Comparing SyncServer to Wanware NT, Wanware Linux and Netcom II

Parameter, Utilities and Library Differences

Most of the differences between SyncServer and Wanware/Netcom II came about due to the fact that SyncServer uses a web-based interface as a central configurator. The web interface replaces administration utilities used in Wanware/Netcom II like WanWizard and tsgconfig.

• X.25 parameters used in Wanware that are configurable in SyncServer
• Utilities that have changed in SyncServer
• X.25 API Library Differences

X.25 Parameters Not Configurable in SyncServer

Most of the X.25 parameters you are used to are still available in SyncServer. This is a list of the X.25 parameters used in Wanware/Netcom II that are not currently configurable by the SyncServer web interface.

Utilities That Have Changed In SyncServer

Some Wanware/Netcom II administration utilities still run in the SyncServer, but are not command line activated and controlled. Rather, they are started when the SyncServer is powered on and configured and restarted based on web-controlled selections. One example of this is x25daemon, the X.25 stack-building daemon.

Some user applications were automatically started on the Wanware/Netcom II machine when an X.25 call request was received. As the applications now run on a remote (client) machines, these applications have been replaced by ones which are started before the X.25 call is placed and which listen for the incoming call. For example, sink has been replaced with the listening ssink.

Not Available in SyncServer

Available in SyncServer

fce - Frame Relay is currently not offered in SyncServer fconfig - Frame Relay is currently not offerd in SyncServer froute - Frame Relay is currently not offerd in SyncServer sink - replaced with ssink tsgconfig - replaced web based link configuration tsgstat - replaced with web based statistics tsgtrace - replace with web based trace vcstat - replaced with web based X.25 statistics wanware/x25net - replace with Restart Software in the web interface x25config - replaced web based link configuration x25daemon - hidden; configured and restarted through the web interface xfft xinetconf - not applicable xpad - replaced by PAD Mapping xprint xroute- not applicable

gentalk - unchanged msink - new mtest - unchanged Trace - replaces tsgtrace packetnets - now managed through ssconfig pvcs - unchanged pvct - unchanged spong - unchanged ssconfig - new ssink - replaces sink ssupdate - new winssupdate - new (for Windows clients only)

X.25 API Library Differences

The X.25 API library has been updated to allow access to both local X.25 stacks (Wanware/Netcom II) and remote X.25 stacks (a SyncServer client using a SyncServer). There have been some resulting changes in the use of the API. Other API changes were due to the need to make the X.25 API thread-safe. In general, application source will be largely compatible with the new API library, but binaries will not.

The new X.25 API library is included in both SyncServer clients and recent releases of Wanware. Once the new API library is used by an application, it will be binary compatible with both Wanware/Netcom II and SyncServer client products.

The following are differences that the programmer should be aware of.

• x25errno is no longer a global variable exported by the library as global variables are not thread safe. For old applications, x25errno is now defined in libx25.h to call X25geterror(). For new applications, please use X25geterror() or preferrably X25geterrorct() when you have a CALLT handle available.
• When x25errno returned to an application the value X25SYSERR, the application could inspect the global variable errno to find the corresponding system error. Applications should now call X25getsyserror() or preferably X25getsyserrorct().
• x25errbuf is no longer a global variable exported by the library. For old applications, x25errbuf is defined in libx25.h to call X25geterrbuf(). For new applications, X25getdiags() or preferably X25getdiagsct() should be called to obtain diagnostic codes associated with any error condition which may have been raised.
• The previous library contained macros such as X25_FD() and X25_NETID(). It has always been a good idea to consider the corresponding values as read only. As these macros are now function calls, the read-only nature is now strictly enforced. The functions should never be used on the left hand side of an assignment expression.
• Old Wanware/Netcom II applications may have used X25_FD() to obtain the underlying file descriptor for the X.25 stack. For example, this may have been done to add the file descriptor to a list for poll() or select(). When using the new library API with SyncServer, two file descriptors are associated with the stack: X25_FDDATA() and X25_FDEXCEPT(). For application portabiliity, these functions may be called when the new API is used with Wanware/Netcom II as well; they will simply return the same file descriptor.
• New error codes have been added:

  X25TCPBADHOST	Invalid host name or IP address in packetnets.
  X25CANTCONNECT	Could not connect to the SyncServer.
  X25TCPCLOSED	The TCP connection to the SyncServer was closed unexpectedly.
  X25TIMEOUT	TCP communication with the SyncServer timed out.