/sys$common/syshlp/SDA.HLB  —  FORMAT
    Displays a formatted list of the contents of a block of memory.

    Format

      FORMAT  [/TYPE=block-type] location

              [/NOSYMBOLIZE][/PAGE][/PHYSICAL] [/POSITIVE]

1  –  Parameter 

 location

    Location of the beginning of the data block. The location can be
    given as any valid SDA expression.

2  –  Qualifiers

2.1    /NOSYMBOLIZE 

    If /NOSYMBOLIZE is specified, no attempt is made to symbolize
    the contents of any field in a structure. This is useful if the
    loaded execlet or activated image lists are corrupted, since
    symbolization relies on these lists.

2.2    /PAGE 

    If the output of the formatted structure does not fit on one
    screen, SDA enters display mode. (For information on this
    topic, see Display Mode.) By default, SDA displays the formatted
    structure without screen overflow prompts.

2.3    /PHYSICAL 

    Specifies that the location given is a physical address.

2.4    /POSITIVE 

    Symbols that describe negative offsets from the start of the
    structure are ignored. By default, all symbols for the block type
    are processed.

2.5    /TYPE 

       /TYPE=block-type

    Forces SDA to characterize and format a data block at location
    as the specified type of data structure. The /TYPE qualifier
    thus overrides the default behavior of the FORMAT command in
    determining the type and/or subtype of a data block, as described
    in the Description subtopic for this command. The block-type
    can be the symbolic prefix of any data structure defined by the
    operating system.

3  –  Description 

    Displays the formatted contents of an OpenVMS control block that
    begins at the address specified by the expression "location."
    Most blocks include a byte that indicates the block type.

    Associated with each type of block is a set of symbols with a
    common prefix. Each symbol's name describes a field within the
    block, and the value of the symbol represents the offset of the
    field within the block.

    If the block-type byte contains a valid block type (and/or
    subtype), SDA retrieves the symbols associated with that type
    of block (see $DYNDEF) and uses their values to format the block.
    If the block-type byte does not contain a valid block type, you
    must use the /TYPE qualifier to format the block.

    For a given block type, all associated symbols have the following
    form:

    <block type>$<type>_<name>

    where type is one of the following:

    B  Byte
    W  Word
    L  Longword
    Q  Quadword

    A  Address
    C  Constant
    G  Global Longword
    P  Pointer
    R  Structure (variable size)
    T  Counted ASCII string (up to 31 characters)

    If SDA cannot find the symbols associated with the block type
    specified in the block-type byte or by the /TYPE qualifier, it
    issues the following message:

    No <block type> symbols found to format this block

    Use the READ command to obtain additional symbol definitions.
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