[Info-vax] SFF problem with VSI on Integrity?

[Richard Jordan]

On 8/7/24 6:59 AM, Craig A. Berry wrote:
> On 8/6/24 2:49 PM, Richard Jordan wrote:
>> I have contacted VSI but thought I'd ask here too.  If anyone can give 
>> this a try and let me know if they experience the problem I'd 
>> appreciate knowing.
>>
>> Integrity server, VMS V8.4-2L1, TCPIP V5.7 eco 5 with any later 
>> hotfixes as of June 2023 applied.
>>
>> V8.4-2L3 is coming but I can't install it to check for a while.
>>
>> We use the 'sendmail.com' freeware to send email with binary 
>> attachments (mostly PDFs) with customized SMTP headers.  On this VSI 
>> system we get a single error every time we run SFF from the command 
>> procedure.
>>
>> Exact same procedure on a V8.3 Alpha and an HP V8.4 Integrity run 
>> without error so we're tentatively calling it a VSI issue.
>>
>> Every run using symbol form via
>>
>>       sff :== $SYS$SYSTEM:TCPIP$SMTP_SFF.EXE
>>
>> (as defined within sendmail.com)
>>
>> generates the following error, but also still creates the email 
>> successfully:
>>
>>       %LIB-F-INVNBDS, invalid numeric byte data string
>>
>> Happens with any normal or priv'd account, regardless of the body text 
>> file, presence or absence of attachments, who the recipient is, 
>> presence or absence of a subject line.
>>
>> I don't have any other systems to test on (specifically no other VSI 
>> systems).
>>
>> Thanks for any info.
> 
> Do you get anything interesting from:
> 
> $ MCR TCPIP$SYSTEM:TCPIP$SMTP_SFF.EXE sys$input: -log sys$error: 
> -loglevel 1
> ...
> ^Z
> 
> ?

Yes and no.  Thanks for reminding that many of these utilities have 
those options!  I had forgotten; I rarely get to be in VMS anymore.

I ran it with one of the temp files sendmail.com created, and with the 
-log and -loglevel options, as well as with SYS$INPUT.

The one run with the sendmail temp file for input placed the 
%LIB-F-INVNBDS error as the first line in the error log, then a blank 
line, then SMTP configuration data, then the expected text from the 
input file appropriately escaped (munged).

The run with SYS$INPUT did the same.  If I just hit return, SFF exits 
with an error and the error log shows the %LIB-F-INVNBDS error at the 
top.  If I enter a valid SMTP command (MAIL FROM:) then ctrl-z errorlog 
shows the same; the LIB error, followed by a blank line, the contents of 
the SMTP config file, my one line and an end of input file notice.  And 
same if I hit ctrl-z immediately after running SFF, I get the LIB error, 
a blank line, then the SMTP config dump.

So the error is occurring 'early' and the cause is not logged.  Feels 
like a bug in the program.  Despite the fact that its listed as a 
'fatal' error, the exit status from SFF on all of these tests was the same:
%0x00000001