Date   : Sun, 30 Jun 1985 23:43:37-MDT
From   : Rick Conn <RCONN@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: VMENU37

Re the recent upload to VMENU, two items:

       1. The message said that VMENU is now a "true shell"; VMENU has
always been a ZCPR3 shell since the Z3 release a year ago.  An improved
technique, which decreases the shell installation time by about 50%,
is now being employed in shell designs under Z3.  This technique
has the shell look into the CL buffer to see if anything follows, and,
if not, the shell proceeds to execute.  The original design did
not do this, simply returning to the OS and letting Z3 load and invoke
the shell as a shell almost immediately.  This caused a second,
unnecessary load when the shell was first installed.  See Chapter
6 (on shells) and Chapter 5 (on menu subsystems) in ZCPR3:
The Manual for a lot more detail.  Also see the shell manipulation
routines in Z3LIB.

       2. I have not yet been informed by Echelon that VMENU 3.7 has
been approved.  As such, I recommed that users approach with care.
One of the biggest differences between the version
control of Z2 and Z3 is that Echelon plays the role of configuration
manager on all Z3 software releases.  Users are encouraged to change the
software if they like, but releases are to be done thru Echelon.  There
is a file checkout mechanism, which insures that people aren't wasting
effort by working on the same file at the same time, and Echelon runs tests
on the released files before it approves the release.  While this does not
guarantee that no bugs creep in, it helps a lot.  I'm no exception
to this rule -- I currently have SYSLIB, Z3LIB, and VLIB checked out,
and Echelon will test the software after I check it back in.

               Rick

PS If the situation with VMENU has gotten out of hand, it is quite possible
that the uploaded VMENU 3.7 is not the same as that which
will be released.  Al Dunsmuir currently has VMENU checked out.