[HECnet] Re: DECnet Finger Specification (Possible re-post) and Tops-20 Finger Setup Documentation (New)

CRLFs again, this time in the mail message!! There should be a line break between the end of the uptime heading and 'SYSTEM....' and the search case version too. -----Original Message----- From: Keith Halewood [mailto:Keith.Halewood@pitbulluk.org] Sent: 25 January 2026 09:51 To: The Hobbyist DECnet mailing list <hecnet(a)lists.dfupdate.se> Subject: [HECnet] Re: DECnet Finger Specification (Possible re-post) and Tops-20 Finger Setup Documentation (New) I fixed the trimming. I forgot the old school array indexes starting at 1 instead of the more modern 0. Yes, with no search parameter (choosing logged in users), it collects process details and puts them under the user as a heading: OpenVMS V7.3 on node DUNE 25-JAN-2026 09:24:45.13 Uptime 41 18:57:28 SYSTEM, SYSTEM MANAGER, no plan, on: 14-DEC 19:46 OPA0: EFRICHA, Eric F Richards, no plan, on: 26-DEC 16:10 RTA1: (BUZZEL::EFRICHA) MALCOLMB, Malcolm Blunden, no plan, on: 25-JAN 08:11 NTY167: (host86-181-206-156.range86-181.btcentralplus.com) 25-JAN 08:12 (subprocess) SQKEITH, Keith Halewood, unread mail, on: 25-JAN 09:11 NTY168: (merdwyn.pitbulluk.local), running: DUNE$DUA0:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]DECNET_FINGER.EXE If a search parameter is used, say sqkeith, then the plan comes out too: $ dfinger sqkeith OpenVMS V7.3 on node DUNE 25-JAN-2026 09:29:27.12 Uptime 41 19:02:10 SQKEITH, Keith Halewood, unread mail, on: 25-JAN 09:11 NTY168: (merdwyn.pitbulluk.local), running: DUNE$DUA0:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSEXE]DECNET_FINGER.EXE 25-JAN 09:29 NTY169: (merdwyn.pitbulluk.local) Plan: I plan to get better at doing DECnet stuff. Etc.. Disusered and/or those with no interactive login capability are not reported. I know it's not the 'traditional' output but it's supposed to be about people rather than processes. I may make the dates a little less VMS with day names. VSI's (presumably verbatim from HP, Compaq, DEC) DECnet documentation seems quite misleading. Take the transparent QIO interface, it implies that normal link shutdown is achieved solely by the client but that the server can deassign and shutdown with no guarantee that what it sent had been received. It doesn't mention the synchronous deaccess until non-transparent communication is mentioned and then the implication is that it's applicable only in that case. I'm using transparent mode in the server by the way AND using the synchronous deaccess before waiting for the link to be closed by the client, which is does. The non-transparent case has misleading statements in the documentation too. It implies that the only reason you'd translate sys$net is for additional information such as the identity of the caller. A bit further down, the $qio for accepting the incoming call with 'access', one of the mandatory parameters is the ncb, which is obtained by translating the sys$net logical (unless you've declared the running process as a network object, in which case the ncb appears in the mailbox associated with the channel over which the object declaration was made.) As for using RMS on top, ie. Pascal's open(f,'NODE::"117="',old) and the equivalent for opening an incoming call using sys$net, it seems that between VMS systems, it just works... until artificially appending CRLF and then it seems to go mad. Are we all bored with finger yet? -----Original Message----- From: Johnny Billquist [mailto:bqt@softjar.se] Sent: 25 January 2026 03:33 To: hecnet(a)lists.dfupdate.se Subject: [HECnet] Re: DECnet Finger Specification (Possible re-post) and Tops-20 Finger Setup Documentation (New) I guess you're trimming one character off that request? Looked at my DECnet receive processing, and it takes all the characters returned by the receive, and don't trim anything off. Happy to help dig more into this if you want me to. Let me know what I can help with... Also, is this how it's supposed to look like? .fin dune:: [DUNE::] OpenVMS V7.3 on node DUNE 25-JAN-2026 03:30:29.55 Uptime 41 13:03:12 SYSTEM, SYSTEM MANAGER, no plan, on: 14-DEC 19:46 OPA0: EFRICHA, Eric F Richards, no plan, on: 26-DEC 16:10 RTA1: (BUZZEL::EFRICHA) . (Several newlines still in there.) Also, it seems to pass through finger requests fine to other nodes. So that seems to work right. Johnny On 2026-01-24 18:53, Keith Halewood wrote: -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt(a)softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol _______________________________________________ HECnet mailing list -- hecnet(a)lists.dfupdate.se To unsubscribe send an email to hecnet-leave(a)lists.dfupdate.se _______________________________________________ HECnet mailing list -- hecnet(a)lists.dfupdate.se To unsubscribe send an email to hecnet-leave(a)lists.dfupdate.se