Technical data

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In examples, a key name enclosed in a box indicates that
you press a key on the keyboard. (In text, a key name is not
enclosed in a box.)
In the HTML version of this document, this convention appears
as brackets, rather than a box.
. . . A horizontal ellipsis in examples indicates one of the following
possibilities:
• Additional optional arguments in a statement have been
omitted.
• The preceding item or items can be repeated one or more
times.
• Additional parameters, values, or other information can be
entered.
.
.
.
A vertical ellipsis indicates the omission of items from a code
example or command format; the items are omitted because
they are not important to the topic being discussed.
( ) In command format descriptions, parentheses indicate that you
must enclose choices in parentheses if you specify more than
one.
[ ] In command format descriptions, brackets indicate optional
choices. You can choose one or more items or no items.
Do not type the brackets on the command line. However,
you must include the brackets in the syntax for OpenVMS
directory specifications and for a substring specification in an
assignment statement.
| In command format descriptions, vertical bars separate choices
within brackets or braces. Within brackets, the choices are
optional; within braces, at least one choice is required. Do not
type the vertical bars on the command line.
{ } In command format descriptions, braces indicate required
choices; you must choose at least one of the items listed. Do
not type the braces on the command line.
bold type Bold type represents the introduction of a new term. It also
represents the name of an argument, an attribute, or a reason.
italic type Italic type indicates important information, complete titles
of manuals, or variables. Variables include information that
varies in system output (Internal error number), in command
lines (/PRODUCER=name), and in command parameters in
text (where dd represents the predefined code for the device
type).
Example This typeface indicates code examples, command examples, and
interactive screen displays. In text, this type also identifies
URLs, UNIX commands and pathnames, PC-based commands
and folders, and certain elements of the C programming
language.
UPPERCASE TYPE Uppercase type indicates a command, the name of a routine,
the name of a file, or the abbreviation for a system privilege.
- A hyphen at the end of a command format description,
command line, or code line indicates that the command or
statement continues on the following line.
numbers All numbers in text are assumed to be decimal unless
otherwise noted. Nondecimal radixes—binary, octal, or
hexadecimal—are explicitly indicated.
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