Getting a program to move off an EXFMT (or READ) without using INVITE

Hi chaps,

Is there a way (API or set of APIs) that allow you to move a program from an
EXFMT without requiring the device to send data? I am aware of the INVITE
keyword, but for many reasons I do not want to use it.

Currently, I have written some software that allows me to refresh the screen
whenever I need to, but I would like a more gracious way to do it..

It works like this (simplified):

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
init - enable signals, set a handler sub-proc for sigalarm signals.

dou f key pressed or whatever

prepare the screen (load subfile, etc)

call sub-proc to set an alarm in 1 second (send a signal via a call to
alarm() )
exfmt(e) the screen
call sub-proc to disable the alarm (call alarm(0) )

if %error and sds_excpid = MY_ALARM_ERROR
close display file
open display file
endif

process F keys

process entered data

enddo


The handler sub-proc checks some values and if the screen requires
refreshing it sends an *ESCAPE message to the program - this pops the screen
off the exfmt(e) and resets the screen - nothing pressed/ entered so the
screen loop causes the screen to be rebuilt and redisplayed. If it is not
necessary to re-display the screen the sub-proc sets the alarm to go in
another second, as so on...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------


The benefit of this is that I only refresh the screen if something changes
before the user presses a valid F key or presses Enter. So in most cases it
is just like any normal screen process. However, I just don't like having to
use an *ESCAPE message to pop the screen off the EXFMT. The program still
thinks the device is waiting for input so I can't write to the display file
without closing and re-opening it - major drawback. Mostly it doesn't matter
because this technique would only be used on front-end screens anyway. It
does work like a charm though. The screens refresh really well, but only
when they need to. A guy here has written a cool demo chat application based
on it - google chat in RPG - who'd have thunk it! :-)


So, any ideas if there is a workstation API that will knock the program off
the EXFMT without putting the display file or device into an error state?

Your help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Larry Ducie