Downloading and Installing Accelr8 Open DCL Lite

The following are some suggestions before performing the actual installation.  #1 is a preview of the license.  #2 should be considered a must if you appreciate the community of fellow programmers / operators that are making OpenVMS to PC transitions.  #3 briefly discusses your choice for an installation directory.

1. Decide if you are willing to abide by the license. The gist of the Open DCL Lite license is:

   • Open DCL Lite is licensed to you. It is not given to you.
   • You "may not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise tamper with" the Software.
   • "The Software is copyrighted to Accelr8 Technology Corporation. The software name is a trademark of Accelr8."  Since Transoft bought Accelr8 in 2004, this likely means the software became copyrighted by Transoft and the software name was then a trademark of Transoft.  And since Transoft has now been acquired by Advanced, this likely means further that Advanced is now the copyright owner.  I am not a lawyer, so I don't really know if that is certain, but it would be wise to assume that is true.
   • The software is provided "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
   • Absolutely no claim may be made for any damages arising from use of the software.
   • The software and its underlying technology may not be downloaded to or otherwise exported or re-exported into any country in which the U.S. has embargoed goods, to a national or resident of any country in which the U.S. has embargoed goods, or in any other situation prohibited by U.S. law or regulation.

   Read the complete license for full details. It's about 3-4 times as long as the above list.

2. Accept the fact that there are errors in Open DCL Lite and that you should not contact Transoft or Advanced about any of the errors or any configuration problems, since Transoft (aka Advanced) does/did not make Open DCL Lite available any more [see this paragraph about a 2012-01-09 e-mail from a Transoft salesman].

   It is/was Transoft's perogative to no longer make Open DCL Lite available. I don't think Accelr8 or Transoft ever provided support for it. Let's honor their desire and not waste their sales staff time. That way Transoft will be less inclined to demand that the Open DCL Lite downloads be removed from the Wayback Machine, and us OpenVMS DCL aficionados will be more likely to keep this free DCL variant remaining available at the Wayback Machine.

   If you're going to contact Transoft (aka Advanced), it should be for their full, commercial OpenVMS Migration services.  And that's probably big bucks!

   For more details on the history and present state of this "now apparently retired" Open DCL Lite product, see this note on Open DCL and Open DCL Lite.

3. Decide if you want to install in the default installation directory of "C:\accelr8\dcll" vs. some other directory.

   For example, you might consider using the MS-DOS 8.3 directory format and install into the "Program Files" directory tree as C:\Progra~1\accelr8\dcll.

   Or you might try installing into the "Program Files" directory tree straightforwardly as "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll", where the double quotes don't seem to be needed in the "Choose Directory" dialog box.

   Or you might want to install to a portable disk or another partition -- let's call it P: -- using the same "Program Files" or "Progra~1" format, eg, "P:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll" or P:\Progra~1\accelr8\dcll.

   Keep in mind that in the examples throughout this web site I'll probably always assume the installation directory is either "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll" (or "P:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll"), since that is what I've usually used. But I've had successful installations with both the default installation directory and with all the other installation directories I've listed.

To install Open DCL Lite v2.21 for x86 NT (sometimes called DCL Lite for Windows):

1. Locate the dcllite_setup.exe setup executable that was downloaded previously (in item 1 of the "Downloading Accelr8 Open DCL Lite" section).

2. Run dcllite_setup.exe from Windows Explorer or from a CMD Prompt / MS-DOS Prompt window.

3. When the "InstallShield Self-extracting EXE" dialog box appears, click Yes to continue.

4. After (1 minute later) the Open DCL Lite Setup program opens up in a full screen displaying its "Welcome" dialog box and you're satisfied that not too many Windows programs are running, then click Next to continue the setup.

5. Review the Open DCL Lite License Agreement, then click Yes if you accept all the terms of the license agreement.

6. Specify your installation directory, either the default of C:\accelr8\dcll or some other. See some suggested variations in step 3 of the previous Pre-installation Suggestions section. In the examples below, keep in mind that I'll assume the installation directory is "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll", since that is what I've usually used. Depending on which installation directory you specify, this may involve several dialog boxes.

7. Accept the default Program Folder of "Accelr8" by clicking Next.

8. On the "Start Copying Files" dialog box, click Next.

9. Bring the grey "Setup Complete" dialog window into focus, then click in its "Yes, I want to view the README file" box (since we're going to clarify some items in the Readme.txt file), then click Finish.

10. Note that the Readme.txt file is an old one -- for v1.91 -- but it nevertheless has a useful, though very brief introduction in its "Using Open DCL Lite" section.

    I'd suggest first reading the entire Readme.txt, then leaving that Readme.txt window open and positioned at the "Using Open DCL Lite" section.

11. On WinXP, run Open DCL Lite via:

    • the Start menu (eg, Start / All Programs / Accelr8 / Open DCL Lite), or
    • the "Open DCL Lite" icon in the "Accelr8" window that opened after you clicked Finish -- the window that says "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Accelr8" in its Address bar.

    On WinME, run Open DCL Lite via:

    • the Start menu (eg, Start / Programs / Accelr8 / Open DCL Lite), or
    • the "Open DCL Lite" icon in the "C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\Accelr8" window that opened after you clicked Finish.

12. This should have run a console window which looks very similar to a CMD Prompt window on WinXP (or a MS-DOS Prompt window on WinME). The console window's title is "Open DCL Lite" on WinXP, but "dcll" on WinME. Its contents are:

 
Open DCL Lite version 2.21 (2001-088)
Copyright (C) Accelr8 Technology Corporation 1991-2001. All rights reserved.
 
A8$ 

13. Now go back to the Readme.txt window and we'll go down through the Readme giving a bit of clarification.

    1. Note that if you type the command dcll at the A8$ prompt (followed, of course, by <Enter>), then DCL Lite will run again "on top of" itself. If you then issue a logout command (or just lo), it will return to the original DCL Lite session. If you issue another lo command, it will exit the original session and the console window will disappear. But the reason this dcll command really works now is because you are (most probably) sitting in the installation directory where the dcll.exe resides. Type sho def and see if this is true.

       Note that later on in Configuring Accelr8 Open DCL Lite, we'll do some setup so dcll can be typed at a DCL Lite prompt, a CMD or MS-DOS prompt, and even a PC-DCL prompt (if you also have Valentin's PC-DCL installed). That way the dcll command will work no matter what your current directory is. But that's for a later time. Let's get on with this initial evaluation.

    2. If you type help at the A8$ prompt, then you'll see some help which is similar to the OpenVMS style HELP.  I'll pretty much leave you to explore the HELP menu, but first I'd like to point out a few things:

       • Type help accelr8.

         As mentioned elsewhere on this web site, please do not contact Accelr8, since they no longer own this product. Transoft -- and/or Advanced, its successor -- is now the owner of Open DCL Lite, but they no longer make Open DCL Lite available, so obviously they don't want to be answering any questions about it.  LIkewise, please do not contact either Transoft or Advanced about Open DCL Lite.

         However, if you need to move applications and users from OpenVMS to either Unix or Windows platforms, Transoft or Advanced **can** provide the tools and the expertise to get you there.  **If** that's your need and you're willing to pay for it, then contact Transoft / Advanced for their full-featured OpenVMS Migration services.

       • Type help instructions and absorb it.

       • Type help help and explore it a bit.

       • Type help limitations and expecially note the Logical Names and Programs limitations.

       • Type help set cli and help show cli to see some DCL Lite specific facilities which you have control over.

       • Type help shell to see how to pass a command to the operating system shell -- usually WinXP's CMD Prompt shell or WinME's MS-DOS Prompt shell.

       • Type help lex to see what lexicals are available. Some of them -- like f$fuv and f$fvu -- are new to Open DCL Lite and were not in OpenVMS DCL. Some others behave differently from those on OpenVMS DCL.

       • If you haven't yet discovered my Pros and Cons of Accelr8 Open DCL Lite v2.21 page, you might want to begin checking that out as a shortcut mechanism for exploring intricacies of Open DCL Lite.

    3. In the 3rd paragraph of Readme.txt's "Using Open DCL Lite" section, the files SYLOGIN.COM and LOGIN.COM are discussed, along with the HOME environment variable.

       In addition to what that paragraph says, also note that:

       • Open DCL Lite will define the SYS$ACCELR8 and SYS$HELP job logicals to be equivalent to the installation directory.

       • The system-wide SYLOGIN.COM should reside in SYS$ACCELR8:.

       • If the HOME environment variable is defined for you, then it will be used to define the SYS$LOGIN job logical, but if the HOME environment variable is not defined, then the SYS$LOGIN job logical will be the same as SYS$ACCELR8.

       • The user LOGIN.COM should reside in SYS$LOGIN:.

       If the HOME environment variable is not defined for you and you're on a WinXP system, then typing sho log or show log * should display something like the following:

       A8$ sho log

       (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE)

        

         "NL" = "NUL"

         "SYS$COMMAND" = "TT"

         "SYS$ERROR" = "TT"

         "SYS$INPUT" = "TT"

         "SYS$OUTPUT" = "TT"

         "TT" = "[dev]tty."

        

       (LNM$JOB_01234)

        

         "SYS$ACCELR8" = "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll\"

         "SYS$HELP" = "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll\"

         "SYS$LOGIN" = "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll\"

         "SYS$SCRATCH" = "C:\DOCUME~1\USERNAME\LOCALS~1\Temp\"

        

       and if you're on a WinME system, the logicals probably look more like the following:

       A8$ sho log

       (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE)

        

         "NL" = "NUL"

         "SYS$COMMAND" = "TT"

         "SYS$ERROR" = "TT"

         "SYS$INPUT" = "TT"

         "SYS$OUTPUT" = "TT"

        

       (LNM$JOB_-05678)

        

         "SYS$ACCELR8" = "C:\PROGRAM FILES\ACCELR8\DCLL\"

         "SYS$HELP" = "C:\PROGRAM FILES\ACCELR8\DCLL\"

         "SYS$LOGIN" = "C:\PROGRAM FILES\ACCELR8\DCLL\"

         "SYS$SCRATCH" = "C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\"

        

       But if the HOME environment variable is already defined, then DCL Lite will define the SYS$LOGIN job logical to equal the value of the HOME environment variable. Using the example in Readme.txt, if the HOME environment variable had been set to "c:\users\me", then the SYS$LOGIN job logical would have appeared in the above lists (both WinXP and WinME) as the following:

         "SYS$LOGIN" = "c:\users\me\"

       Later on -- in Configuring Accelr8 Open DCL Lite -- we'll go into detail about ways to setup a HOME environment variable and we'll suggest some very flexible SYLOGIN.COM and LOGIN.COM procedures. But for the time being, we can get along without configuring those.

    4. The 4th paragraph of the Readme.txt's "Using Open DCL Lite" section is a bit confusing because its written assuming a Linux/Unix type shell.  I've rewritten it here to use appropriate WinXP/WinME examples...

       With the default settings, the Open DCL Lite product assumes that any command not recognized as being a DCL command is in fact a native command.  So, typing "assoc", "fc", or "xcopy" will work at the A8$ prompt. The same applies for any executable which is in the path specified by the PATH environment variable. For example, if thisapp.exe resided in a directory in PATH, then typing "thisapp" would also work at the A8$ prompt. As another very useful example, if you had the UnxUtils residing in a directory in PATH, then typing "gawk", "grep", "gsar", "gzip", "head", "ls", "sed", "sleep", "tail", "tar", "touch", and many of the other UnxUtils utilities would also work at the A8$ prompt.

       If you wish to invoke a native command which conflicts with the name of a DCL Lite command, then simply add the command "shell " at the beginning of the line. For example, suppose that you want to use the Windows CMD "dir /x" command instead of the DCL Lite "dir" command. You would use a command like this:

       A8$ shell dir /x

    5. For our final Readme.txt item, read those last 2 paragraphs in Readme.txt -- the ones that mention DCL Lite can be run to execute a single command using the "-c" switch similar to the following example:

       A8$ dcll -c "SHOW USERS"

       and DCL Lite can be run to execute a single command procedure similar to the following example:

       A8$ dcll myprocedure.com

       or, if you're like me and prefer to use .dcl as your DCL Lite command file extension, then:

       A8$ dcll myprocedure2.dcl

       Those two extra ways to run Open DCL Lite are quite useful when extending Windows CMD (or MS-DOS) shells to use DCL Lite facilities or when extending PC-DCL to use DCL Lite facilities.

14. The final installation item involves checking that the right files were installed.

    The following DCL Lite "dir" command and its output documents the files which are installed by Open DCL Lite v2.21 into its installation directory:

    A8$ dir/siz/dat sys$accelr8:

     

    Directory C:[Program Files.accelr8.dcll]

     

    DeIsL1.isu 5 13-DEC-2020 12:47:51

    License.txt 9 4-JUN-1999 12:49:22

    Readme.txt 9 3-JUN-1999 12:05:32

    _DEISREG.ISR 1 13-DEC-2020 12:47:25

    _ISREG32.DLL 92 31-JUL-1998 15:00:28

    a8gid.txt 1 24-AUG-1999 11:39:24

    a8uid.txt 1 19-AUG-1999 12:55:24

    dcll.exe 608 29-MAR-2001 12:45:24

    dlagree. 1 12-AUG-1999 15:14:42

    facil.dat 4 29-MAR-2001 11:21:34

    litehelp.hlb 223 1-JUN-1999 16:17:12

    messages.dat 243 29-MAR-2001 11:21:36

     

    Total of 12 files, 1197 blocks.

    A8$

    and the following WinXP "dir" command and its output also documents the files which are installed by Open DCL Lite v2.21 into its installation directory:

    A8$ set def sys$accelr8:

    A8$ sho def

    c:[PROGRA~1.accelr8.dcll]

    A8$ shell dir /4 /on

    Volume in drive C is YOURWINXP

    Volume Serial Number is 1234-ABCD

    Directory of C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll

    2020-12-13 12:47 <DIR> .

    2020-12-13 12:47 <DIR> ..

    2020-12-13 12:47 147 _DEISREG.ISR

    1998-07-31 15:00 47,104 _ISREG32.DLL

    1999-08-24 11:39 218 a8gid.txt

    1999-08-19 12:55 242 a8uid.txt

    2001-03-29 12:45 311,296 dcll.exe

    2020-12-13 12:47 2,240 DeIsL1.isu

    1999-08-12 15:14 335 dlagree

    2001-03-29 11:21 1,710 facil.dat

    1999-06-04 12:49 4,602 License.txt

    1999-06-01 16:17 113,692 litehelp.hlb

    2001-03-29 11:21 124,390 messages.dat

    1999-06-03 12:05 4,280 Readme.txt

    12 File(s) 610,256 bytes

    2 Dir(s) 1,000,000,000 bytes free

    A8$

The first step in configuring Open DCL Lite is to get a highly usable console window.

For some pretty console window pictures and/or other alternative directions, I'll refer you to a couple of other sites:

• TechRepublic's "The command prompt configuration guide"

• MS WinXP Pro Product Documentation's "To configure the command prompt"

Here I'll just explain things textually and you can follow along on your machine using actual console windows or you can follow along using one of the two CMD Prompt sites just mentioned.

The Open DCL Lite console window on WinXP initially looks very much like the standard CMD Prompt window on WinXP, except that:

• its title is different: Open DCL Lite,
• right-click / Properties / Layout / Windows Size / Height says 25 (vs. 24 for Command Prompt).

There's a few more to-be-expected differences seen when:

• right-clicking the Open DCL Lite shortcut in the Start menu -- ie, Start / All Programs / Accelr8 / Open DCL Lite -- and selecting Properties,

• right-clicking the CMD Prompt shortcut in the Start menu -- ie, Start / All Programs / Accessories / Command Prompt -- and selecting Properties,

• comparing the differences on the 7 tabs of their respective Properties windows
  [only the Open DCL Lite differences are shown below]:

  • On General tab:
  • Title: Open DCL Lite
  • Description: dcll
  • Location: "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Accelr8"
  • On Shortcut tab:
  • Target: "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll\dcll.exe"
  • Start in: C:\PROGRA~1\accelr8\dcll
  • Comment: (empty)
  • On Compatibility tab, the options can be set for Open DCL Lite, whereas they can't be set for the WinXP CMD Prompt window.

• then exiting the two Properties windows.

When I configure highly usable Open DCL Lite console windows, I do *not* modify the "as distributed" Open DCL Lite shortcut in the Start menu -- ie, the one that we just examined. That way I can always go back to seeing how Open DCL Lite runs in its "as distributed" configuration. I then create 3 new DCL_Lite shortcuts:

• one destined for the Desktop,
• one destined for the Quick Launch toolbar, and
• one destined for the top of the classic Start menu (so it also appears at the top of the default Start menu's All Programs list when All Programs is clicked or hovered over).  [This latter one could alternatively be placed in the Pinned area of the default Start menu if you don't have too many pinned items -- like I do!.]

In the remainder of this section, we'll simplify things and explain how to prepare an Open DCL Lite shortcut on a WinXP Desktop. I'll leave it to you to extrapolate and create the other two shortcuts mentioned above (if desired).  [And, for the time being, I'll assume you can adapt the following WinXP-specific instructions for use with Win7/8.1/10/11/etc.]

Now, here's how to create a personalized Open DCL Lite shortcut:

1. Close all existing windows.

2. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accelr8, right-click Open DCL Lite, click Copy.

3. Press Esc (twice) until the Startup menus disappear.

4. Right-click in an open space in the Desktop where you want your (personal) Open DCL Lite shortcut to reside.

5. Click Paste Shortcut.

   Voila!  Your personal Open DCL Lite shortcut has been born!

6. Double-click the new Open DCL Lite shortcut to verify a new Open DCL Lite window appears.

7. Right-click the new Open DCL Lite shortcut on the desktop, click Properties, click General tab, verify Location has been personalized similar to:

   C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Desktop

8. Click in the General tab's first editable box, ie, the text box to the right of the tab's biggest shortcut.

9. Change that editable text from Open DCL Lite to:

   DCL_Lite

10. Click Shortcut tab, then change the "Start in" field from C:\PROGRA~1\accelr8\dcll  to:

    "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME"

    which is same as what appeared in the General tab's Location field, except "\Desktop" has been removed, and the entire "Start in" field is now surrounded by double quotes.

11. Change the Shortcut tab's Comment field from being empty to:

    Run Accelr8 Open DCL Lite v2.21.

12. Click OK.

13. Note that the desktop shortcut is now named DCL_Lite.

14. Double-click the new DCL Lite shortcut to verify a new window appears (titled DCL_Lite).

Your Open DCL Lite shortcut has been personalized to use your login directory, have a shorter name (that doesn't include blanks), and document exactly which version of Open DCL Lite that the shortcut runs.

Its now recommended to always run Open DCL Lite from this new DCL_Lite desktop shortcut (instead of using the Start / All Programs / Accelr8 / "Open DCL Lite" shortcut).

Now, let's further personalize the new Open DCL Lite shortcut so it runs a highly usable Open DCL Lite console window which:

• allows easy, intuitive Cut and Paste operations,
• uses Lucida Console fonts [recommended, though optional],
• has a very large scrollable region, and
• is much wider than the standard 80 columns.

The idea is for the Open DCL Lite window to occupy most of your display to enable maximum efficiency at programming and sys admin.

15. Right-click in the "DCL_Lite" (or "Open DCL Lite") title bar, then select Properties.

16. On the Options tab, click "QuickEdit Mode".

17. On the Fonts tab, I'd suggest selecting:

• Font "Raster Fonts" and Size "8 x 12", if general font visability is your prime concern,
• Font "Lucida Console" and Size "12", if longer display lines is desired -- about 20% longer than "Raster Fonts" -- or if you want to see readable characters for the extended ASCII character set ISO 8859-1 (also called ISO Latin1).

18. On the Layout tab:

• Change Screen Buffer Size / Height from 300 to a large value like 9950, so you'll have a huge scroll buffer.

• Change Window Size / Height from 25 to a value which will use up most of the vertical space on the display. I'd first try somewhere in the 56 to 60 range, then go up or down from there so that the window nearly completely fills the page vertically from top of screen to top of Taskbar. This is a user choice which depends on your display size, display resolution, font and size selected on the Fonts tab, etc. Just experiment with this while looking at the Window Preview pane.

• (Optionally) Change Window Position by unclicking "Let system position window" and selecting the Left and Top values.

  I like to fix my standard Open DCL Lite windows (which run from the Desktop shortcut or the QuickLaunch tray) near the left-hand side of the display and my WinXP CMD windows and PC-DCL windows on the right-hand side of the display, so I unclick "Let system position window" and set Left to 35 and Top to 12.  However, for other Open DCL Lite windows (eg, those run by the shortcut pinned in the Start menu), I leave "Let system position window" checked.

  For first time users of Open DCL Lite, I recommend leaving "Let system position window" checked.

19. On the Colors tab, its probably best to *not* modify the color variables for the time being until you evaluate SYSTOOLS:CMDCOLOR.DCL below, and also check out how the colors were fixed in some windows when implementing the mutual extensibility of Open DCL Lite and PC-DCL [link not yet operational].

20. Click OK, click "Modify shortcut that started this window", then click OK.

The Open DCL Lite desktop shortcut (labeled DCL_Lite) should now be ready for some heavy duty work.

The Screen Buffer Size / Width and Windows Size / Width can be dynamically edited to a larger width via the "DCL_Lite" Properties (or "Open DCL Lite" Properties) dialog box after running DCL Lite, and right-clicking its title bar.

But a simpler mechanism to dynamically alter those two values simultaneously -- eg, to 160 -- is the following DCL Lite command:

For example, double-click the DCL_Lite desktop shortcut, then type the following to see present terminal and console widths:

Then type the following to set the console width to 160 (and simultaneously clear the console screen), set the terminal width to 160, and verify the console width then terminal width.

It might be useful to add those last 4 lines to a new script called width.dcl (and change each copy of 160 to whatever's best for you).

If you want to permanently change the Screen Buffer Size / Width and Windows Size / Width, then access the DCL_Lite Properties dialog box Format tab, edit both values to the desired width, then perform the previous section's step 20.

The HOME environment variable is used by Open DCL Lite to define the SYS$LOGIN job logical during the following startup sequence:

• When beginning a standard session, Open DCL Lite defines the SYS$ACCELR8 job logical to be the directory in which the Open DCL Lite executable (dcll.exe) resides. It then attempts to run the SYS$ACCELR8:SYLOGIN.COM site-specific login script, similar to how SYLOGIN.COM is run on a OpenVMS system.

• Then the SYS$LOGIN job logical is defined using the HOME environment variable, if HOME is defined. But if the HOME environment variable is not defined, then the SYS$LOGIN job logical is defined to be the same as SYS$ACCELR8.

• Finally, regardless how the SYS$LOGIN job logical was defined, Open DCL Lite attempts to run the user-specific SYS$LOGIN:LOGIN.COM login script, if it exists.

For an initial evaluation of Open DCL Lite, you probably don't need to define the HOME environment variable. However, if you plan on continuing to use Open DCL Lite long term, then it is highly advisable to define the HOME environment variable. One reason being that your LOGIN.COM is then separated from some other user's LOGIN.COM (assuming that the two of you have different HOME directories).

Here's some ideas for naming a HOME directory...

• One obvious idea for a HOME directory is to just use the user login directory on WinXP, ie, %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% if it is specified in a WinXP CMD shell .BAT or .CMD file, or 'homedrive''homepath' if it is specified in DCL Lite.  Usually, this is the same as "C:\Document and Settings\USERNAME", where USERNAME is the user's WinXP login name and is automatically defined by WinXP as an environment variable. One disadvantage of this approach is the use of blanks in the "Document and Settings" directory.

• If you liked that idea, then you would probably want to fine tune it to use a subdirectory -- say \a8dcl -- to isolate the DCL Lite scripts which you'll develop from other things that might crowd that high level WinXP login directory for USERNAME. And you might want to place it even under the "Application Data" directory or somewhere under "Local Settings". One example might be: "C:\Document and Settings\USERNAME\a8dcl". This again has the sometimes inconvenience of having a space in the directory specification.

• But the idea that I like better for a HOME directory is to use a directory on a portable disk or another partition -- call it P: or p: -- using the same name for a directory as the USERNAME environment variable (or possibly including the USERNAME directory as a subdirectory under a parent \user directory), including the \a8dcl subdirectory underneath the USERNAME directory, and avoiding all use of spaces in the directory specification. For example, in this scheme HOME would be defined as P:\USERNAME\a8dcl (and, if necessary,
  P:\user\USERNAME\a8dcl), where USERNAME is your WinXP login id.

• A further refinement of that idea, when there are already lots of sister subdirectories feeding from \USERNAME is to utilize another level -- let's call it "comp" for computers. Now the examples look like: P:\USERNAME\comp\a8dcl and P:\user\USERNAME\comp\a8dcl.

These last two ideas are significant because any scripts which I make available may occasionally depend on the fact that the directory spec does not include spaces, and they'll almost always be one of the latter two examples, most probably the single user example.

For temporary definitions of HOME, you can do the following (keeping in mind that USERNAME is your WinXP login username):

• Open up a window via Start / All Programs / Accessories / Command Prompt.

• Type a WinXP CMD shell SET command to see the existing environment variables:

  C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME>set

• Set the HOME environment variable with a command similar to the following:

  C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME>set HOME=P:\USERNAME\comp\a8dcl

  followed by a SET HOME command to see how it was set:

  C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME>set HOME

  HOME=P:\USERNAME\comp\a8dcl

  HOMEDRIVE=C:

  HOMEPATH=\Documents and Settings\USERNAME

  C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME>

For long-term definitions of HOME environment variable, follow this sequence (keeping in mind that USERNAME should be replaced by your WinXP login username):

• Open Control Panel by Start / Control Panel, or My Computer / Control Panel, or by typing the <WinLogo-R> keyboard combination, then typing control and pressing <Enter>.

• Click Advanced / Environment Variables.

• In the top section titled "User variables for USERNAME", use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to verify that HOME is not defined. Do the same in the bottom section titled "System variables".

• In the top section titled "User variables for USERNAME", click New.

• In the "Variable name" field, type HOME in uppercase.

• In the "Variable value" field, type whatever you chose as your HOME environment variable in the previous discussion, or something like our example:

  P:\USERNAME\comp\a8dcl

• Click OK.

• Verify that it appears in the Variable list under "User variables for USERNAME".

• Click OK.

• Close all your windows, then logout from Windows USERNAME account.

• Login again to your USERNAME account.

Now, the HOME environment variable should be permanently set for you, and you shouldn't have to set it up again, unless you want to go back into Control Panel / Advanced / Environment Variables and Edit the value.

It would be a good idea now to do both the following:

• Open up a new "Command Prompt" window and type SET to verify that HOME is now defined.

• Open up a "Open DCL Lite" window via the DCL_Lite (or "Open DCL Lite") shortcut that we created in a previous section: Configure the Open DCL Lite Console Window.

  Now that the HOME environment variable is defined, typing "sho log" or "show log *" on a WinXP system immediately after starting the session should display something like the following:

   

  Open DCL Lite version 2.21 (2001-088)

  Copyright (C) Accelr8 Technology Corporation 1991-2001. All rights reserved.

   

  A8$ sho log

  (LNM$PROCESS_TABLE)

   

    "NL" = "NUL"

    "SYS$COMMAND" = "TT"

    "SYS$ERROR" = "TT"

    "SYS$INPUT" = "TT"

    "SYS$OUTPUT" = "TT"

    "TT" = "[dev]tty."

   

  (LNM$JOB_01234)

   

    "SYS$ACCELR8" = "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll\"

    "SYS$HELP" = "C:\Program Files\accelr8\dcll\"

    "SYS$LOGIN" = "P:\USERNAME\comp\a8dcl"

    "SYS$SCRATCH" = "C:\DOCUME~1\USERNAME\LOCALS~1\Temp\"

   

The MYPORTDRIVE environment variable is used by parts of the jonesrh DCL Lite script ecosystem to maximize flexibility of: a) using DCL Lite with CMD Prompt (and MS-DOS Prompt), and b) using DCL Lite with PC-DCL.  This includes:

• running a new DCLL window (from DCL Lite or PC-DCL or MS-DOS/CMD Prompt window);

• running a new PC-DCL window (from PC-DCL or DCL Lite or MS-DOS/CMD Prompt window);

• running a DCL Lite command or script from a MS-DOS/CMD Prompt window so that the DCL Lite output remains inside the MS-DOS/CMD Prompt window;

• running a PC-DCL command or script from a MS-DOS/CMD Prompt window such that the PC-DCL output goes into a brand new PC-DCL window (which will remain if a PC-DCL command was issued, but will disappear after script execution if a PC-DCL script was issued);

• generalizing UHELP.DCL when UHELPDSK logical is *not* defined, but MYPORTDRIVE environment variable *is* defined.

Follow the sequence below to define the MYPORTDRIVE environment variable:

• Open Control Panel.

• Click Advanced / Environment Variables.

• In the top section titled "User variables for USERNAME", use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to verify that MYPORTDRIVE is not defined. Do the same in the bottom section titled "System variables".

• In either the "User variables for USERNAME" or "System variables" section -- your choice -- click New.

• In the "Variable name" field, type MYPORTDRIVE in uppercase.

• In the "Variable value" field, type the appropriate upper case drive letter followed by a colon, eg, C:, D:, E:, P:, etc.  That should usually be the first 2 chars from the definition of the HOME environment variable.

• Click OK.

• Verify that it appears in the Variable list under "User variables for USERNAME" or "System variables".

• Click OK.

• Close all your windows, then logout from Windows USERNAME account.

• Login again to your USERNAME account.

The OS_NAME and OS_VERS environment variables are used by the jonesrh DCL Lite script ecosystem to easily differentiate which version of the Windows operating system is running.

The OS_NAME and OS_VERS environment variables are used only by the jonesrh DCL Lite script ecosystem, so if you're developing your own script ecosystem without benefit of the jonesrh ecosystem, then you probably will *not* have to define these environment variables.  In that case, you could just skip this section.

In the course of generalizing the jonesrh DCL Lite script ecosystem to work with Win7 and Win10, it became necessary to automatically determine which Windows version was running.  The simplest and quickest way to do that reliably was to require the user to define the OS_NAME and OS_VERS environment variables with the following values:

• For Win10:

  OS_NAME=Win10

  OS_VERS=10.0

• For Win7:

  OS_NAME=Win7

  OS_VERS=6.1

• For WinXP:

  OS_NAME=WinXP

  OS_VERS=5.1

See GET_OS_NAME.DCL and/or GET_OS_VERS.DCL for a more detailed list of the operating system names and versions (used by the jonesrh DCL Lite ecosystem scripts).

Follow the sequence below to define the OS_NAME and OS_VERS environment variables:

• Open Control Panel.

• Click Advanced / Environment Variables.

• In the top section titled "User variables for USERNAME", use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to verify that OS_NAME and OS_VERS are not defined. Do the same in the bottom section titled "System variables".

• In either the "User variables for USERNAME" or "System variables" section -- your choice -- click New.  [I'd suggest "System variables" if more than one user needs to run DCL Lite.]

• In the "Variable name" field, type OS_NAME in uppercase.

• In the "Variable value" field, type the appropriate value from the list above, eg, Win10, Win7, WinXP, etc.

• Click OK.

• Verify that it appears in the Variable list under "System variables" or "User variables for USERNAME".

• Click OK.

• Close all your windows, then logout from Windows USERNAME account.

• Login again to your USERNAME account.