Actually, in VMS (as well as in RSX), ;-1 means the oldest version available. I think you only have ;-1 and ;0 which are special. Can't speak for RSX's problems, but for VMS none of this is true. ----- $ create foo.txt one ^Z $ create foo.txt two ^Z $ create foo.txt three ^Z $ dir foo.txt Directory USERS:[BOB] FOO.TXT;3 1/80 22-SEP-2009 18:52:28.94 [BOB] (RWED,RWED,RWED,RE) FOO.TXT;2 1/80 22-SEP-2009 18:52:26.34 [BOB] (RWED,RWED,RWED,RE) FOO.TXT;1 1/80 22-SEP-2009 18:52:21.09 [BOB] (RWED,RWED,RWED,RE) Total of 3 files, 3/240 blocks. $ type foo.txt;1 one $ type foo.txt;0 three $ type foo.txt three $ type foo.txt; three $ type foo.txt;-1 two $ type foo.txt;-2 one $ type foo.txt;-3 %TYPE-W-SEARCHFAIL, error searching for USERS:[BOB]FOO.TXT;-3 -RMS-E-FNF, file not found $ type foo.txt;-0 one ------- Give it a try for yourself (there are lots of VMS systems on HECnet!). Bob