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HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

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Content starts here"D

The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)




%

ABSTRACT





GThis document contains answers to many common questions on the OpenVMS Foperating system, and covers OpenVMS, and OpenVMS running on Itanium, Alpha, and VAX hardware.

CThis document is available in various formats, and the text-format >version of this FAQ is generally the easiest format to search.

,Revision/Update InformationOpenVMS V8.2-1

.Revision/Update Information: Revision Date/September 2005

 , 4  
PContents JIndex



*

Preface







uThis is the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) posting for the news://comp.os.vms/ 4and news://comp.sys.dec/ usenet newsgroups.



/H  
Suggestions and Updates 6 Welcome!



Please send your suggestions for changes, additions, or corrections directly to FAQ Editor 





/F  
No Support Questions, 4 Please



~Please do not send technical questions to the FAQ Editor N. The FAQ Editor Bis not in a position to answer general questions, nor to Gprovide general product support. Rather, please post your questions to Ethe appropriate newsgroup, or please contact your preferred hardware 1and/or software support organization(s) directly.

AYour understanding in this matter is greatly appreciated.



If you believe any particular discussion worthy of inclusion in a future edition of the FAQ and particularly once you have or know both the question and the answer, please then send the wentire discussion along to the FAQ Editor for potential inclusion.

XDo note that the FAQ Editor takes URL link continuity seriously, and strives to maintain current links. This is, however, a large task, and it is only becoming more difficult. URL link continuity is also something that youcan assist with, of course. If you should find a dead link or a stale URL pointer, please notify the FAQ Editor . If you have or can find the current, correct or updated URL, of course, that greatly assists the FAQ Editor . in maintaining the most current set of links.

Thank you!



/H  
Post to Newsgroups With 3 Care!

Please consider reading Section 1.3 before posting to the news://comp.os.vms/ Eor any other newsgroups. (What you post can come back to haunt you.) 


Contributors



Many people have contributed to this FAQ, directly and/or indirectly. In many cases, part or all of an answer included in the FAQ has been adapted from one or more postings from the news://comp.os.vms/ or other newsgroup---this though individual citations and specific quotations are generally not included in this FAQ. (The FAQ Editor >wishes to thank to all of those folks who post answers to the Dnewsgroups, and that have contributed to the contents of and to the "general improvements of this FAQ.)

GThe following is an incomplete list of the folks that have contributed Fdirectly or indirectly to the contents of the OpenVMS FAQ. Additions, Acorrections, and updates to this list of contributors and to the >contents of the FAQ itself are welcome, and all omissions and Cmisspellings are unintentional. Thanks to each of the contributors Ghere, and to all of the folks that have participated in the FAQ and in the newsgroups.

GJim Agnew, Paul Anderson, Jason Armistead, Zoltan Arpadffy, John AtoZ, EBailey, (The) Beav, Jeremy Begg, Colin Blake, Fabrice Blanquart, Ken FBlaylock, Kenneth Block, Bol, Craig Berry, Mark Berryman, Jim Becker, GVerell Boaen, Bol, Jim Brankin, Richard Brodie, Robert Alan Byer, Jeff HCampbell, Scott Campbell, Antonio Carlini, Keith Cayemberg, Ken Chaney, HCristy, John Croll, David J. Dachtera, Robert Deininger, Dale Dellutri, GLeo Demers, Sue Denham, Thomas Dickey, Eric Dittman, Jim Dunham, Eric, GGlenn Everhart, Ken Fairfield, Yaacov Fenster, Gunther Froehlin, Harry DGaronzik, Derek Garson, John Gillings, Andy Goldstein, Clair Grant, HHunter Goatley, Ruth Goldenberg, Vance Haemmerle, Ki Suk Hahn, SHarris, GFletcher Hearns, Phillip Helbig, Hein van den Heuvel, Stephen Hoffman, AEberhard Heuser-Hofmann, Sue Holt, Mark Hopkins, Horn, Jaf, Leif DJansson, Kevin Jenkins, Don R. Jones, Henry Juengst, inazu_k, Geoff BKingsmill, Fred Kleinsorge, Felix Kreisel, Veli Korkko, Ruslan R. GLaishev, Norm Lastovica, p_lee, Jerry Leichter, Richard Levitte, Steve DLionel, Denis Maillard, Kerry Main, John E. Malmberg, David Mathog, ADale Miller, Dick Munroe, Patrick Moreau, Morrison, otis, George FPagliarulo, Keith Parris, Plass, pvhp, David Rabahy, Stan Rabinowitz, EMike Raspuzzi, Steve Reece, Ian Ring, Aaron Sakovich, Warren Sander, BMark Schafer, Brian Schenkenberger, Atlant Schmidt, Wayne Sewell, @Steven Shamlian, Sue Skonetski, Scott Snadow, Sue Sommer, Scott GSquires, stfp, Dave Sweeney, Mike Thompson, Arne Vajhøj, Martin EVorländer, Peter Weaver, William Webb, Williams, Paul Winalski, Uwe Zinser.

Again, any omission from this list and any errors or misspellings are entirely unintentional. Please notify the FAQ Editor Fof any omissions, corrections, or updates that might be needed within Hthis list. And thanks to each of these individuals for their assistance @and for their contributions, and particularly for sharing their expertise.A

FAQ Archives and FAQ Locations



BThe OpenVMS FAQ is archived in (at least) the following locations:



?Other internet FAQs are generally available in these locations:

7

FAQ File Formats and Production Information



GThis FAQ is available in ASCII text, Postscript, Bookreader, and HTML, Dand potentially in other file formats. Certain formats, such as the FAdobe Acrobat PDF conversion from the Postscript format, are provided >downstream from the FAQ text formatting, and are provided and maintained by others.

As the HTML-format FAQ is not a single monolithic (and accordingly large) HTML file, it is the most difficult format to search using the most common standard (platform-local) tools. Accordingly,Kthe FAQ Editor Frecommends downloading, using and searching the ASCII text FAQ format.

EThe OpenVMS FAQ is maintained in DECdocument SDML format and all FAQ ?maintenance and the primary output file format conversions are Aperformed on OpenVMS systems. For information on the DECdocument +product, please contact Touch Technologies.>

Old FAQ Section Notations Available in Index



DFor the folks that are familiar with older editions of this FAQ and @specifically for those folks looking for the older section name Fkeywords, please see the index entries located under FAQ Sections F(Old). These older section names include the prefixes DCL, DECW, HDOC, FILES, MISC, MGMT, INTRO, SOFT, VMS, etc., followed by the section number.1

The Fine Print



DCorrections and suggestions are welcome. Should you believe you can Bprovide better stewardship of this FAQ, or should you have strong Hfeelings over the content, structure, organization or implementation of Bthe FAQ, do realize you may be offered the editorship. The editor Cmaintains this document as a free service to the OpenVMS community.

EWhile the information contained here is believed correct, the use of Gany and all information acquired from this document is entirely at the Erisk of the user(s). If your system should crash or your data should Hbecome corrupted or the answer(s) found here should be found erroneous, 1that is solely your risk and your responsibility.

HThough the editor of this FAQ is an employee of Hewlett-Packard Company H(HP), this posting and the information contained within this FAQ are is =not an official statement of HP, nor a commitment by HP. All ?information, comments or opinions included, cited or otherwise Ereferenced here may or may not reflect the stated opinions of HP, of #the editor, or of any other entity.

All trademarks, registered trademarks, servicemarks and registered servicemarks used or referenced here are the properties of their respective owner(s) or holders. Please route any corrections,jrequests or related updates to the FAQ Editor 

EThe redistribution, reposting and/or the web-serving of complete and Dunaltered copies of this FAQ document is permitted. Other uses only with prior permission.

(The master copy of this FAQ is posted at



BTranslations of this FAQ into various languages may be available, @please contact the maintainer(s) of any translated document for Fassistance or feedback involving the particular translated edition of this FAQ.


A

Chapter 1
Introduction


A

If you are searching for something here, please (consider using the text-format FAQ.

k

1.1 What core OpenVMS URLs do you need to know?



If you have no other OpenVMS URLs bookmarked, you will want to be familiar with the URLs listed in Table 1-1:

]   #                                 / e c a = c g > n > >  e m   e m 1 d - t t  0   r < c e i g
Table 1-1 Core Websites
URL Contents
H Core OpenVMS Information, including roadmaps and release schedules
  \ http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/
   
4 OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation
  C ' http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/
   
D Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, the ITRC support and ? discussion forums, and the ITRC FTP-accessable Patch Area
  Z http://askq.compaq.com/ (Natural Language Search Assistant)
   Y http://www.itrc.hp.com/!
   Q u5 ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/c
   
C The OpenVMS Freeware
  H , http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
   
n* The OpenVMS Hobbyist License Program
  A t% http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/a
  hL http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/license_software_programs/index.html
m

1.2 What are the OpenVMS Usenet Newsgroups?

a

nThere are a huge number of newsgroups available, some of which discuss topics of interest to folks using OpenVMS operating system. Key among these are the "news://comp.os.vms/ n3newsgroup and the vmsnet.* heirarchy of newsgroups.hS

1.2.1 What is the scope of the comp.os.vms newsgroup?

n

a3The news://comp.os.vms/ fnewsgroup is the primary newsgroup for discussion of the HP OpenVMS operating system and the computer systems on which it runs. Questions about layered products which run on OpenVMS are also welcome, though many of them (in particular, language compilers and database systems) have more specific newsgroups. If a question has some relationship to OpenVMS, it belongs in news://comp.os.vms/ W

1.2.1.1 Using the Natural Language Search Assistant (AskQ)?

r

sBKeith Cayemberg has performed some some experimentation on the HP ENatural Language Search Assistant, and reports the following formula Ffor easing the effort of locating OpenVMS Support content within NLSA.

l 

"
Chttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+VMS&source=1000 =

l


eGYou can replace the "Example+VMS" with the keywords you wish NFto search for. Important for selecting the OpenVMS content content is ,the "&source=1000" at the end.

cEHere is an extract from Keith Cayemberg's Programming Examples links: 

n 

"
ACMS Examples - Ask VMS Dhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ACMS&source=1000  ADA Examples - Ask VMS iChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ADA&source=1000 r APL Examples - Ask VMS pChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+APL&source=1000   tALL-IN-1 Examples - Ask VMS Lhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ALL%20IN%201&source=1000  eBASIC Examples - Ask VMS sEhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+BASIC&source=1000 n {BLISS Examples - Ask VMS  Ehttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+BLISS&source=1000 d nC++ Examples - Ask VMS aGhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+C%2B%2B&source=1000 y rCMS Examples - Ask VMS iChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+CMS&source=1000   oCOBOL Examples - Ask VMS lEhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+COBOL&source=1000    Datatrieve Examples - Ask VMS Jhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Datatrieve&source=1000  SDCL Examples - Ask VMS cChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+DCL&source=1000 e oDECforms Examples - Ask VMS Hhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+DECforms&source=1000  oFMS Examples - Ask VMS rChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+FMS&source=1000   !Fortran Examples - Ask VMS cGhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Fortran&source=1000   oGKS Examples - Ask VMS eChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+GKS&source=1000  nLexical Examples - Ask VMS eGhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Lexical&source=1000 > fLISP Examples - Ask VMS Dhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+LISP&source=1000  aLSE Examples - Ask VMS tChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+LSE&source=1000 r MACRO Examples - Ask VMS >Ehttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+MACRO&source=1000 i tMotif Examples - Ask VMS aEhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Motif&source=1000   oOPS5 Examples - Ask VMS Dhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+OPS5&source=1000  /Pascal Examples - Ask VMS Fhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Pascal&source=1000  tPHIGS Examples - Ask VMS hEhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+PHIGS&source=1000 " SORT Examples - Ask VMS Dhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+SORT&source=1000  hTDMS Examples - Ask VMS Dhttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+TDMS&source=1000   TPU Examples - Ask VMS eChttp://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+TPU&source=1000  

h
R

1.2.2 What newsgroups carry VMS-related information?

a

o@The vmsnet.* hierarchy is operated by the Encompass users group H(formerly known as DECUS), and contains various newsgroups of interest, 'including vmsnet.misc and vmsnet.alpha.r

FSprechen Sie Deutsch? Besuchen Sie bitte den newsgroup de.comp.os.vms.v

yHThe comp.sys.dec newsgroup carries general discussions about various HP Gcomputer systems, and specifically systems that were acquired by HP as nEpart of the acquisition of Compaq, systems which had previously been nCacquired by Compaq as part of the acquisition of Digital Equipment iCorporation (DIGITAL).

,BAlso of interest are resources and conferencing systems including =Encompasserve (formerly known as DECUServe) and Ken Farmer's eOpenVMS.Org forums:i  ur

vJ

1.2.3 What newsgroup archives are available?

 

'Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailingsee3and onews://comp.os.vms/ g&postings are archived and available ateLSRI International: #ftp://crvax.sri.com/info-vax/ a

oGoogler3 also has extensive newsgroup archives available at 

hF

1.2.4 What is the INFO-VAX mailing list?

l

,tINFO-VAX is a mailing list which is bidirectionally gatewayed to the news://comp.os.vms/ {Wnewsgroup. This means that postings to pnews://comp.os.vms/ wget automatically sent to INFO-VAX subscribers and messages sent to the INFO-VAX list are automatically posted to news://comp.os.vms/ c

nDINFO-VAX can be a useful way to participate in the newsgroup if you Dcan't access the newsgroup directly through a newsreader. Note that EINFO-VAX is a closed mailing list, which means that only subscribers svmay post to it. Please see Section 1.2.4.1 for information on how to Asubscribe, and how you can subscribe such that you can post from nBmultiple addresses but still receive no more than one copy of the mailings.w

rFPlease remember that propogation delays can and do vary, meaning that Hmailings and postings may be delayed or even lost. It is quite possible Cthat postings may not be delivered for several days, and that some /postings will appear out of the expected order.>

/qFor details on the available archives, please see Section 1.2.3.eY

1.2.4.1 How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from INFO-VAX?

p>e

Q)The address for subscription requests is sDInfo-VAX-Request[at]Mvb.Saic.Com. Subscription requests are handled Eautomatically by a mail server. This mail server ignores the subject n9line and processes each line of the message as a command.i

fAThe syntax for subscribing and unsubscribing, as well as setting 0various parameters on your subscription, is:

g > " &   r   c o  a t m y    s  h D n s   a O c n e a e
Table 1-2 INFO-VAX Mail Server Commands
Command Description
HELP ( Acquire information on mail server
 SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX  Join to the mailing list
 UNSUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX  Leave the mailing list
 SET INFO-VAX DIGEST N Select periodic omnibus mail messages from the mail server, rather than 4 multiple individual messages for each posting.
 SET INFO-VAX NODIGESTa 3 Separate mail delivery of each message postedn
 SET INFO-VAX NOMAILo M Establish an email address for posting, though not for receiving, mail.o
 SET INFO-VAX MAILo N Establish an email address for both posting and for receiving mail from  the mailing list.e


cHThe mail server is not case-sensitive; case is irrelevant. Settings and Epolicies can be retrieved from the mail server, typically using HELP.t

lFThe INFO-VAX moderator can be contacted directly at the email address Mark.Berryman[at]Mvb.Saic.Com.ma

h


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e#e6wnre should be found errTable 2-4 OpenVMS Source Listings Kits,
Part Description
 QB-MT1AB-E8m 3 OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings kit and licensep
 QT-MT1AB-Q8 + OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings Updates
BA422AAf 1 OpenVMS I64 Source Listings kit and license.
 QB-001AB-E8s 1 OpenVMS VAX Source Listings kit and licenseo
 QT-001AB-Q8 ) OpenVMS VAX Source Listings Updates
BA422AA. 1 OpenVMS I64 source listings kit and license"


.EAdditional OpenVMS packages and technologies including NetBeans, XML,/"SOAP, UDDI, JDK, Perl, Tomcat, SSL"mc/ehiCand such are discussed within the OpenVMS e-Business InfrastructureoPackage SPD 80.58.xx.ot? Again, please see the OpenVMS SPD and the documents and partsp4 referenced there for the most current information.p

,


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#r6h7in 1977. VAX/VMS Version V1.0;shipped in 1978, along with the first revenue-ship 11/780s.

COpenVMS was designed entirely within HP and specifically within theDformer Digital Equipment Corporation (DIGITAL). Two of the principal@desiS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗((F"*LEFT-LOCAL.INC;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗))E!*NETSERVER.LOG;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3  .2CB(y筗**T0*VOLSHAD_SEPT13_PROD_DESC.DOC;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗++=B2.PDF;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗,,P,-UMESHADOWING_NOV2001.DOC;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗--;BPDF;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗..Q-WBEM'HPWEB_LEFT-LOCAL.INC;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗//@$META.INC;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3  .2CB(y筗00BINDEX.HTML;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗11E!NETSERVER.LOG;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗22E!REL_NOTES.TXT;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗33@ PORT.TXT;BEAVIS DISK$WEB3 .2CB(y筗44J