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

    1.$ SHOW SYMBOL PURGE
        PURGE = "PURGE/KEEP=2"

      The SHOW SYMBOL command in this example displays the current
      value of the symbol name PURGE. The command interpreter first
      searches the local symbol table for the current command level,
      then local symbol tables for preceding command levels, and
      finally the global symbol table. The single equal sign (=)
      following PURGE means it is a local symbol.

    2.$ SHOW SYMBOL/GLOBAL/ALL
        TIME == "SHOW TIME"
        LOG == "@LOG"
        $RESTART == "FALSE"
        $SEVERITY == "1"
        $STATUS == "%X00000001"

      The SHOW SYMBOL command in this example displays all the
      symbols defined in the global symbol table. Note that the
      symbols $RESTART, $SEVERITY, and $STATUS, which are maintained
      by the system, are also displayed.

    3.$ SHOW SYMBOL/LOCAL TIME
      %DCL-W-UNDSYM, undefined symbol

      The SHOW SYMBOL command in this example searches only the local
      symbol table for the symbol TIME. The response indicates that
      TIME currently has no value.