RALF - Restricted Access to Locked Files.

RALF is a utility that provides read access to files that have been opened by another user in exclusive mode. It bypasses RMS to circumvent the exclusive RMS lock, using direct $QIO calls to the File ACP.

Current version

The current release of RALF is 2.4. To find out what version you currently have click here.

RALF currently can only be used by privileged users (SYSPRV) as this privilege is required to override the Files-11 lock that RMS also takes out on the file (contact the developers if you are interested in providing the functionality to nonprivileged users).

RALF Facilities

RALF is provided as a set of API calls that open and read files that are locked by another user, allowing you to incorporate the functionality into your own application. In addition, a standalone PEEK program is provided which calls RALF routines to implement a TYPE-like DCL command to read locked files. There is also a FILEINFO program that returns information about a locked file.

Supported Platforms

RALF runs on OpenVMS VAX (5.5-2 through 7.3), OpenVMS Alpha (tested on 8.4, but should work on 7.x), OpenVMS IA64 (8.4) and OpenVMS X86 V9.1

Documentation and Sources

RALF comes with full sources and documentation (and no formal support). The routines are written in Macro-32, and are provided in both object library (.OLB) and shareable image (.EXE) form. Documentation is provided in text, HTML, Postscript and PDF. The product is installed with VMSINSTAL, and the kit will provide files for all three architectures.

Developers

RALF was implemented by Peter Coghlan and Tom Wade.

Please read the conditions of use here before downloading

Download RALF

View RALF documentation online

Download UNZIP for Alpha

Download UNZIP for VAX

Download UNZIP for IA64

Download UNZIP for X86

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