[Info-vax] DEC BASIC: How to read a sequential

[Neil Rieck]

On Apr 13, 8:41 am, StGallen <sengupta.su... at gmail.com> wrote:
> All,
> DEC Basic 1.3. VMS 7.3.2
>
> I need to open a sequential file with variable record length. How can
> I do this, especially since I cannot define the size of the STRINGS in
> the MAP file?
>
> Also if I open the file without a MAP file, how do I read the records
> from the file?
>
> Any help deeply appreciated.
>
> Many thanks!

A number of years ago (the  early 1980s) the corporate IT people at my
employers company mandated that all code not written by the white coat
boys would be done in BASIC (we were never told the reasons so
conspiracy theories were many). We were on PDP so were forced to use
BASIC2+. Since then I've personally lived through VAX-BASIC which was
later renamed  "DEC-BASIC for VAX" and "DEC-BASIC for Alpha". I've
also lived through various changes from VAX-BASIC to DEC-BASIC to
Compaq-BASIC to HP-BASIC. That said, this demo should work for you;

http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/demo_vms_html/bas_rms_sequential_demo.html

Neil Rieck
Kitchener / Waterloo / Cambridge,
Ontario, Canada.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/