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OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Part 1/11

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Archive-name: dec-faq/vms/part1
Posting-Frequency: quarterly
Last-modified: 02 Sep 2005
Version: VMSFAQ_20050902-01.TXT

See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
                   The OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)




                   ABSTRACT

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

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




                   Revision/Update Information   OpenVMS V8.2-1

                   Revision/Update Information:  Revision Date/September
                                                 2005










                   FAQ

 














          ________________________________________________________________

          Contents

                __________________________________________________________
                PREFACE                                                  i

                __________________________________________________________
                OPENVMS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)               iii

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 1  INTRODUCTION                                      1-1

                __________________________________________________________
                1.1   WHAT CORE OPENVMS URLS DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?      1-1

                __________________________________________________________
                1.2   WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS USENET NEWSGROUPS?          1-2
                1.2.1     What is the scope of the comp.os.vms
                          newsgroup?                                   1-2
                1.2.1.1      Using the Natural Language Search Assistant
                             (AskQ)?, 1-2
                1.2.2     What newsgroups carry VMS-related
                          information?                                 1-4
                1.2.3     What newsgroup archives are available?       1-5
                1.2.4     What is the INFO-VAX mailing list?           1-5
                1.2.4.1      How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from
                             INFO-VAX?, 1-5

                __________________________________________________________
                1.3   WHAT IS [N]ETIQUETTE?                            1-7

                __________________________________________________________
                1.4   WHAT OPENVMS USER GROUP(S) ARE AVAILABLE?       1-10

                __________________________________________________________
                1.5   OPENVMS SUPPORT, QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS?        1-11
                1.5.1     Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business
                          Issues?                                     1-11
                1.5.2     OpenVMS Ambassadors?                        1-12
                1.5.3     Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and
                          Questions?                                  1-12
                1.5.4     Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical
                          Issues?                                     1-12

                                                                       iii

 





                   Contents




          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 2  GENERAL INFORMATION                               2-1

                __________________________________________________________
                2.1   WHAT IS OPENVMS? WHAT IS ITS HISTORY?            2-1

                __________________________________________________________
                2.2   WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VMS AND
                      OPENVMS?                                         2-3

                __________________________________________________________
                2.3   WHAT'S IN A NAME? TERMINOLOGY AND PRODUCTS?      2-3
                2.3.1     How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS?           2-4

                __________________________________________________________
                2.4   WHICH IS BETTER, OPENVMS OR UNIX?                2-4

                __________________________________________________________
                2.5   IS HP CONTINUING FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR
                      OPENVMS?                                         2-5

                __________________________________________________________
                2.6   WHAT OPENVMS DISTRIBUTION KITS ARE AVAILABLE?    2-5
                2.6.1     Where can I download OpenVMS and Layered
                          Product Kits?                                2-8

                __________________________________________________________
                2.7   IN WHAT LANGUAGE IS OPENVMS WRITTEN?             2-8

                __________________________________________________________
                2.8   OBTAINING AND TRANSFERING OPENVMS LICENSES?      2-9
                2.8.1     Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS
                          licensees?                                   2-9
                2.8.1.1      Vendors offering Hobbyist Licenses, 2-10
                2.8.2     OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses?      2-11
                2.8.3     What developer and partner licensing
                          programs are available?                     2-11
                2.8.4     How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMS
                          license?                                    2-12

                __________________________________________________________
                2.9   DOES OPENVMS SUPPORT THE EURO CURRENCY
                      SYMBOL?                                         2-12

                __________________________________________________________
                2.10  OPENVMS PORTS? ITANIUM? PORTS TO IA-32, EM64T OR
                      AMD64 SYSTEMS?                                  2-12

                   iv

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                2.11  ARE THERE ANY NETWORK-ACCESSIBLE OPENVMS
                      SYSTEMS?                                        2-16

                __________________________________________________________
                2.12  WHAT VERSION OF OPENVMS DO I NEED?              2-17

                __________________________________________________________
                2.13  HOW CAN I SUBMIT OPENVMS FREEWARE?              2-19

                __________________________________________________________
                2.14  PORTING APPLICATIONS TO OPENVMS?                2-19

                __________________________________________________________
                2.15  WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO OPENVMS SOFTWARE
                      DEVELOPERS?                                     2-20

                __________________________________________________________
                2.16  MEMORY MANAGEMENT, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROCESS
                      SCHEDULING, ETC?                                2-21

                __________________________________________________________
                2.17  BASIC UNITS OF MEASUREMENT?                     2-22
                2.17.1    How many bytes are in a disk block?         2-23
                2.17.2    How many bytes are in a memory page?        2-24
                2.17.3    How do I convert? Disk Blocks? KB, MB,
                          GB, TB?                                     2-25

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 3  DOCUMENTATION                                     3-1

                __________________________________________________________
                3.1   WHERE CAN I FIND ONLINE COPIES OF OPENVMS
                      MANUALS?                                         3-1

                __________________________________________________________
                3.2   WHAT ONLINE INFORMATION AND WEBSITES ARE
                      AVAILABLE?                                       3-2

                __________________________________________________________
                3.3   HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A HELP TOPIC TO A
                      TEXT FILE?                                       3-5

                __________________________________________________________
                3.4   DOES OPENVMS MARKETING HAVE AN E-MAIL
                      ADDRESS?                                         3-5

                                                                         v

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                3.5   WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT OPENVMS EXECUTIVE
                      INTERNALS?                                       3-5

                __________________________________________________________
                3.6   WHERE CAN NEW USERS FIND TUTORIAL INFORMATION ABOUT
                      OPENVMS?                                         3-6
                3.6.1     Tutorial Websites?                           3-6
                3.6.2     Books and Tutorials?                         3-8

                __________________________________________________________
                3.7   WHAT OPENVMS MAILING LISTS ARE AVAILABLE?       3-10

                __________________________________________________________
                3.8   WHAT IS THIS ASK THE WIZARD WEBSITE I'VE HEARD
                      ABOUT?                                          3-11

                __________________________________________________________
                3.9   WHERE CAN I FIND THE LATEST C RUN-TIME LIBRARY
                      MANUALS?                                        3-12

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 4  TIME AND TIMEKEEPING                              4-1

                __________________________________________________________
                4.1   A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENVMS TIMEKEEPING,
                      PLEASE?                                          4-1
                4.1.1     Details of the OpenVMS system
                          time-keeping?                                4-2
                4.1.1.1      VAX hardware time-keeping details..., 4-3
                4.1.1.1.1     TOY clock, 4-3
                4.1.1.1.2     EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-3
                4.1.1.1.3     EXE$GQ_TODCBASE, 4-3
                4.1.1.1.4     EXE$GL_TODR, 4-4
                4.1.1.2      Alpha hardware time-keeping details..., 4-5
                4.1.1.2.1     Battery-Backed Watch (BB_WATCH) Chip, 4-5
                4.1.1.2.2     EXE$GQ_SYSTIME, 4-6
                4.1.1.2.3     EXE$GQ_SAVED_HWCLOCK, 4-6
                4.1.1.3      Why does VAX need a SET TIME at least once a
                             year?, 4-7
                4.1.2     How does OpenVMS VAX maintain system
                          time?                                        4-7


                   vi

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                4.2   KEEPING THE OPENVMS SYSTEM TIME SYNCHRONIZED?    4-9

                __________________________________________________________
                4.3   EXTERNAL TIME-BASE HARDWARE?                    4-11
                4.3.1     Why do my cluster batch jobs start
                          early?                                      4-11
                4.3.2     Why does my OpenVMS system time drift?      4-12
                4.3.3     Resetting the system time into the
                          past?                                       4-13
                4.3.4     How can I drift the OpenVMS system
                          time?                                       4-13
                4.3.5     How can I configure TCP/IP Services NTP
                          as a time provider?                         4-14

                __________________________________________________________
                4.4   MANAGING TIMEZONES, TIMEKEEPING, UTC, AND DAYLIGHT
                      SAVING TIME?                                    4-16
                4.4.1     Creating, Updating and Managing Timezone
                          Definitions?                                4-19
                4.4.1.1      Customizing or Updating your TDF (Timezone)
                             Setting?, 4-20
                4.4.1.2      US Daylight Time Changes Starting
                             1-Mar-2007?, 4-22
                4.4.2     Timezones and Time-related Logical
                          Names?                                      4-22
                4.4.3     How to troubleshoot TDF problems on
                          OpenVMS?                                    4-23

                __________________________________________________________
                4.5   WHY DOES THE SET TIME COMMAND FAIL? HELP MANAGING
                      DTSS?                                           4-25

                __________________________________________________________
                4.6   SETTING TIME ON ALPHASERVER ES47, ES80, GS1280
                      CONSOLE?                                        4-27

                __________________________________________________________
                4.7   UTC VS GMT VS VS UT1/UT1/UT2 TDF? WHAT ARE THESE
                      ACRONYMS?                                       4-29

                __________________________________________________________
                4.8   USING W32TIME OR AN SNTP AS A TIME PROVIDER?    4-30

                                                                       vii

 





                   Contents




          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 5  SYSTEM MANAGEMENT INFORMATION                     5-1

                __________________________________________________________
                5.1   WHAT IS AN INSTALLED IMAGE?                      5-1

                __________________________________________________________
                5.2   ARE THERE ANY KNOWN VIRUSES FOR OPENVMS?         5-2

                __________________________________________________________
                5.3   SOURCES OF OPENVMS SECURITY INFORMATION?         5-4

                __________________________________________________________
                5.4   HOW DO I MOUNT AN ISO-9660 CD ON OPENVMS?        5-4

                __________________________________________________________
                5.5   HOW DO I EXTRACT THE CONTENTS OF A PCSI KIT?     5-6

                __________________________________________________________
                5.6   EMERGENCY (CONVERSATIONAL) SYSTEM STARTUP?       5-7
                5.6.1     I've forgotten the SYSTEM password - what
                          can I do?                                   5-11
                5.6.2     My product licenses have expired - what
                          can I do?                                   5-11

                __________________________________________________________
                5.7   HOW DO I CHANGE THE NODE NAME OF AN OPENVMS
                      SYSTEM?                                         5-12

                __________________________________________________________
                5.8   WHY DOESN'T OPENVMS SEE THE NEW MEMORY I JUST
                      ADDED?                                          5-14

                __________________________________________________________
                5.9   HOW DO I CHANGE THE TEXT IN A USER'S UIC
                      IDENTIFIER?                                     5-15

                __________________________________________________________
                5.10  WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS VERSION UPGRADE PATHS?     5-16
                5.10.1    OpenVMS Alpha Upgrade (or Update) Paths     5-16
                5.10.2    OpenVMS I64 Upgrade Paths                   5-19
                5.10.3    OpenVMS VAX Release Upgrade Paths           5-20
                5.10.4    OpenVMS Cluster Rolling Upgrade Paths       5-21
                5.10.5    OpenVMS VAX Manual Organization             5-21
                5.10.6    OpenVMS Product Version and Support
                          Information                                 5-22
                5.10.7    OpenVMS Alpha and I64 Upgrade
                          Terminology                                 5-23

                   viii

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                5.11  WHY DO I HAVE A NEGATIVE NUMBER IN THE PAGEFILE
                      RESERVABLE PAGES?                               5-24

                __________________________________________________________
                5.12  DO I HAVE TO UPDATE LAYERED PRODUCTS WHEN UPDATING
                      OPENVMS?                                        5-26

                __________________________________________________________
                5.13  HOW DO I CHANGE THE VOLUME LABEL OF A DISK?     5-26

                __________________________________________________________
                5.14  HOW CAN I SET UP A SHARED DIRECTORY?            5-27

                __________________________________________________________
                5.15  WHY DO I GET EXTRA BLANK PAGES ON MY HP
                      PRINTER?                                        5-28

                __________________________________________________________
                5.16  DRIVERS AND CONFIGURATION OF NEW GRAPHICS
                      CONTROLLERS?                                    5-29
                5.16.1    The ELSA GLoria Synergy                     5-29
                5.16.2    PowerStorm 300, PowerStorm 350              5-30
                5.16.3    PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20            5-31
                5.16.4    Radeon 7500                                 5-31

                __________________________________________________________
                5.17  HOW CAN I ACQUIRE OPENVMS PATCHES, FIXES, AND
                      ECOS?                                           5-31

                __________________________________________________________
                5.18  HOW DO I MOVE THE QUEUE MANAGER DATABASE?       5-32

                __________________________________________________________
                5.19  HOW DO I DELETE AN UNDELETABLE/UNSTOPPABLE (RWAST)
                      PROCESS?                                        5-33

                __________________________________________________________
                5.20  HOW DO I RESET THE ERROR COUNT(S)?              5-34

                __________________________________________________________
                5.21  HOW DO I FIND OUT IF THE TAPE DRIVE SUPPORTS
                      COMPRESSION?                                    5-37

                __________________________________________________________
                5.22  CAN I COPY SYSUAF TO ANOTHER VERSION? TO VAX? TO
                      ALPHA?                                          5-37

                                                                        ix

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                5.23  HOW DO I DELETE (TIMEOUT) IDLE PROCESSES?       5-39

                __________________________________________________________
                5.24  DO I NEED A PAK FOR THE DECEVENT (HP ANALYZE)
                      TOOL?                                           5-40

                __________________________________________________________
                5.25  INITIALIZE ACCVIO AND ANSI TAPE LABEL
                      SUPPORT?                                        5-40

                __________________________________________________________
                5.26  HOW DO I RECOVER FROM INSVIRMEM ERRORS?         5-41

                __________________________________________________________
                5.27  HOW CAN I PREVENT A SERIAL TERMINAL LINE FROM
                      INITIATING A LOGIN?                             5-41

                __________________________________________________________
                5.28  HOW DOES PCSI USE THE IMAGE BUILD_IDENT
                      FIELD?                                          5-42

                __________________________________________________________
                5.29  HOW CAN I TELL WHAT SOFTWARE (AND VERSION) IS
                      INSTALLED?                                      5-44

                __________________________________________________________
                5.30  WHAT FILE CHECKSUM TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE FOR
                      OPENVMS?                                        5-45

                __________________________________________________________
                5.31  WHAT (AND WHERE) IS THE OPENVMS MANAGEMENT
                      STATION?                                        5-46

                __________________________________________________________
                5.32  HOW TO DETERMINE CURRENT DISK FRAGMENTATION
                      LEVEL?                                          5-46

                __________________________________________________________
                5.33  SYSBOOT-I-FILENOTLOC, UNABLE TO LOCATE
                      SYS$CPU_ROUTINES?                               5-46

                __________________________________________________________
                5.34  HOW CAN I CUSTOMIZE THE DCPS DEVICE CONTROL FOR A
                      NEW PRINTER?                                    5-47

                   x

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                5.35  WHY DO $GETDEV MOUNTCNT AND SHOW DEVICE MOUNT COUNTS
                      DIFFER?                                         5-48

                __________________________________________________________
                5.36  WHAT SOFTWARE IS NEEDED FOR POSTSCRIPT
                      PRINTERS?                                       5-49

                __________________________________________________________
                5.37  HOW DO I REMOVE A PCSI-INSTALLED PATCH (ECO)
                      KIT?                                            5-49

                __________________________________________________________
                5.38  SYSINIT-E, ERROR MOUNTING SYSTEM DEVICE,
                      STATUS=0072832C                                 5-50

                __________________________________________________________
                5.39  RESOLVING LICENSE PAK PROBLEMS?                 5-50

                __________________________________________________________
                5.40  CHANGING THE OPENVMS VERSION NUMBER?            5-52

                __________________________________________________________
                5.41  HOW TO PREVENT USERS FROM CHOOSING OBVIOUS
                      PASSWORDS?                                      5-52

                __________________________________________________________
                5.42  PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE OPENVMS BACKUP
                      UTILITY?                                        5-54
                5.42.1    Why isn't BACKUP/SINCE=BACKUP working?      5-54
                5.42.1.1     Why has OpenVMS gone through the agony of
                             this change?, 5-55
                5.42.1.2     Can you get the old BACKUP behaviour
                             back?, 5-55
                5.42.2    What can I do to improve BACKUP
                          performance?                                5-55
                5.42.3    Why is BACKUP not working as expected?      5-57
                5.42.4    How do I fix a corrupt BACKUP saveset?      5-59
                5.42.5    How do I write a BACKUP saveset to a
                          remote tape?                                5-60
                5.42.6    How to perform a DoD security disk
                          erasure?                                    5-61
                5.42.7    How to enable telnet virtual terminals?     5-62
                5.42.7.1     Volume Shadowing MiniCopy vs MiniMerge?, 5-63
                5.42.7.1.1    Mini-Copy?, 5-64
                5.42.7.1.2    Mini-Merge?, 5-64

                                                                        xi

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                5.43  PLEASE EXPLAIN DELETE/ERASE AND FILE LOCKS?     5-65

                __________________________________________________________
                5.44  MANAGING FILE VERSIONS?                         5-65

                __________________________________________________________
                5.45  HOST-BASED VOLUME SHADOWING AND RAID?           5-67

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 6  INFORMATION ON MAIL                               6-1

                __________________________________________________________
                6.1   MAIL KEEPS SAYING I HAVE NEW MESSAGES, BUT I DON'T.
                      WHAT DO I DO?                                    6-1

                __________________________________________________________
                6.2   HOW DO I SEND OR READ ATTACHMENTS IN VMS
                      MAIL?                                            6-1

                __________________________________________________________
                6.3   HOW CAN I BLOCK SMTP MAIL RELAY SPAM?            6-3

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 7  INFORMATION ON UTILITIES                          7-1

                __________________________________________________________
                7.1   HOW DO I PLAY AN AUDIO CD ON MY WORKSTATION?     7-1

                __________________________________________________________
                7.2   HOW DO I ACCESS A MICROSOFT WINDOWS FLOPPY DISK FROM
                      OPENVMS?                                         7-2

                __________________________________________________________
                7.3   HOW DO I PLAY SOUND FILES ON AN ALPHASTATION?
                      DECSOUND DOESN'T WORK.                           7-3

                __________________________________________________________
                7.4   HOW DO I READ IBM EBCDIC TAPES ON OPENVMS?       7-3

                __________________________________________________________
                7.5   HOW CAN I PATCH AN OPENVMS ALPHA IMAGE?          7-4


                   xii

 





                   Contents




          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 8  DCL DETAILS                                       8-1

                __________________________________________________________
                8.1   DCL SYMBOLS AND OPENVMS LOGICAL NAMES?           8-1

                __________________________________________________________
                8.2   HOW DO I RUN A PROGRAM WITH ARGUMENTS?           8-3

                __________________________________________________________
                8.3   HOW CAN I CLEAR THE SCREEN IN DCL?               8-5

                __________________________________________________________
                8.4   USING REPLY/LOG FROM DCL? DISABLING CONSOLE
                      OPCOMS?                                          8-5

                __________________________________________________________
                8.5   HOW DO I GENERATE A RANDOM NUMBER IN DCL?        8-6

                __________________________________________________________
                8.6   WHAT DOES THE MCR COMMAND DO?                    8-7

                __________________________________________________________
                8.7   HOW DO I CHANGE THE OPENVMS SYSTEM PROMPT?       8-7

                __________________________________________________________
                8.8   CAN I DO DECNET TASK-TO-TASK COMMUNICATION WITH
                      DCL?                                             8-8

                __________________________________________________________
                8.9   HOW CAN I GET THE WIDTH SETTING OF A
                      TERMINAL?                                        8-9

                __________________________________________________________
                8.10  WHY DOESN'T DCL SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION WORK?        8-9

                __________________________________________________________
                8.11  HOW CAN I SUBSTITUTE SYMBOLS IN A PIPE?         8-10

                __________________________________________________________
                8.12  USE OF RUN/DETACH, LOGINOUT, AND LOGICAL
                      NAMES?                                          8-10

                __________________________________________________________
                8.13  HOW TO USE ESCAPE AND CONTROL CHARACTERS IN
                      DCL?                                            8-11

                                                                      xiii

 





                   Contents




          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 9  FILES                                             9-1

                __________________________________________________________
                9.1   HOW CAN I UNDELETE A FILE?                       9-1

                __________________________________________________________
                9.2   WHY DOES SHOW QUOTA GIVE A DIFFERENT ANSWER THAN
                      DIR/SIZE?                                        9-1

                __________________________________________________________
                9.3   HOW DO I MAKE SURE THAT MY DATA IS SAFELY WRITTEN TO
                      DISK?                                            9-2

                __________________________________________________________
                9.4   WHAT ARE THE LIMITS ON FILE SPECIFICATIONS AND
                      DIRECTORIES?                                     9-3

                __________________________________________________________
                9.5   WHAT IS THE LARGEST DISK VOLUME SIZE OPENVMS CAN
                      ACCESS?                                          9-4

                __________________________________________________________
                9.6   WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM FILE SIZE, AND THE RMS RECORD
                      SIZE LIMIT?                                      9-7

                __________________________________________________________
                9.7   HOW DO I WRITE CD-RECORDABLE OR DVD MEDIA ON
                      OPENVMS?                                         9-7
                9.7.1     CD and DVD notation, terminology?           9-11
                9.7.2     Use of RRD42 and other older
                          (embossed-media) CD drives?                 9-13
                9.7.3     Creating Bootable OpenVMS I64 CD or DVD
                          Media? SYS$SETBOOT?                         9-13

                __________________________________________________________
                9.8   WHAT I/O TRANSFER SIZE LIMITS EXIST IN
                      OPENVMS?                                        9-14

                __________________________________________________________
                9.9   CAN I USE ODBC TO CONNECT TO OPENVMS DATABASE
                      FILES?                                          9-15

                __________________________________________________________
                9.10  IF MY DISKS ARE SHOWN AS VIOC COMPATIBLE, AM I USING
                      XFC?                                            9-15

                   xiv

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                9.11  RMS SEQUENTIAL FILES AND PLATFORM
                      PORTABILITY?                                    9-16


          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 10  OPENVMS PROGRAMMING INFORMATION                 10-1

                __________________________________________________________
                10.1  MODULAR PROGRAMMING, FACILITY PREFIXES AND SYMBOL
                      NAMING?                                         10-1

                __________________________________________________________
                10.2  CAN I HAVE A SOURCE CODE EXAMPLE OF
                      CALLING...?                                     10-2

                __________________________________________________________
                10.3  HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENTS FROM THE COMMAND
                      LINE?                                           10-4

                __________________________________________________________
                10.4  HOW DO I GET A FORMATTED ERROR MESSAGE IN A
                      VARIABLE?                                       10-5

                __________________________________________________________
                10.5  HOW DO I LINK AGAINST SYS$SYSTEM:SYS.STB ON AN ALPHA
                      SYSTEM?                                         10-5

                __________________________________________________________
                10.6  HOW DO I DO A SET DEFAULT FROM INSIDE A
                      PROGRAM?                                        10-5

                __________________________________________________________
                10.7  HOW DO I TURN MY FORTRAN COMMON INTO A SHAREABLE
                      IMAGE ON ALPHA?                                 10-5

                __________________________________________________________
                10.8  HOW DO I CONVERT BETWEEN IEEE AND VAX FLOATING
                      DATA?                                           10-6

                __________________________________________________________
                10.9  HOW DO I GET THE ARGUMENT COUNT IN A FORTRAN
                      ROUTINE?                                        10-7

                __________________________________________________________
                10.10 HOW DO I GET A UNIQUE SYSTEM ID FOR LICENSING
                      PURPOSES?                                       10-7

                                                                        xv

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                10.11 WHAT IS AN EXECUTABLE, SHAREABLE, SYSTEM OR UWSS
                      IMAGE?                                          10-8

                __________________________________________________________
                10.12 HOW DO I DO A FILE COPY FROM A PROGRAM?         10-9

                __________________________________________________________
                10.13 WHAT IS A DESCRIPTOR?                          10-10

                __________________________________________________________
                10.14 HOW DO I CREATE A PROCESS UNDER ANOTHER
                      USERNAME?                                      10-12

                __________________________________________________________
                10.15 WHY DO LIB$SPAWN, LIB$SET_SYMBOL FAIL IN DETACHED
                      PROCESSES?                                     10-13

                __________________________________________________________
                10.16 WHERE CAN I OBTAIN BLISS, AND THE LIBRARIES AND
                      SUPPORTING FILES?                              10-14

                __________________________________________________________
                10.17 HOW CAN I OPEN A FILE FOR SHARED ACCESS?       10-15

                __________________________________________________________
                10.18 HOW CAN I HAVE COMMON SOURCES FOR MESSAGES,
                      CONSTANTS?                                     10-16

                __________________________________________________________
                10.19 HOW DO I ACTIVATE THE OPENVMS DEBUGGER FROM AN
                      APPLICATION?                                   10-16

                __________________________________________________________
                10.20 DEALING WITH ENDIAN-NESS?                      10-17

                __________________________________________________________
                10.21 HOW TO RESOLVE LINK-I-DATMISCH ERRORS?         10-17

                __________________________________________________________
                10.22 HP C AND OTHER OPENVMS C PROGRAMMING
                      CONSIDERATIONS?                                10-18
                10.22.1   Other common C issues                      10-21
                10.22.2   Other common C++ issues                    10-23

                __________________________________________________________
                10.23 STATUS OF PROGRAMMING TOOLS ON OPENVMS VAX?    10-25

                   xvi

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                10.24 CHOOSING A VERSION NUMBER FOR APPLICATION
                      CODE?                                          10-26

                __________________________________________________________
                10.25 SELECTING A PROCESS DUMP DIRECTORY?            10-27

                __________________________________________________________
                10.26 ACCESS TO ITANIUM ASSEMBLER?                   10-28

                __________________________________________________________
                10.27 KERNEL-MODE CODING RESTRICTIONS?               10-28

                __________________________________________________________
                10.28 DECODING AN ACCESS VIOLATION (ACCVIO) ERROR?   10-29

                __________________________________________________________
                10.29 GENERATING AN AUTODIN-II CRC32?                10-31

                __________________________________________________________
                10.30 ENABLING BUILT-IN TRACING?                     10-31

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 11  DECWINDOWS                                      11-1

                __________________________________________________________
                11.1  HOW DO I LET SOMEONE ELSE DISPLAY SOMETHING ON MY
                      WORKSTATION?                                    11-1

                __________________________________________________________
                11.2  HOW DO I CREATE A DISPLAY ON ANOTHER
                      WORKSTATION?                                    11-3

                __________________________________________________________
                11.3  HOW CAN I GET THE INFORMATION FROM SHOW DISPLAY INTO
                      A SYMBOL?                                       11-3

                __________________________________________________________
                11.4  HOW DO I GET A LOG OF A DECTERM SESSION?        11-4

                __________________________________________________________
                11.5  WHY IS DECWINDOWS MOTIF NOT STARTING?           11-4

                __________________________________________________________
                11.6  HOW DO I SET THE TITLE ON A DECTERM WINDOW?     11-6

                                                                      xvii

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                11.7  HOW DO I CUSTOMIZE DECWINDOWS, INCLUDING THE LOGIN
                      SCREEN?                                         11-7
                11.7.1    How do I customize DECwindows
                          keymapping?                                11-10
                11.7.2    Why does the DELETE key delete forward
                          instead of backward?                       11-10

                __________________________________________________________
                11.8  WHY DOESN'T XTAPPADDINPUT()  WORK ON OPENVMS?  11-12

                __________________________________________________________
                11.9  WHY DO THE KEYBOARD ARROW KEYS MOVE THE DECWINDOWS
                      CURSOR?                                        11-13

                __________________________________________________________
                11.10 WHY DOES HALF MY DECWINDOWS DISPLAY BLANK?     11-13

                __________________________________________________________
                11.11 %DECW-W-NODEVICE, NO GRAPHICS DEVICE FOUND ON THIS
                      SYSTEM?                                        11-14

                __________________________________________________________
                11.12 HOW CAN I RESET THE WARNING BELL VOLUME?       11-16

                __________________________________________________________
                11.13 HOW CAN I ALTER THE DECWINDOWS CDE BACKDROP?   11-17

                __________________________________________________________
                11.14 HOW CAN I ENABLE THE DECWINDOWS TCP/IP
                      TRANSPORT                                      11-17

                __________________________________________________________
                11.15 CAN I USE DECWINDOWS 1.2-* ON OPENVMS V7.3-2 OR
                      LATER?                                         11-17

                __________________________________________________________
                11.16 HOW TO ADD FONTS INTO DECWINDOWS?              11-18

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 12  MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION                       12-1

                __________________________________________________________
                12.1  WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON ESCAPE AND CONTROL
                      SEQUENCES?                                      12-1

                   xviii

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                12.2  DOES DECPRINT (DCPS) WORK WITH THE LRA0 PARALLEL
                      PORT?                                           12-3

                __________________________________________________________
                12.3  HOW DO I CHECK FOR FREE SPACE ON A (BACKUP)
                      TAPE?                                           12-3

                __________________________________________________________
                12.4  CORRECTLY USING LICENSE PAKS AND LMF?           12-4

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 13  FINDING AND USING SOFTWARE                      13-1

                __________________________________________________________
                13.1  WHERE CAN I FIND FREEWARE/SHAREWARE/SOFTWARE FOR
                      OPENVMS?                                        13-1

                __________________________________________________________
                13.2  WHERE CAN I FIND UNIX TOOLS FOR OPENVMS?       13-15
                13.2.1    C system and library routines              13-15
                13.2.2    X Windows utilities and routines           13-16
                13.2.3    TCP/IP Tools and Utilities for OpenVMS?    13-16
                13.2.4    The vi text editor                         13-17
                13.2.5    The Emacs Text Editor                      13-17
                13.2.6    GNV: Various GNU tools                     13-17
                13.2.6.1     GCC compiler, 13-18

                __________________________________________________________
                13.3  WHAT IS THE STATUS OF PL/I ON OPENVMS?         13-19

                __________________________________________________________
                13.4  WHERE CAN I GET THE MOZILLA WEB BROWSER?       13-19

                __________________________________________________________
                13.5  WHERE CAN I GET JAVA FOR OPENVMS?              13-20

                __________________________________________________________
                13.6  OBTAINING USER INPUT IN DCL CGI SCRIPT?        13-21

                __________________________________________________________
                13.7  HOW CAN A BATCH JOB GET ITS OWN BATCH ENTRY
                      NUMBER?                                        13-22

                __________________________________________________________
                13.8  HOW DO I CONVERT TO NEW CMS OR DTM LIBRARIES?  13-22

                                                                       xix

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                13.9  WHERE CAN I GET PERL FOR OPENVMS?              13-23

                __________________________________________________________
                13.10 OBTAINING THE DECMIGRATE (AEST OR VEST, AND TIE)
                      TRANSLATOR?                                    13-25

                __________________________________________________________
                13.11 WHERE CAN I GET ZIP, UNZIP, SELF-EXTRACTING ZIP,
                      ETC?                                           13-26

                __________________________________________________________
                13.12 ARE VAX HARDWARE EMULATORS AVAILABLE?          13-27

          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 14  HARDWARE INFORMATION                            14-1

                __________________________________________________________
                14.1  WHAT ARE THE OPENVMS DIFFERENCES AMONG VAX, ALPHA,
                      AND IA-64?                                      14-1

                __________________________________________________________
                14.2  SEEKING PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR ALPHA (AND VAX)
                      SYSTEMS?                                        14-3

                __________________________________________________________
                14.3  CONSOLE COMMANDS, SERIAL LINES, AND CONTROLS?   14-3
                14.3.1    What commands are available in the Alpha
                          SRM console?                                14-4
                14.3.2    What does SRM mean? What is PALcode?        14-4
                14.3.3    Alpha COM ports and VAX console serial
                          line information?                           14-5
                14.3.3.1     Which terminal device name is assigned to the
                             COM ports?, 14-5
                14.3.3.2     Which serial port is the console on the
                             MicroVAX 3100?, 14-5
                14.3.3.3     How can I set up an alternate console on a
                             VAXstation?, 14-6
                14.3.3.4     Please explain the back panel of the MicroVAX
                             II, 14-6
                14.3.4    What are Alpha console environment
                          variables?                                  14-8


                   xx

 





                   Contents




                14.3.5    What are the boot control flag values?      14-9
                14.3.5.1     What are the I64 IPB boot flag values?, 14-9
                14.3.5.2     What are the Alpha APB boot flag
                             values?, 14-10
                14.3.5.3     What are the VAX VMB boot flag values?, 14-12
                14.3.6    How do I boot an AlphaStation without
                          monitor or keyboard?                       14-15
                14.3.7    Downloading and using SRM console
                          Firmware?                                  14-16
                14.3.7.1     Where can I get updated console firmware for
                             Alpha systems?, 14-16
                14.3.7.2     How do I reload SRM firmware on a half-flash
                             Alpha system?, 14-17
                14.3.7.3     How do I switch between AlphaBIOS/ARC and SRM
                             consoles?, 14-18
                14.3.8    Console Management Options                 14-21
                14.3.9    Why do my EFI Boot Aliases Fail?           14-22
                14.3.10   Can OpenVMS access the EFI console Boot
                          Aliases?                                   14-22
                14.3.11   Downloading and using EFI Console
                          Firmware?                                  14-22

                __________________________________________________________
                14.4  WHAT PLATFORMS WILL OPENVMS OPERATE ON?        14-24
                14.4.1    on the Alpha Multia?                       14-26
                14.4.2    on AlphaPC 164LX? AlphaPC 164SX?           14-28
                14.4.2.1     on the NoName AXPpci33 system?, 14-28
                14.4.3    on the Alpha XL series?                    14-29
                14.4.4    OpenVMS on the Personal Workstation -a
                          and -au series?                            14-29
                14.4.4.1     OpenVMS on the Whitebox Windows-Only series
                             Alpha?, 14-31
                14.4.4.2     OpenVMS and Personal Workstation ATA (IDE)
                             bootstrap?, 14-32
                14.4.5    On the Intel Itanium IA-64 platform?       14-32
                14.4.5.1     Where can I get Intel Itanium
                             information?, 14-33

                __________________________________________________________
                14.5  WHAT IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE SYSTEM THAT WILL RUN
                      OPENVMS?                                       14-34



                                                                       xxi

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                14.6  WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ON ALPHA
                      SYSTEMS?                                       14-35

                __________________________________________________________
                14.7  DESCRIBE ALPHA INSTRUCTION EMULATION AND INSTRUCTION
                      SUBSETS?                                       14-36

                __________________________________________________________
                14.8  SO HOW DO I OPEN UP THE DEC 3000 CHASSIS?      14-38

                __________________________________________________________
                14.9  WHAT IS BYTE SWIZZLING?                        14-38

                __________________________________________________________
                14.10 WHAT IS THE LAYOUT OF THE VAX FLOATING POINT
                      FORMAT?                                        14-40

                __________________________________________________________
                14.11 WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFO ABOUT VAX SYSTEMS?  14-41

                __________________________________________________________
                14.12 WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON NETBSD FOR VAX
                      SYSTEMS?                                       14-41

                __________________________________________________________
                14.13 WHAT SYSTEM DISK SIZE LIMIT ON THE MICROVAX AND
                      VAXSTATION 3100?                               14-41

                __________________________________________________________
                14.14 WHAT ARE THE VAX PROCESSOR (CPU) CODES?        14-43

                __________________________________________________________
                14.15 WHERE CAN I GET SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE SUPPORT
                      INFORMATION?                                   14-44

                __________________________________________________________
                14.16 WHERE CAN I GET HARDWARE SELF-MAINTENANCE SUPPORT
                      ASSISTANCE?                                    14-45

                __________________________________________________________
                14.17 WHY DOES MY SYSTEM HALT WHEN I POWER-CYCLE THE
                      CONSOLE TERMINAL?                              14-45

                __________________________________________________________
                14.18 CAN I REUSE OLD KEYBOARDS, MICE AND MONITORS WITH A
                      PC?                                            14-46

                   xxii

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                14.19 WHICH VIDEO MONITOR WORKS WITH WHICH GRAPHICS
                      CONTROLLER?                                    14-48

                __________________________________________________________
                14.20 WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION ON STORAGE
                      HARDWARE?                                      14-49

                __________________________________________________________
                14.21 WHY DOES MY LK401 KEYBOARD UNEXPECTEDLY
                      AUTOREPEAT?                                    14-50

                __________________________________________________________
                14.22 PROBLEM - MY LK411 SENDS THE WRONG KEYCODES OR SOME
                      KEYS ARE DEAD                                  14-51

                __________________________________________________________
                14.23 WHICH DE500 VARIANT WORKS WITH WHICH OPENVMS
                      VERSION?                                       14-51

                __________________________________________________________
                14.24 HOW DO I SET THE SPEED AND DUPLEX ON OPENVMS
                      I64?                                           14-53

                __________________________________________________________
                14.25 THIRD-PARTY OR UNSUPPORTED
                      DISK/TAPE/CONTROLLERS/SCSI/WIDGETS?            14-53
                14.25.1   Lists of third-party widgets on
                          OpenVMS?                                   14-56
                14.25.2   Are the 2X-KZPCA-AA and SN-KZPCA-AA LVD
                          Ultra2 SCSI?                               14-57
                14.25.3   Resolving DRVERR fatal device error?       14-57

                __________________________________________________________
                14.26 LOOKING FOR CONNECTOR WIRING PIN-OUTS?         14-57

                __________________________________________________________
                14.27 WHAT CONNECTORS AND WIRING ADAPTERS ARE
                      AVAILABLE?                                     14-60

                __________________________________________________________
                14.28 WHAT IS FLOW CONTROL AND HOW DOES IT WORK?     14-63

                __________________________________________________________
                14.29 CD AND DVD DEVICE REQUIREMENTS?                14-64

                                                                     xxiii

 





                   Contents




          ________________________________________________________________
          CHAPTER 15  INFORMATION ON NETWORKS AND CLUSTERS            15-1

                __________________________________________________________
                15.1  HOW TO CONNECT OPENVMS TO A MODEM?              15-1

                __________________________________________________________
                15.2  OPENVMS AND IP NETWORKING?                      15-1
                15.2.1    How to connect OpenVMS to the Internet?     15-1
                15.2.2    Connecting to an IP Printer?                15-1
                15.2.3    How do I connect a PostScript printer via
                          TCP/IP?                                     15-2
                15.2.4    How do I set a default IP route or
                          gateway on OpenVMS?                         15-3
                15.2.5    How can I set up reverse telnet (like
                          reverse LAT)?                               15-4
                15.2.6    Why can't I use PPP and RAS to connect to
                          OpenVMS Alpha?                              15-4

                __________________________________________________________
                15.3  OPENVMS AND DECNET NETWORKING?                  15-4
                15.3.1    Can DECnet-Plus operate over IP?            15-5
                15.3.2    What does "failure on back translate
                          address request" mean?                      15-5
                15.3.3    Performing SET HOST/MOP in DECnet-Plus?     15-6
                15.3.4    How to flush the DECnet-Plus session
                          cache?                                      15-6

                __________________________________________________________
                15.4  HOW TO DETERMINE THE NETWORK HARDWARE
                      ADDRESS?                                        15-6
                15.4.1    How do I reset the LAN (DECnet-Plus NCL)
                          error counters?                             15-9
                15.4.2    How do I install DECnet Phase IV on VMS
                          7.1?                                        15-9

                __________________________________________________________
                15.5  HOW CAN I SEND (RADIO) PAGES FROM MY OPENVMS
                      SYSTEM?                                        15-11





                   xxiv

 





                   Contents




                __________________________________________________________
                15.6  OPENVMS, CLUSTERS, VOLUME SHADOWING?           15-11
                15.6.1    OpenVMS Cluster Communications Protocol
                          Details?                                   15-12
                15.6.1.1     OpenVMS Cluster (SCS) over DECnet? Over
                             IP?, 15-12
                15.6.1.2     Configuring Cluster SCS for path load
                             balancing?, 15-13
                15.6.1.2.1    Cluster Terminology?, 15-13
                15.6.1.2.2    Cluster Communications Control?, 15-14
                15.6.1.2.3    Cluster Communications Control Tools and
                              Utilities?, 15-15
                15.6.2    Cluster System Parameter Settings?         15-16
                15.6.2.1     What is the correct value for EXPECTED_VOTES
                             in a VMScluster?, 15-16
                15.6.2.1.1    Why no shadowing for a Quorum Disk?, 15-19
                15.6.2.2     Explain disk (or tape) allocation class
                             settings?, 15-19
                15.6.2.2.1    How to configure allocation classes and
                              Multi-Path SCSI?, 15-20
                15.6.3    Tell me about SET HOST/DUP and SET
                          HOST/HSC                                   15-21
                15.6.4    How do I rename a DSSI disk (or tape?)     15-23
                15.6.5    Where can I get Fibre Channel Storage
                          (SAN) information?                         15-24
                15.6.6    Which files must be shared in an OpenVMS
                          Cluster?                                   15-24
                15.6.7    How can I split up an OpenVMS Cluster?     15-25
                15.6.8    Details on Volume Shadowing?               15-27
                15.6.8.1     Does volume shadowing require a non-zero
                             allocation classes?, 15-27


          ________________________________________________________________
          INDEX









                                                                       xxv

 





                   Contents




          ________________________________________________________________
          TABLES

                1-1   Core Websites                                    1-1

                1-2   INFO-VAX Mail Server Commands                    1-6

                2-1   OpenVMS Alpha Media Kits                         2-6

                2-2   OpenVMS I64 Order Numbers                        2-7

                2-3   OpenVMS I64 Media Suffix                         2-7

                2-4   OpenVMS Source Listings Kits                     2-7

                2-5   OpenVMS Alpha Version Rule-Of-Thumb             2-18

                3-1   OpenVMS Websites                                 3-2

                3-2   OpenVMS Tutorial and Documentation Websites      3-6

                3-3   DP Books                                         3-8

                3-4   OpenVMS Mailing Lists                           3-10

                5-1   PCSI Generation Number                          5-43

                11-1  X Windows Display Commands                      11-1

                14-1  I64 Conversational Bootstrap Flags             14-10

                14-2  Alpha Conversational Bootstrap Flags           14-11

                14-3  VAX Conversational Bootstrap Flags             14-12

                14-4  DE500 Speed and Duplex Settings                14-52

                14-5  DEC MMJ Pin-out                                14-57

                14-6  PC DB9 Pin-out                                 14-59

                14-7  MicroVAX DB9 Pin-out                           14-59

                14-8  DECconnect MMJ Connectors and Adapters         14-61

                15-1  Cluster Common Shared Files                    15-24

                   xxvi

 









          ________________________________________________________________

          Preface










































                                                                         i

 









          ________________________________________________________________

          OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


                   This is the OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
                   posting for the comp.os.vms and comp.sys.dec usenet
                   newsgroups.

                               Suggestions and Updates Welcome!

                      Please send your suggestions for changes,
                      additions, or corrections directly to FAQ Editor
                      (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com)

                                 No Support Questions, Please

                      Please do not send technical questions to the
                      FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) . The FAQ
                      Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) is not in a
                      position to answer general questions, nor to
                      provide general product support. Rather, please
                      post your questions to the appropriate newsgroup,
                      or please contact your preferred hardware and/or
                      software support organization(s) directly.

                      Your 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 entire discussion
                   along to the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) for
                   potential inclusion.

                   Do note that the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com)
                   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 you can
                   assist with, of course. If you should find a dead
                   link or a stale URL pointer, please notify the FAQ
                   Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) . If you have
                   or can find the current, correct or updated URL,
                   of course, that greatly assists the FAQ Editor

                                                                       iii

 





                   OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)




                   (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) in maintaining the most
                   current set of links.

                   Thank you!

                                Post to Newsgroups With Care!

                      Please consider reading Section 1.3 before
                      posting to the comp.os.vms or 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 comp.os.vms or other
                   newsgroup-this though individual citations and specific
                   quotations are generally not included in this FAQ.
                   (The FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) wishes to
                   thank to all of those folks who post answers to the
                   newsgroups, and that have contributed to the contents
                   of and to the general improvements of this FAQ.)

                   The following is an incomplete list of the folks that
                   have contributed directly or indirectly to the contents
                   of the OpenVMS FAQ. Additions, corrections, and updates
                   to this list of contributors and to the contents of
                   the FAQ itself are welcome, and all omissions and
                   misspellings are unintentional. Thanks to each of the
                   contributors here, and to all of the folks that have
                   participated in the FAQ and in the newsgroups.

                   Jim Agnew, Paul Anderson, Jason Armistead, Zoltan
                   Arpadffy, John AtoZ, Bailey, (The) Beav, Jeremy Begg,
                   Colin Blake, Fabrice Blanquart, Ken Blaylock, Kenneth
                   Block, Bol, Craig Berry, Mark Berryman, Jim Becker,
                   Verell Boaen, Bol, Jim Brankin, Richard Brodie, Robert
                   Alan Byer, Jeff Campbell, Scott Campbell, Antonio
                   Carlini, Keith Cayemberg, Ken Chaney, Cristy, John
                   Croll, David J. Dachtera, Robert Deininger, Dale
                   Dellutri, Leo Demers, Sue Denham, Thomas Dickey,
                   Eric Dittman, Jim Dunham, Eric, Glenn Everhart, Ken
                   Fairfield, Yaacov Fenster, Gunther Froehlin, Harry

                   iv

 





                   OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)




                   Garonzik, Derek Garson, John Gillings, Andy Goldstein,
                   Clair Grant, Hunter Goatley, Ruth Goldenberg, Vance
                   Haemmerle, Ki Suk Hahn, SHarris, Fletcher Hearns,
                   Phillip Helbig, Hein van den Heuvel, Stephen Hoffman,
                   Eberhard Heuser-Hofmann, Sue Holt, Mark Hopkins,
                   Horn, Jaf, Leif Jansson, Kevin Jenkins, Don R.
                   Jones, Henry Juengst, inazu_k, Geoff Kingsmill,
                   Fred Kleinsorge, Felix Kreisel, Veli Korkko, Ruslan
                   R. Laishev, Norm Lastovica, p_lee, Jerry Leichter,
                   Richard Levitte, Steve Lionel, Denis Maillard, Kerry
                   Main, John E. Malmberg, David Mathog, Dale Miller,
                   Dick Munroe, Patrick Moreau, Morrison, otis, George
                   Pagliarulo, Keith Parris, Plass, pvhp, David Rabahy,
                   Stan Rabinowitz, Mike Raspuzzi, Steve Reece, Ian Ring,
                   Aaron Sakovich, Warren Sander, Mark Schafer, Brian
                   Schenkenberger, Atlant Schmidt, Wayne Sewell, Steven
                   Shamlian, Sue Skonetski, Scott Snadow, Sue Sommer,
                   Scott Squires, stfp, Dave Sweeney, Mike Thompson, Arne
                   Vajhj, Martin Vorlnder, 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 (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) of
                   any omissions, corrections, or updates that might
                   be needed within this list. And thanks to each of
                   these individuals for their assistance and for their
                   contributions, and particularly for sharing their
                   expertise.

          __________________________________________________________
          FAQ Archives and FAQ Locations

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

                   o  http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq/

                   o  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.os.vms/

                   o  news://comp.answers

                   o  news://news.answers

                   o  http://www.faqs.org/

                   o  http://www.google.com/

                                                                         v

 





                   OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)




                   o  http://www.kjsl.com/vmsfaq

                   o  http://eisner.decus.org/vms/faq.htm

                   o  http://www.hoffmanlabs.org

                   Other internet FAQs are generally available in these
                   locations:

                   o  news://comp.answers

                   o  news://news.answers

                   o  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/

                   o  http://www.faqs.org/

                   o  http://www.google.com/

          __________________________________________________________
          FAQ File Formats and Production Information

                   This FAQ is available in ASCII text, Postscript,
                   Bookreader, and HTML, and potentially in other file
                   formats. Certain formats, such as the Adobe 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, the FAQ Editor
                   (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com) recommends downloading,
                   using and searching the ASCII text FAQ format.

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



                   vi

 





                   OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)



          __________________________________________________________
          Old FAQ Section Notations Available in Index

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

          __________________________________________________________
          The Fine Print

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

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

                   Though the editor of this FAQ is an employee of
                   Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), this posting and the
                   information contained within this FAQ are is not an
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                   information, comments or opinions included, cited or
                   otherwise referenced here may or may not reflect the
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                   updates to the FAQ Editor (hoff{atsign}hp{period}com)

                                                                       vii

 





                   OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)




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

                   The master copy of this FAQ is posted at

                   o  http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq

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































                   viii

 










                   _______________________________________________________

          1        Introduction



          __________________________________________________________
          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:

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 1-1  Core Websites

          ________________________________________________________________
          URL_______Contents______________________________________________

          Core OpenVMS Information, including roadmaps and release
          schedules

                    http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/

          OpenVMS and Core Layered Product Documentation

                    http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc/

          Core OpenVMS Support Search Engine URLs, the ITRC support and
          discussion forums, and the ITRC FTP-accessable Patch Area

                    http://askq.compaq.com/ (Natural Language Search
                    Assistant)

                    http://www.itrc.hp.com/

                    ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/

          The OpenVMS Freeware

                    http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/

          The OpenVMS Hobbyist License Program

                    http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/

                    http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/license_software_
          __________programs/index.html___________________________________

                                                                       1-1

 





                   Introduction



          __________________________________________________________
          1.2  What are the OpenVMS Usenet Newsgroups?

                   There 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
                   comp.os.vms newsgroup and the vmsnet.* heirarchy of
                   newsgroups.

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

                   The comp.os.vms newsgroup 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 comp.os.vms/.

          _____________________________
          1.2.1.1  Using the Natural Language Search Assistant (AskQ)?

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

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

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

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

          ACMS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ACMS&source=1000

          ADA Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ADA&source=1000

          APL Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+APL&source=1000

          ALL-IN-1 Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+ALL%20IN%201&source=1000

                   1-2

 





                   Introduction




          BASIC Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+BASIC&source=1000

          BLISS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+BLISS&source=1000

          C++ Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+C%2B%2B&source=1000

          CMS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+CMS&source=1000

          COBOL Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+COBOL&source=1000

          Datatrieve Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Datatrieve&source=1000

          DCL Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+DCL&source=1000

          DECforms Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+DECforms&source=1000

          FMS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+FMS&source=1000

          Fortran Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Fortran&source=1000

          GKS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+GKS&source=1000

          Lexical Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Lexical&source=1000

          LISP Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+LISP&source=1000

          LSE Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+LSE&source=1000

          MACRO Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+MACRO&source=1000

          Motif Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Motif&source=1000

          OPS5 Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+OPS5&source=1000

                                                                       1-3

 





                   Introduction




          Pascal Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+Pascal&source=1000

          PHIGS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+PHIGS&source=1000

          SORT Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+SORT&source=1000

          TDMS Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+TDMS&source=1000

          TPU Examples - Ask VMS
          http://hp.ciber.net/hp/match.asp?query=Example+TPU&source=1000

          _____________________________
          1.2.2  What newsgroups carry VMS-related information?

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

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

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

                   Also of interest are resources and conferencing systems
                   including Encompasserve (formerly known as DECUServe)
                   and Ken Farmer's OpenVMS.Org forums:

                   o  telnet://eisner.decus.org/

                   o  http://www.openvms.org/




                   1-4

 





                   Introduction



          _____________________________
          1.2.3  What newsgroup archives are available?

                   Extensive archives of INFO-VAX mailings and
                   comp.os.vms postings are archived and available at
                   SRI International: ftp://crvax.sri.com/info-vax/

                   Google also has extensive newsgroup archives available
                   at

                   o  http://www.google.com/

          _____________________________
          1.2.4  What is the INFO-VAX mailing list?

                   INFO-VAX is a mailing list which is bidirectionally
                   gatewayed to the comp.os.vms newsgroup. This means that
                   postings to comp.os.vms get automatically sent to INFO-
                   VAX subscribers and messages sent to the INFO-VAX list
                   are automatically posted to comp.os.vms

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

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

                   For details on the available archives, please see
                   Section 1.2.3.

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

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

                                                                       1-5

 





                   Introduction




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

          ________________________________________________________________
          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        Select periodic omnibus
                                              mail messages from the mail
                                              server, rather than multiple
                                              individual messages for each
                                              posting.

                   SET INFO-VAX NODIGEST      Separate mail delivery of
                                              each message posted

                   SET INFO-VAX NOMAIL        Establish an email address
                                              for posting, though not for
                                              receiving, mail.

                   SET INFO-VAX MAIL          Establish an email address
                                              for both posting and for
                                              receiving mail from the
          ____________________________________mailing_list._______________

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

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



                   1-6


 ---------------------------- #include <rtfaq.h> -----------------------------
    For additional, please see the OpenVMS FAQ -- www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq
 --------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
        Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman   OpenVMS Engineering   hoff[at]hp.com

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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM