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From: haral@unisol.UUCP (Haral Tsitsivas)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Accounting woes for HCX/UX 3.0
Summary: comp_t fields should really be float...
Keywords: accounting, UNIX, JobAcct
Message-ID: <301@unisol.UUCP>
Date: 9 Jan 89 10:04:13 GMT
References: <1356@mtunb.ATT.COM> <217@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu>
Reply-To: haral@unisol.UUCP (Haral Tsitsivas)
Organization: UniSolutions Associates, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 39

In article <217@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> fuhrman@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (Cris Fuhrman,G-40B ESB,293-2190,599-1202) writes:
>Is it possible then, that the report code is not using the correct
>data type?  Or is it that the actual accounting records are 
>overflowing.  What I'm trying to say is, can I get any useful info
>at all from accounting, or is it just a waste of cpu time?

I have seen that problem too, when using our JobAcct (project/job accounting,
resource chargeback system) that we market.  And I am sure that the correct
data types are used...  However, I have only seen this problem on an HCX
system and only for the kcore field.  Since many systems do not even keep
track of the kcore field (Sequent, ...), and kcore numbers tend to be rather
high (thus messing up otherwise careful charge equations) some installations
do not charge for kcore seconds.

>Ok... Like I said, I'm new to unix.  I just graduated with a bs in cs, and
>I had heard a lot of hype about unix from fellow computer scientists.  Is
>it likely that people developing the new versions will realize that
>50 MB sole disks are a thing of the past, and that machines are much
>faster and more capable to do things (accounting is an important thing)
>in a reasonable fashion?  I can see the hype losing it's flair.  It's
>1989.
>...
>
>| Cris Fuhrman             | manager@a.coe.wvu.wvnet.edu (129.71.12.1)  |
>| Comp Sys Manager         | un020312@wvnvms.bitnet                     |
>| G-40B Eng Science Bldg.  | "Just say NO to commercial file x-fers."   |
>| WVU Morgantown, WV       |              - Kermit the Frog             |

This was indeed done to preserve disk space, and you will find that some
vendors are not using comp_t fields anymore (ULTRIX 2.3 uses float fields).
I hope that more vendors get on that track since that eliminates the problems
you are experiencing.  It also makes our JobAcct software a little bit faster
since we don't have to convert the comp_t field to a float.

-- 
--Haral Tsitsivas
  UniSolutions Associates
  (213) 542-0068
  ...!uunet!ashtate!unisol!haral