From: B.Gilli
                                                           Date: 06 Nov 1997



             VLT-SW-MAY97 - RELEASE NOTES FOR CCS
             ====================================


The NOV97 release is based on the same platform as MAY97, namely
RTAP 6.7 for HP Unix 10.20, and RTAP 6.4 for Solaris 2.4


ERROR/LOG SYSTEM
****************
In order to solve (or reduce) the problem of intepreting the log text in 
utilities like 'logMonitor' and 'error display' , the components of a log are 
separated by a 'single space'.

This may lead to a re-generation of the test reference files if they use 
direct dumping of logs.


Logging System
**************

- Modifications in logMonitor
  + Some commands moved from menuBar to main panel.
  + Increased robustness when displaying logs containing
    special tcl/tk characters such as ; $ " []
  + Possibility to get help on error by clicking directly on the log

- Bug fixing for Fits logging Fits :
  + Several sub-systems can be now specified.

- Add script which extracts the operational logs from the VLT backup log file
  and stores them into a separate file.
  

Error System
************

- Add check on the length of error format : if too long, the error log is
  truncated and a proper warning log is also generated.

- Modification to errEditor panel layout -i.e.- merging into a single GUI.


Database
********

- Improved error messages for dbRestore

- Add automatic recovery procedure when accessing a not-active database.
  (This is implemented only for Rtap environments)
  
  When the access to a database fails because the environment is not active or 
  the database handle is not valid, the database connection is re-opened and
  the same operation repeated once.

  If the failure still persist, the routine returns an error and the database
  will be re-opened at the next attempt to access it.

cmd:
****
The cmd module has been completely redesigned to avoid shared memory 
collisions on SUN platforms.


scan:
*****
- WS support now scanning from multiple environments, max is 5.
- Start/restart of scanning is optimized for number of messages
  and error handling


ntp:
****
- "Network Time Protocol" section added into the CCS User Manual. 
  In this section the installation and configuration of ntp over 
  workstations and lcus has been made clearer.
- the tooSetLCUTime has been embedded into the ntp/lcu part (local
  function ntpSetLCUTime), this lead to the no need of the too module.
- depending on the hardware configuration the ntp/lcu part behaves
  in the following way:
	- without TIM board: ntp set the local time and spawn the
	  ntp daemon
	- TIM board without time-bus signal: the local time is set
	  but the daemon is not spawned
	- TIM and time-bus signal: the time is not set and the 
	  daemon is not spawned.
- The local time is set using the timsSetUTC function
- The ntp/lcu installation creates the $VLTDATA/config/ntp.conf
  file. The host where ntp/lcu has been compiled is defined
  as time server in that file.
- the lcu's ntp daemon looks for the configuration file (ntp.conf)
  under $BOOTHOME and if not there then it looks for it under
  $VLTDATA/config/.
- It's recomended to always include the ntp module as a "User Module"
  using the vccConfigLcu panel. ntp takes care about the hardware
  configuration.
- If the user application modifies the system clock rate then ntp.boot
  must be executed AFTER the application's boot script.

samp:
*****
- Plotting of attributes located in the local WS is now supported. 
Configuration performed by the standard sampCtrl tool.
- Plot points can be located anywhere in the db. Initialisation utility 
provided to create the necessary links


evt:
****
-LCU & WS report now in the same way.

Other:
******
-New errCheck module to check consistency between number of 
parameters in errAdd calls and the error definition files

                              ___oOo___