VMS Help READ, Examples  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    1.$ OPEN IN NAMES.DAT
      $ LOOP:
      $ READ/END_OF_FILE=ENDIT IN NAME
         .
         .
         .
      $ GOTO LOOP
      $ ENDIT:
      $ CLOSE IN

      The OPEN command opens the file NAMES.DAT for input and assigns
      it the logical name of IN. The READ command reads records from
      the file IN and places the contents into the symbol NAME. The
      READ command specifies the label ENDIT to receive control when
      the last record in the file has been read. The procedure loops
      until all records in the file have been processed.

    2.$ READ/ERROR=READERR/END_OF_FILE=OKAY  MSGFILE  CODE
         .
         .
         .
      $ READERR:
      $ CLOSE MSGFILE
         .
         .
         .
      $ OKAY:
      $ CLOSE MSGFILE
      $ EXIT

      The READ command reads records from the file MSGFILE and
      places the contents into the symbol CODE. The READ command
      also uses the /ERROR and /END_OF_FILE qualifiers to specify
      labels to receive control at the end-of-file (EOF) and on
      error conditions. At the EOF, control is transferred to the
      label OKAY. On other read errors, control is transferred to the
      READERR label.

    3.$ READ SYS$COMMAND  DATA_LINE
      $ WRITE  OUTPUT_FILE  DATA_LINE
         .
         .
         .

      The READ command requests data from the current SYS$COMMAND
      device. If the command procedure containing these lines is
      executed interactively, the command issues a prompt to the
      terminal, accepts a line of data, and equates the data entered
      to the symbol name DATA_LINE.

      Then the WRITE command writes the value of the symbol DATA_LINE
      to the file identified by the logical name OUTPUT_FILE.

    4.$ OPEN/READ INPUT_FILE TRNTO::INVENTORY.DAT
      $ OPEN/APPEND OUTPUT_FILE RECEIVE.DAT
      $ READ INPUT_FILE DATA_LINE
      $ WRITE OUTPUT_FILE DATA_LINE

      The OPEN/READ command opens the file INVENTORY.DAT at the
      remote node TRNTO for reading and assigns it the logical name
      INPUT_FILE. The OPEN/APPEND command opens the file RECEIVE.DAT
      in the current default directory. The READ command requests
      data from the file INVENTORY.DAT at the remote node TRNTO. The
      WRITE command writes the value of the symbol DATA_LINE to the
      end of the local file RECEIVE.DAT.