This page contains answers to a few of the more common questions we get asked.

Note: In these answers we will follow a few shorthand conventions for describing user-interface procedures. Key combinations will be presented like this: Ctrl+Alt+Delete, which means that you should press and hold down the Control key, the Alt key, and the Delete key at the same time. Menu selections will be presented like this: Clients:New, which means that you should choose the Clients menu, and then make the New selection.

What does a DOS error 4 mean?
What does a DOS error 2 mean?
I get a GPF under Windows...
Why don't user settings in Tripper take effect immediately?
How do I reboot a Novell file server?
How do I enter a new user in Novell and Tripper?
How do I find out who's logged in to Tripper?
How do I add text to my confirmation invoices?
I get "Concurrent User Limit Exceeded."  What do I do?

A DOS error 4 comes from your hardware-level settings.  Not enough file handles have been set for your PC to use, either on its own or when working with the file server.   A file handle allows Tripper to open one file.  At various times Tripper may need up to 90 files at one time.  So the following settings should be confirmed:

The config.sys file on your PC's c:\ drive should contain the line "Files=90"
The autoexec.bat file on your PC's c:\ drive should contain the line "SET CLIPPER=F95" (the extra 5 file handles are used by your .exe file when being run)
The net.cfg file on your c:\nwclient directory should contain the line "File Handles = 95"

For Windows XP the settings should be as follows although you should be aware that XP will not allow printing from DOS so you will not be able to print from Tripper on an XP machine

The config.nt file in c:\windows\system32 should contain the line "Files=90"
The autoexec.nt file in c:\windws\system32 should contain the line "SET CLIPPER=F95"

These numbers can be increased proportionately up to a maximum of 127, to allow more than one window to be doing things.  After that, you may still get a DOS error 4 on the second or third window, but this is unlikely, since you would need to be in client display on each window.

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A DOS error 2 means a file cannot be found.  Once inside Tripper, if you get this message, contact Dataworld for a replacement file.  If you get this message when first entering Tripper, it usually means your user name has been setup without a corresponding valid retailer code.  The way it works is as follows:

Tripper takes your Novell name from the environment and passes it to the f:\apps\usr\users file
When it locates the name in this file, it takes the retailer code, such as "S1", "S2", etc and matches it with the corresponding settings in the f:\apps\usr\dir_tabl file
In this file are the settings and locations of client and support data files for that retailer, whether they are on your server, another server, another disk, another network and so on.  If those settings have been entered incorrectly, or if no such retailer code exists, or if the retailer code alongside your name has not been entered, Tripper will not be able to find your data.  A DOS error 2 results, so you must get your system manager to set you up properly

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The reason for this is always memory settings.  Because Tripper is a DOS product, you must tell how much memory it is likely to need when running Tripper in a simulated DOS environment. The accompanying image shows memory settings which have proved 100% successful, in combination with the following two lines  in your config.sys file:

device=c:\windows\himem.sys
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems  novcpi

The way to change your memory for a DOS program is to "wrong-click" on the icon.  So if your usual mouse button is on the left, click on the right button.

Then select the Memory tab, and check each setting on your screen against those shown in the image to the right.  Your EMS memory box may say "The computer is not configured for EMS memory", but it means the same thing.

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Tripper user settings and access levels are assigned for a Tripper session when the user first starts that session.  From then on they remain in memory.  In order to reload them from disk, the user must exit the session and then re-start their program.

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Novell 3.11 and 3.12:

When a power failure resets all machines, the server will be the last one to come back up again.  So the terminals will all be trying to login to a fileserver that does not yet exist.  In this case, just try logging the terminals on to the network manually, and all should be well.

Never switch a fileserver off without going through the "down" procedure if you can possibly help it.  Reboot a server using the on-off switch only if you have lost keyboard control altogether.

To reboot a server, first type down at the console prompt.  How to get the console prompt: sit at the fileserver console and press Ctrl+Esc, then choose System Console from the list of options.  It is important at this point not to allow other people in the office to pester you or ask you annoying questions like "can I log in yet?" which is only an adult version of "Are we there yet?".   You need to be able to concentrate on the job at hand.  The best thing to tell them is that if they don't leave you alone, they will never be able to login again.   Then give them some sweets and tell them to go away.

At the : prompt, type "down", if the server is not already down.  Wait for the machine to go down to the DOS prompt (a prompt with a C:\ in it) then type server.

The fileserver should then perform a series of checks to make sure that the information is all as it should be which may take a few moments.  When the server name prompt comes up (e.g. DATAWORLD2:) the system should be ready to run.

If you are using long filenames, as in Windows 95/98, you will need to load a handler for these. 

Type Load c:v_os2.NLM.

Then it is always a good idea to run the volume repair option.

What this does is try and make sense of any damage that may have been done when the server ran out of power suddenly, like a filing cabinet slammed shut with all the files still on everyone's desk.

Type Load vrepair or Load C:vrepair if that fails.

Choose option 1 to repair a volume.  It should show SYS which is always the main volume, and maybe others such as VOL1, etc.  Select the first one.  It will run through a series of checks on the file allocation table (FAT entries), and on finding an error will ask you to press some kind of acknowledgement key.  At the end, it will ask you to confirm "Y" to write the changes to the disk.

After checking all the volumes in turn, it should successfully mount the volumes, that is, enable them to be used by the network.

When the server is finally ready, terminals will be able to successfully log in and find all their files.  Should the error "drive not available" come up on a workstation terminal, this means that the drive volume on the server has not been mounted properly, so you should return to the fileserver and ensure that the volumes have been mounted successfully, as described above.

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To enter a new user in Novell, login as Supervisor and open an MSDOS prompt.   (Start: Programs: MSDOS).  From the DOS prompt, type SYSCON. 

If the system config menu does not appear, it is because the pathing on your terminal has not been setup correctly.  If so, then type f: to move to the fileserver drive, and cd \public to move to the directory in which the syscon program is stored. 

Amend your path settings as soon as possible.

Choose User Information, and press the INS key to add a new user.  Type in the user's name, making it as unique as is practical.  Confirm creation of new directory if asked.

Once the user is part of the list of users, press enter over their name and choose Change Password. 

Enter their password twice to confirm spelling.

This is all you need to do to enter the user to Novell.  You may wish to make them part of different exceptional groups, but refer to your Novell documentation for this.   The standard group "Everyone" will be enough to get them access into Tripper.

Once the user is known to Novell, enter Tripper Operations to let Tripper know how much access to provide to that user when they are inside Tripper.

Choose Supervisor: Users: User file.  Press INS to add a new user.  Confirm their retailer code, without which they will not be able to use Tripper, and then their staff number and user name. 

You can press F1 over their name to bring up a list of all persons known to Novell, and select their name by pressing Enter.  Press ESC when done.

Once they are known to Tripper, you can copy access levels from another user by highlighting the new user, pressing the TAB key and selecting the person in green from which you wish to copy access levels.  Done!

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Firstly, each terminal using Tripper automatically creates a file on the network \apps\tmp drive.  This file is of the type U_33.U where 33 is an example of the user's station number.   Each user is assigned a station number by Novell when they log in to the network, so Novell knows where to send their messages and how to contact them.

To make sure there are no unused .U files in the \apps\tmp directory, delete all files in the \apps\tmp directory.  Any files which are in use by users will cause this delete command to give either a "Sharing violation" or "File not found" message.  Be certain you are in the \apps\tmp directory when you delete files: this is the only directory where temporary files are kept.  If you are in any other directory, you may damage your system, possibly beyond repair.  If you do not know how to move between directories, check with your manager or system supervisor.

After the delete process, you know that any remaining .U files are being held onto by user terminals.  To find which users they are, simply type:

userlist then press Enter in Novell 3.x versions.

This will give you a list of station numbers and user names.

In Novell 4, type nlist user /A /B then press enter to achieve the same thing.

If a user switches their terminal off while using Tripper, without closing the program down or logging out, Novell will hang onto their files as if they are still using them, which in Novell's view, they still are.  Users should be discouraged from switching their terminals off without logging out or exiting their programs.

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To add 3 lines or less of information to every invoice: Operations: Supervisor: Inv Txt.  You can enter up to 13 lines, but if there are more than 3, the entire message will be printed on an information page which is printed after the invoice.  The information page is only printed if one or more of the following cases applies for that invoice:

1. A message of 4 or more lines has been entered for printing on invoices
2. A supplier on the booking has an information page attached to it for printing on invoices on which that supplier has products   
3. One or more flights on the invoice is a TOD

Style 5 invoices: to add 3 50-character lines of text at the top of either a non-atol part of a split-product atol receipt, or an ordinary non-atol invoice, use Utilities: Setup: Retailers: TAB and fill in lines non_atol1, 2 and 3.

Unlimited text applying to any one supplier: if that supplier is on a booking, the information will be printed out on a separate page as explained above.  Enter this information in Accounts: Database: Supplier: Edit: Info, or, when looking at a booking on which that supplier has a product, highlight the supplier name and press TAB to view/amend the information.

Enter accommodation information on a full page voucher format.  Turn the format to full voucher using Utilities: Setup: Custom: Acc. Voucher: and set to full page.  You can enter multiple lines of text for flight itinerary information and also for accommodation information.

TOD information: in Operations: Supervisor: TxSt: you can enter two lines of text against TOD ticket status.  If a booking has a TOD transport on it, this information is then printed out on the information page described above.

Header text on invoices: On style 5, each of the flight components, such as departure time, column headers, etc, has some attached text which can be set in Utilities: Setup: Retailers: TAB.  This can be customised per retailer, so that a retailer dealing in railway journeys or cruises can change this to relate more to the product, from the standard "Outbound Flight", "Inbound Flight", "Airline code", "Departure airport" etc.

Company address: Utilities: Setup: Retailers: TAB and change the prn_addr tag to Yes, completing the address details as required.

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Every Tripper site has a built-in user licence which allows a certain number of concurrent users to use Tripper. One user can have as many windows open on his terminal as his hardware allows: the limit is the number of different physical machines, or Novell connections, which can use the Tripper programs at the same time.  Each user's Tripper program creates a tag in the network \apps\tmp directory which the Tripper program holds onto while that user is using Tripper.

The tag is of the format: U_x.U

..where x is their Novell connection number.  So if Novell has assigned their computer connection number 4, their tag will be U_4.U which will be deleted when they leave Tripper.

To find how many users your system is licenced for, look at the top of your Tripper program screen: a bar runs across the screen below the menu options, and on the left of that bar is a number representing your user licence.

To find out how many users your system has right now using tripper, open a DOS box, and look in the \apps\tmp directory of your fileserver, typically, the F: drive. 

You would type f: followed by cd \apps\tmp  to get to that directory. 

To find how many licence tags are in that directory, type dir *.u which will produce a list of all the tags, showing their connection numbers.

You can see the user names associated with the connection numbers by typing (in Novell 3.x) userlist or in Novell 4, nlist user /a /b which will give a list of connection numbers and user names.

You can clear out the licence directory by typing del *.u which will remove any .u files not cleared automatically by people leaving Tripper.   Any files still held by Novell, either because they are still in Tripper, or, their connection to the network has been severed somehow (so Novell is still holding onto the files for them in the hopes their connection will be re-established), will not be deleted.  

Novell will give a variety of messages when it encounters files that cannot be deleted, ranging from "file not found" to "sharing violation" to no message at all.

To clear a user off the network, consult your system administrator and give him the connection number, asking that he use the fconsole program on any supervisor-logged-in terminal, or the monitor program on the fileserver to clear the connection.

To raise the number of concurrent users, contact Dataworld.

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