========================== SSCC News, September, 1999 ========================== Inside this issue... VMS (EAGLE) Phase Out Deadlines Approaching SSCC Training Schedule for Fall Semester Improvements in Communications about Consulting Requests Problems with Saving Files to UNIX from PC Network (incl. WinCenter) SSCC After-Hours Emergency Number has Changed New or Updated SSCC Publications Two Tips for Sending Attachments that can be Easily Read ------------------------------------------- VMS (EAGLE) Phase Out Deadlines Approaching ------------------------------------------- VMS (EAGLE) is being phased out in 1999. The first major deadline passed August 24th when E-mail services were discontinued. Keep these remaining important deadlines in mind: o October 31: Commercial software no longer available (SAS and SPSS system files must be transferred to UNIX in portable format or files will no longer be readable). Schedule an appointment with Nancy McDermott if you need assistance with this transfer. o December 30: VMS Operating System no longer available. Make sure all the VMS files you want to keep are transferred to your UNIX account, your space on SSCC's Microsoft network (U: drive), or a local drive on your PC. Schedule an appointment with Consultant if you need assistance with this transfer. ---------------------------------------- SSCC Training Schedule for Fall Semester ---------------------------------------- All SSCC training sessions require preregistration. If less than three people have preregistered for a course one week prior to its start date, the class may be canceled. To preregister for a class, either send mail to SSCCLASS indicating which class(es) you plan to attend or register through SSCC's web form: www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Training/train.htm. You will be reminded about your preregistration through e-mail a day or two before the class begins. Date Time Topic Room Instruct. ---- ---- ----- ---- --------- 9/10 2:25-4:20 Editing Files with EMACS 3218 Ditzler 9/15 10-12 Intro to UNIX using VMS Conversion Tools 2470 Rodriguez 9/17 12-1 Transferring VMS SAS/SPSS Data to UNIX 4452 Hayes 9/22 10-12 Managing Your Research Files on UNIX 2470 Rodriguez 9/23 1:30-3 Using the EUDORA Mailer from your PC 3218 Wald 9/28 1:30-2:30 Running SAS on UNIX (for VMS SAS users) 2470 McDermott 9/30 1:30-2:30 Running SPSS on UNIX (for VMS SPSS users) 2470 McDermott 10/5 1:30-3 Using the PINE Mailer on UNIX 2470 Wald 10/7 1-2 Transferring VMS SAS/SPSS Data to UNIX 4452 Hayes 10/11 10:30-12 Getting Started with ACCESS 3218 Brauer 10/22 12-1:30 Using Netscape Messenger Mailer (PC or UNIX) 7413 Flory 10/25 10:30-12 Getting Started with Excel 3218 Brauer 11/10 10-11:30 Understanding Logistic Regression in SAS 3432 White Note: Any session scheduled in 7413 or 3218 (SSML) is a "hands-on" session. Descriptions for each of the training sessions listed above may be found at https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Training/trainf99.htm. SSCC staff also teach UNIX operating system and SAS lectures for Sociology 365. Any SSCC member is welcome to attend any of the lectures listed below. Please send e-mail to mcdermot if you plan to attend so that we have ample handouts. Date Time Topic Room Instruct. ---- ---- ----- ---- --------- 9/16 9:30-10:45 Running Jobs under UNIX 6240 Rodriguez 9/21 9:30-10:45 UNIX Configuration and Permissions 6240 Rodriguez 9/23 9:30-10:45 Filtering Data with UNIX Tools 6240 Rodriguez 9/30 9:30-10:45 Overview of SAS 6240 Winsboro 10/5,7 9:30-10:45 Reading ASCII Data into SAS 6240 Winsboro 10/12 9:30-10:10 Saving Versions of Files on UNIX (RCS) 6240 Rodriguez 10/12 10:10-10:45 Coding Clearly and Using the SAS Log 6240 McDermott 10/14,19 9:30-10:45 SAS Programming 6240 McDermott 10/21 9:30-10:45 Using SAS Macros to Avoid Repetitive Coding 6240 Rodriguez 10/26 9:30-10:45 Creating/Reading Permanent SAS Data Sets 6240 Winsboro 10/28 9:30-10:45 Working with SAS Formats inc. Dates 6240 Winsboro 11/2 9:30-10:45 Intro to SAS's Statistical Procedures 6240 Winsboro 11/4 9:30-10:45 Using PROC TABULATE to Summarize Data 6240 White 11/9 9:30-10:45 Analytic Procedures in SAS 6240 Winsboro 11/11 9:30-10:45 Concatenating and Merging in SAS 6240 Winsboro 11/16,18 9:30-10:45 SAS Programming Efficiencies and Tips 6240 McDermott 11/23 9:30-10:45 Intro to the SAS Query Language (SQL) 6240 Winsboro 11/30 9:30-10:45 PROC SQL: Restriction and Projection 6240 Winsboro 12/2 9:30-10:45 PROC SQL: Joins and Subqueries 6240 Winsboro 12/7 9:30-10:45 Importing Data in SAS (inc. SAS/ACCESS) 6240 McDermott -------------------------------------------------------- Improvements in Communications about Consulting Requests -------------------------------------------------------- In an effort to improve communications between users who request assistance from Consulting and the SSCC staff person who is assigned the request, we have made three changes: 1) The "canned" e-mail message you receive from Helpline (the account that manages the database that logs all requests) has changed. Hopefully, you will find it much more friendly. It's main purpose now is only to acknowledge that your request has been received and logged. 2) The staff person assigned to work on your request will be sending you an e-mail message as soon as he/she is assigned your request. This way you will know who to contact with any additional information or followup questions. 3) If you wish to inquire about the status of your request to someone other than the staff member assigned your request, we have designated Nancy McDermott, Manager of User Services (email: mcdermot), as the person you can contact. In the near future, we plan to implement an easy-to-use utility that will allow you to give us feedback concerning the quality of the service you received on your request. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Problems with Saving Files to UNIX from PC Network (incl. WinCenter) -------------------------------------------------------------------- In the December issue of SSCC News (www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Sscnews/dec98), we first reported some communication problems between Wincenter and samba, the software that makes your Unix directories available to you on the PC network. Now and then Wincenter users were unable to successfully save files directly from PC applications to their Unix home directories. This problem is intermittent and occasional but it has been reported to the international samba development team by users of networked PCs around the world. Our response to this problem last year was the introduction of NT network home directories, which don't communicate with Wincenter or your PC via samba. Like your Unix directories, your NT home directory is backed up daily. ********************************************************************** * WE STRONGLY ADVISE THAT YOU WRITE FILES TO YOUR NT HOME DIRECTORY * * SPACE (THE W: DRIVE ON WINCENTER AND THE U: DRIVE ON PCs) RATHER * * THAN TO YOUR UNIX HOME OR PROJECT DIRECTORY. * ********************************************************************** In our opinion you should feel that it is safe to cut-and-paste or drag-and-drop files to or from a samba-shared Unix directory. Our advice here refers to saving files directly from a PC application. We wanted to repeat this advice because several people are still losing files because they are saving from PC applications to their UNIX home directories. And, to encourage users to be more careful about using their UNIX home directories for this purpose from Wincenter, we will no longer automatically map your UNIX home directory to a drive letter when you log onto Wincenter. You can map this drive yourself in the usual way with the network path \\norman\your-username. For more information on accessing network drives from your networked PC or WinCenter, please refer to one of the following documents: Accessing Disk Shares from the LAN with Windows 95 (SSCC Pub #5-8) Using PC Windows Applications from X-terminals (SSCC Pub #5-9) Both handouts are available in paper form from Consultant or one of the two Public Terminal Rooms. On-line versions are available at https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Pubs/pub.htm. --------------------------------------------- SSCC After-Hours Emergency Number has Changed --------------------------------------------- The number for reporting computer and network failures after-hours has changed to 550-0384. This number is for reporting after-hours emergencies and failures only during weekends and evening hours when staff or operators are not in the building. It is not an extension of the SSCC's consulting service. -------------------------------- New or Updated SSCC Publications -------------------------------- The following documents are either new or recently updated: Using SAS to Reformat Data Records from One to Several (4-5) Using SPSS to Reformat Data Records from One to Several (4-6) SSCC Handbook UNIX Operating System Users Guide Research Computing on SSCC UNIX Systems All of these documents are available in either printed form or online. Printed documents may be obtained from the Consultant or either Public Terminal Room. Online documents may be found at SSCC's web pages: https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Pubs/pub.htm -------------------------------------------------------- Two Tips for Sending Attachments that can be Easily Read -------------------------------------------------------- We see a lot of people in Consulting you are having trouble reading e-mail attachments. Often times these problems could have been easily avoided if the person sending the attachment would follow two simple tips: o Tell the person in the body of the message the kind of file you are attaching o Use the default extension the software uses when you save the file you are going to send to someone. This way the mailer can easily identify the file. For example, with WORD documents use .doc for the file extension when you save the file. For WordPerfect, use .wpd.