IITS Helpline FAQ

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Questions about Vax2

Starting and getting help

Is there a menu on Vax2?
How can I read VMS manual pages?
What book is good for learning VMS?
VMS Mail
I edited my MAIL.MAI file, and now MAIL won't read it. How can I get at the mail in it?
VMS MAIL tells me I have new messages, when I have none.
My Wastebasket in VMS MAIL isn't emptying.
How can I tell Vax2 MAIL to use Pico to edit mail or news? (4282)
What are these MAIL$xxxxxxxx.MAI files? How can I avoid seeing them? What happens if I delete them?
When I send mail, I get an error: "record too large for user's buffer".
I can't get Vax2 MAIL to go into my Pine folders.
When I try to check my mail on Vax2 with Eudora, I get "Could not open VMS mailbox".
How do I send to an Internet address with VMS MAIL?
Disk quota
I deleted all my mail, but my Vax2 account is still over quota.
I got the message, "disk quota exceeded".
I'm over quota, but I can't delete mail to get back under quota.
Commands and files
When I issue a command with an option, I'm told it's ambiguous.
How can I get rid of all the old versions of my files on Vax2?
I can't delete a file in my Vax2 home directory! (file protection)
Commands such as 'cd', 'pico', 'zmodem' have stopped working.
How can I delete all these .tmp files?
When I download a file from Vax2, I get the wrong version.
How do I prevent "process quota exceeded" errors in Vax2?
How can I talk to another user?
Programs and packages
When I run SPSS or SAS on Vax2, I get the error, "unrecognized command verb".
I got disconnected while using EVE. Can I get my work back?
What's our SPSS site ID number?
How can I produce charts and graphs in SPSS?
Printers, terminals, and tapes
The print queue is stalled in VMS.
How can I access a tape on Vax2?
How can I get Vax2 to support VT100 emulation?
How do I manage job queues in VMS?
How do I print from Vax2?
What printer should I use from Vax2? (4704)

Is there a menu on Vax2?

Vax2 does not have a menu of commonly used programs and commands like Alcor.

Vax2 does, however, have swing, an interactive, graphical file manager.Swing can help you easily manage your directory space, especially if you are a new user. To start the file manager, type

   swing

Swing is one of the Vax2 CUG utilities, so it must be initialized first.

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I got disconnected while using EVE. Can I get my work back?

EVE saves backups of files being currently worked on; you may be able to recover some or all of your unsaved work.

Log back in and type the command

   edit/tpu/recover <filename>

This can sometimes recover most of the file's content.

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How can I talk to another user?


    ****    ALREADY WRITTEN IN ANOTHER SECTION    ****

On both Vax2 and Alcor you can send messages to other users with the talk command:

   talk user_name or talk user_name@other.hostname

On Vax2, there is also the phone command to send messages to other Vax2 users:

   phone user_name

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How can I delete these .tmp files on Vax2?

You may have tried to delete a .tmp file and received this error message:

   insufficient privilege or file protection violation

This means that the permissions on the files will not allow you to delete them. First, consider that the permissions are set in that way intentionally, and make doubly sure that it is safe to delete the files, and that the contents of the files are not needed.

Then, to change the permissions:

   set prot=o:d *.tmp;*

Then, delete the files.

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I deleted all my mail, but my Vax2 account is still over quota.

The DELETE command in VMS MAIL, depending on whether AUTO_PURGE is set, either moves mail to the wastebasket, or removes it from the mailbox. Furthermore, neither of these behaviors frees up the space occupied by the mail. Here is the procedure to follow to allow you regain your quota:

First, from within VMS MAIL, ensure that the wastebasket is empty:

   MAIL> purge/reclaim

Second, tell MAIL to get rid of any empty space in the mailbox:

   MAIL> compress

This will make a backup of the mailbox in case the COMPRESS operation failed. Finally, after having quit from MAIL, free up the space by deleting that backup from the DCL prompt:

$ delete mail.old;*<.PRE>

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7. When I send mail, I get an error: "record too large for user's buffer".

STUB

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When I issue a command with an option, I'm told it's ambiguous.

STUB

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When I run SPSS or SAS on Vax2, I get the error, "unrecognized command verb".

STUB

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I got the message, "disk quota exceeded".

STUB

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I edited my MAIL.MAI file, and now MAIL won't read it. How can I get at the mail in it?

You mailbox is kept in a file called MAIL.MAI. This is an indexed file, and as such, cannot be edited with a regular text editor. Trying to do so will convert the indexed file into a plain sequential file. Attempting to read mail with a nonindexed MAIL.MAI will result in this error:

  %MAIL-E-NOTISAM, operation cannot be performed on non-ISAM message file

It is not possible to convert the file back into a mailbox. Instead, rename it to something other than MAIL.MAI, and try to read the mail in it by typing

   type/page filename

Note that some or all messages may be lost by this point. VMS MAIL will create an empty MAIL.MAI the next time you get mail.

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VMS MAIL tells me I have new messages, when I have none.

STUB

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My Wastebasket in VMS MAIL isn't emptying.

By default, VMS MAIL empties (purges) the Wastebasket of any deleted mail when you exits MAIL. This functionality can be disabled, however, and can lead to a very full wastebasket and an account going over quota.

Here are some "Wastebasket-management commands" for VMS MAIL . . .

To enable automatic emptying of the Wastebasket: set auto_purge
To disable automatic emptying of the Wastebasket: set noauto_purge
To see current status: show auto_purge
To empty the Wastebasket manually: purge/reclaim

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I'm over quota, but I can't delete enough mail to get back under quota.

Sometimes, when you are over quota on Vax2 because of excessive mail messages, the DELETE/PURGE/COMPRESS operations may fail to work. This is because the DELETE, PURGE, and COMPRESS operations attempt to write to disk before completing the operation. If there is not enough disk space, these operations will fail.

The solution is to call the IITS Helpline, at 848-7613, to request a temporary quota increase. You will have about a week to bring your disk usage below quota.

Tip:Be sure to delete the file MAIL.OLD left by a successful COMPRESS and any MAIL*.TMP files left from failed COMPRESS attempts.

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The print queue is stalled in VMS.

A stalled print queue means that the system can't talk to the printer. Check the printer, the terminal server port that the printer is attached to, and the network link between the system and the printer.

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How can I get Vax2 to support vt100 emulation?

Sometimes Vax2's automatic terminal-type recognition system can fail. If Vax2 does not recognize your terminal as supporting vt100 or higher emulation.. programs will not run, or they will display garbage when they do.

First, you must ensure that the terminal, or terminal emulation software, does indeed support vt100 or higher emulation.

Then, tell Vax2 that it does:

   set terminal/device=vt100

This will work both at the command line and in LOGIN.COM, but putting it in LOGIN.COM will cause problems if you also use some other sort of terminal.

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How can I access a tape on Vax2?

When you are ready to use a tape, you must telephone the machine room (848-7636) and ask the operator to mount your tape either for reading or writing. The 9-track tape is device TAPE, while the 8mm tape is device 8mm1.

For complete information on Vax2 tape handling, see up]

How can I produce charts and graphs in SPSS?

Officially, the current release of SPSS does not support graphics. According to SPSS Inc., this will be addressed in the next release. We don't know when the new release is going to come out.

Meanwhile, you can get charts and graphs with the current release only if you turn off high resolution in their SPSS jobs (i.e SET HIGHRES=OFF), and submit your SPSS jobs in BATCH mode.

Then the charts and graphs will be built in your listing file (i.e. output file).

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What's our SPSS site ID number?

Our SPSS site ID number, required for support, is 262944.

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How can I get rid of all the old versions of my files?

VMS maintains version control on files; editing file_name.c will leave you with file_name.c;1 (your edited copy) and file_name.c;2 (your original copy). While this is convenient to track changes and recover from accidental deletions, it can leave an account cluttered.

Here are some "version-management commands" for VMS . . .

To delete all files except for the current version: purge
To delete all files except for the most recent n versions: purge/keep=n
For a complete list of purge options, help purge

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I can't get VMS MAIL to go into my Pine folders.

You may have found that VMS MAIL shows folders created in Pine, but can't access them. This is especially common with Pine's monthly-pruned folders.

The problem is that VMS MAIL expects folder names to be in upper case. Pine allows the use of mixed case. (And its monthly-pruned folders are indeed mixed case.) The solution is to rename the folders to upper-case in Pine, or only use Pine to access them.

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What are some good books for learning VMS?

Try these:

A Beginner's Guide to VAX/VMS Utilities and Applications
Ronald M.Savey, Troy T. Stokes
Butterworth-Heinemann (formerly: Digital Press), 1991
Essential Guide to VMS Utilities and Commands, Version 5
Paula Sharick
Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990
The VMS User's Guide
James F. Peters, Patrick J. Holmay
Butterworth-Heinemann (formerly: Digital Press), 1990
VAX-VMS Primer
Michael Wright
Contemporary Publishing, 1992
Introduction to VAX/VMS
David W. Bynon, Terry C. Shannon
Cardinal Business Media (formerly: Professional Press), 1992
Introduction to OpenVMS
David W. Bynon, Lesley O. Rice
Butterworth-Heinemann (formerly: Digital Press), 1997
Mastering VMS
David W. Bynon
Cardinal Business Media (formerly: Professional Press), 1990
VAX/VMS: Mastering DCL Commands and Utilities
Daniel A. Sideris
John Wiley & Sons, 1990
VAX/VMS Concepts and Facilities
Jay Shah
McGraw-Hill, 1991

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How do I send a message to an Internet address with VMS MAIL and Pine on Vax2?

Both VMS Mail and Pine on Vax2 handle Internet addresses without any special treatment. (Previously, you had to explicitly tell VMS MAIL about Internet addresses, but this has been changed.)

For both programs, just use the regular Internet address form, like this:

   user_name@somewhere.ca

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I can't delete a file in my Vax2 home directory.

You tried to delete a file in your home directory, and received an error similar to:

  %DELETE-W-FILNOTDEL, error deleting DISK2:[USER]FILE.;1
   -RMS-E-PRV, insufficient privilege or file protection violation

This means that the permissions on the file do not allow you to delete it. First, ensure that there is no reason that the file should not be deleted. In particular, do not delete files ending in .MAI.

Then, at the DCL $ prompt, type:

   set protection=o:d filename
   del filename;version

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Commands such as 'cd', 'pico', and 'zmodem' on Vax2 have stopped working.

STUB

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How do I prevent "process quota exceeded" errors in Vax2?

STUB

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When I download a file from Vax2, I get the wrong file version.

Vax2's ftp server doesn't always understand versions, and may send another version of the file if it exists.

Either purge the file of extra versions or rename the file an unambiguous name, that is one which does not have multiple versions.

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How can I read VMS manual pages?

VMS online documentation is broken into two sections. The first covers command usage summaries, and is accessible with the help command. Here are some examples:

   help
   help show quota
   help dir /size

For in-depth documentation, including C/C++ libraries and system calls, use the interactive documentation browser called mgbook.

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When I try to check my mail on Vax2 with Eudora, I get "Could not open VMS mailbox".

STUB

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How do I manage job queues in VMS?

SHOW QUEUE: Displays information about queues and the jobs that are currently in queues. (Useful qualifier: /BATCH to display only batch queues.) Example:

  $ SHOW QUEUE SYS$BATCH
   Batch queue SYS$BATCH, idle, on Vax2::

SUBMIT: Queues one or more files containing command procedures to a batch queue. Example:

  $ SUBMIT/QUEUE=SYS$BATCH FILE4.COM
   Job FILE4 (queue SYS$BATCH, entry 234) started on queue SYS$BATCH

DELETE: Deletes one or more batch jobs. Example:

  $ DELETE/ENTRY=234 SYS$BATCH
   %DELETE-I-DELETED, entry 234 aborting or deleted

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How can I tell Vax2 MAIL to use Pico to edit mail or news? (4282)

To use Pico as the default editor for mail and news, add the following to your LOGIN.COM file:

  $@disk8:[cug.scripts]setup
   $define mail$edit SCRPTS:picoplus$edit
   $mail :=="mail/edit =(reply,send,forward)"
   $define nntp_visual "scrpts:picoplus$edit"

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What are these MAIL$xxxxxxxx.MAI files? How can I avoid seeing them? What happens if I delete them?

VMS MAIL stores large email messages in files with names like MAIL$xxxxxxxx.MAI. There are links between these files and the main MAIL.MAI mailbox.

Do not delete these files. If you do, VMS MAIL won't work properly since the links inside MAIL.MAI will point to things that are no longer there.

If you don't like the look of these files in your DIR listing, you can effectively hide these files in their own subdirectory. Use these commands:

   $ MAIL
   MAIL> HELP SET MAIL_DIRECTORY
   MAIL> SET MAIL_DIRECTORY [.MAIL]

If you do accidentally delete some MAIL$xxxxxxxx.MAI files, there is a recovery program avilable VFYMAIL, which will verifies the integrity of a mail subdirectory by checking for missing or extra external mail files. See HELP VFYMAIL for complete details, but here is some sample output:

$ vfymail/repair/stat $ %VFYMAIL-I-PROMAIDIR, processing mail directory DISK17:[WALLACE.MAIL] $ %VFYMAIL-I-PROMAIFIL, processing mailfile MAIL.MAI $ Total mail files: 1 $ Total external files: 914 $ Total external file references: 914 $ Total missing files: 0 $ Total missing messages: 0

Before deleting any of the MAIL$xxxx.LOST that VFYMAIL finds for you, you might want to look at them to see if it contains any messages that you might want to keep.

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34. How do I print from Vax2?

Here's an overview of print management on Vax2.

To print from Vax2, use the print command. The /queue flag lets you select the destination printer. For example, to print the file "testfile" to the printer "cc206":

   print/queue=cc206 testfile

To print all the files ending with .ps, and the file "foo.postscript", to the QMS laser printer:

   print/queue=qms_laser1 *.ps + foo.postscript

To look at the print queue, use the show queue command:

   show queue cc206

To remove a print job, use the delete/queue command. For example, to remove "job 29" from the "cc206" queue:

   delete/entry=29 cc206

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35. What printer should I use from Vax2?

The following printers are available for Vax2 users:

   Printer queue       Department                  Location

   SYS$PRINT           Computing Services          H-927
   CC206               Computing Services          CC-206
   CC206TEX            Computing Services          CC-206
   CC207               Computing Services          CC-207
   QMS_LASER1          Computing Services          H-927
   QMS_LASER2          Computing Services          LB-800
   CRDHPTR             Psychology                  CRDH
   GMPRINT             Commerce                    GM
   LB670PR             Sociolgy                    LB-670

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Authors:	Rich Lafferty, Geoff Selig, and the IITS Helpline Staff
Maintained by:	IITS Helpline © Concordia Univerity

IITS Helpline FAQ

Questions about Vax2

Starting and getting help

VMS Mail

Disk quota

Commands and files

Programs and packages

Printers, terminals, and tapes