSTALLATION
Appendix B
Sample Installation
Username: SYSTEM
Password:
Welcome to VAX/VMS version V5.1
$ @sys$update:vmsinstal vwsdecw010 MUA0:
VAX/VMS Software Product Installation Procedure V5.1
It is 28-APR-1989 at 13:19.
Enter a question mark (?) at any time for help.
%VMSINSTAL-W-DECNET, Your DECnet network is up and running.
* Do you want to continue anyway [NO]? y
* Are you satisfied with the backup of your system disk [YES]? y
Please mount the first volume of the set on MUA0:
Are you ready? y
%MOUNT-I-MOUNTED, VWS041 mounted on _MUA0:
The following products will be processed:
VWSDECW V1.0
Beginning installation of VWSDECW V1.0 at 13:19
%VMSINSTAL-I-RESTORE, Restoring product saveset A ...
%VMSINSTAL-I-RELMOVED , The product's release notes have been
successfully moved to SYS$HELP.
VWS/DECwindows V1.0
Virtual Monochrome Frame Buffer Server
Copyright © 1989, by Digital Equipment Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
* Do you want to purge files replaced by this installation [YES]? y
- 8 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 9
APPENDIX B, SAMPLE INSTALLATION
This software must be installed AFTER the DECwindows device support
has been installed.
* Has the DECwindows device support been installed [Y]? y
This installation will run autogen to adjust a number of system
parameters to allow DECwindows to run under VWS. This kit should
be reinstalled after any VWS installation since VWS will alter the
parameters for autogen to values too small for DECwindows.
You may wish to reboot your system after this procedure completes
before starting VWS/DECwindows.
* Would you like to autogen with FEEDBACK [Y]? N
* Would you like to reboot after installation [Y]? N
No more questions will be asked
** WARNING **
The file SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$DEVICE.COM has been
replaced to allow VWS/DECwindows startup in addition
to native DECwindows startup.
The file DECW$SERVER_DEVICE_SETUP_GV.TEMPLATE has been
placed in SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR] and can be used to tailor
the DECwindows Workstation Window.
Adjusting SYSGEN minimums to allow both VWS and DECwindows
Performing Autogen with NOFEEDBACK
%AUTOGEN-I-BEGIN, GETDATA phase is beginning.
%AUTOGEN-I-NEWFILE, A new version of SYS$SYSTEM:PARAMS.DAT has been
created.
You may wish to purge this file.
%AUTOGEN-I-END, GETDATA phase has successfully completed.
%AUTOGEN-I-BEGIN, GENPARAMS phase is beginning.
%AUTOGEN-I-NOFEEDBACK, Feedback information will not be used in the
subsequent calculations.
%AUTOGEN-I-NEWFILE, A new version of SYS$MANAGER:VMSIMAGES.DAT has been
created.
You may wish to purge this file.
%AUTOGEN-I-NEWFILE, A new version of SYS$SYSTEM:SETPARAMS.DAT has been
created.
- 9 -
DECwindows/X11 Server for VWS Page 10
APPENDIX B, SAMPLE INSTALLATION
You may wish to purge this file.
%AUTOGEN-I-END, GENPARAMS phase has successfully completed.
%AUTOGEN-I-BEGIN, GENFILES phase is beginning.
%AUTOGEN-I-NOCHANGE, No dump file modifications will be made.
%AUTOGEN-I-END, GENFILES phase has successfully completed.
%AUTOGEN-I-BEGIN, SETPARAMS phase is beginning.
%AUTOGEN-I-END, SETPARAMS phase has successfully completed.
%VMSINSTAL-I-MOVEFILES, Files will now be moved to their target
directories...
Installation of VWSDECW V1.0 completed at 13:27
VMSINSTAL procedure done at 13:28
$
$ lo
SYSTEM logged out at 28-APR-1989 13:28:11.00
- 10 -