CONVEX Computer Corporation

Almost immediately after graduating from college in May of 1990, I packed up and moved to Dallas, TX, to work for CONVEX Computer Corporation as a System Specialist. This title meant that I was supposed to have a general knowledge of the supercomputers' software product line. I was there for just over three years, doing telephone and on-site support (some of my favorite calls are available on-line), writing documentation for internal and external customers, and writing and teaching courses. I was having a great time — until the layoffs, anyhow. (Once laid off, I was eligible to join the ex-convex mailing list. More information is on their web site.)

After being laid off (when the company released about 16% of its work force), I spent three months as a contractor—under contract to CONVEX, actually, in their new CXSOFT group—until the next job appeared.

CONVEX and CSXOFT introduced me to the joys of publication, both paper (books) and online (web). The books I wrote while at CONVEX include:

• COBRA System—In two editions, detailed information on how to use the CONVEX Comprehensive Online Bug Report & Administration (COBRA) System, for the Technical Assistance Center and Engineering organizations. COBRA included all customer-related information, such as incoming calls and e-mailed problem reports, bugs and enhancement requests, field engineers' contact and pager information, hardware serial numbers for inventory control, and so on. (700-044930-000 and -001)
  
  
• CONVEX Computer Systems Operations Guide—An internal book that documented how the operations process worked, including Engineering (who maintained the master user and hosts databases), Support, Marketing, and other departments. Written for the novice to expert system administrators (depending on tasks), it clearly showed how the various pieces of the operations puzzle fit together. (700-047630-000)
  
  
• ConvexMliB Errata Sheet—When ConvexMliB was released for the Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC chip set through CXSOFT, the manual was not republished. (Reprinting several hundred pages of Users' Guides is a non-trivial cost.) The Errata Sheet was intended to document the differences in ConvexMliB for the PA-RISC users from the book, which documented the C-Series architecture. (770-003730-004)
  
  
• CXSOFT—A software marketing brochure for the first promotional CD-ROM-based software distribution. My work included designing the page layout; the style rules for headings and text, including point size and font face; and working with the Graphics team in Documentation Services to choose an appropriately-colored, -watermarked, and weight of paper stock. (770-001505-008)
  
  
• How to Run a Field Test—Based originally on a coworker's document, this book discussed how a field test of CONVEX software should be coordinated, with specific action items for various types of software. (700-047530-000)
  
  
• Meta Series Pre-Installation Checklist—When CONVEX released the first Meta Series rack-mounted cluster systems to the field, we included this checklist for the Field Engineers so they knew how to install the machine. This included site preparation as well as post-installation configuration of the cluster. (no part number)
  
  
• PRTSMail User's Guide—In up to five editions (the first four were only used inside the company), it documented the user interface to the Problem Report Tracking System (PRTS), which later became part of COBRA. It informed the user how to format a message for e-mailing to CONVEX that would run a query against the database and return all matching entries. The book also described what the result e-mail would look like and what the fields meant. This book first shipped to customers with ConvexOS V11.0. (DSW-600; 700-044030-000 through -004)
  
  
• TAC Operations Guide—Like the Computer Systems Operations Guide, the three editions of this book provided the TAC C-Series administrator with detailed instructions and step-by-step procedures in performing tasks to maintain the systems in compliance with corporate policies. (700-047730-000 through -002)
  
  
• Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Tape System Cheat Sheet and Support Document—In three editions, document which utilities (ansitar, cpio, dump, pax, restore, & tar) work with what types of tape (9-track, 3480 square tape, 4mm digital audio tape (DAT), & 8mm EXABYTE tape), whether in single- or multiple-volume tape sets, and using ANSI labeling, IBM labeling, or no labeling (unlabeled), as well as the various command line arguments for the utilities so users could do what they wanted. The book was intended for internal use only, but we wound up mailing it to customers with many tape issues, as well as providing copies to any customer taking the System Administration course through our Education Center. Documentation Services used this book to revise the customer tape documentation set. (700-025330-000 through -002)
  
  
• TAC Utilities User's Guide—In three editions, this book documented the various internal-to-the-TAC utilities we used to support customers. It was intended as a learning aid for new employees and a reference manual for those support personnel who only occasionally worked War Room (front-line support) shifts. (700-045030-000 through -002)
  
  
• Using mlibu to License ConvexMliB Quick Reference—This tri-fold reference card provided information on using the mlibu utility to license a copy of ConvexMliB on a PA-RISC system. (DSW-857; 770-003730-003)
  
  
• Various Read Me Firsts, Release Notices and Installation Procedures—I wrote or edited many Read Me First, Release Notice and Installation Procedures documents, or RMFs and RNIPs, while working for CXSOFT. These included:
  • CONVEX Cluster Tools for PA-RISC V1.2 Installation Notice (770-005230-001)
  • ConvexMliB for PA-RISC V1.2 Installation Notice (770-003730-002)
  • ConvexNQS+ for PA-RISC V1.2 Installation Notice (770-004030-002)
  • ConvexPVM for PA-RISC Installation Notice (770-005130-000)
  • Flexible License Manager Installation Notice (770-006630-000)
  • Licensing ConvexMliB (770-003730-003)
  • LSF for CONVEX C Series V1.1 Read Me First (770-004830-002)
  • LSF for Meta Series V1.1 Installation Notice (770-004830-001)
  • LSF for Other Systems V1.1 Read Me First (770-005930-000)
  • LSF for PA-RISC V1.1 Read Me First (770-004930-001)
  • Revising the CXSOFT Licensing Agreement (770-006530-000)

In addition to these books or other works, I wrote or co-wrote the following courses:

• Managing a CONVEX System in 1992—A quick course on the new features in ConvexOS V10.0, presented to the UK CONVEX Users Group in January 1992.
  
  
• Meta Series Overview—An overview for Field Support personnel as well as select customers on the CONVEX Meta Series rack-mounted cluster of computers.
  
  
• Operator's Training Course—A special amalgam of the Beginning ConvexOS, Advanced ConvexOS, and Systems Administration courses from the CONVEX Education Center, specifically geared to the tape operators at a specific customer site. Written from the ground up in 2 days, including screen shots and site-specific variables and procedures.
  
  
• Problem Report Tracking System (PRTS) Overview—A course on the PRTS database (what later became COBRA) for new support personnel. This course included details on why certain procedures were followed and why certain fields were important.
  
  
• PRTSMail Overview—A quick workshop on PRTSMail, geared to the end-user or customer, presented at the 1993 CONVEX Worldwide Users Group.
  
  
• Tips and Techniques for the CONVEX System Administrator—A quick course on the new features in ConvexOS V10.0, presented to the CONVEX Worldwide Users Group in May 1992.

Some of the other documentation-related projects I completed at CXSOFT were:

• CD-ROM Bill of Materials (structure) (770-005022-001)
• Convex Scientific Libraries Survey (770-006730-000)
• ConvexMliB Price Sheet (no part number)
• ConvexNQS+ Price Sheet (no part number)
• ConvexPVM Price Sheet (no part number)
• CXSOFT Activation Key Request Form (770-000088-000)
• CXSOFT Activation Key Request Form Instructions (770-006330-000)
• CXSOFT booth design for the 1994 CONVEX Worldwide User Group Conference (no part number)
• CXSOFT Licensing Labels:
  • CONVEX Cluster Tools license to use (770-001705-000)
  • CONVEX Cluster Tools evaluation license (770-001705-001)
  • ConvexMliB license to use (770-001805-000)
  • ConvexMliB evaluation license (770-001805-001)
  • ConvexNQS+ license to use (770-001905-000)
  • ConvexNQS+ evaluation license (770-001905-001)
  • ConvexPVM license to use (770-002005-000)
  • ConvexPVM evaluation license (770-002005-001)
  • CXSOFT Contact license to use (770-002105-000)
• CXSOFT Marketing Number Scheme (770-006430-000)
• CXSOFT Order Contents Pick List (770-000188-000)
• CXSOFT Order Handling Process (no part number)
• CXSOFT Product Structures (no part number)
• CXSOFT Routing Slips (no part number)
• Documentation Process Checklist (no part number)
• Documentation Catalog format for CXSOFT books (770-002030-004)
• Software Development Process Checklist (no part number)

CONVEX Computer Corporation was purchased by Hewlett-Packard Company in December of 1995 in a stock-for-stock transaction. It became the Convex Technological Division (Ctd) of Hewlett-Packard, and was eventually consolidated into HP's general operations. Ctd ceased to exist in October of 1997. In January 1998, several departments were relocated from Texas to California.

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