Learning MPE/iX

1. On-line HELP (contributed by Wirt Atmar)
   HP3000 on-line help is surprisingly good. In fact, you may not need anything else. Sign on to any account that you can and then type:

      :HELP 

   and then type:

      >HELPSTUDY 

   and when finished with that, type:

      >CLASS 

   to review the HP3000's command, grouped by class.



2. On-line POSIX training
   There is an on-line tutorial covering the Hierarchical File System (and some related POSIX topics:

      :XEQ POSIXCBT.LSN.SYS 



3. POSIX Help
   When in the POSIX shell, you can type

      $man posixcmd 

   (of course, replace "posixcmd" with the name of the command you want help on) to get help on POSIX commands. You may need to set the MANPATH environment variable to something like

      $export MANPATH="/usr/man:/usr/contrib/man:/usr/local/man" 

   From the MPE CI (the ":" prompt), you should be able to get help via

      :setvar TERM="hp2392a" 

      :man posixcmd          

   (If "HPBIN.SYS" isn't in your path, try ":man.hpbin.sys posixcmd").
   There is also a "HELP.HPBIN.SYS" command, which you can use by typing something like

      :xeq help.hpbin.sys posixcmd 

   (It looks in /usr/man/man1/command.1, then in /etc/helpfile, and finally in $HELP/helpfile.)



4. Manuals
   The MPE reference manuals are available on CD, and via the web.
   If you want to use the CD's, make sure you have both the MPE/ix 5.5 and the MPE/iX 6.0 (or 6.5) CD's. Not all manuals have been converted to the new format yet, so you may need to search both.
   On the web, point you browser at www.docs.hp.com
   Just like the CD's, make sure to check both the 5.5 and 6.0/6.5 manuals.
   There are a bunch of "Getting Started" manuals on the CD's, including
   • Getting Started as an MPE/iX Programmer
   • Getting Startd with HP IMAGE/SQL
   • Performing System Management Tasks
   • Performing System Operations Tasks
   • Using the 900 Series HP 3000: Fundamental Skills (8 modules)
   • Using the 900 Series HP 3000: Advanced Skills (8 modules)



5. The SMUG Book
   An excellent collection of papers on many topics is the "SMUG Book", from Robelle Solutions Technology, at www.robelle.com/library/smugbook



6. HP Training
   Visit the HP IT Resource Center to find out about on-line seminars, self-paced web-based training, and classroom courses.



7. On-line "libraries"
   There are a lot of sites with collections of excellent papers and tutorials on various HP 3000 topics. Here is a list:
   • The Adager Corporation (Papers, esp. on IMAGE)
   • Allegro Consultants, Inc. (Papers)
   • HP Jazz (Papers and Tutorials)
   • Robelle Solutions Technology (Papers and Tutorials)
   • 3k Associates (Publications)
   • HP3000-L FAQ List
   • The Image FAQ List



8. Email lists
   • HP3000-L (echoed to the newsgroup comp.sys.hp.mpe)

     
     To subscribe, send a message to LISTSERV@RAVEN.UTC.EDU with a body of
     

        subscribe hp3000-l Your Full Name 

     To post, write to: HP3000-L@RAVEN.UTC.EDU

     
     Web-based access to HP3000-L is available in the following locations:

     • Searchable archives at RAVEN.UTC.EDU
     • Google Access to HP3000-L



9. Books
   • Beyond RISC!
   • The IMAGE Handbook
   • The IMAGE Textbook
   • The Legacy Continues
     by Mike Yawn, George Stachnik, Perry Sellars
   • Thoughts and Discourses on HP 3000 Software (4 editions)
     by Eugene Volokh
   • Taming the HP 3000
     by Robert A. Lund