 






          Software
          Product
          Description

          ________________________________________________________________

          PRODUCT NAME:  VAX VTX, Version 4.1                 SPD 26.57.11

          DESCRIPTION

          Videotex is a distributed information retrieval service that
          utilizes a tree structured database through which the user
          navigates by selecting choices from a menu. The content of the
          videotex infobase consists of full-screen "pages" of information
          supplied by the Information Providers.

          The information contained in the infobase is prepared with stan-
          dard Digital editors (WPS-PLUS, TPU, EDT, DECgraph, DECslide,
          DECwrite, etc.) to create the pages of information.

          VAX VTX provides:

          o  A distributed videotex service environment on VAX or MicroVAX
             systems and Digital networks.

          o  Access through terminals to page and menu-oriented, dis-
             tributed, text or graphics information bases.

          o  The means of attaching one or more applications to a VAX VTX
             distributed system through the use of the VTX Application
             Link Utilities (VALU) components, which are included in the
             VTX product.

          One of the key benefits of VTX is that it allows users to
          quickly access and peruse on-line information with little, or no
          training.

          There are three categories of VTX users:

          o  End-users or Subscribers who retrieve the information from
             the infobase.

                                       DIGITAL                    May 1990

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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          o  Those who design (infobase designers), maintain (VTX oper-
             ators), and prepare (information providers or IPs) the VTX
             Service.

          o  Application programmers who create and maintain applications
             for a VAX VTX Service.

          Features

          o  Support for MS-DOS TCP. VAX VTX V4.1 supports MS-DOS users
             via DECnet connections. This allows users to access VAX VTX
             directly rather than having to access VTX via "terminal"
             emulation mode.

          o  Support of the Compund Document Architecture by allowing
             DDIF encoded documents (i.e., DECwrite) to be stored in and
             retrieved from a VTX infobase.

          o  VAX VTX Workbench provides a graphical environment for
             the Information Provider to storyboard, design, build and
             maintain a VTX infobase. The VAX VTX Workbench Information
             Provider can build a complete menu structure through a simple
             pictorial interface.

          o  Concentrator support for X.29 virtual devices, construction
             of X.25 based gateways, concentrator support for 3270 class
             terminals based on the use of the DECnet/SNA Gateway VMS
             3270 Data Stream Programming interface and custom-written IBM
             application.

          o  Context-sensitive keywords allow the use of segmented keyword
             files to allow for keyword matches based on the subscriber's
             current page context.

          o  Ability to modify the Terminal Control Program - the Termi-
             nal Specific Module (TSM) allows for changes in keypad-to-
             function mapping.


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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          o  ALL-IN-1 Terminal Control Program is included in the VTX
             base product and fully integrated with ALL-IN-1. This fea-
             ture enables the ALL-IN-1 user to access VTX using GOLD key
             mappings for the standard VTX functions. It also allows for
             integration with the ALL-IN-1 Interrupt and Scratchpad menus.

          o  Support for DECwindows Terminal Control Program.

          o  Extensive on line help - VAX VTX on line help is available
             for all categories of VTX users.

          o  Access to distributed VAX VTX infobases - VAX VTX supports
             access not only to the VAX VTX infobase resident on a local
             VAX, but also to VAX VTX infobases resident on other VAX
             processors in a VAXcluster or in a Digital network.

          o  Document paginator allows the VTX Information Provider to
             paginate documents for subsequent use by VTXAPMS, VTXUPD
             or VAX VTX Workbench. The document paginator allows you to
             paginate WPS-PLUS documents, ASCII files and DDIF files.

          Components

          VAX VTX V4.1 includes all components necessary for designing,
          distributing and accessing VTX "Infobases" and applications.
          These components are as follows:

          VTX Servers and Operator Utilities

          o  VTX Server (SRV) handles subscriber requests for the pages in
             an infobase.

          o  VTX Control Utility (VTXCTL) enables communication for the
             VAX VTX operator with the VTX server, update server, con-
             centrator, VAX VTX Workbench Server and the VTX application
             server to start and stop processes.

          o  VTX Account Control Utility (ACU) allows creation, modifica-
             tion, deletion and maintenance of VAX VTX accounts.

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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          o  VAX VTX Workbench Server (WBSRV) controls all VAX VTX Work-
             bench update access to VAX VTX infobases, and performs up-
             dates to the infobases. It also enables the user to retrieve
             and extract pages from the infobase for modification using
             the VAX VTX Workbench Graphical Interface.

          o  VTX Update Server (UPDSRV) controls all update access to lo-
             cal and remote VAX VTX infobases, and performs the requested
             updates to the infobase. The VAX VTX Update Server declares
             itself a DECnet object, and accepts connect requests and
             subsequent update requests from local or remote Information
             Providers via the VTX Update Utility.

          o  Infobase Verification Utility (IVU) performs infobase veri-
             fication and reports on the infobase structure. IVU enables
             the user to periodically examine the state of the infobase
             and identify any discrepancies. Optionally, the verification
             report may contain a cross-reference listing of the infobase.

          Information Provider Tools

          o  VTX Update Utility (VTXUPD) provides full maintenance capa-
             bility including creation, modification, and deletion of VAX
             VTX pages in the infobase. The utility offers two ways in
             which to work: menu mode for first-time or infrequent users,
             and command mode for experienced users. This program can op-
             erate directly on infobase files or access infobase files
             through the network using the Update Server.

          o  VTX Automatic Page Management System (VTXAPMS)) is an auto-
             mated tool that assigns/replaces symbolic page references in
             VTXAPMS input files with page numbers and dynamically builds
             index menus.

          o  VAX VTX Workbench Graphical Interface (WBGI) allows the
             communication of one or more Information Providers with the
             Workbench Server to create and maintain information in page
             and keyword files.

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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          o  VAX VTX Workbench Command Language (WBCL) allows the Infor-
             mation Provider to automatically generate an infobase from
             large or frequently updated sources, such as manuals and
             catalogs.

          Terminal Control/Concentrator (TCP/CON)

          o  Terminal Control Program (TCP) controls a single terminal
             in a dialogue between the subscriber and the VTX service.
             The program interprets keystrokes and sends messages to
             the server (SRV), receives messages from the server (SRV)
             and displays pages requested from the infobase and allows
             a VMS user access to the VTX service. There are a number of
             terminals supported. The most significant are:

          -  MS-DOS suppport in the TCP allows users to directly connect
             to VTX over DECnet connections. Transferring pages from VTX
             infobases to local MS-DOS files is supported.

          -  DECwindows support in the Terminal Control Program for use
             in a DECwindows environment allows the user to access func-
             tions through direct manipulation of a mouse in a windowed
             interface.

          o  Multi-port terminal control and link concentrator module
             (CON) controls multiple terminals and allows VAX VTX session
             multiplexing across a single DECnet link to a VTX server
             (SRV) to communicate across nodes of a network. A terminal
             running under the concentrator (CON) is permitted access only
             to the VTX service, not to VMS.









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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          LAT support in the Concentrator allows DIGITAL terminals and
          ALL-IN-1 device type terminals connected to terminal servers to
          be assigned to the concentrator.

          External Link Interface (ELK)

          Link Interface (ELK) is a shareable image of callable routines.
          The ELK routines provide the ability to create custom-written
          applications with a subset of the VAX VTX protocol capabili-
          ties to interact with a VAX VTX server and TCP. Applications
          interfacing with ELK may be written in any VMS supported lan-
          guage that complies with the VMS calling standard. Interfacing
          with ELK offers the full advantage of a wide range of VAX VTX
          functions. ELK requires a thorough understanding of software
          development techniques used by the applications programmer.

          VTX Application Service (VAS)

          The VTX Application Service (VAS) is a higher level facility
          that uses the ELK interface. The VAS component is a VMS run-
          time image used to present form, menu and display pages from
          the host VTX server's infobase as the user interface to one or
          more transactional applications defined by the customer. The VAS
          component may also dynamically create menu pages which are for-
          matted by the VTX Terminal Control Program. These transactional
          videotex applications may be defined entirely with VAS or may
          be distributed with VAS communicating to custom-written exter-
          nal applications. Application interfaces include DECnet, P.S.I.
          X.25, and DECnet/SNA VMS APPC/LU6.2 Programming Interface.

          Remote Update Server Link (RUSL)

          The Remote Update Server Link (RUSL) is a shareable image of
          callable routines that are linked into custom-written code to
          create tailored update applications. RUSL applications can per-
          form interactive VTX page and keyword extractions, updates,
          additions and deletions through the update server. RUSL applica-
          tions communicate with the update server via DECnet.

          Licensing Options

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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          With VAX VTX Version 4.1, there are two basic licensing schemes:

          1. VAX VTX - Availability licensing, allows for unlimited access
             to the system. This license is based on tiered, CPU-based and
             cluster-wide licensing.

          2. Activity-based licensing consists of two licenses.

             a. VAX VTX STARTER License enables activity based licensing
                on a system.

             b. VAX VTX STARTER Connects License allows four concurrent
                subscriber sessions on a server running on a system.

          Media and Documentation

          There is only one documentation kit necessary for the VAX VTX
          and VAX VTX STARTER Options. There is no documentation for the
          VAX VTX STARTER Connects License.

          There is one media kit necessary to support the new packages.

          HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

          VAX, MicroVAX, VAXstation or VAXserver configuration as speci-
          fied in the System Support Addendum (SSA 26.57.11-x).

          SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS*

          For Systems Using Terminals: (No DECwindows Interface):

          VMS Operating System

          For Workstations Running VWS:

          VMS Operating System VMS Workstation Software

          For Workstations Running DECwindows:

          VMS Operating System (and necessary components of VMS DECwin-
          dows)

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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          *  Refer to the System Support Addendum (SSA 26.57.11-x) for
             availability and required versions of prerequisite/optional
             software and for information regarding components of VMS
             DECwindows.

          ORDERING INFORMATION

          VAX VTX Server Option:

          Software Licenses: QL-031A*-**
          Software Media: QA-031A*-**
          Software Documentation: QA-031AA-GZ
          Software Product Services: QT-031A*-**

          VTX Starter - 16 Concurrent User License Server Option:

          Software Licenses: QL-031*9-PF
          Software Media: QA-031A*-**
          Software Documentation: QA-031AA-GZ
          Software Product Services: QT-031A*-**



















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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          VTX Starter Connects - 4 Concurrent User License

          Software Licenses: QL-YQS*9-PD

          *  Denotes variant fields. For additional information on avail-
             able licenses, services and media, refer to the appropriate
             price book.

          SOFTWARE LICENSING

          This software is furnished under the licensing provisions of
          Digital Equipment Corporation's Standard Terms and Conditions.

          For more information about Digital's Licensing terms and poli-
          cies, contact your local Digital office.

          LICENSE MANAGEMENT FACILITY SUPPORT

          This layered product supports the VMS License Management Facil-
          ity.

          License units for this product are allocated on a CPU or
          Cluster-wide basis, or on an Activity basis.

          For more information on the License Management Facility, refer
          to the VMS Operating System Software Product Description (SPD
          25.01.xx) or the License Management Facility manual of the VMS
          Operating System documentation set.

          For more information about Digital's licensing terms and poli-
          cies, contact your local Digital office.

          SOFTWARE PRODUCT SERVICES

          A variety of service options are available. For more information
          on these or other services, please contact your local Digital
          office.

          SOFTWARE WARRANTY

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          VAX VTX, Version 4.1                                SPD 26.57.11



          Warranty for this software product is provided by Digital with
          the purchase of a license for the product as defined in the
          Software Warranty Addendum of this SPD.

          [R]   The DIGITAL Logo is a registered trademark of Digital
                Equipment Corporation.



          [TM]  VAX, VMS, MicroVAX, VAXstation, VAXserver and DECwindows
                are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.




























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