Copyright 1993-2016 by Kevin G. Barkes All rights reserved. This article may be duplicated or redistributed provided no alterations of any kind are made to this file. This edition of DCL Dialogue is sponsored by Networking Dynamics, developers and marketers of productivity software for OpenVMS systems. Contact our website www.networkingdynamics.com to download free demos of our software and see how you will save time, money and raise productivity! Be sure to mention DCL Dialogue! DCL DIALOGUE Originally published July, 1993 Sixes Everywhere By Kevin G. Barkes Sometimes I like to live on the edge. A few weeks ago, for example, I installed the latest field test of OpenVMS version 6.0 on my VAXstation and put MS-DOS 6.0 on my "main" PC as well as the BBS machine. Aside from the potential religious implications of having the machines in my office boot up in an ominous 6-6-6 configuration, things have gone swimmingly. And there's a certain ethereal symmetry having all my computers on the same version number of operating system software. Trade press and anti-Microsoft sentiment notwithstanding, MS-DOS 6.0 seems worth the upgrade inconvenience and certainly worth the under-$40 price tag. (The cost was scheduled to leap to its "real" $139 level last month, but you should still be able to find dealers selling it at the "introductory" price.) Nothing here broke, and Pathworks seems to amicably co-exist with the new version. Microsoft's built-in Doublespace disk compression software has been working fine for a month as well. It's actually increased the speed of the BBS machine's housekeeping activities, which consist mostly of manipulating thousands of small, under-2K message files. The slowdown on my main PC, a 25Mhz 386DX, is barely noticeable. With space compression software all the rage on the PC platform, you'd think someone would implement the idea on VAX/AXP. Hold on; there's a company which has been asking for beta test volunteers on various electronic fora for a dynamic disk space compression product for OpenVMS. Considering the traditional conservative bent of OpenVMS system managers, it'll be interesting to see how such a product will be received, especially since it probably won't have DEC's blessing. Personally, I'd settle for a compression switch to BACKUP, now that I have a 1.6 gigabyte disk on order for the VAXstation. Hard to believe VAX disk space selling for just a little over a buck a megabyte. It sure would be nice if BACKUP had its own compression routines so I could squeeze everything on just a couple tapes. As for OpenVMS/VAX 6.0, see the DP Labs review elsewhere in this issue. Users probably won't notice too much difference with 6.0, but there are a lot of nifty, subtle additions not highlighted in the release notes. For example, there's now a SET FILE/ATTRIBUTE command which allows setting more than two dozen attributes associated with files. For those who are heavily into telecommunicating, it means being able to quickly fix RMS file types munged by communication software without having to resort to third-party utilities. DEC's finally added a /TAIL=n qualifier to the TYPE command, which allows the display of the last several lines of a file. Now I really have no reason to learn UNIX (he said, ducking). DCL programmer types will be happy to find a new LRL item to the F$FILE_ATTRIBUTES lexical function. LRL returns the length of the longest record in a file. Ah, to live with "mature" software... ----- MORE ON LOGINOUT.EXE - Mark Chenoweth, a systems engineer at Davy International, wrote to "mention another side effect of using sys$system:loginout.exe that may be helpful. If you use the /output=filespec qualifier, it gives you the ability to type the output file while the process is still running. If you just $run program.exe /detached /output=filespec, and try to type out filespec, you get a -RMS-E-FLK, file locked by another user error." ----- WATCHIT - Howard Weiner of PRC Public Sector Inc. sent along two simple command procedures, WATCH.COM and WATCHIT.COM (see Programs) to watch for completion of another user's batch or print job. Put the files in your SYS$LOGIN directory and assign the symbol $ WATCH :== @SYS$LOGIN:WATCH. WATCH needs the job number as its first parameter, and can accept an optional comment as its second parameter. ********************** Kevin G. Barkes is an independent consultant who, after installing Berkeley's "Star Trek: The Screen Saver" on his PC, has discovered The True Purpose of Computers. He lurks on comp.os.vms and can be reached at kgbarkes@gmail.com. ----------------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM 1 $! WATCH.COM $! Spawn a process to watch for completion $! of a batch job $! Usage: WATCH 87 "Tom's big print job" $ SPAWN/NOWAIT/INPUT=NL: @SYS$LOGIN:WATCHIT 'P1' "''P2'" PROGRAM 2 $! WATCHIT.COM $! Watch for a batch job to complete $! Substitute your name for USERNAME in the REPLY command $ SYNC/ENTRY='P1' $ REPLY/USER=USERNAME/BELL "JOB ''P1' IS NOW DONE. ''P2'"