[Info-vax] Looking into C-include files on VMS

[John Wallace]

On Nov 5, 5:36 pm, pe... at langstoeger.at (Peter 'EPLAN' LANGSTOeGER)
wrote:
> In article <7lgd8vF3e3ad... at mid.dfncis.de>, j... at cs.tu-berlin.de (Joerg Schilling) writes:
> >In article <4af3051... at news.langstoeger.at>,
> >Peter 'EPLAN' LANGSTOeGER <pe... at langstoeger.at> wrote:
> >>In article <7lg60tF3e2em... at mid.dfncis.de>, j... at cs.tu-berlin.de (Joerg Schilling) writes:
> >>>I don't know what has been tested in 1992. Today, it is impossible for VMS
> >>>to get UNIX branding as long as system() does not call a POSIX shell but
> >>>the VMS command line interpreter. open(2) may be another problem.
>
> >>Are you sure about that?
> >>Is system() always calling DCL or does it perhaps depend on the user's
> >>UAF setting (CLI: DCL) and so this road block would be non existing
> >>(if correctly configured - btw what would this be CLI: PSH or CLI: BASH)?
>
> >Sorry, but I don't understand your explanation. It did always call DCL.
> >How do you believe, I could change this?
>
> Look at this:
>
> $ aut s user
> Username: USER                             Owner:  Nonprivileged Test User
> Account:                                   UIC:    [375,375] ([USER])
> CLI:      DCL                              Tables: DCLTABLES
> ...
>
> There in the UAF is specified the default Command Line Interpreter for
> this particular account. So if you SPAWN a subprocess and do not specify
> explcitely a CLI via the /CLI qualifier then the CLI is selected implicitely
> (from the UAF I assume). A system() is AFAIK implemented like a SPAWN, so
> the CLI setting in the UAF is taken (as one probably can't select the CLI
> with the system() call).
>
> Do you assume, that the CLI is derived from the parent process?
> And it yes, did you really *change* the CLI for your tests (or did you
> simply run BASH from your process - with DCL CLI - and started a program
> which called then the system() service)?
>
> Note: I haven't done any tests with BASH or C or POSIX/GNV regarding this!
> So, I don't know how to *replace* the CLI in the UAF for a user.
> Obviously, there is no SYS$SYSTEM:PSH.EXE or SYS$SYSTEM:BASH.EXE or
> any other U**X shell for simply using it in UAF or SPAWN/CLI= command.
> I only know of a $GNU:[BIN]BASH.EXE which is usually started within DCL...
>
> And to top it, what to do with the "Tables: DCLTABLES" parameters
> (if you succeed replacing the CLI with a unixy one written for use in UAF)
>
> In other words, I don't know how to get a shell into UAF (as I so far
> never had any interest in), but currently I simply doubt that system()
> *always* call DCL (which is what you wrote). One may prove me wrong ;-)
> Maybe one experienced with UNIX shells on VMS could answer this...
>
> --
> Peter "EPLAN" LANGSTÖGER
> Network and OpenVMS system specialist
> E-mail  Pe... at LANGSTOeGER.at
> A-1030 VIENNA  AUSTRIA              I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist

I suspect (but cannot 100% confirm) that you are on the right track
here. Long before the days of VMS Posix, e.g. in the mid 1980s there
was VAX DEC/Shell (which I forgot to mention previously) as an
alternate CLI instead of DCL. Then there was VMS Posix, again with its
own CLI. Wollongong's Eunice had its own CLI but I can't remember
whether that used the UAF CLI entry or not (don't *want* to remember
Eunice).