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Subject: OpenVMS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Part 7/11
Summary: This posting contains answers to frequently asked questions about
the HP OpenVMS operating system, and the computer systems on which
it runs.
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Archive-name: dec-faq/vms/part7
Posting-Frequency: quarterly
Last-modified: 02 Sep 2005
Version: VMSFAQ_20050902-07.TXT

OpenVMS Programming Information

older DEC C versions can sometimes cause the compiler
troubles locating header files.)

HP C V5.6 and later include a backport library, a
mechanism by which HP C running on older OpenVMS
releases can gain access to newer RTL routines added
to the RTL in later OpenVMS releases-the language RTLs
ship with OpenVMS itself, and not with the compilers.

Example C code is available in SYS$EXAMPLES:, in
DECW$EXAMPLES (when the DECwindows examples are
installed), in TCPIP$SERVICES (or on older releases,
UCX$EXAMPLES) when HP TCP/IP Services is installed), on
the Freeware CD-ROMs, and at web sites such as

o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/wizard/

For additional information on the OpenVMS Ask The
Wizard (ATW) area and for a pointer to the available
ATW Wizard.zip archive, please see Section 3.8.

_____________________________
10.22.1 Other common C issues

The localtime() function and various other functions
maintain the number of years since 1900 in the "struct
tm" structure member tm_year. This field will contain a
value of 100 in the year 2000, 101 for 2001, etc., and
the yearly incrementation of this field is expected to
continue.

The C epoch typically uses a longword (known as time_
t) to contain the number of seconds since midnight
on 1-Jan-1970. At the current rate of consumption of
seconds, this longword is expected to overflow (when
interpreted as a signed longword) circa 03:14:07 on
19-Jan-2038 (GMT), as this time is circa 0x7FFFFFFF
seconds since the C base date. (The most common
solution is to ensure that time_t is an unsigned.)

If C does not correctly handle the display of the
local system time, then check the UTC configuration
on OpenVMS-the most common symptom of this is a skew of
one hour (or whatever the local daylight saving time
change might be). This skew can be caused by incorrect
handling of the "is_dst" setting in the application

10-21

OpenVMS Programming Information

program, or by an incorrect OpenVMS UTC configuration
on the local system. (See section Section 4.4.)

Floating point is prohibited in OpenVMS Alpha inner-
mode (privileged) code, and in any process or other
execution context that does not have floating point
enabled. C programmers developing and working with
OpenVMS Alpha high-IPL kernel-mode code such as device
drivers will want to become familiar with the floating
point processing available in the environment, and with
the C compiler qualifier /INSTRUCTION_SET=[NO]FLOATING_
POINT. Device drivers and other similar kernel-mode C
code must be compiled with /INSTRUCTION_SET=FLOATING_
POINT and /EXTERN_MODEL=STRICT_REFDEF.

Additionally, the SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB/LIBRARY
parameter will be needed to be appended to the module
specification or declared via the C compiler's include
library logical name mechanism when the C compiler is
resolving kernel-mode data structures and definitions.
This library contains OpenVMS kernel-mode and other
system declaractions, and particularly a mixture
of undocumented definitions and declarations, and
particularly definitions and declarations that are
subject to change (and that can accordingly lead to
requirements for the recompilation of application
code).

In addition to the user-mode C Run-Time Library (RTL)
mentioned in the OpenVMS C RTL documentation and
referenced over in Section 3.9, there is a second and
parallel kernel-mode RTL accessable to device drivers
and other kernel code on OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS
I64. The most common time this second C library is
noticed is when C code is (erroneously) linked with
/SYSEXE/SYSLIB, and duplicate symbol errors typically
then arise. As code running in supervisor-, executive-
or kernel-mode context cannot call out a user-mode
RTL or other user-mode library, you will want to
respecify the command as LINK /SYSEXE/NOSYSLIB. This
will eliminate the duplicate symbol errors, since only
the kernel-mode library will be referenced, and it will
also avoid calling out into the user-mode libraries.

10-22

OpenVMS Programming Information

When sharing variables with other languages, here is
some example HP C code...

...
#pragma extern_model save
#pragma extern_model strict_refdef
extern int VMS$GL_FLAVOR;
#pragma extern_model restore
...

and here is some associated example Bliss code...

...
EXTERNAL
VMS$GL_FLAVOR,
....

_____________________________
10.22.2 Other common C++ issues

HP C++ (a separate compiler from HP C) provides
both symbol mangling and symbol decoration. Some
of the details of working with longer symbol names
and the resulting symbol name mangling in mixed
language environments are listed in the shareable
image cookbook, and in the C++ documentation. Symbol
name decoration permits the overloading of functions
(by adding characters to the external symbol for
the function to indicate the function return type
and the argument data types involved), and mixed-
language external references can and often do need to
disable this decoration via the extern "C" declaration
mechanism:

extern "C"
{
extern int ExternSymbol(void *);
extern int OtherExternSymbol(void *);
}

Also see Section 14.7 for information on /ARCHITECTURE
and /OPTIMIZE=TUNE.

See Section 10.15 for information on the C system and
the lib$spawn call in CAPTIVE environments.

10-23

OpenVMS Programming Information

Constructs such as the order of incrementation or
decrementation and the order of argument processing
within an argument list are all implementation-defined.
This means that C coding constructs such as:

i = i++;
a[i] = i++;
foo( i, i++, --i);

are undefined and can have (adverse) implications when
porting the C code to another C compiler or to another
platform. In general, any combination of ++, -, =, +=,
-=, *=, etc operators that will cause the same value to
be modified multiple times (between what the ANSI/ISO C
standard calls "sequence points") produce undefined and
implementation-specific results.

Within C, the following are the "sequence points":
the ";" at the end of a C statment, the ||, &&, ?:,
and comma operators, and a call to a function. Note
specifically that = is NOT a sequence point, and that
the individual arguments contained within a function
argument list can be processed from right to left, from
left to right, or at any random whim.

HP C for OpenVMS VAX (formerly DEC C) and VAX C do
differ in the related processing.

So you are looking for OpenVMS-specific definitions
(include files)?

UCBDEF.H, PCBDEF.H and other OpenVMS-specific
definitions-these are considered part of OpenVMS and
not part of the C compiler kit-are available on all
recent OpenVMS Alpha releases.

To reference the version-dependent symbol library
sys$share:sys$lib_c.tlb, use a command similar to the
following for compilation:

$ CC sourcea+SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C/LIB

You can also define DECC$TEXT_LIBRARY to reference the
library.

You will want to review the Programming Concepts
manual, and specifically take a quick look at Chapter
21.

10-24

OpenVMS Programming Information

And some general background: the STARLET definitions
(and thus the sys$starlet_c.tlb library) contain the
symbols and the definitions that are independent of
the OpenVMS version. The LIB definitions (and thus
sys$lib_c) contain symbols and definitions that can
be dependent on the OpenVMS version. You won't need to
rebuild your code after an OpenVMS upgrade if you have
included definitions from STARLET. The same cannot be
said for some of the definitions in LIB-you might need
to rebuild your code. (The UCB structure can and has
changed from release to release, for instance.)

Recent versions of C automatically search sys$starlet_
c.tlb. Explicit specification of sys$lib_c.tlb is
required.

Also see the Ask The Wizard website topics (2486),
(3803), and (1661):

o http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/wizard/

For additional information on the OpenVMS Ask The
Wizard (ATW) area and for a pointer to the available
ATW Wizard.zip archive, please see Section 3.8.

See Section 9.5 for information on the C off_t
limitations, resolved in OpenVMS V7.3-1 and later and
in ECO kits available for specific OpenVMS releases.
The use of a longword for off_t restricts applications
using native C I/O to file sizes of two gigabytes or
less, or these applications must use native RMS or XQP
calls for specific operations.

__________________________________________________________
10.23 Status of Programming Tools on OpenVMS VAX?

DECthreads V7.3 and the HP C compiler (also known as
Compaq C and DEC C) V6.4 are presently expected to
be the last updates and the last releases of these
development packages for use on OpenVMS VAX. The run-
time support for both DECthreads (CMA$RTL) and for C
(DECC$CRTL) will continue to be maintained, and will
continue to be available on OpenVMS VAX. The VAX C
V3.2 compiler is the final VAX C compiler release for
OpenVMS VAX, and the VAX C Run-Time Library (VAXCRTL)
will also continue to be available.

10-25

OpenVMS Programming Information

New development and new features and product
enhancements continue for the OpenVMS Alpha and the
OpenVMS IA-64 DECthreads and C compilers.

__________________________________________________________
10.24 Choosing a Version Number for Application Code?

One of the common rules-of-thumb used for choosing a
displayed version number string for a new version of a
layered product or an application, its implications,
and its expected effects on client applications and
users, follows:

o No functional and no application-visible changes,
bugfixes only-the edit number is incremented.
These tend to be very small, very isolated, or ECO-
level changes. These can also be distributions for
specific hardware configurations or platforms, as
is the case with an OpenVMS Limited Hardware Release
(LHR). Application rebuilds are not expected, and
there is an assumption that general user-provided
application-related regression testing will not be
required.

o Minimal functional and very few user-visible
changes-the maintenance number is incremented. These
tend to be very small or even ECO-level changes,
though somewhat larger than an edit-level change.
Application rebuilds are not expected, and there is
an assumption that user-provided application-related
regression testing will not be required.

o Various small and upward-compatible functional
changes-the minor version number is incremented.
The changes are user-visible, and are intended to be
user-visible. Application rebuilds are not expected.
Some application programmers may choose to perform
regression tests.

o Large and/or potentially incompatible changes-
the major version number is incremented. Some
applications might need to be rebuilt. Various
application programmers will choose to perform
regression tests of their respective applications.

10-26

OpenVMS Programming Information

For additional version-numbering materials and for
information on assigning module generation numbers,
please see the OpenVMS (POLYCENTER) Software Product
Installation Utility-variously refered to by acronyms
including PCSI and SPIA-reference manual available
within the OpenVMS documentation set.

Of course, all of this is obviously subject to
interpretation, particularly around the distinction
between large and small changes and such. The scale
of the application is also a factor, as larger and
more complex applications will tend toward smaller
increments and will tend to see the maintenance number
incremented, while new releases of smaller applications
will tend to see the minor version incremented somewhat
more frequently.

The goal of all this is to provide a guide to relative
scale of changes and the associated effort involved
in an upgrade for the user and/or for the application
programmer.

__________________________________________________________
10.25 Selecting a Process Dump Directory?

You can customize the device and directory for the
process dump by defining the logical names SYS$PROCDMP
and SYS$PROTECTED_PROCDMP. The former is for non-
privileged dumps, while the latter is the location
where privileged image dumps are written, and
preferably an area protected against untrusted access.
For example:

$ define SYS$PROCDMP SYS$ERRORLOG:
$ define /exec SYS$PROTECTED_PROCDMP SYS$ERRORLOG:

The abouve presumes that the SYS$ERRORLOG logical name
points to a valid location.

There is presently no means to change the name of the
generated dump file from IMAGENAME.DMP to something
else. Accordingly, you will want to use different
target directories for this purpose, particularly
if there is more than one application or process
potentially writing process dumps.

10-27

OpenVMS Programming Information

__________________________________________________________
10.26 Access to Itanium Assembler?

If you are interested in accessing the native
Intel Itanium assembler within the OpenVMS I64 GNV
environment-and since the iasi64 assembler is a Unix
program and GNV is a Unix environment for OpenVMS I64-
you can simply copy iasi64.ext into your gnu:[bin]
directory in place of "as.", and of "AS.EXE".

Alternately and probably also better, you can write an
"as." script to invoke the iasi64.exe image from its
particular prefered location on the local system.

A typical "as." script looks like this:

path/iasi64.exe $1 $2 $3 $4 $5

__________________________________________________________
10.27 Kernel-mode coding restrictions?

Floating point is prohibited in OpenVMS Alpha inner-
mode (privileged) code, and within any process or other
execution context that does not have floating point
enabled and available.

Programmers developing and working with OpenVMS Alpha
high-IPL kernel-mode code, such as device drivers,
will further want to become familiar with the floating-
point processing and the instruction set emulation
available in the particular target environment (if
any). When working with C, inner-mode programmers will
want to become familiar with the C compiler qualifier
/INSTRUCTION_SET=[NO]FLOATING_POINT.

Device drivers and other similar kernel-mode C code
must be compiled with /INSTRUCTION_SET=FLOATING_POINT
and /EXTERN_MODEL=STRICT_REFDEF.

Additionally, inner-mode code cannot call out to the
user-mode language run-time libraries nor to any of
the OpenVMS system run-time libraries. In particular,
this prohibition prevents pages of inner-mode-protected
memory from being allocated and interspersed within the
user-mode heap or other such user-mode data structures.

10-28

OpenVMS Programming Information

The prohibtion on user libraries also generally means
that such code must be linked with LINK /NOSYSLIB, and
quite probably also with /SYSEXE. The former causes
the linker to avoid searching the system shareable
image libraries (via IMAGELIB.OLB), while the latter
brings in symbols typically only known to or otherwise
accessable from the OpenVMS executuve.

To include kernel-mode C programming definitions,
macros and system constants within a C compilation,
include SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB/LIBRARY on the C
compilation. (Constructs defined within the system
macro library LIB.MLB or within its C equivalent
SYS$LIB_C.TLB tend to be version-dependent, or
undocumented, or both.) As an example of the
compilation, the following is a typical C device driver
compilation command:

$ CC /STANDARD=RELAXED_ANSI89/INSTRUCTION=NOFLOATING_POINT/EXTERN=STRICT -
'DEBUG_CC_DQ_OPT' 'ARCH_CC_OPT' 'CHECK_CC_OPT' 'SHOW_CC_OPT' -
/LIS=LIS$:xxDRIVER/MACHINE_CODE/OBJ=OBJ$:xxDRIVER -
SRC$:xxDRIVER.C+SYS$LIBRARY:SYS$LIB_C.TLB/LIBRARY

Additionally, code running in executive mode in an AST
or in kernel mode cannot call RMS services, or routines
which directly or indirectly call RMS.

For related kernel-mode programming materials and
driver documentation, please see the Writing OpenVMS
Alpha Device Driversin C book, ISBN 1-55558-133-1.

__________________________________________________________
10.28 Decoding an Access Violation (ACCVIO) Error?

To decode the virtual addresses returned by an access
violation or by another similar OpenVMS display, you
need to have created and retained a listings file-
preferably one with machine code generation enabled-and
a full link map.

Starting with the virtual address reported by the
error, use the link map to find the module that
contributed the code that contains the virtual address
range. Calculate the offset from the base of the range,
by subtracting the base of the range from teh failing
virtual address. Then use the compiler listings for

10-29

OpenVMS Programming Information

the particular component that contributed the code to
locate the offset of the failing instruction.

If the map and listings information was not maintained,
working backwards is far more difficult-you are left to
use the binary instruction data around the failure to
locate the associated source code, and this process is
far more involved. This usually involves matching up
blocks of decoded instructions around the failing code,
or the direct analog involving matching up ranges of
decoded instructions. Keep the maps and listing files
around, in other words.

Rather easier than an approach based on virtual address
arithmetic and far easier than working backwards from
the instruction stream is to use integrated debugging-
this inclusion is arguably an essential component of
any non-trivial application-and to use the OpenVMS
Debugger.

The OpenVMS Debugger in particular can be used to
examine the source code, to examine the stack, and can
even be programmed to wait patiently for the incidence
of a particular value or failure or condition, and
this is far easier than working backwards from the
instruction stream is to use integrated debugging-
this inclusion is arguably an essential component of
any non-trivial application-and to use the OpenVMS
Debugger. The debugger can also be activated from
within a signal handler, and commands to generate
a traceback can be generated directly, or through
the invocation of a procedure containing a series of
debugger commands.

Details on the debugger are in the OpenVMS Debugger
Manual, and also see the discussion of dyanmically
activating the Debugger in Section 10.19.

10-30

OpenVMS Programming Information

__________________________________________________________
10.29 Generating an AUTODIN-II CRC32?

The following code can be used to generate an AUTODIN-
II 32-bit Cyclic Redundency Check (CRC32) value from an
input string descriptor, similar to that used by the HP
C compiler for its /NAMES=SHORTENED mechanism, and by
various other applications requiring a CRC32.

The routine uses the OpenVMS library routine lib$crc_
table to generate a sixteen longword array of data from
the specified encoded polynomial coefficient (AUTODIN-
II, in this case), and then lib$crc to generate the
CRC32 value from the array and the input data.

static int CreateCRC32( struct dsc$descriptor *InputDataDesc )
{
uint32 AUTODIN2;
uint32 Seed = ~0UL;
uint32 Coefficient = 0x0EDB88320UL;
uint32 CRCArray[16];

lib$establish( lib$sig_to_ret );

lib$crc_table( (void *) &Coefficient, (void *) CRCArray );
AUTODIN2 = lib$crc( (void *) CRCArray, (void *) &Seed, InputDataDesc );
AUTODIN2 ^= Seed;

return AUTODIN2;
}

__________________________________________________________
10.30 Enabling built-in tracing?

$ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:SYSMAN
SYSMAN> SYS_LOAD ADD TR$DEBUG TR$DEBUG/LOAD_
STEP=INIT/LOG
SYSMAN> Exit
$ @SYS$UPDATE:VMS$SYSTEM_IMAGES.COM

To stop it from loading early in boot

$ RUN SYS$SYSTEM:SYSMAN
SYSMAN> SYS_LOAD REMOVE TR$DEBUG TR$DEBUG/LOG
SYSMAN> Exit
$ @SYS$UPDATE:VMS$SYSTEM_IMAGES.COM

10-31

OpenVMS Programming Information

The first occurance of the name TR$DEBUG within the
command is considered the "product" and the second
is considered the "image" that should exist within
SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES.

When TR$DEBUG loads in the init phase, it will
automatically turn on tracing.

Also see the SDA TR extension.

10-32

_______________________________________________________

11 DECwindows

__________________________________________________________
11.1 How do I let someone else display something on my
workstation?

On a workstation, you will want to use the "Customize"
menu of the session manager utility and select
"Security". When the pop-up box appears, you can
select the host node, username, and tranport that will
allow you to launch an application that targets the
workstation display.

If this does not provide you with access to the
display, You need a checklist of sorts:

o Make sure that you've specified the X-windows
"display" correctly on the remote host. For a
DECnet transport, the specification uses two colons,
while the TCP/IP transport typically uses one. The
X Windows server and the X Windows screen follow
the host specification, delimited by a period. For
example:

________________________________________________________________
Table 11-1 X Windows Display Commands

_______________________________________________________
Shell_____Command______________________________________

csh

# setenv DISPLAY vms.domain:0.0

sh and ksh

# $ DISPLAY=vms.domain:0.0 ; export DISPLAY

DCL

$ SET DISPLAY/CREATE/NODE=vms.domain -
___________________/TRANSPORT=TCPIP/SERVER=server/SCREEN=screen_

o If you have verified the command is correct and
things are still not working, ensure the Security
settings on the OpenVMS host side will allow the

11-1

DECwindows

incoming connection: Pull down the "Options" menu
in the Session Manager, and select "Security...". If
you do not find your host and username and transport
listed among the authorized users, you will need to
add an entry.

o There are various transports available, including
LOCAL, DECNET, LAT, and TCPIP. You must Select
the transport appropriate to the incoming
connection.

o If the transport is "DECnet", do NOT add the
double colon (::) to the node name.

o If the transport is "TCPIP", "Username" must
be an asterisk (*). Why? Because unlike DECnet,
the TCP/IP protocol does not provide the remote
username information in the incoming connection.

o If the connection is "TCPIP", it is best to use
a full domain name (e.g. Node.Subd.Domain).
However, you may have to use the IP address
itself, if your host does not have a way to
resolve the address via DNS. If you have the
luxury of fixed addresses (eg: you are not using
DHCP), then it can be helpful to add two entries
for each TCP/IP host, one that specifies the host
name and one that specifies the host address.

o There are various TCP/IP packages for OpenVMS,
and you must use syntax appropriate to the
transport installed.

o If a TCP/IP connection is still not working,
ensure that the transport you want has been
activated for use with DECwindows. See
Section 11.14 for details of configuring TCP/IP
as a transport.

o There is a log file created in SYS$MANAGER: which
can tell you which transports are loaded, and
also tell you what connect attempts were rejected,
including showing what the presented credentials
were. This file is SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SERVER_0_
ERROR.LOG, although the 0 could be another number
if you have multiple servers on the workstation. I

11-2

DECwindows

have found this file to be very useful for tracking
down what needs to be put in the Session Manager
Security entries.

__________________________________________________________
11.2 How do I create a display on another workstation?

To create a display from an OpenVMS host to a remote X
Windows display, use one of the following DCL commands:

$ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=net_transport /NODE=remote_node
$ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=LAT /NODE=remote_node
$ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=DECnet /NODE=remote_node
$ SET DISPLAY /CREATE /TRANSPORT=TCPIP /NODE=remote_node

Note that LAT is typically used only for the VXT series
X Windows terminals, but it can also be used from
OpenVMS to OpenVMS systems on various OpenVMS releases,
such as on OpenVMS Alpha V6.1 and later. For details on
configuring the TCP/IP transport, see Section 11.14.

If you are interested in X Windows terminals and have
an older VAXstation system around, please see the EWS
package on Freeware V5.0.

__________________________________________________________
11.3 How can I get the information from SHOW DISPLAY into a
symbol?

Use the undocumented SHOW DISPLAY/SYMBOL, and then
reference the symbols DECW$DISPLAY_NODE, DECW$DISPLAY_
SCREEN, DECW$DISPLAY_SERVER and/or DECW$DISPLAY_
TRANSPORT.

An example of calling the underlying (and also
undocumented) sys$qio programming interface for the
WSDRIVER (WSAn:) is available at:

http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/

Look in the Freeware V4.0 directory /srh_examples/DECUS_UNDOC_
CLINIC/.

11-3

DECwindows

__________________________________________________________
11.4 How do I get a log of a DECterm session?

If you are working from a DECwindows DECterm terminal
emulator, you can use the AutoPrint feature. Choose
the "Printer..." menu item from the "Options" menu, set
the printing destination to the name of the file you
want, and set "Auto Print Mode". You are now free to
continue.

It should be noted that all of the characters and
escape sequences are captured, but if you display the
resulting log file on a DECterm, then you will see
exactly what was originally displayed.

You can also use the "Print Screen" screen capture
available in the DECwindows session manager menus, if
you simply wish to snapshot a particular portion of the
X Windows display.

If you are using the Freeware VTstar terminal emulator
package, you will find a similar logging mechanism is
available in the menus.

__________________________________________________________
11.5 Why is DECwindows Motif not starting?

First check to see if there is a graphics device,
usually a G* device. (eg: On a DEC 2000 model 300,
use the command SHOW DEVICE GQ) If you do not find a
graphics device:

o OpenVMS has failed to find the appropriate IRQ
information for an EISA graphics card (on the
DEC 2000 series) such as the HP (Compaq) QVision,
and did not autoconfigure it. Run the correct ECU
(for Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS) and reboot. This is
necessary only on EISA-based systems.

o You have an EISA-based system (such as the DEC
2000 model 300) and do not have a HP (Compaq)
QVision video card. This EISA graphics card should
have Compaq printed on it, and identifies itself
as a CPQ3011 or a CPQ3111. If it is not one of
these two EISA devices, then OpenVMS does not
support it. (There are no other supported EISA
graphics controllers, and EISA graphics are normally

11-4

DECwindows

used with DECwindows only on the DEC 2000 series
systems.)

o You have a PCI-based system, and do not have a
supported graphics controller-examples of supported
controllers include the following:

o Radeon 7500

o PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20

o 3DLabs Oxygen VX1

See Section 5.16 for further information on some of
these graphics controllers.

o You have booted the system minimally, or have
otherwise disabled the device autoconfiguration
process.

If there is a G* graphics device present:

o There may have been a severe error in the
DECwindows startup. Type the contents of
SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SERVER_0_ERROR.LOG for any
information on errors starting the server.

o The system parameter WINDOW_SYSTEM is not set to
1. While this was a common way for system managers
to disable the DECwindows server startup, it is
not particularly reliable as DECwindows can now
"correct" this setting.

If you really do not want an OpenVMS system with
workstation hardware to bootstrap and configure
itself as a workstation, add the following
definition to SYLOGICALS.COM:

$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXEC DECW$IGNORE_WORKSTATION TRUE

o You may not have a valid DECwindows Motif license
loaded. To check for the two most common types of
Motif product authorization keys (PAKs), use the
following DCL commands:

$ LICENSE LIST DW-MOTIF/FULL
$ LICENSE LIST NET-APP-SUP*/FULL

11-5

DECwindows

and examine the information displayed. Make sure
that one of these licenses is present, valid and
active.

For information on registering software license
product authorization keys (PAKs) when you
cannot log into the system directly, please see
Section 5.6.2.

o Check that the DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM is
correct for the graphics controller in use. For
instance:

The following is from the 9FX Vision 330 Owners
Guide, EK-V330G-OG pg 2-9. Place the following in
DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM, creatibng .COM from
.TEMPLATE if necessary. Locate the DECW$PRIVATE_
SERVER_SETUP.COM file in SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSMGR] or
in SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR] as appropriate; the former
file is used for this system within a cluster
configuration, and the latter is used for all
systems that do not also have a local copy of this
file in SYS$SPECIFIC:[SYSMGR].

$ DECW$XSIZE_IN_PIXELS == xvalue
$ DECW$YSIZE_IN_PIXELS == yvalue
$ DEFINE/SYSTEM DECW$SERVER_REFRESH_RATE rate_in_Hz

Also see Section 11.11. Details of the PowerStorm
3D30 and 4D20 settings are available in the OpenVMS
Ask The Wizard area.

__________________________________________________________
11.6 How do I set the title on a DECterm window?

If you are creating a new DECterm window, check

$ HELP CREATE /TERMINAL /WINDOW_ATTRIBUTES

If you want to change the title of an existing window,
use the following control sequences, where <esc> is the
ANSI escape code, value decimal 27, and "text label" is
what you want to display:

To set the DECterm title, send the escape character,
then the characters "]21;", then the text label string,
and then an escape character followed by a backslash
character.

11-6

DECwindows

To set the icon label, send the escape character, then
the characters "]2L;", then the icon label string,
and then an escape character followed by a backslash
character.

To set both the DECterm title and icon to the full
device name, you can use the following DCL commands:

$ esc[0,7] = 27
$ fulldevnam = F$Edit(F$GetDVI("TT","FULLDEVNAM"),"UPCASE,COLLAPSE")
$ write sys$output esc+ "]21;" + fulldevnam + esc + "\"
$ write sys$output esc+ "]2L;" + fulldevnam + esc + "\"

You can also change the title and the icon using the
Options-Window... menu.

Also see Section 12.1 and Section 8.13.

__________________________________________________________
11.7 How do I customize DECwindows, including the login screen?

To customize various DECwindows Motif characteristics
including the defaults used by the SET DISPLAY command,
the DECwindows login screen background logo used (the
default is the DIGITAL, Compaq, or HP logo), various
keymaps (also see Section 11.7.2 and Section 11.7.1),
the FileView defaults, session manager defaults,
the DECwindows login processing, DECwindows log file
processing, and various other DECwindows attributes,
see the example file:

$ SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE

This example template file is typically copied over to
the filename SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_
SETUP.COM and then modified to meet site-specific
requirements.

Additionally, various X tools such as xsetroot, bitmap
and xrdb-some these can be useful in customizing the
appearance of an application or of the DECwindows Motif
display-are provided in the DECW$UTILS: area.

When using DECwindows V1.2-4 and later on OpenVMS
Alpha, the default desktop is the Common Desktop
Environment (CDE). You can select your preferred
desktop (CDE or DECwindows Motif) when logging in,
or you can change the default to the DECwindows

11-7

DECwindows

Motif desktop using the DCL symbol decw$start_new_
desktop in the DECwindows private application setup
command procedure. See SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_
SETUP.TEMPLATE for further details, and how to create
DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM.

Note that with DECwindows CDE, the root window is
no longer visible by default. The root window is
hidden behind the "backdrop" window of the current
CDE workspace. To make the root window visible, use the
CDE style manager selection "backdrop none", and use
information such as that in the OpenVMS FAQ to set the
root window.

To add a new backdrop to the DECwindows CDE
environment, the backdrop must first be in or be
converted into X11 pixmap format. (This conversion
is often possible using tools such as xv.) Then (if
necessary) create the default backdrop directory
SYS$COMMON:[CDE$DEFAULTS.USER.BACKDROPS]. Place the
X11 pixmap file containing the desired image into the
backdrops directory, ensure that it has a filename
extension of .PM. (The xv default filename extension
for the X11 pixmap file is .XPM, while CDE expects
only to see files with .PM.) Now invoke the CDE style
manager and select a new backdrop. You will find
your image will be placed at the end of the list of
backdrops available.

If you require a message be included on the initial
display-where the start session display and the logo
appears-you can use either of the following approaches:

o The simplest approach requires OpenVMS V7.3-2 or
later, and the corresponding DECwindows V1.3-
1 kit or later. You will want to create a file
named SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$GREET.TXT, and this
will be displayed in a popup-with an OK button-
when the login box is displayed. This is intended
specifically for applications requiring such a
display.

11-8

DECwindows

o The second approach involves copying the file
XRESOURCES.DAT from

SYS$SYSDEVICE:[VMS$COMMON.CDE$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM.CONFIG.C]

into the directory

SYS$SYSDEVICE:[VMS$COMMON.CDE$DEFAULTS.USER.CONFIG.C]

and editing the copy. Specifically, look for the following:

Dtlogin*greeting.labelString:

The line is normally commented out, and by default
contains the string:

Welcome to %localhost%

You can change this text to something akin to the
following:

Dtlogin*greeting.labelString: Welcome to Heck \n\
This is a Trusted System owned by the Rulers of the planet Zark\n\
\n\
We Come In Peace\n\
\n
If you want Privacy, you've come to the wrong place\n\
\n

The lines of text will be centered for you.

In most DECwindows versions, you will be able to
onbtain only about eight (8) lines of text. Changes
have been implemented in DECwindows V1.3 and later
that permit up to about twenty-five (25) lines of
text.

The login logo is stored as an XPM bitmap image in the
text file SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSCOMMON.CDE$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM.APPCONFIG.ICONS.C]DECDTLOGO.PM,
and it can be changed. Copy the file to SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSCOMMON.CDE$DEFAULTS.USER.APPCONFIG.ICONS.C]DECDTLOGO.PM,
as DECwindows upgrades can replace the system version
of this file.

On DECwindows V1.3-1 and later (and possibly on V1.3),
both DECwindows CDE and DECwindows Motif displays use
this logo file. On older releases, only the DECwindows
CDE displays used this logo file, while the logo
used for the Motif login display was hard-coded into
the package and the only available override is the

11-9

DECwindows

DECW$LOGINLOGO command procedure mechanism within the
customized, site-specific DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM
file.

Look at the contents of the DECDTLOGO.PM file and at
other *.XPM files and tools for additional details.

_____________________________
11.7.1 How do I customize DECwindows keymapping?

Various keymaps can be implemented on OpenVMS and other
X Windows systems, allowing the implementation of
a Dvorak-style or other alternate keymappings. For
details, see the available X Windows documentation
(this is the documentation associated with X Windows
itself, and not the product documentation for the
OpenVMS operating system nor for the DECwindows
X Windows implementation) and see the DECwindows
*.DECW$KEYMAP (text-format) files found in the
DECwindows DECW$KEYMAP: directory.

For other keymapping information, see Section 11.7.2.

_____________________________
11.7.2 Why does the DELETE key delete forward instead of
backward?

See the SET TERMINAL/BACKSPACE command on OpenVMS V8.2
and later.

This behaviour involves the Motif virtual key bindings.
When a Motif application starts, it looks at the vendor
string returned in the display connection information
and attempts to match the string to a table of virtual
bindings.

You can override the default bindings in your
decw$xdefaults.dat file. Here is the entry you would
make to get the default VMS bindings.

11-10

DECwindows

*defaultVirtualBindings:\
osfCancel : <F11> \n\
osfLeft : <Left> \n\
osfUp : <Up> \n\
osfRight : <Right> \n\
osfDown : <Down> \n\
osfEndLine :Alt <Right> \n\
osfBeginLine :Alt <Left> \n\
osfPageUp : <Prior> \n\
osfPageDown : <Next> \n\
osfDelete :Shift <Delete> \n\
osfUndo :Alt <Delete> \n\
osfBackSpace : <Delete> \n\
osfAddMode :Shift <F8> \n\
osfHelp : <Help> \n\
osfMenu : <F4> \n\
osfMenuBar : <F10> \n\
osfSelect : <Select> \n\
osfActivate : <KP_Enter> \n\
osfCopy :Shift <DRemove> \n\
osfCut : <DRemove> \n\
osfPaste : <Insert>

To merge:

$ xrdb :== $decw$utils:xrdb.exe
$ xrdb -nocpp -merge decw$xdefaults.dat

Also note that the DECW$UTILS:DECW$DEFINE_UTILS.COM
procedure can be used to establish the xrdb and other
symbols.

Also see the DECxterm directory of Freeware V5.0 for
details on connecting to OpenVMS from various UNIX
platforms.

For other keymapping information, see Section 11.7.1.

11-11

DECwindows

__________________________________________________________
11.8 Why doesn't XtAppAddInput() work on OpenVMS?

Yes, XtAppAddInput() does work on OpenVMS. The MIT
definition of the X Windows call XtAppAddInput()
includes platform-specific arguments.

On platforms where C is the typically the primary
programming language for the platform, the file
descriptor mask is one of the arguments to the
XtAppAddInput() call.

On OpenVMS, the platform-specific arguments to this
call include an event flag and an IOSB, as these are
the traditional OpenVMS constructs used to synchronize
the completion of asynchronous operations. While it
would be easier to port non-OpenVMS C code that calls
XtAppAddInput() over to OpenVMS if the arguments
included the C file descriptor, this would make the
call unusable from other OpenVMS languages, and would
make it extremely difficult to use OpenVMS features
such as ASTs and sys$qio calls.

One restriction on the event flag: the event flag
chosen must be from event flag cluster zero. When using
the traditional lib$get_ef and lib$free_ef calls to
allocate and deallocate event flags, you must first
explicitly call lib$free_ef to free up some event flags
in event flag cluster zero. Please see the event flag
documentation for specific details on these calls and
for specific event flags that can be freed in event
flag cluster zero.

Here is some example code that covers calling this
routine on OpenVMS:

11-12

DECwindows

m->InputID = XtAppAddInput(
m->AppCtx,
m->InputEF,
m->InputIosb,
the_callback, 1 );
if ( !((int) m->InputID ))
{
XtAppErrorMsg(
m->AppCtx,
"invalidDevice",
"XtAppAddInput",
"XtToolkitError",
"Can't Access Device",
(String *) NULL,
(Cardinal *) NULL );
...

__________________________________________________________
11.9 Why do the keyboard arrow keys move the DECwindows cursor?

Congratulations, you have just stumbled into "dead
rodent" mode. This DECwindows environment-where the
keyboard arrow keys move the mouse cursor and where
the [SELECT], [PREV], and [NEXT] keys emulate the three
mouse buttons-allows rudimentary system operations when
the mouse is among the casualties.

To enter or exit "dead rodent" mode, enter the
following: <CTRL/SHIFT/F3>

__________________________________________________________
11.10 Why does half my DECwindows display blank?

This is likely a result of receiving an OPCOM or other
console message on a system that shares the system
console with the DECwindows graphics workstation
display.

You can toggle off the console display window using
<CTRL/F2> and you can enable a serial console per
Section 14.3.6 or Section 14.3.3.3.

11-13

DECwindows

Also see the console message window application
available with recent DECwindows versions-DECwindows
versions V1.2-3 and later will enable this window
by default. For details on this console message
window, see the DECW$CONSOLE_SELECTION option in
SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE.

On older releases, you can disable output using the
following:

$ SET TERMINAL/PERMANENT/NOBROADCAST OPA0:
$ DEFINE/USER SYS$COMMAND OPA0:
$ REPLY/DISABLE

Also see Section 14.3.3.2, Section 14.17, and Also see
Section 8.4,

__________________________________________________________
11.11 %DECW-W-NODEVICE, No graphics device found on this
system?

To resolve the following error:

%DECW-W-NODEVICE, No graphics device found on this system
-DECW-I-NODECW, DECwindows graphics drivers will not be loaded

o Ensure that the system parameter WINDOW_SYSTEM is
set to 1. If it is not set to a value of 1, issue
the commands:

$ run sys$system:sysgen
USE CURRENT
SET WINDOW_SYSTEM 1
WRITE ACTIVE
WRITE CURRENT
EXIT

Then reboot the system.

o On OpenVMS Alpha, ensure the SYSMAN IO PREFIX LIST
is set correctly, and specifically ensure the DECW$
prefix is included in the existing list. If it is
not, you will need to add it:

11-14

DECwindows

$ run sys$system:sysman
IO SHOW PREFIX
IO SET PREFIX=(DECW$,*) * = list returned by the show command
IO AUTO/LOG
EXIT

o Ensure that the image SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM.EXE is
installed in memory. If it is not installed, then
install it:

$ INSTALL LIST/FULL SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM
$ INSTALL REPLACE SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM
$ EDIT SYS$MANAGER:SYCONFIG.COM

$! The following line was added to install
$! support for the Mach64 Graphics Card
$!
$ INSTALL REPLACE SYS$SHARE:DECW$ICBM
$ ^Z

Then reboot the system.

The ICBM mechanism is not used on and not needed by
more recent DECwindows versions.

o If the system still complains "%DECW-W-NODEVICE, No
graphics device found on this system", then:

o Boot the system as normal

o Login as SYSTEM.

o Create the file SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$USER_
AUTOCONFIG.DAT. Protection must permit world read
access.

o Add the following string on the very first line:

CLEAR_PFLAG = ISA_4BYTE

o Save the file

o Set the file protections

$ SET PROTECTION=W:RE SYS$MANAGER:DECW$USER_AUTOCONFIG.DAT

o Reboot the system

Also see Section 11.5.

11-15

DECwindows

__________________________________________________________
11.12 How can I reset the warning bell volume?

With DECwindows CDE drivers and ECOs starting with ECOs
for the DECwindows keyboard driver SYS$IKBDRIVER.EXE
in OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 and V7.2-1 and with the
SYS$IKBDRIVER.EXE included in OpenVMS V7.2-1H1 and
later, the DECwindows CDE controls will now correctly
manage the setting of the warning bell volume.

Unfortunately, the equivalent controls in the older
DECwindows Motif interface are not compatible and can
no longer manage the warning bell volume.

If you need to manage the volume with DECwindows Motif,
consider using the following approach:

$ @decw$utils:decw$define_utils
$ xset b 1 100 100

The numerics are the volume, pitch, and duration,
respectively.

Why? When OpenVMS first started supporting the PC-style
keyboards, the X Windows Server and the keyboard driver
interface did not support the pitch and duration, and
neither did DECwindows Motif. The DECwindows keyboard
driver was accordingly changed to use the volume from
the keyclick setting (keyclick is not available in
a PC-style keyboard) and the bell volume setting to
control the pitch and duration.

DECwindows CDE does provide sliders for setting pitch
and duration, so the keyboard driver and X Windows
Server were modified to provide all of the information,
and now the DECwindows CDE sliders work. This change is
unfortunately incompatible with the old scheme used on
the pre-CDE desktops, and the volume controls are now
incompatible with the current keyboard drivers. Hence
the use of xset.

11-16

DECwindows

__________________________________________________________
11.13 How can I alter the DECwindows CDE backdrop?

To select a separate backdrop to be displayed on each
screen using DECwindows CDE:

o Click on the Application Manager. This is the drawer
icon on the CDE toolbar.

o Click on Desktop Tools

o Click on Set Default Screen and select the required
screen

o Click on the Style Manager. This is the one
containing the mouse and ttt on the CDE toolbar

o Now change the background.

__________________________________________________________
11.14 How can I enable the DECwindows TCP/IP Transport

To configure the TCP/IP transport for DECwindows,
first ensure that a TCP/IP package is installed and
configured. Then set the DCL symbol DECW$SERVER_
TRANSPORTS in SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_
SETUP.COM to the appropriate local value, based on
the comments in that file. If you do not have a copy of
SYS$STARTUP:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM, the use the
following COPY command to create this file based on the
provided template file:

$ COPY SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.TEMPLATE -
$_ SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM

__________________________________________________________
11.15 Can I use DECwindows 1.2-* on OpenVMS V7.3-2 or later?

The short answer is no.

OpenVMS Alpha V7.3-2 only supports DECwindows Motif
V1.3 and later. If you require DECwindows V1.2-6 or
earlier, then you are limited to operations on OpenVMS
Alpha V7.3-1 and earlier releases.

The central technical reason involves depdendencies
among the parts of the X11 subsystem that are delivered
with the base OpenVMS operating system including the X
Windows display server and the transport images, and

11-17

DECwindows

the parts of the DECwindows product that are delivered
within the DECwindows installation kits including the
client libraries and the DECwindows applications.

DECwindows V1.3 and later made substantial changes to
the transport layer, and these required corresponding
changes to both the associated client and server code.
OpenVMS Alpha V7.3-2 includes the server and transport
with the V1.3 modifications. These changes were in
support of the upgrade of Xlib from X11R5 to X11R6.6,
and transport-level changes associated with support of
the Kerberos and LBX features.

If you attempt to load DECwindows V1.2-6 images onto an
OpenVMS Alpha V7.3-2 or later system, the DECwindows
libraries will not function with with system images
and will particularly not function with the transport
layer.

__________________________________________________________
11.16 How to add Fonts into DECwindows?

The following assumes DECwindows V1.3-1 and OpenVMS
Alpha V7.3-2 and later unless stated otherwise, and can
permit fonts of various formats to be added into the
DECwindows environment.

The recommended location for user font files is to
place them in the directories which are reserved
for this purpose, typically located below the
SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW] directory.

SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_100DPI]
SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_75DPI]

The above are recommended for PCF files of 100 Dots Per
Inch (DPI) and of 75 DPI resolution, respectively.

SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_COMMON]

The above is recommended for other PCF files, such
as terminal (character cell) fonts, and fonts used by
specific applications.

SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_CURSOR16]
SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_CURSOR32]

11-18

DECwindows

The above are recommended for cursors.

SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_SPEEDO]

SPEEDO is recommended for SPD files.

SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_TRUETYPE]

USER_TRUETYPE is recommended for TrueType (TTF)
fonts. Fonts placed in this directory should be in
the "Windows / Linux" format.

The directory will contain the font files themselves,
and a data file that describes each font in the
directory. This file is named DECW$FONT_DIRECTORY.DAT
or DECW$FONT_DIRECTORY_extension.DAT, where "extension"
is replaced by the type of font (100DPI, SPEEDO,
TRUETYPE, TYPE1, etc.)

Make sure that the file protection on the font files is
set to allow world access to the fonts.

For example: to add TrueType fonts to DECwindows,
place the font files in SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_
TRUETYPE]

A directory listing might look like this:

Directory SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_TRUETYPE]

ARKOI8N.TTF;1 46KB/48KB 5-MAR-1995 04:00:00.00
backstage.ttf;1 55KB/56KB 19-JUL-2004 09:42:20.92
IDAutomationHC39M_Free.ttf;1 27KB/32KB 29-JUL-2003 11:25:48.00
...
texsi.ttf;1 133KB/136KB 25-MAY-2003 15:31:11.00
texw.ttf;1 150KB/152KB 25-MAY-2003 15:32:33.00

Total of 37 files, 3.09MB/3.23MB

The case of the filename is not important.

TrueType fonts should be in Stream_LF file format.

To generate the appropriate DECW$FONT_DIRECTORY.DAT
file for most font formats, issue the command:

$ FONTCOMPILER /DIRECTORY

11-19

DECwindows

The above may or may not operate with TrueType files,
and you will likely have to generate the DECW$FONT_
DIRECTORY_TRUETYPE.DAT file manually. A sample file
follows:

37
BACKSTAGE.ttf -Grfonts-Backstage-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
IDAutomationHC39M_Free.ttf -IDAutomation-HC39M-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-m-0-misc-Barcode39
SUSESerif-Bold.ttf -Suse-Suse-bold-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
SUSESerif-Roman.ttf -Suse-Suse-medium-r-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
SUSESans-Bold.ttf -Suse-Suse-bold-r-normal-sans-0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
SUSESans-BoldOblique.ttf -Suse-Suse-bold-o-normal-sans-0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
SUSESans-Oblique.ttf -Suse-Suse-medium-o-normal-sans-0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
SUSESans-Roman.ttf -Suse-Suse-medium-r-normal-sans-0-0-0-0-p-0-iso8859-1
SUSESansMono-Bold.ttf -Suse-Suse Mono-bold-r-normal-sans-0-0-0-0-m-0-iso8859-1
...
MCTIMEBI.TTF -UOregon-MAC C Times-bold-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-macedonian-0
MCTIMEI.TTF -UOregon-MAC C Times-medium-i-normal--0-0-0-0-p-0-macedonian-0

The first line of this data file is the number of
font file entries which follow. Each entry consists
of the font file name, and a font description. There
are fourteen fields in the description, separated by
hyphens (dashes, "-"). Fields may contain embedded
spaces. The fields are

o Foundry: the name of the company or person which
produced the font.

o Family: the name of the Typeface (what most people
will call the "font").

o Weight: How "heavy" the type appears. Normal fonts
are "medium" or "regular", variations include
"bold", "demi", "light", etc.

o Slant: "r" for regular, "i" for italic, or "o" for
oblique.

o Width: "normal", "wide", "narrow", "condensed", etc.

o Style: normally left empty, it can also identify
variations on a basic family such as "sans" (sans
serifs; without the serif, the ending and usually
pointed portion of the stroke). Fonts of different
styles can be grouped in the same family.

11-20

DECwindows

o Sizes: the next four fields identify the size and
scale of individual characters for fonts that have
fixed point sizes. For fonts which scale (such as
TrueType), the four fields are all zero.

o Spacing: "p" for proportional, "m" for monospaced,
or "c" for character cell.

Note: although DECwindows can identify different
spacings within a family, the author has found that
mixing monospaced and proportional fonts in the same
family may cause some proportional font options to
not appear in a font selection menu within Notepad
(only). (A fix for this is expected in DECwindows
V1.5 and later.)

o The next field is always zero for TrueType fonts.

o Character Set: the last two fields identify the name
and version number of the character set represented
within the font. For many applications, these fields
are informational only.

The next step is to update the list of fonts known to
DECwindows, using the xset utility.

$ mc decw$utils:xset fp rehash

It is also possible to reset the font list to the
default:

$ mc decw$utils:xset fp default

This is useful if you need to recover from errors.

The Notepad utility, normally available through the
"Applications" menu in Session Manager, is a convenient
way to see if the font is available. Start the
application, select "Options", then select "Font...".
In the "Family (Foundry)" window, you will see the
list of fonts available. User-added TrueType fonts will
normally be at the end of this list. Select the desired
font family, then select the Size (dpi) (which will
always be 0(0) for TrueType fonts), and the various
font options (Weight, Slant, Width, etc.) should appear
in the next window. You should then be able to select
the desired font and click <OK> or <Apply> to use it,
or <Cancel> to exit without changing the font.

11-21

DECwindows

If you don't see all of the fonts you added, check to
see that the number at the beginning of the DECW$FONT_
DIRECTORY*.DAT file is correct, that the files are set
to world (or appropriate) access, and that TrueType
fonts are in Stream_LF format.

Some applications require entering a full font name,
which will look like the font description entry.

Please keep in mind that not all applications can use
every font which may be available on your system.
For example, DECterm is designed to use families
of fonts specifically designed for character cell
applications. Other fonts (specifically TrueType)
may work erratically, and may result in an unusable
display. It is best to use only monospaced fonts
specifically intended for DECterm with DECterm.

The SYS$COMMON:[SYSFONT.DECW.USER_TRUETYPE] doesn't
exist on OpenVMS VAX V7.3 with DECwindows V1.2-6,
but the procedure above does appear to work if the
directory is created and the instructions above are
followed.

11-22

_______________________________________________________

12 Miscellaneous Information

__________________________________________________________
12.1 Where can I find information on escape and control
sequences?

Information on escape and control sequences can be
found in the OpenVMS I/O User's Reference Manual, in
the chapter on the terminal driver. The chapter also
includes details on the general format and content of
these sequences.

Specific details on the escape and control sequences
supported by a particular serial device are typically
found in the documentation provided with the specific
device. Information on the sequences supported by
DECwindows DECterm terminal emulator are included in
the DECwindows documentation.

Examples of common escape and control sequences-
those typically used by the OpenVMS screen management
package-can be found in the OpenVMS system file
SYS$SYSTEM:SMGTERMS.TXT. (This file can be queried
under program control using SMG$GET_TERM_DATA, and you
don't need to use all of SMG to use this call.)

The following refers to the function keys on the LK-
series keyboards found on the VT-series terminals such
as the VT220 and VT510, and the LK-series keyboards
found on the OpenVMS workstations, and the keyboards
found on compatible terminals. (Though note that the
keyboard itself does not generate the sequence, the
terminal or terminal emulator generates the sequence
in response to user input.) In the following, {CSI} is
decimal code 155 and can be replaced by the sequence
"{ESC}[" (without the quotes) particularly for seven-
bit operations, SS3 is decimal code 143 and can be
replaced by "{ESC}O" particularly for seven-bit
operations. Older VT1xx series terminals and any
other terminals operating with seven-bit characters

12-1

Miscellaneous Information

should not be sent eight-bit operators such as {CSI}
and {SS3}.

PF1={SS3}P PF2={SS3}Q PF3={SS3}R PF4={SS3}S
KP0={SS3}p KP1={SS3}q KP2={SS3}r KP3={SS3}s KP4={SS3}t KP5={SS3}u
KP6={SS3}v KP7={SS3}w KP8={SS3}x KP9={SS3}y KPCOMMA={SS3}l KPMINUS={SS3}m
KPPERIOD={SS3}n ENTER={SS3}M DNARROW={CSI}B UPARROW={CSI}A LFARROW={CSI}D
RTARROW={CSI}C FIND={CSI}1~ INSERT={CSI}2~ REMOVE={CSI}3~ SELECT={CSI}4~
PREV={CSI}5~ NEXT={CSI}6~ F6={CSI}17~ F7={CSI}18~ F8={CSI}19~ F9={CSI}20~
F10={CSI}21~ F11={CSI}23~ F12={CSI}24~ F13={CSI}25~ F14={CSI}26~
HELP={CSI}28~ DO={CSI}29~ F17={CSI}31~ F18={CSI}32~ F19={CSI}33~ F20={CSI}34~

An example of working with escape sequences (in DCL)
follows:

$ esc5m = "*[5m"
$ esc5m[0,8] = 27
$ esc0m = "*[0m"
$ esc0m[0,8] = 27
$ write sys$output esc5m + "blinking text" + esc0m

Documentation on an ANSI terminal relatively similar to
the VT525 series is available at:

o ftp://ftp.boundless.com/pub/text/adds/docs/260_prog/

o ftp://ftp.boundless.com/pub/text/adds/docs/260_user/

Also see the various documentation and manuals
available at:

o http://www.vt100.net/

Information on the ReGIS graphics character set is
available at:

o http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal/dec_regis_
news.txt

Also:

o http://www.boundless.com/Text_Terminals/VT/

Also see Section 11.6, Section 8.13.

12-2

Miscellaneous Information

__________________________________________________________
12.2 Does DECprint (DCPS) work with the LRA0 parallel port?

No.

The parallel printing port LRA0: found on many
OpenVMS Alpha systems is capable of some bidirectional
communications, with enough for basic operations with
most parallel printers.

DECprint (DCPS) requires more than just the simple
handshaking provided by the LRA0: port, therefore DCPS
does not work with the LRA0: port.

__________________________________________________________
12.3 How do I check for free space on a (BACKUP) tape?

You cannot know for certain, though you can certainly
estimate the remaining capacity.

Tape media is different than disk media, as disks
have a known and pre-determined fixed capacity. Modern
disks also appear logically perfect, based on bad block
revectoring support and the extra blocks hidden within
the disk structure for these bad block replacements.

The capacity of tape media is not nearly as pre-
determined, and the capacity can vary across different
tape media (slightly different media lengths or
different foil markers or other variations, for
instance) and even on the same media over time (as bad
spots in the media arise). Tapes can vary the amount of
recording media required, depending on the remaining
length of the tape, the numbers of correctable and
uncorrectable media errors that might occur, the
numbers and sizes of the inter-record gaps and related
tape structure overhead, the particular media error
recovery chosen, the tape density, the efficiently of
any data compression in use, and the storage overhead
required by BACKUP, tar, and other similar commands.

BACKUP using with the default settings results in
approximately 15% overhead, in terms of saveset size.
(eg: Assuming a 500 KB input, the total size would be
575 KB.)

Assuming no compression:
4 GB media / 575 KB saveset = 7294 savesets

12-3

Miscellaneous Information

Assuming 1:2 compression:
8 GB media / 575 KB saveset = 14588 savesets

Note

There are no inter-record gaps on DAT tapes. When
determining media capacity, you have to consider
these gaps with nine-track magtape media and
other formats with gaps. This is not the case
with DAT (DDS), as the format has no recording
gaps. However, the block structure underneath
the variable length record recording is based on
a block size of circa 124 KB. Further, writing
doubles filemarks and such can cause a loss of
up to the underlying block size. Thus even though
there are no inter-record gaps on DAT, larger
savesets are still usually best.

The compression algorithms used on various devices are
generally not documented-further, there is no way to
calculate the effective data compression ratio, the
tape mark overhead, and similar given just the data
to be stored on tape-short of actually trying it, of
course.

A typical compression ratio found with "everyday" data
is somewhere around 1:1.8 to 1:2.

Note

OpenVMS often uses the term COMPACTION for
compression control, as in the qualifier /MEDIA_
FORMAT=COMPACTION.

__________________________________________________________
12.4 Correctly using license PAKs and LMF?

If you have multiple LMF$LICENSE.LDB databases in
your OpenVMS Cluster, then each and every PAK must
be installed in each and every license database present
in an OpenVMS Cluster. Even if you use /EXCLUDE or
/INCLUDE, you need to have a consistent set of PAKs
registered across all licensing databases present in
the OpenVMS Cluster.

12-4

Miscellaneous Information

If your software license permits it, you can use the
following two commands to transfer license PAKs:

$ LICENSE COPY...
$ LICENSE ISSUE/PROCEDURE/OUTPUT=file product,...

To display the particular license(s) required (such as
when you receive a NOLICENSE error), use the following
DCL sequence:

$ SET PROCESS/PRIVILEGE=ALL
$ REPLY/ENABLE
$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE LMF$DISPLAY_OPCOM_MESSAGE

This logical name will cause all license failures
to generate OPCOM messages, and this will hopefully
show which license(s) you need- there may well also
be additional license failures displayed, as various
products can check for and can be enabled by multiple
license PAKs. You will want to deassign this logical
name when done.

Some of the more common license PAKs:

DECnet Phase IV: DVNETRTG, DVNETEND, DVNETEXT, or NET-APP-SUP*
DECnet-Plus: DVNETRTG, DVNETEND, DVNETEXT, or NET-APP-SUP*
TCP/IP Services: UCX, or NET-APP-SUP*
OpenVMS Alpha: OPENVMS-ALPHA and OPENVMS-ALPHA-USER
OpenVMS VAX: VAX-VMS
OpenVMS Galaxy: OPENVMS-GALAXY
Cluster (Alpha): VMSCLUSTER, NET-APP-SUP*
Cluster (VAX): VAXCLUSTER, NET-APP-SUP*

Various NET-APP-SUP (NAS) license packages are
available, each with differing collections of products
authorized. See the various NAS Software Product
Description (SPD) documents for specific details.

o http://h18000.www1.hp.com/info/spd/

OpenVMS typically uses SPD 25.01.xx, SPD 41.87.xx,
and SPD 82.35.xx.

To determine which license PAK is failing (via a
license check failure OPCOM message), use the command:

$ DEFINE/SYSTEM/EXECUTIVE LMF$DISPLAY_OPCOM_MESSAGE TRUE

12-5

---------------------------- #include <rtfaq.h> -----------------------------
For additional, please see the OpenVMS FAQ -- www.hp.com/go/openvms/faq
--------------------------- pure personal opinion ---------------------------
Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoff[at]hp.com