Disk Accounts; Passwords; Organizing The Disk; Adding New Accounts - Alpha Microsystems AM-6000 Owner's Manual

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Because both backup and diagnostic procedures usually must be done when only one job is accessing
the disks, it is wise to run them when other users are off the computer (for example, at night or on
weekends). By using the Task Manager, or the SLEEPR command within a command file, you can run
backups and tests in the middle of the night when they won't interfere with other users. See the Task
Manager User's Manual for details on how to do this.

DISK ACCOUNTS

Theoretically, you could store your files on the disk without any type of organization. A list of all the
files—the system software, your special application programs, memos, everything—might be several
pages long and would be a nightmare to decipher.
As discussed in Chapter 3, a better technique to organize your files is to create "accounts" in which to
store as many files as you want. An account is just an arbitrary designation for a group of files. Your
system software is already organized into various accounts, and you can add as many or as few
additional ones as you need. The following paragraphs describe how to add accounts to your computer.

Passwords

You can assign a password to any account, if you wish. If the same account exists on multiple disks,
each disk can have its own separate password for the account. The password acts as a mild security
measure to prevent a casual user from accidentally logging into the wrong account. Passwords do not
prevent files from being copied into or out of an account, and can be easily changed or erased using the
SYSACT command described below.

Organizing the Disk

Because there is the danger of logging into the wrong account if you have accounts with the same
account numbers on different disks, you may want to establish a numbering scheme to prevent
duplicates. You may want to reserve accounts [1,*] through [77,*] for DSK0:, accounts [101,*] through
[200,*] for DSK1:, and so on.
If you find assigning and remembering account numbers cumbersome, you can substitute a
predefined "ersatz" name for the account number. One of the files in your system software is
called ERSATZ.INI. It's located on DSK0: in account [1,4], and contains several predefined
ersatz names, but you can add more of your own, if you wish. For example, one of the
predefined ersatz account names is OPR: for DSK0:[1,2]. So, whenever you need to log in the
account DSK0:[1,2], you can type LOG OPR:
contains more information on ersatz names and how you can use them.

Adding New Accounts

There is no specific number of accounts you must have; you can add as many as you wish, as long as
there is room on the disk. When your computer is brand new, the only accounts are the ones the system
software is stored in. You'll want to add more accounts from time to time as your business grows. To do
so, use the SYSACT command, following these steps:
instead. The AMOS User's Guide
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AM-6000 Computer Owner's Manual, Rev. 00
Chapter Five