RMS Sequential Files and Platform Portability?
When working with mixed platforms, you will want to become familiar with the various RMS sequential record formats, including Variable with Fixed Control (VFC), stream, stream LF, and stream CR, among other record formats. 9-15 Files Switching formats uses CONVERT/FDL or SET FILE/ATTRIBUTES. The former converts files, the latter resets attributes. Text editors tend to select attributes when creating new files that may or may not meet requirements. If the default attributes do not match your requirements, create a stub file, SET FILE/ATTR, then edit the existing file. (Most editors will preserve attributes on an existing file.) When working with Windows, stream is usually the best choice for sequential file operations. Stream LF is most commonly used with UNIX and C applications. Windows and UNIX tend not to be able to directly read files of “unexpected” sequential RMS record formats.
When working with mixed platforms, you will want to become familiar with the various RMS sequential record formats, including Variable with Fixed Control (VFC), stream, stream LF, and stream CR, among other record formats. Switching formats uses CONVERT/FDL or SET FILE/ATTRIBUTES. The former converts files, the latter resets attributes. Text editors tend to select attributes when creating new files that may or may not meet requirements. If the default attributes do not match your requirements, create a stub file, SET FILE/ATTR, then edit the existing file. (Most editors will preserve attributes on an existing file.) When working with Windows, stream is usually the best choice for sequential file operations. Stream LF is most commonly used with UNIX and C applications. Windows and UNIX tend not to be able to directly read files of “unexpected” sequential RMS record formats. VFC is a common OpenVMS format, encoding the record length into the record. It is this extra data that can cause c
