Conference vaxaxp::vmsnotes

Why?  It is such a nice feature.

There's at least two features going on here.  The DCL command line recall and
the terminal driver line editting mode.  SET TERMINAL /NOLINE_EDITING disables
the latter.  DCL will continue to recall command lines.  The RECALL /ERASE
command erases the contents of the recall buffer.

Per-process is not good thinking.  Multiple processes can share a terminal. 
Per-terminal is probably what you meant.

Once an image is running, the DCL recall no longer comes into play.  Any program
can supress the terminal line edit function in a variety of ways.

    Thanks for the info. As for the per-process bit, maybe per-user would
    have been a better choice of words.

:    Thanks for the info. As for the per-process bit, maybe per-user would
:    have been a better choice of words.

   Disable (or reprogram) the arrow keys on the keyboard?  :-)
   Downgrade to VMS V3.x?  :-)

   Seriously, I'm going to climb *way* out on a limb, and guess that
   the real customer question here involves the behaviour of the DCL
   INQUIRE verb.  If so, switch over to READ.

   If I've climbed out on the wrong limb, please tell us exactly what
   the customer is up to...  (I've seen very few requests for disabling
   command line recall over the years -- most folks want to incorporate
   command line recall into their programs; folks often end up using a 
   few basic SMG calls to add command line recall into an application.)

    In all honesity, I think he is a power hunger system manager. His night
    shift operator caused havoc by carelessly hitting the up arrow and
    re-running an application 3 or 4 times and it caused the system manager
    much grief. He wants to disable this function for the operator account
    only. Right or wrong, good motive or bad, the system manager is still
    my customer. I do not mind telling him it is not possible if this is
    the truth. However, if it is possible, I owe him an honest answer.
    Thanks for your time and interest.
    Jim

    I'm tempted to say that the application in question needs fixing.. ($ for
    us there ?)   ..of course anything is possible and we could certainly
    disable ^B for a given USERNAME (over in Hackers) if that is what will
    make this Customer Happiest!
    
    John.

    re .4           
    
    As a dubious solution, try putting @TT in the LOGIN.COM for the
    operator after everything else in the LOGIN.COM that is needed has been
    done.
    
    I don't think that there is a (supported) way of achieving what the
    customer is actually asking for viz. disable command recall. [It is
    strange that one can't do this so perhaps the customer should ask for
    it.]

    Perhaps the site should consider a captive account for the operators.
    There are various tools that provide either character cell or GUI for
    common operator/system manager functions or you could knock up something
    adequate in DCL if the operator's function is fairly limited.

    Thank you very much for your reply. As for 'no supported way' to disable
    command recall, it is understandable that no one would have asked for
    it since command recall is a really nice feature. However, sooner or
    later, at least one person will want to disable/change every feature on
    the system. 
    Jim

re .7
    
> since command recall is a really nice feature
    
    Yes, it's hard to believe that we used to survive without it (and
    cut and paste on window terminals etc.).

:However, if it is possible, I owe him an honest answer.

  An inept or malicious user can wreak havoc without the recall buffer...
  And an inept or malicious privileged user can wreak havoc without limit.