Technical data

Customizing the Operating System
5.6 Customizing the Help Message Database
by MSGHLP$LIBRARY, or you can create specialized search paths to include
different configurations of .MSGHLP$DATA files.
A search path definition can include individual file names or can point to one
or more directories. If you specify a directory with no file name, Help Message
searches all .MSGHLP$DATA files currently found in that directory. Pointing
to a directory instead of individual files can minimize your bookkeeping when
.MSGHLP$DATA files are added or removed.
To use system resources more efficiently, you can create different search paths
for different user groups, depending on which .MSGHLP$DATA files they need to
access. You can also set up different directories for different types of messages or
for different user groups. For example, you could use three unique logical names
to define three different search paths tailored to different user groups:
DEFINE/SYSTEM logical-name-1 file-a,file-b,file-c
DEFINE/SYSTEM logical-name-2 file-a,directory-z
DEFINE/SYSTEM logical-name-3 file-x,file-a,directory-y
Note
The first file you list in a search path is the default database for /INSERT
and /DELETE operations that operate on that search path. By default, all
other operations access all files in a search path. Specifying a directory
first in a search path risks setting up a default moving target for /INSERT
and /DELETE operations if files are added to or deleted from the directory.
Users can select an alternate to the system default database by specifying the
/LIBRARY qualifier in the HELP/MESSAGE command. Individual users can also
create their own logical name search paths at the process level.
Example
The following example defines a Help Message search path that accesses
.MSGHLP$DATA database files in three locations: the Compaq supplied
OpenVMS messages at USERS:[TOOLS], the user-supplied file USERS:[NEW_
PROJ]OUR_MESSAGES.MSGHLP$DATA, and all .MSGHLP$DATA files in
directory TEST:[TRY_ME].
$ DEFINE/SYSTEM MSGHLP$LIBRARY USERS:[TOOLS]MSGHLP$LIBRARY,-
_$ USERS:[NEW_PROJ]OUR_MESSAGES.MSGHLP$DATA,TEST:[TRY_ME]
5.6.3 Deleting Compaq Supplied Messages from the Database
You can delete Compaq supplied messages from the database to conserve system
resources or improve response time.
How to Perform This Task
1. Use the /EXTRACT qualifier to create a .MSGHLP file containing the
messages you want to delete from the database. (Refer to the OpenVMS
System Messages: Companion Guide for Help Message Users for a full
description of how to select the contents of the .MSGHLP file.) Some
examples follow.
Use the following syntax to extract all the messages for a specified facility:
HELP/MESSAGE/FACILITY=facility-name/EXTRACT=filename.MSGHLP
Customizing the Operating System 5–29