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ND 10771 Coloured Books Job and File Transfer (JFT)¶

INTRODUCTION¶

ND Coloured Books Job and File Transfer, JFT, is ND's implementation of the Coloured Books standards:

Network Independent File Transfer Protocol - NIFTP (commonly known as the Blue Book)
Job Transfer and Manipulation Protocol - JTMP (commonly known as the Red Book)

The NIFTP Standard¶

The basic facility of NIFTP is file transfer between computers of different makes. However, it offers some additional facilities. For example, if a transfer is aborted due to a (network) malfunction, a time dependent restart facility is included. The amount of time you want the server to keep trying to restart the transfer is configurable.

Another facility is the code conversion function, making it possible for a system using the ASCII code to transfer a file to a system using EBCDIC, or vice versa.

The JTMP Standard¶

The main facility of JTMP is to append a batch job to the batch system of a remote computer and send the output to another system. This service is also independent of computer make.

The protocol is designed to guarantee that the job and the resulting output is forwarded even if the network crashes or one or more of the systems involved fails. The operation is restarted from the point at which it fails.

Added facilities are, first of all, demand spawning (automatic). This means for example, that the output document(s) of the job will be sent back to your local system or distributed to a series of systems.

The JTMP uses the NIFTP for the transfer of documents (files). Another important facility of this protocol, as with the NIFTP, is that if the target system (job mill system) is unavailable, your 'job descriptor' is stored locally or at an intermediate node until the target system becomes available.

When the batch job is sent via intermediate nodes, it is possible to automatically pick up additional information accessible from the node. This must be specified in the job descriptor, which is always scanned by the JFT system at the intermediate node.

FEATURES¶

Enables both file transfer and job transfer, independent of computer make.
Automatic or semi-automatic initialization and configuration of the ND JFT system in its startup phase.
In a COSMOS network, WAN or LAN, the possibility to distribute parts of the JFT system and related/prerequisite software systems.
In a COSMOS network with transparent file access allowed, one JFT server can be accessed by users of any ND system in the network as though they are local. This means that, provided the traffic is not too high, your organization will need only one JFT system.
Code conversion facility (file storage).
In Job Transfer, the possibility to distribute the output document to any known system.

[ASCII art: ND logo and layout with Norsk Data]

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Product Description¶

ND has implemented the NIFTP and the JTMP standards in one product, The ND Coloured Books Job and File Transfer.

The main part of the JFT system is the JFT server. This is an ND-500 program which runs on a TAD. In addition to the server, a series of other programs are used.

The following illustration sketches the protocol relationships between the ND Coloured Books Job and File Transfer product and prerequisite and related software systems. Note that the related products/software systems, together with parts of the JFT system, may be distributed to different systems in a COSMOS LAN or WAN.

  +--------------------------------------------------+
  |       Job Transfer and Manipulation               |
  |--------------------------------------------------|
  |               File Transfer                       |
  |--------------------------------------------------|
  | Application Level Functions                       |
  | offered by                                        |
  | the ND Coloured Books                             |
  | Products                                          |
  |--------------------------------------------------|
  | Yellow Book          | COSMOS TLIB                |
  | Transport Service    | Transport Service          |
  |----------------------|----------------------------|
  | X.25 Packet Level    | XMSG Network               |
  |                      | Service                    |
  |----------------------|----------------------------|
  | X.25 Link Level      | XLAP                        |
  | (LAP B)              | (mini LAP B)               |
  |----------------------|----------------------------|
  | ND HDLC Interface    | ND HDLC or Megalink IFC    |
  | Card                 |                            |
  |--------------------------------------------------|
  |      Public Data Network     |                      |
  |------------------------------|----------------------|
  | COSMOS Local Area Network    | COSMOS Ethernet LAN  |
  +----------------------------------------------------+

Requirements¶

ND-500 computer system
Minimum of 1 MB memory for the ND-500 CPU
SINTRAN III version J or later generated for XMSG
XMSG version I or later
Access to X.25 software (COSMOS X.25 Option version B), locally or via an XMSG/COSMOS network

Documentation¶

Coloured Books User Guide......................ND-60.220
Coloured Books Operator Guide..................ND-30.047