Using the OPENVM RUN Command

You can use the OPENVM RUN command to invoke applications that reside in the BFS or record file system or exist as nucleus extensions. Files invoked by OPENVM RUN must have been generated with the GENMOD command, the BIND command, the c89 utility, or the cxx utility. Because of the multitasking nature of OpenExtensions applications, these modules must be generated to be relocatable in order to avoid overlay problems. When using the OPENVM PUTBFS command to copy a module file from a minidisk or SFS directory to BFS, the MODULE option must be used (or defaulted to) to make sure that the BFS file is in executable format.

The OPENVM RUN command accepts a path name as input. The path name can be the name of a module file in the BFS, an external link to a module file in the record file system, or the CMS file ID of a module file in the record file system or loaded as a nucleus extension.

OPENVM RUN first tries to open the path name as a file in the BFS. If the open is successful, this is the file that is loaded and invoked. If the file is an external link, OPENVM RUN obtains information about the file that the external link represents, including the CMS file ID. This file is invoked if it is an FST_EXEC type of external link and one of the following is true:
  • The file resides on an accessed minidisk or SFS directory.
  • The file type of the file is MODULE or unspecified, the file mode of the file is * or unspecified, and the file is loaded as a nucleus extension.

If neither a suitable BFS file nor an external link is found, OPENVM RUN attempts to interpret the path name as a CMS file ID. If the path name can successfully be parsed into a CMS file ID, OPENVM RUN determines if the specified file exists on the accessed file modes, or, under the conditions described above, whether it is loaded as a nucleus extension. If the file is found, this is the file that is invoked. Otherwise, the OPENVM RUN command fails.

Note that when using the OPENVM RUN command, files in the record file system need not have a file type of MODULE. Renaming a MODULE file to give it a different file type is one way to prevent an OpenExtensions application in the record file system from being invoked by name from the CMS command line. It should also be noted that the OPENVM RUN command is case sensitive, so you have to enter the file ID of a file in upper case if its name is in upper case. In addition, path names that contain blanks must be delimited by quotation marks. If you want to specify a file name and file type on the OPENVM RUN command, you must enclose the entire CMS file ID in single or double quotation marks.

For example, if you want to invoke the OpenExtensions application MY OEAPP that resides on your A disk, enter: 
openvm run 'MY OEAPP'