3.2 Error on VAX/VMS: APP-DEFAULTS FILE NOT FOUND

Problem

When invoking MATLAB, the user gets the warning :

LATEST VERSION OF APP-DEFAULTS FILE "MATLAB" NOT FOUND

Solution

DECWindows does not have access to MATLAB:[APP-DEFAULTS]MATLAB.DAT and DECW$XKEYSYMDB.DAT.

DECW$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS:

To make MATLAB:[APP-DEFAULTS]MATLAB.DAT and DECW$XKEYSYMDB.DAT available to DECWindows, the user must either copy the files to a directory on the DECWindows defaults search path, or place the MATLAB:[APP-DEFAULTS] directory on the search path.

To add the MATLAB:[APP-DEFAULTS] directory to the search path, have the system manager add the following line to SYS$MANAGER:SYLOGIN.COM, or have the user add it to SYS$LOGIN:LOGIN.COM

DEFINE DECW$USER_DEFAULTS SYS$LOGIN:, MATLAB:[APP-DEFAULTS]

To put the files in a directory on the DECWindows defaults search path, we recommended that the files be copied to SYS$COMMON:[DECW$DEFAULTS.USER]. The following is a brief discussion of the way VMS uses logicals for the DECWindows defaults search path so the user can choose the best directory for his or her environment.

DECWindows defaults search path:

DECWindows uses two search paths to look for app-default files, like MATLAB.DAT and DECW$XKEYSYMDB.DAT. These search lists are defined by the logical names DECW$USER_DEFAULTS and DECW$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS. For a standard VMS installation, these logicals are defined as:

"DECW$USER_DEFAULTS"    = "SYS$LOGIN:"
"DECW$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS"  = 
                  "SYS$SYSROOT:[DECW$DEFAULTS.USER]"
                = "SYS$SYSROOT:[DECW$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM]"
                = "SYS$LIBRARY:"

Since these definitions use other logical names, additional translation is required to understand the path that will eventually be searched. The translation continues as follows:

"SYS$LOGIN"             = "DISK$USER:[SMITH]"
"SYS$SYSROOT"           = "DKA200:[SYS0.]"
                        = "SYS$COMMON:"
"SYS$LIBRARY"           = "SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSLIB]"
"SYS$COMMON"            = "DKA200:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.]"

Putting this all together, the resultant search list becomes:

DISK$USER:[SMITH]
DKA200:[SYS0.][DECW$DEFAULTS.USER]
DKA200:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][DECW$DEFAULTS.USER]
DKA200:[SYS0.][DECW$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM]
DKA200:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][DECW$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM]
DKA200:[SYS0.][SYSLIB]
DKA200:[SYS0.SYSCOMMON.][SYSLIB]

This list is searched in top-down order. As soon as the file being looked for is found, the search stops.