Everything you ever wanted to know about VMS and were afraid to ask

---Under construction --

Help with all DCL commands can be found by typing HELP Command. This helper gives a quick guide to some of the commands you may need to know about, to find you way round the system. Note VMS is not case sensitive - use upper or lower case as you wish. Commands may be abbreviated to their first few letters (you need enough letter to be unambiguous, usually 3 by sometimes 2).

Directories

When you log into the uVAX as user PULSAR, your current directory will be DISK$DATA:[PULSAR].
Directory names are enclosed in [ ] and subdirectories separated by dots.

Changing directory

Moving to another directory is done with the command
       SET DEFAULT diskname:[directoryname]    
This can be abbreviated to SET DEF [dir] or SD [dir]. You can give the full name of the disk and directory.subdirectory eg. SD $DISK1:[PSR.OBS] or you can move relative to your current directory ( . = current, - =up).
current directory           command              result

DISK$DATA:[PULSAR]         SD [.OBS]       DISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS]
DISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS]     SD [-]          DISK$DATA:[PULSAR]
DISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS]     SD [-.BACKUP]   DISK$DATA:[PULSAR.BACKUP]
Typing HELP SET DEF at the prompt will give the full VMS help text for this command.

Shortcuts and Aliases

To make it easier to get around, a number of shotcuts and aliases are setup in various pulsar login scripts.
  • Shortcuts

    catTYPE
    DDDIR/DAT/SIZE=ALL/PROT
    DDDDIR/DAT/SIZE=ALL/PROT *.DIR
    DDSDIR/DAT/SIZE
    DEFACQ SET DEFAULT $DISK1:[PSR.OBS]
    DEFCAL_1SET DEFAULT DD:[PULSAR.OBS.CAL_1]
    DEFDATA_1SET DEFAULT DD:[PULSAR.OBS.PSRDATA_1]
    DEFOBSSET DEFAULT DD:[PULSAR.OBS]
    DELDELETE/CONFIRM
    DIS*KSSHOW DEVICES/MOUNTED D
    HO*ME SET DEF $DISK1:[PULSAR]
    llDIR/DAT/SIZE=ALL/PROT
    lllDIR/DAT/SIZE=ALL/PROT *.DIR
    lsDIR
    moreTYPE/PA
    rmDELETE/CONFIRM
    T132SET TERM/WIDTH=132
    T80SET TERM/WIDTH=80
    TBIOMONITOR PROCESS/TOPBIO
    TCPUMONITOR PROCESS/TOPCPU
    xdisplaySET DISP/CRE/TRAN=TCPIP/NODE=

    Aliases
    DDDISK$DATA:
    OBSUTILDIR$DISK1:[PSR.OBS.UTIL]
    PSROBSDIR$DISK1:[PSR.OBS]
    PSRACQ_1_DATACurrent system 1 Data file
    PSRACQ_1_DATADIRDISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS.PSRDATA_1]
    PSREPHDIRDISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS.PSREPH]
    PSRLIST_1DISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS]PSRLIST_1.DAT
    PSROBSLIST_2DISK$DATA:[PULSAR.OBS]PSROBSLIST_2.DAT
    $EXABYTE_MKA400:

    Where am I?

    You can find your current position using the command SHOW DEFAULT, which can be abbreviated to SHO DEF or possibly pwd.

    Files

    File names can be a combination of almost any letters and numbers (a notable exception is +) and consist of a name, a dot, an extension and version number, e.g.} NAME.EXT;1.
    No file is ever lost or overwritten, any edit or copy command produces a file with a new version number. A file must be deleted to get rid of it.

    File List

    To get a list of the files in the current directory use the command DIRECTORY. This can be abbreviated to DIR or maybe ls. More information can be produced by adding modifiers to the command.

    Moving Files

    Files can be copied to another directory, or the same directory with another file name with the command COPY. Any part of the dilename (disk, name, extension) that is ommitted will be given th at part of the original name.

    Commands

    The up and down arrows on the keyboard will recall previous commands. These command lines can be edited using the backarrow, and delete keys. The following commands may be useful .
    COPY srcfile destfile to copy files
    RENAME oldfile newfile to move files
    SET DEFAULT directory to change current working directory
    SHO DEFAULT to show current working directory
    LOGOUT to finish session
    ED FILENAME edit file with VMS editor
    EMACS FILENAME edit with emacs.
    TYPE/PAGE FILENAME type filename, page by page ie more
    DELETE FILENAME;VERSION deletes file.
    PURGE FILENAME deletes all except the most recent version of a file.
    PURGE/KEEP=N FILENAME as above, but keep most recent n versions
    PRINT/QUEUE=CAXTON FILENAME Print POSTSCRIPT file to printer caxton, in Merlin Visitors room.
    PRINT/QUEUE=IRIS FILENAME Print POSTSCRIPT file to colour printer iris, in Merlin Visitors room.
    More information on these and other VMS commands can be found by typing HELP command. To leave help hit return for each level reached.

    Editing

    Typing ED filename will bring up the VAX Editor to create or edit a file. In an existing file you can use the arrow keys to move around, then add new data or delete old data. (The editor always works in insert mode ie anything typed will be inserted at the current cursor position, you can't type over existing data.) Commands are summoned using the right hand key pad (and the small block of keys to the left of this). This makes using the editor from a Unix box rather inadvisable!) .
    FIND Prompts for string to search for.
    SELECT Places a mark in the text.All text between the mark
      and the current cursor position will be highlighted.
    REMOVE Cuts highlighted text and saves it in a paste buffer
    INSERT HERE Inserts the contents of the paste buffer at the
      current cursor position.
    NEXT SCREEN Page down
    PREV SCREEN Page up
    BACKSPACE Deletes previous character
    KEYPAD , Delete character under cursor
    PF1, SELECT Cancels SELECT
    PF1 then 4 Goto End of file
    PF1 then 5 Goto Start of file
    PF2 HELP
    PF3 Repeats FIND
    CTRL-Z EXIT Saves changes and exits editor
    CTRL-Z QUIT Exits editor without saving changes
    You can also use emacs, as long as you can remember the key commands! Editing a file creates a version of the file with a higher version number. You will always have the last version to go back to if necessary. ( DIR/DATE/SIZE or DDS will show all the files, with version numbers and creation dates).
    Last modified: Thu Jun 15 12:16:00 BST 2000