Commands › Variable Symbols › Macro Variables

Macro Variables

The macro variables (&1. . . &9) give you the ability to replace variable symbols within a predefined (EQUATE or PF key) text string with tokens entered in the command line.

For example, assume the following EQUATE is in effect:

EQUATE ONRW OBTAIN NEXT &1 within &2

If you entered ONRW EMP-REC &A on the command line, the CA IDMS DML command actually executed would be:

OBTAIN NEXT EMP-REC WITHIN &A

Each &n encountered requires that there be a token on the command line available for substitution. The number itself is not really significant; i.e. the first macro variable in the command text string is replaced by the first available token, the next macro variable by the second available token, etc. Thus, the following two text strings would be processed exactly the same by CA IDMS DMLO:

OBT NEXT &1 IN &2 

OBT NEXT &7 IN &3

Note: For more information on using macro variables, see Extended Command Processing and Command Processing Examples.