Technical data

. . . A horizontal ellipsis in examples indicates one of the following
possibilities:
• Additional optional arguments in a statement have been
omitted.
• The preceding item or items can be repeated one or more
times.
• Additional parameters, values, or other information can be
entered.
.
.
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A vertical ellipsis indicates the omission of items from a code
example or command format; the items are omitted because
they are not important to the topic being discussed.
( ) In command format descriptions, parentheses indicate that you
must enclose the choices in parentheses if you specify more
than one.
[ ] In command format descriptions, brackets indicate optional
choices. You can choose one or more items or no items.
Do not type the brackets on the command line. However,
you must include the brackets in the syntax for OpenVMS
directory specifications and for a substring specification in an
assignment statement.
| In command format descriptions, vertical bars separate choices
within brackets or braces. Within brackets, the choices are
optional; within braces, at least one choice is required. Do not
type the vertical bars on the command line.
{ } In command format descriptions, braces indicate required
choices; you must choose at least one of the items listed. Do
not type the braces on the command line.
bold text This typeface represents the introduction of a new term. It
also represents the name of an argument, an attribute, or a
reason.
italic text Italic text indicates important information, complete titles
of manuals, or variables. Variables include information that
varies in system output (Internal error number), in command
lines (/PRODUCER=name), and in command parameters in
text (where dd represents the predefined code for the device
type).
UPPERCASE TEXT Uppercase text indicates a command, the name of a routine,
the name of a file, or the abbreviation for a system privilege.
Monospace text Monospace type indicates code examples and interactive screen
displays.
In the C programming language, monospace type in text
identifies the following elements: keywords, the names
of independently compiled external functions and files,
syntax summaries, and references to variables or identifiers
introduced in an example.
- A hyphen at the end of a command format description,
command line, or code line indicates that the command or
statement continues on the following line.
numbers All numbers in text are assumed to be decimal unless
otherwise noted. Nondecimal radixes—binary, octal, or
hexadecimal—are explicitly indicated.
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