
	Remote file access for DECUS "C" 


DECnet provides remote file access routines for FORTRAN, BASIC and 
COBOL, but not for DECUS "C". The routines in this area provide 
block mode access to files on a remote DECnet node running a special 
Remote File Access (RFA) object.

The calls provided by the RFA package are similar to standard "C" 
file calls. The system is fairly efficient, though all I/O is 
synchronous. The maximum transfer size if limited to 15 blocks by 
the 8K limit of a DECnet transfer.

RFAOBJ should be installed as a multicopy object with a name of 
RFA$$$ and number of 128. Note that RFAOBJ is built with PR:0 to 
allow bypassing file access. Obviously, this can cause serious 
security problems.

FOPNXN.C and RMTFIO.C provide the functions required. The
CN library in [333,100] already contains these routines.

A sample program that uses the RFA package is NFTUPD. This task 
allows updating a file in place, a function not provided by regular 
NFT. It is also 5 to 10 times faster than NFT for large copies.
The current version still has some embedded debugging messages and 
may require other cleaning up.

RFADOC.RNO contains more information. Note that this .RNO file will 
need work before it will run properly through RNO.

Questions, complaints, praise (I rather like the last) can be 
addressed to:

	Hans J. Jung
	Assistant Manager of Research and Development
	The Associated Press
	50 Rockerfeller Plaza
	New York, NY 10020
	(212) 621-1568

I will take calls, but am notoriously hard to reach by phone. I also 
can't guarantee you much phone time.
