Extracting files from APLTXT.TLB (VMS Text Library)

[B 9]

Hi! Are there any VMS aficionados here? I'm trying to extract the VT340 terminal soft font for APL from an archive file and have gotten stymied by the Text Library format used by the VMS Librarian. It does not appear that the TLB format is documented anywhere that exists online. Nor have I found any programs I can run on my Unix box to interact with such files. I have examined the file, but whatever compression it is using is beyond my knowledge.

    https://github.com/hackerb9/vt340test/raw/main/vms/apl/apltxt.tlb

Does anyone know anything about this file format?

Thanks!

--B9

[Glen Slick]

If I can manage to get a real or SIMH VAX up and running OpenVMS
configured with TCP/IP I'll see if I can extract the file(s) from
inside of that TLB library.

(I know I have real and/or SIMH VAX systems with OpenVMS configured
with TCP/IP, I just have to find them. It's been a while...)

[B 9]

Thanks, Glen. I’ll gladly accept your help, if you find your real or virtual Vaxen. Here’s the relevant excerpt from KITINSTAL.COM:

$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLCLD                 /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL.CLD                    VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLHLP1                /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL.HLP_1                  VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLVT220080FNT         /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$VT220_FONT.FNT         VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLVT240132FNT         /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$VT240_FONT_132.FNT     VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLVT320080FNT         /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$VT320_FONT.FNT         VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLVT320132FNT         /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$VT320_FONT_132.FNT     VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLVT330080FNT         /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$VT330_FONT.FNT         VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLVT330132FNT         /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$VT330_FONT_132.FNT     VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLEXEFDL              /OUT=VMI$KWD:APLEXE.FDL                 VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLIMAGESDAT           /OUT=VMI$KWD:APLIMAGES.DAT              VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLFILESDAT            /OUT=VMI$KWD:APLFILES.DAT               VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLSTARTUPCOM          /OUT=VMI$KWD:APL$STARTUP.COM            VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLSYSOBJ              /OUT=VMI$KWD:APLSYS.OBJ                 VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=APLDISPOBJ             /OUT=VMI$KWD:APLDISP.OBJ                VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=PCDRIVEROBJ            /OUT=VMI$KWD:PCDRIVER.OBJ               VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=PCLOADERCOM            /OUT=VMI$KWD:PCLOADER.COM               VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=REMOVEVTAAAS           /OUT=VMI$KWD:REMOVE_VTA.AAS             VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=SMGAAS                 /OUT=VMI$KWD:SMG.AAS                    VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=GKSAAS                 /OUT=VMI$KWD:GKS.AAS                    VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=UISLOADFONTAPLCOM      /OUT=VMI$KWD:UIS$LOAD_FONT_APL.COM      VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB
$ LIBRARIAN/TEXT/EXTRACT=VAXAPLHLP              /OUT=VMI$KWD:VAXAPL.HLP                 VMI$KWD:APLTXT.TLB

I am still hoping that someone knows a way I could do it on my UNIX box in the future.

—B9

P.S. I’ve found a manual which describes the VMS Library file structure in broad terms, the VMS Utility Routines Manual. It includes a Pascal program to extract a file (EXTRACTMOD) and a description of the first 32 longwords in LBR$GET_HEADER. Unfortunately, it may be for an older format as it doesn’t mention the /COMPRESS option.

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[Glen Slick]

I dug out my KA660 VAX, which does currently have an OpenVMS V7.3
installation on disk, but currently doesn't have TCP/IP installed.
I'll have to hook up a CD-ROM drive and get TCP/IP installed, and then
I can FTP the APLTXT.TLB file to it, then use LIB to extract the .FNT
files, and then FTP the extracted files back from it.

I don't have time to finish that tonight, I'll try to get it done tomorrow.