The BOREAS Information System
This is the complete text of the BORIS E-Mail that was sent to all investigators on November 7, 1994. Its contents are all about using the BOREAS VAX computer system:
         November 7, 1994

To:      All BOREAS Investigators and Staff

From:    Jeff Newcomer, BOREAS Information Scientist
         [(301) 286-7858] [newcomer@ltpmail.gsfc.nasa.gov]

Subject: Basic Help Information for Accessing and Using the BOREAS System

Hopefully all of you received the mailing on October 18 regarding access to the
preliminary BOREAS data on the BOREAS system at GSFC.  Based on questions from
several of you, we have prepared the following help information to assist you with
retrieving data from the system and using other basic system functions.  If you
need further information that is not available on-line, please contact Beth
McCowan.

When you do a direct login to your account on BOREAS, you are presented with a
menu of possible commands.  These comands and the ones that follow allow you to
access the on-line BOREAS data, get help information, send email, access other
data bases, and exit.  Basic help information is available on each of these
commands.  Some further information to help you follows.


Changing Your Password

In order to change your password, you need to enter 'EXIT' from the main menu. This places you at the operating system '$' prompt. The command to change your password is SET PASSWORD. When changing your password you will see the following series of prompts: $SET PASSWORD OLD PASSWORD: NEW PASSWORD: VERIFICATION: The password entries will not be displayed to the terminal screen. If you ever forget your password, please contact Beth McCowan for assistance.

Getting Back Into the BOREAS Menu

To get back into the menu system from the operating system '$' prompt, enter 'BOREAS'.

Setting Your Terminal Type

Based on the keyboard mapping done between your terminal and the BOREAS system, you may need to set the terminal type to properly use all the available features. In order to change your terminal type, you will need to EXIT from the main menu and then enter 'SET TERMINAL' at the operating system '$' prompt along with the proper qualifiers. Entering 'SHOW TERMINAL' will cause the operating system to display how it is currently perceiving your terminal. Detailed help on the SET TERMINAL command is available from the operating system by entering 'HELP SET TERMINAL' at the '$' prompt. Your basic configuration should include: a) Width: 80 characters per line b) Device_Type: VT 100 or VT200 Series c) Page: 24 lines per page d) Parity: None

Directory Syntax and Changes on BOREAS

On BOREAS, the syntax for directories is: disk:[dir10.subdir11.subdir12...]. At the operating system $ prompt, the command to change your current directory is SET DEFAULT followed by the directory name. If your current directory was DISK1:[DIR1] and you wanted to move to a directory on another disk device, the command would be SET DEFAULT DISK2:[DIR2.SUBDIR2]. If you wanted instead to move down the directory structure under DISK1:[DIR1] to the directory DISK1:[DIR1.SUBDIR2.DATA], you would enter SET DEFAULT [.SUBDIR2.DATA]. To display your currently active directory, enter SHOW DEFAULT.

Using the BOREAS/VAX Text Editor

To invoke the text editor, you need to enter the command ED or EDIT followed by a file name. If the file exists, the first set of lines in the file will be displayed to the screen. If the file does not exist, you will see a screen that looks like this: ___________________________________________________ |[EOB] | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Input file does not exist | |__________________________________________________| Once in the editor, the arrow keys move the cursor in the expected directions. Most of the functionality though is obtained through use of the keypad keys as follows: ___________________________________ | | | FNDNXT | DEL L | | GOLD | HELP | | | | | | | | | | | FIND | UNDO L | |________|________|________|________| | PAGE | SECT | APPEND | DEL W | DELETE Delete character | | | | | CTRL/R Refresh screen | COMMAND| FILL | REPLACE| UNDO W | CTRL/W Refresh screen |________|________|________|________| CTRL/Z Exit to line mode | ADVANCE| BACKUP | CUT | DEL C | | | | | | | BOTTOM | TOP | PASTE | UNDO C | |________|________|________|________| | WORD | EOL | CHAR | | | | | | | |CHNGCASE| DEL EOL| SPECINS| ENTER | |________|________|________| | | | | | | LINE | SELECT | | | | | SUBS | | OPEN LINE | RESET | | |_________________|________|________| Pressing the HELP key will give you more detailed help on each key. Pressing a key will cause the editor to carry out the instruction on the top of the key. Pressing the GOLD key followed by a key will cause the editor to carry out the instruction on the bottom of the key.

Making an FTP Connection to Your User Account

Assuming that you have the appropriate FTP software, you can initiate an FTP connection to your user account on the BOREAS system, change your current default directory to the BOREAS data areas, and pull files to your system. The following is an example (with explanations) of an FTP session: $ Ftp BOREAS.Gsfc.Nasa.Gov (INITIATE AN FTP SESSION TO BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV) BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV MultiNet FTP user process 3.2(106) Connection opened (Assuming 8-bit connections) (BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV MultiNet FTP Server Process 3.3(14) at Mon 7-Nov-94 1:47PM-EST BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>user newcomer (ESTABLISH A USER ACCOUNT LOGIN) (User name (newcomer) ok. Password, please. Password: (PASSWORD ENTERED BUT NOT DISPLAYED) (User NEWCOMER logged into BORIS_OPS:[NEWCOMER] at Mon 7-Nov-94 1:47PM-EST, job 202001ae. BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>cd BOREAS_DATA:[boreas.data] (SET CURRENT DIRECTORY) (Connected to BOREAS_DATA:[BOREAS.DATA]. BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>ls [...]*.dir (DISPLAY ALL DIRECTORIES BELOW THIS POINT) [BOREAS.DATA]AFM.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]HYD.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]MODEL_DATA.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]RSS.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]STAFF.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]TE.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]TF.DIR [BOREAS.DATA]TGB.DIR [BOREAS.DATA.AFM]AFM01.DIR . . [BOREAS.DATA.HYD]HYD01.DIR . . [BOREAS.DATA.RSS]RSS01.DIR . . [BOREAS.DATA.STAFF]AES_MET.DIR [BOREAS.DATA.STAFF]AIRCRAFT.DIR . . [BOREAS.DATA.TE]TE01.DIR . . [BOREAS.DATA.TGB]TGB01.DIR . . (Transfer completed. BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>CD [.AFM.AFM07.IFC1] (MOVE CURRENT DIRECTORY TO BOREAS_DATA:[BOREAS.DATA.AFM.AFM07.IFC1] FROM BOREAS_DATA:[BOREAS.DATA] ) (Connected to BOREAS_DATA:[BOREAS.DATA.AFM.AFM07.IFC1]. BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>LS (LIST FILES IN THE DIRECTORY) (List started. 0_readme.txt ff_01jun94_15jun94.csv ff_16jun94_30jun94.csv ff_16may94_31may94.csv ll_01jun94_15jun94.csv ll_16jun94_30jun94.csv ll_16may94_31may94.csv . . . (Transfer completed. BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>ASCII (SET DATA TRANSFER MODE TO ASCII) Type: Ascii (Non-Print), Structure: VMS, Mode: Stream BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>GET ll_16may94_31may94.csv To local file: JEFF.TEST (BRING FILE ll_16may94_31may94.csv to local file JEFF.TEST) (VMS retrieve of BOREAS_DATA:[BOREAS.DATA.AFM.AFM07.IFC1]LL_16MAY94_31MAY94.CSV;1 started. (Transfer completed. 339484 (8) bytes transferred. BOREAS.GSFC.NASA.GOV>EXIT (EXIT THE FTP SESSION) (QUIT command received. Goodbye.

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Last Updated: December 21, 1995