MACALLSTR@vax1.physics.oxford.ac.UK (08/03/88)
In the DCL CONCEPTS manual ( Vol 1b of the VMS 4.7 set and page 3-3 ) it states
" ... You can use the following characters in file names and file types ...
...
Dollar sign (reserved for special use by DIGITAL)"
This is one indication of the special status of "$" in names.
To preserve a "consistent appearance" for symbols and names it is often
sensible to use "$" , however , in logical names, etc. but care should be
taken to avoid clashes with standard VMS names by, for example, giving
all your defined names a local flavour e.g. localname$xxxxxxx .
Can you find a 'standard VMS' logical name WITHOUT a "$" in it ( apart from
those such as TT, LB, etc which are remnants of PDP-11 days )? Think of
LNM$... , SYS$..., etc. Cluster device names are node$device, etc.
It looks as if you can expect standard software to throw up names with "$" !
I hope these comments are useful , especially to new system managers who are
probably spending some effort on setting up useful logical name,etc schemes.
John