How Host Command Delimiters Work

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How Host Command Delimiters Work

To ensure that OPS/REXX parses host commands properly, use keywords and quotation marks correctly in host commands and understand how OPS/REXX interprets these commands.

To use keywords and quotation marks, follow these guidelines:

Enclose the complete text of a host command in double quotes. If that command contains a text string, enclose the string in single quotes.
Example: Text string enclosed in single quotes
```
ADDRESS WTO "TEXT('VTAM IS DOWN')"
```
Enclose everything except for variable names in double quotation marks.
Example: The first statement sets an OPS/REXX variable called JOBNAME. The command text being sent to TSO through the OPSCMD command references this variable, so two sets of quotes delimit the text outside the variable name.
```
JOBNAME = MSG.JOBNAME
ADDRESS TSO
 "OPSCMD COM($C '"jobname"')"
```
When the text of a host command is too large to fit on one line:
- Use the || symbol and a comma to indicate that the command text breaks and continues onto the next line.
- Use double quotes to indicate the beginning and end of each piece of the host command.
Example: Host command text that spans two or more lines
```
ADDRESS TSO 
 "OPSWTO TEXT('This message is so "||,
 "long that I couldn't pos"||,
 "sibly fit it on one line')"
```