VMS Help  —  SEARCH  Qualifiers

1    /BACKUP

    Modifies the time value specified with the /BEFORE or the
    /SINCE qualifier. The /BACKUP qualifier selects files according
    to the dates of their most recent backups. This qualifier
    is incompatible with the /CREATED, /EXPIRED, and /MODIFIED
    qualifiers, which also allow you to select files according
    to time attributes. If you specify none of these four time
    qualifiers, the default is the /CREATED qualifier.

2    /BEFORE

       /BEFORE[=time]

    Selects only those files dated prior to the specified time. You
    can specify time as absolute time, as a combination of absolute
    and delta times, or as one of the following keywords: BOOT,
    LOGIN, TODAY (default), TOMORROW, or YESTERDAY. Specify one of
    the following qualifiers with the /BEFORE qualifier to indicate
    the time attribute to be used as the basis for selection:
    /BACKUP, /CREATED (default), /EXPIRED, or /MODIFIED.

    For complete information on specifying time values, see the
    OpenVMS User's Manual or the online help topic Date.

3    /BY_OWNER

       /BY_OWNER[=uic]

    Selects only those files whose owner user identification code
    (UIC) matches the specified owner UIC. The default UIC is that of
    the current process.

    Specify the UIC by using standard UIC format as described in the
    OpenVMS User's Manual.

4    /CONFIRM

       /CONFIRM
       /NOCONFIRM (default)

    Controls whether a request is issued before each search operation
    to confirm that the operation should be performed on that file.
    The following responses are valid:

    YES      NO       QUIT
    TRUE     FALSE    Ctrl/Z
    1        0        ALL
             <Return>

    You can use any combination of uppercase and lowercase letters
    for word responses. Word responses can be abbreviated to one or
    more letters (for example, T, TR, or TRU for TRUE), but these
    abbreviations must be unique. Affirmative answers are YES, TRUE,
    and 1. Negative answers include: NO, FALSE, 0, and pressing
    Return. Entering QUIT or pressing Ctrl/Z indicates that you want
    to stop processing the command at that point. When you respond by
    entering ALL, the command continues to process, but no further
    prompts are given. If you type a response other than one of
    those in the list, DCL issues an error message and redisplays
    the prompt.

5    /CREATED

       /CREATED (default)

    Modifies the time value specified with the /BEFORE or the /SINCE
    qualifier. The /CREATED qualifier selects files based on their
    dates of creation. This qualifier is incompatible with the
    /BACKUP, /EXPIRED, and /MODIFIED qualifiers, which also allow
    you to select files according to time attributes. If you specify
    none of these four time qualifiers, the default is the /CREATED
    qualifier.

6    /EXACT

       /EXACT
       /NOEXACT (default)

    Controls whether the SEARCH command matches the search string
    exactly or treats uppercase and lowercase letters as equivalents.
    By default, SEARCH ignores case differences in letters.

    Specifying the /EXACT qualifier causes the system to use less CPU
    time; therefore, if you are sure of the case of the letters in
    the string, it is more efficient to use the /EXACT qualifier.

7    /EXCLUDE

       /EXCLUDE=(filespec[,...])

    Excludes the specified files from the search operation. You can
    include a directory but not a device in the file specification.
    The asterisk (*)  and the percent sign (%) wildcard characters
    are allowed in the file specification; however, you cannot use
    relative version numbers to exclude a specific version. If you
    specify only one file, you can omit the parentheses.

8    /EXPIRED

    Modifies the time value specified with the /BEFORE or the /SINCE
    qualifier. The /EXPIRED qualifier selects files according to
    their expiration dates. (The expiration date is set with the
    SET FILE/EXPIRATION_DATE command.) The /EXPIRED qualifier
    is incompatible with the /BACKUP, /CREATED, and /MODIFIED
    qualifiers, which also allow you to select files according
    to time attributes. If you specify none of these four time
    qualifiers, the default is the /CREATED qualifier.

9    /FORMAT

       /FORMAT=option

    Formats output in one of the following five ways:

    DUMP     Displays all control characters (including <HT>, <CR>,
             and <LF>) and nonprintable characters as ANSI mnemonics.

    NOFF     Replaces control characters in text with ANSI mnemonics
             (for example, Ctrl/C is replaced with <ETX>). The
             terminal formatting characters <HT>, <CR>, <LF>, <VT>
             are passed without change. Form feed characters are
             replaced with <FF>.

    NONULLS  Same as DUMP, but removes all null characters from the
             input file before reformatting. (In dump mode, the null
             character is displayed as <NUL>.) NONULLS is convenient
             when you are searching binary format files, such as EXE
             or OBJ files, that generally contain many zero bytes.

    PASSALL  Moves control and nonprintable characters to the output
             device without translating them. The terminal driver
             cannot send 8-bit characters to the terminal unless SET
             TERMINAL/EIGHT_BIT is already in effect.

             You can use /FORMAT=PASSALL whenever you do not want
             the SEARCH command to substitute the ANSI mnemonic for
             control characters (for example, <BEL> for Ctrl/G).

    TEXT     Replaces control characters in text with ANSI mnemonics
             (for example, Ctrl/C is replaced with <ETX>). The
             terminal formatting characters <HT>, <CR>, <LF>, <VT>,
             and <FF> are passed without change. TEXT is the default
             format.

10    /HEADING

       /HEADING (default)
       /NOHEADING

    Includes file names in the output file and displays a line of
    30 asterisks(*)  as a window separator between groups of lines
    that belong to different files. With the default heading format,
    file names are printed only when more than one file is specified
    or when the asterisk (*)  and the percent sign (%) wildcard
    characters are used.

    The /WINDOW qualifier displays a line of 15 asterisks to separate
    each window within a file.

11    /HIGHLIGHT

       /HIGHLIGHT[=keyword] (default)
       /NOHIGHLIGHT

    You can use one of the following keywords: BOLD, BLINK,
    REVERSE, and UNDERLINE. BOLD is the default highlighting on
    ANSI video terminals with advanced video; REVERSE is the default
    highlighting on ANSI video terminals without advanced video.

    For hardcopy printing, you can use the HARDCOPY=OVERSTRIKE and
    HARDCOPY=UNDERLINE keywords. This specifies that the strings
    should be highlighted in a manner suitable for most hardcopy
    printers. With overstrike highlighting, matched strings are
    double-printed, so that they appear darker. The matched strings
    are underlined with the underscore character.

    Hardcopy printing is accomplished by adding a carriage return and
    spacing back over the line to overprint the string or underlines.
    Note that this can as much as double the length of the line,
    and perhaps lead to truncation if the device buffer size is too
    small.

    VSI recommends that you use the /HIGHLIGHT=UNDERLINE
    qualifier with the LN01 printer rather than using the
    /HIGHLIGHT=HARDCOPY=UNDERLINE qualifier. The LN01 printer ignores
    OVERSTRIKE highlighting.

    VSI recommends that you use either the /HIGHLIGHT=BOLD or the
    /HIGHLIGHT=UNDERLINE qualifier with the LN03 printer rather
    than using the /HIGHLIGHT=HARDCOPY=UNDERLINE qualifier. The LN03
    printer ignores OVERSTRIKE highlighting.

                                   NOTE

       You cannot specify /WILDCARD_MATCHING with /HIGHLIGHT. An
       error will occur.

12    /KEY

       /KEY=(POSITION=n,SIZE=n)

    Searches the records of a file (beginning at the specified
    position) for the length of the specified size.

    You can specify the POSITION keyword value as 1 to 32,767. The
    first byte in a record is considered position 1.

                                   NOTE

       The /KEY qualifier must appear before the file name, or
       after the specified search string. If the qualifier is
       placed between these parameters, it is ignored.

13    /LIMIT

       /LIMIT=n (Alpha/Integrity servers Only)

    Limits the number of matches displayed to the number specified by
    n.

14    /LOG

       /LOG
       /NOLOG (default)

    Outputs a message to the current SYS$OUTPUT device for each
    file searched. The message includes the file name, the number
    of records, and the number of matches for each file searched.

15    /MATCH

       /MATCH=option

    Interprets and matches multiple search strings in one of the
    following ways:

    AND    A match occurs only if the record contains all the
           strings.

    EQV    A match occurs if none or all of the search strings are in
           the record.

    NOR    A match occurs only if the record contains none of the
           strings.

    NAND   A match occurs only if the record does not contain all of
           the strings.

    OR     A match occurs if the record contains any of the strings.

    XOR    A match occurs if any of the search strings are in the
           record but not if all or none of them are in the record.

    When only one search string is specified, the OR and AND options
    produce identical results. Similarly, NOR and NAND produce
    identical results for a single search string. If you specify
    none of these options, the default is /MATCH=OR.

16    /MODIFIED

    Modifies the time value specified with the /BEFORE or the /SINCE
    qualifier. The /MODIFIED qualifier selects files according to
    the dates on which they were last modified. This qualifier
    is incompatible with the /BACKUP, /CREATED, and /EXPIRED
    qualifiers, which also allow you to select files according
    to time attributes. If you specify none of these four time
    modifiers, the default is the /CREATED qualifier.

17    /NUMBERS

       /NUMBERS
       /NONUMBERS (default)

    Controls whether the source line number is displayed at the left
    margin of each line in the output.

18    /OUTPUT

       /OUTPUT[=filespec]
       /NOOUTPUT

    Controls whether the results of the search are output to a
    specified file. The output is sent to the current default output
    device (SYS$OUTPUT) if you omit the /OUTPUT qualifier or omit the
    file specification with the qualifier. The /NOOUTPUT qualifier
    means that no matching records are output as a result of the
    SEARCH command.

19    /PAGE

       /PAGE[=keyword]
       /NOPAGE (default)

    Controls the display of information on the screen.

    You can use the following keywords with the /PAGE qualifier:

    CLEAR_SCREEN   Displays information one page at a time.

    SCROLL         Displays information on a continuous stream.

    SAVE[=n]       Enables screen navigation of information, where n
                   is the number of pages to store.

    The /PAGE=SAVE qualifier allows you to navigate through screens
    of information. The /PAGE=SAVE qualifier stores up to 5 screens
    of up to 255 columns of information. When you use the /PAGE=SAVE
    qualifier, you can use the following keys to navigate through the
    information:

    Key Sequence              Description

    Up arrow key, Ctrl/B      Scroll up one line.
    Down arrow key            Scroll down one line.
    Left arrow key            Scroll left one column.
    Right arrow key           Scroll right one column.
    Insert Here (E2)          Scroll right one half screen.
    Remove (E3)               Scroll left one half screen.
    Select (E4)               Toggle 80/132 column mode.
    Prev Screen (E5)          Get the previous page of information.
    Next Screen (E6),         Get the next page of information.
    Return, Enter, Space
    F10, Ctrl/Z               Exit. (Some utilities define these
                              differently.)
    Help (F15)                Display utility help text.
    Do (F16)                  Toggle the display to oldest/newest
                              page.
    Ctrl/W                    Refresh the display.

    The /PAGE qualifier is not compatible with the /OUTPUT qualifier.

20    /REMAINING

       /REMAINING
       /NOREMAINING (default)

    Includes in the output all records from the first matched record
    to the end of the file. This qualifier overrides the value n2 in
    the /WINDOW qualifier, but allows the qualifier /WINDOW=n1.

21    /SINCE

       /SINCE[=time]

    Selects only those files dated on or after the specified time.
    You can specify time as absolute time, as a combination of
    absolute and delta times, or as one of the following keywords:
    BOOT, JOB_LOGIN, LOGIN, TODAY (default), TOMORROW, or YESTERDAY.
    Specify one of the following qualifiers with the /SINCE qualifier
    to indicate the time attribute to be used as the basis for
    selection: /BACKUP, /CREATED (default), /EXPIRED, or /MODIFIED.

    For complete information on specifying time values, see the
    OpenVMS User's Manual or the online help topic Date.

22    /SKIP

       /SKIP=n (Alpha/Integrity servers Only)

    Skips the first n matches found before outputting match
    information.

23    /STATISTICS

       /STATISTICS[=(keyword,...)]
       /NOSTATSTICS[=(keyword,...)]
       /STATISTICS=SYMBOLS (default)

    Controls whether the following statistics about the search are
    displayed:

    o  Number of files searched

    o  Number of records searched

    o  Number of characters searched

    o  Number of records matched

    o  Number of lines printed

    o  Buffered I/O count

    o  Direct I/O count

    o  Number of page faults

    o  Elapsed CPU time

    o  Elapsed time

    You can use the following keywords with the /STATISTICS
    qualifier:

    Keyword        Explanation

    OUTPUT         Writes the statistics output lines into the
                   output file in addition to the standard SYS$OUTPUT
                   device. The default is /NOSTATISTICS=OUTPUT.
    SYMBOLS        Define symbols to hold statistic values. The
                   default value is /STATISTICS=SYMBOLS. The symbol
                   names are as follows:
                   SEARCH$CHARACTERS_       Displays the number of
                   SEARCHED                 characters searched.
                   SEARCH$FILES_SEARCHED    Displays the number of
                                            files searched.
                   SEARCH$LINES_PRINTED     Displays the number of
                                            lines printed.
                   SEARCH$RECORDS_MATCHED   Displays the number of
                                            records matched.
                   SEARCH$RECORDS_SEARCHED  Displays the number of
                                            records searched.

24    /STYLE

       /STYLE=keyword

    Specifies the file name format for display purposes.

    The valid keywords for this qualifier are CONDENSED and EXPANDED.
    Descriptions are as follows:

    Keyword     Explanation

    CONDENSED   Displays the file name representation of what is
    (default)   generated to fit into a 255-length character string.
                This file name may contain a DID or FID abbreviation
                in the file specification.
    EXPANDED    Displays the file name representation of what is
                stored on disk. This file name does not contain any
                DID or FID abbreviations.

    The keywords CONDENSED and EXPANDED are mutually exclusive. This
    qualifier specifies which file name format is displayed in the
    output message, along with the confirmation if requested.

    File errors are displayed with the CONDENSED file specification
    unless the EXPANDED keyword is specified.

    See the OpenVMS User's Manual for more information.

25    /SYMLINK

       /SYMLINK=keyword

    The valid keywords for this qualifier are [NO]WILDCARD and
    [NO]ELLIPSIS. Descriptions are as follows:

    Keyword     Explanation

    WILDCARD    Indicates that symlinks are enabled during wildcard
                searches.
    NOWILDCARD  Indicates that symlinks are disabled during directory
                wildcard searches.
    ELLIPSIS    Equivalent to WILDCARD (included for command
                symmetry).
    NOELLIPSIS  Indicates that symlinks are matched for all wildcard
                fields except for ellipsis.

    If the file named in the SEARCH command is a symlink, the command
    operates on the symlink target.

26    /WARNINGS

       /WARNINGS (default)
       /NOWARNINGS

    Allows or disallows the following messages to be displayed when
    search operations are performed:

       NOMATCHES
       TRUNCATE
       NULLFILE

27    /WILDCARD_MATCHING

       /WILDCARD_MATCHING[=keyword] (Alpha/Integrity servers Only)

    Specifies that the following characters in the search string are
    to be interpreted as wildcard characters:

       asterisk (*) - Accept any number of unspecified characters in
       this position when searching for a match.

       percent sign (%) - Accept any single character in this
       position when searching for a match.

    The optional keyword can be either of the following:

       RELAXED (default) - Automatically appends asterisks to the
       beginning and end of the string to be searched.

       STRICT - Performs a narrow search based on the exact search
       string with no appended asterisks. An entire record must match
       the criteria specified for the wildcarded search.

                                   NOTE

       You cannot specify /WILDCARD_MATCHING with /HIGHLIGHT. An
       error will occur.

28    /WINDOW

       /WINDOW[=(n1,n2)]
       /NOWINDOW (default)

    Specifies the number of lines to be displayed with the search
    string.

    If you specify n1 and n2, the /WINDOW qualifier displays n1 lines
    above the search string, the search string, and n2 lines below
    the search string. Either of these numbers can be zero.

    If you specify the /WINDOW qualifier without the values n1 and
    n2, two lines above the search string, the search string, and the
    two lines below the search string are included in the output.

    If you specify the /WINDOW qualifier with a single number (n1),
    n1 specifies the number of lines to display including the search
    string. Half the lines precede the matched search string and
    half follow it. (If n1 is even, one line is added to the lines
    following the matched search string.)

    For example, if you specify /WINDOW=10, nine additional lines
    are listed along with the line containing the search string. Four
    lines are listed above the line containing the search string and
    five lines are listed below it, for a total of 10 lines.

    If you specify /WINDOW=0, the file name of each file containing
    a match (but no records) is included in the output. This
    specification creates a file (using the /OUTPUT qualifier) that
    can be inserted into a command file to manipulate the files
    containing matches.

    If you omit the /WINDOW qualifier, only the line containing a
    match is displayed.

    The /WINDOW qualifier displays a line of 30 asterisks to separate
    each window within a file.

29    /WRAP

       /WRAP
       /NOWRAP (default)

    Use with the /PAGE=SAVE qualifier to limit the number of columns
    to the width of the screen and to wrap lines that extend beyond
    the width of the screen to the next line.

    The /NOWRAP qualifier extends lines beyond the width of the
    screen and can be seen when you use the scrolling (left and
    right) features provided by the /PAGE=SAVE qualifier.
Close Help