Compaq Advanced Server for OpenVMS
Server Administrator's Guide


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4.4.1 Requirements and Restrictions

Observe the following requirements and restrictions regarding the use of extended character sets with the Advanced Server:

4.4.2 Configuring Extended Character Sets

By default, the language of the Advanced Server is "English (USA)", associated with character set ISO-8859-1. During the configuration procedure (PWRK$CONFIG.COM), you can specify any one of over 40 languages, each which maps to one of the nine supported ISO-8859 character sets. The Compaq Advanced Server for OpenVMS Server Installation and Configuration Guide explains how to configure the Advanced Server language. For an up-to-date list of languages that are officially supported by the Advanced Server, refer to the Software Product Description (SPD).

Although you can change the server's language at any time (after stopping the Advanced Server), Compaq recommends that once a choice is made, you do not alter that choice. Certain objects might exist whose names include characters that are not included in the new language that you select. After you select a new language, PWRK$CONFIG converts all text strings in the Security Account Manager (SAM), access control list (ACL), and share databases from the old character set (for the previous language) to the new set (for the new language). Note that for some languages, only the client code page value is changed.

If any of these databases contain text strings that cannot be converted (that is, object names that contain characters not included in the newly configured Advanced Server language character set), the PWRK$CONFIG procedure reverts to the set of databases that existed prior to conversion attempt. Error messages will indicate the names that could not be converted, and the language is reset to the original language. You must rename (or remove) the objects that cannot be converted, and rerun PWRK$CONFIG to change the language.

All Advanced Servers in the same cluster will automatically share the same language (they share the same registry database).

Each supported character set has an associated Locale file that defines the casing rules specific to the character set and is consistent with ODS-5. The Locale file for each character set is defined in the OpenVMS Registry as server parameter value ServerLocale, in the following key:


SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AdvancedServer\Parameters 

Note that server Locale files contain casing rules that match the Unicode rules used on OpenVMS ODS-5. The Locale files use the same character classifications as defined by UTF8-20, for all characters in the Advanced Server character set. (UTF8-20 defines an efficient method for encoding Unicode characters. It optimizes the encoding of ASCII characters, which appear in the majority of text-based communications.)

4.4.3 How the Advanced Server File Server Stores and Handles Character Data

All text data sent between the Advanced Server and a client is in one of two formats: Unicode (UCS-2) or a client code page (OEM code page). Usually, Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 clients use Unicode. Earlier clients such as MS-DOS and Windows for Workgroups communicate using a client code page.

When the file server receives data from a client, it converts the character data from its source format to the file server's character set. If any characters in the source data cannot be converted (because the characters do not exist in the file server's character set), the server returns an error (ERROR_NO_UNICODE_TRANSLATION) to the client and records an event log entry with event number 1113. (Note that these errors should not occur in processes involving the OpenVMS Registry and the Windows NT-compatible Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) supported by the Advanced Server, because these components fully support Unicode (UCS-2).)

Once the character data is converted, it remains in the converted format for its lifetime on the file server.

Character data in the various databases used by the Advanced Server, including the SAM, ACL, and share databases, is stored in the file server's character set.

File names are stored in one of two formats, depending on the storage file system: ODS-2 or ODS-5.

4.4.3.1 File Name Storage and Handling on ODS-2 Volumes

ODS-2 volumes do not support Unicode characters in file names. Therefore, the Advanced Server file server resorts to storing characters in an escape-encoded format by representing unsupported characters as a sequence of supported characters in the form _XX , where XX represents a pair of hexadecimal digits corresponding to the encoded character's code point in the file server's character set.

Before the file server sends a file name from the ODS-2 volume to another system, the file server converts the _XX escape sequence back to the file server's character set. If the code point in the file server's code set at code point XX is not defined, the escape sequence is not decoded. It is returned in the file name as is.

Note

If you plan to configure one of the alternative languages supported by the Advanced Server for OpenVMS (V7.3 and higher), and your ODS-2 disk device includes escape-encoded characters in file names, you must convert all the file names, as explained in Section 4.5.2.2, Converting File Names. Do this before configuring the new language.

4.4.3.2 File Name Storage and Handling on ODS-5 Volumes

On ODS-5 volumes, names are stored in either ISO-8859-1 or Unicode (UCS-2) format. In general, Unicode is used, but if a file name is composed entirely of ISO-8859-1 characters, the ISO-8859-1 format is used by the file system to save space in the directory file.

Before the file server sends a file name from the ODS-5 volume to another system, the file server converts the name from the ODS-5 format (ISO-8859-1, or UCS-2) into the server's character set, and then to either UCS-2 or the client code page for MS-DOS or Windows for Workgroups.

If a file on the ODS-5 volume has a file name containing characters that cannot be mapped to the Advanced Server character set (or to the client code page for MS-DOS or Windows for Workgroups), the file server ignores the file name and does not return it to the client system. For the client to access that file, the file name must first be changed appropriately from OpenVMS. If the file in question is contained in a directory that the client is attempting to delete, the client will not be able to delete the directory until that file is deleted from OpenVMS.

4.4.4 How to Change the Way ADMINISTER Commands Handle and Display Extended Character Set Characters

To change the way ADMINISTER commands handle Unicode or extended character set characters (code points) with values of hexadecimal 128 or higher, use the new ADMINISTER SET MODE command with the appropriate qualifiers. The SET MODE command also determines the OpenVMS parse style for ADMINISTER commands entered at the DCL prompt. The qualifiers can be the following:

4.4.4.1 How the Default Input and Output Modes Are Determined

Settings made with the SET MODE command are preserved until you log out from the system. These settings will determine the default modes that take effect each time you invoke the ADMINISTER command interface. If you have not yet used the SET MODE command to change input or output mode settings during your present system user login session, the defaults are determined by the current OpenVMS DCL parse style. If the parse style is TRADITIONAL (the OpenVMS default), ADMINISTER command input and output modes are RAW; if the parse style is EXTENDED, ADMINISTER input and output modes are VTF7.

You can set permanent defaults by inserting the appropriate SET MODE command in your login command file. For example, to set input and output modes to VTF7, with output unfiltered, enter the following command in your LOGIN.COM file. The server does not have to be running for this command to execute.


$ ADMINISTER SET MODE/VTF7/OUTPUT=NOFILTER 

To determine the current modes in effect for ADMINISTER commands, use the ADMINISTER SHOW MODE command, as described in Section 4.4.4.3, How to Display the Current Mode Settings.

4.4.4.2 Examples: How Each Mode Affects ADMINISTER Command Input and Output

When output is set to RAW mode on a server using the Spanish language, Spanish characters are displayed as shown in the following example (assuming the terminal supports the ISO-8859-1 character set, which is used when the Spanish language is configured). In this example, only the output is changed to RAW. The default input here is VTF7. Note how the Spanish characters are handled differently on input and output.


LAPLAYA\\VALENCIA> SET MODE/OUTPUT=RAW 
LAPLAYA\\VALENCIA> SHOW SHARE ^BFESPA^F1OL /FULL 
 
Shared resources on server "VALENCIA": 
 
Name          Type       Description 
------------  ---------  ------------------------------------------------------- 
¿ESPAÑOL      Directory 
    Path: USER1:[¿ESPAÑOL] 
    Connections:  Current: 0, Maximum: No limit 
    RMS file format: Stream 
    Directory Permissions: System: RWED, Owner: RWED, Group: RWED, World: RE 
    File Permissions: System: RWD, Owner: RWD, Group: RWD, World: R 
    Share Permissions: 
        Everyone                        Full Control 
 
  Total of 1 share 

Note that when the input mode is VTF7, the extended character set characters for Unicode hexadecimal values 0080 to 00FF (128 to 255 decimal) can be input in either of two different formats: ^xx and ^uxxxx. Unicode hexadecimal values above 00FF (255 decimal) must be entered in the ^uxxxx format.

The following example shows how certain code point values in the Spanish language's character set are displayed when the output is set to VTF7 mode.


LAPLAYA\\VALENCIA> SET MODE/OUTPUT=VTF7 
SHOW SHARE ^BFESPA^F1OL /FULL 
 
Shared resources on server "VALENCIA": 
 
Name          Type       Description 
------------  ---------  ------------------------------------------------------- 
^BFESPA^F1OL  Directory 
    Path: USER1:[^BFESPA^F1OL] 
    Connections:  Current: 0, Maximum: No limit 
    RMS file format: Stream 
    Directory Permissions: System: RWED, Owner: RWED, Group: RWED, World: RE 
    File Permissions: System: RWD, Owner: RWD, Group: RWD, World: R 
    Share Permissions: 
        Everyone                        Full Control 
 
  Total of 1 share 

4.4.4.3 How to Display the Current Mode Settings

To display the current input and output modes in effect, use the ADMINISTER SHOW MODE command. In the following example, the input and output modes are set to VTF7. Output is filtered.


LANDOFOZ\\TINMAN> SHOW MODE 
 
Current mode settings: 
 
Input:  VTF7 
Output: VTF7, FILTER 

4.4.5 Creating Print Shares with Unicode Extended Characters

OpenVMS queue names support any uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, the underscore (_), and dollar sign ($). When you create an Advanced Server print share, specifying Unicode characters other than these supported characters, the Advanced Server creates an OpenVMS queue using the standard ODS-2 format for these characters: __XX, where XX is the 8-bit code.

Because OpenVMS restricts the length of queue names to 31 characters, the length of Advanced Server print share names are restricted accordingly. For example, seven characters is the maximum length for a print share name consisting entirely of unsupported characters.

4.5 Using ODS-5 Disk Volumes in the Advanced Server Environment

With OpenVMS Version 7.2-1 and higher, you can use the Extended File Specifications feature to offer file system services that are compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT file systems. To take advantage of the capabilities of Extended File Specifications, be sure to complete the following steps:

  1. Convert disk volumes that are used for storing shared directories and files from the ODS-2 to ODS-5 file system. For instructions, refer to the OpenVMS Guide to Extended File Specifications.
  2. Convert existing shared files on those disk volumes. For instructions, refer to the Compaq Advanced Server for OpenVMS Server Installation and Configuration Guide.

Note

If you plan to configure one of the alternative languages supported by the Advanced Server for OpenVMS (V7.3 and higher), and your ODS-2 disk device includes escape-encoded characters in file names (characters that are in the format _XX), you must convert all the file names, as explained in Section 4.5.2.2, Converting File Names. Do this before configuring the new language. For information on language support, see Section 4.4, Unicode and Extended Character Sets. For information on configuring a new language for the server, refer to the Compaq Advanced Server for OpenVMS Server Installation and Configuration Guide.

To simplify share access, you may want to set up all shared disk volumes as ODS-5 disk volumes.

The Advanced Server for OpenVMS, Version 7.3 or higher, can now support 8-bit extended character set characters for a selected set of objects, as discussed in Section 4.4, Unicode and Extended Character Sets.

4.5.1 Requirements for Using Extended File Specifications and Extended Character Sets

To take advantage of Extended File Specifications and extended character sets, your process must be enabled for Extended File Specifications and extended character sets. By default, you cannot enter Extended File Specifications or extended character set characters in DCL command lines. To enable Extended File Specifications and extended character sets, enter the following command:


$ SET PROCESS/PARSE_STYLE=EXTENDED 

Assuming the ADMINISTER SET MODE command has not been used to change the mode settings during the current user login session, the ADMINISTER interface will recognize that the process parse style was set to EXTENDED and will then allow use of extended character set characters in the ^Uxxxx and ^xx formats on input. For more information about using these characters in the ADMINISTER command interface, see Section 4.4.4, How to Change the Way ADMINISTER Commands Handle and Display Extended Character Set Characters. For more information about using Extended File Specifications and extended character sets at the DCL command level, refer to the OpenVMS Guide to Extended File Specifications.

Depending on the type of client computer, file naming conventions on ODS-5 disk volumes differ from those on ODS-2 disk volumes as described in the Section 4.5.2.5, Storing Files on ODS-5 Disk Volumes.

4.5.2 Managing Shares on ODS-5 Disk Volumes

When ODS-5 disk volumes are used for client file access, you manage them the same way you manage shares on ODS-2 disk volumes. In addition, you can:

The following sections describe the procedures for managing ODS-5 disk volumes.

4.5.2.1 Displaying Shares and Files on ODS-5 Disk Volumes

As with ODS-2 volumes, you can display information about a share on an ODS-5 volume --- information such as the disk device on which the share is stored, the current connections to that share, RMS file format, and permissions --- using the SHOW SHARES command with the /FULL qualifier. For example, to display information about the share STATES, enter the following command:


LANDOFOZ\\TINMAN> SHOW SHARES STATES/FULL 
 
Shared resources on server "TINMAN": 
 
Name          Type       Description 
------------  ---------  ----------------------------------------- 
STATES        Directory 
   Path: AABOUT$MDA1::[STATES] 
   Connections:  Current: 1, Maximum: No limit 
   RMS file format: Stream 
   Directory Permissions: System: RWED, Owner: RWED, Group: RWED, World: RE 
   File Permissions: System: RWD, Owner: RWD, Group: RWD, World: R 
   Share Permissions: 
       Everyone                        Full Control 
 
  Total of 1 share 

You can display the files in a share on the ODS-5 disk volume, in the same way as you would on an ODS-2 volume, using the ADMINISTER command SHOW FILES. To display the contents of subdirectories as well, include the /SUBDIRECTORIES qualifier. For example, if the share STATES is on an ODS-5 disk volume, display the files in the directory [STATES.KANSAS], as well as all files in all subdirectories by entering the following command:


LANDOFOZ\\TINMAN> SHOW FILES STATES\KANSAS\* /SUBDIRECTORIES 
 
Files in: \\TINMAN\STATES\KANSAS 
 
  FILE1.DAT 
    Permissions: 
      Administrators                     Full (All) 
      Everyone                           Change (RWXD) 
      Server Operators                   Change (RWXD) 
      SYSTEM                             Full (All) 
    Audit Events: (None specified) 
    Owner: Scarecrow 
 
  FILE2.DAT 
    Permissions: 
      Administrators                     Full (All) 
      Everyone                           Change (RWXD) 
      Server Operators                   Change (RWXD) 
      SYSTEM                             Full (All) 
    Audit Events:                        Success    Failure 
      Everyone                           RW----     RWXDPO 
    Owner: Scarecrow 
 
  Total of 2 files 

This example displays auditing, permissions, and owner information about all files in the shared directory KANSAS in the share STATES, including subdirectories.

4.5.2.2 Converting File Names

After a disk volume has been converted to ODS-5, it may contain file names with ODS-2 escape-encoded characters. These file names should be converted to the ODS-5 nonencoded character set, using the PWCONVERT utility, as described in Compaq Advanced Server for OpenVMS Server Installation and Configuration Guide.

4.5.2.3 Displaying the Disk Volume Type

To determine whether a specific disk volume is an ODS-5 disk volume, use the OpenVMS command SHOW DEVICE/FULL command, as follows:


$ SHOW DEVICE MDA1:/FULL 
 
  Disk AABOUT$MDA1:, device type RAM Disk, is online, allocated, deallocate 
  on dismount, mounted, file-oriented device, shareable. 
 
      Error count                        0  Operations completed 155 
      .
      .
      .
      Volume Status: ODS-5, subject to mount verification, file high-water 
      marking, write-back caching enabled. 
 
$ 

The summary display line shows the type of disk volume (in this case, ODS-5).


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