Customizing VMS V1.0
UNDER CONSTRUCTION - NOT YET FINISHED!
The aim of this tutorial is to show how to customize VMS V1.0 on the SIMH VAX-11/780 simulator or a real VAX-11/780 ;-).
Contents
Tools and Skills Needed for Customizing
The SOS Line Editor
You need an editor to customize VMS.
Using an old fashioned editor is something that really needs getting used to.
VMS V1.0 includes SOS ("Son of Stopgap"), a "Line Editor", i.e. you work on single lines of your text, no simple scrolling as we're used to nowadays.
see: AA-D030B-TE VAX-VMS Primer
Creating a New File
You create a new file by calling the EDIT command followed be the name of your new file.
$ EDIT TEST.TXT Input: DMA0:[SYSMGR]TEST.TXT;1 00100
The editor echos device, directory, and file name of your new file and presents the first (empty) line with its line number (100). Now you just proceed als follows:
$ EDIT TEST.TXT Input: DMA0:[SYSMGR]TEST.TXT;1 00100 This is the first line of a new text file. 00200 Pressing [Enter] starts a new line. 00300 Using [ESC] switches to command mode. 00400 The command mode prompt is "*". 00500 At the command mode "W" writes the file to disk, 00600 and "E" ends the editor. *W [DMA0:[SYSMGR]TEST.TXT;1] *E [DMA0:[SYSMGR]TEST.TXT;1] (NO CHANGES) $
That's all (at least if you writing without typos and changes)!
Editing an Existing File
$ EDIT TEST.TXT Edit: DMA0:[SYSMGR]TEST.DAT;1 *
You are at the first line of your file.
Specifying Lines
To specify lines you use the marks:
- : (colon)
- . (dot)
- ^ (caret)
- * (asterix)
- line numbers, e.g.: 300
| Mark | Meaning | Example | Explanation of Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| : | Range | 100:500 | Lines 100 through 500 |
| . | Current Line | .:500 | Current line through 500 |
| ^ | First Line | ^:. | First line through current line |
| * | Last Line | .:* | Current line through last line |
Displaying Lines
To display lines 100 to 600 type: P100:600
*P100:600 00100 This is the first line of a new text file. 00200 Pressing [Enter] starts a new line. 00300 Using [ESC] switches to command mode. 00400 The command mode prompt is "*". 00500 At the command mode "W" writes the file to disk, 00600 and "E" ends the editor. *
- To display all lines of a file type: P^:*
- To print the first line of a file type: P^
- To print the last line of a file type: P*
Your new current line becomes the last line of your P(rint) command.
Setting the Current Line
To move in your file you set the current line number using the command: .<line number>, e.g.:
*.400 *P. 00400 The command mode prompt is "*". *
Inserting Lines
Insert after the current line: I.
Insert after e.g. line number 300: I300
Renumbering Lines
Renumbering Lines: N
Deleting Lines
Delete current line: D.
Delete e.g. line number 300: D300
Replacing Lines
Replace current line: R.
Replace e.g. line number 300: R300
Replace a range of lines, e.g. 300:600: R300:600
Finding Line Contents
To find line contents following the current line use Fsearchtext<ESC><RETURN>, e.g.:
(You are at the bottom line, therefore:)
*Fmode$ String not found, search failed *
To search the whole text, go to the first line and start searching there:
*P^ 00100 This is the first line of a new text file. *Fmode$ 00300 Using [ESC] switches to command mode. *
F(ind) remembers the last string searched for, so F<RETURN> finds the next occurrence (if any):
*F 00400 The command mode prompt is "*". *F 00500 At the command mode "W" writes the file to disk, *F String not found, search failed *
Substituting Text
Substitute all occurrences on a line use Ssearchtext<ESC>replacetext<ESC><RETURN>, e.g.
*p. 00500 At the command mode "W" writes the file to disk, *Sm$x$ 00500 At the coxxand xode "W" writes the file to disk, *
SOS Help
You can call the online SOS help with the HELP command:
*HELP
SOS Help Package
To print this entire package on the line printer, type the
DCL command:
PRINT LB:[1,2]SOS.HLP
This package is made up of 11 modules (listed below). Each
module in turn will now be printed at your terminal.
To skip to the next module, discarding the rest of the one
that is printing, type:
<^O> (Type O while pressing CTRL.)
To discard the rest of the Help package at any time, and to
return to Edit-mode command level, type:
<^C> (Type C while pressing CTRL.)
The next time you issue a Help command, you can follow it
with a colon and a number (H:n<CR>); SOS will print the
Help package from module number n through the end.
The modules are:
1. SOS Modes of Operation
2. Edit-Mode Commands -- Functions
3. Edit-Mode Commands -- Formats
4. Definitions for Edit-Mode Command Formats
5. Tag Options for Edit-Mode Commands
6. Alter-Mode Commands
7. Decide-Mode Commands
8. Shorthand Characters in Position Arguments
9. SOS Parameters
10. SOS Switches
11. Special Pattern-Matching Constructs
Module 1: SOS Modes of Operation
The underline (_) represents the next character position after
the prompt. nnnnn is a 5-digit line number.
Mode Prompt Use
------------------- --------- ------------------------------------
Edit *_ Edit: add, change text.
Input nnnnn _ Type in lines of text.
Alter nnnnn _ Edit within a line.
Alter/insert (none) Insert text within Alter mode.
Read-only R*_ Examine a file without changing it.
Copy-file C*_ Search, copy from another file.
Decide D*_ Decide case-by-case on substitutions.
Decide Alter nnnnn _ (Submode.) Like Alter mode.
Decide Alter/insert (none) (Submode.) Like Alter/insert.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To Change from One Mode to Another:
FROM mode TO mode You type:
--------- --------- --------------------------
Edit Input Input or Replace command
Alter Alter command
Read-only /READONLY<CR>
Copy-file Copy command with final /C
Input Edit <AL>
Alter Edit <CR>
---------------------------------------------------
Module 2: Edit-Mode Commands -- Functions
Command Function
------------------ -----------------------------------------
A Alter Enter Alter mode for intraline, char-
acter-by-character editing.
C Copy Copy a range of lines to another place
within a file, or from another file.
D Delete Delete a range of lines.
E End End SOS, return to MCR.
F Find Search for the occurrence of one or more
specified strings of text.
H Help List this Help file at the terminal.
I Input Enter Input mode to insert lines of text.
J Join Join two text lines into one line.
K Kill Page Mark Delete a page mark.
L List List a range of lines on the printer or
to a file.
M Mark Insert a page mark.
N reNumber Renumber a range of lines.
NA reNumber Renumber by adding the increment
to each line in the range
NP reNumber Renumber continuing to increment
line numbers across page marks
P Print Print a range of lines on the terminal.
R Replace Delete a range of lines and enter Input
mode.
S Substitute Replace one or more text strings with
other string(s) in a range of lines.
T Transfer Copy a range of lines to a new location
and delete the original lines.
W Save World Write a new file containing all the
changes made so far.
X eXtend Enter Alter/insert mode to add text to the
end of a line or a range of lines.
. Move Position Reset the position of the current line.
= Give Parameter Give the value of an SOS internal para-
meter or switch.
/ Set Parameter Reset an SOS parameter or switch.
@ Indirect File Execute the SOS commands contained in an
indirect file.
<CR> Print next line.
<AL> Print previous line.
...
[The rest is cut off here; see the full output at you SOS editor.]
Managing VMS Disk Devices, Directories, and Files
(Lots of citations from: AA-D023A-TE VAX-VMS Command Language User's Guide, pdf page 38 et seq.)
A full file specification consists of four parts:
- DECnet node name (default: local node)
- Disk (default: default disk)
- Directory (default: default directory)
- File
All parts (except the file name) have default values, so that they can be omitted if the defaults apply.
When you log in, your defaults are set as specified in your login account data as a starting point. Then you can change the defaults for disk and directory with the SET DEFAULT command.
VMS Disk Devices
VMS disk device names have two or three letters and a number and end with a colon, e.g. DM1:, or DMA1:.
The first letter D stands for disk devices.
The second letter specifies the drive drive model:
- B = RP04/RP05/RP06 Disk pack drives
- L = RL01/RL02 Disk cartridge drives
- M = RK06/RK07 Disk cartridge drives
- R = RM03 Disk pack drive
The third letter (optional) is an A, B, C, or D, if any. You need it if there is more than one controller for a certain type of device.
The number counts the drives on an controller, beginning with 0.
Some examples:
- DMA0: - First RK06 or RK07 drive on the first RK611 controller
- DL3: - Fourth RL01 or RL02 drive on the first RL211 controller
- DBA2: - Third RP04/RP05/RP06 disk drive on the first RH780 controller
- DMB1: - Second RM03 disk drive on the second RH780 controller
VMS Directories
VMS directory names are made of a 1- to 9-alphanumeric character string.
The top level directory on every disk has the fixed name 000000.
You must specify the top level directory only when you want to acess it; otherwise it can be left off and the tree of directories starts with the name of the first subdirectory below 000000.
Subdirectories have the format of ...name.name.name... where each name can consist of up to 9 alphanumeric characters; each name represents a directory level.
A directory can contain an entry for another (sub)directory; that directory can contain an entry for another directory, and so on. The maximum number of levels, including the first (or top) level directory, is eight. This structure constitutes a directory hierarchy.
The complete directory name must be enclosed in either square brackets (...[... and ...]...), or in angle brackets (...<... and ...>...).
VMS File Names, File Types, and Version Numbers
File names, file types, and version numbers uniquely identify files within directories.
A file name is a 1- to 9-character string name for a file. When you create a file, you can assign it a file name that is meaningful to you.
A file type is a 1- to 3-character string that usually identifies the file in terms of its contents.
The valid characters in file names and file types are A-Z and 0-9.
File types must be preceded with a period (.).
By convention, VAX/VMS uses a set of standard file types to identify various classifications of files, and to provide default file types in many commands. The following table lists these file types.
| File Type | Contents |
|---|---|
| B2S | Input source file for the PDP-11 BASIC-PLUS-2/VAX compiler |
| CMD | Compatibility mode indirect command file |
| COM | Command procedure file to be executed with the @ (Execute Procedure) command, or to be submitted for batch execution with the SUBMIT command |
| EXE | Executable program image |
| FOR | Input file containing source statements for the VAX-11 FORTRAN-IV-PLUS compiler |
| LIS | Listing file created by a language compiler or assembler; default input file type for PRINT and TYPE commands |
| LOG | Batch job output file |
| LST | Compatibility mode listing file |
| MAC | MACRO-11 source file |
| MAP | Memory allocation map created by the linker |
| MAR | VAX-11 MACRO source file |
| MLB | Macro library |
| OBJ | Object file created by a language compiler or assembler |
| ODL | Overlay description file |
| OLB | Object module library |
| OPT | Options file for input to the LINK command |
| PAR | SYSGEN system paramter file |
| STB | Symbol table file created by the linker |
Version numbers are decimal numbers from 1 to 32767 that differentiate between versions of a file. When you update or modify a file and do not specify a version number for the output file, the system saves the original version for backup and increments the version number by 1.
Note, however, that on Files-11 Structure Level 2 disks, the file system deletes the lowest numbered versions of a file after more than approximately 60 versions of the file exist.
Version numbers must be preceded with a semicolon (;) or a period (.).
When the system displays file specifications, it generally displays a semicolon in front of the file version number.
Logical Names
- A Disk name, or:
- A disk name, and a directory path, or:
- A disk name, a directory path, and a file name
can all be substituted by a logical name (short: LOGICAL)
You can use logicals in place of the substituted components, e.g.
$ DIR SYS$SYSTEM: DIRECTORY DM0:[SYSEXE] 24-MAY-79 09:39 16USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 32USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 48USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 64USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 ... (output truncated) TOTAL OF 17526./17724. BLOCKS IN 104. FILES $
instead of:
$ DIR DMA0:[SYSEXE] DIRECTORY DM0:[SYSEXE] 24-MAY-79 09:39 16USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 32USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 48USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 64USER.PAR;1 5. C 21-AUG-78 15:54 ... (output truncated) TOTAL OF 17526./17724. BLOCKS IN 104. FILES $
There are some system-predefined logicals for convenience; enter SHOW LOGICALS to see their definitions.
You can define your own logicals additionally (not covered here), see HELP DEFINE.
Logicals are usually used to access system files in their standard places.
DCL Command Files
Customize VMS V1.0 Startup
You customize VMS V1.0 startup by editing SYS$DISK:[SYSMGR]SYSTARTUP.COM.
The file exists, but is empty on a new installation.
