COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.08+, J06.03+)

The default EXECUTION-LOG is the home terminal.
system-file-name
is the name of the file to which run-time messages are directed. It must be an existing
entry-sequenced (TYPE E) file (that is, a file-system file name). If system-file-name does
not begin with a dollar sign ($), backward slash (\), or number sign (#), then it must be
enclosed in quotation marks unless it forms a COBOL word. For more information about
operating system file names, see the Guardian Procedure Calls Reference Manual.
define-name
is the name of a DEFINE associated with the file to which run-time messages are directed.
It is not enclosed in quotation marks.
*
specifies that all run-time messages are to be discarded.
TAPE-DIALOGUE
is ignored.
PRINTER-CONTROL
specifies that the operating environment must return control to the program when the printer
specified by the cobol-file-name is not ready or is out of paper.
cobol-file-name
is the FD name of a file in a COBOL program (not the operating system file name or a
DEFINE name).
When the PRINTER-CONTROL parameter is absent, the HP COBOL run-time routines provide
automatic handling for printer fault conditions, without control returning to the program
until the printer is again made ready.
parameter-name
is a parameter to be handled through the SMU. For information on the SMU, see Saved
Message Utility (SMU) Overview (page 612).
parameter-value
is the value to be given to parameter-name.
NOTE: To see what parameters are currently defined, enter just PARAM followed by a
carriage return.
Usage Considerations:
• WAITED-IO and HP COBOL Fast I-O
If a program for which WAITED-IO was specified attempts to open a file for HP COBOL Fast
I-O, sequential block buffering of buffered cache is used instead, degrading performance by
a factor of five to ten.
• EXECUTION-LOG Parameter
There are three circumstances in which a COBOL program can interact with the home terminal
without your explicitly instructing it to do so:
◦ A DISPLAY statement does not include an UPON phrase, so it defaults to the OUT file,
which itself is defaulted to the home terminal.
◦ An ACCEPT statement does not include a FROM phrase, so it defaults to the IN file, which
itself is defaulted to the home terminal.
◦ A run-time routine needs to report an error or to engage in dialog with the system operator,
and normally does so through the home terminal.
The EXECUTION-LOG parameter provides a means of redirecting such unintentional input-output
activity from the home terminal to another device, called the execution log file.
588 Program Execution