OpenVMS Screen & Forms Modernization (ACMS, DECForms, FMS, SMG)

• 100% compatible FDV$ API implementation
• Support for VT terminals and DECterm
• User Action Routines (UARs) for interactive events
• Full form compilation to binary runtime

SMG$ provides comprehensive terminal compatibility across all major Linux distributions through its OpenVMS-compatible screen management implementation. It automatically detects and adapts to different terminal types, from modern GUI terminals to traditional console interfaces, ensuring consistent behavior across Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, and other distributions. The SMG$ terminal abstraction layer handles terminal capability detection and adaptation, while SMG$INIT_TERM_TABLE and SMG$INIT_TERM_TABLE_BY_TYPE routines configure appropriate terminal characteristics for optimal display control and user interaction.

Yes, SMG$ applications integrate seamlessly with modern Linux desktop environments while maintaining their OpenVMS terminal-based interface design. Applications run in standard terminal emulators like GNOME Terminal, KDE Konsole, or xterm, providing familiar keyboard shortcuts and copy/paste functionality. SMG$ handles terminal capability detection automatically, ensuring proper display rendering across different terminal types. For organizations requiring enhanced integration, contact our technical team at contact us to discuss custom desktop integration solutions and user interface modernization options.

SMG$ provides extensive international character set support through its wide character display functions including SMG$PUT_CHARS_WIDE, SMG$PUT_CHARS_HIGHWIDE, and SMG$PUT_LINE_WIDE. These routines handle Unicode characters, multi-byte character sets, and various international encoding schemes while preserving OpenVMS application logic. SMG$ automatically adapts to Linux locale settings and terminal encoding configurations, ensuring proper display of international text without requiring application modifications. This makes SMG$ ideal for global organizations migrating OpenVMS applications that serve international users or process multilingual data.

SMG$ delivers comprehensive keyboard input and interaction capabilities through virtual keyboard management and input processing routines. It supports function key handling, special key sequences, and programmable key definitions via SMG$NAME_TO_KEYCODE and SMG$KEYCODE_TO_NAME. The system provides both immediate keystroke reading with SMG$READ_KEYSTROKE and full line input with SMG$READ_STRING and SMG$READ_COMPOSED_LINE. SMG$ also handles input cancellation, type-ahead buffering, and out-of-band processing, ensuring complete compatibility with OpenVMS keyboard interaction patterns across all supported Linux platforms.

SMG$ integrates seamlessly with the complete VX/RT ecosystem to provide comprehensive OpenVMS application migration capabilities. It works closely with VX/DCL for command line interfaces, RMS$ for record management, and SYS$ services for system integration. SMG$ applications can utilize QIO$ for device I/O operations while maintaining their screen management functionality. This integration ensures that complex OpenVMS applications with mixed terminal interfaces, file processing, and system calls can be migrated as complete solutions. Learn more about VX component integration with our VX/DCL technical documentation.

VX/DECFORMS provides a comprehensive implementation of DEC's OpenVMS DECforms, offering exact emulation that preserves form management and functionality across platforms. The solution compiles IFDL (Interactive Forms Definition Language) into C++ logic subroutines that mirror the original IFDL flow, ensuring 100% functional emulation where users cannot distinguish between migrated screens and original OpenVMS DECforms.

This breakthrough technology eliminates the barriers that previously made DECforms migration impractical, enabling organizations to modernize their legacy applications while maintaining complete compatibility. To explore how VX/DECFORMS can transform your migration project, contact our experts.

The IFDL compiler translates Interactive Forms Definition Language files into C++ subroutines, converting IFDL verbs into C++ classes that retain the same names and attributes as the original.

The migration process requires no changes to application programs - once form descriptions are updated, applications automatically utilize the new forms through the runtime system.

VX/DECFORMS retains all advanced features of the original OpenVMS DECforms system, including scrolled areas, named data, overlapping forms, 132-character mode, help forms, and user-defined routines (UARs). The system supports double-width and double-height characters, providing comprehensive display capabilities that match the original functionality.

For applications requiring full VMS integration, VX/DECFORMS works seamlessly with VX/RT, Sector7's runtime support libraries for Linux. Companies like OM Technology have successfully implemented similar comprehensive migration strategies for complex legacy systems.

VX/DECFORMS utilities support multiple programming languages including Fortran, C, COBOL, and VX/BASIC, providing the necessary procedures to adapt VMS descriptors for modern platform integration.

User Escapes (PUEs) are custom routines written in any DEC-supported programming language that are tied to forms and fields during creation. The Form Driver automatically triggers these procedures in several scenarios: after field processing, before and after help requests, when function keys are pressed, and during screen refresh operations.

PUEs in VX/DECFORMS behave identically to those in original OpenVMS DECForms, with added flexibility. The IFDL compiler converts the IFDL into maintainable C++ code, allowing direct linking of external routines into the compiled IFDL for greater control over form interactions.

VX/DECFORMS delivers 100% functional emulation with complete preservation of DECforms functionality, ensuring users cannot distinguish between migrated screens and original OpenVMS versions. The solution eliminates vendor lock-in while maintaining all advanced display features including character attributes (reverse video, bold, blinking, underlined text), line attributes (double-width/height characters), and screen-width attributes supporting both 80-column and 132-column modes.

Organizations benefit from seamless migration without application program changes, built-in C-based terminal drivers that provide high portability without external dependencies, and support for VT100 special graphics and line-drawing characters. The Form Driver handles efficient terminal input/output with field-based and full-form capabilities.

Leading organizations like BGC Partners have successfully modernized critical systems using similar comprehensive migration approaches. To discover how VX/DECFORMS can preserve your DECforms investment while enabling platform modernization, contact our migration specialists.

VX/ACMS is a comprehensive migration tool that translates OpenVMS ACMS applications (ADF, MDF, GDF, and TDF files) into C++ while maintaining a runtime environment that mirrors the original VMS/OpenVMS ACMS functionality. This enables seamless execution of ACMS applications on Linux without requiring a transaction monitor.

The tool preserves legacy workflows while ensuring compatibility with modern environments, making it ideal for organizations looking to modernize their ACMS applications. To discuss your ACMS migration requirements, contact us.

VX/ACMS translates ACMS files into C++ while preserving the original logic and structure. The process can be used as a one-time conversion or integrated into continuous integration workflows for automated builds.

Yes, VX/ACMS preserves the step-based processing approach that many users value, ensuring execution flow remains within a single compiled executable while maintaining the integrity of ACMS workflows.

VX/ACMS converts MDF (Menu Definition Files) into C-style menu structures that closely mimic MANU/TASK definitions. These menus can be displayed in VX/DECFORMS or processed into standard console-based menu systems, ensuring legacy ACMS menus function identically within the Linux runtime.

Organizations like Telstra have successfully modernized similar legacy interface systems during their platform migrations.

VX/ACMS supports all TDF control statements including IF THEN ELSE, WHILE DO, SELECT FIRST TRUE, CONTROL FIELD, and GOTO, maintaining nearly identical structure to the original TDF logic.

VX/ACMS preserves the original ACMS commit/rollback structure but delegates actual transaction management to Oracle or other modern transaction managers. The tool supports dynamic linking for procedure servers using Linux equivalents (dlopen and dlsym), ensuring compiled ACMS procedures behave identically to their VMS counterparts.

This approach maintains familiar ACMS commands while leveraging modern database transaction capabilities for improved reliability and performance.

VX/ACMS eliminates the need for transaction monitors while preserving legacy workflows, integrates seamlessly with VX/DECFORMS, and provides execution of ACMS applications in a single compiled executable. This approach reduces infrastructure complexity and eliminates vendor lock-in.

The tool ensures minimal code changes during migration, making it easier to maintain familiar development processes while gaining the benefits of modern Linux environments. Companies like SEB have successfully modernized their legacy systems using similar migration approaches.

For organizations ready to modernize their ACMS applications while maintaining operational continuity, contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

VX/FMS provides a native call-compatible implementation of OpenVMS Forms Management System for Linux platforms. It enables OpenVMS applications to define, generate, and manage native FMS Forms on both x86 and ARM Linux systems.

This solution allows organizations to preserve their existing OpenVMS forms-based applications while migrating to modern Linux infrastructure. To discuss how VX/FMS can support your specific migration requirements, contact our team.

VX/FMS offers full compatibility with OpenVMS FDL$ APIs, supports file structure definition and parsing, and maintains OpenVMS file structure semantics on Linux.

Yes, VX/FMS provides comprehensive support for FDV$ APIs including display operations, terminal handling, file management, and workspace allocation functions.

VX/FMS preserves OpenVMS capability while enabling direct porting of applications without major modifications, minimizing development costs and preserving productivity.

VX/FMS seamlessly integrates into the VX/RT ecosystem for comprehensive OpenVMS compatibility on Linux. This integration provides a complete migration platform that handles forms, APIs, and system calls together.

Organizations like SEB have successfully leveraged integrated migration approaches to modernize their legacy systems while preserving critical functionality.

VX/FMS maintains the complete OpenVMS forms workflow including structure generation, parsing, display operations, and user interaction handling. The solution preserves terminal management functions, screen operations, and file channel management exactly as they work in OpenVMS.

This comprehensive approach ensures that complex forms-based applications continue to operate with identical behavior on Linux platforms.

VX/FMS delivers seamless migration of forms-based applications with preserved functionality and consistent behavior. Organizations eliminate vendor lock-in while modernizing their infrastructure to Linux platforms.

The solution reduces development costs by avoiding application rewrites and maintains productivity through familiar forms management capabilities. Companies like Shaw Industries have successfully modernized their manufacturing systems using similar migration strategies.

Ready to explore how VX/FMS can modernize your forms-based applications? Contact us to discuss your specific requirements.