[Info-vax] ODS-5 specifications, was: Re: Does OpenVMS Use Unicode?

[Simon Clubley]

On 2016-06-14, hb <end.of at inter.net> wrote:
> On 06/14/2016 09:05 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>
>> Talking about documentation, did the fine details of the ODS-5 on disk
>> changes ever make it into any public documentation other than that
>> available in header files present in a VMS distribution ?
>> 
>> For ODS-2 there's McCoy which is a public book you can freely obtain
>> but there's nothing similar for the ODS-5 updates which I've ever
>> been able to find.
>
> The only documentation I know of are the "header" files. For C: FI5DEF,
> FATDEF and DIRDEF in SYS$SHARE:SYS$LIB_C.TLB - but maybe I'm missing
> one. And if you look at them, there is no big difference to FI2DEF or to
> the previous versions of FATDEF and DIRDEF. With the header files and
> McCoy's book you should be able to follow the "on disk structures".
>

Thanks. I didn't know about any other documentation but it was always
possible that I missed it.

>> 
>> There are some things I disagree with you about and there are some
>> things I agree with you about. The above strongly falls into the
>> latter category; the ODS-5 escaping rules are way too complex.
>
> I agree - and the above example is more of a proof that it is too
> complex than a proof of a "nice" feature. You named it "ODS-5 escaping"
> but it's rather "DCL escaping" as ODS-5 does not see - and does not need
> - any of this escaping. Have a look at a DUMP/HEADER of one of the
> "escaped" filenames and you will see.
>

My mistake. Sorry. :-)

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
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