OpenVMS File Types and Attributes
OpenVMS has a rich file system with many file types and attributes.
The most commonly used ones are:
File Types:
- Sequential: normal sequential-access files. Programs
can seek arbitrary locations in STREAMLF files.
- Relative: a file with contents that can be accessed
by record number.
- Indexed: a bit like a database. Each record has a key
or a set of keys which can be used to locate it directly.
Record Types:
- Fixed: records are all the same length.
- Variable: records can be any length up to a specified
maximum size. OpenVMS will usually embed a record delimiter in the file but
users rarely see it.
- VFC: variable with a fixed control area. Usually the
first two bytes of the record indicate the record length.
- Stream: a bit like a Linux file. There is no record
structure--only a stream of bytes. Optionally, LF (line feed) or CR
(carriage return) can be named as a record delimiter.
Record Attributes:
- None: quite valid, particularly for binary files.
- FORTRAN: the first byte of each record tells the system
how to print the record, i.e., whether to start a new line, a new page, etc.
- Carriage Return: when the file is printed, an LF and CR
will be printed at the end of each record, even though they are not stored in
the file.