HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS
Management Guide

The method used to translate a host name depends on whether IPv6 or IPv4 is selected. If the INET6 or TCPIP transport is specified, and the logical name DECW$IPV6_SUPPORT is defined as "TCP_IS_INET6", the TCP/IP Services getaddrinfo function is used to retrieve the address information from either the local database or the domain name server. If multiple addresses are available, all IPv6 addresses are tried before any IPv4 addresses. The order in which addresses are tried within each IP version is indeterminate.

If the INET transport is specified, and the logical name DECW$IPV6_SUPPORT is not defined as "DISABLED", the TCP/IP Services getaddrinfo function is used to retrieve the IPv4 address information from either the local database or the domain name server. If multiple IPv4 addresses are available, the order in which the addresses are tried is indeterminate.

If the INET or TCPIP transport is specified, and the logical name DECW$IPV6_SUPPORT is defined as "DISABLED", the TCP/IP Services gethostbyaddr function is used to retrieve the address information from either the local database or the domain name server. This method is only provided for compatibility with earlier versions of DECwindows Motif.

4.2 Understanding the Login Process

This section describes the DECwindows login process, which begins when the Start Session dialog box appears to after the Session Manager starts.

4.2.1 The New Desktop Login Sequence

When you enter a correct user name and password in the Start Session dialog box, the following events occur:

1. LOGINOUT.EXE: Calls routines within DECW$LOGINOUT.EXE. It performs the following functions:
   1. Checks the DW-MOTIF license to verify that the system is licensed to open connections to the display server. If not, DECW$LOGINOUT.EXE displays a warning message, restarts itself, and exits. A new Start Session dialog box displays.
   2. Changes the input pointer to a watch cursor.
   3. Modifies the authorized and trusted user lists to allow you to run applications that connect to the display server and change security settings. Also removes previously set server security settings.
   4. Instructs the server to impersonate a user logging in so that the owner of the server process changes to the user.
   5. Sets a random magic cookie value in the server and stores it in the X authority file DECW$ENDSESSION.DECW$XAUTH. This cookie guarantees that the process will be able to connect to the server to terminate the session.
   6. Instructs the DTGREET process to terminate.
   7. Starts a process that executes DTHELLO.EXE that displays the welcome screen and holds a connection to the server during the startup process.
   8. Sets the process name to DTSESSION.
   9. Intializes the accumulated CPU time for the Start Session process to zero so that the user process is not charged for time spent displaying the Start Session dialog box.
   10. Passes CDE$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:[BIN]XSESSION.COM as the command procedure that DCL executes.
   11. Exits and passes control of the process to DCL.
2. XSESSION.COM: Runs as the Session Manager's default DCL command procedure. It performs the following functions:
   1. If the logical name DECW$SM_WSQUOTA is defined, sets the Session Manager process's working set quota to the value of the logical name.
   2. Runs the system login command procedure as determined by the SYS$SYLOGIN logical name. By default, this is SYLOGIN.COM.
   3. If you did not specify /NOCOMMAND after the user name in the Start Session dialog box, executes your LOGIN.COM (or other login command procedure as specified in the UAF record). You can redefine the DECW$USER_DEFAULTS logical name in your LOGIN.COM to change the directory that is used for your resource files.
   4. If Kerberos authentication is required, the process displays the Kerberos login dialog box. It requests a principal and password and generates a ticket.
   5. Inserts and removes entries from the user's default X authority file, as required.
   6. Executes SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SYLOGIN.COM, if it exists.
   7. Executes SYS$LOGIN:DECW$LOGIN.COM, if it exists.
   8. Runs CDE$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:[BIN]DTSESSION.EXE to start Session Manager.

When you enter a correct user name and password in the Start Session dialog box, the following events occur:

1. LOGINOUT.EXE: Calls routines within DECW$LOGINOUT.EXE. It performs the following functions:
   1. Checks the DW-MOTIF license to verify that the system is licensed to open connections to the display server. If not, DECW$LOGINOUT.EXE displays a warning message, restarts itself, and exits. A new Start Session dialog box displays.
   2. Changes the input pointer to a watch cursor.
   3. Modifies the authorized and trusted user lists to allow you to run applications that connect to the display server and change security settings. Also removes previously set server security settings.
   4. Instructs the server to impersonate a user logging in so that the owner of the server process changes to the user.
   5. Sets a random magic cookie value in the server and stores it in the X authority file DECW$ENDSESSION.DECW$XAUTH. This cookie guarantees that the process will be able to connect to the server to terminate the session.
   6. Starts a process that executes DECW$WAITFORSM.EXE, which holds a connection to the server during the startup process.
   7. Sets the process name to DECW$SESSION.
   8. Intializes the accumulated CPU time for the Start Session process to zero so that the user process is not charged for time spent displaying the Start Session dialog box.
   9. Passes SYS$MANAGER:DECW$STARTSM.COM as the command procedure that DCL executes.
   10. Exits and passes control of the process to DCL.
2. SYS$MANAGER:DECW$STARTSM.COM: Runs as the Session Manager's default DCL command procedure. It performs the following functions:
   1. If the logical name DECW$SM_WSQUOTA is defined, sets the Session Manager process's working set quota to the value of the logical name.
   2. Executes the system login command procedure as determined by the SYS$SYLOGIN logical name. By default, this is SYLOGIN.COM.
   3. If you did not specify /NOCOMMAND after the user name in the Start Session dialog box, executes your LOGIN.COM (or other login command procedure as specified in the UAF record). You can redefine the DECW$USER_DEFAULTS logical name in your LOGIN.COM to change the directory that is used for your resource files.
   4. Executes SYS$SYSTEM:DECW$WSINIT.EXE to read your workstation customization files. This program opens a connection to the display server and makes Xlib calls to apply your customizations, setting the screen background, pointer shape and color, and other workstation settings. It also creates a property on the root window to communicate your customizations to DECwindows applications that are started later.

      Note If you are logging in to a DECwindows Motif system for the first time after having used the XUI version of DECwindows, DECW$WSINIT.EXE will read your XUI resource files and convert them to DECwindows Motif format.

   5. If Kerberos authentication is required, the process displays the Kerberos login dialog box. It requests a principal and password and generates a ticket.
   6. Inserts and removes entries from the user's default X authority file, as required.
   7. Executes SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SYLOGIN.COM, if it exists.
   8. Executes SYS$LOGIN:DECW$LOGIN.COM, if it exists.
   9. Runs SYS$SYSTEM:DECW$SESSION.EXE to start Session Manager.

The following sections describe techniques to improve or customize the default DECwindows login environment.

4.3.1 Improving Application Startup Performance

Extensive SYLOGIN.COM or LOGIN.COM command procedures can slow down application startup. Many of the operations performed in a SYLOGIN.COM or LOGIN.COM are meaningless for DECwindows application startup. Therefore, the SYLOGIN.COM and LOGIN.COM files should be conditionalized for DECwindows application startup performance.

When starting a DECwindows application, only a minimum of SYLOGIN.COM and LOGIN.COM commands should be executed. Typically, the commands that should be executed are the redefinition of DECW$USER_DEFAULTS (if present), and other logical name definitions if the user will be referencing them from within the context of a DECwindows application.

The following code segment can be inserted into SYLOGIN.COM and LOGIN.COM immediately following the commands necessary for DECwindows:

$ mode = f$mode()
$ tt_devname = f$trnlnm("TT")
$ session_mgr_login = (mode .eqs. "INTERACTIVE") .and.  -
      (f$locate("WSA",tt_devname) .ne. f$len(tt_devname))
$ session_detached_process = (mode .eqs. "INTERACTIVE") .and. -
      (f$locate("MBA",tt_devname) .ne. f$len(tt_devname))
$ if session_mgr_login .or. session_detached_process then exit

You can customize the DECwindows Motif login screen to display alternate logos or screen colors. To customize the login screen, create a file named DECW$LOGIN.DAT in the SYS$MANAGER directory that contains your resource definitions. The custom resource definitions from SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT are merged with the resource definitions supplied by HP in SYS$COMMON:[DECW$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM]DECW$LOGIN.DAT to form the new login screen.

Keep customized versions of the DECW$LOGIN.DAT resource file in the SYS$MANAGER directory, and not in DECW$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS, to prevent your customized file from being overwritten when upgraded to a newer version of DECwindows Motif software. In addition, storing the file in the SYS$MANAGER directory prevents the custom file from superseding the file that is supplied by HP.

4.3.2.1 Customizing the Logo and Login Screen Colors

You can define the resources in Table 4-4 to control the position and colors of the logo and the color of the screen background in the Start Session screen.

For example, to position the logo at x=100, y=600, add the following resource definitions to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:

decw$login.logoX: 100
decw$login.logoY: 600
decw$login.centerLogoX: false

You can define the resources in Table 4-5 to control the position of the Start Session and Set Password dialog boxes.

For example, to position the Start Session dialog box at x=100, y=600, add the following resource definitions to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:

decw$login.centerStartSessionX: false
decw$login.centerStartSessionY: false
decw$login.HiddenShell.x: 100
decw$login.HiddenShell.y: 600

To position the Set Password dialog box at x=30, y=100, add the following resource definitions to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:

decw$login.centerSetPasswordX: false
decw$login.centerSetPasswordY: false
decw$login.SetPasswordShell.x: 30
decw$login.SetPasswordShell.y: 100

To prevent a node name from being displayed in the Start Session dialog box, add the following resource definition to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:

decw$login.displayNodeName: false

System managers or other privileged users can display custom messages (such as greetings, security updates, and system broadcasts) prior to session log in on the New Desktop.

At session startup, DECwindows Motif searches for the message file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$GREET.TXT. If the file is found, a window that contains the text from the message file is displayed in front of the login dialog box. Users must then press the Return key or click OK to continue and log into their New Desktop session. If the file is not found, the window is not displayed, and users can log into their New Desktop session directly.

To create a custom message, do the following:

1. Log into SYSTEM (or another privileged account).
2. Create the file DECW$GREET.TXT in one of the following locations:
   • For standalone systems, create the file in the directory SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSMGR].
   • If you want to display a message across a cluster, create the file in the directory SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR].
3. Enter the message text that you want displayed. The text is displayed according to the font family and language variant currently defined in CDE$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:[CONFIG]XCONFIG.DAT and CDE$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:[CONFIG.%L]XRESOURCES.DAT. All printable characters supported by the current font family and variant are valid for display.
   Also note that there are no explicit size requirements; the message window will size itself dynamically. Extremely long lines (those that are too long to fit on the screen itself) may be truncated.

   Note Lines that do not contain any text or formatting characters are ignored. To insert a blank line in the message file, enter at least one space character <sp> at the beginning of the line.

4. Save the file and restart the desktop session.

You can disable the display of the suggested password list when logging into New Desktop with an expired password.

To suppress the suggested password list, define the system logical CDE$NOGENPWD to a non-zero value, as follows:

$  DEFINE/SYSTEM CDE$NOGENPWD 1

You can display file and device names in UNIX-style format in the File Selection widget and the File Manager.

When this feature is enabled, file and directory specifications are displayed according to UNIX pathname conventions, such as using slashes instead of square brackets to delimit directory trees. In addition, the case of device names is preserved when displaying UNIX-style pathnames versus being converted to uppercase.

The following sections briefly describe how to enable this feature.

4.3.5.1 Enabling in the File Selection Dialog Box

To enable the display of UNIX-style filenames in the File Selection dialog box, set one or more of the following logicals to a non-zero value:

• DECC$FILENAME_UNIX_ONLY (CRTL mode)
• DECW$XM_FORCE_UNIX_NAMES_TO_VMS

These logicals can be defined system-wide by adding them to the SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGICALS.COM file, or defined on a per-user basis by adding them to each user's DECW$LOGIN.COM or LOGIN.COM file.

To force the File Selection dialog box to return selected filenames in OpenVMS format while displaying them in UNIX format, define the logical DECW$XM_UNIX_NAMES_TO_VMS. This enables other applications that rely on filenames in OpenVMS format to interact successfully with the File Selection dialog box while still displaying filenames in UNIX format.

4.3.5.2 Enabling in the File Manager

To enable the display of UNIX-style filenames in the File Manager, set the logical CDE$DTFILE_UNIX_NAMES to a non-zero value.

This logical can be defined system-wide by adding it to the SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGICALS.COM file, or defined on a per-user basis by adding it to each user's DECW$LOGIN.COM or LOGIN.COM file.

4.4 Customizing the Startup Environment

This section provides an overview of how to change the default DECwindows Motif startup environment using application customization parameters.

4.4.1 Using the DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP File

The DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE file is located in the SYS$MANAGER directory. This template file contains information you can use to customize your DECwindows Motif startup environment.

By using this file, you can modify the client areas listed in Table 4-6. Desktop-dependent parameters are noted. See the Getting Started With the New Desktop manual for additional parameters that are specific to the New Desktop environment.

To customize any of these areas, copy the SYS$MANAGER: DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE file to SYS$MANAGER: DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM, as in the following example:

$ COPY SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE -
_$ SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM/LOG

Then edit the file to change the appropriate symbol.

The following sections contain examples for customizing the DECwindows client environment using the template file.

This file contains two sections, a Cluster Common section, and a Cluster Member Workstation-Specific section. Add the new symbol to the appropriate section.