FLASH

Specifies the name of the forms flash to be printed, and the number of copies on which the flash is to be printed. A forms flash is a 3800 printer hardware frame that prints a photographic negative on selected forms.

You can specify the FLASH parameter in a DD statement or in an OUTPUT statement, as follows:

FLASH=(flashname,[count])

The values are:

flashname

Specifies the one to four alphanumeric character name of the forms flash.

count

Specifies the number of copies (from 1 to 255) on which the forms flash is to be printed. The default is 255; therefore, if this value is not specified, the forms flash is printed on all copies.

When you specify a forms flash, remember:

• If you specify the FLASH parameter in both a DD statement and an OUTPUT statement, PSF uses the parameter in the DD statement.
• A FLASH parameter specified in your JCL statement overrides any FLASH specified in the Form definition parameter in the Printer Inventory or the FORMDEF parameter in the PSF PRINTDEV statement. The PRINTDEV statement, which is set up by your system programmer, contains defaults for PSF to use for any parameters not specified in the JCL.
• If you specify a forms flash within the active copy-group definition, but do not specify a name with the FLASH parameter, PSF uses the forms-flash frame that is currently loaded.
• If you specify both the FORMDEF and FLASH parameters in your JCL, but the form definition does not specify FLASH, PSF ignores the FLASH parameter because the FORMDEF parameter overrides it. The forms flash is not printed on any of the copies of your data set. The effects of specifying FORMDEF and FLASH are described in Using FORMDEF with COPIES or FLASH parameters in JCL.
• If you specify the count value in the JCL FLASH parameter, and PSF uses the default form definition because you did not specify the FORMDEF parameter, the modifications specified in the default form definition subgroup (number of copies, flash, overlay identifiers, and suppression identifiers) are not used. A form definition subgroup is described in Subgroup modifications.
• The FLASH parameter is valid only for the IBM® 3800 printer; PSF ignores FLASH for other printers. However, you can use overlays on any printer. Overlays are described in Overlays.
• If you are using the "Page-Printer Defaults" form, it indicates whether the default form definition activates forms flash (see Page-printer defaults form).

See Using a forms flash on a 3800 printer for examples of using the FLASH parameter to specify a forms flash.