=:The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)C

The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)



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Chapter 3
Documentation


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3.1 Where can I find online copies of OpenVMS manuals?



CThe HP OpenVMS and HP Layered Product documentation is copyrighted material.

GHTML format on-line product documentation sets for specific HP OpenVMS $products are presently available at:



HDocumentation is offered on separately orderable CD-ROM media through a Hsubscription to the Consolidated On-Line Documentation (ConOLD) product j(see Section 2.5.) ConOLD manuals are readable with BNU, a viewer that Gis supplied with the documentation distribution. BNU can display HTML, /Bookreader, and documentation in other formats.

FMGBOOK, a viewer for Bookreader-format documentation is available for Ccharacter-cell terminals (eg. VTxxx) via the WKU VMS Freeware file Tserver -- see question Section 13.1 for details.m

3.2 What online information and websites are available?



AOn your OpenVMS system, the HELP command can provide a wealth of Cinformation, not only on DCL commands but on system services (HELP HSystem_Services) and Run-Time Library routines (HELP RTL_Routines). The >introduction displayed when you type the HELP command with no .additional keywords provides further pointers.

GOpenVMS Marketing runs a WWW server at http://www.openvms.compaq.com/. EHere, you will find product information, strategy documents, product Groadmaps, the contents of the latest OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM and more. 

[   "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Table 3-1 OpenVMS Websites
URL Sponsor
$ http://www.openvms.compaq.com/0
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/wizard/:
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/wizard/wizard.zip
   HP OpenVMS Marketing
 http://www.montagar.com/
   Encompass DFWCUG
" http://www.levitte.org/~ava/
   Arne Vajhøj
 http://www.saiga.com/
   Saiga Systems
 http://www.tachysoft.com/
   Wayne Sewel
& http://www.progis.de/openvms.htm
  " Sponsored by proGIS Software
" http://www.jcameron.com/vms/
   Jeff Cameron
5 http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/soft_doc.html
  8 David Mathog's (useful) information about OpenVMS.
 Cracking
5 http://www.vistech.net/users/beave/hack-vms-faq
   "The Beave"K
Includes system cracking information that can be of interest to L OpenVMS System Managers, and to OpenVMS Network and Security Managers.
, Undocumented Features
6 http://www.decus.de:8080/www/vms/qaa/undoc.htmlx
   DECUS Deutchland
/ http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_tip.htmlx
   Arne Vajhøj
- http://www.openvms.compaq.com/freeware/
  N The OpenVMS Freeware contains various examples of undocumented features  and interfaces
% Bibliographies
1 http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_book.htmlx
# Introductory
/ http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_faq.htmlx
6 http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_sheet.html
> http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_beginners_faq.html
" Programming
G http://www.pdv-systeme.de/users/martinv/VMS_Programming_FAQ.html
  An OpenVMS Programming FAQ
! Networking
% http://www.tmesis.com/internet/
  J Tutorial information and tips for connecting OpenVMS systems to the  Internet
2 http://www.openvms.compaq.com/wizard/decnet/
  : Documentation and Specifications for DECnet Phase IV
/ HP OpenVMS Documentation
) http://www.openvms.compaq.com:8000/-
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/doc/4
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/
  G Various introductory guides as well as more advanced manuals are E available in the OpenVMS and layered product documentation set.
% http://www.compaq.com/info/spd/
  J Software Product Descriptions (SPDs) for most every OpenVMS-related  product HP sells.
) System Performance
  < See Section 14.2.
' Patch (ECO) Kits
  I For the HP Services FTP server hosting Various contract-access and j non-contract access ECO (patch) kits, see section Section 5.16.
+ Catalogs and Pricing
E http://www.compaq.com/products/quickspecs/productbulletin.html
  3 HP Product QuickSpecs and product information
O http://www.compaq.com/products/quickspecs/soc_archives/SOC_Archives.html
  7 The HP Systems and Options Catalog (SOC) archive
) http://www.businesslink.compaq.com/
  N Pointers to country-specific product information, pricing, and related. K The services formerly provided by BusinessLink are being replaced by J these and other country-specific mechanisms, please see the URL for  details.
# Publications
1 http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvmstimes/
  " The OpenVMS Times Newsletter
 http://www.dfwcug.org/
  % The DFWCUG Quadwords Newsletter
9 http://www.research.compaq.com/wrl/DECarchives/DTJ/
  G Back issues of the (discontinued) Digital Technical Journal (DTJ)
# http://www.compaq.com/inFORM/
  % The HP (Compaq) inFORM Magazine
5 Hardware and Software Archives
* http://vax.sevensages.org/index.html
  A The VAXarchive, including hardware and software information
< http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/alpha_diary.html
  " A VAX to Alpha upgrade diary
0 http://www.montagar.com/~patj/dec/hcps.htm
  9 Scanned versions of old DIGITAL manuals from DFWCUG
4 http://www.digital.com/lists/master-index.html
; http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/qrg/index.html
  B A wide variety of HP VAX, Alpha, platform and other product 7 documentation. Some introductory, some technical.
h

3.3 OpenVMS Product Information Telephone Numbers?



?Information on HP hardware, software, products and services is havailable through telephone numbers listed in Table 3-2:

]  $ &          
Table 3-2 Telephone Numbers
Telephone Description
 1-800-AT-COMPAQ F HP (Compaq, including DIGITAL and Tandem) products and services
 1-800-STORWORK  The HP StorageWorks team
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3.4 How do I extract the contents of a HELP topic to a text file?



FTo extract all the text of a HELP topic (and its subtopics) to a text Afile for perusal with a text editor, printing out, etc., use the following command:

 

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3$ HELP/OUT=filename.txt help-topic [help-subtopic] 




CIf the help text you want is not in the standard help library (for Dexample, it's help for a utility such as MAIL that has its own help Hlibrary), add /LIBRARY=libname after the HELP verb. To see the names of 5help library files, do a directory of SYS$HELP:*.HLB.h

3.5 Does OpenVMS Marketing have an e-mail address?



HYes - if you can't get the answers to marketing questions elsewhere, if <you have comments or complaints about OpenVMS, send mail to @openvms-info@compaq.com. This address is not a support >channel, and is solely intended to provide informal method to 7communicate directly with members of OpenVMS Marketing.o

3.6 Where can I learn about OpenVMS executive internals?



HThe OpenVMS Internals and Data Structure manual (IDSM) explains how the FOpenVMS executive works. The book covers the operating system kernel: Bprocess management; memory management; the I/O subsystem; and the Hmechanisms that transfer control to, from, and among these. It gives an Foverview of a particular area of the system, followed by descriptions Dof the data structures related to that area and details of the code that implements the area.

HThe first edition of the OpenVMS Alpha internals book describes Version F1.5. Although there have been several releases of OpenVMS Alpha since GVersion 1.5 (V6.1, V6.2, V7.0, V7.1, etc) and many details in the book Dare no longer accurate, it continues to provide a strong conceptual !description of OpenVMS internals.

>This book has been split into five pieces, each to be updated @separately. The first such volume, published in early 1997, was E"OpenVMS Alpha Internals and Data Structures: Scheduling and Process >Control," which covers the Version 7.0 implementation of true ;multithreading and the changed scheduling model it implies.

=The internals books are available through Digital Press, see /Section 3.7w

3.7 Where can new users find tutorial information about OpenVMS?



GFirst, see if your local site has information on this topic. Each site Hcan have site-specific features and configuration. Some sites will have Gsite-specific new user's documentation, covering various site-specific @things that are difficult or impossible for the general OpenVMS documentation to cover.7

3.7.1 Tutorial Websites?



oVarious websites with OpenVMS information are available; Table 3-3 !contains some suggested URLs.

e   "                                                                         
Table 3-3 OpenVMS Tutorial Websites
URL Sponsor
# Introductory
/ http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_faq.htmlx
6 http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_sheet.html
> http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_beginners_faq.html
  $ Various introductory materials
, http://www.montagar.com/openvms_class/
  M Members of the Encompass DFWCUG maintain a website with many materials N available, including an Overview of OpenVMS, an Introduction to DCL and K the TPU Editor, Advanced DCL Command Procedures, OpenVMS Operations: L Batch, Print, Tape, an Introduction to OpenVMS Management, to OpenVMS M User Management, to OpenVMS Network Management, and to OpenVMS Cluster J Management. These training materials have been presented at various  DECUS symposia.
/ HP OpenVMS Documentation
) http://www.openvms.compaq.com:8000/-
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/doc/4
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/
  G Various introductory guides as well as more advanced manuals are E available in the OpenVMS and layered product documentation set.
* HP OpenVMS Training
. http://www.compaq.com/training/home.html7
http://www.openvms.compaq.com/wbt/index.html
  L HP offers training information and Technical Resource Kits (TRKs) and M other Training for OpenVMS. An OpenVMS certification (testing) program  is also available.
" http://www.jcameron.com/vms/
   An OpenVMS Quiz
 http://www.CCSScorp.com/
  > CCSS Interactive Learning has OpenVMS training materials
 http://www.acersoft.com/
  ? AcerSoft Training information, and Shannon Knows Punditry
 http://www.mindiq.com/
  ! MindIQ training information
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3.7.2 Books and Tutorials?



CSome of the OpenVMS books that are or have been available from the Digital Press imprint



Gare listed in Table 3-4:

S  +                                       
Table 3-4 DP Books
Title and Author ISBN
* Introduction to OpenVMS, 5th Edition
Lesley Ogilvie Rice
 1 55558 194 3
 Introduction to OpenVMS
David W Bynon
 1 878956 61 2
= OpenVMS Alpha Internals: Scheduling and Process Control  1 55558 156 0
< OpenVMS AXP Internals and Data Structures: Version 1.5  1 55558 120 X
% OpenVMS System Management Guide
Richard Berry
 1 55558 143 9
. The OpenVMS User's Guide, Second Edition
Patrick Holmay
 1 55558 203 6
( Using DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS
Margie Sherlock
 1 55558 114 5
8 VAX/VMS Internals and Data Structures: Version 5.2  1 55558 059 9
2 Writing Real Programs in DCL, Second Edition&
Hoffman and Anagnostopoulos
 1 55558 191 9


4For various featured OpenVMS books, also please see:



8For a bibliography of various OpenVMS books, please see:

d

3.8 What OpenVMS mailing lists are available?



HVarious OpenVMS mailing lists are available, with some of the available Hlists detailed in Table 3-5.

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Table 3-5 OpenVMS Mailing Lists
Subscription Interest Area
0 OpenVMS Freeware archive announcement list  FSupdate@goatley.com'
FSupdate-request@goatley.com 1
& Two-way echo of vmsnet.internals " VMSnet-Internals@goatley.com/
VMSnet-Internals-request@goatley.com 1
) OpenVMS Alpha Internals discussions  Alpha-IDS@goatley.com(
Alpha-IDS-request@goatley.com 1
 BLISS discussions  BLISSters@goatley.com(
BLISSters-request@goatley.com 1
; Process Software MultiNet mailing list (news gateway)  Info-MultiNet@process.com,
Info-MultiNet-request@process.com 1
: Process Software TCPware mailing list (news gateway)  Info-TCPware@process.com+
Info-TCPware-request@process.com 1
7 Process Software PMDF mailing list (news gateway)  Info-PMDF@process.com(
Info-PMDF-request@process.com 1
- The SRI CHARON-VAX VAX emulator package " CHARON-VAX-Users@process.com/
CHARON-VAX-Users-request@process.com 1
0 Info-Zip's Zip & UnZip discussion list  Info-Zip@wku.edu#
Info-Zip-Request@wku.edu 1
? RADIUS-VMS, a RADIUS server for OpenVMS discussion forum  radius-vms@dls.net%
radius-vms-request@dls.net 1
7 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) running OpenVMS  vms-isps@dls.net#
vms-isps-request@dls.net 1
G Users of Mark Daniel's WASD web server for OpenVMS VAX and Alpha G exists. Information about this list server and details on how to D subscribe to the list are available at the referenced website.  http://wasd.vsm.com.au/



H1This is the subscription address. Usually, you will want to Bsend a mail message with no subject line, and a SUBSCRIBE or HELP (command in the body of the mail message.

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3.9 What is this Ask The Wizard website I've heard about?



@The HP OpenVMS Ask The Wizard (ATW) website is an informal area =containing questions and answers on a wide variety of topics.



WFor additional information, please see Section 3.9.

FBefore posting a question to the Ask The Wizard area, please read and please heed the posting rules.




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