The configuration utility PMDF CONFIGURE FAX should be used to configure PMDF-FAX. This utility creates the necessary rewrite rules and channel definitions for your PMDF configuration file, and provides a checklist of the steps you need to take to complete the installation of PMDF-FAX. For an example PMDF-FAX configuration dialogue, see the OpenVMS edition of the PMDF Installation Guide.

PMDF CONFIGURE FAX will only generate a single set of PMDF-FAX channels; see the next section for an example configuration consisting of multiple TEXT_TO_PS and PS_TO_G3 channels which feed into a single G3_TO_FAX channel driving one FAX modem.

The configuration utility is activated by running the PMDF CONFIGURE FAX utility:

$ PMDF CONFIGURE FAX

The procedure will take it from there, asking a series of questions. The questions asked by the procedure are:

1. Your domain name root. Most sites base the domain names for their systems on a common root. For example, all systems at the Claremont Colleges have domain names ending in ".CLAREMONT.EDU". This information is mostly used to provide reasonable defaults for subsequent questions.
   
2. A domain name to be used when mailing plain ASCII messages to the FAX modem. This should typically be a name such as "TEXT-FAX.CLAREMONT.EDU".
   
3. A domain name to be used when mailing PostScript messages to the FAX modem. This should typically be a name such as "PS-FAX.CLAREMONT.EDU".
   
4. The type of FAX modem which you will be using.
   
5. The device name (or a logical name that points at the actual device) the FAX modem will be attached to. If a device name is supplied, then be sure to include the colon (e.g., "TTA2:"). To handle a pool of FAX modems, use a logical search list (multiple equivalence logical names). While the same modem need not be used for both receiving inbound FAXes and sending outbound FAXes, the configuration utility will assume that the same modem (and hence the same device name) is used for both outbound and inbound FAXes. This can be altered by changing the FAX_MODEM option in the g3_to_fax_option and fax_to_data_option option files as discussed, respectively, in Section 37.2.17.4 and Section 37.3.6.1.
   
6. If you are using a dexNET 200 FAX modem, then which flow control method to use. XON/XOFF has been found to work with DECserver 100, 200, and 500s as well as similar terminal servers from other manufacturer's. CTS/RTS flow control works best with DECserver 700 and 900s.
   
7. Whether or not the FAX modem will be connected to a pulse-dial only telephone line. This will not be asked if you are using a DCE FaxBox/30 modem. For that modem, this information is set manually when the modem is first installed.
   
8. The name of the batch queue in which jobs using the FAX modem should run. This queue should run on a machine or machines which have access to the FAX modem; the job limit for the queue should not exceed the number of available FAX modems. It is strongly recommended that the G3_TO_FAX channel run in a queue separate from your standard mail processing queue, typically MAIL$BATCH. The reason for this is straightforward: the job limit on the queue running G3_TO_FAX should not exceed the number of available FAX modems. If the queue job limit exceeds the number of available FAX modems, then some FAX transmissions may not be delivered immediately and will instead wait until the next periodic delivery attempt. (The immediate delivery job will give up upon finding all of the FAX modems busy.)
   
9. The base priority at which the delivery job should run. Since FAX devices drop their phone connections when data transmissions fall below a minimum rate, it is strongly recommended that the G3_TO_FAX channel run at an elevated priority in order to perform its I/O operations without too many interruptions.
   
10. The maximum number of delivery attempts per FAX transmission. Fifteen is a reasonable default; any number from 1 to 253 may be specified.
    
11. Whether or not to send acknowledgements after each successful FAX transmission.
    
12. The default FAX Station Identification string. This is the telephone number which you want your FAX modem to communicate to other FAX machines. For this string, you may want to use the telephone number of a receiving FAX machine at your site. PMDF-FAX does not itself display this number on FAXes it generates; this number is merely passed on to the FAX modem which then uses it as part of a standardized handshake with remote FAX devices. Remote FAX devices may print this string across the top of each received FAX page. This string should contain only digits, spaces, and hyphens and should be no longer than 20 characters. This question will not be asked if you are using a DCE FaxBox/30; for that modem this information is set when the modem is first installed.
    
13. The default Transmitting Terminal Identification string. This should be the organizational name to be printed atop each transmitted FAX page. This string should contain no more than 24 characters.
    
14. Whether or not users are allowed to set their own Transmitting Terminal Identification string.
    
15. If you wish to receive FAXes with PMDF-FAX, then how you wish to dispose of received FAXes (send them as e-mail, spool them to a printer, or deposit them as files on disk), and which image format you wish to use for handling received FAXes (DDIF, GIF, LN03 sixel, PCL, PostScript, or TIFF).
    
16. Finally, a bunch of file names must be specified. These file names specify where to store the configuration generated by the PMDF CONFIGURE FAX utility. The default file names are usually appropriate.

Upon completion, the procedure creates a checklist that lists the additional steps you need to take to get PMDF-FAX running.