OpenVMS Notes: VIM

1. The information presented here is intended for educational use by qualified OpenVMS technologists.
2. The information presented here is provided free of charge, as-is, with no warranty of any kind.

VIM on VMS and OpenVMS

• VIM is an improved version of the VI text editor which began life on Unix and continues today on Linux
• VMS is a 32-bit OS which ran on VAX processors manufactured by DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation)
  • It is still found today on VAX emulators (Stromasys)
• OpenVMS is a 64-bit OS which runs on AlphaServer procerssors (DEC/Compaq), Itanium processors (HP/Compaq), and x86-64 processors (VSI)
  • note: VSI also supports OpenVMS on both Alpha and Itanium. Reach out to them for licenses, upgrades, or a support contract.

Where to get VIM (short impartial list)

• https://github.com/vim/vim (official source distro; a c-compiler is required)
• http://polarhome.com (Stockholm, Sweden)
• https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/os_vms.html
• https://vim-jp.org/vimdoc-en/os_vms.html
• http://ftp.vim.org/ftp/vim/vms/ (VAX + Alpha only)
• http://antinode.info/ftp/vim/vim74/ (source code so a c-compiler is required; complete instructions)
• https://www.theberrymans.com/decus/freewarev50/VIM/ (VAX + Alpha only)
• https://www.theberrymans.com/decus/freewarev60/VIM/ (VAX + Alpha only)

my local cache of VIM-80 and VIM-82

• Be aware that http://polarhome.com stopped operating as a business in 2022-01-03.
  • The DNS is still registered to them but the associated server has been powered down to save money.
  • They power up the server from time-to-time so check back daily if you need something.
  • They are not renewing their ssl certificate so be sure to connect by http rather than https
  • Christmas Treat: On 2023-12-01 I noticed that they were back online AND have published a version of vim-9.0 for OpenVMS (all flavors including x86-64)
     
• Here are a collection of VIM-82 files (vim-8.2.222) I downloaded from polarhome on 2023-07-07:
  • https://neilrieck.net/misc/zip/openvms/VIM82/
  • most support staff, who only occasionally work on my employer's OpenVMS systems, already know how to use VIM and will never be learning EDT or EVE. If you value VIM as much as we do, then I suggest you copy these files to a safe location on your site ASAP.
  • I just installed vim-82-ia64.zip on my rx2660 and can confirm that this version of vim works properly -AND- does not require any bug fixes as described in the next section.
     
• Here are a few VIM-80 files I downloaded from polarhome in 2017:
  
  • https://neilrieck.net/misc/zip/openvms/VIM80/
  • vim-80-69-vms-src.zip
    • resources for building vim-8.0.69 on any VMS or OpenVMS platform
    • a c-compiler is required
    • os_vms.c (contains my patch for using too much CPU time)
  • vim-80-ia64.zip
    • vim-8.0.69 installer for OpenVMS on Itanium
    • a 'c' compiler is not required

compiling a new version of vim.exe

   $unzip vim-80-69-vms-src.zip        ! creates sub-folder [.VIM80-69]
   $copy os_vms.c  [.VIM80-69.src]     ! copy my patched file (you must preserve case)
   $set def [.VIM80-69]                ! drop into subfolder
   $set def [.src]                     ! drop into subfolder
   $type Make_vms.mms                  ! view Zoltan's notes
   $type INSTALLvms.txt                ! view other notes
   -------------------------------------------
   use your favorite make tool
   -------------------------------------------
   Zoltan Arpadffy said to type this:
       $mms /descript=Make_vms.mms /ignore=warning
   But I had to type this on my system:
       $mmk /descript=Make_vms.mms /ignore=warning

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Neil Rieck
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.