1 Ext_File_Specs Extended File Specifications is a feature of OpenVMS Alpha that allows the use of Windows-style file specifications. 2 Overview Extended File Specifications includes support for the following: o The ODS-5 disk structure. ODS-5 is an extension to the existing ODS-2 disk structure, and adds the ability to use extended file names that can be more easily mapped between Windows and OpenVMS. ODS-5 expands the available character set and filename length to be consistent with Windows 95 and Windows NT, and sets the stage for future Unicode file name support through PATHWORKS. o Deeper directories. Enhancements to RMS provide deep directory support on both ODS-2 and ODS-5 volumes. Taken together, these components provide much greater flexibility for OpenVMS Alpha systems (using Advanced Server for OpenVMS 7.2, formerly known as PATHWORKS for OpenVMS), to store, manage, serve, and access files that have names similar to those in a Windows 95 or Windows NT environment. This topic provides an overview of the benefits, features, and support for Extended File Specifications, as well as changes in OpenVMS behavior that occur when using Extended File Specifications. 3 Benefits The deep directories and extended file names supported by Extended File Specifications provide the following benefits: o OpenVMS system managers can manage files with extended names and deep directories in the same manner as Windows NT users. o Users of Advanced Server for OpenVMS 7.2 (formerly known as PATHWORKS for OpenVMS) have the ability to store longer file names and use deeper directory structures, which are more compatible with Windows 95 and Windows NT file names. o Applications developers who are porting applications from other environments that have support for deep directories can use a parallel structure on OpenVMS. o Longer file naming capabilities and Unicode support enables OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 and later to act as a DCOM server for Windows NT clients, and ODS-5 provides capabilites that make the OpenVMS and Windows NT environment more homogeneous for DCOM developers. o JAVA applications on OpenVMS will comply with JAVA object naming standards. o General OpenVMS users can make use of long file names, new character support, and the ability to have lowercase and mixed-case file names. 3 Features Extended File Specifications consists of two main features, the ODS-5 volume structure, and support for deep directories. 4 ODS-5 OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 and later implements On-Disk Structure Level 5 (ODS-5). This structure provides the basis for creating and storing files with extended file names. You can choose whether or not to enable ODS-5 volumes on your OpenVMS Alpha systems. The ODS-5 volume structure allows the following features: o Long file names o More characters legal within file names o Preservation of case within file names 4 Deep_Directories Both ODS-2 and ODS-5 volume structures support deep nesting of directories, subject to the following limits: o There can be up to 255 levels of directories. o The name of each directory can be up to 236 8-bit or 117 16-bit characters long. Complete file specifications longer than 255 bytes are abbreviated by RMS when presented to unmodified applications. For example, a user can create the following deeply nested directory: $ CREATE/DIRECTORY [.a.b.c.d.e.f.g.h.i.j.k.l.m] A user can create the following directory with a long name on an ODS-5 volume: $ CREATE/DIRECTORY [.AVeryLongDirectoryNameWhichHasNothingToDoWithAnythingInParticular] 5 Directory_Naming_Syntax On an ODS-5 volume, directory names conform to most of the same conventions as file names when using the ISO Latin-1 character set. Periods and special characters can be present in the directory name, but in some cases, they must be preceded by a circumflex (^) in order to be recognized as literal characters. 3 Considerations ODS-5 is being introduced primarily to provide enhanced file sharing capabilities for users of Advanced Server for OpenVMS 7.2 (formerly known as PATHWORKS for OpenVMS), as well as DCOM and JAVA applications. System managers must understand the impact of an ODS-5 environment before enabling it for general users. It is essential that system managers perform the following steps before enabling ODS-5: o Review all ODS-5 restrictions. o Understand the support levels for different OpenVMS applications. o Segregate applications that do not support ODS-5 or have not been tested with ODS-5 names or volumes. NOTE It is recommended that you enable ODS-5 disks in a homogeneous OpenVMS Version 7.2 (and later) Alpha cluster only. 4 Mixed-Version_Support Users on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 (and later) systems can take advantage of Extended File Specifications capabilities. In contrast, systems running prior versions of OpenVMS cannot mount ODS-5 volumes, correctly handle extended file names, or even see extended file names. The following topics describe support on OpenVMS Version 7.2 (and later) and on prior versions of OpenVMS in a mixed-version cluster. Users on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 (and later) Systems Users on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 and later systems can continue to access pre-Version 7.2 files and directories; for example, they can do all of the following: o Create and access deep directory structures on ODS-2 volumes. o Read a BACKUP saveset created on an earlier version of OpenVMS. o Use DECnet to copy a file with an ODS-5 name to a file with an ODS-2 name on a system running an earlier version of OpenVMS. Users on pre-Version 7.2 Systems On mixed-version clusters, some restrictions exist. Users on a version of OpenVMS prior to Version 7.2: o Cannot access any files on an ODS-5 volume. This is true regardless of whether the volume is connected physically on a CI or SCSI bus, or by an MSCP or QIO server. o Cannot successfully create or restore an ODS-5 image saveset. However, these users can successfully restore ODS-2-compliant file names from an ODS-5 saveset. 4 Mixed-Architecture_Support All Extended File Specifications capabilities are available on OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 and later systems. Current ODS-2 volume and file management functions remain the same on both VAX and Alpha Version 7.2 (and later) systems; however, extended file naming and parsing are not available on VAX systems. The following topics describe support on OpenVMS VAX and Alpha systems in a mixed-architecture cluster. Limited Extended File Specifications Capabilities on VAX Systems In mixed-architecture OpenVMS Version 7.2 (and later) clusters, the following Extended File Specifications capabilities are available on OpenVMS Version 7.2 (and later) VAX systems: o Ability to mount an ODS-5 volume o Ability to write and manage ODS-2-compliant files on an ODS-5 volume o See only \pISO_LATIN\.??? or \pUNICODE\.??? when accessing an ODS-5 file specification BACKUP Limitations In a mixed architecture cluster, users cannot successfully create or restore an ODS-5 image saveset. However, these users can successfully restore ODS-2-compliant file names from an ODS-5 saveset. 4 Network_Support Although Extended File Specifications is intended to provide enhanced file naming capabilities to Advanced Server for OpenVMS 7.2 Version 7.2 for OpenVMS Version 7.2, network access with ODS-5 volumes and extended file names is currently being tested. The length of an extended file specification that can be passed over the network using DECnet is restricted to a maximum of 255 bytes. 4 Application_Support OpenVMS applications should be evaluated and tested to determine whether they function correctly when Extended File Specifications is enabled. The OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials contains guidelines for evaluating applications, and the Guide to OpenVMS File Applications contains details about the technical aspects of Extended File Specifications that can affect the behavior of an application. 4 User_Support When you enable ODS-5 volumes on an OpenVMS cluster, you should make users aware of the following characteristics: o Extended file names caooonot be used on ODS-2 volumes. o Case is determined by the first instance of an extended file name. o There are special rules for case preservation and case blindness when using extended file names. o Some system utilities and DCL commands have a /STYLE qualifier to control the display of file names. o Error messages can vary when different parse style are used. o Extended file names are not visible from a VAX system. The OpenVMS System Manager's Manual, Volume 1: Essentials contains information for setting user's expectations of Extended File Specifications. 3 Impact The main goal of Extended File Specifications is to provide extended file naming capabilities, while also: o Maintaining high reliability, scalability, and availability o Maintaining the traditional (ODS-2) serial file interoperation capabilities o Causing the least possible amount of change for layered products and applications However, once ODS-5 volumes are enabled, some of the new capabilities can potentially impact certain applications or layered products, as well as some areas of system management. The following guidelines and description of changes in the base operating system will help you determine the level of impact on your OpenVMS environment. 4 Support_Guidelines Under Extended File Specifications, existing applications and layered products that are coded to documented interfaces, as well as most DCL command procedures, should continue to work without modification. However, applications that are coded to undocumented interfaces, or include any of the following, may need to be modified in order to function as expected on an ODS-5 volume: o Internal knowledge of the file system, including knowledge of: The data layout on disk The contents of file headers The contents of directory files o File parsing tailored to a particular on-disk structure. o Assumptions about the syntax of file specifications, such as the placement of delimiters and legal characters. o Assumptions about the case of file specifications. Mixed and lowercase file specifications will not be converted to uppercase, which can affect string matching operations. o Assumptions that file specifications are identical between RMS and the file system. NOTE All unmodified XQP applications running on an OpenVMS VAX or Alpha system that access an ODS-5 volume will see pseudonames returned in place of Unicode or ISO Latin- 1 names that are not ODS-2 compliant. This can cause applications to act in an unpredictable manner. Applications that specify or retrieve filenames with the XQP interface using ODS-5 disks must be modified in order to access files with extended names. 4 RMS_Changes To support Extended File Specifications, the Record Management Services (RMS) have been enhanced to provide the following functions through existing interfaces: o Support for a wider range of characters in a file name, extension, and directory o Access to file specifications with extended characters o Support for directory structures deeper than eight levels o Access to file specifications longer than 255 bytes through the NAM block with some restrictions in functionality o Access and complete specification of file specifications longer than 255 bytes by callers who are aware of the new naming characteristics through a new interface (NAML block) 5 Extended_File_Names With ODS-5 enabled, RMS can manipulate filenames and subdirectory specifications of up to 255 8-bit or 16-bit characters in length. RMS can handle a total path name 512 8-bit or 16-bit characters in length. Prior to OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2, the NAM block interface could pass file specifications of up to 255 bytes each (including the resultant file specification). The following topics describe the changes that allow for passing longer file specifications and that provide compatibility with applications using the NAM block interface prior to this release. 5 Additional_Character_Sets With ODS-5, RMS supports access to files and directories whose names contain arbitrary 8-bit characters, except for the C0 control set (hex 00 through 1F) and the following characters: Double quotation marks (") Asterisk (*) Backslash (\) Colon (:) Left and right angle brackets (< >) Slash (/) Question mark (?) Vertical bar (|) Note that this explicitly includes both the C1 character set (hex 80-9F) as well as graphical and other characters between 9F and FF. This allows the entire ISO Latin-1 character set (with the 7-bit character exclusions noted above) and any defined Unicode character. 5 Deeply_Nested_Directories Under Extended File Specifications on Alpha, RMS supports deep nesting of up to 255 directories, with the restriction that the total directory specification must be no longer than 512 8-bit or 16-bit characters. The deep nesting of directories is also supported on ODS-2 disks. 4 File_System_(XQP)_Changes The following Files-11 Extended QIO Processor (XQP) file system enhancements are offered under Extended File Specifications through the $QIO interface. Note that in some cases, XQP file format rules may differ from those that apply to other system services that accept file names, such as those provided by RMS. o The current restrictions on the format and content of file names have been modified, specifically: - The 39.39 file name length restriction was removed to allow longer file names, up to 236 8-bit characters or 117 16-bit characters - The use of characters from the ISO Latin-1 multinational character set is supported in file specifications - Support for the entry and storage of file and directory specifications in Unicode. 4 DCL_Commands_and_Utilities In DCL commands, you can select either of the following styles for parsing file specifications: o Traditional filenames are allowed on both ODS-2 and ODS-5 volumes. o Extended filenames are allowed on ODS-5 but not on ODS-2 volumes. Some OpenVMS commands and utilities have new qualifiers to control the interpretation and display of file specifications. NOTE DCL lexical functions use the DEC-Multinational character set, which is different from the ISOLatin-1 character set used for file names on an ODS-5 disk. This can lead to unexpected results if, for example, you use the DCL function F$EDIT to upcase a filename. Some DCL commands and OpenVMS utilities have been specifically modified to take advantage of all the features of extended file names. These utilities and commands accept and handle extended file specifications without error and without modifying their expected case. Other DCL commands and OpenVMS utilities have had little or no modification to take advantage of extended file names. These utilities and commands are expected to handle most of the attributes of extended file specifications (such as new characters and deep directory structures) correctly. Extended File Specifications Support fully defines the different levels of support for extended file names provided by DCL commands and OpenVMS utilities in OpenVMS Version 7.2 and later. The following DCL commands and OpenVMS utilities provide full support for extended file names: ANALYZE /AUDIT ANALYZE /DISK ANALYZE /RMS BACKUP CONVERT CONVERT /RECLAIM COPY CREATE /DIRECTORY DELETE DIRECTORY DUMP EDIT /ACL EXCHANGE /NETWORK FDL PURGE RECOVER/RMS RENAME SEARCH SET SECURITY SYSMAN TYPE The following table lists the new features in DCL to support Extended File Specifications. DCL Command New Features COPY Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED DELETE Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED DIRECTORY Added the following items: o Qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED o Display item to /FULL to display Client Attributes DUMP Added the following items: o Display item to /DIRECTORY to display Name type attribute o Display item to /HEADER to display new attributes o Qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED EXCHANGE NETWORK Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED F$FILE_ATTRIBUTES Added new item codes: FILE_LENGTH_HINT, Lexical VERLIMIT, DIRECTORY F$GETDVI Lexical Added new type to the ACPTYPE item code. F$GETJPI Lexical Added new item codes: PARSE_STYLE_PERM and PARSE_STYLE_IMAGE INITIALIZE Added a new qualifier: /STRUCTURE=5 device-name[:] volume-label PRINT Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED PURGE Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED RENAME Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED SEARCH Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED SET ACL Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED SET DEFAULT Updated the following items: o Modified the directory-spec parameter to accept ODS-5-compliant file specifications. SET DIRECTORY Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED SET FILE Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED SET PROCESS Added a new qualifier: /PARSE_ STYLE=(keyword), where keywords are TRADITIONAL and EXTENDED. SET SECURITY Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED SET VOLUME Added a new qualifier: /STRUCTURE_LEVEL=5 SHOW DEVICE/FULL Updated the display information to show the disk structure level. SUBMIT Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED TYPE Added new qualifier, /STYLE, with new keywords, EXPANDED and CONDENSED For detailed information about the enhancements made to the OpenVMS operating system and utilities in support of Extended File Specifications, see the OpenVMS DCL Dictionary: A-M, the OpenVMS DCL Dictionary: N-Z, and the OpenVMS Utility Routines Manual. 4 DCL_Command_Parameters Command procedures that use file names as parameters can produce different results in an ODS-5 environment. See DCL Command Parameters for more information about using ODS-5 style names in DCL command procedures. 4 System_Services_Changes The following system services have been modified or added to support Extended File Specifications: o New services: - $SET_PROCESS_PROPERTIESW - $CVT_FILENAME o Changed services: - $CREPRC - $GETJPI - $SETDDIR 2 Managing Managing an OpenVMS system that implements Extended File Specifications requires an understanding of the support provided for different OpenVMS applications, how to enable and control the new features, and the changes to OpenVMS system management utilities. This topic contains the following subtopics: o Levels of support provided by the current set of OpenVMS commands and utilities that support Extended File Specifications o How to enable Extended File Specifications features on an OpenVMS Alpha system o How to control user access to ODS-5 features o Changes to system management utilities 3 Extended_File_Specifications_Support To help determine the expected behavior of OpenVMS utilities and commands for ODS-5, the following levels of support have been established. Each level outlines the acceptable behavior of a utility or command when it encounters an extended (ODS-5 compliant) file specification. The levels of support for ODS-5 are defined in the following sections: 4 Full_Support OpenVMS utilities and commands that offer full support for ODS-5 have been specifically modified to take advantage of all the features of extended file naming. These utilities and commands should accept and handle extended file specifications without error and without modifying their expected case. In addition, OpenVMS commands and utilities that fully support Extended File Specifications can accept and produce long file specifications that exceed the traditional 255-byte limit in their original form-without requiring them to be abbreviated in Directory ID (DID) or File ID (FID) format. 4 Default_Support OpenVMS utilities and commands with default support have had little or no modification to take advantage of Extended File Specifications features. These utilities and commands are expected to handle most of the attributes of extended file specifications (such as new characters and deep directory structures) correctly. However, issues with case sensitivity and case blindness (such as converting lowercase characters to uppercase) may occur. In contrast with utilities that have full support, utilities with default support rely on DID and FID abbreviation offered by RMS to handle long file specifications. As a result, these utilities are subject to the following restrictions related to DID and FID abbreviation: o Matching operations in an environment where FID abbreviation is used may not always work as expected. For example, wildcard matching operations may not capture all target file names because the long file names may be represented in their numeric FID abbreviation form. This restriction specifically applies to matching operations that are performed outside of RMS. o Wildcards and sticky defaults cannot be used with a FID abbreviation. For example, the following commands are illegal: $ DIRECTORY a[1,2,3]*.txt $ COPY a[1,2,3].txt *.txt2 Because FID abbreviations are a unique numeric representation of one file, they cannot be used to represent or match any other file. o Creating a file using a FID abbreviation is illegal. 4 No_Support_for_Extended_File_Naming OpenVMS utilities and commands that do not support extended file naming can function on ODS-5 volumes; however, they are restricted to operating with traditional file specifications only. These utilities and commands should be used carefully under Extended File Specifications because they may not function successfully when they encounter extended file specifications. 4 No_Support_for_ODS-5 OpenVMS utilities and commands that do not support the ODS- 5 volume structure cannot handle extended file naming. These utilities and commands should be used carefully under Extended File Specifications because they may not function successfully on ODS-5 volumes even when they only encounter traditional file specifications. The following table lists the OpenVMS utilities and commands that do not support Extended File Specifications because of limitations with either handling extended file names or the ODS-5 volume structure. Component Notes No ODS-5 Support Disk defragmenters Unsupported unless a specific defragmentation tool documents that it has been updated to support an ODS-5 volume. No Extended File Naming Support Code compilers Cannot use extended file names for object files. However, code compilers can create applications that support extended names. INSTALL Known images Do not rename to an extended file name. LINK Cannot output an image with an extended file name. Network files Do not rename to an extended file name. (NET*.DAT) Object modules (.OBJ) Do not rename to an extended file name. Page and swap files Do not use an extended file name. SYSGEN Do not write a parameter file with an extended file name. System startup files Do not rename to an extended file name. 2 Using Extended file names provide a wider variety of character set options and naming conventions, similar to those available on Windows NT. This topic describes the impact of Extended File Specifications on the general user, and contains the following subtopics: o Differences in file and directory specifications between ODS-2 and ODS-5 o Manipulating extended file names o Using extended file names in DCL command procedures o Displaying ODS-5 file specifications in DECwindows 3 File_Specification_Differences With extended file names, there are two possible naming styles for file specifications: traditional (ODS-2 compliant) and extended (ODS-5 compliant). The following topics describe these naming styles. See also the OpenVMS User's Manual and the Guide to OpenVMS File Applications for more information about file specifications in Extended File Specifications. 4 ODS-2_Syntax The traditional (ODS-2) file name syntax is the syntax most OpenVMS users have been accustomed to up to the advent of extended file names. OpenVMS Versions 7.1 and earlier follow this syntax, which supports the following character set and naming conventions. ODS-2 Character Set The ODS-2 character set consists of alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), dollar sign ($), underscore (_) and hyphen (-). The hyphen (-) should not be used as the first or last character in a file name. While it is possible to do this under some conditions, special handling is required to access such a file once created. Case Insensitivity Case preservation is not supported with traditional syntax. Commands may be entered in uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case; however, all characters are stored in uppercase format. Standard Delimiters With traditional syntax, the file type is preceded by a period (.). The file version is separated from the type by a semicolon (;) or sometimes a period (.). (When the system displays file specifications, it displays a semicolon in front of the file version number.) Directories are enclosed by brackets ([]) or angle brackets (<>). Directory levels are separated by periods (.). Limited File Length Traditional file names follow the 39.39 format, supporting only a single period (.) separating the name and type components. 4 ODS-5_Syntax The extended (ODS-5) file name syntax offered by Extended File Specifications supports a larger character set and relaxes restrictions on lengths of file names and use of characters. This syntax allows Windows NT-style file names that use the following character set and naming conventions to be stored on and accessed by OpenVMS systems. 5 Character_Set_Support The ISO Latin-1 Multinational character set is a superset of the traditional ASCII character set used by versions of OpenVMS previous to 7.2. With extended file specifications, all characters from the 8-bit ISO Latin-1 Multinational character set are valid in file specifications, except the following: C0 control codes (0x00 to 0x1F inclusive) Double quotation marks (") Asterisk (*) Backslash (\) Colon (:) Left angle bracket (<) Right angle bracket (>) Slash (/) Question mark (?) Vertical bar (|) File specifications on an ODS-5 volume can also include Unicode (UCS-2) characters. Because each Unicode character requires two bytes, the use of Unicode characters can affect the maximum permitted lengths of file specifications. 5 Special_Characters Some ISO Latin-1 characters require the circumflex (^) to precede them in a file specification in order to be interpreted as literal characters rather than special function characters. The circumflex (^) is interpreted by the system as an escape character. o The circumflex (^) followed by underscore (_) or by a space represents a space. o The circumflex (^) followed by any of the following characters means that the character is to be used as part of a file name rather than having any special meaning that it might otherwise have in a file specification: . , ; [ ] % ^ & o A user can enter a literal period (.) with or without the circumflex (^) in a file name. The system adds the circumflex to any periods other than those that act as delimiters for the file type and version number. Literal periods (.) in directory names must be preceded by the circumflex. File names containing special characters cannot be accessed from a VAX system. 5 Interpretation_of_Period The introduction of the period (.) as a literal character in extended file names requires RMS to determine which periods are file name characters and which are delimiters. When only one period (.) is used in an extended file name, that period is interpreted as the delimiter, as in "Venice.Venezia;1" above. As in previous versions of OpenVMS, this behavior also occurs if the single period is followed by a number: $ CREATE Test.1 creates the file: Test.1;1 When there are multiple periods (.) in a file name, the system looks at all the characters after the last period. If those characters are five or fewer digits, or a minus sign (-) followed by five or fewer digits, the period is interpreted as a version delimiter and the period previous to it is a type delimiter. Notice that a legal version is less than or equal to 32767. If you try to create the file "grandioso.x.33333", the "33333" causes an illegal version error. If there is a nonnumeric character following the last period then it is interpreted as a type delimiter. For example, the following command: $ CREATE Test4.3.2.1 creates the file: Test4^.3.2;1 where .2 is the file type and 1 is the file version. 4 Expanded_File_Specification_Length On an ODS-5 volume, the file name together with the file type can be up to 236 8-bit characters of 117 16-bit characters in length. Unmodified programs and utilities may limit or abbreviate complete file specifications to 255 bytes. $ CREATE This.File.Name.Has.A.Lot.Of.Periods.DAT $ CREATE - _$ ThisIsAVeryLongFileName^&ItWillKeepGoingForLotsAndLotsOfCha - _$ racters.ExceedingThe39^,39presentInPreviousVersionsOfOpenVMS $ DIRECTORY Directory TEST$ODS5:[TESTING] ThisIsAVeryLongFileName^&ItWillKeepGoingForLotsAndLotsOfCharac ters.ExceedingThe39^,39presentInPreviousVersionsOfOpenVMS;1 This^.File^.Name^.Has^.A^.Lot^.Of^.Periods.DAT;1 Total of 2 files. 4 Case_Preservation Mixed-case and lowercase file names are retained in their original form on ODS-5 volumes. However, the file system on OpenVMS preserves the case of file names as they are first entered. When you create more than one file with the same name differing only in case, DCL treats the subsequent files as versions, and converts them to the same case as the original file. For example, the following commands: $ CREATE CaPri.;1 $ CREATE CAPRI $ CREATE capri produce the resulting files: CaPri.;1 CaPri.;2 CaPri.;3 4 Using_Wildcards Single- and multiple-character wildcards still function as expected with ODS-5 files. A single-character wildcard represents exactly one character in either the file name or file type, but may not be used in the file version string. A multiple-character wildcard can represent any number of characters starting with zero in the file name or file type. A multiple-character wildcard can be used in place of a version string. 5 Wildcard_Characters The following characters are wildcard characters when working on any OpenVMS 7.2 or later volume: o The asterisk (*) is a multiple-character wildcard. o The percent sign (%) is a single-character wildcard. o The question mark (?) is a single-character wildcard. The percent sign (%) continues to be a single-character wildcard to maintain compatibility with existing applications. The percent sign (%) may be used as a literal character when preceded by the circumflex (^) and is also a literal character in Windows NT file names. Therefore, in addition to the percent sign, RMS also recognizes the question mark (?) as a single character wildcard. The question mark functions identically to the percent sign as a wildcard character on OpenVMS 7.2 and later. The percent sign and the question mark matches exactly one character in a search pattern. 5 Wildcard_Syntax Although DCL preserves the case of extended file names, wildcard matching is case blind. When you perform a search operation with wildcards it continues to match only against the corresponding character in the same part of the target specification. The following table contains examples of some wildcard searches. The pattern... matches... ...but doesn't match A*B;* AHAB.;1 A.B;1 A.*.B* A^.DISK.BLOCK;1 A^.C^.B.DAT;1 A?B.TXT;* A^.B.TXT;5 A^.^.B.TXT;1 *.DAT Lots^.of^.Periods.dat;1DAT.;1 Mil?no.dat Milano.dat;1 Millaano.dat;1 NAPOLI.?.DAT napoli.q.dat;1 napoli.abc77.dat;1 4 Case_Sensitivity_and_Blindness In prior versions of OpenVMS, DCL and RMS converted all file specifications to uppercase. When using Extended File Specifications, the case of all file names is preserved as created by the user. Files and directories can have mixed case names in extended file names. Original file name ODS-2 Volume ODS-5 Volume MILANO;1 MILANO.;1 MILANO.;1 SanRemo SANREMO.;1 SanRemo.;1 genoa..1 GENOA.;1 genoa.;1 3 Directory_Specification_Differences The following topics describe the deeper directory structures and extended naming syntax available with Extended File Specifications. It is now possible to go beyond the eight levels of directories previously supported in OpenVMS. See also the OpenVMS User's Manual and the Guide to OpenVMS File Applications for more information about directory specifications in Extended File Specifications. 4 Deep_Directory_Structures OpenVMS 7.2 and later supports deep nesting of up to 255 directories with the restriction that the total directory specification must be no longer than 512 8-bit or 16-bit characters. For example, a user can create the following directories on an ODS-2 or ODS-5 volume: $ CREATE/DIRECTORY [a.b.c.d.e.f.g.h.i.j.k.l.m] A user can create the following directory with a long name on an ODS-5 volume: $ CREATE/DIRECTORY - [.AVeryLongDirectoryNameWhichHasNothingToDoWithAnythingInParticular] 4 Directory_Naming_Syntax When using Extended File Specifications, directory names conform to most of the same conventions as file names when using the ISO Latin-1 character set. Periods and special characters may be present in the directory name, but they must be preceded by a circumflex (^) in order to be recognized as literal characters, as shown in the following table: CREATE/DIRECTORY. . . Result [Hi^&Bye] Hi^&Bye.DIR;1 [Lots^.Of^.Periods^.In^.ThisLots^.Of^.Periods^.In^.This^ .Name.DIR;1 4 Directory_ID_and_File_ID_Abbreviation Under some circumstances, a full file specification may contain more characters than the 255 bytes allowed by unmodified applications. If a file specification that such an application needs exceeds 255 bytes in length, RMS generates a shorter file specification by abbreviating the directory to a DID abbreviation, and if necessary, the filename to a FID abbreviation. When the file specification is too long, RMS first attempts to generate a shorter directory specification by identifying the directory with its directory ID. This shorter specification is referred to as a DID abbreviation. TEST$ODS5:[5953,9,0]Alghero.TXT;1 Note that this form of the directory name must have three numbers and two commas to avoid ambiguity with UIC format directory names. With the DIRECTORY command you can view the shorter DID abbreviation version as well as the full version of a file specification. 3 Working_in_Mixed_Environments If working in an environment which contains both OpenVMS Alpha and OpenVMS VAX systems, it becomes more important to know on which type of volume files are being created and on which type of volume your default directory resides. When accessing an ODS-5 volume, you need to set the parse style to EXTENDED to accept and display extended file specifications. The default setting is TRADITIONAL. To set the parse style, enter the command: $ SET PROCESS/PARSE_STYLE=EXTENDED When working in a mixed environment of OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha, it is important for users to realize upon which system they are working. OpenVMS 7.2 and later allows VAX systems to mount ODS-5 volumes; however users on OpenVMS VAX systems can access only files with ODS-2-compliant file names. When working in a mixed environment of ODS-2 and ODS-5 volumes, keep in mind the restrictions of ODS-2 file names when creating files on ODS-5 volumes. If a file is created with special characters on an ODS-5 volume, the file must be given an ODS-2 compliant name if it is copied to an ODS-2 volume. 3 DCL_Command_Parameters Command procedures that use file names as parameters can produce different results in an ODS-5 environment. You can switch from the TRADITIONAL to the EXTENDED parse style, and this section describes the following areas that may be affected if you choose to do so: o Command procedure file specification o Case preservation and $FILE o Ampersand versus apostrophe substitution 3 Command_File_Specification If indirect command procedures are used, you may need to put quotes around file specifications. The following examples show the differences in output between TRADITIONAL and EXTENDED parse styles when using the same command file, SS.COM: $ create ss.com $ if p1 .nes. "" then write sys$output "p1 = ",p1 $ if p2 .nes. "" then write sys$output "p2 = ",p2 $ if p3 .nes. "" then write sys$output "p3 = ",p3 o Setting the parse style to an ODS-2 environment and running SS.COM, the following output occurs: $ set process/parse_style=traditional $ @ss ^ p2 p3 p1 = ^ p2 = P2 p3 = P3 Note that the circumflex (^) is the first argument, and that the case is not preserved for the p2 and p3 variables. o Setting the parse style to an ODS-5 environment, the following output occurs when running the same command procedure: $ set process/parse_style=extended $ @ss ^ p2 p3 p1 = ^ P2 p2 = P3 Note that the command procedure recognizes the circumflex (^) as the escape character, and "^ P2" is the first argument. o Adding quotes to the circumflex (^) produces the following outcome: $ @ss "^" p2 p3 p1 = ^ p2 = P2 p3 = P3 Because the circumflex (^) is within a quoted string, it is not treated as an escape character. o Adding quotes to the p3 variable produces the following outcome: $ @ss "^" p2 "p3" p1 = ^ p2 = P2 p3 = p3 Note that the case is preserved for the p3 variable. o In an ODS-2 environment, the following command treats the circumflex (^) and the p2 and p3 strings as arguments, and the command procedure produces the following results: $ set process/parse_style=traditional $ @ss^ p2 p3 p1 = ^ p2 = P2 p3 = P3 o In an ODS-5 environment, the circumflex (^) is treated as the escape character and DCL looks for the file "SS^_P2.COM", which results in the following error: $ set process/parse_style=extended $ @ss^ p2 p3 %DCL-E-OPENIN, error opening USER$DISK:[TEST]SS^_P2.COM; as input -RMS-E-ACC, ACP file access failed -SYSTEM-W-BADFILENAME, bad file name syntax 4 Case_Preservation_and_$FILE DCL attempts to preserve the casing of file specifications. It can do this only for commands defined with the Command Definition Utility (CDU). DCL preserves case for any item defined in the command definition file (.CLD) with the $FILE parse type. Refer to the Command Definition Utility manual for more information. 4 Ampersand_Versus_Apostrophe_Substitution You can use ampersand (&) substitution as opposed to apostrophe substitution, to preserve case during traditional parsing. The following traditional parsing example shows a series of commands that change the case of a character string: $ set process/parse_style=traditional $ x = "string" $ define y 'x' $ sho log y "Y" = "STRING" (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE) $ define y &x %DCL-I-SUPERSEDE, previous value of Y has been superseded $ sho log y "Y" = "string" (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE) Note that the use of the ampersand (&) preserved the case of the character string assigned to the x variable. Apostrophe substitution takes place before the command line is set to uppercase, and ampersand substitution takes place after the command line is set to uppercase. The following extended parsing example shows the same series of commands: $ set process/parse_style=extended $ define y 'x' %DCL-I-SUPERSEDE, previous value of Y has been superseded $ sho log y "Y" = "string" (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE) $ define y &x %DCL-I-SUPERSEDE, previous value of Y has been superseded $ sho log y "Y" = "string" (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE) Note that both character strings for the y variable are returned lowercase. This happens because the DEFINE command uses $FILE, which preserves the case. Ampersand substitution can therefore be used to specify EXTENDED file names even though the parse style is set to TRADITIONAL, as shown in the following example: $ set process/parse=extended $ cre file^ name.doc Contents of an ODS5 file Exit $ set process/parse=traditional $ a = "file^ name.doc" $ type file^ name.doc %DCL-W-PARMDEL, invalid parameter delimiter - check use of special characters \^NAME\ $ type 'a' %DCL-W-PARMDEL, invalid parameter delimiter - check use of special characters \^NAME\ $ type &a Contents of an ODS5 file NOTE Ampersand substitution does not work for foreign commands. 3 DECwindows_Output When using a DECwindows DECterm terminal emulator, you must select UPSS ISO Latin-1 from the General... submenu on the Options menu to display the full ISO Latin-1 character set correctly. F$EDIT assumes that the setting is 8-Bit Multinational Characters, as do many text editors. This can affect the output of ODS-5-compliant file specifications. 2 Programming The following topics describe how to evaluate an application's support for Extended File Specifications, and provides guidelines for upgrading that support. 3 Evaluating_Support_Status As part of testing OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.2 (and later), OpenVMS application developers should evaluate and test all existing applications to determine their current level of support for Extended File Specifications and whether that level is appropriate. Most unmodified OpenVMS applications fall into the default support category. Specifically, these applications use the traditional NAM block rather than the new NAML block when making RMS calls. Applications that use high-level language calls to perform file operations will also fit into this category unless the language run-time libraries have been modified to full support. In most cases, you will not need to modify these applications for them to function successfully under Extended File Specifications. However, you can choose to upgrade these applications to full support, if necessary. However, any applications that are coded to undocumented interfaces, or include any of the following may fall into one of the no support categories: 1. Use of the QIO interface to specify file names. Developers should examine all layered products and applications and evaluate any file name interaction between the RMS and the XQP interfaces. The format for extended file names varies for each interface. As a result, valid file names could differ between interfaces. (No extended file name support) NOTE All XQP applications that receive file names from the XQP and encounter extended file names on a ODS-5 disk will see pseudonames returned in place of Unicode (UCS-2) or ISO Latin-1 names that are not ODS-2 compliant. This may cause applications to act in an unpredictable manner. 2. Assumptions about the syntax of file specifications, such as the placement of delimiters and legal characters. (No extended file name support) 3. Assumptions about the case of file specifications. Mixed and lowercase file specifications will not be converted to uppercase, which could affect string matching operations. (No extended file name support) 4. Dependence on the traditional directory depth (fewer than 8 levels). (No extended file name support) 5. Internal knowledge of the file system, which includes knowledge of the contents of a directory and how file header data is structured on a disk. (No ODS-5 support) You can choose either to modify these applications to support Extended File Specifications or not to use them under Extended File Specifications. 3 Upgrading_Support The following topics describe the changes necessary to upgrade the level of support for ODS-5. Note that you must first ensure that the application meets the default support level before you can upgrade it to the full support level. NOTE If you are not using the RMS or QIO interfaces to perform disk I/O, the Extended File Specifications support level of your application depends on whether the interface you are using (such as a language run-time library) provides full support. 4 Upgrading_to_Default_Support To upgrade an application to provide default support for Extended File Specifications, you must ensure that it minimally supports both the ODS-5 volume structure and extended file naming as recommended in the following topics 4 Supporting_ODS-5 Applications that do not support the new ODS-5 volume structure do not operate successfully on these volumes even if they encounter only traditional file specifications. These applications use physical or logical I/O to bypass the file system when they access the volume or access directory files or other metadata files directly, and therefore must be installed with privileges or run by a user who has privileges. These applications are usually system programs, such as disk defragmenters, or programs that try to avoid overhead by accessing the disk directly. These applications rely on specific knowledge of the file or directory structure on the disk which has changed with introduction of the ODS-5 structure. Recommendations: Applications should use documented interfaces and structures whenever possible. 4 Supporting_Long_File_Names If an application does not handle extended names successfully, examine the application for any the following: o Does the application access and interpret the contents of directory files directly? If so, the application may fail when it encounters a directory that contains extended file names. Recommendation: Modify the application to use the search functions provided with the RMS or QIO interface, or with LIBRTL routines such as LIB$FIND_FILE. o Does the application attempt to parse or assume knowledge of the syntax of a file specification? For example, the application might search for a bracket ([) to locate the beginning of a directory specification, or for a space character to mark the end of a file specification. Recommendation: The application should rely on RMS to determine whether a file specification is legal rather than pretesting the actual name. Use the NAM$L_NODE, NAM$L_DEV, NAM$L_DIR, NAM$L_TYPE, and NAM$L_VER fields of the NAM block or SYS$FILESCAN to retrieve this information. o Does the application depend on the NAM$V_DIR_LVLS bits in the NAM$L_FNB field to determine how many directory levels there are in the current file specification? Because there are only three bits in this field, it can only specify a maximum of eight levels. Applications seldom use these bits; they are mainly used by RMS when a NAM is specified as a related file specification. Recommendation: Starting with OpenVMS Version 7.2, there is a new larger field available in both the NAM and the NAML blocks, NAM$W_LONG_DIR_LEVELS. Use this field to locate the correct number of directory levels. o Does the application rely on the NAM$V_WILD_UFD and SFD1 - SFD7 bits to determine where there are wildcard directories? Because there are only eight of these bits they can only report wildcards in the first eight directory levels. Applications seldom use these bits; they are mainly used by RMS when a NAM is specified as a related file specification. Recommendation: Starting with OpenVMS Version 7.2, there is a new field available in both the NAM and NAML block, NAML$W_ FIRST_WILD_DIR. Use this field to locate the highest directory level where a wildcard is to be found. o Does the application use the QIO interface to the file system and specify or request a file name from QIO directly? The QIO interface requires that an application specify explicitly that it understands extended file names before it will accept or return the names. In addition, the file name format for extended file names is not identical between RMS and the QIO interface. Additionally, some file names may be specified in 2-byte Unicode (UCS-2) characters. Your application must be capable of dealing with 1 character that spans 2 bytes. Recommendations: Most applications that use the QIO interface also use RMS to parse file specifications and retrieve the file and directory ID for the file. They then use these ID values to access the file with the QIO interface. This method of access continues to work with extended names. DIGITAL recommends changing to this method to fix problem. You can also obtain the name that the QIO system uses from the NAML$L_FILESYS_NAME field of a NAML block, or use the new system service (SYS$CVT_FILENAME) to convert between the RMS and the QIO file name. In this case, you will also need to provide an expanded FIB block to the QIO service to specify that your application understands extended names, expand your buffers to the maximum size, and prepare to deal with 2-byte Unicode characters. 4 Upgrading_to_Full_Support Some OpenVMS applications, such as system or disk management utilities, may require full support for Extended File Specifications. Typically these are utilities that must be able to view and manipulate all file specifications without DID or FID abbreviation. To upgrade an application so that it fully supports all the features of Extended File Specifications, do the following: 1. Convert all uses of the RMS NAM block to the new NAML block. 2. Expand the input and output file name buffers used by RMS. To do this, use the NAML long_expanded and long_resultant buffer pointers (NAML$L_LONG_EXPAND and NAML$L_LONG_RESULT) rather than the short buffer pointers (NAML$L_ESA and NAML$L_ RSA), and increase the buffer sizes from NAM$C_MAXRSS to NAML$C_MAXRSS. 3. If long file names (greater than 255 bytes) are specified in the FAB file name buffer field (FAB$L_FNA), use the NAML long_ filename buffer field (NAML$L_LONG_FILENAME) instead. If long file names are specified in the default FAB name buffer field (FAB$L_DNA), use the default NAML name buffer field (NAML$L_ LONG_DEFNAME) instead. 4. If you use the LIB$FIND_FILE, LIB$RENAME or LIB$DELETE routines, set LIB$M_FIL_LONG_NAMES in the flags argument (flags is a new argument to the LIB$DELETE routine). Note that you can use the NAML block in place of the NAM block to pass information to LIB$FILE_SCAN without additional changes. 5. If you use the LIB$FID_TO_NAME routine, the descriptor for the returned file specification may need to be changed to take advantage of the increased maximum allowed of 4095 (NAML$C_MAXRSS) bytes. 6. If you use the FDL$CREATE, FDL$GENERATE, FDL$PARSE, or FDL$RELEASE routine, you must set FDL$M_LONG_NAMES in the flags argument. 7. Examine the source code for any additional assumptions made internally that a file specification is no longer than 255 8-bit bytes.