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SPEAR.DOC - - SPEAR V2.0(721) 28 Nov 84

COPYRIGHT (C) 1984 BY DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, MAYNARD, MASS.

THIS SOFTWARE IS FURNISHED UNDER A LICENSE AND MAY BE  USED  AND  COPIED
ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF SUCH LICENSE AND WITH THE INCLUSION
OF THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT  NOTICE.   THIS  SOFTWARE  OR  ANY  OTHER  COPIES
THEREOF  MAY  NOT  BE  PROVIDED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE TO ANY OTHER
PERSON.   NO  TITLE  TO  AND  OWNERSHIP  OF  THE  SOFTWARE   IS   HEREBY
TRANSFERRED.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE AND
SHOULD   NOT   BE   CONSTRUED  AS  A  COMMITMENT  BY  DIGITAL  EQUIPMENT
CORPORATION.

DIGITAL ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE  USE  OR  RELIABILITY  OF  ITS
SOFTWARE ON EQUIPMENT WHICH IS NOT SUPPLIED BY DIGITAL.
SPEAR.DOC - - SPEAR  V2.0(721) 28 Nov 84                          Page 2


1.0  SUMMARY

SPEAR is a package of programs  which  enables  the  field  service  and
operations  staffs  to  quickly isolate and correct problem areas in the
system hardware or software.  It is composed of 4 functions:   RETRIEVE,
SUMMARIZE, KLERR, and KLSTAT and is shipped with the monitor.

SPEAR is written in BLISS and supports DECnet Phase III  under  TOPS-10,
and TOPS-20.  SPEAR runs in native mode on both systems.



2.0  EXTERNAL CHANGES

2.1  Dialog Changes


     1.  Because of dialogue changes in RETRIEVE and SUMMARIZE,  if  you
         have  existing  SPEAR  V1.0  command or control files, you must
         change them accordingly or they will not run.

         For RETRIEVE,  the  changes  from  V1.0  to  V2.0  are  in  the
         Selection  type,  Error  and  Nonerror  fields.   There  are no
         changes necessary if your command or control file  specified  a
         Selection type of Error, All.

         You can maintain the same functionality for an error  selection
         by changing the V1.0 dialogue to the following V2.0 dialogue:

              SPEAR V1.0                 SPEAR V2.0

              @SPEAR                     @SPEAR
              *RETRIEVE                  *RETRIEVE
              *SERR:ERROR.SYS            *SERR:ERROR.SYS
              *INCLUDED                  *INCLUDED
              *ERROR                     *ERROR
              *DISK                      *DISK
              *RP06                      *RP06
              *FINISHED                  *ALL      (Here's the difference.)
              *EARLIEST                  *FINISHED
              *LATEST                    *EARLIEST
              *DSK:RETRIE.RPT            *LATEST
              */GO                       *DSK:RETRIE.RPT
                                         */GO

         To RETRIEVE the events for a specific device error, replace the
         ALL  in  the previous V2.0 control file with one or more device
         error types, e.g.  Software, Bus, Channel-controller.

         For Nonerror selection, you can now  select  specific  devices.
         Instead   of   Noneor,   specify   Statistics,   Configuration,
         Diagnostics, Other, or a  combination  of  these  separated  by
         commas.

              SPEAR V1.0                 SPEAR V2.0
SPEAR.DOC - - SPEAR  V2.0(721) 28 Nov 84                          Page 3



              @SPEAR                     @SPEAR
              *RETRIEVE                  *RETRIEVE
              *SERR:ERROR.SYS            *SERR:ERROR.SYS
              *INCLUDED                  *INCLUDED
              *NONERROR                  *STATISTICS,DIAGNOSTICS    (Change)
              *EARLIEST                  *DISK                      (Change)
              *LATEST                    *RA60,RA80,RA81            (Change)
              *DSK:RETRIE.RPT            *FINISHED                  (Change)
              */GO                       *EARLIEST
                                         *LATEST
                                         *DSK:RETRIE.RPT
                                         */GO

         For SUMMARIZE, two new prompts have been added to the dialogue,
         Category  and  Show  Error  Distribution.  You can maintain the
         same  functionality  by  changing  the  V1.0  dialogue  to  the
         following V2.0 dialogue:

              SPEAR V1.0                 SPEAR V2.0

              @SPEAR                     @SPEAR
              *SUMMARIZE                 *SUMMARIZE
              *SERR:ERROR.SYS            *SERR:ERROR.SYS
              *EARLIEST                  *ALL                 (Change)
              *LATEST                    *EARLIEST
              *DSK:SUMMAR.RPT            *LATEST
              */GO                       *YES                 (Change)
                                         *DSK:SUMMAR.RPT
                                         */GO

         To get summaries for a specific device  or  class  of  devices,
         replace   ALL   in  the  previous  V2.0  dialogue  with  device
         selection.  For example:

              SPEAR V2.0
          
              @SPEAR
              *SUMMARIZE
              *SERR:ERROR.SYS
              *DISK
              *RA60,RA80
              *FINISHED
              *EARLIEST
              *LATEST
              *YES
              *DSK:SUMMAR.RPT
              */GO

         To suppress the error distribution charts, change the YES to NO
         in the dialogue.

         Because there are changes in the dialogue for KLSTAT, you  need
         not  change  your  previous  control  or command files for this
         function.
SPEAR.DOC - - SPEAR  V2.0(721) 28 Nov 84                          Page 4


2.2  New Functions

There is a new function available to users of SPEAR called KLERR.

      o  KLERR is an addition to the basic  package  of  SPEAR  that  is
         bundled  with the operating system.  It provides translation of
         the signals that RSX-20F transmits to the error file.




2.3  New Features

There are several new features that  have  been  added  to  the  regular
functionality  of  the  SPEAR  package,  besides  the dialog changes for
RETRIEVE and SUMMARIZE.

      o  Support for several new devices has been  added.   Among  these
         are  the MSCP disk devices, the CI20, and the HSC50 controller.
         For  a  full  view  of  the  new  devices  supported,  see  the
         TOPS-10/20 SPEAR MANUAL.




3.0  KNOWN BUGS AND DEFICIENCIES

3.1  Bugs


     1.  Occasionally an error may  appear  declaring  that  an  invalid
         string  descriptor  has  been  detected  in  SPEAR.   When this
         happens, the message '?DESC?' may appear  in  the  output.   If
         either  of  these  occurs, please send us a QAR, along with the
         event file so that we can track it down.




3.2  Restrictions


     1.  SPEAR cannot be run from any directory area that begins with  a
         number.

     2.  Some numeric values in various output reports are limited to  a
         specific  field width.  When this field width is exceeded (i.e.
         the value is too large for the field), the field will be filled
         with   asterisks.   An  exception  to  this  practice  is  that
         asterisks in the RP20 summary report indicate fields that don't
         apply to a particular line item.
SPEAR.DOC - - SPEAR  V2.0(721) 28 Nov 84                          Page 5


4.0  INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

We recommend that you  follow  these  procedures  when  installing  this
package:

     1.  Install the new software in a directory with the  logical  name
         NEW:   insuring  that  the old version is not destroyed, and is
         the default version.

     2.  Send out a message to concerned users that the new  version  is
         available  in  NEW:   and  that  they are encouraged to use it.
         This allows for a fall back strategy in case of problems.

     3.  After a comfortable period of time (1 or 2 weeks), move the old
         version  into  a directory with the logical name OLD:  and move
         the version from NEW:  into the normal default directory.  Then
         send  out  mail  notifying  the  users  of  the  change.   This
         continues to ensure that a fall back strategy exists.

     4.  After another week or two send out mail  that  the  version  in
         OLD:   will be deleted soon.  Then delete the old version if no
         objections are recieved in a day or two.




4.1  Documentation Files For Basic Package:


      o  SPEAR.DOC -  SPEAR installation document.

      o  DEFINE.LIS - Event file documentation.




4.2  Files Needed To Run The Basic Package:


      o  SPEAR.SPE - Help file used during user interface.

      o  SPEAR.EXE - User interface and main control routines.

      o  RFB.EYE - Internal definitions for RETRIEVE package.

      o  MSGARG.SPT - Binary file for RETRIEVE package.

      o  RETRFB.SPE - Text file for RETRIEVE package.

      o  SPRRET.SPE - Text file for RETRIEVE package.

      o  SPRRET.EXE - Event management & translation package (RETRIEVE).
SPEAR.DOC - - SPEAR  V2.0(721) 28 Nov 84                          Page 6


      o  SPRSUM.SPE - Text file for SUMMARIZE package.

      o  SPRSUM.EXE - Device summarization package (SUMMARIZE).

      o  SPRKLE.SPE - Text file for KLERR package.

      o  SPRKLE.EXE - Package to dump KLERR reports (KLERR).




4.3  Loading And Installing The SPEAR Package


     1.  The SPEAR executable package is found in the <SUBSYS>  area  of
         the installation tape.

     2.  The documentation for  SPEAR  is  found  in  the  documentation
         saveset of the distribution tape.




4.4  Special Considerations

All the files listed in section 4.2 must exist in the same directory for
SPEAR to operate properly.




5.0  INTERNAL CHANGES


     1.  RETRIEVE short format displays the additional info  field  from
         bughlt/chk/inf events.


[End of SPEAR.DOC]