Unibase Now Provides Support for Cloud Based IBM Mainframe Oversigned Characters
For many years Unibase by DMAC has been used in virtual server configurations. First it was Citrix based, then the WebBase by DMAC allowed Microsoft remote users. Now Unibase is being used with IBM Mainframes in the cloud.
So what? Sounds like a simple change. But it is not. When the IBM Mainframes in the cloud were created they too had to allow for the legacy issues – just like Unibase by DMAC does.
One of the changes a DMAC client found was that the storage configuration had changed. Instead of the {J-R representing negative zero through nine, on the cloud the IBM Mainframes use p-y to represent negative zero through nine.
So now Unibase by DMAC has an environment variable, OV0=p, which says make the negative numbers p-y for cloud mainframes.
Cloud Computing With Unibase By DMAC Stays Up To Date
Many DMAC clients are now using Unibase by DMAC in the cloud computing environment. Sometimes the Unibase by DMAC data is on a server is in the cloud. Sometimes the keyer client is in the cloud on the same server or a different server. Sometimes the keyer client is using a workstation to access the cloud or a virtual computer or another cloud computer to access the Unibase by DMAC data.
All of the changes required by the operating systems and remote workstations, virtual workstations and Citrix workstations have been addressed in Unibase by DMAC. DMAC users tell us if we do not run in a particular environment and DMAC attempts to add a case for the user’s condition.
Perhaps the biggest question users have is when is a WebBase by DMAC license required. No easy answer for this. Basically, WebBase by DMAC has to keep track of multiple users located on the same “real” or “virtual” or “cloud” computer. So if you ever see the license count exceeded error message, perhaps it is because multiple users are located on the same “real” or “virtual” or “cloud” computer.
Color Tiffs Using Compression Code 6 Now Can Be Used in Unibase By DMAC 8.7
A lot of document scanners last a long time. Now that many people wish to scan in color, they use an older scanner and color tiffs. Great! But what if the scanner used the really old compression Level 6 which was replaced in 1995 with compression level 7?
In 1995 the Tiff Technical Note #2 said this about Code 6:
“This Technical Note describes serious problems that have been found in TIFF 6.0’s design for embedding JPEG-compressed data in TIFF (Section 22 of the TIFF 6.0 spec of 3 June 1992). A replacement TIFF/JPEG specification is given. Some corrections to Section 21 are also given.
To permit TIFF implementations to continue to read existing files, the 6.0 JPEG fields and tag values will remain reserved indefinitely. However, TIFF writers are strongly discouraged from using the 6.0 JPEG design.”
So, DMAC went looking for someone on the web who had the old HP scanners and other old scanners which used code 6 compression and had updated the open source LIBTIFF code to read what these old scanners produced.
After a half dozen or so tries of various renditions of LIBTIFF, DMAC found an open source copy of LIBTIFF called “LIBTIFF, Version 4.0.3 Copyright (c) 1988-1996 Sam Leffler Copyright (c) 1991-1996 Silicon Graphics, Inc.” which correctly decoded the code 6 tiffs.
Then DMAC had to go through the differences between its LIBTIFF and the version 4.0.4 LIBTIFF. The latest version of Unibase by DMAC 8.7.7 now contains the results. It allows Unibase by DMAC to correctly handle color tiffs produced by the HP Scanners. Let DMAC know if you have a code 6 tiff which does not work in the latest Unibase By DMAC
Computer Frequency Settings For Laptops Sometimes Provide Unusual Results
Recently DMAC had a client complain that Unibase ran well at work but very slowly at home on the laptop even though the laptop had a faster computer chip and was not using the battery.
Naturally this interested the developers at DMAC. Boiling down the results of several days of investigation is easy. In the plugged in mode the processor power management minimum processor state setting was 5%. Resetting this to 80% increased the speed of the laptop by tenfold.
Why? It appears that the cpu frequency algorithm does not ramp up very fast.
Finding and fixing the settings is different on various computers and operating system versions. In Windows 8.1 you bring up the Control Panel, then the Power Options, then the Edit Plan Settings, then Advanced. On the advanced setting menu, you go to Processor Power Management, Minimum Processor State and switch the setting to 80%.
For the Guru in you here are two links which will tell you more than you ever wished to know about cpu frequency and states: 1. The PMPolicy article is searchable under the name ProcPowerMgmtWin7.docx. 2. Here is a link to an article Power Policy Configuration and Deployment in Windows http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn642106%28v=vs.85%29.aspx Have a great day.