Entering the Network Device Utility Commands

The NDU commands consist of three parts: the command verb, the entity and a value. Figure 5-3 shows the command syntax.

Figure 5-3 Parts of a Network Device Utility Command

NDU > CLOSE DRIVE G

I

I

'--y-J '--y-J '-yJ

Verb Entity Value

LKG-4379-901

The NDU commands act on entities and their values. When using a NDU command, you must provide the command verb, the entity, and the entity value.

5.4.1 Command Verbs

You can abbreviate command verbs to a character string that is unique to that verb. For example, you can type eRE for CREATE. For clarity and consistency, all examples in this chapter show the full command format.

The NDU provides you with command verbs that allow you to access the remote files as virtual disk volumes. It also provides you with commands that allow you to direct text to a remote node to be queued for printing. Table 5-1 lists each NDU command and its function.

Table 5-1 Network Device Utility (NDU) Commands for Virtual Disks Command

CLOSE

CREATE

DELETE HELP OPEN

Function

Requests that an existing connection to a virtual hard disk be terminated. The CLOSE command also requests that NDU end an existing connection to a remote print file and queues the file for printing.

Instructs the NDU to create and open a new remote file and format it to be treated as a virtual hard disk or to create and open a remote printer.

Deletes a remote file that had been used as a virtual hard disk.

Displays a message explaining the use of the NDU command and the meaning of the command parameters.

Requests a connection to an existing remote file.

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Accessing Remote Printers and Disks 5-7

Table 5-1 (Cont.) Network Device Utility (NDU) Commands for Virtual Disks Command

SHOW

5.4.2 Entities

Function

Displays the activity and current state of all virtual hard disks and the virtual printer. A status report appears at the completion of other function requests.

Table 5-2 lists the entities that NDU commands act upon when controlling virtual disks or printers. When you specify more than one entity in a command line, use either a space or a tab to separate them.

Table 5-2 Network Device Utility Command Entities Entity

ACCESS access mode

ALLOCATION n

DRIVE drive

MAX xxx

Function

Uses the OPEN and CREATE commands to select the operating mode used to access the virtual hard disk. RW access indicates that the disk can be read from or written to, but it cannot be shared. RO access indicates that the disk can be shared but only for the purpose of reading.

Specifies the initial disk file size of the virtual disk file (in blocks) on the remote node. The value of n is a decimal number. This entity is valid only with the CREATE command.

Specifies a drive name to be treated as a hard disk. The name is one alphabetic character. The drive name must be one of the names listed by the SHOW STATUS command.

When you start the NDU, it displays the drives that are available by indicating they are CLOSED. You can then select G, for example, as the drive name to ^be used in the DOS commands and functions that address a drive.

Specifies the maximum size of the virtual disk in megabytes.

The value of xxx can be .360, .720, 1, 1.2, 1.44, 10, 20, 32, 64, 128,256, or 512. The default is 32 megabytes. However, DOS Version 4.0 supports virtual disk sizes greater than 32 megabytes. The DECnet maximum is 32 megabytes.

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Table 5-2 (Cont.) Network Device Utility Command Entities

Identifies the file name associated with a drive name. For example, NDISK MYDISK1.DSK associates the file name MYDISK1.DSK with the drive name that is addressed by a DOS command. The file name can be any valid remote file name. It can include device and directory fields, provided it is properly formatted for the remote node's system type. If you include information for the device and directory fields, the total number of characters you can use in the command line is 127.

Identifies the virtual disk. The node name is from 1 to 6 alphanumeric characters in length and must contain at least one alphabetic character.

You can also specify a node address for the remote node.

The node's address includes a unique area number and a node number, separated by a period:

area. node Where:

area is a number in the range of 1 to 63.

node can be in the range of 1 to 1023.

Specifies the name of the file that contains the text sent to the virtual printer before it queues for printing on the remote node. The file name can be any legal remote file name. It can include device and directory fields, provided it is properly formatted for the remote node's system type. If you include information for the device and directory fields, the total number of characters you can use in the command line is 127.

Specifies access control information for a specific remote node. This is the identification information that you enter during log-on at the hard disk's resident DECnet node.

Each item in the identification string must be between 1 to 39 alphanumeric characters.

The access control string has the following format:

USER user-name [/password [/account] ] Where:

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Accessing Remote Printers and Disks 5-9

Table 5-2 (Cont.) Network Device Utility Command Entities

Entity Function

user-name states the name of the user on the specified remote node. If you do not specifY USER, NCP uses the default access control information. You can set the default information by using the NCP DEFINE NODE command.

For more detailed information about NCP commands, refer to the PATHWORKS for DOS, DECnet Network Management Guide.

password specifies the password you need to access files or programs on the specified node.

account specifies a 1 to 39 alphanumeric character string that consists of account information.

You cannot supply account information unless you supply a specific password. If you supply a user name but you do not enter a password, the utility prompts you for the password.

To store the characters representing the access information in uppercase letters, type the characters. To store

characters exactly as typed, place the string in double quotation marks. Character strings that are not within quotation marks are forced to uppercase.

5.5 Using the HELP Command

If you need assistance in selecting the NDU commands, use the HELP command. Enter the HELP command, then press ^I Return L For example:

NDU>HELP I Return I

The HELP command displays information about the NDU commands and parameters The format of the HELP command is:

HELP topic Where topics include:

OPEN CLOSE DELETE CREATE SHOW EXIT HELP NODE USER

REDIRECTED

DRIVE NDISK NPRINT MAX ACCESS ALLOCATION For information about one of the subjects listed, enter HELP plus a subject.

Then press

I

NDU>HELP SHOW IRmurnl