Re: Tramp and VMS - I know it doesn't work but...

[Nelson E. Ingersoll]

Michael Albinus wrote:
> "Nelson E. Ingersoll" <address@hidden> writes:
> 
>>    I understand that TRAMP will not work with VMS.  I can live with
>> that.  What I do have a problem with is when I tell TRAMP to get out of
>> the way and let me use ANGE-FTP it doesn't really get out of the way.
>>
>> Following TRAMP's documentation I have put
>>
>>          (setq tramp-default-method "ftp")
>>
>> into my .emacs file.  I then try something like
>>
>>      /address@hidden:WORK/MYDIR/MYFILE.TXT
>>
>> and get a TRAMP error like
>>
>> "tramp-dissect-file-name: Not a tramp file name: /DISK$USERDISK:/USERNAME/"
> 
> That's an interesting constellation. Because of the "ftp" default
> method, Tramp passes it's function calls to Ange-FTP, and connects
> vmssystem via FTP. You should see it in a corresponding buffer *ftp
> address@hidden But then it expands your local file to the VMS
> notation "/DISK$USERDISK:/USERNAME/", which _looks_ like a remote file
> name again. It tries to expand it, and fails.

   Yes.  That is what I am seeing.

> 
>> The documentation appears to be in error by suggesting that one is not
>> using TRAMP.  I am specifically referring to the WEB pages at
>> http://www.gnu.org/software/tramp/ and "8 Frequently Asked
>> Questions"/"How can I disable tramp?".
> 
> There are 2 recommendations. The first one is setting
> `tramp-default-method´ to "ftp". This way Tramp is not disabled, but
> all work is passed to Ange-FTP.
> 

   I did this, as noted in my original message, and received the
tramp-dissect-file-name error.

> Disabling Tramp completely shall be achieved by the second
> recommendation "M-x tramp-unload-tramp". You might try this in case
> you want to apply only Ange-FTP.

   After looking at the Ange-FTP lisp code I found in the EmacsW32
(22.0) distribution I question that this recommendation will work.
Simply because, at least in that distribution, Ange-FTP has been
seriously gutted with much functionality now apparently assigned to
Tramp.  Specifically in ange-ftp.el I saw all the file-name parsing code
commented out with a note that Tramp now performs those functions for
Ange-FTP.

   Guess I'm stuck using Emacs 21.3.  <sigh>  Unless I can hack Tramp
into working with OpenVMS at one level or another.  That will probably
not happen as I have only a minor understanding of Lisp.  I couldn't
even figure out how to hack Ange-FTP into UPPER-casing all filenames
when working with VMS.  Of course, to be a little kind to myself, I only
browsed the code once and briefly at that.

- Nelson

> 
>> Thank you for your attention.
>>
>> Nelson Ingersoll
>>
>> PS - I thought this was a closed email list.  How come there is so much
>> garbage now?  Is there a way I can help the list?  I act as a filter for
>> the pilot-db mailing list and daily cull garbage from the list using
>> SourceForge's maillist manager page.  I've been doing it for at least 2
>> years.
> 
> This mailing list is not a closed one in the sense that only
> subscribers are allowed to submit messages. The list is used for bug
> reports, so it cannot be closed.
> 
> A moderation of the list has been discussed already (see
> http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/tramp-devel/2006-07/msg00180.html). Until
> now, there is no volunteer to moderate the list. If you would like to
> do such a job, you're welcome!
>
> Best regards, Michael.