LLACROIX@carleton.EDU (Les LaCroix) (07/15/88)
In a recent response regarding VMS disk quota overdrafts, Jerry Leichter (LEICHTER-JERRY@CS.YALE.EDU) writes: > The basic rule is simple, if unstated anywhere I could find it: When an > attempt to extend an already-open file exceeds the permanent quota, but is > within the overdraft, the extension is made anyway, and an alternative status > is returned to the caller. I haven't been able to figure out from the > documentation what the status code, or even the severity, of the status > returned (a) from the ACP EXTEND request or (b) from RMS if it receives that > value back form the ACP. The actual behavior is described in detail in section 5.2.1 of the "Guide to Maintaining a VMS System", Volume 2 of the System Management set in the VMS V5 doc set. It's in the previous manual sets somewhere, too, but nowhere convenient for programmers as far as I remember. Briefly, when you try to extend an already open file, the extend operation FAILS, returning SS$_EXDISKQUOTA (hex 03EC). To use the overdraft, the program must retry the operation. If the retry succeeds, a friendly piece of software will tell you that you're going into your overdraft. The language RTLs, as far as I know, do NOT automatically do the retry. At least that's the way it was with FORTRAN for a long time. The way to tell that you've hit your quota + your overdraft is if you get SS$_EXDISKQUOTA on the retry operation. As Jerry later states, the behavior from the user's point of view depends on how well the program copes. In any event, you cannot open a new file on that disk for writing if you are into your overdraft. Les LaCroix SPSS Inc., 402 Washington, Northfield MN USA 55057-2027 tel 507/663-1205 lacroix%spssnf@carleton.edu (CSnet) lacroix%spssnf.carleton.edu@relay.cs.net (BITNET)