/VOLUME_CHARACTERISTICS=([[NO]HARDLINKS,] [[NO]ACCESS_
       DATES[=delta-time]])

    Enables or disables hardlinks and automatic updates of access
    dates on ODS-5 volumes.

    To limit the performance impact if a file is accessed frequently,
    you can suppress update of the access time if the change is
    small. A delta time is used to determine when a new access time
    is significant. The default value for delta-time is 1 second,
    chosen to comply with the "seconds since EPOCH" time interface
    required by POSIX st_atime. A site can choose a larger delta time
    to reduce overhead if 1-second granularity is not required.

    To disable access date support on a volume, use the SET
    VOLUME/VOLUME_CHARACTERISTICS=NOACCESS_DATES command. This
    command affects only the node on which the command is issued.
    Other nodes are not affected by the change until the next time
    the volume is mounted.

    For additional information about ODS-5 volumes, see the Guide to
    OpenVMS File Applications and to the sections about File Service
    Extensions in the OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3-1 New Features and
    Documentation Overview. This archived manual is on the OpenVMS
    documentation Web site:

    http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/doc

    Click on "Archived documents" in the left sidebar to link to this
    manual.