DECdocument
Using Doctypes and Related Tags
Volume 2
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This example produces the following output:

BCK-F-BADLNK, Incorrect directory back link Directory not found

Facility: VERIFY, Verify Utility
Severity: Fatal
Explanation: The Verify Utility could not process your command. Please check the syntax of your statement.
User Action: Check the syntax of the command, especially the directory specification, and reenter the command.
UAF Utility could not locate the file SYSUAF.DAT,

User Action: Check that your process is currently set to the system default directory, SYS$SYSTEM, and then reissue the command.

<MESSAGE_TYPE>

Establishes the format for error messages in the context of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

Syntax

<MESSAGE_TYPE> ( )

ARGUMENTS

NOIDENT

This keyword argument indicates that only message text will be used as arguments to the <MSG> or <MSGS> tag. This is the default.

NUMIDENT

This keyword argument indicates that the message has two parts, a numeric identification string and a line of message text. These two arguments are then required by the <MSG> or <MSGS> tag.

TEXTIDENT

This keyword argument indicates that the message has two parts, a text identification string and a line of message text. These two arguments are then required by the <MSG> or <MSGS> tag.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of a <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MESSAGE_TYPE> tag establishes the format for error messages in the context of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag. The format determines the number of arguments given to the <MSG> and <MSGS> tags.

For a complete description of the message section tags, refer to the description of <MESSAGE_SECTION> in this section.

Example

See the example in the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag description.

<MSG>

Formats the text of a message in a series of error message descriptions.

Syntax

<MSG> (message id[\message text-1[\message text-2]])

ARGUMENTS

message id

Specifies a unique message identification string. This argument can be either a text string or a numeric string. You can only specify this keyword argument if you have specified either the NUMIDENT or the TEXTIDENT keyword argument to the <MESSAGE_TYPE> tag.

message text-1

Specifies the text of the message.

message text-2

This is an optional argument. It specifies the second line of the text of the message.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of a <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MSG> tag formats the text of a message in a series of error message descriptions.

The message id argument corresponds to the %FAC-S-IDENT portion of a system or application message in the VMS operating system programming environment.

If you are using the NUMIDENT format, the message id argument must be a numeric message identification string of not more than 6 picas (approximately 10 characters) in length.

If you are using the TEXTIDENT format, the message id argument has a comma (,) placed between it and the following message text argument.

For a complete description of the message section tags, refer to the description of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag in this section.

Example

See the example in the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag description.

<MSGS>

Formats the text of one or more messages in a series of error message descriptions.

Syntax

<MSGS> (message text-1[\message text-2...
[\message text-9]])


<MSGS> (message id-1\message text-1
[\message id-2\message text-2]
[\message id-3\message text-3]
[\message id-4\message text-4])

ARGUMENTS

message text-n

Specifies up to nine lines of text for the message.

message id-n

Specifies up to four unique message identification strings. This argument can be either a text string or a numeric string. You can only specify this argument if you have specified either the NUMIDENT or the TEXTIDENT keyword arguments to the <MESSAGE_TYPE> tag.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of a <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MSGS> tag formats the text of one or more messages in a series of error message descriptions. If you are using the NOIDENT keyword argument to the <MESSAGE_TYPE> tag, or if you do not specify the <MESSAGE_TYPE> tag, you must use the first syntax listed.

If you are using either the TEXTIDENT or NUMIDENT keywords as arguments to the <MESSAGE_TYPE> tag, you must use the second syntax listed. Note that if you use this second syntax, you must specify the message id and message text arguments as pairs.

The message id argument corresponds to the %FAC-S-IDENT portion of a system or application message in the VMS operating system programming environment.

If you are using the NUMIDENT format, the message id argument must be a numeric message identification string of not more than 6 picas (approximately 10 characters).

If you are using the TEXTIDENT format, the message id argument has a comma (,) placed between it and the following message text argument.

For a complete description of the message section tags, refer to the description of <MESSAGE_SECTION> in this section.

Example

See the example in the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag description.

<MSG_ACTION>

Labels the text explanation of what action is to be taken in response to an error message from a system or application.

Syntax

<MSG_ACTION>

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MSG_ACTION> tag labels the text explanation of what action is to be taken in response to an error message from a system or application.

Examples

See the example in the discussion of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

<MSG_FACILITY>

Labels up to four message sources in a series of system or application error messages.

Syntax

<MSG_FACILITY> (facility\facility\facility\facility)

ARGUMENTS

facility

The name of the software component reporting the message. If more than one facility reports the same message, you can specify up to four facility names as arguments to the <MSG_FACILITY> tag.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MSG_FACILITY> tag labels up to four message sources in a series of system or application error messages.

Examples

See the example in the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag description.

<MSG_SEVERITY>

Labels the severity of a message in a series of system or application error messages.

Syntax

<MSG_SEVERITY>

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MSG_SEVERITY> tag labels the severity of a message in a series of system or application error messages.

Examples

See the example in the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag description.

<MSG_TEXT>

Labels text that describes a message in a <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag section.

Syntax

<MSG_TEXT> [(alternate heading)]

ARGUMENTS

alternate heading

This is an optional heading. It specifies the label for the text of the message description. This text automatically has a colon (:) appended to the end of it. If you do not specify this argument, the default heading is Explanation:.

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

required terminator

<ENDMESSAGE_SECTION, MSG, OR MSGS>

The text labeled by the <MSG_TEXT> tag is terminated either by the next <MSG> or <MSGS> tag, or by the <ENDMESSAGE_SECTION> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <MSG_TEXT> tag labels a message description in an error message section. The text of this description begins after the <MSG_TEXT> tag and continues until the next message section tag is encountered.

To use this tag to label various portions of the message explanation, you specify this tag several times using various alternate headings.

For example, first you could have a brief explanation of the message under the default heading Explanation:. Then you could specify the <MSG_TEXT> tag again, with the alternate heading of User Action. This use of the <MSG_TEXT> tag labels the tasks the user should perform to correct the condition that caused the error message. Note that when specifying alternate headings, a colon (:) is supplied at the end of the heading.

For a complete description of all the message section tags, refer to the description of the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag in this section.

Example

See the example in the <MESSAGE_SECTION> tag description.

<OVERVIEW>

Provides a summary description of a reference element.

Syntax

<OVERVIEW>

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of a SOFTWARE reference template.

required terminator

<ENDOVERVIEW>

DESCRIPTION

The <OVERVIEW> tag provides a summary description of a reference element. Use the <DESCRIPTION> tag to create a separate subsection that contains more detailed information to the user concerning the reference element. See the description of the <DESCRIPTION> tag for more information.

You do not need to use a <P> tag immediately after the <OVERVIEW> tag. The <OVERVIEW> tag generates the initial open line; you need only type the first paragraph of text.

You can use the <HELP_ONLY> and <ENDHELP_ONLY> tags in the overview to provide text more appropriate to the context of the VMS HELP facility.

Example

See the example in the <DESCRIPTION> tag description.

<PARAMDEF>

Begins the text that defines an item in a parameter definition list.

Syntax

<PARAMDEF>

ARGUMENTS

None.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <PARAMDEF> tag begins the text that defines an item in a parameter definition list. This text describes the item listed by the previous <PARAMITEM> tag. The text begun by the <PARAMDEF> tag is terminated by the next <PARAMITEM> or <ENDPARAMDEFLIST> tag.

Example

See the example in the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag description.

<PARAMDEFLIST>

Begins a definition list of parameters or arguments.

Syntax

<PARAMDEFLIST> [( )]

ARGUMENTS

alternate heading

This is an optional argument. It specifies a heading to override the current default text heading. The default heading for the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag can vary. See the DESCRIPTION section for more information on default parameter definition list headings.

NOHEAD

This is an optional keyword argument. It suppresses the output of the default heading for the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag.

NONE

This is an optional keyword argument. It causes the text None. to be output beneath the heading for the parameter definition list to indicate that no parameters are available. Note that if you use the NONE keyword, you should not use the <ENDPARAMDEFLIST> tag.

related tags

required terminator

<ENDPARAMDEFLIST>

Required unless you specify the NONE keyword as an argument to the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <PARAMDEFLIST> tag begins a definition list of parameters or arguments. This tag is available both inside and outside the context of the reference templates.

The <PARAMDEFLIST> tag is similar in format and syntax to the global <DEFINITION_LIST> tag. See Using Global TagsUsing Global Tags for more information on the <DEFINITION_LIST> tag. The <PARAMDEFLIST> tag enables two tags to create a parameter definition list. The <PARAMITEM> tag labels the list item being defined, and the <PARAMDEF> tag begins the definition of the list item.

A default heading is provided when you use the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag in a reference template; no default heading is provided when you use the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag outside a reference template.

Create your own heading for an individual parameter definition list by specifying that heading as the alternate heading argument. A heading specified in this way overrides any existing default headings.

Use the <SET_TEMPLATE_HEADING> tag to alter the default headings used by all subsequent <PARAMDEFLIST> tags. See the description of the <SET_TEMPLATE_HEADING> tag for more information.

The following informal table lists the default headings for the <PARAMDEFLIST> by their context.
Context Default Heading
Command Template Parameters
Routine Template Arguments
Tag Template Arguments
Statement Template No default heading
Outside a Template No default heading

Examples

The following examples show variations on the use of the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag.

This chapter uses the Tag template for its reference descriptions. In this template, the heading for a parameter definition list is defined as Arguments. You can see a sample of this heading just after the format section at the start of this tag description.

The following example uses the NOHEAD argument to the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag to suppress the output of a heading in a template. If this example were coded outside a template, there would be no default heading for the parameter definition list, and so there would be no need to use the NOHEAD argument to suppress a heading.

#1 

The system maintains logical names and their associated equivalence strings in 
two types of tables: 
<PARAMDEFLIST>(NOHEAD) 
<PARAMITEM>(process-private) 
<PARAMDEF>These tables contain logical names that are available only 
to your process. 
<PARAMITEM>(shareable) 
<PARAMDEF>These tables contain logical names that are available to other 
processes on the system. 
<ENDPARAMDEFLIST>

This example produces the following output:

The system maintains logical names and their associated equivalence strings in two types of tables:

process-private

These tables contain logical names that are available only to your process.

shareable

These tables contain logical names that are available to other processes on the system.

The following example shows how to use the global <ALIGN_AFTER> tag for additional formatting flexibility in the parameter definition list. Note that this <PARAMDEFLIST> tag is used in the Command template and so has the default heading Parameters.

#2 

<COMMAND_SECTION> 
. 
. 
. 
<PARAMDEFLIST> 
<PARAMITEM>(STATUS:arg\
<ALIGN_AFTER>(STATUS:)COMMAND\
<ALIGN_AFTER>(STATUS:)TASK) 
<PARAMDEF>Specifies whether status information is to be returned 
from the RUN command. 
<ENDPARAMDEFLIST> 
. 
. 
<ENDCOMMAND_SECTION>

This example produces the following output:

PARAMETERS

STATUS:arg

COMMAND

TASK

Specifies whether status information is to be returned from the RUN command.

<PARAMITEM>

Labels one to seven items to be defined in a parameter definition list.

Syntax

<PARAMITEM> (item-1[\item-2...[\item-7]])

ARGUMENTS

item-n

Specifies the item in the parameter list to be defined. This tag accepts a minimum of one item-n argument and a maximum of seven item-n arguments. When you specify more than one argument, each subsequent optional item-n argument after the initial argument formats flush left under the first argument.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <PARAMDEFLIST> tag.

required terminator

<ENDPARAMDEF>

DESCRIPTION

The <PARAMITEM> tag labels one to seven items to be defined in a parameter definition list. You can specify one to seven arguments as items requiring a single definition in the parameter definition list. If you specify more than one item-n argument, the item-n arguments are stacked from top to bottom in the order in which they were specified.

If you need to format the item-n arguments differently than the default flush left formatting, use the global <ALIGN_AFTER> tag. A sample use of this tag is illustrated in the following example. See Using Global TagsUsing Global Tags for more information on the <ALIGN_AFTER> tag.

Example

The following example shows how to use the global <ALIGN_AFTER> tag in the context of a parameter definition list for special formatting purposes. Note how it is used outside the <PARAMITEM> tag. 

<PARAMDEFLIST>(NOHEAD) 
<PARAMITEM>(STATUS:arg\
<ALIGN_AFTER>(STATUS:)COMMAND\
<ALIGN_AFTER>(STATUS:)TASK) 
<PARAMDEF>Specifies whether status information is to be returned 
from the RUN command. 
<ENDPARAMDEFLIST>

This example produces the following output:

STATUS:arg

COMMAND

TASK

Specifies whether status information is to be returned from the RUN command.

<PROMPT>

Identifies a prompt that appears on a separate line from other prompts, and any parameters associated with that prompt.

Syntax

<PROMPT> (prompt text\related parameter
[\prompt width])

ARGUMENTS

prompt text

Specifies the prompt being described. All spacing and capitalization is retained as entered in the output.

related parameter

Specifies any parameters related to the prompt.

prompt width

This is an optional argument. It specifies the pica width of the column in which the prompt text is formatted. You must specify this value as a positive integer.

By default, the width of the column is 5 picas, including any space between the prompt text and the related parameter columns (there are 6 picas to an inch). If the prompt text and the related parameter text format too closely together, you should increase this value.

related tags

restrictions

Valid only in the context of the <PROMPTS> tag.

DESCRIPTION

The <PROMPT> tag identifies a prompt that appears on a separate line from other prompts, and any parameters associated with that prompt.

Examples

The following example shows how to use the <PROMPT> tag to specify two command prompts.
#1 

<PROMPTS> 
<PROMPT>(Device:\equivalence name[,,,]) 
<PROMPT>(Log name:\logical name:) 
<ENDPROMPTS>

This example produces the following output:

prompts

Device: equivalence name[,,,]
Log name: logical name:

The following example shows how to specify the prompts for a SET PASSWORD command. In this example, the prompt width argument extends the width of the prompt text to 7 picas.

#2 

<PROMPTS> 
<PROMPT>(Old password:\old password\7) 
<PROMPT>(New password:\new password\7) 
<PROMPT>(Verification:\new password\7) 
<ENDPROMPTS>

This example produces the following output:

prompts

Old password: old password
New password: new password
Verification: new password

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