Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!killer!vector!rpp386!pigs!haugj From: haugj@pigs.UUCP (Joe Bob Willie) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Interactive Background Processes Summary: BSD on Webber's brain. Message-ID: <237@pigs.UUCP> Date: 5 Jul 88 19:49:36 GMT References: <16365@brl-adm.ARPA>Reply-To: haugj@pigs.UUCP (Joe Bob Willie) Organization: Big "D" Oil and Gas Lines: 36 In article webber@porthos.rutgers.edu (Bob Webber) writes: >In article <16365@brl-adm.ARPA>, kvancamp@ardec.arpa (Ken Van Camp) writes: >> >> When running large, computationally-intensive programs (such as >> finite element codes, ray tracers, and other simulations), it is usually >> desirable to run the program in the background so the user is free to >> perform other tasks, logout, etc. Unfortunately, under Unix, selecting >> background processing precludes interactivity in the software. > >I have no problem backgrounding a process, getting a message saying that >it has stopped waiting for terminal input and foregrounding it to talk >to it. On the Suns, gcore will get you a core dump of a running process >allowing you to interogate it using your favourite debugger. So your problem >should go away now that bsd and svid are merging. arggggg. under certain version of at&t unix it is possible to do something like job control using the shell layer manager. this would let ken run a ray tracer or whatever in the foreground and switch layers to do another task. unfortunately, not all of the modern unix implementations have sxt's and the shell layer manager. for example, the plexus doesn't have any of those things. the wyse, running xenix, does, but only has one control sxt so only one instance of shl can be running. no usg's i'm aware of support gcore. not that it is hard to do, just pick up the u-page and write it and the data segment into a file. also, unless ken wants to spend the money to buy new gear and new software, the problem doesn't go away 8-(. - john. -- Joe Bob Willie Big "D" Oil and Gas UUCP: ...!killer!rpp386!jfh jfh@rpp386.uucp :DOMAIN **** Trivia question of the day: VYARZERZIMANIMORORSEZASSEZANSERAREORSES? **** "You are in a twisty little maze of UUCP connections, all alike" -- fortune