&DELAY

The &DELAY verb interrupts processing of a procedure for the specified number of seconds.

This verb has the following format:

&DELAY nnnn [ .nn ]

The verb lets you provide a pause during procedure execution, perhaps to allow time for another event to complete.

Operands:

nnnn.nn

The number of seconds for which processing is to be suspended. This number can range from 0 to 9999.99 seconds (2 hours, 46 minutes 39.99 second maximum).

A delay period of 0 seconds specified for the &DELAY statement creates a pseudo-wait where this NCL procedure allows control to be passed to other NCL tasks. Execution will be resumed as soon as the workload allows.

Examples: &DELAY

&DELAY 15  -*Suspend the procedure for 15 seconds

&DELAY 0.5 -*Suspend the procedure for half a second

Notes:

You can interrupt a procedure that has suspended processing with an &DELAY statement, by issuing a GO or FLUSH command:
GO causes processing to resume immediately after the &DELAY statement.
FLUSH causes the entire procedure to terminate.