VMS Help PASCAL, Input Output, General, OPEN, Record Length  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

  The 'record-length' is a positive  integer  that  specifies  the
  maximum  size  in  bytes  for a line in a TEXT file or a file of
  type  FILE  OF  VARYING.   ("Record"  length  is  equivalent  to
  "component"  length.)  The  default is 255 bytes.  For all other
  types of files, Compaq Pascal ignores this parameter.

  If you do not specify a length  for  an  existing  file,  Compaq
  Pascal uses the length specified at the file's creation.

  If you use OPEN to create a  sequentially  organized  file  with
  variable-length  components,  Compaq  Pascal records the maximum
  length of each component in the file only if you specify a value
  for the record_type field.