 





                   Introduction




                   For more information on Encompass, please visit the
                   Encompass web site:

                   o  http://www.encompassus.org/

                   The organization comprised of customers of Hewlett-
                   Packard Company (HP) that is probably most analogous to
                   the Encompass organization is Interex:

                   o  http://www.interex.org/

                   Like Encompass, Interex offers various services
                   and events of interest to folks that presently work
                   with and/or that wish to learn about HP products and
                   offerings. Please see the Interex website for details.

          __________________________________________________________
          1.5  OpenVMS Support, Questions and Comments?

                   The following section includes contacts for OpenVMS
                   Feedback, and information on how to obtain technical
                   support information.

          _____________________________
          1.5.1  Corporate contacts for OpenVMS Business Issues?

                   The following folks are the HP corporate contacts for
                   OpenVMS business issues, listed in descending order
                   from Carleton (Carly) Fiorina to the Vice President of
                   the OpenVMS Engineering organization:

                   o  Carly Fiorina

                   o  Ann Livermore

                   o  Scott Stallard

                   o  Richard Marcello

                   o  Mark Gorham; the OpenVMS VP

                   These folks will quite obviously respond best to
                   cogently-worded OpenVMS corporate-level business
                   issues. These folks are not appropriate contacts for
                   technical support issues nor for technical support
                   requests, nor for any other non-corporate-related,
                   non-business-related issues.

                                                                       1-9

 





                   Introduction



          _____________________________
          1.5.2  OpenVMS Ambassadors?

                   The OpenVMS Ambassadors are senior HP engineers with
                   advanced technical knowledge and advanced training in
                   OpenVMS, with detailed knowledge of current and future
                   OpenVMS releases and product plans, and with contacts
                   directly with the HP and ISV hardware and software
                   engineering organizations developing OpenVMS and
                   OpenVMS hardware platforms, as well as layered products
                   and tools. Further, Ambassadors are experienced with
                   integrating HP OpenVMS and application-specific
                   products and ISV applications to solve specific
                   business requirements.

                   OpenVMS Ambassadors are based throughout the world.

                   Your HP sales representative or HP reseller will be
                   able connect you with your local OpenVMS Ambassador.

          _____________________________
          1.5.3  Contact for OpenVMS Marketing Issues and Questions?

                   Please see Section 3.5.

          _____________________________
          1.5.4  Contact URLs for OpenVMS Technical Issues?

                   For technical issues and technical support, please
                   contact your software support organization, or your
                   local HP Customer Support Center or HP Reseller. In
                   North America, you can call 1-800-HP-INVENT.

                   Please remember to review and to bookmark the following
                   support URLs:

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

                   o  http://askq.compaq.com/

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

                   o  ftp://ftp.itrc.hp.com/openvms_patches/


                   1-10

 










                   _______________________________________________________

          2        General Information



          __________________________________________________________
          2.1  What is OpenVMS? What is its history?

                   OpenVMS, originally called VMS (Virtual Memory System),
                   was first conceived in 1976 as a new operating system
                   for the then-new, 32-bit, virtual memory line of
                   computers, eventually named VAX (Virtual Address
                   eXtension).

                   The first VAX model, the 11/780, was code-named "Star",
                   hence the code name for the VMS operating system,
                   "Starlet", a name that remains to this day the name
                   for the system library files (STARLET.OLB, etc.).

                   VMS version X0.5 was the first released to customers,
                   in support of the hardware beta test of the VAX-11/780,
                   in 1977. VAX/VMS Version V1.0 shipped in 1978, along
                   with the first revenue-ship 11/780s.

                   OpenVMS was designed entirely within HP and
                   specifically within the former Digital Equipment
                   Corporation (DIGITAL). Two of the principal designers
                   were Dave Cutler and Dick Hustvedt, though with a wide
                   variety of other contributors. OpenVMS was conceived
                   as a 32-bit, virtual memory successor to the RSX-
                   11M operating system for the PDP-11. Many of the
                   original designers and programmers of OpenVMS had
                   worked previously on RSX-11M, and many concepts from
                   RSX-11M were carried over to OpenVMS.

                   OpenVMS VAX is a 32-bit, multitasking, multiprocessing
                   virtual memory operating system. Current
                   implementations run on VAX systems from HP and other
                   vendors.

                   OpenVMS Alpha is a 64-bit multitasking, multiprocessing
                   virtual memory operating system. Current
                   implementations run on Alpha systems from HP, and other
                   vendors.

                                                                       2-1

 





                   General Information




                   OpenVMS has also been ported to the Intel IA-64
                   architecture, and specifically to HP Integrity
                   systems using microprocessors from the Intel Itanium
                   Processor Family. This implementation of OpenVMS is
                   officially known as "HP OpenVMS for Integrity Servers"
                   and more commonly as "OpenVMS I64", and it operates
                   in the native Itanium IA-64 architecture and 64-
                   bit environment. OpenVMS I64 provides support for
                   applications requiring 32- or 64-bit virtual addressing
                   capabilities entirely within the native 64-bit Itanium
                   execution environment. (For details on this and related
                   terminology, please see Section 14.4.5.)

                   For more details on OpenVMS and its features, please
                   read the OpenVMS Software Product Description at:

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

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

                   Additional information on the general features of
                   various OpenVMS releases, release dates, as well as the
                   development project code names of specific releases, is
                   available at:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/os/openvms-
                      release-history.html

                   Additional historical information-as well as pictures
                   and a variety of other trivia-is available in the VAX
                   20th anniversary book:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/openvms/20th/vmsbook.pdf

                   For information on the FreeVMS project, and on hobbyist
                   and educational versions of OpenVMS, please see:

                   o  http://www.free-vms.org/

                   o  http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/

                   o  http://www.openvmsedu.com/

                   Also please see the related software licensing topics
                   Section 2.8.4, Section 2.8.1, and Section 2.15.

                   2-2

 





                   General Information



          __________________________________________________________
          2.2  What is the difference between VMS and OpenVMS?

                   VMS and OpenVMS are two names for the same operating
                   system. Originally, the operating system was called
                   VAX-11/VMS; it changed to VAX/VMS at around VAX/VMS
                   V2.0. When the VMS operating system was ported to the
                   Alpha platform, it was renamed OpenVMS, for both VAX
                   and Alpha (and for the Itanium Processor Family), in
                   part to signify the high degree of support for industry
                   standards such as POSIX, which provides many features
                   of UNIX systems.

                   For those versions with POSIX, an OpenVMS license
                   allows you to install and run POSIX for OpenVMS at
                   no additional charge; all you need is the media and
                   documentation which can be found on the Consolidated
                   Distribution and On-Line Documentation CD-ROMs. Support
                   for the POSIX package on more recent OpenVMS releases
                   is not available, various parts of POSIX such as calls
                   from the API are being integrated more directly into
                   OpenVMS. For more information on POSIX for VMS see
                   question SOFT2

                   What became confusing is that the OpenVMS name was
                   introduced first for OpenVMS AXP V1.0 causing the
                   widespread misimpression that OpenVMS was for Alpha
                   AXP only, while "regular VMS" was for VAX. In fact,
                   the official name of the VAX operating system was
                   changed as of V5.5, though the name did not start to be
                   actually used in the product until V6.0.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.3  What's in a Name? Terminology and Products?

                   The proper names for OpenVMS on the various platforms
                   are "OpenVMS VAX", "OpenVMS Alpha", and "OpenVMS I64".
                   Use of "OpenVMS AXP" and of "VAX/VMS" are deprecated.

                   The VAX and Alpha terms are largely interchangeably
                   used as the names of platforms, of processor or
                   microprocessor implementations, and of the respective
                   computing architectures.


                                                                       2-3

 





                   General Information




                   Somewhat confusing to long-time OpenVMS users, Intel
                   IA-32, IA-64, and EM64T, and AMD AMD64 are the names of
                   various computing architectures and of architectural
                   extensions. Only. These are not the names of any
                   implementations, nor of any platforms.

                   Intel Itanium is the name of a family of microprocessor
                   implementations of the Intel IA-64 architecture, as
                   Intel Pentium and Xeon are the names of families of
                   microprocessor implementations of Intel IA-32 and
                   (potentially) of the EM64T extensions.

                   I64 is the generic name for the various HP Integrity
                   platforms supported by HP OpenVMS for Integrity Servers
                   (and more commonly as "OpenVMS I64"); for the platforms
                   supported by OpenVMS I64. (For additional related
                   terminology, please see Section 14.4.5.)

          _____________________________
          2.3.1  How do I port from VMS to OpenVMS?

                   You already did. Wasn't that easy? Please see
                   Section 2.2 for details.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.4  Which is better, OpenVMS or UNIX?

                   This question comes up periodically, usually asked by
                   new subscribers amd new posters who are long-time UNIX
                   or Linux users. Sometimes, the question is ignored
                   totally; other times, it leads to a long series of
                   repetitive messages that convince no one and usually
                   carry little if any new information. Please do everyone
                   a favor and avoid re-starting this perpetual, fruitless
                   debate.

                   That said, OpenVMS and the better implementations of
                   UNIX are all fine operating systems, each with its
                   strengths and weaknesses. If you're in a position
                   where you need to choose, select the one that best
                   fits your own requirements, considering, for example,
                   whether or not the layered products or specific OS
                   features you want are available, and considering the
                   expected cost-of-ownership over the lifetime of the
                   system installation.

                   2-4

 





                   General Information



          __________________________________________________________
          2.5  Is HP continuing funding and support for OpenVMS?

                   Yes.

                   Active development of new OpenVMS releases is underway,
                   as well as the continuation of support.

                   Please see the following URLs for details, roadmaps,
                   and related information:

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

          __________________________________________________________
          2.6  What OpenVMS distribution kits are available?

                   Various distributions are available.

                   For the most current information on the available part
                   numbers and current products (OpenVMS distribution
                   kits, media, documentation, etc) and the most current
                   associated licensing information, please see the
                   current OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD)
                   document, available at:

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

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

                   The CD-ROMs listed in Table 2-1 contain just the
                   OpenVMS Alpha operating system. The operating system
                   distribution kits are bootable, and can be used to run
                   BACKUP from the optical media, as well as performing an
                   installation or upgrade.

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 2-1  OpenVMS Alpha Media Kits

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Part______________Description__________________________

                   QA-MT1AG-H8       OpenVMS Alpha V6.2-1H3 hardware
                                     release CD-ROM; also requires QA-
                                     MT1AA-H8.6.2

                   QA-MT1AR-H8       OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 maintenance
                                     release CD-ROM

                                                                       2-5

 





                   General Information



          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 2-1 (Cont.)  OpenVMS Alpha Media Kits

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Part______________Description__________________________

                   QA-MT1AT-H8       OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-1 maintenance
                                     release CD-ROM

                   QA-MT1AU-H8       OpenVMS Alpha V7.2-2 maintenance
                                     release CD-ROM

                   QA-MT3AA-H8       OpenVMS Alpha and VAX products and
                                     documentation on CD-ROM

                   QA-MT3AE-H8       OpenVMS Alpha and VAX documentation
          ___________________________on_CD-ROM____________________________

                   OpenVMS I64 is distributed on DVD-ROM media, and is
                   bootable. OpenVMS I64 licensing is implemented on a
                   per-processor-socket basis, with the classic license
                   tiers based on the numbers of processor sockets that
                   can be present. Further, three general product and
                   licensing groupings are optionally available with
                   OpenVMS I64, the Foundation Operating Environment
                   (FOE), the Enterprise Operating Environment (EOE), and
                   (as/when/if available) the Mission Critical Operating
                   Environment (MCOE). Seperate per-product licenses are
                   generally also available for various of the products
                   within the Operating Environment groups.

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 2-2  OpenVMS I64 Order Numbers

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Part______________Description__________________________

                   BA322AA#???       OpenVMS I64 FOE Product

                   BA323AA#???       OpenVMS I64 EOE Product

          _________BA324AA#???_______OpenVMS_I64_MCOE_Product_____________

                   The product suffix required for the order numbers
                   listed in Table 2-2 can be found in Table 2-3.

                   2-6

 





                   General Information




          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 2-3  OpenVMS I64 Media Suffix

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Suffix____________Description__________________________

                   A18               OpenVMS I64 FOE V8.2 DVD media

                   AJR               OE media kit on DVD media

          _________0D1_______________Factory_installation_________________

                   The OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha source listings
                   CD-ROM sets listed in Table 2-4 include the source
                   listings of most of OpenVMS, and these CD-ROM sets
                   are invaluable for any folks working directly with
                   OpenVMS internals, as well as folks interested in
                   seeing examples of various programming interfaces.

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 2-4  OpenVMS Source Listings Kits

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Part______________Description__________________________

                   QB-MT1AB-E8       OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings kit and
                                     license

                   QT-MT1AB-Q8       OpenVMS Alpha Source Listings Updates

                   QB-001AB-E8       OpenVMS VAX Source Listings kit and
                                     license

                   QT-001AB-Q8       OpenVMS VAX Source Listings Updates

                   BA422AA           OpenVMS I64 source listings kit and
          ___________________________license______________________________

                   Additional OpenVMS packages and technologies including
                   NetBeans, XML, SOAP, UDDI, JDK, Perl, Tomcat, SSL
                   and such are discussed within the OpenVMS e-Business
                   Infrastructure Package SPD 80.58.xx. Again, please see
                   the OpenVMS SPD and the documents and parts referenced
                   there for the most current information.

                                                                       2-7

 





                   General Information



          _____________________________
          2.6.1  Where can I download OpenVMS and Layered Product Kits?

                   HP customers with commercial licenses and support
                   contracts can download software product distribution
                   kits from the following HP website:

                   o  http://www1.sqp.com/

                   You can also find pointers to the Software Rollout
                   Report and to the OpenVMS SPD listings via the above
                   SQP website.

                   Information on obtaining and transfering licenses
                   is available in Section 2.6 and Section 2.8.4, while
                   information on the OpenVMS Hobbyist licensing program
                   and on obtaining hobbyist product distribution kits is
                   in Section 2.8.1.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.7  In what language is OpenVMS written?

                   OpenVMS is written in a wide variety of languages.

                   In no particular order, OpenVMS components are
                   implemented using Bliss, Macro, Ada, PLI, VAX and DEC
                   C, Fortran, UIL, VAX and Alpha SDL, Pascal, MDL, DEC
                   C++, DCL, Message, and Document. And this is certainly
                   not a complete list. However, the rumor is NOT true
                   that an attempt was made to write pieces of OpenVMS in
                   every supported language so that the Run-Time Libraries
                   could not be unbundled. (APL, BASIC, COBOL and RPG are
                   just some of the languages NOT represented!)

                   There are a large variety of small and not-so-small
                   tools and DCL command procedures that are used as part
                   of the OpenVMS build, and a source code control system
                   capable of maintaining over a hundred thousand source
                   files across multiple parallel development projects,
                   and overlapping releases.





                   2-8

 





                   General Information



          __________________________________________________________
          2.8  Obtaining and Transfering OpenVMS licenses?

                   The following sections describe hobbyist and
                   educational license programs, as well as information on
                   commercial licenses and transfers.

                   For information on the available commercial OpenVMS
                   licenses and for information on license transfers,
                   please see Section 2.8.4. OpenVMS Hobbyist licenses
                   are discussed in Section 2.8.1. For information
                   on the licensing implementation, troubleshooting
                   licensing problems, on the License Unit Requirements
                   Table (LURT), and other related details, please see
                   Section 5.39. For configuring and troubleshooting LMF,
                   see Section 12.5.

          _____________________________
          2.8.1  Questions asked by Hobbyist OpenVMS licensees?

                   If you are a member of an HP-recognized user group
                   (eg: Encompass, Enterex, DECUS), and are considering
                   acquiring and using a VAX, Alpha or (soon) IA-64 system
                   for hobbyist (non-commercial) use, (free) license
                   product authorization keys (PAKs) for OpenVMS VAX,
                   OpenVMS Alpha, (soon) OpenVMS I64, and layered products
                   are available.

                   In addition to the license keys, OpenVMS VAX and
                   Alpha distribution CD-ROM distribution kits are
                   available with OpenVMS, DECwindows Motif, DECnet
                   and TCP/IP networking, compilers, and a variety
                   of layered products. (A hobbyist distribution for
                   OpenVMS I64 is expected.) (While the hobbyist CD-
                   ROM distributions are intended for and tailored for
                   OpenVMS Hobbyists, the contents and capabilities of the
                   Hobbyist installation kits included within the OpenVMS
                   Hobbyist distribution do not differ from the standard
                   distribution installation kits. The products are chosen
                   to reflect the most popular products and the space
                   available on the media.)

                   If you have questions on what else is authorized by the
                   license agreement and on what other distribution media
                   is available to you, well, please read the applicable
                   software license agreement(s).

                                                                       2-9

 





                   General Information




                   For further information, please link to:

                   o  http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/

                   On the OpenVMS Hobbyist license registration form
                   at the above website (as of August 2004), you are
                   offered the choice of the "OpenVMS VAX" license(s), the
                   "OpenVMS Alpha" license(s), and the "Layered Products"
                   licenses. You will want the operating system license
                   for your particular OpenVMS platform and you will
                   want the "Layered Products" licenses. You will want
                   to select and to acquire two sets of license PAKs.

                   For vendors wishing to license products specifically
                   for hobbyist use (and to not issue hobbyist PAKs),
                   the program provides hobbyists with the license PAK
                   OPENVMS-HOBBYIST.

                   If you plan to use a hardware emulator (eg: VAX
                   emulator) on a Microsoft Windows platform, make sure
                   you have an OpenVMS distribution kit that can be
                   installed and/or booted with the particular emulator
                   package you plan to use. For additional information on
                   emulators, please see Section 13.14 and particularly
                   please see the emulator-related documentation.

          _____________________________
          2.8.2  OpenVMS Educational and CSLG licenses?

                   For information on OpenVMS licenses for educational
                   customers, please see the HP Campus Software
                   License Grant (CSLG) license program and the OpenVMS
                   Educational license program:

                   o  http://www.openvmsedu.com/

          _____________________________
          2.8.3  What developer and partner licensing programs are
                 available?

                   Commercial software developers can join the HP DSPP
                   program, and can (potentially) receive discounts
                   on various software product licenses and software
                   distributions, as well as on hardware purchases.

                   o  http://www.hp.com/go/dspp/

                   2-10

 





                   General Information




                   The DSPP program is the descendent of the DIGITAL ISVN
                   and DIGITAL ASAP programs and the Compaq CSA program,
                   and the analogous developer and partner programs at HP.


                   Please see Section 2.15 for additional details on the
                   DSPP program.

                   For information on the OpenbVMS Hobbyist and
                   OpenVMS Educational license programs, please see
                   Section 2.8.1.

          _____________________________
          2.8.4  How do I obtain or transfer an OpenVMS license?

                   To transfer a commercial OpenVMS license from one owner
                   to another, or to purchase a commercial license, you
                   can contact HP at regional sales office or reseller.

                   For information on the hobbyist license program, please
                   see Section 2.8.1.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.9  Does OpenVMS support the Euro currency symbol?

                   OpenVMS can generate the %xA4 character code used for
                   the Euro, and the DECwindows DECterm can display the
                   glyph. Please check with the vendor of your terminal or
                   terminal emulator for additional details.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.10  OpenVMS Ports? Itanium? Ports to IA-32, EM64T or AMD64
                systems?

                   OpenVMS has been ported to and is operational on four
                   architectures: VAX, Alpha, IA-64, and IA-32. The first
                   three have available native ports of OpenVMS, the
                   fourth is available via emulation. VAX is the oldest
                   architecture, and limited to 32-bit virtual and up
                   to 34-bit physical addressing. The Alpha and IA-64
                   architectures are both 64-bit architectures, with
                   64-bit virtual addressing available. The available
                   IA-32 emulation is provided for the OpenVMS VAX and
                   other VAX operating systems, and provides a 32-bit
                   VAX environment. For additional information on the
                   emulation, please see Section 13.14.

                                                                      2-11

 





                   General Information




                   As for (the lack of) a native port for IA-32, OpenVMS
                   Engineering presently and continues to believe that
                   there would be insufficient market (read: profit,
                   customer interest) to justify the cost involved in
                   a native port of OpenVMS to systems using the Intel
                   IA-32 architecture. In addition to the direct costs
                   involved in any port and in addition to the substantial
                   effort involved in moving backwards from a 64-bit
                   environment on Alpha and on IA-64 to a 32-bit platform
                   (such as IA-32), and the exceedingly non-trivial device
                   qualification costs and the costs in moving backwards
                   into older PCI and I/O environments (IA-32 systems
                   more than a few years old have equivalently aged I/O
                   support and buses), each organization and each person
                   maintaining a product or a package for OpenVMS will
                   have to justify a port to "OpenVMS IA-32", "OpenVMS
                   EM64T" or "OpenVMS AMD64", akin to the decisions and
                   the effort involved in porting a product from OpenVMS
                   VAX to OpenVMS Alpha, the port to OpenVMS I64.

                   Platform ports of many of the various products can
                   be easy, and many of the ports of applications using
                   documented OpenVMS features are expected to require
                   little more than a source rebuild. Other products can
                   and do depend on platform-specific or undocumented
                   features, and the associated ports can be more
                   involved. Regardless, ports of operating systems are
                   very large and involved projects. The prerequisite
                   product requirements for an OpenVMS operating system
                   port are also non-trivial, as well-compilers in
                   particular are obviously required, and the suite of
                   compilers provided must maintain a very high degree of
                   source-level compatibility across the platforms. In the
                   case of the HP Integrity port, OpenVMS I64 V8.0 used
                   cross-compilers and cross-tools operating on OpenVMS
                   Alpha systems, while V8.2 and later have various native
                   compilers available.

                   The OpenVMS I64 port was centrally built using the
                   existing OpenVMS Alpha environment and around the work
                   and the knowledge from the OpenVMS Alpha port, and
                   OpenVMS Engineering fully expects that customers and
                   ISVs will use and will continue to use OpenVMS Alpha
                   systems to assist with their own ports to OpenVMS I64.

                   2-12

 





                   General Information




                   OpenVMS Engineering fully expects to see customers
                   using mixed-architecture clusters and fully shared file
                   systems, as well.

                   OpenVMS Engineering is well aware of the AMD AMD64
                   (64-bit) platform and processors. (At least one of the
                   available VAX emulators can reportedly utilize parts
                   of the AMD64 instruction set, please contact the VAX
                   emulator vendor(s) or maintainer(s) for assistance
                   and details on their products.) OpenVMS Engineering
                   is also well aware of the Intel EM64T platform and
                   processors. There are no plans to provide a native port
                   of HP OpenVMS for any systems based on the AMD AMD64
                   nor Intel EM64T architectures.

                   As part of the work leading to the Itanium port, senior
                   engineers had extensively evaluated the products and
                   the architectures available across the high-end 64-
                   bit computing space, and chosen to target Itanium
                   for 64-bit environments-this while under the Compaq
                   organization. This included looking at IA-32. HP (a co-
                   developer of Itanium with Intel) had seperately chosen
                   to target Intel Itanium for its high-end computer
                   products. Compaq then announced plans for the future
                   of Alpha through EV7-series products and platforms,
                   and HP (entirely seperately) announced plans for PA-
                   RISC products and platforms. The Itanium target has
                   been maintained consistently since the Itanium port
                   was announced by Compaq, and has also been consistently
                   maintained by HP and by the combined company. For those
                   folks prefering to follow the schedules and the product
                   deliveries, OpenVMS Engineering had OpenVMS I64 V8.0
                   ready (internally) ahead of schedule-and with more
                   features available within the release than had been
                   originally planned for the release. (For information
                   on and for schedules of future OpenVMS releases,
                   please see the roadmap that is available at the OpenVMS
                   website.)

                   OpenVMS I64 itself does not require and does not plan
                   to utilize the Itanium IA-32 32-bit environment for
                   the operation of OpenVMS itself. OpenVMS I64 V8.0 and
                   later run natively on the Itanium processor family,
                   with no use of IA-32 instructions. While OpenVMS

                                                                      2-13

 





                   General Information




                   can and does support 32-bit OpenVMS applications
                   and addressing on Itanium, this is done with sign-
                   extension addressing techniques entirely analogous to
                   what was done with 32-bit applications operating in
                   the 64-bit Alpha environment. Both OpenVMS 32-bit and
                   64-bit applications operate within the native Itanium
                   instruction set and run-time environment, and do not
                   use the Itanium IA-32 environment.

                   But yes, a native IA-32 port or a native AMD AMD64 or
                   Intel EM64T port of OpenVMS would certainly be nice
                   to have-this, of course, following the traditional
                   Linux preference for having a Linux port available for
                   most (all?) computer architectures known, and even
                   for certain high-end refrigerators and toasters,
                   and similar appliance-like devices. (The downside
                   of this all-encompassing approach: this requires
                   near-infinite engineering and support costs from
                   the various vendors involved, and the qualification
                   efforts and costs of most everything-everywhere. Or
                   reduced or eliminated testing and support efforts. Or
                   an unfortunate combination of these two. These costs
                   are huge, and the benefits derived from the work are
                   comparatively small when given the comparable costs
                   of more targeted (and thus supported and supportable)
                   hardware configurations-the platform targets are and
                   must be carefully selected and considered by each
                   vendor. Put another way, there are no plans to provide
                   a native port of HP OpenVMS for systems based on Intel
                   IA-32 processors, nor for systems based on AMD AMD64
                   nor Intel EM64T architecutres and processors.

                   All this material having been written, have you
                   looked at the system configurations and pricing of
                   the available HP Integrity Intel Itanium systems? Low-
                   end computer hardware is clearly a commodity product,
                   and the systems are priced, serviced, upgraded, and
                   replaced accordingly. Intel Itanium is a commodity
                   microprocessor presently used in platforms available
                   from various hardware vendors, including (obviously)
                   from HP. Further, Itanium is a microprocessor available
                   from and supported by Intel, a semiconductor vendor
                   known for exceedingly high-volume microprocessor
                   fabrication process and production capabilities.

                   2-14

 





                   General Information




                   For information on supported platforms and processors,
                   please see the OpenVMS Software Product Description
                   (SPD) at:

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

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

                   Please see Section 14.4.5 for Intel Itanium
                   terminology.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.11  Are there any network-accessible OpenVMS systems?

                   Yes, though various restrictions can and do apply.

                   o  Hobbes
                      Hobbes is a MicroVAX 3100 Model 40 for which
                      free access and accounts are available to OpenVMS
                      enthusiasts. This system has BASIC, Pascal, Fortran,
                      and C compilers installed. If you would like an
                      account on Hobbes, please see the FAQ at

                     o  http://www.hobbesthevax.com/

                   o  OpenVMS Galaxy Test-Drive
                      HP currently offers an OpenVMS Galaxy Test-Drive
                      system, based on an AlphaServer 4100 series
                      configured as two instances of the OpenVMS operating
                      system. For details, please visit:

                     o  http://www.testdrive.hp.com/

                   o  HP DSPP Test-Drive
                      The HP DSPP program offers various test-drive
                      systems, including an HP Integrity Itanium
                      development system and an HP OpenVMS I64
                      installation on an HP Integrity rx2600 server.
                      (The DSPP program can offers discount, LMF PAKGEN
                      PAK generation support, and other benefits for
                      developers.) For details on the DSPP program and
                      on the test-drive systems, please see section
                      Section 2.8.3 and please visit:

                     o  http://www.testdrive.hp.com/

                     o  http://www.hp.com/dspp/

                                                                      2-15

 





                   General Information




                      The test-drive systems do require registration,
                      though access to the systems is free.

                   o  Encompasserve
                      Encompasserve offers free access an OpenVMS Alpha
                      system.

                     o  telnet://eisner.decus.org/

                   o  OpenECS
                      OpenECS offers free access to a VAX 6000 model 530
                      system. If interested, please visit:

                     o  http://vax6k.openecs.org/

                   o  The Deathrow Cluster
                      The maintainers of the Deathrow Cluster offer access
                      to an OpenVMS VAX and an OpenVMS Alpha system,
                      configured in a cluster.

                     o  telnet://deathrow.vistech.ne

                   o  The Preatorian Public OpenVMS Cluster
                      The maintainers of the Deathrow Cluster offer access
                      to an OpenVMS Alpha cluster. Details are at the
                      website listed below:

                     o  http:://www.preatorian.net

          __________________________________________________________
          2.12  What version of OpenVMS do I need?

                   For information on supported platforms, please see
                   the OpenVMS Software Product Description (SPD) for the
                   particular OpenVMS version of interest.

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

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

                   For a table of the minimum and (as applicable) maximum
                   OpenVMS versions required for various platforms, please
                   see the hardware support chart at HP OpenVMS website
                   and (as available) the following (potentially volatile;
                   intra-website) link:

                   o  http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/hw_
                      supportchart.html

                   2-16

 





                   General Information




                   For information on the Multia, related Alpha
                   single-board computers, or other officially
                   unsupported systems, please see Section 14.4.1 and
                   Section 14.4.2.1.

                   The following is a rule-of-thumb for Alpha platform
                   support. The table Table 2-5 contains the earliest
                   OpenVMS Alpha release with support for a particular
                   series of Alpha microprocessors:

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 2-5  OpenVMS Alpha Version Rule-Of-Thumb

                   _______________________________________________________
                               MicroprocessorOpenVMS
                   Generic_____Generation____Version_____General_Comments_

                   EV4         21064         V1.0        few systems;
                                                         most EV4 require
                                                         later; upgrade
                                                         available

                   EV5         21164         V6.2        subsequent
                                                         upgrade available

                   EV56        21164A        V6.2-1H3    subsequent
                                                         upgrade to V7.1
                                                         and later

                   EV6         21264         V7.1-2      subsequent
                                                         upgrade typically
                                                         to V7.2-1 or
                                                         later

                   EV67        21264A        V7.1-2      subsequent
                                                         upgrade typically
                                                         to V7.2-1 or
                                                         later

                   EV68        21264B, C     V7.2-1      believed/probable;
                               and D                     currently an
                                                         unconfirmed
          _______________________________________________expectation______

                   Specific hardware present and various system
                   configurations can require OpenVMS Alpha releases later
                   than those referenced in Table 2-5.

                                                                      2-17

 





                   General Information



          __________________________________________________________
          2.13  How can I submit OpenVMS Freeware?

                   For the guidelines and submission info, please visit
                   the URL:

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

                   To order the current OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM kit
                   (shipping and handling charges apply), please request
                   part number QA-6KZAA-H8.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.14  Porting applications to OpenVMS?

                   Porting can range from simple to rather complex, and
                   depends on the features used on the original platform.

                   This section covers generic porting, and porting among
                   OpenVMS VAX OpenVMS Alpha, and OpenVMS I64. (Porting
                   among OpenVMS VAX, OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS I64
                   is often quite simple and involves little more than
                   rebuilding from source, though a few applications using
                   features specific to the platform or the architecture,
                   or using undocumented or unsupported interfaces can and
                   likely will require some additional effort to port.)

                   Several manuals on porting from OpenVMS VAX to OpenVMS
                   Alpha are available in the OpenVMS documentation set,
                   including information on porting VAX Macro32 assembler
                   code to the Macro32 compiler on OpenVMS Alpha, on
                   management differences, on upgrading privileged code,
                   and application migration:

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

                   Documentation on porting to OpenVMS I64 is available,
                   as well.

                   Details on the C programming environment are available
                   at:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/c/c_
                      index.html

                   2-18

 





                   General Information




                   Details on porting VAX C to HP C are are available at:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/c/index_
                      vax.htm

                   An OpenVMS Porting Library is available at:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/ebusiness/Technology.html

                   Information on the Enterprise Toolkit, a Visual-based
                   development environment for developing applications for
                   OpenVMS using a Microsoft platform, is available at:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/et/et_
                      index.html

                   Details on DCE, CORBA, BridgeWorks, and COM/DCOM
                   middleware is available at:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/middleware.html

                   Information on the COE standards is available at:

                   o  http://diicoe.disa.mil/coe/

                   A wide variety of programming development tools and
                   middleware are available as commercial products (eg:
                   DECset, IBM WebSphere MQ-formerly MQseries), and
                   various tools are also available as shareware or as
                   Freeware. Please see other sections of this FAQ, and
                   please see:

                   o  http://www.compaq.com/csa/directory/

          __________________________________________________________
          2.15  What resources are available to OpenVMS software
                developers?

                   The HP Developer and Software Product Partner (DSPP)
                   program is open to and intended to support and to
                   assist HP OpenVMS software partners, consultants, and
                   service providers:

                   o  http://www.hp.com/dspp/

                   DSPP provides members with various benefits, please see
                   the website for details.

                                                                      2-19

 





                   General Information




                   For those not familiar with the DSPP program or with
                   its history, the DIGITAL Association of Software and
                   Application Partners (ASAP) program and the DIGITAL
                   Independent Software Vendors Network (ISVN) program
                   were incorporated into the Compaq CSA program, and the
                   CSA program has subsequently been incorporated into the
                   HP DSPP program.

                   Please see Section 2.8.3 for additional details on the
                   DSPP program.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.16  memory management, resource management, process
                scheduling, etc?

                   So you have been instructed to write a school research
                   paper on OpenVMS, and you need technical content
                   on the OpenVMS Virtual Memory System, on any memory
                   segmentation, on OpenVMS Resource Management, on the
                   OpenVMS File System, on the OpenVMS user interface,
                   etc.

                   Invariably, your professor/instructor/teacher will
                   ask you a series of questions. Most commonly, the
                   questions will request descriptions of one or more of
                   the following items, and at varying levels of detail:

                   o  process scheduling algorithm(s)

                   o  Interprocess comunications

                   o  Process or system synchronization constructs

                   o  Memory management and/or virtual memory
                      implementation

                   o  RMS or XQP file structures

                   o  Resource management

                   o  History of HP OpenVMS

                   o  History of Compaq and/or of Digital Equipment
                      Corporation (DEC)

                   2-20

 





                   General Information




                   Any particular presentation or research paper, and
                   particularly a scholastic presentation, can have
                   many different potential target audiences, and very
                   different presentation levels. Further, the usual
                   underlying reason for scholastic presentations and
                   scholastic research projects really has little to do
                   with the subject matter, it is a task specifically
                   intended to teach the student(s) (eg: you) how to
                   perform the research. The instructor already knows
                   most of (all of?) the information that you have been
                   asked to collect.

                   For very technical details on OpenVMS and OpenVMS
                   internals, the book you want is the Internals and Data
                   Structures Manual (IDSM), available in your school
                   or computing center library, and the IDSM can also be
                   purchased. Additional technical details of the Alpha
                   microprocessor are available in the Alpha Architecture
                   Reference Manual documentation that is available for
                   download. (Pointers to Alpha technical documentation
                   are available in Section 14.6, and elsewhere.)

                   For higher-level (less technical) details, the OpenVMS
                   documentation set is available on-line. The Programming
                   Concepts and the File Systems manual are probably the
                   best manuals to start with, depending on the particular
                   level of detail the research requires.

                   And please understand the hesitation of various folks
                   to provide you with a completely-written research
                   report on your topic. Why? We might have to work with
                   you after you graduate-you need to know how to perform
                   at least basic research on your own, regardless of the
                   topic.

          __________________________________________________________
          2.17  Basic Units of Measurement?

                   OpenVMS and the underlying hardware use various units
                   of measurement for disk and memory storage, and related
                   abbreviations also typically exist. This section
                   covers the most common units, and the associated
                   abbreviations.

                                                                      2-21

 





                   General Information



          _____________________________
          2.17.1  How many bytes are in a disk block?

                   A disk block is the minimum unit of disk storage
                   allocation in OpenVMS.

                   Under OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha, the disk volume
                   block size is consistent, with each block containing
                   512 bytes.

                   The minimum disk allocation granularity actually
                   permissible (in the ODS-2 and ODS-5 volume structures
                   commonly used on OpenVMS) is determined on a per-volume
                   basis, and is typically based on a combination of the
                   total number blocks on the disk volume and the total
                   size of the volume storage bitmap. The allocation
                   granularity is known as the volume cluster factor-
                   the cluster factor is the number of blocks in a disk
                   cluster, and it is the smallest number of blocks that
                   can be allocated on a particular disk volume.

                   Prior to OpenVMS V7.2, the maximum permissible size of
                   the bitmap requires larger cluster factors as volume
                   sizes increase. Starting with V7.2, the bitmap can be
                   larger, and cluster factors as small as one block can
                   be used.

                   The number of bytes in a file can be determined by
                   multiplying the number of blocks allocated for the file
                   times the number of bytes in a block. For sequential
                   files (only), the FFB (XAB$W_FFB, in the File Header
                   XAB) value can be used to find out how much of the
                   last (XAB$L_EBK) block is used. FFB and EBK are
                   meaningful only for sequential files, and only in
                   a limited context-partial block allocations are not
                   permitted. For other file formats, the EOF marker is
                   not meaningful.

                   Disk allocations always occur only in units of the
                   cluster factors, which can be from one block up to
                   (potentially) clusters of eighteen blocks or more,
                   depending on the volume cluster factor. (OpenVMS V7.2
                   and later optionally provide for a cluster factor of
                   one up to volumes of approximately 137 gigabytes.)

                   2-22

 





                   General Information




                   OpenVMS assumes that the device driver and the
                   underlying storage device will present the file system
                   with addressable units of storage of 512 bytes in size,
                   or the appearance of same. Various third-party CD-ROM
                   devices, for instance, support only 2048 byte blocks,
                   and such devices are incompatible with the standard
                   OpenVMS device drivers.

                   To determine the number of bytes required for a file
                   from DCL, one option uses the f$file_attributes item
                   EOF, multiplied by the size of a block in bytes (512).
                   This does not account for the unused space in the last
                   block of a sequential file, but it also does not have
                   to differentiate sequential files from other files.

          _____________________________
          2.17.2  How many bytes are in a memory page?

                   A memory page is the minimum unit of memory allocation
                   in OpenVMS. With OpenVMS VAX, the memory page size
                   matches the disk block size: it is always 512 bytes.

                   With OpenVMS Alpha, the memory page size is variable,
                   and it can range from 8192 bytes (8 kilobytes) up
                   to 64 kilobytes. The current system page size can be
                   determined using the sys$getsyi or f$getsyi PAGE_SIZE
                   item. Programs with hardcoded constants for the memory
                   page size (or page alignment) should always assume a
                   page size of 64 kilobytes.

                   On OpenVMS I64, the memory page size is also variable,
                   ranging from 4096 bytes (4 kilobytes) up to 256
                   megabytes (MB) and potentially up to 4 gigabytes (GB).
                   As with OpenVMS Alpha, sys$getsyi and f$getsyi and the
                   PAGE_SIZE itemcode can and should be used to determine
                   the current system page size. In general, OpenVMS I64
                   will use a page size of 8 kilobytes, or larger.

                   On OpenVMS Alpha and on OpenVMS I64, a 512 byte area
                   of memory- equivalent in size to an OpenVMS VAX memory
                   page-is often refered to as a "pagelet".



                                                                      2-23

 





                   General Information



          _____________________________
          2.17.3  How do I convert? Disk Blocks? KB, MB, GB, TB?

                   The smallest granularity of disk storage addressing is
                   called a disk block, or sometimes a disk sector. Groups
                   of disk blocks are usually organized together into
                   the smallest unit of storage that can be allocated,
                   and this unit is called a disk cluster. The number
                   of blocks in a cluster is the cluster factor, and is
                   established when the disk volume is initialized.

                   Each individual disk block is composed of five hundred
                   twelve (512) bytes, or one-half kilobyte. Each byte is
                   comprised of eight bits. A bit represents the smallest
                   unit of information, typically refered to as a one or a
                   zero.

                   OpenVMS tends to uses base two notation for disk
                   storage, while disk storage capacity specifications
                   from most storage vendors (including Compaq) will
                   generally use base ten notation.

                   An OpenVMS disk block is 512 bytes in size; this is
                   one-half kilobyte in base two notation.

                   The following table describes the prefix, the
                   abbreviation, and the associated base ten (as used by
                   marketing and by storage vendors) and base two (OpenVMS
                   and various other operating systems) values.

                               Base Ten                           Base Two
                               --------------------------------   ----------------------
                     Kilobyte  (KB)  10**3                 1000   2**10             1024
                     Megabyte  (MB)  10**6              1000000   2**20          1048576
                     Gigabyte  (GB)  10**9           1000000000   2**30       1073741824
                     Terabyte  (TB)  10**12       1000000000000   2**40    1099511627776
                     Petabyte  (PB)  10**15    1000000000000000   2**50 1125899906842624
                     Exabyte   (EB)  10**18 1000000000000000000   2**60 ****************

                   The base ten representation of the 2**40 value is
                   1099511627776, which is obviously rather ugly. When
                   viewed as a base eight or base sixteen (octal or
                   hexadecimal, respectively) value, the value is far
                   nicer. Specifically, the value is 10000000000 and
                   40000000 when represented in octal and hexadecimal,
                   respectively.

                      2-24

 





                   General Information




                                         FAQ Notation

                      Within the OpenVMS FAQ, a thousand bits (either
                      assuming base two or base ten, as determined by
                      the context) is refered to as a kilobit, and is
                      always represented by the appreviation Kb, while
                      a thousand bytes is refered to as a kilobyte and
                      is always abbreviated as KB. Similar notational
                      usage also holds for Megabits (Mb) and Megabytes
                      (MB), and for the various other units.

                   OpenVMS operating system references to system and
                   storage are generally to the base-two version (eg:
                   1024, in the case of a kilobyte or kilobit) while
                   storage hardware references and hardware specifications
                   are generally to the base-ten version (eg: 1000).

                   To convert OpenVMS disk blocks to (base two) kilobytes
                   (KB; 1024 bytes), simply divide by two. To convert
                   blocks to (base two) megabytes, divide by 2048. Blocks
                   to (base two) gigabytes (GB), divide by 2097152.
                   These particular divisions can also be performed using
                   bitshifts: to divide a value by two, shift the binary
                   value rightward by one bit position.

                   To convert OpenVMS disk blocks to (base ten) kilobytes,
                   divide by approximately 1.953125.

                   For those folks with an interest in odd applications
                   for prefixes, and particularly for those folks also
                   rummaging around deep within the OpenVMS operating
                   system, a microfortnight is approximately one second.












                                                                      2-25

 










                   _______________________________________________________

          3        Documentation



          __________________________________________________________
          3.1  Where can I find online copies of OpenVMS manuals?

                   The HP OpenVMS and HP Layered Product documentation is
                   copyrighted material.

                   HTML format on-line product documentation sets for
                   specific HP OpenVMS products are presently available
                   at:

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

                   Documentation is offered on separately orderable CD-ROM
                   media through a subscription to the Consolidated On-
                   Line Documentation (ConOLD) product (see Section 2.6.)
                   ConOLD manuals are readable with BNU, a viewer that is
                   supplied with the documentation distribution. BNU can
                   display HTML, Bookreader, and documentation in other
                   formats.

                   MGBOOK, a viewer for Bookreader-format documentation
                   is available for character-cell terminals (eg. VTxxx)
                   via the WKU VMS Freeware file server - see question
                   Section 13.1 for details.

                   Information on the XPDF DECwindows PDF viewer for
                   OpenVMS is available in Section 13.1, and XPDF kits
                   are available on various Freeware distributions. An
                   alternative on OpenVMS Alpha uses the Adobe Java PDF
                   viewer, though this viewer is generally considered
                   to be both slower and more resource-intensive when
                   compared to the XPDF viewer.






                                                                       3-1

 





                   Documentation



          __________________________________________________________
          3.2  What online information and websites are available?

                   On your OpenVMS system, the HELP command can provide
                   a wealth of information, not only on DCL commands
                   but on system services (HELP System_Services) and
                   Run-Time Library routines (HELP RTL_Routines). The
                   introduction displayed when you type the HELP command
                   with no additional keywords provides further pointers.

                   OpenVMS Marketing runs a web server at
                   http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/

                   Here, you will find product information, strategy
                   documents, product roadmaps, the contents of the latest
                   OpenVMS Freeware CD-ROM and more.

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-1  OpenVMS Websites

          ________________________________________________________________
          URL_______Sponsor_______________________________________________

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

                    HP OpenVMS Marketing

          http://www.openvmshobbyist.org/

                    Encompass DFWCUG

          http://www.levitte.org/~ava/

                    Arne Vajhj

          http://www.saiga.com/

                    Saiga Systems

          http://www.tachysoft.com/

                    Wayne Sewel

          http://www.progis.de/openvms.htm

                    Sponsored by proGIS Software

          http://www.jcameron.com/vms/

                    Jeff Cameron

          http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/soft_doc.html

                    David Mathog's (quite useful) information about
                    OpenVMS.

          Cracking

                   3-2

 





                   Documentation



          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-1 (Cont.)  OpenVMS Websites

          ________________________________________________________________
          URL_______Sponsor_______________________________________________

          http://www.vistech.net/users/beave/hack-vms-faq

                    "The Beave"
                    Includes system cracking information that can be of
                    interest to OpenVMS System Managers, and to OpenVMS
                    Network and Security Managers.

          Undocumented Features

          http://www.decus.de:8080/www/vms/qaa/undoc.htmlx

                    DECUS Deutchland

          http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_tip.htmlx

                    Arne Vajhj

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

                    The OpenVMS Freeware contains various examples of
                    undocumented features and interfaces

          Bibliographies

          http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_book.htmlx

          Introductory

          http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_faq.htmlx

          http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_sheet.html

          http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_beginners_faq.html

          Programming

          http://www.pdv-systeme.de/users/martinv/VMS_Programming_FAQ.html

                    An OpenVMS Programming FAQ

          Networking

          http://www.tmesis.com/internet/

                    Tutorial information and tips for connecting OpenVMS
                    systems to the Internet

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

                    Documentation and Specifications for DECnet Phase IV

          HP OpenVMS Documentation

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

                                                                       3-3

 





                   Documentation



          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-1 (Cont.)  OpenVMS Websites

          ________________________________________________________________
          URL_______Sponsor_______________________________________________

                    Various introductory guides as well as more advanced
                    manuals are available in the OpenVMS and layered
                    product documentation set.

          http://www.compaq.com/info/spd/

                    Software Product Descriptions (SPDs) for most every
                    OpenVMS-related product HP sells.

          System Performance

                    See Section 14.2.

          Patch (ECO) Kits

                    For the HP Services FTP server hosting Various
                    contract-access and non-contract access ECO (patch)
                    kits, see section Section 5.17.

          Catalogs and Pricing

          http://www.compaq.com/products/quickspecs/productbulletin.html

                    HP Product QuickSpecs and product information

          http://www.compaq.com/products/quickspecs/soc_archives/SOC_
          Archives.html

                    The HP Systems and Options Catalog (SOC) archive

          Hardware and Software Archives

          http://vax.sevensages.org/index.html

                    The VAXarchive, including hardware and software
                    information

          http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/alpha_diary.html

                    A VAX to Alpha upgrade diary

          http://www.montagar.com/~patj/dec/hcps.htm

                    Scanned versions of old DIGITAL manuals from DFWCUG

          http://www.digital.com/lists/master-index.html

          http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/qrg/index.html

                    A wide variety of HP VAX, Alpha, platform and other
                    product documentation. Some introductory, some
                    technical.

                   3-4

 





                   Documentation



          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-1 (Cont.)  OpenVMS Websites

          ________________________________________________________________
          URL_______Sponsor_______________________________________________

          http://dtrwiz.home.netcom.com/

          __________dtrwiz's_Datatrieve_website___________________________

          __________________________________________________________
          3.3  OpenVMS Product Information Telephone Numbers?

                   Information on HP hardware, software, products and
                   services is available through telephone numbers listed
                   in Table 3-2:

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-2  Telephone Numbers

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Telephone_________Description__________________________

                   1-800-AT-COMPAQ   HP (Compaq, including DIGITAL and
                                     Tandem) products and services

          _________1-800-STORWORK____The_HP_StorageWorks_team_____________

          __________________________________________________________
          3.4  How do I extract the contents of a HELP topic to a text
               file?

                   To extract all the text of a HELP topic (and its
                   subtopics) to a text file for perusal with a text
                   editor, printing out, etc., use the following command:

                   $ HELP/OUT=filename.txt help-topic [help-subtopic]

                   If the help text you want is not in the standard
                   help library (for example, it's help for a utility
                   such as MAIL that has its own help library), add
                   /LIBRARY=libname after the HELP verb. To see the
                   names of help library files, do a directory of
                   SYS$HELP:*.HLB.

                                                                       3-5

 





                   Documentation



          __________________________________________________________
          3.5  Does OpenVMS Marketing have an e-mail address?

                   Yes - if you can't get the answers to marketing
                   questions elsewhere, if you have comments or complaints
                   about OpenVMS, send mail to openvms-info@compaq.com.
                   This address is not a support channel, and is solely
                   intended to provide informal method to communicate
                   directly with members of OpenVMS Marketing.

          __________________________________________________________
          3.6  Where can I learn about OpenVMS executive internals?

                   The OpenVMS Internals and Data Structure manual
                   (IDSM) explains how the OpenVMS executive works.
                   The book covers the operating system kernel: process
                   management; memory management; the I/O subsystem; and
                   the mechanisms that transfer control to, from, and
                   among these. It gives an overview of a particular area
                   of the system, followed by descriptions of the data
                   structures related to that area and details of the code
                   that implements the area.

                   The first edition of the OpenVMS Alpha internals book
                   describes Version 1.5. Although there have been several
                   releases of OpenVMS Alpha since Version 1.5 (V6.1,
                   V6.2, V7.0, V7.1, etc) and many details in the book are
                   no longer accurate, it continues to provide a strong
                   conceptual description of OpenVMS internals.

                   This book has been split into five pieces, each to be
                   updated separately. The first such volume, published
                   in early 1997, was "OpenVMS Alpha Internals and
                   Data Structures: Scheduling and Process Control,"
                   which covers the Version 7.0 implementation of true
                   multithreading and the changed scheduling model it
                   implies.

                   The internals books are available through Digital
                   Press, see Section 3.7





                   3-6

 





                   Documentation



          __________________________________________________________
          3.7  Where can new users find tutorial information about
               OpenVMS?

                   First, see if your local site has information on this
                   topic. Each site can have site-specific features and
                   configuration. Some sites will have site-specific new
                   user's documentation, covering various site-specific
                   things that are difficult or impossible for the general
                   OpenVMS documentation to cover.

          _____________________________
          3.7.1  Tutorial Websites?

                   Various websites with OpenVMS information are
                   available; Table 3-3 contains some suggested URLs.

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-3  OpenVMS Tutorial Websites

                   _______________________________________________________
                   URL_______Sponsor______________________________________

                   Introductory

                   http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_faq.htmlx

                   http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_sheet.html

                   http://seqaxp.bio.caltech.edu/www/vms_beginners_
                   faq.html

                             Various introductory materials

                   http://www.montagar.com/openvms_class/

                             Members of the Encompass DFWCUG maintain
                             a website with many materials available,
                             including an Overview of OpenVMS, an
                             Introduction to DCL and the TPU Editor,
                             Advanced DCL Command Procedures, OpenVMS
                             Operations: Batch, Print, Tape, an
                             Introduction to OpenVMS Management, to
                             OpenVMS User Management, to OpenVMS
                             Network Management, and to OpenVMS Cluster
                             Management. These training materials have
                             been presented at various DECUS symposia.

                   HP OpenVMS Documentation

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

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          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-3 (Cont.)  OpenVMS Tutorial Websites

                   _______________________________________________________
                   URL_______Sponsor______________________________________

                             Various introductory guides as well as more
                             advanced manuals are available in the OpenVMS
                             and layered product documentation set.

                   HP OpenVMS Training

                   http://www.compaq.com/training/home.html
                   http://www.openvms.compaq.com/wbt/index.html

                             HP offers training information and Technical
                             Resource Kits (TRKs) and other Training for
                             OpenVMS. An OpenVMS certification (testing)
                             program is also available.

                   http://www.jcameron.com/vms/

                             An OpenVMS Quiz

                   http://www.CCSScorp.com/

                             CCSS Interactive Learning has OpenVMS
                             training materials

                   http://www.acersoft.com/

                             AcerSoft Training information, and Shannon
                             Knows Punditry

                   http://www.mindiq.com/

                             MindIQ training information

                   http://www.quadratrix.be/

                             Quadratrix; OpenVMS training, products and
                             services; affiliated with Global Knowledge
          ___________________and_KeyJob___________________________________

          _____________________________
          3.7.2  Books and Tutorials?

                   Some of the OpenVMS books that are or have been
                   available from the Digital Press imprint

                   o  http://www.bh.com/

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                   are listed in Table 3-4:

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-4  DP Books

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Title_and_Author_____________________ISBN______________

                   Getting Started with OpenVMS System  1-55558-281-8
                   Management
                   David Donald Miller

                   Introduction to OpenVMS, 5th         1-55558-194-3
                   Edition
                   Lesley Ogilvie Rice

                   Introduction to OpenVMS              1-878956-61-2
                   David W Bynon

                   OpenVMS Alpha Internals: Scheduling  1-55558-156-0
                   and Process Control

                   OpenVMS AXP Internals and Data       1-55558-120-X
                   Structures: Version 1.5

                   OpenVMS System Management Guide      1-55558-143-9
                   Baldwin, et al

                   The OpenVMS User's Guide, Second     1-55558-203-6
                   Edition
                   Patrick Holmay

                   Using DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS   1-55558-114-5
                   Margie Sherlock

                   VAX/VMS Internals and Data           1-55558-059-9
                   Structures: Version 5.2

                   Writing Real Programs in DCL,        1-55558-191-9
                   Second Edition
                   Hoffman and Anagnostopoulos

                   Writing OpenVMS Alpha Device         1-55558-133-1
                   Drivers in C
          _________Sherlock_and_Szubowicz_________________________________

                   For various featured OpenVMS books, also please see the
                   books link at the OpenVMS website:

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

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                   For a bibliography of various OpenVMS books, please
                   see:

                   o  http://www.levitte.org/~ava/vms_book.htmlx

          __________________________________________________________
          3.8  What OpenVMS mailing lists are available?

                   Various OpenVMS mailing lists are available, with some
                   of the available lists detailed in Table 3-5.

          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-5  OpenVMS Mailing Lists

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Subscription____________________Interest_Area__________

                   OpenVMS Freeware archive        FSupdate@goatley.com
                   announcement list               FSupdate-
                                                   request@goatley.com[1]

                   Two-way echo of                 VMSnet-
                   vmsnet.internals                Internals@goatley.com
                                                   VMSnet-Internals-
                                                   request@goatley.com[1]

                   OpenVMS Alpha Internals         Alpha-IDS@goatley.com
                   discussions                     Alpha-IDS-
                                                   request@goatley.com[1]

                   BLISS discussions               BLISSters@goatley.com
                                                   BLISSters-
                                                   request@goatley.com[1]

                   Process Software MultiNet       Info-
                   mailing list (news gateway)     MultiNet@process.com
                                                   Info-MultiNet-
                                                   request@process.com[1]

                   Process Software TCPware        Info-
                   mailing list (news gateway)     TCPware@process.com
                                                   Info-TCPware-
                                                   request@process.com[1]

                   _______________________________________________________
                   [1]This is the subscription address. Usually, you will
                   want to send a mail message with no subject line, and
                   a SUBSCRIBE or HELP command in the body of the mail
                   message.

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          ________________________________________________________________
          Table 3-5 (Cont.)  OpenVMS Mailing Lists

                   _______________________________________________________
                   Subscription____________________Interest_Area__________

                   Process Software PMDF mailing   Info-PMDF@process.com
                   list (news gateway)             Info-PMDF-
                                                   request@process.com[1]

                   The SRI CHARON-VAX VAX          CHARON-VAX-
                   emulator package                Users@process.com
                                                   CHARON-VAX-Users-
                                                   request@process.com[1]

                   Info-Zip's Zip & UnZip          Info-Zip@wku.edu
                   discussion list                 Info-Zip-
                                                   Request@wku.edu[1]

                   RADIUS-VMS, a RADIUS server     radius-vms@dls.net
                   for OpenVMS discussion forum    radius-vms-
                                                   request@dls.net[1]

                   Internet Service Providers      vms-isps@dls.net
                   (ISPs) running OpenVMS          vms-isps-
                                                   request@dls.net[1]

                   Users of Mark Daniel's WASD     http://wasd.vsm.com.au/
                   web server for OpenVMS VAX
                   and Alpha exists. Information
                   about this list server and
                   details on how to subscribe to
                   the list are available at the
                   referenced website.

                   VMS Forum                       http://www.neurophys.wisc.edu/comp/ava/vms_
                                                   forum.htmlx
                   _______________________________________________________
                   [1]This is the subscription address. Usually, you will
                   want to send a mail message with no subject line, and
                   a SUBSCRIBE or HELP command in the body of the mail
                   message.
          ________________________________________________________________


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          __________________________________________________________
          3.9  What is this Ask The Wizard website I've heard about?

                   The HP OpenVMS Ask The Wizard (ATW) website is an
                   informal area containing questions and answers on a
                   wide variety of topics.

                   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 3.9.

                   To access a cited topic directly, use the URL filename
                   WIZ_topic-number.HTML. For example, topic (1020) can be
                   accessed directly using the URL filename wiz_1020.html
                   at the following URL:

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

                   A zip archive (named wizard.zip) containing all of the
                   available topics and questions can be downloaded from
                   the above URL. The wizard.zip zip archive is completely
                   regenerated when new batches of topics are posted out
                   to the ATW website.

                   Before posting a question to the Ask The Wizard
                   area, please read and please heed the posting rules-
                   and please remember to search this document, the
                   OpenVMS FAQ. And if you have a question that requires
                   an answer, or if your question has time-critical
                   constraints or business constraints, please contact
                   the HP customer support center directly.

          __________________________________________________________
          3.10  Access to the OpenVMS Netscape Navigator documentation?

                   The documentation URLs embedded into the browser itself
                   may not operate correctly in all cases, and (for
                   reasons not worthy of repeating here) redirects may
                   not be available.

                   You can manually access the documentation via:

                   o  http://www.openvms.compaq.com:88/netscape/help/

                   For information on the Mozilla web browser, please see
                   Section 13.4.

                   3-12

