1.7 Recalling Command Lines Using the Recall Buffer

You have just used the editing control keys to edit a command line before you pressed Return to execute it. Many times, however, you will find that you want to edit command lines after you have executed them to correct a mistake or add qualifiers, for instance. DCL provides you a way to recall previous command lines so that you can edit them.

DCL saves the last several commands (up to 20 and 254 on OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS Alpha systems, respectively) you have entered during the session in a place in memory called the Recall buffer. The Recall buffer stores the command lines as a stack, with the most recent command line on top. You can retrieve command lines from this buffer in several ways.

You can press either Ctrl/B or the Up Arrow key to see the most recently entered command line. For example, suppose the last command you entered was DIRECTORY/FULL. To display that command line again, you would press Ctrl/B or the Up Arrow keys. Both keys achieve the same result: The last command line is redisplayed. Once the command line is displayed, you can edit it.

If you wanted to see the command line that preceded DIRECTORY/FULL, you could press Ctrl/B or the Up Arrow again. By repeatedly pressing either of these keys, you can redisplay the last several command lines, which are stored in the Recall buffer, one at a time. Pressing the Down Arrow key...