If you would like to change your shell to the newer default use the chsh command.
Easy access to a database is obtained by using the DBaccess utility. You need not be on an X-windows display (but see warning below), so this is something that can be done while dialing in from home.
To invoke it, simply type dbaccess. Its use is slightly self-explanatory. You can choose a command by moving to it using a left or right arrow key and then hitting return or by typing the capital letter in the command name (usually the first letter). Moving up menu trees can be done by typing e(xit), ESC, or control-C, depending on the context.
DBaccess allows you to create your own database, create tables in that database, and populate your tables with values. There is some redundancy in that certain actions can be done several ways. For example, creating a table can be performed by the Create command under the Table menu in DBaccess, or it could be done by running the CREATE TABLE command in SQL.
Note: In running dbaccess, you will get an error message unless you are on the machine ix. There is a way, however, to connect directly from other CS machines. After starting dbaccess, choose the Connection option, and then Connect. In that menu, select the onlintli environment, which is essentially an alias to the same server but using a different connection protocol. (You will then be asked for a user name and password.)
SQL can be run under the Query-language command. A primitive editor is invoked. Commands can also be written in a file and then read in by DBaccess. SQL commands must end with semi-colons.
When you create your own databases, be sure to include your login name (or some obvious modification) in the database name. We will drop any databases we find which do not seem connected to the class. Also, you will be asked which dataspace your database should belong to. (For Informix, a dataspace is a collection of disk locations for table storage.) Do not create your database in the rootdbs dataspace. Put yours in the cis451dbs. Non-system oriented databases in rootdbs may be dropped.
Warning: DBaccess does not recognize certain terminal types, such as dtterm. To determine your type, execute echo $TERM. You can change it manually by setenv TERM vt100 or setenv TERM xterm.
The best way to monitor the system is via the onstat utility. The simplest version, onstat -, gives you a banner indicating its state: On-Line, Quiescent, Shutting Down, or Off-Line. The first is the only good state for you. If it's Quiescent, we've probably taken it down for maintanance. If Off-Line, we may not know it has gone down. The message log (onstat -m) may say whether it's crashed.
There are many onstat flags. Try onstat -- to see all possible flag options. Alone, onstat is equivalent to onstat -up. See the Quick Reference Guide for commonly used flags, or chapter 33 of the Administrator's Guide in the documentation for more details.
The utility onmonitor can also be used to monitor the system. It provides a simple DBAccess-style menu interface.
Monitoring can (so far) be done only while on ix.