[Info-vax] Removing the leading $ from commands in a new DCL language

[seasoned_geek]

On Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 1:04:07 PM UTC-5, Simon Clubley wrote:

> I think in any new DCL replacement language, the leading dollar on
> every command line should not be required in command procedures.
> 
> Comments ?
> 


DCL should neither be changed nor replaced. This whole move to eliminate "bounding characters" has went too far afield and now has tossed the baby out with the bath water. I understand where it started. During the early days of BASIC and BASIC/PLUS people got intestinal discomfort over every line needing a line number. At first it wasn't much of an issue because the interpreter generally couldn't handle a program which used all 32767 line numbers.

Some time during PLUS or PLUS II we got the & character to allow wrapping to a new line. This lead to a lot of code looking something like this (please forgive syntax errors, I don't have my hobby license and I haven't done BASIC in years):

300 FOR X = 0 TO 1000 STEP 5          &
        LET Y = Y + 1 IF X MOD 2 EQ 0 &
                                      &
        ...                           &

350 NEXT X
355 PRINT Y

At any rate, some of the places I worked actually had a standard of placing the & in column 72 (there was some specific reason they chose 72, perhaps because it matched the old COBOL card reader input stuff, I just don't remember). One thing was certain though. In an 80 column continuous form print out you could easily see the line breaks.

The BASIC compiler/standard then changed and the & became "optional." Many shops had heated debates about not using it. When you still did most of your editing on paper it was a formatting tool.

The bounding character elimination weanies persisted and got BASIC changed so it didn't require line numbers, thus forcing many old timers to yield the high ground on the &. Once editors were able to right and left scroll a bit better than EDT the younger crowd demanded 132 column greenbar printers, quit using line numbers, and stopped using &.  (Okay they still had to use line numbers for GOTO targets, at least until GOTO label syntax got added.)

Now that they have un-BASICed BASIC and foisted ugly CamelCaseCode on the world with that God foresaken PASCAL, they appear to be trying to ruin the one pure tool which still exists in OpenVMS.


If you or anyone else wants a different script language, port REXX or use one of those massive security holes known as Linux shells like BASH.

Leave DCL to be DCL.