OpenVMS Technical Journal V11, April 2008

This OpenVMS Technical Journal from April 2008 presents several articles detailing enhancements, tools, and modernization efforts within the OpenVMS ecosystem.

Key topics covered include:

• Volume Shadowing Enhancements: "Host-Based Minimerge and Automatic Minicopy on Volume Processing in HP Volume Shadowing for OpenVMS" introduces Host-Based Minimerge (HBMM) and Automatic Minicopy on Volume Processing (AMCVP). These features use write bitmaps (WBM) to significantly improve the performance of merge and copy operations in Volume Shadowing, reducing the need for full volume scans and enabling quicker recovery of shadow set members.
• Dynamic Volume Expansion (DVE): "Hints and Tricks When Using Dynamic Volume Expansion (DVE) on OpenVMS Systems" explains how OpenVMS Alpha (V7.3-2+) and Integrity (V8.2+) allow system managers to increase the size of mounted volumes without dismounting them. It details the use of INIT/LIMIT and SET VOLUME/LIMIT to extend the BITMAP.SYS file, and SET VOLUME/SIZE for expanding the logical volume, including its integration with dissimilar device shadowing (DDS) and common implementation pitfalls.
• WebSphere MQ Failover: "WebSphere MQ and OpenVMS Failover Sets" explores how WebSphere MQ (Version 5.3 and later) leverages OpenVMS Cluster features to provide high-availability failover sets. This enables a queue manager to automatically restart on another OpenVMS Cluster node in case of failure, ensuring continuous messaging operations through alias IP addressing and shared data access, even across multiple sites.
• F$GETQUI Lexical Function: "F$GETQUI to the Rescue" highlights the power and utility of the F$GETQUI DCL lexical function for OpenVMS queue management. The article demonstrates a DCL procedure (CLEARQ.COM) that uses F$GETQUI to selectively display and delete entries from a queue, offering a flexible solution beyond basic DELETE /ENTRY commands.
• Application Modernization Case Study: "How Flügger Modernized their OpenVMS Applications" details Flügger's successful initiative to modernize their COBOL-based OpenVMS "green screen" applications using Seagull Software's LegaSuite GUI. This project transformed the user interface into graphical panels without modifying the underlying host applications, adding features like internationalization, mouse support, and integration with desktop applications.
• T4 and Friends Collector Expansion: "RMS Collector for T4 and Friends" describes a method to extend the T4 and Friends performance monitoring framework by adding new data collectors. Specifically, it demonstrates how to integrate a MONITOR RMS extension to track RMS file-related statistics, allowing for detailed file performance analysis alongside other system data with minimal changes to core T4 procedures.

The journal collectively showcases OpenVMS's adaptability and robustness, from system-level performance enhancements and dynamic storage management to application modernization and advanced monitoring capabilities.