Appendix B: Additional Resources

The OpenVMS Documentation Set

The OpenVMS documentation kit is available online at

http://www.openvms.compaq.com:8000/

Because of the recent merger of Compaq and Hewlett-Packard, the above link may change.

The OpenVMS FAQ online

The OpenVMS frequently asked questions (FAQs) list is currently archived at these locations, among others:

http://www.openvms.compaq.com/
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.os.vms/
ftp://www.faqs.org/

The recent merger of Compaq and Hewlett-Packard may result in a change to the first link above.

Encompass

Users of OpenVMS should consider joining Encompass. Encompass is the Enterprise Computing Association, a users group with an interest in Hewlett-Packard/Compaq products. Its membership is partially composed of former DECUS members, who were merged with a Compaq users group after Digital Equipment Corporation was taken over by Compaq. DECUS was the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society, a users' group including many particularly devoted and knowledgeable members who contributed a great deal to VAX, Alpha, and OpenVMS culture and tradition. Over the years , members contributed large amounts of useful OpenVMS freeware, collections of which are still growing today.

Members of Encompass are eligible for the OpenVMS hobbyist program. Please see

http://www.encompassus.org

The OpenVMS Hobbyist Program

The hobbyist program makes available software licenses and media for the OpenVMS operating system and approximately 100 OpenVMS software products. A few third-party commercial software vendors also make their products available to hobbyist licensees at no cost. Please see

http://www.montagar.com/hobbyist/index.html

Digital Press

In addition to this book, Digital Press publishes a number of books related to OpenVMS, other operating systems, and computing in general. Please see

http://www.digitalpressbooks.com

Newsgroups

The primary USENET newsgroup concerned with OpenVMS is comp.os.vms. This newsgroup operates in parallel with the INFO -VAX mailing list, so you may choose either method to obtain the same information.

If your ISP's news server does not carry comp.os.vms, ask your ISP to add it. Many ISPs respond quickly and happily to such requests . Alternatively, you may join the INFO-VAX mailing list.

To subscribe to the INFO-VAX mailing list, send an e-mail message to

Info-VAX-Request@Mvb.Saic.Com

including SUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX in the message body. A message whose body contains UNSUBSCRIBE INFO-VAX will remove you from the list.

Remember, it's considered proper etiquette to read a new newsgroup or mailing list for a couple of weeks before posting any messages to it. This allows you to become familiar with the style and etiquette of a particular group before posting. The OpenVMS FAQ contains particular recommendations about posting to comp.os.vms.

Another hierarchy of newsgroups, vmsnet.*, is devoted to various aspects of VAX, Alpha, and OpenVMS, but does not carry as much traffic as does comp.os.vms.

Appendix C: Default File Types

If you omit a file type in a file specification, OpenVMS may assume a certain file type, depending on what command you issued. For example, the SET COMMAND utility assumes a file type of .CLD.

The command

$ SET COMMAND UTILITIES

is interpreted as

$ SET COMMAND UTILITIES.CLD

Common default file types are listed here:

.ADA ADA language source file .B32 BLISS language source file .BAS BASIC language source file .C C language source file .CLD Command Definition Utility (CDU) command description file .COB COBOL language source file .COM Command procedure .CXX C++ language source file .DAT Data file .DIF Output from DIFFERENCES command .DIR Directory file .DIS OpenVMS MAIL distribution list .EDT EDT editor initialization file .EXE Executable image (program) .FOR FORTRAN language source file .HLB Help library .HLP Source files for creating .HLB files .INI Initialization file .JOU EDT journal file .LIS Language compiler listing file Default input file type for PRINT and TYPE .LOG Batch process log file .M64 MACRO-64 language (Alpha Assembler) source file .MAI OpenVMS MAIL data file .MAP Memory map file produced by the Linker .MAR MACRO-32 (VAX Assembler or Alpha cross-assembler) source file .MLB Macro Library (used with MACRO assembler) .MSG Source file for program message text .OBJ Object file (produced by language compilers, input to Linker) .OLB Object Library file .OPT Linker options file .PAS PASCAL language source file .PLI PL/1 language source file .PS PostScript file .STB Symbol Table (produced by the Linker) .SYS OpenVMS system image file .TJL Journal file for the ACL editor .TLB Text library .TMP Temporary file .TPU EVE editor command file .TPU$JOURNAL EVE editor journal file .TXT Text file .UPD File containing traces of changes to MACRO source file