COMM-PRO

1998 - SHIP25 MAINTENANCE SUMMARY


                                                          
                                                   SHIP25 MAINTENANCE SUMMARY
                                                   --------------------------

Date:         December 31, 1998 

Memorandum
To:           All Comm-Pro Users at the SHIP25 Distribution Levels.

              All references to SHIP25 also includes support for SHIP25 Mod 1
              (SHIP25M1) and SHIP25 Mod 2 (SHIP25M2) unless otherwise noted.

              The following is a summary of SHIP25 maintenance (APARs, etc.)
              issued as of the noted dates.  This summary is provided as a
              reference for problem resolution or preventative maintenance.

              The summary record contains the following information:

              APAR        - Assigned Comm-Pro APAR number (S25nnn)

              REF/NOTE    - Comm-Pro internal identification (R_name) for
                            miscellaneous fixes and enhancements.

              CP_NOTE     - Comm-Pro product or support issues.

              IBM_NOTE    - IBM product or support issues, including early
                            warning of IBM PTF/APAR or error conditions.

              COMPONENT   - The Comm-Pro package or resource type that the
                            corrective logic addresses.

              DATE        - For APARs and Enhancements, this date reflects
                            when the actual corrective logic was applied
                            to the standard Comm-Pro SHIP25 distribution
                            libraries.

                            For all others, this date reflects when the item
                            was added to the summary.

              DESCRIPTION - Brief description of the problem. Refer to the
                            actual APAR Memo for additional information
                            and corrective logic, if available.

              Please refer to the SHIP25 documentation manual in APPENDIX F
              (Maintenance) for additional information.

SHIP25 Maintenance Summary Detail
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APAR/REF    - COMPONENT
DATE          DESCRIPTION.

R_ACTLUNTFY - DSP NEO users,
R_ACTLUIPL    Enhancements were made to our ACTLU Request and Response logic
01-05-1998    that reduces the overhead encountered during 37mm IPL (Load) 
              and VTAM resource activation. 

IBM_NOTE    - NAS NCP/NEO Environments - Stage 3 Product Sysgen Support, 
02-18-1998    Undefined Opcode XCXTSN2 is encountered in some of the CPSTG3
              (Comm-Pro Stage 3) sysgen steps due to an incorrect reference
              in IBM macro XCXTSNP. This macro is provided for programmed
              resources such as Comm-Pro's NEO or IBM's NPSI products. 

              This error was introduced when IBM included a portion of some
              new logic for future support. This condition was observed at
              site's running NCP V7R5 and V7R6. 

              Please refer to IBM PTF IR37176/UR49533 for corrective logic.

R_NCP_V7R6  - NCP Version 7 Release 6 Support,
03-06-1998    Support included in our standard SHIP25 Mod 2 release. V7R6 is
              now the default value in our Stage 1 (CPSTG1) BUILD, VERSION= 
              parameter.
 
S25100      - ITI/NCP users,
03-13-1998    BID rejected with 0814 Sense, Change logic so that Bracket 
              indicators are used when an RTR expected remembrance is set.   
              Corrective logic will eliminate the unusual timing condition
              that caused the BBI (Begin Bracket Indicator) to be sent 
              before the "owed" RTR was scheduled.

              Note: Memo *.TXT and *.ZIP file not currently available.

S25101      - NAS X.25 users,
03-25-1998    An X.25 link initialization anomaly was observed during link
*.TXT         start-up which can cause the first I-frame to be scheduled on
*.ZIP         our primary before a UA is sent on our secondary in response
              to a SABM (link activation request) from the network. This 
              condition causes a momentary delay when the I-frame must be
              resent due to rejection by the remote secondary component 
              pending UA confirmation.  

              Solution is to change LKOT logic to bypass XCTL to PRXI when
              NETXFBFA=0 and SXRSUA=1. This will prevent I-frame from beating
              the UA response for the SABM. This change is primarily for LAPB
              networks where a SABM from either end initializes both. For LAP
              nets which have independent primary and secondary components, 
              the affect is a momentary delay to outbound transfers. 

R_2ITCTO    - NAS X.25 PVC users, 
04-07-1998    An error introduced in our 06/07/1996 Invitation-to-Clear 
              (ITC) timer support enhancement can prevent PVC resources from
              connecting to the host resources.  Condition occurs because the
              PVCACT (PVC Connection Attempt) timer fails to initialize.

              For BX25 (March Project) PVC resources, the UNIX host reported
              a 'PVC OUT' error condition. Comm-Pro console alarms (CPCONS) 
              reports event ITI LCTMR, DIAG=1C on PVC resources because the 
              Invitation-to-Clear timer expires in lieu of the PVC connect 
              timer.                

              This bug was introduced on 06/07/1996, users with a TCD (Tape
              creation Date) prior to this date do not require corrective
              logic.                

              Solution is to check for PVC connection and bypass the ITC 
              inactivity timer if so. 

R_ACTPU     - Comm-Pro NEO/NCP users, 
06-15-1998    ACTPU from host rejected with 1002 error sense due to new
*.TXT         RU length exceeding our 9 byte length limit. VTAM V4R4 or 
*.ZIP         OS/390 V2R4 host maintenance update changes ACTPU RU length
              from 9 to 12 bytes. 

              Solution is to accommodate the new RU length by setting the
              maximum RU size to open. 

NODATE_     - NDFPLI output results under year 2000 test system date,
08-01-1998  - Program can display a garbled date when our NDFPLI program
              is executed on a system with a test date greater than 
              December 31, 1999. This is because the precompiled version
              of our NDFPLI program was compiled under PL/I Version 2.1
              which does not display the YYMMDD PL1 (BUILTIN) DATE format
              correctly. Note that our NDFPLI (nor any other Comm-Pro
              programs or utilities) do not use the system date for any
              computational functions. The 'TODAYS DATE: MM/DD/YY' was
              being displayed in the report output for comment purposes
              only and is not required.

              Solution is to recompile the NDFPLI program with the newer
              PL1 libraries that generate the date field correctly.
              We decided to remove the cosmetic 'TODAYS DATE:' display
              from our source and recompile the program to eliminate any
              potential confusion.

              Note: Currently our standard PL1 utilities are compiled
              under Version 2.1 of the PL1 optimizing compiler for back-
              wards compatibility. We also provide an optional CP25UT
              tape for MVS environment with the PL1 utilities compiled
              under 5668-910 IBM OS PL/I Optimizing Compiler Ver 2 Rel 3
              Mod 0 which correctly displays the cosmetic 'TODAYS DATE:
              MM/DD/YY' display under Year 2000 system dates.

CP_NOTE     - IBM OS/390 LE (Language Environment) PL1 Comm-Pro users,
08-27-1998    OUR NEOBLD OR NDFPLI program execution can abort with an
              S000, U4000 due to changes in the PL1 run time libraries
              for the MVS OS/390 LE PL1 environment. Some PL1 levels
              under the newer LE environment require that the primary
              STEPLIB reference SYS1.LINKLIB instead of SYS1.PLIBASE
              or SYS1.SIBMBASE.

              Solution is to simply code PL1LIB=dsn.LINKLIB on the CPSTG1
              (Comm-Pro Stage 1 source) BUILD macro parameter and rerun
              the sysgen. You can use our PL1 PLITEST program to confirm
              that your new LE environment supports the new run time
              library without having to run a Comm-Pro sysgen to verify
              proper LE library specification.

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SHIP25 Maintenance Summary Detail End


Last Update - March 15, 1999