[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference bulova::decw_jan-89_to_nov-90

Title:	DECWINDOWS 26-JAN-89 to 29-NOV-90
Notice:	See 1639.0 for VMS V5.3 kit; 2043.0 for 5.4 IFT kit
Moderator:	STAR::VATNE

Created:	Mon Oct 30 1989
Last Modified:	Mon Dec 31 1990
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3726
Total number of notes:	19516

779.0. "UWS V2.0 first impressions" by 51887::OLAV (Do it in parallel!) Fri May 12 1989 21:08

I have been running DECwindows under VMS for several months. Today I installed
Ultrix with UWS V2.0 and noticed some differences:

1) On VMS the LOGIN screen displays a nice blue Digital logo, the login dialog
   box has white background and the pointer is black clearly visible.

   On Ultrix the Digital logo was in black color. The pointer had the same
   color as the background in the login dialog box making it very difficult
   to see.

2) When logging in the first time on VMS you get a reasonable default color
   set-up.

   On Ultrix it was not nice at all. The pointer had the same color as the
   window background.

3) I used my VMS machine color setup as a reference to set up the Ultrix colors.
   I started with the pointer. I set the pointer background color to yellow and
   the pointer foreground color to black. On VMS this results in a yellow
   pointer with a black outline.

   On Ultrix I got a white pointer with a yellow outline!

Why is VMS DECwindows so much better than Ultrix providing reasonable color
setup?

Olav

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
779.1	A friendly suggestion..	32956::graham	if ya want home cookin, stay home	`Fri May 12 1989 23:52`	16
	I suggest you use Ultrix/DECwindows a little bit longer before you shoot it down. It is true that DECwindows will one-day resolve some of the differences that you see now. Today, the architectural differences between the two systems makes certain things impossible, not counting the pressures presented by differences between opposing user mental blocks. Ultrix DECwindows is more liberal in providing access to crucial customization tools. Kris....
779.2		PSW::WINALSKI	Paul S. Winalski	`Sat May 13 1989 22:22`	13
	RE: .0 I'd make sure that there isn't something in your Xdefaults file that interferes with the normal color operation. If running totally "vanilla" with no Xdefaults file doesn't correct the problem, it's QAR or BAR time. I wouldn't fault Ultrix DECwindows too much about this one. The two DECwindows implementations were developed by two different teams, and so the bugs are in different places. While Ultrix DECwindows can't seem to get the colors right, it can debug DECwindows applications without the server hanging. --PSW
779.3	look at the entire picture	SMURF::HOFFMAN	anywhere in the universe	`Mon May 15 1989 15:38`	27
	re .0 You might also look more carefully at how you set up your account on the system. There are very useful default startup files located in the directory /usr/skel on your UWS V2.0 system. The files include a version of .Xdefaults which, along with the defaults provided by most applications, provides a very good environment in most regards. It is your responsibility to obtain and use reasonable user startup files such as those provided in /usr/skel. This is documented. Regarding the pointer color problem: well, it is a problem in the UWS software and should be reported. You know how to report problems, right? QAR or SPR or BAR, depending on your situation. The system name is GORGE. Yes, there are differences in VMS and UWS DECwindows, especially in the default environments and ability of users to customize their environments. As it happens, the UWS documentation is much more oriented toward supporting this than VMS, so even if you start out somewhat more slowly on UWS, you can go much farther as a user. Hope this helps you to keep making progress. John Hoffman ULTRIX DECwindows Engineering