From: CRDGW2::CRDGW2::MRGATE::"SMTP::CRVAX.SRI.COM::RELAY-INFO-VAX" 27-JUL-1989 18:37 To: MRGATE::"ARISIA::EVERHART" Subj: Review of DECUS Library Material - VCU Message-Id: <8907272222.AA00582@crdgw1.ge.com> Received: From KL.SRI.COM by CRVAX.SRI.COM with TCP; Thu, 27 JUL 89 14:43:59 PDT Received: from AAMRL.AF.MIL by KL.SRI.COM with TCP; Thu, 27 Jul 89 14:21:33 PDT Received: from FALCON by AAMRL.AF.MIL; Thu, 27 Jul 89 17:16 EDT Date: Thu, 27 Jul 89 17:18 EST From: Ted Nieland <@AAMRL.AF.MIL:TNIELAND@FALCON> Subject: Review of DECUS Library Material - VCU To: info-vax@kl.sri.COM X-Vms-To: IN%"info-vax@kl.sri.com" The DECUS U.S. Chapter Library Committee has begun a process by which items in the DECUS Library are reviewed by DECUS members with the resulting written review published in the DECUS U.S. Chapter Newsletters publication. The items reviewed are available from the DECUS Library for a minimal charge. If you wish to order the item in this review, contact the DECUS Library and request the item by the reference number in the review title. The DECUS Library can be contacted within the United States at: The DECUS Library 219 Boston Post Road BP02 Marlboro, MA 01752-1850 Phone: 508 480-3418 People who would like to volunteer to help with the DECUS Library review project should contact the Review Coordinator, Ted Nieland. Mr. Nieland can be contacted on DCS at NIELAND. DECUS Library Reviews VCU - V00327 Ted Nieland Control Data Corporation Encapsulated Review Rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being excellent Ease of Installation: 5 Documentation: 4 Intended Audience: General Users Ease of use: 5 Usefulness: 4 Sources: Not supplied Objects Supplied: No INTRODUCTION VCU, VAX Calendar Utility, is a screen oriented calendar utility. It was submitted by Michael Johnson from Spuds Software. The submission does not include the source code or object files. Even though the program was compiled and linked under VMS 4.5, it runs under later versions of VMS, including VMS 5, without problems. INTENDED AUDIENCE VCU is intended for general VAX users. It uses the VAX Screen Management Routines (SMG) to output to the screen a very nice display. It makes use of special keystrokes and pull down menus that make it very easy to use. Since it is a calendar utility, it is for those people who work on the VAX all day long and would like to use it to keep track of their meetings, deadlines, and other appointments. TEST CONFIGURATION VCU was tested on a VAX 8650 running VMS 5.1-1. The terminal used was a VT220 compatible in VT200 mode. INSTALLATION The installation is very easy to and quite smooth. After reading in the tape (which has four files), you need to assign to logical names and issue one {\tt SET COMMAND} instruction. VCU is then ready for use. DOCUMENTATION VCU comes with an excellent 11 page, typeset documentation booklet. It explains the installation and use very well. It makes good use of figures and and diagrams. It would only take a few minutes for a someone to sit down and to go through the documentation and start using VCU. The documentation only comes in written form, however. There is on-line help available, but the to get extra copies of the documentation you need to go down to the photocopier. EASE OF USE The program makes excellent use of the capabilities of SMG. It uses pull down menus and multiple windows that have become highly popular in recent times. Once a user becomes very familiar with VCU, command keys eliminate the need to use the pulldown menus (which are operated using the arrow keys). VCU also has a DCL interface that allows a user to issue commands from the DCL prompt. This allows VCU to be used from not VT terminals. It also allows the user to put commands in the {\tt LOGIN.COM} file to list current messages when you login. It is has many VMS like options. Control-R will refresh the screen, Control-Z will exit the program. One improvement it could use is broadcast message trapping, so incoming messages do not mess up the screen. USEFULNESS VCU can be extremely useful. It is has very nice features such as designating messages that occur every week on the same weekday (Friday morning meetings) and messages that occur every day each year (like holidays, anniversaries, birthdays). As you get more into the program you can find interesting things you can do. The only limitation to VCU is that it is a personal calendar utility. It is for one user only. It would be easy to set it up for everyone on the system to use it with the data directory being the only thing changed for different users. It is not designed, however, for allowing different users to access each others calendar information. SOME FINAL THOUGHTS VCU is a very well done piece of software. The author has put some time into it's design and friendliness. He even has a message on the help screen asking for suggestions. This software package is one that many people will find very nice on the VAX. It is easy to install and easy to use. With the explosion of small VAX computers in offices, this program could find a lot of use for many VAX users. DECUS Library Abstract for VCU V00327 VCU VAX/VMS Calendar Utility Version: 3.7, March 1988 Submitted by: Michael C. Johnson, Spuds Software, Brookline, MA Operating System: MicroVMS V4.5, VAX/VMS V4.6 Source Language: VAX BASIC Memory Required: 350K Hardware Required: VT100, VT220 Terminals Keywords: Calendars Abstract: VCU is an interactive perpetual calendar for the VAX/VMS operating system. It provides you with a simple way to store and retrieve messages for any day. Features include: o A complete pull-down menu system with command keys. o A display consisting of the time, date, previous month, current month, next month, day of the year, days left in the year, yearly messages, weekly message, and daily messages. o A search function. o Output capability. o On screen message editing. o Qualifiers and parameters to provide complete access from DCL. o Toggling of the yearly, weekly, and daily message displays. o A full year display. o On-line help. Notes: Operating system VMS V4.0 or later is required, because the program utilizes system routines, screen management routines, and utility routines. Sources not included. Media (Service Charge Code): User's Manual (EA), 600' Magnetic Tape (MA) Format: VMS/BACKUP, or order VL0009