How do I let someone else display something on my workstation?

                                        [raspuzzi@mrlat.enet.dec.com]

You need a checklist of sorts:

1. Make sure that you've specified the X-windows "display" correctly on the remote side. For DECNET it's something like NODE::0.0, for TCP/IP it's Node.Domain:0.0, etc. On a unix system, define the DISPLAY environment variable:

               # setenv DISPLAY myvax.domain:0.0
   

2. If you've verified (1) and things still aren't working, make sure the Security settings on the VMS side will allow the connection: Pull down the Options menu in the Session Manager, select Security... near the bottom. If you don't find your host (and username) listed on the left under Authorized Users, go to the right side of the menu and fill in the three fields, Node, Username, Transport. Then click on the Add button, then the Apply and OK buttons to add the new host to the security database.
   • There are various transports: LOCAL, DECNET, LAT, TCPIP, etc. Select the one appropriate to the client machine's connection to the VMS machine.

   • If the connection is DECNET, do not add :: to the node name!

   • If the connection is TCPIP, Username must be an asterisk (*) because the TCP/IP protocol used does not provide the remote username.

   • If the connection is TCPIP, it's best to use a full domain name, e.g., Node.Subd.Domain. However, you may have to use the IP address itself, rather than the domain name (EWS requires this). I generally add two entries for each TPCIP host, the first using the domain name, the second the IP address.

   • There are a various 3rd party vendors who supply TCP/IP packages for VMS, including but not limited to TGV (Multinet) and Wollongong. Multinet (and DEC's own UCX) call the transport TCPIP, Wollongong, at least in some incarnations, uses WINTCP. You need to use the appropriate vendor's package transport name in the "Transport" field.

3. If things still aren't working, make sure the transport you want has been activated for DECwindows. This is a system manager job, but you can do the ground work yourself before bothering the sysmgr. Do the following:
   
   • $ DIR SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM

   • If that file exists, then do:
     $ SEARCH SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM -
     $_ DECW$SERVER_TRANSPORTS

   You should see something like:

      $ decw$server_transports == "DECNET,LOCAL,LAT,TCPIP"
   

   If the transport you want, e.g., TCPIP, isn't listed, have your system manager make the appropriate changes and restart DECwindows. If the file doesn't exist, the sysmgr will have to create it by copying the corresponding .TEMPLATE file to .COM and uncommenting the line that defines DECW$SERVER_TRANSPORTS.

                                    [Fairfield@Slac.Stanford.Edu]

                                    [rabinowitz@bear.com

How do I create a display on another workstation?

$ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=net_transport /NODE=remote_node

        $ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=LAT /NODE=REMOTE_NODE

        $ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=DECNET /NODE=NODE

        $ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=TCPIP /NODE=128.12.4.122

                                        [raspuzzi@mrlat.enet.dec.com]

                                        [rabinowitz@bear.com]

How can I get the information from SHOW DISPLAY into a symbol?

                                        [Fairfield@Slac.Stanford.Edu]

  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/srh_examples/DECUS_UNDOC_CLINIC/

How do I get a log of a DECterm session?

It should be noted that ALL the characters and escape sequences are captured, but if you display the log file on a DECterm you will get EXACTLY what you had.

                                        [fenster@star.enet.dec.com]

Problem - the DELETE key deletes forward instead of backward!

You can override the default bindings in your decw$xdefaults.dat file. Here is the entry you would make to get the default VMS bindings.

*defaultVirtualBindings:\

osfCancel	:	<Key>F11	\n\
osfLeft	:	<Key>Left	\n\
osfUp	:	<Key>Up	\n\
osfRight	:	<Key>Right	\n\
osfDown	:	<Key>Down	\n\
osfEndLine	:Alt	<Key>Right	\n\
osfBeginLine	:Alt	<Key>Left	\n\
osfPageUp	:	<Key>Prior	\n\
osfPageDown	:	<Key>Next	\n\
osfDelete	:Shift	<Key>Delete	\n\
osfUndo	:Alt	<Key>Delete	\n\
osfBackSpace	:	<Key>Delete	\n\
osfAddMode	:Shift	<Key>F8	\n\
osfHelp	:	<Key>Help	\n\
osfMenu	:	<Key>F4	\n\
osfMenuBar	:	<Key>F10	\n\
osfSelect	:	<Key>Select	\n\
osfActivate	:	<Key>KP_Enter	\n\
osfCopy	:Shift	<Key>DRemove	\n\
osfCut	:	<Key>DRemove	\n\
osfPaste	:	<Key>Insert

To merge:

      $ xrdb :== $decw$utils:xrdb.exe
      $ xrdb -nocpp -merge decw$xdefaults.dat

					[Fred Kleinsorge]

Why is DECwindows Motif not starting?

1. OpenVMS has failed to find the appropriate IRQ information for an EISA graphics card (on the DEC 2000 series) such as the Compaq QVision, and did not autoconfigure it. Run the correct ECU (for Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS) and reboot. This is necessary only on EISA-based systems.
2. You have an EISA-based system (such as the DEC 2000 model 300) and do not have a Compaq QVision video card. This EISA graphics card should have Compaq printed on it, and identifies itself as a CPQ3011 or a CPQ3111. If it is not one of these two EISA devices, then OpenVMS does not support it. (There are no other supported EISA graphics controllers, and EISA graphics are normally used with DECwindows only on the DEC 2000 series systems.)
3. You have a PCI-based system and do not have a supported graphics controller - examples of supported controllers include the
   • PowerStorm 3D30
   • PowerStorm 4D20
   • PowerStorm 300
   • PowerStorm 350
   • ELSA GLoria Synergy
   See MGMT24 for information on some of these graphics controllers
4. You have booted the system minimally, or have otherwise disabled the device autoconfiguration process.

If there is a G* graphics device present:

1. There may have been a severe error in the DECwindows startup. Type the contents of SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SERVER_0_ERROR.LOG for any information on errors starting the server.
2. The system parameter WINDOW_SYSTEM is not set to 1. This is a common way for system managers to disable the DECwindows server startup. If you really do not want a workstation system to bootstrap as and to represent itself as a workstation to DECwindows, add the following definition to SYLOGICALS.COM:

      
           $ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXEC DECW$IGNORE_WORKSTATION TRUE
   

3. You may not have a valid Motif license. To check for the Motif license, type the commands:

         LICENSE LIST DW-MOTIF/FULL 
         LICENSE LIST NET-APP-SUP*/FULL
   

   and examine the information displayed. Make sure that one of these licenses is present, valid and active.

					[Kleinsorge, Hoffman]

How do I set the title on a DECterm window?

        HELP CREATE /TERMINAL /WINDOW_ATTRIBUTES.

To set the DECterm title, send <Esc>]21;text label<Esc>\
To set the icon label, send <Esc>]2L;text label<Esc>\

To set both the DECterm title and icon to the full device name:

$  esc[0,7] = 27
$  fulldevnam = F$Edit(F$GetDVI("TT","FULLDEVNAM"),"UPCASE,COLLAPSE")
$  write sys$output esc+ "]21;" + fulldevnam + esc + "\"
$  write sys$output esc+ "]2L;" + fulldevnam + esc + "\"

How do I customize DECwindows, including the login screen?

To customize various DECwindows Motif characteristics including the defaults used by the SET DISPLAY command, the DECwindows login screen background logo used (the default is the Digital or Compaq logo), various keymaps, the FileView defaults, session manager defaults, the DECwindows login processing, DECwindows log file processing, and various other DECwindows attributes, see the example file:

  SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE

Additionally, various X tools such as xsetroot, bitmap and xrdb - some these can be useful in customizing the appearance of an application or of the DECwindows Motif display - are provided in the DECW$UTILS: area.

When using DECwindows V1.2-4 and later on OpenVMS Alpha, the default desktop is the Common Desktop Environment (CDE). You can select your prefered desktop (CDE or DECwindows Motif) when logging in, or you can change the default to the DECwindows Motif desktop using the DCL symbol decw$start_new_desktop in the DECwindows private application setup command procedure. See SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE for further details, and how to create DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM.

Note that with DECwindows CDE, the root window is no longer visible by default. The root window is hidden behind the "backdrop" window of the current CDE workspace. To make the root window visible, use the CDE style manager selection backdrop none, and use information such as that in the OpenVMS FAQ to set the root window.

To add a new backdrop to the DECwindows CDE environment, the backdrop must first be in or be converted into X11 pixmap format. (This conversion is often possible using tools such as xv.) Then (if necessary) create the default backdrop directory SYS$COMMON:[CDE$DEFAULTS.USER.BACKDROPS].
Place the X11 pixmap file containing the desired image into the backdrops directory, ensure that it has a filename extension of .PM. (The xv default filename extension for the X11 pixmap file is .XPM, while CDE expects only to see files with .PM.) Now invoke the CDE style manager and select a new backdrop. You will find your image will be placed at the end of the list of backdrops available.

 
                                        [Stephen Hoffman]

Why doesn't XtAppAddInput() work on OpenVMS?

On platforms where C is the typically the primary programming language for the platform, the file descriptor mask is one of the arguments to the XtAppAddInput() call.

On OpenVMS, the platform-specific arguments to this call include an event flag and an IOSB, as these are the traditional OpenVMS constructs used to synchronize the completion of asynchronous operations. While it would be easier to port non-OpenVMS C code that calls XtAppAddInput() over to OpenVMS if the arguments included the C file descriptor, this would make the call unusable from other OpenVMS languages, and would make it extremely difficult to use OpenVMS features such as ASTs and sys$qio calls.

One restriction on the event flag: the event flag chosen must be from event flag cluster zero. When using the traditional lib$get_ef and lib$free_ef calls to allocate and deallocate event flags, you must first explicitly call lib$free_ef to free up some event flags in event flag cluster zero. Please see the event flag documentation for specific details on these calls and for specific event flags that can be freed in event flag cluster zero.

Here is some example code that covers calling this routine on OpenVMS:

    m->InputID = XtAppAddInput(
        m->AppCtx,
        m->InputEF,
        m->InputIosb,
        the_callback, 1 );
    if ( !((int) m->InputID ))
        {
        XtAppErrorMsg(
            m->AppCtx,
            "invalidDevice",
            "XtAppAddInput",
            "XtToolkitError",
            "Can't Access Device",
            (String *) NULL,
            (Cardinal *) NULL );
        ...
                                        [Steve Hoffman]

Why do the keyboard arrow keys move the DECwindows cursor?

Why does half my DECwindows display blank?

You can toggle off the console display window using <CTRL/F2>. and you can enable a serial console per ALPHA7 or VAX10.

Also see the console message window application available with recent DECwindows versions - recent DECwindows versions (V1.2-3 and later) will enable this window by default. For details on this console message window, see the DECW$CONSOLE_SELECTION option in SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE.

On older releases, you can disable output using the following:

  SET TERMINAL/PERMANENT/NOBROADCAST OPA0:
  DEFINE/USER SYS$COMMAND OPA0:
  REPLY/DISABLE

%DECW-W-NODEVICE, No graphics device found on this system?

 %DECW-W-NODEVICE, No graphics device found on this system
   -DECW-I-NODECW, DECwindows graphics drivers will not be loaded

1. Ensure that the SYSGEN parameter WINDOW_SYSTEM is set to 1:

       $ MCR SYSGEN SHOW WINDOW_SYSTEM
   

   If it is not set to a value of 1, issue the commands:

       $ MCR SYSGEN
       SYSGEN> USE CURRENT
       SYSGEN> SET WINDOW_SYSTEM 1
       SYSGEN> WRITE ACTIVE
       SYSGEN> WRITE CURRENT
       SYSGEN> EXIT
       $ REBOOT
   
   

2. Check the SYSMAN IO PREFIX LIST to ensure that the DECW$ prefix is included in the existing list. If it is not, you will need to add it:

       $ MCR SYSMAN
       SYSMAN> IO SHOW PREFIX
       SYSMAN> IO SET PREFIX=(DECW$,*)   * = list returned by the show command
       SYSMAN> IO AUTO/LOG
       SYSMAN> EXIT
   
   

3. Ensure that the image SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM.EXE is installed in memory. If it is not installed, then install it:

       $ INSTALL LIST/FULL SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM
   
       $ INSTALL REPLACE SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM
   
       $ EDIT SYS$MANAGER:SYCONFIG.COM
   
         $! The following line was added to install
         $! support for the Mach64 Graphics Card
         $!
         $ INSTALL REPLACE SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM
         $ ^Z
   
       $ SHUTDOWN
   

   REBOOT the system.

4. If the system still complains that NO GRAPHICS DEVICES COULD BE FOUND then:
   • Boot the system as normal
   • Login as SYSTEM
   • Create the file:

              $ SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$USER_AUTOCONFIG.DAT (W:RE)
          

   • Add the following string on the very first line:

              CLEAR_PFLAG = ISA_4BYTE
          

   • Save the file
   • Set the file protections
   • Reboot the system
   EXAMPLE:

        $ create SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$USER_AUTOCONFIG.DAT
          CLEAR_PFLAG = ISA_4BYTE
          ^Z
   
        $ SET FILE/PROTECTION=(W:RE) SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$USER_AUTOCONFIG.DAT
        $ REBOOT
   

					[Kleinsorge, Hoffman]

How can I reset the warning bell volume?

Unfortunately, the equivalent controls in the older DECwindows Motif interface are not compatible and can no longer manage the warning bell volume.

If you need to manage the volume with DECwindows Motif, consider using the following approach:

    $ @DECW$UTILS:DECW$DEFINE_UTILS
    $ XSET B 1 100 100

Why? When OpenVMS first started supporting the PC-style keyboards, the X Windows Server and the keyboard driver interface did not support the pitch and duration, and neither did DECwindows Motif. The DECwindows keyboard driver was accordingly changed to use the volume from the keyclick setting (keyclick is not available in a PC-style keyboard) and the bell volume setting to control the pitch and duration.

DECwindows CDE does provide sliders for setting pitch and duration, so the keyboard driver and X Windows Server were modified to provide all of the information, and now the DECwindows CDE sliders work. This change is unfortunately incompatible with the old scheme used on the pre-CDE desktops, and the volume controls are now incompatible with the current keyboard drivers. Hence the use of xset.

How can I alter the DECwindows CDE backdrop?

1. Click on the Appliction Manager.
   This is the drawer icon on the CDE toolbar.
2. Click on Desktop Tools
3. Click on Set Default Screen and select the required screen
4. Click on the Style Manager.
   This is the one containing the mouse and ttt on the CDE toolbar
5. Now change the background.

                                             [Geoff Kingsmill]

How can I enable the DECwindows TCP/IP Transport

If you do not have a copy of SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM, the use the following COPY command to create this file based on the provided template file:

    COPY SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.TEMPLATE -
         SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM