CERN Accelerating science

Questions and Answers from the UCO

Question   -   ASIS products
Is there a list of all the products available on ASIS?

For instance, is there a better way than the UNIX command "ls /usr/local/bin/X11" to see all products related to X11 with their description?

Answer
There is something (still under construction) on the Web, at URL:

http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/dci/asis/products/

In this page you can first select the "product family", e.g. X11, which will give you access to a more specific page, e.g. "ASIS Products in X11".

Question   -   "Netscape -remote"
I would like to start Netscape on a given HTML page and handle properly the case when a Netscape session is already running: I tried to use the option -remote but I did not succeed.

Answer
The -remote command line option expects a Netscape session to already be running on your display. For instance:

    netscape -remote 'openURL(http://somewwwplace)'

Question   -   PostScript utilities
Is there a utility to re-format a PostScript document, which is very long, into another PostScript file with 2 pages on one sheet, so that it takes fewer pages (as done for most manuals distributed at the UCO)?

Answer
Yes, this can be done using some utilities of the package PSUtils which is installed on ASIS. Especially the command psnup should answer your question. For more information type "man psnup", and "man psbook". You can also look at the Web page (still under construction):

http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/dci/asis/products/TeX/psutils.html

Question   -   Paw and Geant for Windows NT 4
Where can I find the latest version (release 98) of Paw and Geant for Windows NT 4?

Answer
This was the object of an article in CNL 229, that you can access at URL:

http://consult.cern.ch/cnls/229/art_cernlibnt.html

Following this article, please note that:

• For asisftp, the full address is cernlib/intel_wnt/98.
• On Nice, the Physics start menu was incorrect but this will be fixed. The files are in the directory:

     Z:\P32\cern\98
  

Question   -   Problem with Mathematica
I have problems running Mathematica: some files are locked and I got a warning that results cannot be saved because space/files may be in use by another user. When I tried to save the results into a new filename, the application crashed.

Answer
The problem may be because you had previously opened a given notebook. Mathematica creates a lock file everytime that it opens a new notebook. If it crashes without removing those lock files, it is not possible to write on the corresponding notebook anymore. A solution is probably to remove those lock files.

Question   -   fvwm2 desks
Is it possible, using the Hepix scripts and fvwm2, to open the different windows of an application on pre-defined desks?

Answer

Yes, this is an option (StartsOnDesk) of the command "Style" that you can specify in the configuration file: ~/..hepix/wm/fvwm2_configuration
(Syntax: Style windowname options). For instance, if you want all your "Netscape" sessions to start on Desk 3, you can add in this file the line:

 Style "Netscape*" StartsOnDesk 3

(or type "man fvwm2").

Question   -   X-Windows fonts
I need Adobe fonts for use under X-Windows, with roman-8 encoding. Can I get them from a CERN font server?

Answer
Many hints regarding X-Windows font management are given at URL:

http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/umtf/working-groups/X11/fonts/

If you are looking for "HP's roman 8 encoding" these fonts are available on any HP machines or in AFS under:

 /afs/cern.ch/project/fonts/hp/hp_roman8

Question   -   Exceed from home
I would like to start an X session on RSPLUS from home, using Exceed. Stated that I don't use the CERN call-back system but a normal Internet provider, is this possible?

Answer
There is a security bridge at CERN that will not allow X-sessions outside CERN unless you connect to specific machines with special TCP/IP numbers. So, unless you connect to CERN via the callback service and install Exceed on your PC locally, you will not be able to do this.

Question   -   Mail server password
Is it possible to add the name of a private workstation as a "trusted" host for the Mail server so that I am not requested to enter a password each time I load my mail agent?

Answer
Yes, this is possible but it works only for Pine on a UNIX workstation: you can do it with the tool userinfo (or xuserinfo) available on all central platforms. After loading this tool (e.g. on UNIX type userinfo or xuserinfo) and pressing the button "Hosts", you will have access to the "HOSTS/WORKSTATIONS for MAILSERV pre-authentification" where you can add any host name and userid.
N.B. It does not work for Pine on PCs (PCPine), nor for Netscape Mail. In these cases you will always have to enter your "Mail Server" password.