VAX-edrin Headache #1

     It happens everyday.  You go to delete a file, and the system gives you a 
discourteous message about not including the version number even though 
nothing else in DCL complains when you don't specify the version.  So you hit 
the up-arrow and tag a semicolon on to the end of the command and hit return.
So what's the big deal???  The big deal is I'M MAD AS HELL AND I AIN'T GONNA 
TAKE IT ANYMORE!

(more)...
     I have created a simple command file in my home directory called DEL.COM
which contains the following lines: 

	$ confirm = ""
	$ if p1 .nes. (p1 - "*" - "%") then confirm = "/confirm"
	$ delete 'confirm 'f$parse(p1)

In my LOGIN.COM startup file, I added the symbol definition:

	$ del :== @sys$login:del

     Now, I'm not bothered by the delete version error messages anymore, and I
automatically go to confirmation mode if I specified a wildcard file name.  If
I really want to blow away all the files covered by the wildcard, I just answer
"All" at the first prompt. 

			VAX-edrin Headcahe #2

     I like the GOSUB/RETURN/GOBACK command set from Suttles, but I seem to 
constantly forget the enclosing square brackets in the GOSUB directory 
specification.  So what do you do to relieve the pain?  You go to Suttles and 
spend an hour with him to make it more to your liking.

     The GOSUB command now tries a list of reasonable things with the 
directory spec you send it.  So things like:

	$ GOSUB WHATZIT

will likely put you in the SYS$USERDISK:[WHERE_I_WAS_AT.WHATZIT] directory. The
command does not search the whole directory tree for a match, but it will look
near and far (sibling and offspring directories, and first level directories
off your home directory or on the same device).  Try it.  I think you'll like
it.

     And for those of you who have PC's, ST's, or other computers at home
where the default directory is declared with a CD command, there is a new
version of GOSUB called CD.  It's just like GOSUB, but if you just say CD with
no parameter, it does the RETURN function.  Install it with the following
symbol definition in your LOGIN.COM file: 

	$ CD :== @UTL$COM:CD

Enjoy.

			VAX-edrin Headache #3

     You've been poking around somewhere in another directory (something like
SYS$USERDISK:[FRED.STUFF.MORESTUFF.EVENMORESTUFF]) and now you have found
something you want to get back to or reference with out so much directory name
baggage. Sure, it doesn't happen often, but when it does, what a pain!  Well,
take the recommended dose of the new and improved Name Directory command (ND
for short). 

     ND allows you to give the current directory an easy to remember (and easy
to type) logical name by simply saying: 

	$ ND EASYNAME

     Now you can refer to the file you are interested in by referencing 
EASYNAME:FILENAME, or you can go to other directories and come back with a
GOSUB EASYNAME.
     You can use the DEASSIGN command to free up any logical names you have 
created with ND.  These temporary logical names automatically go away when 
you log out.

     You create this complex command by putting the following symbol 
definition in your LOGIN.COM file:

	$ ND :== ASSIGN 'F$ENV("DEFAULT")

     One small caveat, though.  The use of logical names has a certain downside 
because the system will translate them even when you don't mean to.  I would
not suggest naming a directory with the same name as a command.  So names like
MAIL are probably not a good idea (although MAILDIR should be fine). 

			VAX-edrin Headache #4

     So you say that you send a lot of mail to JUNK and ENGINEER, and you're 
tired of waiting forever for the DCL prompt to come back??  Well what you need 
is a command that will spawn off at separate task to send the mail and leave 
you free to do other things.
     Just so happens, I have this one already bottled and called POST.  First, 
you edit your mail message with a standard editor (EDT, TPU, VI, etc.) and 
then you issue the command:

	$ POST MESSAGE.TXT "@SYS$MAIL:JUNK"/SUBJ="Blah, Blah, Blah..."

     After a few seconds, you'll get a spawn message and your DCL prompt will
return.  You will be informed when the posting is complete, but you won't have
to wait for it before you go on to other things. 

     To use POST, you need the following symbol definition in your LOGIN.COM:

	$ POST :== SPAWN/NOWAIT/INPUT=NL:/NOTIFY MAIL

     WARNING:  WHEN YOU LOG OUT WITH SPAWNED SUBPROCESSES ACTIVE, YOU KILL THE 
SUBPROCESSES.  SO IF YOU LOG OUT WHILE POST IS STILL RUNNING, NOT ALL THE MAIL 
WILL GET DELIVERED.

		VAX-edrin Headache #3 Revisited: Untested Code

     If you tried using ND (Name Directory), you probably found it doesn't 
work.  The logical name gets set to your home directory.  I had originally 
implemented this command as a .COM file and it worked.  The translation into a 
simple symbol assignment doesn't (at least not the way I did it).  What WILL
work is to create a file called ND.COM in your home directory which contains 
the single line:

	$ ASSIGN 'F$ENV("DEFAULT") 'p1

Now put the following corrected symbol definition into your LOGIN.COM file:

	$ ND :== @SYS$LOGIN:ND

Sorry about that.

	    VAX-edrin Headache #4 Revisted: New, Improved Version

     After consulting with Steve Suttles, we have a more robust version of the
POST command which works as a batch job rather than a spawned process.  It
corrects many of the problems and deficiencies of the old version (which, quoth
Suttles, "...only works if everything is right.").
     The new command is used by putting the following symbol definition in your
LOGIN.COM file:

	$ POST :== @UTL$COM:POST

     The calling format is different from the old POST command.  The new 
format is:

	$ POST MESSAGE.TXT DISTRIBUTION "SUBJECT" /ETC

where:	MESSAGE.TXT is the text of your message (.TXT is the default extension).

	DISTRIBUTION is a comma-separated list WITHOUT EMBEDDED SPACES OR QUOTES
		listing the recipients of your message.

	"SUBJECT" is a quoted string with the subject text.

	/ETC is miscellaneous switches and qualifiers of the MAIL command.

     A batch log is sent to MAIL$LOGIN:POST.LOG, so you can see any problems 
which may have occurred. (MAIL$LOGIN is where your mail files are.)