ty

R!P€l5n_ED2 May 1979

MAY 15 1979To: Distribution

E.A. Fti(it_B_iMFrom: Alison Harlow, Chairperson

Subject: Minutes of April 12 AWG meeting

***Next AWG meeting Thursday, May 10, at 3 p.m. in Polya 152***

In attendance:David Pasta, StatisticsAlison Harlow, ARAMISPat Box, User ServicesPenney Jordan, EducationWilliam Shockley, EE

Susan Plass, SystemsGloria

Guth,

HistoryEd Williams, SCIP Campus FaciliRuth

Chase,

User ServicesJean Robertson, Jackson Library

Don Sherman has resigned as co-chairperson of the AWG. Gloria willserve as backup should Alison need someone to help her run the AWGmeetings. There was some discussion about whether the AWG shouldcontinue in its present form. Members suggested several ideas,such as quarterly, instead of monthly, meetings and user groupsorganized around particular topics such as SPSS or APL. Jeancommented that she found the Managers' Reports particularlyvaluable since they provided advance notice of impending changes.There will be further discussion of this matter at the May meeting.AWG members hoped that people who attended the April User Forumwould come to the May AWG meeting.

MANAGERS' REPORTS

ED

WILLIAMS,

CAMPUS FACILITYEd reported that priority is being given to getting the machineroom in the new building ready. The Pine RJE will not be moveduntil the user areas of the building are completed. Davidrecommended that the later the locked bins are moved, the better.

There was no new information on ATL. The AWG reiterated itsearlier recommendation that non-standard tapes not be used in ATLinitially. Read-only rings and a way of specifying not to put atape in ATL were once again concerns.

Ed reported that Larry Rosen will head the Operations TechnicalSupport group for one year. He will look at measurement techniquesas they relate to Operations functions such as how to separate thedata-gathering on tapes from that on tape drives.

Recent downtime on the 168 resulted both from chilled waterproblems and from TRAN malfunctions. Although all the cards inTRAN, as well as its minicomputer, have been replaced, TRAN isstill having problems.

In reply to a question, Ed said that TRAN was designed to enablethe terminal user to use any host computer, to take care of

contention problems, and to avoid changes to terminals when theprincipal machine is changed from a 168 to a 3033. TRAN will notbe with us

forever,

and SCIP is investigating various possiblereplacements .On the new 3033, the public terminals may well be hard-wired to themachine. They can then run at speeds up to 9600 baud. The highspeeds will not be used until there are facilities for looking atone screenful of information at a time. Multiplexors that canhandle 4 terminals per port will do the concentration that TRAN nowdoes .SUSAN

PLASS,

SYSTEMSIn the ORVYL area. Systems is working to get OS files ready. Theyare also working on an OS simulator for running programs whichwould not have to be converted to run under ORVYL first.

Microfiche output is being tested by Systems; it will be availableto users quite soon.

Systems is also working on a spool-transfer program. This willallow SCIP to unload jobs when the 3800 is down. Currently,although the job queue can hold 950 jobs, it does become full whenthe 3800 is down. The spool-transfer program will also allowproduction jobs to be run on the new 3033 and printed on the 3800during the move to the new building.

Other active projects in Systems include

DECNET,

ATL software, andfull-face terminal support.

PAT BOX, USER SERVICESPersonnel: In the documentation area, a part-time person has beenhired to provide clerical help and candidates are being interviewedfor the documentation supervisor position. Lori

Buffum,

whocurrently supervises documentation, is going on leave for 6 months.Pat is working with Larry Rosen in transferring the InformationDesk to User Services. The AWG agreed that it was reasonable toclose the Desk for dinner from 6:30-7 p.m. A set time was thoughtbetter than closing it at different times each evening. Davidrequested that the coin-operatedtime and possibly overnight.

copier be available during that

Documents currently being worked(microfiche output),

DECNET,

andinteractive WATFIV manual.

on include those on COMa new combined batch and

New seminars this quarter are the advanced SCRIPT workshop and theseminar on recent changes in WYLBUR (taught by Jim Nisbet).Version 8 of SPSS is now up. FORTRAN audio cassettes will soon beavai labl c .

RATES ON THE 3033CPU rates on the new machine in June will be adjusted to reflectthe approximately 1.8:1 power ratio that the 3033 has over the 168.There is a significant rate reduction planned for the fall(September) when more data on the new machine will be available.There are major factors to be considered (such as RLIN's plans andthe future of the 168) before firm decisions on the fall ratereductions can be made. Since the cost of paper keeps going up,

the total cost of printing will certainly not go down in the fall.

DISCUSSIONThere was some discussion about making Class

Q

(or its equivalent)free in the fall. Such ideas are definitely still in the planningstages .Time limits on job classes will be adjusted automatically bySystems for the 3033. The new Class 0. time limit will be 4seconds .There was some discussion about APL usage; it is not as great as Edhad hoped. Pat will look into the possibility of forming an APLusers' group.

AWG members discussed the proposed new Application for Serviceswhich Accounting had prepared. They pointed out that Accountinghad agreed to help the AWG gather information on matters relatingto account users such as University status, kind of project,whether or not the computing was for a dissertation, etc. Severalmembers commented that not only did the new form contain noprovision for additional

information,

it also failed to requestsome information previously asked for.

Specific changes on the draft form that the AWG requested includedchanges to the default WYLBUR and ORVYL track and block limitsrespectively, and allowing no expiration date to be set for anaccount .AWG members suggested having a separate sheet of instructions forthe user to tear off and retain. The application then couldinclude information on setting job limits and account limits, aswell as some data on what the account would be used for. Thiswould result in the user having to fill out only one form. AWGmembers thought that requiring the user to fill out several formsmight cause one of them to be overlooked.

AWG DISTRIBUTION LIST

Alison HarlowCo-Chai rpersonARAMIS

#2209,

701 Welch Rd .497-7333

Don ShermanCo-Chai rpersonLing ius tics497-4284

Hans AndersenChemist r y497-2500

Clifford BarnettAnthropology497-3421

Byron BrownBiostatistics497-5687

Debbie ByronBALLOTS497-0448

Gl enn CarrollSociology497-3043

George CollierAnthropology497-3435

Ed FeigenbaumComputer Science497-4079

Dept .

Joel FerzigerMechanical Engineering497-3615

Gene FranklinElectrical Engineering497-4837

Gloria GuthHistory497-3420

J . Q . JohnsonLOTS, CERAS497-1792

Penney JordanCERAS497-3497

Bob KincheloeApplied Electronics LAB497-1725

Marsha KohlerN. Calif. Cancer Research497-7512

Nick MackenzieDept. of Biological Science497-1663

Ed McGuigan180 1 Page Mill RoadPalo Alto, CA 94303497-7512

Terry MooreMcd ieme497-6977

Richard MuthEconomics497-3710

David PastaStatistics497-3420

Jean RobertsonGSB - Jackson Library497-2161

Walton RothPsychiatry493-5000

J. RoughgardenBiology

"

PAGE 2

497-3648

John SchroederBALLOTS497-0657

Jim Stand ishARAMIS,

#2209,

701 Welch Rd .497-7332

Nancy TumaSociology Dept497-4461

Barbara WarsavageEducat i on

Norman WessellsHumanities £ Science497-4282

Gio WiederholdComputer Science497-1255

Carolyn Aut r ey-Hun l eySCIP User Services497-4886

Pat BoxSCIP User Services497-4428

Lor i Buf f urnSCIP User Services

497-3302

Ron CodeSCIP User Services497-1737

Information DeskSCIP497-4392

Randy MelenSCIP User Services497-4423

Jim MooreSCIP System497-4943

Bob NosanchukSCIP Operations497-2038

Larry RosenSCIP Accounting - Pine497-3035

Peter VesanovicSCIP Network Services497-3105

Ed WilliamsSCIP DirectorCampus Facility497-3907