VMS 1.5 Release Notes

This document is the "VAX/VMS Release Notes, Order No. AA-D0158-TE," published by Digital Equipment Corporation in February 1979. It provides supplementary information for VAX/VMS Version 1.5, superseding previous Release Notes for versions 1.0 and 1.01.

The document's primary purpose is to convey information not found elsewhere in the VAX/VMS documentation set, including:

• Software and Documentation Errors: Details on issues discovered late in the development cycle.
• Changes: Modifications made to the system.
• Installation and Operation Hints: Guidance for system setup and usage.

Key areas covered in these release notes include:

• Installation and Updates: Field Change Orders (FCOs) and microcode required for Version 1.5.
• Optional Software Products: Specific notes, updates, and restrictions for DECnet-VAX, VAX-11 FORTRAN IV-PLUS (v1.2), VAX-11 COBOL-74 (v4.0), VAX-11 BLISS-32 (v1.0), and the FORTRAN IV/VAX to RSX Cross Compiler.
• Command Language and File System: Corrections, restrictions, and anticipated changes for commands like COPY, DIFFERENCES, DIRECTORY, EXAMINE, MACRO, REPLY, SET PROTECTION, SET TERMINAL/PERMANENT, and STOP/ENTRY, as well as notes on compatibility mode commands and keyword truncation.
• System Services: Clarifications on time values ($SETIMR, $SCHDWK), message disposition ($PUTMSG), $GETJPI, and character string descriptors.
• Record Management Services (RMS): Information on XAB macros, device characteristics, the RMSSHARE utility, ISAM files, bugchecks, access modes, and restrictions on opening and copying files.
• Disk Management: Detailed procedures and messages related to Disk Volume Sets (creation, mounting, adding, removing), and notes on the Disk Save and Compress (DSC2) utility.
• I/O Device Drivers: Corrections and additions for Terminal, Magnetic Tape, Disk (specifically RX01 Console Disk Driver), and LPA11 drivers.
• Common Run-Time Library: Notes on network I/O, FORTRAN file specifications, error messages, procedure calling standards, and local event flag allocation routines.
• System Utilities: Updates and usage details for the User Environment Test Package (UETP), the SYE error log formatting program, the System Dump Analyzer (SDA) (an unsupported utility for crash analysis), and enhancements to the VAX-11 Symbolic Debugger (supporting BLISS-32 and COBOL-74).
• Miscellaneous: Information on known images and global sections on private volumes, index file header errors, adjusting page length for listings, referring to system values in FORTRAN, and recommended changes to the field service account.
• Appendices: Summaries of patches included in VAX/VMS versions 1.0, 1.01, and 1.5, and a guide for using PDP-11 BASIC-PLUS-2/VAX.

The document emphasizes that users should read it before installing or using the VAX/VMS system.