Obtaining HELP About a Particular Command

There is more than one way to get help about a particular command. Take the MOUNT command as an example. You may enter HELP MOUNT at the DCL prompt, or you may enter HELP and then enter MOUNT at the Topic prompt. A display similar to the following appears:

     $  HELP MOUNT     MOUNT          The Mount utility (MOUNT) allows you to make a disk or magnetic          tape volume available for processing.          Format            MOUNT  device-name[:][,...] [volume-label[,...]]                   [logical-name[:]]       Additional information available:       Parameters Usage_Summary         /ACCESSED  /ASSIST    /AUTOMATIC /BIND       /BLOCKSIZE /CACHE     /CLUSTER   /COMMENT   /CONFIRM   /COPY       /DATA_CHECK           /DENSITY   /EXTENSION /FOREIGN   /GROUP     /HDR3       /INCLUDE   /INITIALIZE=CONTINUATION         /LABEL     /MEDIA_FORMAT       /MESSAGE   /MOUNT_VERIFICATION   /MULTI_VOLUME         /OVERRIDE       /OWNER_UIC /PROCESSOR /PROTECTION           /QUOTA     /REBUILD       /RECORDSIZE           /SHADOW    /SHARE     /SUBSYSTEM /SYSTEM       /UCS_SEQUENCE         /UNDEFINED_FAT        /UNLOAD    /WINDOWS   /WRITE       MOUNT_Examples     MOUNT Subtopic? _ 

The preceding display shows the first HELP screen for the MOUNT command. A brief description of the MOUNT command is followed by its general command line format. Finally, a list of subtopics is shown, from which you may select descriptions of each qualifier or example of MOUNT command usage. Enter the name of any item to see additional information. The following example requests information about the /SYSTEM qualifier:

    MOUNT Subtopic? /SYSTEM    MOUNT      /SYSTEM           Makes the volume public, that is, available to all users of the           system, as long as the UIC-based volume protection allows them           access.           Format             /SYSTEM        Additional information available:        Examples    MOUNT /SYSTEM Subtopic? 

The HELP database consists of multiple levels of detail, each topic having its own tree of subtopics. Note that the following example ends with another subtopic prompt, offering the viewer the opportunity to see examples of the MOUNT/SYSTEM command:

    MOUNT /SYSTEM Subtopic? Example    MOUNT      /SYSTEM        Examples             1.$ MOUNT/NOMESSAGE/SYSTEM DUA1: SLIP SACH               This command mounts the volume labeled SLIP on DUA1 with mount               messages disabled. The volume is made available systemwide.               MOUNT also assigns the logical name SACH.             2.$ MOUNT/SYSTEM/BIND=MASTER_PAY -               _$ DB1:,DB2:,DB3:     PAYVOL1,PAYVOL2,PAYVOL3               This command creates the volume set named MASTER_PAY consisting               of the initialized volumes labeled PAYVOL1, PAYVOL2, and               PAYVOL3. These volumes are mounted physically on the devices               named DB1, DB2, and DB3, respectively. The volume PAYVOL1 is               the root volume of the set.               The volumes are mounted as system volumes to make them               available to all users.    MOUNT /SYSTEM Subtopic?