VMS Beginner's FAQ

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7. DECwindows

1. What is DECwindows?

DECwindows is Digital's version of the X11 window system. It provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) similar in some ways to that on a Macintosh or Windows computer. It differs from them primarily in that the machine displaying the GUI (the SERVER) need not be the same as the machine writing/reading the GUI (the CLIENT).

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2. Why would I ever use DECwindows?

Because it will let you point and click your way through various operations, and also manipulate images relatively easily. Besides, if you ever use the console of a VAXstation or AlphaStation you will have little choice.

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3. How do I redirect the display to another machine?

   $ SET DISPLAY/CREATE/TRANSPORT=TCPIP/node=what.where.com

The transport can be TCPIP, LAT, or DECNET, subject to that transport having been properly configured on your machine. Note that only Digital machines are likely to support DECwindows over LAT or DECNET. Use the appropriate node name for the type of transport, in the example shown the equivalent DECNET node name is likely "WHAT".

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4. How do I tell where the display is going now?

   $ SHOW DISPLAY

If you want to move the values into symbols so that a DCL program can handle it, use instead:

  $ SHOW DISPLAY/SYMBOL

This will define the following symbols:

   DECW$DISPLAY_NODE
   DECW$DISPLAY_SCREEN
   DECW$DISPLAY_SERVER
   DECW$DISPLAY_TRANSPORT

Note: The /SYMBOL qualifier is undocumented and may change in future versions of OpenVMS.

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5. How do I allow another machine to display on my screen?

Click on "Session Manager".
Click on the "Options" menu.
Select "Security Options".
Fill in the NODE, TRANSPORT, and USERNAME information for the machine that you wish to allow access. The wildcard * can be used in any field. Some transports don't verify usernames, so use * in the username filed if it won't work otherwise.
Click on "Add".
Click on "Apply", to have it take effect.

To remove access rights, as above, but instead of "Add", highlight a field in the "Authorized Users" list, then click on "Remove". Again, "Apply" makes it take effect.

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6. Isn't there some simple way to move files around?

Yes, use the FileView application. Start it from the applications menu in the Session Manager.

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7. How do I stop an application that has locked up?

If your application has gone into an infinite loop or wait, as signified by either nonresponse or a "watch" icon that won't go away, you can stop it:

Select Session Manager window.
Select Session Menu.
Select Work in Progress.
Select the window that is giving you problems by clicking on it.
Click on Stop Task. Sometimes you must click on it twice for the same window.

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8. How do I select menus and options without the mouse?

Hold down the {alt-function} key and press the matching letter on the keyboard. For instance, to open the File menu in the current window press {alt-function} and {f} together.

To move between windows use {alt}{F3}, but the mouse works better.

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9. What do each of the three buttons on the mouse do?

Unfortunately, that depends a lot on the application in question. In general though:

Left: Select objects in the window, or items on the menu bar.
Center: Varies.
Right: Pop up menus when clicked in the window.

Inside text fields, dragging over an area with the left button down selects it, then it can be pasted with a click of the center button. Or, in some applications, dragging over text with the center button down, then releasing it, will paste the highlighted text at the cursor.

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Author: David Mathog
Credits: Rich Lafferty
Maintained by: helpline@alcor.concordia.ca
Last update: $Date: 1999/05/18 16:16:23 $ -- Rich Lafferty