Guide to VAX DEC/Code Management System

This manual serves as a comprehensive guide to the VAX DEC/Code Management System (CMS), an online library system designed to track software development and maintenance on the VMS operating system. It provides both conceptual and reference information for all users, including managers, programmers, and technical writers involved in maintaining CMS libraries.

The document is divided into two main parts. The first part, comprising Chapters 1 through 10, is task-oriented and explains how to use CMS. Key concepts covered include libraries, elements, generations, groups, classes, reservations, replacements, review processes, historical tracking, variant generations, concurrency, and merging conflicts. It details how to interact with CMS through both command-line and DECwindows interfaces, including basic operations like creating and manipulating libraries, elements, groups, and classes, as well as managing concurrency and resolving merge conflicts. Security features, event handling, and notification mechanisms using Access Control Lists (ACLs) are also discussed. A dedicated chapter on command syntax provides detailed information on command formats, parameters, qualifiers, and wildcard expressions.

The second part of the guide is a reference section, featuring a comprehensive Command Dictionary with detailed descriptions of every CMS command. Additionally, it includes appendices covering CMS interface functional mappings, a list of error messages with explanations and recovery actions, details on the CMS library storage method, and important system management considerations like library backup and handling system time errors.