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Ask the Wizard Questions

DCL: Symbol substitution

The Question is:

DCL.  I want to prevent DCL from intepreting the single
quote character.  Like this

$ A = "'" + "XYZ" + "'"
$ Show symbol A
  returns 'XYZ'
$ write sys$output 'A'
  winds up prompting for an Expression:...

Creating a temporary file is not a good option...


The Answer is:

      I'm not certain of what you're trying to achieve here. If you intend
    to have your output command write out the symbol XYZ, use the "&"
    symbol substitution operator:

    $ xyz="hello"
    $ a="XYZ"		! Warning - CASE SENSITIVE!
    $ write sys$output &a
    hello

    As your code is written, symbol A is being substituted, leading to
    'XYZ' which is also being substituted (as a blank) hence the prompt for
    an expression to output.

    $ a="'"+"XYZ"+"'"
    $ xyz="hello"
    $ hello="is this a surprise?"
    $ write sys$output 'a'
    is this a surprise?

    If this isn't what you want to do, please explain what you're expecting
    your WRITE command to output.