Re: V7: VMS or UNIX ?

hi,
 Relative directories in VMS (and OpenVMS) are:

set def [.<Next Level Down>]

in words: <open Bracket> <full stop> <Directory name> <Close bracket>

to go up one level (same as '..' in Unix, DOS and OS/2) is: [-]

in words: <open bracket> <dash> <close bracket>

to go up two levels then down to a <new directory> is:

[--.<New directory>]

in words:
<open bracket> <dash> <dash> <full stop> <New Directory> <Close Bracket>

Useful tips:

The current directory has the name of 000000 in words: <Six ZEROES> not '.'.

I have no idea why!

More useful tips:

Help Hints

will show VMS commands by function:

Help Specify

will show format of parameters to commands.

Instead of unix switches all commands have qualifiers of the form : /<Name>

The <name> is normally consistant across commands.

The equivalent of unix aliases are symbols: If the first token on a line is a symbol it will be expanded... i. e.

if in your 'login.com' you define a symbol as:

CD == "SET DEFAULT" then you can do:

cd [-]

to go up one level in the directory tree.

Any queries then please email me.

Good luck

Graham

ptmoore_at_sequent.com (Peter Moore) wrote:

>Jon-Theodosiou_at_psion.com (Jonathan Theodosiou) wrote:
 

>> Unix you change directory using cd nextdirectorydown. In VMS this
>> translates to:
>> set def [HIGHLEVELDIR.THISDIRECTORY.NEXTDIRECTORYDOWN]
>> WHY? What is a def anyway?
 

>This probably belongs in comp.os.vms, but as I went from Unix to VMS
>and back again...
 

>The unix command
 

>$ cd nextdirdown
 

>*does* have a VMS equivalent...
 

>$ set def [.nextdirdown]
 

>(note the full stop after the first square bracket).
 

>"set def" stands for SET DEFAULT. The general idea is a subtle
>difference from the Unix way of thinking. In Unix "cd" means "change
>directory" or "move me from where I am now into another direcory". In
>VMS "set def" means "set default" or "tell the O/S where to look for
>files if I don't stick a path on the front.
 

>It's a subtle distinction and the only real "difference" is that if
>you SET DEF to a non-existent directory, you will only get an error
>message if you try to access a file in that directory.
 

>Well, I hope that this is clearer than it looks to me! :-)
 

>Pete

>--
>Peter Moore.
>DBA, IS Ops,
>Sequent Computer Systems Ltd, Weybridge, UK.
Received on Fri Jul 19 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST