DCL Dialogue Online

DCL Dialogue Online
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I Love DCL

This is an archive of my DCL Dialogue columns which appeared in DEC Professional (later renamed Digital Age) magazine from March, 1987 through December, 1995.

Thanks to a nameless intellectual property attorney who was seated next to me on a flight from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, all rights to DCL Dialogue reverted to me when Digital Age folded in the 90s. (Broadway and film options are still available. Have your people call my people.)

A couple notes:

These are the text files I submitted to the magazine for publication, so there may be slight differences between what you find here and what actually appeared in print. While I was rarely edited (bless you Linda, Karen, and Lou), there may have been some changes to accommodate space and formatting restrictions.

The link descriptions may differ from the actual titles of the columns. Since most people come here looking for DCL code, that's what's highlighted.

I've tried to remove all outdated addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses- yes, we had them, even back in the '80s- but I may have missed a few. For the most part I have strongly resisted the urge to edit out speculations and predictions which turned out wrong, sometimes spectacularly so. I hope you find them as entertaining as I do.

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April, 1999 - DCL Dialogue Online Arrives

DEC Professional/Digital Age columns:

THE WHOLE ENCHILADA - All the columns in one zip archive

December	1995	DECterm trick; hasta la vista
November	1995	DEC screws up; file spec clarification
October	1995	KGB predicts rise of NT
September	1995	First look at VMS 6.2
August	1995	DCL refresher
July	1995	Unholy marriage: VMS & NT
June	1995	1-line DCL leap year calculator
May	1995	DCL mailbox creation
April	1995	DCL retirement calculator
March	1995	elapsed_time.com
February	1995	Alpha paging with Kermit
January	1995	useterm.com
December	1994	Stupid DCL; Ehud's UNIX sim for VMS
November	1994	Shaggy VAX stories
October	1994	Queue stuff; time tracker
September	1994	SYS$PROZAC command file; Robovax fix
August	1994	Batch queue stopper
July	1994	DCL screensaver; DCL arcana
June	1994	Robovax fix; tree.com; Internet rants
May	1994	Altering VMS directory displays
April	1994	Rampage review
March	1994	Robovax revisited (see fixes above)
February	1994	Stupid DCL tricks
January	1994	All about Kermit
December	1993	Incredible DEC incompetence
November	1993	Miscellany
October	1993	Miscellany
September	1993	DCLFast
August	1993	Internet access
July	1993	MS-DOS 6.0, VMS 6.0, batch watchers
June	1993	Wayne Sewell's alien name generator
May	1993	"@" security issues
April	1993	Process creation with loginout.exe
March	1993	AXP, Pathworks, safety
February	1993	$entry, tape backups
January	1993	DCL oldies
December	1992	User Definable Keys
November	1992	Backup recommendations
October	1992	Miscellany
September	1992	Primitive DCL pager
August	1992	An Automated Noodge
July	1992	Standalone backup
June	1992	File version limits
May	1992	Process id command file
April	1992	Security; terminal lock
March	1992	The accursed purge_middle appears
February	1992	Stupid DCL Tricks
January	1992	DCL Chainsaw Massacre
December	1991	Even More Stupid DCL Tricks
November	1991	Fast Eddy and the Time Machine
October	1991	VMS Pentothal
September	1991	Compiled DCL
August	1991	The Return of Stupid DCL Tricks
July	1991	DCL: The Musical
June	1991	Wired Again
May	1991	Wired
April	1991	Is DCL a Programming Language?
March	1991	Noir for the Faint Hearted
February	1991	Teleportation for Fun and Profit
January	1991	Things They Never Told You About DCL
December	1990	The original RoboVAX column
November	1990	Bulldogging DECwindows
October	1990	DSNlink
September	1990	DCL Noir
August	1990	Hacking by the Numbers
July	1990	DCL Trivia
June	1990	DCL on the Edge of Forever
May	1990	No column
April	1990	My Skull is Thick
March	1990	Bread Crumb Synchronization
February	1990	What To Do Before The Lights Go Out
January	1990	No column
December	1989	Syntactical Dissonance
November	1989	Graphical Interfaces
October	1989	No column
September	1989	Raiders of the Global Symbols
August	1989	Cold Fusion and DCL (DCL performance)
July	1989	DCL Tic-Tac-Toe
June	1989	No column
May	1989	An EXIT Exegesis
April	1989	Brushing up on Lexicals
March	1989	DEC's Dastardly DCL Plot
February	1989	Of Wizards and Daemons
January	1989	Networks, Defaults and Diesels
December	1988	More Stupid DCL Tricks
November	1988	The Famous DCL Trojan Column
October	1988	No column
September	1988	Feelings of Inadequacy
August	1988	DCL futures; info on VMS 5.0
July	1988	First Appearance of Stupid DCL Tricks
June	1988	No column
May	1988	The Five-Oh Defense
April	1988	No column
March	1987	Cookies for the Masses
February	1988	Cannibalism for Fun and Profit
January	1988	An Enhanced Purge
December	1987	DCL Stocking Stuffers
November	1987	Captive command procedures
October	1987	Using the "@" command
September	1987	No column
August	1987	Alarm.com; DCLDiet
July	1987	UIC utility
June	1987	Stacks revisited
May	1987	Reader observations
April	1987	THE April Fools column
March	1987	DCL terminal manipulation