VAX OPS5 User's Guide

This document is the VAX OPS5 User's Guide, published in May 1989, for VAX OPS5 Version 3.0 on VMS operating systems (Version 5.1 or higher).

It primarily serves as a comprehensive guide for programmers on how to create, compile, execute, and debug VAX OPS5 programs. The guide details the VAX OPS5 architecture, including its compiler and run-time system (with the recognize-act cycle and command interpreter).

It provides practical information on program development on VMS, file specification, and the use of DCL commands. Key topics include compiling and linking programs, managing modular compilations and shareable images, and executing programs. Extensive sections are dedicated to debugging, covering VAX OPS5's built-in debugging commands (e.g., breakpoints, working memory manipulation, conflict set display, state saving/restoring, trace information, performance measurement) and integration with the VMS Debugger for external routines. It also explains controlling input and output operations via the VAX OPS5 command interpreter.

Finally, an appendix provides a list and explanation of all diagnostic messages generated by the VAX OPS5 compiler and run-time system, serving as a reference for troubleshooting. The intended audience is programmers with existing knowledge of VAX OPS5 and familiarity with VMS.