Editing OpenVMS (section)

===User interfaces===

[[File:Openvms-8.4-2L1-dcl.png|thumb|right|OpenVMS Alpha V8.4-2L1, showing the DCL CLI in a terminal session]]

VMS was originally designed to be used and managed interactively using DEC's text-based [[video terminal]]s such as the [[VT100]], or hardcopy terminals such as the [[DECwriter]] series. Since the introduction of the [[VAXstation]] line in 1984, VMS has optionally supported graphical user interfaces for use with workstations or [[X terminal]]s such as the [[VT1000]] series.

====Text-based user interfaces====

{{Main|DIGITAL Command Language}}

The [[DIGITAL Command Language]] (DCL) has served as the primary [[command language]] interpreter (CLI) of OpenVMS since the first release.<ref>{{cite book|title=Writing Real Programs in DCL |edition=2nd |first1=Stephen |last1=Hoffman |first2=Paul |last2=Anagnostopoulos|year=1999|publisher=Digital Press |isbn=1-55558-191-9}}</ref><ref name="vms-1.0-spd">{{cite web|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/www.computer.museum.uq.edu.au/pdf/AE-C770B-TE%20VAX-VMS%20Operating%20System,%20Version%201.0%20SPD%2025.1.2.pdf|date=September 1978|title=Software Product Description – VAX/VMS Operating System, Version 1.0|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref><ref name="vms-8.4-spd" /> Other official CLIs available for VMS include the [[RSX-11]] Monitor Console Routine (MCR) (VAX only), and various [[Unix shell]]s.<ref name="language-1985" /> DEC provided tools for creating [[text-based user interface]] applications – the ''Form Management System'' (FMS) and ''Terminal Data Management System'' (TDMS), later succeeded by ''DECforms''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/PDFs/HPFMS25.pdf|title=Software Product Description HP DECforms for OpenVMS, Version 4.0|website=Hewlett Packard Enterprise|access-date=January 1, 2021|date=August 2006}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/PDFs/SPDDecforms40.pdf|title=Software Product Description HP FMS for OpenVMS, Version 2.5|website=Hewlett Packard Enterprise|access-date=January 1, 2021|date=January 2005}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/PDFs/TDMSforVAXV19B.pdf|title=Compaq TDMS for OpenVMS VAX, Version 1.9B|date=July 2002|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Hewlett Packard Enterprise}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A lower level interface named ''Screen Management Services'' (SMG$), comparable to Unix [[curses (programming library)|curses]], also exists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/odl/vax/opsys/vmsos73/vmsos73/5935/5935pro_contents.html|title=OpenVMS RTL Screen Management (SMG$) Manual|date=2001|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=Hewlett Packard Enterprise|archive-date=December 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204210834/http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/odl/vax/opsys/vmsos73/vmsos73/5935/5935pro_contents.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Graphical user interfaces{{Anchor|DECwindows}}====

[[File:VAX-VMS-VWS.png|thumb|right|VWS 4.5 running on top of VAX/VMS V5.5-2]]
[[File:VMS-XUI-Colour.png|thumb|right|DECwindows XUI window manager running on top of VAX/VMS V5.5-2]]

Over the years, VMS has gone through a number of different GUI toolkits and interfaces:

* The original graphical user interface for VMS was a proprietary [[windowing system]] known as the ''VMS Workstation Software'' (VWS), which was first released for the [[VAXstation#VAXstation I|VAXstation I]] in 1984.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/dtj/dtj_v01-02_mar1986.pdf|author1=Rick Spitz|author2=Peter George|author3=Stephen Zalewski|title=The Making of a Micro VAX Workstation|journal=Digital Technical Journal|volume=1|issue=2|year=1986|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> It exposed an API called the User Interface Services (UIS).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/vms/vms_workstation/AL-GI10B-TN_MicroVMS_Workstation_Graphics_Programming_Guide_May1986.pdf|title=MicroVMS Workstation Graphics Programming Guide|date=May 1986|access-date=October 21, 2021|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation}}</ref> It ran on a limited selection of VAX hardware.<ref>{{cite newsgroup|url=https://comp.os.vms.narkive.com/wjLKqt6l/dec-vws-internals#post3|title=comp.os.vms - Dec VWS Internals|newsgroup=comp.os.vms|date=January 4, 2007|access-date=February 27, 2021|author=Fred Kleinsorge}}</ref>
* In 1989, DEC replaced VWS with a new [[X11]]-based windowing system named ''DECwindows''.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/dtj/dtj_v02-03_1990.pdf|title=An Overview of the DECwindows Architecture|year=1990|access-date=October 21, 2021|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation|journal=Digital Technical Journal|volume=2|issue=3|author=Scott A. McGregor}}</ref> It was first included in VAX/VMS V5.1.<ref name="vaxmacro-release">{{cite web|url=http://www.vaxmacro.de/vvo.html|title=(Open)VMS(/ VAX), Version overview|website=vaxmacro.de|access-date=October 21, 2021|archive-date=October 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022122158/http://www.vaxmacro.de/vvo.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Early versions of DECwindows featured an interface built on top of a proprietary toolkit named the ''X User Interface'' (XUI). A layered product named UISX was provided to allow VWS/UIS applications to run on top of DECwindows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://h41379.www4.hpe.com/wizard/wiz_9916.html|title=Migrating VWS/UIS Applications to DECwindows?|work=HP OpenVMS ask the wizard|date=November 9, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915122243/http://h41379.www4.hpe.com/wizard/wiz_9916.html|archive-date=September 15, 2018}}</ref> Parts of XUI were subsequently used by the [[Open Software Foundation]] as the foundation of the [[Motif toolkit]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/AUUGN/AUUGN-V10.4.pdf|title=Strategies for Writing Graphical UNIX Applications Productively and Portably|author=Janet Dobbs|date=August 1989|page=50|volume=10|number=4|journal=AUUG Newsletter|access-date=December 29, 2021}}</ref>
* In 1991, DEC replaced XUI with the Motif toolkit, creating ''DECwindows Motif''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/docs/VSI_DECW_USER_GD.pdf|title=Using DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS|date=October 2019|access-date=October 21, 2020|website=VSI}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference|title=Early Experience With DECwindows/Motif In the TRIUMF Central Control System|author1=S. Kadantsev|author2=M. Mouat|conference=13th International Conference on Cyclotrons and their Applications|pages=676–677|url=https://accelconf.web.cern.ch/accelconf/c92/papers/xi-11.pdf|access-date=August 28, 2019|archive-date=November 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125063526/http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/c92/papers/xi-11.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> As a result, the [[Motif Window Manager]] became the default DECwindows interface in OpenVMS V6.0,<ref name="vaxmacro-release" /> although the XUI window manager remained as an option.
* In 1996, as part of OpenVMS V7.1,<ref name="vaxmacro-release" /> DEC released the ''New Desktop'' interface for DECwindows Motif, based on the [[Common Desktop Environment]] (CDE).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://odl.sysworks.biz/disk$axpdocdec023/office/dwmot126/vmsdw126/gettingstarted/getting_started.html|title=Getting Started With the New Desktop|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation|date=May 1996|access-date=October 21, 2021}}</ref> On Alpha and Itanium systems, it is still possible to select the older MWM-based UI (referred to as the "DECwindows Desktop") at login time. The New Desktop was never ported to the VAX releases of OpenVMS.

Versions of VMS running on DEC Alpha workstations in the 1990s supported [[OpenGL]]<ref>[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/graphics/opengl-faq/part1/ OpenGL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) [1/3&#93;]. Faqs.org. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.</ref> and [[Accelerated Graphics Port]] (AGP) graphics adapters. VMS also provides support for older graphics standards such as [[Graphical Kernel System|GKS]] and [[PHIGS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vmssoftware.com/docs/VSI_gks_spd.pdf|title=Software Product Description VSI Graphical Kernel System|date=2017|access-date=January 2, 2021|publisher=VSI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://h30266.www3.hpe.com/PDFs/DECPhigsV31forVAX.pdf|title=Software Product Description DEC PHIGS Version 3.1 for OpenVMS VAX|date=April 1995|access-date=January 2, 2021|website=Hewlett Packard Enterprise}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Modern versions of DECwindows are based on [[X.Org Server]].<ref name="vms-8.4-spd" />