NCL Exits › Standardized Structure › Types of Parameters › Parameters Passed Directly to the Exit Procedure › Positional Parameter Format

Positional Parameter Format

Positional parameters are named according to their position in a parameter string, such as &1, &2, and so on. A space separates these parameters.

Example: Keyword Variables

This example passes the following parameters:

CUSTACT=NOTIFY USER=FRED TEXT="Fred, the problem's fixed!"

The positional parameters create the following variables:

• &1, containing the value: CUSTACT=NOTIFY
• &2, containing the value: USER=FRED
• &3, containing the value: TEXT=“Fred,
• &4, containing the value: the
• &5, containing the value: problem’s
• &6, containing the value: fixed!”

Important! Using the positional parameter format with variables in a parameter string can produce unexpected results. For example, if the variable happens to have a null value, the remaining variables all shift across one argument. That is, if positional parameter &5 contains a variable value and that variable value is blank, &6 becomes positional parameter &5.