July to August, 2000 No. 86

For previous issues, please check Computer News Index Page. 

Hotlines
Operations Schedule

 
General News
HKU Digital Certificates (HKU-Cert) to be issued in September
Electronic Service Delivery - New CC Ordering System
The FormFlow System - A paperless application form system
From the Help Desk ... Training Courses

 
Campus Network and Internet Service News
About Internet2
HARNET Link Upgraded in August
Networking and Video-conferencing Facilities in the Redeveloped Rayson Huang Theatre
WebCT Upgrade
Wireless LANs for Centrally Time-tabled Classrooms
Site Licensing Program on RichWin Software and Products

 
UNIX / Host Computer News
Progress of Phasing out of the HKURSC and HKUSGA systems
Hardware Upgrade on the HKUCC system
Upgrading the HKUSUC (Web server) and HKUSUD (Proxy server)
 

PC News
Major Upgrade in Our PC Laboratories

Staff News

Training News

 




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Hotlines, Dialup
 
 
 

General Enquiries	2859 2495
Fax	2559 7904
Computer Operations (Network and Operational problems)	2859 2496
Help Desk (Software and general problems)	2859 2480
Equipment Maintenance	2859 2774


 

HKU Computer Centre Dial-up Services
60-minute lines		30-minute lines
56Kbps PPP Lines (v.90 modem standard) (24-hour service and support modems of all speeds) Please click here to see how to configure the settings to use the lines.
408 lines for all users	29757000	144 lines for all users	29647000
		96 lines for all users	21057100
72lines for staff only	28595100	48 lines for staff only	29642300
48 lines for HKU Graduate Account users (no connection time limitation)	22497100

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Operations Schedule

Computer Room Opening Hours - 24 hours

 
Opening Hours for Microcomputer / Workstation Rooms
 

Location:	Opening hours:
Run Run Shaw Building  Room 101, and 103, Room 113 (ACEnet)	24 hours  Monday (00:00 a.m.) - Sunday (12:00 p.m.)
Run Run Shaw Building (Room 201)	Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Sunday - Closed
Run Run Shaw Building Room 210 (Workstation) Knowles Building (Room 218),  K.K. Leung Building Room LG-108 (ACEnet)	Monday - Friday  (9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.)  Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.)  Sunday - Closed
Old Library Building (Room 134)	Summer schedule: July 3 - Sep10, 2000 Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) Sunday – Closed Term schedule: from Sep 11, 2000 Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.) Sunday – Closed
Old Library Building (Room 135)	Monday – Friday (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) Saturday (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) Sunday – Closed

 
Holiday Schedule for Computer Laboratories from September to October, 2000

(Other than Rooms RR101, RR103 and RR113 (ACEnet) which are open in the periods specified in the above table, all other microcomputer/workstation/ACEnet laboratories will be closed on Sundays, University Holidays and Public Holidays)

HKU Digital Certificates (HKU-Cert) to be issued in September

The HKU CA is built on the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology.  Click here for a brief description of the basic mechanism of the PKI technology.

HKU staff and students can apply for a HKU-Cert from the Computer Centre General Office.  The applicant should bring along a signed copy of the HKU-Cert Subscriber Agreement and his HKU staff or student Smart Card.  The private key will be written directly on his HKU Smart Card and on a business-card-sized CD-R (read-only CD) which serves as an alternate copy of his HKU-Cert.  Access to the private key on the HKU Smart Card or CD-R will be protected by a password chosen by the subscriber.  A HKU-Cert subscriber must take good care of the private key issued to him.

Use of the HKU-Cert in HKU ESD Applications

The use of digital signatures will speed up the work flow from an end-user filling in a web-based form to the final completion of an ESD application.  This will eliminate the requirement of written signatures and the handling of paper forms, and increase the productivity of all parties involved.

HKU staff and students can use their private keys to sign in the HKU ESD applications, most of which also accept signing using the private key stored on a CD-R so that the user can sign at any PC with a CD reader, say, at the office, in the computer laboratories, in residential halls or from home.  Some applications, especially those requiring signatures by department heads, would require signing using the private key stored on a HKU Smart Card at designated PC's installed with a smart card reader.  This provides additional security.

The following ESD applications of the Centre's services will be ready for use when the HKU-Certs are issued in September 2000:

• Purchase of laser-printing units for printing in Computer Centre PC Laboratories by staff and students
• Purchase of computer hardware or software offered by the Computer Centre (for details of this, please refer to the article "A New CC Ordering System Using Digital Signatures" in this Computer News)
• Application for special computer accounts -- on-line application to replace paper application forms (for details of this, please refer to the article "The Formflow System - A paperless application form system" in this Computer News)

Departments interested in exploring the use of digital signature technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their management processes can contact the undersigned for more information.

Use of HKU-Cert in E-mail

HKU staff and students can also import their private keys and other people's digital certificates (e.g. HKU-Cert, HK Post e-Cert) to e-mail programs which support digital signature and encryption.

Netscape v4.7x supports electronic signatures and encryption.  We shall provide the procedure on how to set up Netscape v4.7x to use HKU-Cert when HKU-Certs are issued.

Outlook v5.x and Outlook Express v.5x also support electronic signatures and encryption, but the set-up is more clumsy. Other commonly used e-mail programs such as Eudora Light, Pegasus Mail, pine and HKU Webmail do not yet support electronic signatures and encryption.

Presentation Session and User Training

We shall organize presentation sessions on PKI and ESD applications with hands-on training on:

• how to sign in HKU ESD applications,
• how to install a private key and digital certificates in e-mail programs,
• how to sign, encrypt and decrypt e-mail messages.

If you would like to know more about the HKU CA and HKU-Cert, please contact the undersigned.

M. C. Pong
Tel: 2859 2491
E-mail: pmc@cc.hku.hk

Background The Computer Centre is offering a variety of goods and services to support the use of IT by staff and students of the University.  These include software site licenses and distribution media, computer consumables, training, network services and laser printing services etc.  Most departments order these goods/services through the Computer Centre for convenience and to enjoy the benefit of group rates offered to the Computer Centre for bulk purchases.  The Computer Centre is pleased to launch a new and effective electronic ordering system to further save time and effort for the departments in acquiring goods and services from us.  If you read our first article on "HKU Digital Certificates (HKU-Cert) to be issued in September" , you would learn about the electronic delivery of service (ESD) that the Computer Centre is launching in the University environment, with the newly introduced digital signature technology.  Our CC Ordering System is one of the pilot applications to make use of this state-of-the-art technology.  With the application of digital signatures, departments are no longer required to fill in the CC Order Forms in paper as the whole ordering process will be automated and completed on-line.  This should speed up the processing time and greatly facilitate and streamline the ordering operation.

The Paper CC Order Form

The New Online CC Ordering System

CC Ordering System - New Electronic Service Delivery The electronic CC Ordering System serves as an on-line computer store which allows the departments to place orders to the Computer Centre at any time and place.  Through the System, departments may simply select the required products/services through the product selection list on-line and then check out by providing the required fields of information.  Upon completion of the order, departments are requested to sign the proposed order form electronically with their HKU-Cert private key.  The system will then automatically forward the electronic order to the designated approving authority, i.e. Head or the Administering Authority of the Department, for approval on-line.

Signing an Order with Digital Signature

The FormFlow System - A paperless application form system
 

Background It is common for our university's departments to design and produce different kinds of application forms for various purposes. Applicants need to obtain the forms in person, by mail, via fax, or dowloading from the web and printing it out  etc. The same is true for returning the forms.  It is inconvenient, paper wasting and time consuming, and occasionally certain forms would be lost due to improper handling or other reasons. A FormFlow System has been developed by the Computer Centre to collect application forms via the web using the highly secure digital signature infrastructure supported by the  HKUCA service. The FormFlow System can convert an application form in HTML format to an on-line web-based data capturing system in a few simple steps. In addition, it can be programmed to fully automate the application process by interfacing with external systems.

The Paper Application Form

The New On-line Application Form on  the FormFlow System

On-line applications with digital signature With an on-line application form, an applicant can fill in the information, sign the form with his digital signature using his private key and then submit the signed application form in one operation. In the mean time, the departmental officials will be notified immediately by email of the new application received, so that they can process it right away. Along with the convenience of this on-line application system are the capabilities of the system for tracking the status of any submitted application, and to inform related people of the status by email appropriately.

Signing an Application with  a Digital Signature

Further automation of application processes Beside data capturing, the FormFlow System allows departments to specify data fields such as the applicant's name, staff/student number and department to be automatically determined by the system. Moreover, the FormFlow System has a built-in interface to external program modules to enable data validation at the time when the applicant fills in the form, and to enable the development of sophisticated programs to automate the entire application process.

Pilot applications To introduce this automated application submission system to HKU users, the Computer Centre will provide the following applications via the FormFlow System as a pilot project. More applications will be put on-line at later stages. Application for the UIS Account Application for Change of Computer Account Password Application for Additional Resources for TOS-I Staff Application for Creating a Course on WebCT These applications can be obtained by selecting 'FormFlow' after logging into the HKUESD system to be launched in September.

Conclusion Being supported by a secure digital signature architecture, the FormFlow System can enable many applications previously done on paper to be put on-line to save time and paper, to easily keep track of the status of each application, and to readily integrate with additional program modules for data validation and further automation. There is no need to present yourself in person or submit signed papers to verify your identity.  There is also no need for office staff to check the validity of the data submitted, or to scrutinise a signature.  All that will be done by the system.  To start with, we shall pilot the FormFlow System with Computer Centre's application forms. However, we hope to extend this service to other departments in order to move towards a paper-less environment while providing convenient and quality services at the same time.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact the undersigned. Fanny Chau Tel: 2964 5737 E-mail: hcxccyh@hku.hk

From the Help Desk ... Training Courses 

Computer Centre Orientation Series

Each year, the Computer Centre conducts a series of orientation presentations and other training courses during the orientation week for the benefit of new comers to HKU, to introduce them to the Computer Centre, the computer services and facilities which are available at HKU, and how they can use these services.

This year, there are two orientation presentations.  The first one is an overview of all the computer services and the second one is an introduction to the PC laboratories and how to connect to the HKU network from campus, from home, from the residence halls and anywhere where there is a network connection point.

User Training Courses

More user training courses will be offered by the Computer Centre after the orientation week and all through the academic year. All these courses are based on software which are available in our PC laboratories.

Most of these courses are free and are taught by Computer Centre staff.  The free courses include courses on HKU Network,  Using Electronic Signatures, the Unix System and Applications, Parallel Programming,  Web Browsing and Webpage Editing.

Courses on Microsoft Office and other topics (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Dreamweaver, Adobe, Flash etc...) are charged a course fee because these courses are given by a local course vendor.  However, the fee is much less than as if you were to attend such a course at a computer school or training centre in town.

Special Courses for Students - To accommodate for students whose normal course load is already full and cannot take computer courses during the term when they have to attend regular classes,  we scheduled some popular computer courses for students during the term break in January and after examinations in July and August.

Special Courses for Faculty - To cater for our teaching staff who intend to launch an electronic course, we scheduled courses on WebCT (a software for managing electronic courses on the web) in the months of May and December.

Course Announcements - Scheduled computer courses are regularly announced in the Training News of the Computer News. We also send email notices to all staff and students informing them of the scheduled courses coming up.

courses this year include "Using Electronic Signatures", Dreamweaver 3, Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Flash 4.0, and all Office 2000 software such as Word 2000, Excel 2000, PowerPoint 2000, Access 2000 and so on.  There is a course for everyone whether you are a staff or student, so browse the scheduled courses in the training news in this Computer News.

Course Registration - Although these are non-credit courses, you must register for a course before you can attend. The reason for the registration is that we provide a PC for each student.  We accept the registrants on a first-come-first-served basis depending on the number of available PC's in the student laboratories.

Register for a course in the Staff Intranet or Student Intranet.

You may find that sometimes a course you had registered in is cancelled one week before the course starts.  The reason for that is insufficient student registration. We need a group of at least 10-15 students in order to implement a class.

For courses requiring a fee, please send payment to the Computer Centre as soon as you have registered on the web, otherwise your registration is considered invalid and will be replaced by another applicant.   Payment can be made by cheque (payable to the University of Hong Kong), or through departmental requisition (for applicants supported by departments).   Successful applicants will be notified by e-mail or telephone at least one week before the commencement of the workshop. Once accepted, the fee is not refundable. However, substitution of participant is possible by written notification to the Centre.

If you find out you cannot attend a course after you've been accepted to the course, please let the Computer Centre (Tel.  2859-2491) know as soon as possible so another applicant on the waiting list can take your place.
 

Mabel Chau
Tel: 2859 8934
Email: chaumabc@hku.hk

I suppose everyone in the University knows about the Internet or Intranet.  But what is Internet2 ?

Internet2 is a collaborative effort of over 170 US Universities working in partnership with Industry and Government to develop advanced Internet technology and applications for high-end academic experimenting and research.  Colleges and universities are using Internet2 as the vehicle to explore areas of instruction, research, and public service, such as learningware (software designed for classroom and distance learning), digital libraries, tele-immersion, and virtual laboratories. The Internet2 project is funded under the National Science Foundation (NSF) and coordinated by the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID).

Internet2 is capable of three things: higher bandwidth; multicasting; and guaranteed delivery and performance.
Higher bandwidth will enable you to access more types of media-rich information, faster than you previously thought possible; multicasting will allow efficient delivery of the content simultaneously to many people; and, guaranteed delivery (also called Quality of Service or QoS) means that what used to be undeliverable or slow to deliver over the old Internet will be guaranteed to arrive at its destination on time and intact.  Internet 2 transfer rates are in the order of gigabits per second. Internet2 has also been extended to countries and places outside USA through dedicated high-speed network links for this purpose.

The University of Hong Kong, together with other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, have expressed interest in joining the Internet2.  In preparation for submission of the application to Internet2, the Computer Centre has written in last June to departments for a possible list of Internet2 projects in collaboration with other Internet2 member universities and a number of Internet2 projects have been received.  The JUCC (Joint University Computer Centre), under the directorship of Dr. N Ng, Director of Computer Centre of University of Hong Kong, is currently preparing a joint submission for connection to the Internet2 for the tertiary institutions in Kong Kong.

For further details on Internet2, interested readers may consult the following links:

Internet2 Overview:  http://www.internet2.edu/presentations/GIGPittsburgh/I2-UCAID-ovrvw/index.htm

Frequently Asked Questions about Internet2: http://www.internet2.edu/html/faqs.html

All about Internet2: http://www.builder.com/Servers/Internet2/
 

Kwan Wing Keung
Tel: 2857 8631
E-mail: kwk@cc.hku.hk

The HARNET Link Upgraded in August, 2000

The HARNET (Hong Kong Academic and Research Network) is managed and operated by the JUCC (Joint Universities Computer Centre) to provide information and communication resources to JUCC Members.

The Computer Centre has worked closely with the JUCC member institutions to perform a major upgrade of the HARNET and Internet link to the U.S. in August, 2000 to cope with the ever increasing Internet bandwidth demand.

By mid-August 2000, the inter-institution network links of HARNET was upgraded from two ATM links of 20Mbps to 30Mbps. The HARNET-Internet connection was upgraded from a 12Mbps IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit) plus a 12Mbps Netplus connection from HK Telecom to a 48Mbps (guaranteed minimum 24Mbps) ATM PVC (private virtual circuit) from ISP GlobalOne.

Our users should notice the improved speed of access to local sites in Hong Kong as well as overseas sites via the Internet.

According to the plan of JUCC, HARNET's dedicated connections to Internet2, CERNET (China Education and Research Network) and TANET (Taiwan Academic Network) are proposed and preliminary studies are already underway. We will inform our users of any further progress at a later date.
 

Ronald Leung
Tel: 28578593
E-mail: lhy@cc.hku.hk

Networking and Video-conferencing Facilities in the Redeveloped Rayson Huang Theatre
 

The Computer Centre is currently working with the Estates Office and the Classroom Services Unit to furnish the Rayson Huang Theatre with state-of-the-art wireless LAN and video-conferencing facilities, as part of the Theatre's major redevelopment project this summer. With a wireless LAN, a mobile user can connect to a local area network and the Internet through a radio connection.  With video-conference, people in separate locations can communicate with each other in live audio and video transmission.

The plan is to install the latest wireless LAN technology products (i.e. IEEE 802.11b standard compliant) in the renovated Rayson Huang Theatre with seating capacity of 320.  The conjunctive foyer and reception area will also be provided with similar wireless LAN service.  Video-conferencing equipment integrated with the theatre's audio-visual systems will enable multi-party video-conferencing sessions over LAN and ISDN.  Facilities will also be installed to enable live web-casting of events taking place in the theatre.

Watch for more information on the progress of the project in the coming issues of the Computer News.
 

T.Y. Shen
Tel: 2241 5229
E-mail: sty@cc.hku.hk

WebCT Upgrade

WebCT is the web-based course management tool used by many teachers at HKU for mounting their on-line courses on the web.

We are pleased to announce that the current WebCT v1.3.1 will be upgraded to take advantage of the new features offered by the newer versions of the software.  In tandem with the upgrade, the WebCT Automatic Account System (AAS) developed by the HKU Computer Centre will also be enhanced so that  the course designers' effort for maintaining student accounts in their courses will further be reduced.
 

Upgrade Plan WebCT version 2.1 provides considerable improvements for students to gain access to the different electronic courses that they are enrolled in . WebCT version 3.0, which has just been released in July and is being tested by the Computer Centre, has introduced major changes as well as a number of new features in the overall user interface which would enable easier and more effective use of the electronic courses by students. Since WebCT version 3.0 is still being tested and training for teachers will be provided for them to familiarise with the system changes and new features in the user interface, we plan to upgrade the WebCT in two phases, as follows:  August 26 and 27, 2000 - upgrading to version 2.1  and enhancing the WebCT AAS to support the single account feature. (see below) December, 2000 - upgrading to version 3.1 to introduce the new interface and features. We shall discuss the new features of WebCT v2.1 in this article and those of version 3.0 in the next issue of the Computer News.
New features of WebCT v2.1 The main new feature introduced in version 2.1 is to provide a single set of account/password, called the global 'WebCT ID', for each WebCT user, including designers, graders and students. With the global WebCT ID, a user can login at a centralized page, the 'myWebCT' page, for gaining access to all of  his enrolled electronic courses, for checking bulletin messages and announcements, etc.  More about 'WebCT ID' will be covered in the next section.
The Login Screen with global WebCT ID for all WebCT courses at  http://ecourse.hku.hk:8900	The Centralized myWebCT Page that allows a Student to access all his WebCT courses  and check for new activities
Other new features include: assignment drop box, navigation bar, preview quiz in designer's mode, selective course reset, etc.

Enhancements of the WebCT Automatic Account System (AAS) The Enhanced WebCT AAS  will facilitate the teachers (or course designers)  in the creation and maintenance of student accounts by eliminating the requirement of going through the tedious manual steps, and at the same time will automatically generate the WebCT IDs for all students so as to save them the burden of setting up their own WebCT ID individually.  In addition, we have also enhanced the WebCT AAS with several new features to provide more convenience to course designers.  The new features include :  1. Single login location and myWebCT page for students Students can go to HKU Electronic Course homepage at http://ecourse.hku.hk:8900, login with his email account/password to gain access to his own "myWebCT" page where he can find  all his enrolled electronic courses developed with WebCT new bulletin messages, announcements, quizzes in each course system announcements by Computer Centre 2. Automatic synchronization of the Registry's enrolment data In the past, course designers had to run the WebCT AAS program a few times at the beginning of the term to update the student lists of his electronic courses. With the new version of the WebCT AAS developed by the Computer Centre, the updating process will be automated when the new academic team starts. Teachers (or course designers) only need to run WebCT AAS once at the start of a term and the student lists will be updated daily afterward. This automatic updating process will stop one month after the add/drop period of each term as student enrolment should be stabilized by then. However, teachers or course designers can always run the WebCT AAS manually to refresh the student lists at any time. 3. Queued jobs for WebCT AAS In the creation of student accounts with the previous version of WebCT AAS, teachers would have to engage in an on-line session until the entire student list is created.  As many teachers have to do this at the beginning of a new term, this activity would put a heavy loading on the electronic course server.  Very often teachers had to wait a long time before the account creation process is completed. To improve on this undesirable situation, the new version of WebCT AAS is enhanced with a queuing feature so that teachers can now go through a few simple steps and need not wait until the entire creation process is completed.  Then, they will be notified of the completion of the process by email.  4. Serving postgraduate courses We have received a number of requests from departments to extend the WebCT AAS function for supporting postgraduate courses. We are pleased to announce that we shall include the support of this group of students in our new version of WebCT AAS. .

Training on WebCT v2.1 In order to introduce our users to  the global WebCT ID and other new features in v2.1, we have updated our 'WebCT Course Designer's Workshop' to cover these topics. In addition, we shall run two identical training workshops on August 29 and September 7 for users who have already had some WebCT knowledge to provide them with hands-on training on WebCT v2.1. As some course designers may probably have questions with their WebCT course development, they can bring them up for discussion in the training sessions.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact the undersigned. Fanny Chi Tel: 2964 5737  E-mail: hcxccyh@hku.hk

Wireless LANs for Centrally Time-tabled Classrooms

To facilitate the use of the Campus Network and the Internet in teaching, the Computer Centre is implementing wireless Local Area Networks (wireless LANs) in 33 centrally time-tabled classrooms on the main campus (see table below for a list of the buildings and room numbers of these classrooms).

These classrooms all have a seating capacity of over 100.  One wireless LAN access point, which is in fact a wireless extension of ACEnet (Access Everywhere Network),  will be installed in each classroom. To access the Internet in these classrooms, the teacher needs to install a wireless network interface card (wireless NIC) in his/her Notebook computer and this wireless NIC must be pre-registered with the Computer Centre.  When the notebook PC with the wireless NIC is started in the classroom, the PC will automatically be assigned an IP address and a connection to the ACEnet will be established. The teacher can then log in with his ACEnet( HKUPPP) account/password to gain access to the network.  No cabling is required for the connection.

The wireless LAN product that will be adopted is ORINOCO by Lucent Technologies.  It is IEEE 802.11b standard compliant, with data transfer rate between the access point and the wireless NIC reaching up to 11Mbps.

Installation of the above mentioned facilities is underway and would be completed before the end of August.  A limited number of pre-registered wireless NICs will be available for departments to facilitate the use of the wireless  network in classrooms.  Demonstration/briefing sessions for introducing the new service will be organised in September. The booking of these classrooms is administered through the Examination Unit of the Registry.

Another development using the wireless LAN technology is the renovation of the Rayson Huang Lecture Theatre in this summer.  See the article Computing and Video-conferencing Facilities in the renovated Rayson Huang Theatre in this issue for more details.
 

Centrally Time-tabled Classrooms with Wireless LANs
 

Building	Classroom Numbers
Chow Yei Ching	A, B, C
Chong Yuet Ming	P1 - P4
James Lee	J103
K. K. Leung	LG109
Knowles	K223, K419, K726
Library Extension	LE1 - LE6, LE8
Main	M167, M201, M217, M237
Meng Wah	T1 - T7
T. T. Tsui	TS303, TS403, TS404

 

T.Y. Shen
Tel: 2241 5229
E-mail: sty@cc.hku.hk

Site Licensing Program on RichWin Software and Products 

RichWin is a software that enables users to process Chinese within their English application software, such as the graphics, presentation, and database programs in Microsoft Office, and for use on the Internet. The RichWin software operates on most windows operating systems.  It can handle many fonts including the traditional and simplified Chinese fonts.

The Computer Centre is pleased to announce that a new site licensing program on RichWin products has been coordinated for the departments to acquire the RichWin products at a discounted price for educational institutions.  Under this site licensing program, the RichWin products are offered at the following prices :
 

If you wish to evaluate the RichWin system before buying it, you may go to RichWin's free download page and download a trial version for testing for 30 days.

If you decide to buy any of the above RichWin products under our site-licensing program, please complete and return the CC Order Form to us.  The form is available at http://www.itservices.hku.hkoffice/forms/ccorder.htm.

For further enquiries on the above site-licensing program, please contact the undersigned or Miss Pansy Kwan at 2859 2491.
 

Idy Tang
Tel : 2859 2491
E-mail : kytang@cc.hku.hk

1. This includes a paper license only.  No media or documentation is provided.

2. Support services include:

i)  Lifetime hotline technical support provided by the HK distributor, Longrand Electornics Ltd.  Departments will be required to quote the serial no. as specified on the license when using the support services.
ii) Same version upgrade patch CD for bug-fixing purpose.
iii) End-user training provided by Longrand Electronics Ltd at their office.
iv) One year on-site technical support by Longrand Electronics Ltd.

Progress of Phasing out of the HKURSC and HKUSGA systems

The Computer Centre has announced in our previous issue of the Computer News our plan of phasing out the HKUSGA (a SGI PowerChallenge L) system and the HKURSC (an IBM RS/6000 390) system by the end of July 2000.

We wish to inform our users that the HKUSGA system has been phased out as planned on July 31, 2000.

For the HKURSC system, so far we have only been able to install the MAPLE V, MATLAB and SPLUS software packages on the HKUSUA (a SUN Enterprise 10000) system.  Due to issues related to software licensing, we have to delay the migration of the SPSS, LISTREL and MATHEMATICA packages from HKURSC to HKUSUA and continue to keep the HKURSC system for running these packages until they can be installed on the HKUSUA system.  Once the software packages are available on HKUSUA, we shall inform our users further and proceed to phase out the HKURSC system.

Please contact the undersigned if you have further enquiries about the phasing out of the HKURSC system.

Charles Cheung
Tel: 2859 2488
E-mail: cheungyw@hkucc.hku.hk

Hardware Upgrade on the HKUCC system

We are pleased to inform our users that we have enhanced the user disk storage of the HKUCC system from 135GB to 220GB and the memory of each of the two nodes of the system from 512MB to 1 GB.  In addition, we have also added two DLT tape drives to the HKUCC system.

The HKUCC system is the general email, computing and network server primarily for staff's use.  It is set up as a High Availability (HA) system with two units of Compaq 1200 5/533 AlphaServers.  With the HA feature, we have been able to upgrade the system smoothly without shutting down the system and affecting any users.

The memory upgrade is to improve the response of the system.  The added DLT tape drives will shorten the time required for data backup, a process which took a long time in the past and affected the normal performance of the HKUCC system.  The addition of the tape drives further improves the response of the HKUCC system in the morning. The added user disk storage also enables us to better support application packages which require large data storage.
 

Charles Cheung
Tel: 2859 2488
E-mail: cheungyw@hkucc.hku.hk

Upgrading of the HKUSUC (Web server) and HKUSUD (proxy server)

There had been two short service interruptions to the HKU web server (www.hku.hk) and proxy server scheduled at the beginning of July and in mid-July. In those 2 weeks between the two scheduled service interruptions, we worked on a major upgrade of our web server and proxy server to improve their capacities and  performance.

The web server (www.hku.hk) was a SUN Enterprise E2000 system before the upgrade . With the exponential growth of network activities in the University in recent years, the performance of the SUN E2000 server has become inadequate to cope with the ever increasing demand for access to the HKU network and the Internet. In order to improve the performance of our web server, we have re-deployed a more powerful SUN Enterprise 6000 server with 8 processors (the previous HKUSUB system) to serve as our web server.

For the proxy server which is a SUN Enterprise E6000 system, we have upgraded it with additional disk storage space. As a result, there is more disk space for the web cache which is a key factor in the performance of the proxy server. The cache is a place to store webpages from the Internet.

Since the successful upgrade of these two computers, the performance of our web server and proxy server has notably been improved and our users should feel the speed-up in response of their web surfing through the University Campus Network.

Kenneth Yip
Tel: 2859 7973
Email: kkyyip@hkusua.hku.hk

Major Upgrade in Our PC Laboratories 
 

Hardware Upgrade

The Computer Centre is upgrading the PC laboratory in Room 103, Run Run Shaw Building with 42 new PC systems. Each new PC is equipped with a Pentium III 667 MHz CPU, 128MB RAM, a 17" colour monitor, a 1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive, a 250MB ZIP drive and a CD-ROM drive.

In addition, 8 PCs in Room 134, Old Library Building will also be replaced.  Among the 8 new PC's,  4 units will have the same configuration as described above while the other 4 systems will have a CD-RW drive instead of the CD-ROM drive. The CD-RW drive allows reading and writing on the compact disk whereas the CD-ROM drive is for reading only.

The communal PC facilities provided in the new academic year by the Computer Centre are summarised as follows:
 
 

Building	Room	Equipment
Run Run Shaw Building	RR-103	4 Pentium-III 450 MHz 128 MB PCs with 17" monitors, 100MB ZIP drives & CD-RW drives 42 Pentium-III 667 MHz 128MB PCs with 17" monitors, 250MB ZIP drives & CD-ROM drives 4 networked laser printers (3 black & white and 1 colour)
Run Run Shaw Building	RR-201	25 Pentium-III 450 MHz 128MB PCs with 17" monitors & ZIP drives
Old Library Building	OLB-134	52 Pentium-II 333 MHz 64MB PCs with 17" monitors & CD-ROM drives  (4 with 100MB ZIP drives) 4 Pentium-III 667 MHz 128MB PCs with 17" monitors, 250MB ZIP drives & CD-ROM drives 4 Pentium-III 667 MHz 128MB PCs with 17" monitors, 250MB ZIP drives & CD-RW drives 4 networked laser printers (3 black & white and 1 colour)
Old Library Building	OLB-135	30 Pentium-II 333 MHz 64MB PCs with 17" monitors
Knowles Building	KB-218	12 Pentium-II 333 MHz 64MB PCs with 17" monitors
Run Run Shaw Building	RR-101	21 Pentium-III 450 MHz 128MB PCs with 17" monitors, 100MB ZIP drives & CD-ROM drives

 

Software Upgrade

Major software upgrade is now being carried out in our PC laboratories. Four new software packages will be installed in our PC laboratories:

• Adobe GoLive
• Adobe LiveMotion
• Adobe InDesign
• Macromedia Flash

• Dreamweaver and
• Paint Shop Pro

HKUWIN - Central Network Services
 

Program	Function
Netscape Communicator 4.73	for web browsing, mail and news, web page editing, etc.
PC-Pine	A PC-client e-mail program for sending and reading e-mail, and manipulating mail folders on a host computer. (One icon is set to handle e-mail on HKUSUA, and another icon for e-mail on HKUCC.)
Telnet (can show Chinese) -- SimpTerm	SimpTerm is a telnet program for login to a host computer. It can display traditional and simplified Chinese characters.
WS_FTP	An FTP program for transferring files between a host and your PC.
eXcursion	A program for emulating an X window (a windows environment for Unix workstations) on a PC.

Note: The icon for the Microsoft Internet Explorer v5 browser also appears on the desktop metaphor of the screen.

Upgrade of Colour Printers

We have also planned to replace the 2 colour printers in Room 103, Run Run Shaw Building and Room 134, Old Library Building with 2 new HP Color LaserJet 8550N printers. The LaserJet 8550N printer comes with a 200MHz microprocessor and 64MB RAM. It supports a high printing quality of 600 dpi resolution and can print at a speed of 24 pages per minute for black and white A4 documents and 6 pages per minute for colour A4 documents.

Like the service provided by the existing laser-printers in our PC laboratories, these 2 new printers will operate in a self-service mode. Users should collect their own printouts as soon as they are available. All uncollected printouts will be removed.

Should you have any questions regarding the PC laboratories, please contact the undersigned.

Vitus Lam
Tel: 2859 2484
E-mail: lsw@cc.hku.hk

Staff News

The Computer Centre has been experiencing quite a bit of staff turnover in recent months.  This is attributable to the high demand for I.T. personnel in Hong Kong as the society puts more focus on I.T. developement and the use of technology as a whole.

We welcome the following new members to the Computer Centre:

Mr Chan Cheung Yung joined the Centre on July 10, 2000.  Mr Chan received his Bachelor of Engineering  (Information Engineering) degree in 1998 from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.   He is working in the Administration Support Team in supporting the administrative application development projects of the University.

We bid farewell to the following staff, wishing them every success in their future endeavors:

Ms Siu Fai who left on July 3, 2000,
Mr Danny Wong Man Kit who left on July 24, 2000, and
Mr Ng Sau Chin who left on August 7, 2000.

The Computer Centre is pleased to announce a series of courses given between September-December, 2000 to assist staff and students in using the Centre's facilities. The courses will cover the following areas:
 

Internet Browsing and Webpage Authoring Chinese Information Handling Spreadsheet Unix System and Application Software PC Network and Services

Word Processing  Web Course Tools Parallel Programming Adobe Photoshop Statistical Analysis

Most courses are open to all staff and students free of charge.  A fee is charged for courses provided by a course vendor. Some courses require pre-requisites.  Click on the course number to see the description of each course.

Users can apply on-line for these courses through the "CC Course Registration" icon in HKUWIN or click the "Staff Registration" or "Student Registration" links below.

Click here to suggest new courses you would like.

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration

Courses on Parallel Programming
 
 

C0113500	SP2 Parallel Programming  with workshop	Sep 26, 2000 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101
C0213500	SP2 Parallel Programming  with workshop	Oct 25, 2000 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101
C0313500	SP2 Parallel Programming with workshop	Nov 30, 2000 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101
C0413500	SP2 Parallel Programming with workshop	29-Dec 29, 2000  2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-101

Courses on Unix System and Applications
 
 

C0111800	Introduction to UNIX	Sep 12, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0110400	Introduction to SPSS	Sep 26, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0211800	Introduction to  UNIX	Oct 13, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0112200	Introduction to MAPLE V	Oct 20, 2000 3:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0110500	Introduction to Mathematica	Oct 30, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0110600	Introduction to MATLAB	Nov 6, 2000 3:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0311800	Introduction to UNIX	Nov 10, 2000 2:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0110200	Introduction to SAS	Nov 24, 2000 2:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Courses on HKU Network and Using Electronic Signatures
 
 

C0115900	Introduction to HKU Network	Sep 18, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0215900	Introduction to HKU Network	Oct 23, 2000 2:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0116200	Using Electronic Signatures	Sep 25, 2000  9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0216200	Using Electronic Signatures	Sep 28 2000  9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0316200	Using Electronic Signatures	Oct 4, 2000   9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration
 

Courses on Web Browsing and Webpage Editing
 
 

C0111600	WEBCT - Introduction to Ver2.1	Aug 29, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0211600	WEBCT - Introduction to Ver2.1	Sep 7, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0114000	Introduction to WWW and Internet services	Sep 15, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0115100	Basic HTML Editing	Sep 27, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Old Library Building,  LBO-135
C0214000	Introduction to WWW and Internet services	Oct 17, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0116100	Using CGI programs in Webpages	Oct 27, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0314000	Introduction to WWW and Internet services	Nov 13, 2000 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.	Old Library Building,  LBO-135
C0215100	Basic HTML Editing	Dec 1, 2000  9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0115100	Introduction to WEBCT  (staff only)	Dec 6, 2000  9:30am - 12:30pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0115200	Basic WEBCT Workshop (staff only)	Dec 12, 2000  9:30 am - 12:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
C0115300	Advanced WEBCT Workshop (staff only)	Dec 19, 2000  9:30 am - 11:30 am	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration

Courses on Microsoft Office and Other Topics
 
 

W0181000	Dreamweaver 3 for webpage creation    (Staff only)	Oct 9, 10, 2000  (2 days) 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0181600	PowerPoint 2000  (Staff only)	Nov 2, 2000 (1 day) 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Old Library Building,  LBO-135
W0180500	Adobe Photoshop 5.5  (Staff only)	Nov 13, 14, 2000 (2 days) 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0181700	Flash 4.0  (Staff only)	Nov 20, 21, 2000 (2 days) 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0181500	Access 2000  (Staff only)	Dec  4, 5, 2000  9:30 am - 4:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201
W0181000	Dreamweaver 3  (Staff only)	Dec 14, 15, 2000  9:30 am - 4:30 pm	Run Run Shaw Building,  RR-201

Staff Registration   or   Student Registration
 

 Course Descriptions:

Using Electronic Signatures

This is a 2-hour course on how to use electronic signatures in email and other electronic documents.  You will learn:

1.  how to sign in HKU ESD applications,
2.  how to install a private key and digital certificates in e-mail programs,
3.  how to sign, encrypt and decrypt e-mail messages.
 

Courses on Internet Browsing and Webpage Authoring

Introduction to WWW and Internet Services

This is a 3-hour introductory course. Course contents include
    Introduction to Internet
    Using The Netscape Communicator 4 Browser
    Reading Chinese on WWW Browser
    Tour on the HKU Intranet
    Tour on the Global Internet

Basic HTML Editing

This 3-hour course workshop on HTML editing using the Netscape Communicator 4 Editor.  In the workshop, students would be doing the following exercises:
    Exercise 1 - Create a document, try colors, fonts, bullets lists etc.
    Exercise 2 - Create targets and hyperlinks
    Exercise 3 - Create a table
    Exercise 4 - Using image files in your document
    Exercise 5 - Uploading your document to the server

Using CGI Programs in Webpages

This is a 3-hour course on using cgi programs in webpages.  Contents include:
    Exercise 1 - Running cgi program on the web server
    Exercise 2 - Imbedding cgi programs in a web form
    Exercise 3 - Putting a counter in a homepage
    Exercise 4 - Putting a guestbook in a homepage
Pre-requisite: Basic HTML Editing.
 

WebCT (Web Course Tool) Training Courses

Introduction to WebCT

This 2-hour course will discuss the basic functionalities provided by WebCT from a student's point of view to give participants some feelings on what WebCT can do for their course. e.g. browsing course materials, attempting on-line quizzes, using bulletin boards.

Introduction to WebCT2.1

This 2-hour course will provide hands-on training on WebCT v2.1. Major new features in v2.1 are:

• a single set of account/password,
• the 'WebCT ID', for each WebCT user including designers, graders and students. With the WebCT ID, a user can access all his WebCT courses, check new bulletin messages, course and system announcements, etc. in a centralized page, the 'myWebCT' page.

This 4-hour course will cover steps for course designers (staff members who actually prepare courses on WebCT) to post lecture materials on WebCT, and to perform customization on course homepages.
Pre-requisites: Introduction to WebCT, Basic HTML Editing.

WebCT Course Designer's Advanced Workshop

This 2-hour course will cover more advanced features for course designers, e.g. preparing on-line quizzes, checking statistical data, managing student records.
Pre-requisites: WebCT Course Designer's Basic Workshop

Courses on Parallel Programming

SP2 Parallel Programming with Workshop

This is a 3-hour seminar and workshop for people interested in parallel programming using the IBM SP2 Supercomputer. It covers the methodology of writing parallel programs using the message passing interface (MPI). Students should have programming experience in C or Fortran but experience in parallel programming is not needed. Sample programs will be given to users in the hands-on workshop.

High Performance FORTRAN

This 3-hour seminar on High Performance FORTRAN provides an easy way to write data parallel programs in MIMD computers such as the IBM SP2. The High Performance FORTRAN is an extension of the FORTRAN 90 in several areas, including:

• Data distribution features
• Data parallel execution features
• Extended intrinsic functions and standard library
• EXTRINSIC procedures

This 9-hour course provides and introduction to the structure and syntax of the FORTRAN 90 language for FORTRAN 77
programmers. After taking this course, users will be able to write FORTRAN 90 programs using arrays and write reusable and
readable codes using the data encapsulation feature of FORTRAN 90.

Courses on Unix System and Application Software

Introduction to UNIX

This is a 3-hour introductory course for users with little or no Unix experience. The course will cover the Unix computing environment, the Unix file system, the editor, email, disk quota and mail quota allocations and commonly used Unix commands.

Seminar on MAPLE V

This is a 2-hour introduction course on the use of MAPLE V for mathematical computations.  The course covers:
    Maple Objects,
    Syntax of Maple V commands
    Some Common Operations
    Numerical Operations
    Graphics
    I/O
    Programming in Maple V

Seminar on MATLAB

MATLAB is an integrated computing environment for numeric computation and visualization. This 2-hour seminar will give an
introduction on using MATLAB in numerical analysis, matrix computation and graphics etc.

Seminar on Mathematica

Mathematica is a general computer software system and language intended for mathematical and other applications. In this 2-hour seminar, examples of using Mathematica in numerical calculations, graphics, algebra and calculus, solving equations etc, will be shown.

Seminar on SAS

The SAS package is an integrated system for data analysis. In this 2-hour seminar, users will learn how to create a SAS
data set, to retrieve data from the data set and to perform some commonly used statistical procedures. Users are expected to have some statistics background.

Seminar on SPSS

This is a 2-hour seminar for users with some statistics background. Users will learn how to read the input data as well as to
perform some simple statistical analysis.

Connecting to the HKU Network (PPP, ACEnet and Hall Network)

This is a 3-hour seminar on the HKU network with an introduction to the network topology, network services, and the software for accessing the HKU network.  The HKU network can be accessed from the following venues:
    PPP - for dialing in from home
    Hallnet - for student residing in residence halls
    ACEnet - for accessing everywhere from any network point
 

Courses on Microsoft Office and Other Topics

MS Word 2000 ($360)

This is a 2-day course especially designed for users who want to learn how to navigate through and work with documents; manipulate text; change formatting and page layout; and preview and print a document.

Course Outline :

1. Word 2000 processing concepts
2. Using dialog boxes and icons
3. Documents editing
4. Files save/retrieve and Management
5. Files conversion and import/export filters
6. Selecting fonts and using special text and symbols
7. Auto formatting and style options
8. Using thesaurus and hyphenation, spelling and grammar check
9. Creating multiple columns and table
10. Positioning text and graphics with frames
11. Assembling documents with mail merge
12. Working with long documents
13. Printing master documents, envelopes and labels
14. Data linking and embedding

 

 
This is a 1-day course on making a professional presentation slide show using PowerPoint2000.  Contents include:
1.     Introduction to PowerPoint
2.     Creating a presentation using "Auto Content Wizard"
3.     Understanding PowerPoint views
4.     Adding clip art and pictures
5.     Customise slide shows
6.     Transition effects and text animation
7.     Printing slides and speaker notes
8.     Creating special text effects with WordArt
9.     Creating organisation charts
10.     Inserting Microsoft Word table and Excel spreadsheet
11.     Creating charts


ACCESS 2000 ($360)

Access is a powerful database software allowing users to create database and database applications without any programming work.  This is a 2 day course.

Contents of this course include:
 

1. The Access 2000 fundamental database components
2. Using a database wizard
3. Creating a database
4. Defining data types and setting field properties
5. Using the primary key
6. Adding and deleting records
7. Finding and replacing records
8. Filtering and sorting records
9. Relational database
10. Making use of queries
11. Using quick form and quick report
12. Creating a customised form
13. Changing design of forms
14. Creating print reports
15. Mailing labels

The course outline of this 2-day workshop include :

1. Spreadsheet concepts, basic movement
2. data entry techniques & create formulas
3. using special functions formatting
4. cells formatting, data & formulas cell reference
5. workbook save & retrieve
6. using dialog box commands, icons & toolbars
7. creating an embedded chart on worksheets
8. creating graphical objects on worksheets
9. worksheets printing techniques
10. database query and table handling auto filter
11. worksheet and workbook linking
12. useful built-in & functions, PMT, vlookup, (if, sumif)
13. add-in program, auto save
14. graph and picture handling and slide show
15. goal seeking and scenario manager

Adobe Photoshop 5.5  ($360)

This is a 2-day course on using the Adobe Photoshop, a software for photo retouching, image editing and color painting.
Adobe Photoshop 4.0 has many new and enhanced features in auto-updating of formats, multiple layers control, digital watermarks for copyright, effects filters, and other enhancements for control of quality etc.
Course outline :
    Photoshop Basic
    Selections, Mask and Channel Operation
    Enhancing Photo
    Montage and Collage
    Using Filters
    Painting
    Combining Photoshop and PostScript
    Special Effects
    3D/4D Adding Depth and Motion

Adobe Illustrator 8  ($500)

This is a 2-day course on using the Adobe Illustrator 8, a popular illustration software that can create graphically rich artwork for print or the Web.
Course Outline :
    1. Basic concepts on computer graphic design
    2. Using various drawing tools
    3. Grid and guides
    4. Text editing, path type and area type and use of different fonts
    5. Rotating and resizing objects
    6. Mask effect, transforming objects from 2D to 3D
    7. Inserting graphic images

Web Creation Using Dreamweaver 3  ($500)

This 2-day course is designed for users who want to learn how to use Macromedia Dreamweaver 2, a powerful & professional visual editor for creating and managing web pages. With Dreamweaver, it's easy to create cross-platform, cross-browser pages.  Course outline :
    1. Dreamweaver Work Space
    2. Site Planning & Site Management
    3. Understanding Hyper Link
    4. Using Images & Animations
    5. Using Cascading Sytle Sheet
    6. Creating Forms & Frames
    7. Creating Interactive Homepage
Pre-requisite: Basic HTML Editing
 

Chinese Inputting Method & Chinese Word 97* ($360)

This is a 2-day course especially designed for users who are familiar with the English microcomputer working environment but with little experience on Chinese microcomputer operation. The course will cover :
 

Flash 4  ($500)

This 2-day course is designed for students who want to learn how to use Macromedia Flash 4, to produce special effects and animation, for a multimedia homepage.  It can help users produce home pages with vector and bitmap graphics, motion, MP3 audio, form input and interactivity.

Course outline :
    1. Flash Work Space
    2. Drawing and Editing Graphics
    3. Editing scenes and objects
    4. Using Timeline
    5. Creating animation and using sound files
    6. Using Actions
    7. Publishing and Exporting to movie
    8. Uploading homepage
Pre-requisite: Basic HTML Editing

Visual FoxPro 6.0* ($500)

This 2-day course provides an introduction to Visual FoxPro, a fast relational database management system in Windows.  It is a 32 bit Xbase database engine, the application can be used in Windows 95/98/NT environments.  It can also support Microsoft SQL Server/Client Server.

Course Outline:
    1. Starting Visual FoxPro
    2. Organizing with Project Manager
    3. Explore a database
        - Creating: new table, Query, view of local data, One-to-many form
    4. Ordering data using indexes
    5. Collecting tables into a database
    6. Finding information
        - Querying data, Updating data with views, Updating multiple tables
    7. Displaying information
        - Designing reports and labels, Displaying data in forms
    8. Visual FoxPro with other Application - Sharing information with other programs.

Graphic Design Using CorelDraw 8* ($500)

This 2-day course is designed for students who want to learn how to use Corel DRAW, the most popular vector-based drawing program that makes it easy to create professional artwork - from simple company logos to intricate technical illustrations.

Course Outline:
1. Basic concepts on computer graphic design
2. Using various drawing tools
3. Style and color of line
4. Text editing, Fit text to path, Uses of different fonts
5. Rotate, skew and resize objects, Group and combine objects
6. Mask effect, transform 2D objects to 3D using Extrude function
7. Inserting graphic images

1. Since workshops on Microsoft Office97 and other programs for Windows are organised in conjunction with a course vendor, the Whiz Company, there is a nominal charge on the course.

For courses requiring a fee, please send payment to the Computer Centre together with your registration form, or as soon as you have registered on the web, otherwise your registration is considered invalid and will be replaced by another applicant.  Payment can be made in cheque (payable to the University of Hong Kong), or through departmental requisition (for applicants supported by departments).   Successful applicants will be notified by e-mail or telephone at least one week before the commencement of the workshop. Once accepted, the fee is not refundable. However, substitution of participant is possible by written notification to the Centre.

2. The workshops on Chinese Word 97  will be conducted in Cantonese.

3. Enrolment for some courses may be for staff only while others are for students only.  Where it is not specified, the courses are open to all staff and students of the University.

* The maximum number of participants for workshops held in Room 135, Old Library Building is 25; Room 201, Run Run Shaw Building is 22; and Room 101, Run Run Shaw Building is 20.