ODS-2 builds on most platforms using the make utility.

Most of the make logic is in makefile.generic, which is
included by a platform-specific makefile.

The platform-specific files are:
  makefile.unix      -- Most Unix/Linux platforms
  makefile.solaris   -- Solaris
  makefile.tru64     -- Tru64/DEC OSF/1
  makefile.nt        -- Windows NT

Select the appropriate platform file & review the definitions.

The easiest way to build ODS-2 is to softlink Makefile to
the platform file.  For example:
    ln -s makefile.unix Makefile
    make clean && make

Alternatively, the following equivalent command can be used:
    make -f makefile.unix clean && make -f makefile.unix

If your make doesn't support the "include" directive, you
can run makefile.generic manually.  Instructions are in that file.

Copy the resulting object file to a convenient location on your path,
e.g. /usr/local/bin on unix, or add the build directory to the PATH
environment variable on windows.

If you need different definitions for another platform, please
add a new platform-specific file rather than changing makefile.generic.

On VMS, you can use the DCL command procedure build.com to build
with DECC or GCC, with
   $ @build

build.com will automatically select decc,vaxc or gcc.

If you have MMS/mmk, use descrip.mms, with
  $ mmk
To build with VAXC
  $ mmk/macro=vaxc=1