When you start the debugger, the current language is set to that
in which the module containing the main program is written. This
is usually the module containing the image transfer address. To
debug a module written in a different source language from that
of the main program, you can change the language with the SET
LANGUAGE command.
The current language setting determines how the debugger parses
and interprets the names, operators, and expressions you specify
in debugger commands, including things like the typing of
variables, array and record syntax, the default radix for the
entry and display of integer data, case sensitivity, and so on.
The language setting also determines how the debugger formats and
displays data associated with your program.
The default radix for both data entry and display is decimal for
most languages. The exceptions are BLISS and MACRO, which have a
default radix of hexadecimal.
The default type for program locations that do not have a
compiler-generated type is longword integer. This is appropriate
for debugging 32-bit applications.
It is advisable to change the default type to quadword for
debugging applications that use the 64-bit address space (on
OpenVMS Integrity server systems, the default type is quadword).
Use the SET TYPE QUADWORD command.
Use the SET LANGUAGE UNKNOWN command when debugging a program
written in an unsupported language. To maximize the usability
of the debugger with unsupported languages, SET LANGUAGE UNKNOWN
causes the debugger to accept a large set of data formats and
operators, including some that might be specific to only a few
supported languages.
Note that SET LANGUAGE UNKNOWN can be an easy, quick workaround
for language-related problems because it uses the "loosest" set
of rules.
For information about debugger support for language-specific
operators and constructs, see the Language_Support help topic.
Related commands:
EVALUATE
EXAMINE
DEPOSIT
SET MODE
SET RADIX
SET TYPE
SHOW LANGUAGE