Posted inInformation Technology

std::optional Example and Explanation

std::optional is an attempt by the academics on the C++ standards committee to “fix” what they believe to be abhorrent behavior. As usual they created a committee quality result. To understand my disgust with what they created you have to understand that I’ve been programming on real computers since the early 1980s. Even then VAX BASIC had OPTIONAL and a much better implementation for OPTIONAL parameters. You can read more about it in this book. … std::optional Example and ExplanationRead more

Posted inExperience / Information Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another

A TCP/IP Software Appliance

In the very near future, every viable business class operating system will incorporate a TCP/IP Software Appliance. This is not a firewall. What we have today serving as firewalls may or may not server any purpose in the future, but one thing is for certain, we cannot solve our security problems via any hacks to our existing socket and IP libraries nor can security be improved by any future tweaks to SSL/TLS. I have been … A TCP/IP Software ApplianceRead more

Posted inInformation Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another

An Updated C_MEGA_MAIL Example

Things get dated. It is sad, but true. Time marches on and little snippets of code you squirreled away for future use start to not work as good, or not even compile because everything around them has changed. Such was the case recently with C_MEGA_MAIL.C. It stayed locked in time and VMS changed. Oh, it still compiled and seemed to work, but when you stuck it in something which sent hundreds of mail messages over … An Updated C_MEGA_MAIL ExampleRead more

Posted inExperience / Information Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another

FileZilla and OpenVMS

Oh, you’ve all been there. For whatever reason you are forced to edit something on your Linux desktop (because no professional uses a Microsoft product)  Even the editors which _claim_ ftp support are completely worthless at file versions. PC based systems simply don’t understand what professional grade operating systems provide and the services production requires. You can move x86 based hardware into the computer room, but you can’t make it production quality. Most of the … FileZilla and OpenVMSRead more

Posted inInformation Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another

Xterm and VT Emulation

Many years ago, when I was writing this book I did so using a Linux desktop using Xterm and the following configuration script. #!/bin/sh # vax # 09-17-96 Bob Ess – initial creation # 09-26-96 Shig Katada – Additional keybindings # # Script file to incorporate keybindings and command line # options for connecting to a VAX node # Usage statement Usage(){ echo echo ” Usage : vax -options” echo echo ” Options: -80 for … Xterm and VT EmulationRead more