NOTE subcommand — generate a message

Use the NOTE subcommand to direct messages to the IPCSPRNT data set, IPCSPDS data set, your terminal, or all three, and to control spacing and pagination.

The maximum length of the message depends on its destination:
  • Terminal display: The message is truncated to 250 characters.
  • Print output data set: The message is truncated to the data set's logical record length, minus 5.
  • Print output partitioned data set: The message is truncated to the data set’s logical record length, minus 5.

Thus, a message may be truncated to a different length for each destination.

NOTE directs the message to the IPCSPRNT data set, IPCSPDS data set, your terminal, or all three, depending on the PRINT, PDS, and TERMINAL parameters. If you omit the PRINT, PDS, and TERMINAL parameters, NOTE uses the current local defaults for these parameters.

You can also assign a message severity level, which determines whether the message is sent to its destination. If the assigned message level is below the user's current default FLAG setting (see the SETDEF subcommand), the NOTE subcommand does not send the message. If the message level assigned to a message equals or exceeds the default FLAG setting, the subcommand sends the message.
  • Syntax 
     { NOTE }     ['text']
 { N    }
              [CAPS | ASIS ]
              [PAGE | NOPAGE ]
              [ SPACE[(count)] ]
              [ NOSPACE        ]
              [ OVERTYPE       ]
              [ TOC ([indentation | 1] [toc-text ]) | NOTOC ]

    -------- SETDEF-Defined Parameters -------------------------
    Note: You can override the following SETDEF parameters.
    See SETDEF subcommand — set defaults.

                  [ FLAG(severity) ]
              [ PRINT | NOPRINT ]
              [ TERMINAL | NOTERMINAL ]
              [ PDS | NOPDS ]
              [ TEST | NOTEST ]
  • Parameters
    'text'
    Specifies the text of the message, enclosed in apostrophes. If the message is directed to a terminal, it is truncated to 250 characters. If it is directed to the IPCSPRNT or IPCSPDS data set, it is truncated to that data set's logical record length, minus 5. If you specify a null line in this parameter, IPCS assumes a blank line.

    If you omit this parameter, IPCS transmits no message but performs the specified spacing or paging relative to the previous line on the terminal or in the IPCSPRNT and/or IPCSPDS data sets.

    CAPS or ASIS
    Specifies if the message text is to be in uppercase or in its present form, which may be in uppercase, lowercase, or a mix.

    CAPS specifies that IPCS translate the message text to uppercase.

    ASIS specifies that IPCS not translate the message text, but transmit it in its present form.

    If you use this subcommand in a CLIST, the message text is normally translated to uppercase by the editor or by CLIST processing before the message text is available to IPCS, regardless if you specify ASIS. If you want to use the ASIS option on the NOTE subcommand:
    • Ensure that the editor that you use stores mixed uppercase and lowercase text in your CLIST data set.
    • Ensure that your installation has installed TSO/E support for the CONTROL ASIS statement. Insert CONTROL ASIS in your CLIST before the first NOTE subcommand with ASIS. This allows the text that you entered in the CLIST to be passed to the IPCS NOTE subcommand without editing lowercase to uppercase.

    If you omit both CAPS and ASIS, the default is CAPS.

    PAGE or NOPAGE
    Specifies if the message is to be printed on a new page or the current page.

    PAGE specifies a new page. PAGE affects printed output only. If the message is printed, NOTE precedes the message with a page eject. If the message is displayed on a user's terminal, NOTE ignores the PAGE parameter.

    NOPAGE specifies that a new page not be forced before printing the message.

    If you omit both PAGE and NOPAGE, the default is NOPAGE.

    SPACE[(count)]
    NOSPACE
    OVERTYPE
    Specifies if blank lines are to be added before printing the message or if the message is to overlay the previous message.

    SPACE specifies the number of blank lines to be inserted before the message. The count may be specified as a decimal number. If you specify a count greater than PAGESIZE - 2 (as specified in the session parameters member), IPCS uses PAGESIZE - 2. If this parameter causes a page eject, you may lose 1 or 2 blank lines.

    If you specify SPACE but omit the count, it defaults to 1.

    NOSPACE inserts no blank lines before the message. The message becomes the next line in the output.

    OVERTYPE overlays this message on the previous message. For example, you may use this parameter to underscore all or part of the previous message. The subcommand ignores this parameter if you specify no text or if the output is directed to a terminal.

    If you omit SPACE, NOSPACE, and OVERTYPE, the default is NOSPACE.

    TOC [([indentation] [toc-text])]
    NOTOC
    Specifies if a table of content entry is to be generated when the message associated with NOTE is routed to the IPCSPRNT data set. TOC specifies that a table of contents entry is to be generated.
    indentation
    Indicates that the entry in the table of contents is to be indented. Indentation is an integer from 1 through 4 and can be specified in decimal (n), binary (B'n'), or hexadecimal(X'n') notation. The default indentation is 1.
    toc-text
    One to 40 bytes of text that is to be associated with the table of contents entry. The text can be enclosed in single quotation marks if you want. The default toc-text is the text of the note, truncated to 40 characters where necessary.

    NOTOC specifies that no table of contents entry is to be generated. NOTOC is the default.

  • Return Codes

    See Standard subcommand return codes for a description of the return codes produced by the NOTE subcommand.

Parent topic: IPCS subcommands