MKAPR(1) Domain/OS BSD MKAPR(1)
NAME
mkapr - make an Apollo product report
SYNOPSIS
mkapr [-v] [-c]
DESCRIPTION
The mkapr command creates a product report. This command replaces the
crucr (create a user change request form) utility available in prior
software releases.
Mkapr can be used to generate more than one product report without
exiting and restarting the program. Please make a separate report for
each problem or issue you have with an Apollo Computer product.
Output from mkapr may be in either (or both) of two forms:
1. Printed, human-readable copy; or
2. Encoded, transmittable form.
Printed product reports should be sent to:
APR Administrator/Customer Services
M/S CHM 02 GL
Apollo Systems Division
Hewlett-Packard Company
300 Apollo Drive
Chelmsford, MA 01824
Encoded product reports may be sent to Apollo Customer Services via the
UUCP network. The network address is:
apollo!apr_cs_admin
Recommended paths to Apollo are via mit-eddie or decvax. Some other
sites that are short hops from Apollo are uunet, kddlab and unido. These
paths may change with time; check with your site administrator. If your
site knows about one of the following Hewlett Packard sites, E-mail
delivery to Apollo is rapid and reliable.
hplabs Palo Alto, CA
hp-sdd San Diego, CA
hp-pcd Corvallis, OR
hpbbn Boeblingen, West Germany
hplb Bristol, UK
hpycla Tokyo, Japan
Apollo is registered with the (ARPA) Internet. If your site has access,
our Internet address is:
apr_cs_admin@apollo.hp.com
Customer Services will acknowledge all product reports received. Do not
assume your product report has been received until you receive a reply.
Security-conscious sites should not send confidential material.
Voluminous submissions should be sent via magnetic media.
OPTIONS
Mkapr supports two options, -v and -c.
-v This will assert verbose mode; you will see information about
mkapr actions such as locally saving copies of files and
extended error and status messages. Normal mode operation is
for mkapr to invoke the system services silently. mkapr always
allows system services to report errors directly to the
standard error device.
-c This will cause mkapr to start up with the command driven
interface rather than with the DIALOG graphic interface.
SERVICES SUPPORTED
In addition to creating Apollo Problem Reports online, mkapr will make
available viewing, editing, printing and mailing services if they exist
(and mkapr can find them). The mailing services known to mkapr are:
Unix environment - sendmail
Aegis environment - DPSS/mail (ONLY if no sendmail)
You tell mkapr how to make use of sendmail by specifying a value for the
MAIL_OPTIONS entry in the .aprinit initialization file. Mkapr uses the
options '-om -oi' by default. See the manual page for sendmail(8) for an
explanation of the available options.
If sendmail is not available, and DPSS/mail is available, mkapr will use
DPSS/mail. In this case, the MAIL_OPTIONS entry in the .aprinit file is
ignored.
The print services known to mkapr are:
All environments - prf
BSD environment - lpr
SysV environment - lp
You tell mkapr how to print by specifying a value for the PRINT_COMMAND
entry in the .aprinit initialization file. The default print command
used by mkapr is
prf -left 0.5 -wrap
If a desired service is not available to mkapr, a product report (print
or send) file will be saved in the current working directory for printing
or sending at a later time.
DIALOG INTERFACE
Mkapr will make use of the DIALOG graphic interface environment of the
Apollo Domain system whenever possible. This interface is intended to be
easy to learn and use. It is active when the cursor (arrow) is in the
mkapr display window. Pressing the F2 function key or the middle mouse
button will display a brief help message that will go away when the key
or button is released.
It will be useful to you to review the command action descriptions in the
COMMAND DRIVEN INTERFACE section below. There is a direct correspondence
between action buttons in the graphic interface and commands in the
line-oriented interface.
If you select a field in the DIALOG graphic interface for editing (by
point-and-click-with-M1/F1-or-M3/F3), a small filled triangle appears in
the field as near to the cursor arrow as possible. This marks the
insertion point for text.
If you type in the field, light square brackets appear at the far left
and far right of the field (they can be hard to see). While those
brackets are present, mkapr has not yet seen the text you have typed.
Any Print, Send, or View action will use the field values known to mkapr
(most likely these are empty string values).
If you press the <RETURN> key, all text from the left margin of the text
field to the text insertion point (triangle) is passed to mkapr's
internal service routines for processing. The square brackets disappear
to indicate that the editing of the field has completed.
There is no limit to the number of pending field edits. By starting a
field edit, then pressing <TAB> to proceed to the next field (you think
you have finished the edit), and starting to type in the new field, you
now have two field edits underway. The edits must be completed with the
<RETURN> key.
The <TAB> key is intended for quickly moving from one field to another
without changing the field value. The <RETURN> key will move from one
field to another, but will have drastic effects on the field values.
The <BACKSPACE> key will delete the character to the left of the text
insertion point.
The <CHAR DEL> key will delete the character to the right of the text
insertion point.
The '|<-' and '->|' keys will move the text insertion point to the
beginning and end, respectively, of the text edit field.
The editable text fields in the graphic interface have a pop-up help box
which summarizes the preceding editing information.
COMMAND DRIVEN INTERFACE
If the display environment you are using does not support the graphic
interface, you will see the following prompt:
mkapr>
Entering the command 'help' will display the available commands. Here is
the list of commands for reference:
Command Description
help [mkapr]
List Commands. To display the help file, use the mkapr option.
change Change APR Information Fields.
edit Edit the detailed Problem Description Section.
view View the current APR Information.
print Print the current APR Information using PRINT_COMMAND.
send Send the current APR Information to MAIL_PATH with
MAIL_OPTIONS.
save Save the current APR Print and Send files in the SAVE_PATH.
exit Save current customer information changes (if any) and exit.
another Create another Product Report without exiting mkapr.
You need only enter as much of any command as is necessary to uniquely
identify it. For example, you need only type ch for the change command.
Detailed descriptions of the commands follow.
change This allows you to provide the information needed to complete a
product report. Some information is extracted automatically
from the system mkapr is running on. Some information comes
from an initialization file, .aprinit. You may change most of
these default values. Other information you must provide
yourself.
Within the change command, the prompt becomes
mkapr..change>
All current input values are displayed by field. Fields whose
values can't be changed are flagged with an asterisk (*). You
will be asked to enter the field number to change, then asked
to enter the new value (pressing <RETURN> will leave the field
value unchanged). The cycle is then repeated. If you reply
'h' or 'help' at this point, you will get the following help
message for the change command:
Change Command Description
help [mkapr] List commands. To display the help file,
use the mkapr option.
display fields Display all fields and their respective
values.
change field n Request to change the value of field # n.
Pressing the RETURN key at the prompt
enter new value ==>
will leave the value unchanged.
exit Exit the change command.
edit An editor will be invoked using available system services. You
should enter a detailed problem description, save it, and exit
the editor using the appropriate editor commands. You will
then be returned to the mkapr> prompt.
view The current mkapr information will be displayed using available
system services.
print The current mkapr information will be printed to the default
printer using the PRINT_COMMAND value specified in the .aprinit
initialization file.
In a BSD4.3 environment, the shell environment variable PRINTER
can be used to indicate a printer to use in place of the
default assumed by the /usr/ucb/lpr command. In a SYS5.3
environment, the shell environment variable LPDEST is used by
the /usr/bin/lp command. In an SR10 Aegis environment, the
file ((^HOME))/user_data/startup.prf may be used to provide
needed information to the /usr/apollo/bin/prf command. In a
pre-SR10 Aegis environment, the file ((^HOME))/user_data/prf.db
serves the same purpose.
send The current mkapr information will be sent to the destination
specified by the MAIL_PATH entry in the .aprinit file using
/usr/lib/sendmail and the MAIL_OPTIONS entry in the .aprinit
file. If /usr/lib/sendmail is unavailable and DPSS/mail is
available, then DPSS/mail will be used as a last resort. The
MAIL_OPTIONS entry is ignored in this case.
save mkapr will create the output files used by the PRINT and SEND
actions (print files are human-readable, send files are for e-
mail transmission). These files are initially created in the
/tmp temporary directory; they are then moved to the directory
specified by the value of the SAVE_PATH entry in the .aprinit
initialization file. The file names are:
apr.<APR_ID>.p the print file
apr.<APR_ID>.s the send file
The default value for SAVE_PATH is '.' (the current working
directory).
exit If any changes to customer information occurred during this
session, save all customer information to the non-system
.aprinit file, delete all temporary files created by mkapr
during this session (temporary files belonging to other mkapr
sessions are ignored), then exit mkapr.
another Create another product report without leaving mkapr. Be sure
you have done something appropriate with the current product
report before issuing this command (Send, Print, Save or View).
This command resets all product report field values to their
initial values, except for the customer contact, name, address,
and telephone number fields. A new APR_ID value is generated.
INITIAL FIELD VALUES
The fields of an Apollo Problem Report that are collectively known as
customer information Fields are initialized from a file read when mkapr
starts up. These fields contain such information as the name of the
customer contact, the name (company name) of the customer, and the
customer's address and telephone number. The initialization file has the
name .aprinit and the mkapr program will search for it. The search order
for the initialization file is:
1. Look in the current working directory
2. Look in the home directory as given by the shell variable HOME
3. Look in the system directory /etc/apr
It is not an error for no initialization file to exist; mkapr will leave
the customer information fields blank. The fields can be edited and the
initialization file will be updated when mkapr exits.
The file /etc/apr/.aprinit is a special case; mkapr will not write to
this file. The system administrator (or other privileged account) must
create the directory /etc/apr with appropriate access permissions, then
run mkapr to create a local copy of the file .aprinit and copy or move
the file to the directory.
The initialization file is an ASCII text file that may be created and
modified using any of the text editors available to you. The body of the
.aprinit file created by mkapr is reproduced here:
# .aprinit aruser 15 January 1990
# Comment lines begin with '#'
# Non-comment lines have the following form:
# FIELD_NAME : FIELD_VALUE : IGNORED
# The field name must not be changed.
# The ':' character delimits fields.
# The field value may be changed; it must not contain ':'.
# unless the field value is quoted by either ' ' or " " pairs.
# Anything after the second ':' is thrown away.
#
customer_contact : A. Random User
customer_name : Apollo Systems Division of Hewlett-Packard Company
customer_addr1 : CHM 02 GL
customer_addr2 : 300 Apollo Drive
customer_addr3 : Chelmsford, MA 01824
customer_addr4 : USA
customer_phone : 1-508-256-6600
save_path : .
mail_path : apr_cs_admin@apollo.hp.com
mail_options : -oi -om
print_command : prf -left 0.5 -wrap
#
# End of .aprinit
NOTES
Since mkapr assumes that the site mail facility (probably sendmail) knows
how to get from your site to Apollo, you must edit the MAIL_PATH field
value in .aprinit to give mkapr the correct path. Be sure that your mail
facility is set up correctly. See your site administrator for help.
Run /usr/ucb/newaliases at least once before attempting to use mkapr's
send function. Mkapr will warn you if the sendmail database files are
either inconsistent or don't exist when it starts up.
Offsite mailing may not be allowed by your site. If so, you must make
other arrangements to get mail to Apollo. See your site administrator
for help.
FILES
/usr/apollo/bin/mkapr The SR10 executable COFF object
<AA>/install/sr9.7_compatibility/sr9.7_executables/com/mkapr
The SR9.7 OBJ version
/usr/man/cat1/mkapr.1 This manual page (UNIX BSD)
/usr/catman/u_man/man1/mkapr.1
This manual page (UNIX SysV)
/sys/help/mkapr.hlp This help file (Aegis)
/sys/dm/fonts/vt100l.* Display fonts
/sys/dialog/dp_* Display fonts
Initialization file (search order):
.aprinit (1st) (updated)
$HOME/.aprinit (2nd) (updated)
/etc/apr/.aprinit (last) (read only)
/tmp/apr.* Temporary files:
apr.*.v.* Product report view file
apr.*.p.* Product report print file
apr.*.s.* Product report send file
apr.*.c.* Product report send command file
apr.*.e.* Problem description edit file