Programming in VAX-11 PL/I

This document, titled "Programming in VAX-11 PL/I" (AA-L057B-TE), published in November 1983 by Digital Equipment Corporation, serves as an informal introduction and usage guide for programmers developing PL/I programs on a VAX-11 computer running the VMS operating system. It assumes prior knowledge of the PL/I language.

The manual covers the complete program development lifecycle on VAX/VMS, including:

1. Program Development Environment: Introduction to VAX/VMS commands, file specifications, file creation, modification, and maintenance, and the use of the EDT text editor.
2. Compilation and Linking: Details on the VAX-11 PL/I compiler (PLI command, text libraries, diagnostic messages) and the linker (LINK command, object module libraries) for creating executable programs.
3. Program Execution: How to run PL/I programs on VAX/VMS using the RUN command, including concepts of image exit and handling run-time errors and interruptions.
4. Library Management: Instructions for creating and maintaining both text and object module libraries using the LIBRARY command.
5. PL/I Language Elements: A comprehensive overview of PL/I program structure, data types (arithmetic, character-string, bit-string, pictured data), storage classes (automatic, static, internal, external, based, controlled, defined variables), data aggregates (arrays and structures), declarations (DECLARE statement), expressions and assignments (operators, operands, data conversion, pseudovariables), and program control statements (DO, BEGIN, END, IF, SELECT, GOTO, LEAVE, STOP, NULL).
6. Input/Output (I/O): In-depth information on file control (DECLARE, OPEN, CLOSE statements, ENVIRONMENT options), stream I/O (GET, PUT, FORMAT statements), and record I/O (READ, WRITE, DELETE, REWRITE statements for sequential, relative, and indexed sequential files).
7. Error Handling: Mechanisms for managing errors using ON conditions and ON-units (ON, REVERT, SIGNAL statements, RESIGNAL subroutine).
8. Built-In Functions and Compile-Time Facilities: Descriptions of PL/I built-in functions and VAX-11 PL/I compile-time facilities, including the Common Data Dictionary (CDD) and the embedded preprocessor (for conditional compilation and user-defined diagnostics).
9. System Interaction: Appendices detailing rules for data conversion between types, methods for calling VAX/VMS system services from PL/I, and the ASCII character set.

In essence, the document serves as a practical guide for PL/I programmers to effectively write, develop, debug, and manage their applications within the VAX/VMS operating system environment.