Re: Programming Command - CMD

Fiona/Dare,

>but the only way I can suggest of achieving a promptable list is to have
>the command
>prompt the user if the second parameter is blank - perhaps cued by a
>validity checker pgm ?

No, a VCP is not the solution here.  Bob is right, you can use a CHOICEPGM for
this.  It is documented in the CL Programming manual in the chapter on Defining
Commands.

But choice programs have some serious limitations.  First, there is a finite
number of entries you can return, and a library could *easily* exceed this.

Second, while the list can be auto-scrolled like a subfile by the user, there is
no way to perform anything like a "position to".  Most libraries will have too
many files to realistically want to do via just scrolling.

Third, the list is an output only list which *cannot* let the user perform
selection from the list.  They still must key the parameter value at the top of
the screen.

You can see what it looks like on nearly any command.  Type some command name
and press F4.  Now position the cursor at some keyword with a number of choices
given on the right -- e.g., a bunch of special values like *ALL etc.  With the
cursor in the field, press F4.  The CHOICEPGM can return the verbage to put on
the bottom part of the display.  If there is too much to fit on a single page,
it can be scrolled.  But the user still has to key the desired value at the top.

And the list size is finite, and won't handle all the filenames a library can
hold.

Doug