VAX/VMS: Writing Real Programs in DCL (Digital Press Vax Users Series)

Takes up where the VAX/VMS documentation leaves off.


Find out how to use the Digital Command Language (DCL) to write programs - through the logical, hands-on method presented in this book. DCL is the standard command language for VMS - and is a well-structured, general-purpose programming tool when used to best advantage. Assuming a background knowledge of VMS, the book begins by describing the common features of DCL, then presents it as a programming language, including: * How to use DCL to write large applications * What the pitfalls of the language are, and how to avoid them * How to rapidly develop DCL procedures and modify them as requirements change * How to use paradigms to build more sophisticated programs.

Read the full review for this book.

Writing Real Programs in DCL, Second Edition is a revised edition of VAX/VMS: Writing Real Programs in DCL, written by Paul Anagnostopoulos in 1989. The book is intended for OpenVMS users already familiar with the operating system who wish to learn the DCL (short for "Digital Command Language") well enough to write scripts, ranging from basic file system commands up to and including scripts intended to be executed under VMS as part of CGI.

DCL is the interactive command interpreter that users encounter on a VMS system, and can also execute scripts. DCL's position in the architecture of VMS is equivalent to that of the Bourne shell in the UNIX system.

Classic computer books written in classic style to high standards about classic procedural languages look and feel similar; that is, they look dignified. This is a dignified book, a revision of a classic that stood almost a decade and has had time to mature in the keg.

Writing Real Programs in DCL takes you in an orderly progression from the elements of DCL to sophisticated scripting for CGI. The style is well-balanced between the needs of the average user and the needs of the programming sophisticate. The presentation is lucid, knowledgeable, and accurate. The transitions between each unit of knowledge are logical and the domain of discourse is well-defined. There is a steady induction of general VMS knowledge into the discussion. The overall range of problems which might reasonably be solved using DCL is explored thoroughly and in case detail. --Jack Woehr, Dr. Dobb's Journal -- Dr. Dobb's Journal