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From: sommar@enea.UUCP.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: SET MESSAGE/LANGAUGE
Message-ID: <8703252118.AA20255@enea.se>
Date: Thu, 26-Mar-87 16:37:51 EST
Article-I.D.: enea.8703252118.AA20255
Posted: Thu Mar 26 16:37:51 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Mar-87 05:26:44 EST
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If you use Joe Meadows' splendid utility VERB to get the syntax for the
command SET MESSAGE you will find a qualifier /LANGUAGE. However, trying
SET LANGUAGE=GERMAN has no effect.
  To a message definition in the source file to the MESSAGE compiler 
you can add /LANGUAGE=GERMAN (for instance). 
  Furthermore, extract the macro $MREC_DEF from the library 
SYS$LIBRARY:LIB.MAR. This macro describes in some way the records in 
a executable message file such as SYSMSG.EXE. (Actually, I learnt of 
this macro from the source code of another splendid utility of Joe's, 
UNMESSAGE.) Here you will find the constants MREC$C_ENGLISH, MREC$C_GERMAN 
and MREC$C_FRENCH. There are also pointers to the fields in the message 
records. (At least I guess they are). And among MREC$B_IDENT and 
MREC$B_FAOCNT you will also find MREC$B_LANG. (Pardon me, if all the MREC 
names aren't 100% correct.)

Now, do anyone know the background to this? Apparently DEC have made
preparations for a multi-lingual environment, such as AT&T is planning
for Unix. Is it anything that will appear in the future (V5?) or is it
just something that was planned, but canceled? I recall that the 
/LANGUAGE qualifier was present in V3 too.