Conventions Used in This Book

Differences Among Hardware Architectures

Most material presented in this book applies equally well to the VAX, Alpha, and Itanium versions of OpenVMS. Where there are differences, the VAX model is often chosen. The VAX model is usually adequate to illustrate the concept being described, but is often simpler than the Alpha and Itanium equivalents. In several instances, differences among the three architectures are specifically mentioned.

Format of DCL (Digital Command Language) Commands

Many notations used in this book follow the traditional OpenVMS conventions as found in the online help files and OpenVMS documentation set.

When showing examples of DCL commands, it is customary to precede them by a dollar sign ($), as in this example of the SHOW TIME command:

    $ SHOW TIME 

The dollar sign is the default command prompt, and so is usually shown in DCL examples. Dollar signs are required only within command procedures. When entering commands from your terminal, it is customary to omit the dollar sign.

It is customary to show DCL commands in upper case, although you may enter them in lower case if you wish. DCL converts most items to uppercase internally, except for items included in quotation marks (""). Commands typed at the command line are shown in uppercase in this book. Commands in command procedures are usually shown in lowercase, following the author's usual practice. You may use any mixture of upper- and lower case you wish.

Examples in this book spell out each DCL command line element fully, although any command may be abbreviated to any length at which it remains unambiguous.

Optional Elements of DCL Commands

When part of a DCL command is not always required, it may be shown in square brackets ([ ]). Consider this example:

    $ SHOW QUOTA [/DISK=diskname] 

In this example of the SHOW QUOTA command, the /DISK qualifier is necessary only if the disk about which you are requesting information is different from your current default disk. Examples of this command include:

    $ SHOW QUOTA    $ SHOW QUOTA /DISK=DKA400: 

Negatable DCL Command Qualifiers

Certain qualifiers may be negated by placing "NO" before them. These negatable qualifiers are sometimes shown with "[NO]" before the qualifier name. Consider this example:

    $ SET TERMINAL/[NO]BROADCAST 

This means that "SET TERMINAL/BROADCAST" and "SET TERMINAL /NOBROADCAST" are both valid commands. The former directs that the BROADCAST characteristic should be enabled, and the latter directs that it should be disabled.

Notations for Keyboard Keys

Your keyboard may have either a RETURN or an ENTER key on the main keyboard. Unless otherwise noted, they are considered equivalent in this book. Note that this does not refer to the ENTER key at the lower right of the numeric keypad, which sometimes has a separate function.

Sometimes you must press one key and then press a second key before releasing the first. If you must use the CTRL and Z keys in this fashion, it is denoted as "CTRL/Z".

Use of Bold Face in Examples

In examples that show user input along with system responses, user input is usually shown in bold face. Exceptions are made when the reader's attention must be called to some other aspect of the example.

"System Manager" Versus "System Administrator"

The person who oversees the general operation of an OpenVMS computer system is known as the "system manager." The term "system administrator" is usually used to describe the corresponding role in a UNIX environment. Just as UNIX has a long history of culture and tradition, so too does OpenVMS. This tradition calls for using the term "system manager," and is observed in this book.