Telephone

You can reach the Helix Systems staff by calling (301) 594-6248 to get the TASC help desk. The staffers there will assist you with routine enquiries about accounts, passwords, and policies, and will transfer specific Helix-related calls to the Helix staff.

Ptr

To send requests for disk space, questions about software to the helix staff, or problem reports, use the ptr (Programmer Trouble Report) program. The program prompts user for information, composes a problem report, allows user to edit or kill the report and sends completed reports through electronic mail to the staff. A staff member will reply to the sender by electronic mail or phone, as appropriate.

ptr may be aborted at any time by pressing control-c. This does not save the contents of the report, in contrast with the kill option. The program prompts for a phone number, the program involved if any, a summary of the problem, the machine where you are seeing the problem, and a full description. Any files needed to reproduce the problem can also be included in the ptr.

Email

Users whose computing needs that are not addressed by the software on the Helix Systems, or if you know of a program you would like to have made available via the Helix Systems, please contact us by sending email to staff@helix.nih.gov.

In general, it's a bad idea to send email to a particular staff member for a problem. If the person is away, your problem may take longer to be resolved. It is preferable to send a ptr, email, or call.