Command syntax

Asterisks

Use asterisks to indicate generic specifications of parameters in the SELECT commands. With generics, you request information by specifying just a single asterisk (*) or a character string plus an asterisk.

To examine records for users whose user IDs begin with ST, specify the following parameter:

USERID=ST*

Commas

Commas function to separate items within a list (except in the case of symbolic substitution. Refer to Symbolic Substitution), and to control the order of values specified as positional parameters. You must use a comma to indicate omission of a positional parameter. In the following example, the omission of the pswd subparameter is indicated by the extra comma.

SIGNON USERID=(ID,,newpswd)

Continuation Marks

A command can continue across multiple lines. Use the hyphen (-), preceded and followed by a space, to indicate that the command continues on the following line. The hyphen can appear anywhere in positions 3-79. The following command is continued on a second line.

CHANGE PROCESS WHERE (PNAME=PAYROLL) -
               DEST=DALLAS1

Parentheses

In the following example, parentheses enclose lists and associate a group of values.

SIGNON USERID=(MYUID1,MYPSWD)

Symbolic Substitution

Use symbolic substitution to substitute information in a IBM Connect:Direct Process. The substitution is represented by an ampersand (&) plus 1-8 alphanumeric characters. In the following example, the value for &DATA is resolved when you submit the Process.

DSN=&DATA

If you have multiple symbolics, separate them with one or more spaces.

Single and Double Quotation Marks

The rules for using single and double quotation marks are:

• Single-quote strings allow the parsing of parameters as typed.
• Double-quote strings allow the resolution of symbolic substitution in a quoted string.

The following example shows the use of single quotation marks to enable you to embed special characters or blanks within a parameter or subparameter value.

SIGNON PACCT='JOB FOR SYSMAINT,DEPT.27'

The following example shows the use of double quotation marks to allow for the resolution of symbolic substitution.

SIGNON PACCT="JOB FOR SYSMAINT,DEPT. &DEPND"

Single quotation marks are not valid for symbolic substitution in a IBM Connect:Direct command but can be used with a keyword parameter in a Process statement (refer to the IBM Connect:DirectProcess Language Reference Guide

For example, the following SUBMIT Process command, which uses single quotation marks:

SUB PROC=DCB HOLD=YES  -
  &DCB='DCB=(LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=3120,RECFM=FM)'

results in the following invalid Process.

SUB PROC=DCB HOLD=YES     &DCB='DCB=(LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=3120,RECFM=FB)'

The following example which uses the same Process information as the example above but this time with double quotation marks:

SUB PROC=DCB HOLD=YES  -
  &DCB=”DCB=(LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=3120,RECFM=FM)”

resolves to:

SUB PROC=DCB HOLD=YES     &DCB=DCB=(LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=3120,RECFM=FB)

Comments

Comments allow you to include descriptive information within a command. Comments are available for your convenience and do not affect IBM Connect:Direct. Use the following formats for comments:

• Preceded by a slash-asterisk (/*) and followed by an asterisk-slash (*/).
• An asterisk (*) in position 1, followed by the comment.

The following lines are valid comments, indicating that the SIGNON command labeled DSIGN signs on to the DALLAS node.

/* SIGN ON TO DALLAS */
*SIGN ON TO DALLAS
DSIGN SIGNON NODE=DALLAS /*DALLAS*/

/*  Start of my comment 
SIGNON is then followed by
SIGNOFF 
End of my comment  */

Concatenation

Use the double bar ( || ) to concatenate, or link together, character strings. You must precede the double bar and follow it with a blank. Use the double bar to join a long value that continues over multiple records. For example, you can type the following command.

PACCT=JOBACCTDATA ||   -
WITHNOBLANKS

IBM Connect:Direct resolves your command to the following format:

PACCT=JOBACCTDATAWITHNOBLANKS

Special Characters

Certain characters cause IBM Connect:Direct to take special actions. These special characters are the hyphen (-), double bar (||), ampersand (&), and the IBM Connect:Direct delimiters. The following table lists the delimiters recognized by IBM Connect:Direct.

Special Purpose Bracketing

You must often maintain special characters as part of a string. To maintain special characters, enclose the string in bracketing characters. Bracketing characters are backslashes (\), single quotation marks ('), and double quotation marks (").

Bracketing backslashes are indicators of special processing of a character string. IBM Connect:Direct does not maintain them as part of the string at its final resolution. Use bracketing backslashes to:

• Continue a string containing special characters across multiple lines
• Ensure that quotation marks within the string are maintained

The following is an example of using bracketing backslashes in a command:

PACCT=\'DEPT\MIS\ || -
       \602'\

IBM Connect:Direct resolves the command as follows:

PACCT='DEPT\MIS602'