[Info-vax] Logical names, was: Re: Command Procedure Pipe output to a variable

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 10/10/2021 10:57 AM, Dave Froble wrote:
> On 10/10/2021 10:13 AM, Dave Froble wrote:
>> On 10/10/2021 9:20 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> But I still consider it to be nice if there
>>> were a comment directly associated with the
>>> logical.

>> Yes, it would.  Something like HELP, where it could be optional to
>> provide some description.  Either when defining the logical, or 
>> afterward.

> Ok, forget that idea.
> 
> I'd never make the effort to provide the description.  Even if I 
> remembered why I set a logical, that would not help anyone else. 
> Regardless, I'd forget why I set it.  Resistance is futile ...

$ define foobar something /comment="bla bla bla"

would of course be optional and many may forget it.

But maybe the default should not be "" but:
    f$getjpi(0, "username") + " " + f$env("procedure")

:-)

> This could be satisfied by an RMS ISAM file, and a program that allowed 
> partial, full, or null key lookup.  I could implement this in maybe 10 
> minutes, in Basic.  But then someone would want a drop-down selection 
> format, and VMS doesn't have much in the way of a GUI.

Storing a catalog of logical name to comment records is not difficult.

But having it as a qualifier to DEFINE and in output from SHOW LOGICAL
is more convenient than a database.

Arne