xcall SEND, job, string {,options, status}

SEND.SBR provides the same functionality at the programmer level that SEND.LIT does at the command prompt level.

Parameters

job  [in]

may be specified as B,1 in which case it is interpreted as the target job number, or S,6 in which case it is the target job name.

If mapped as B,1 or B,2 (i.e., to specify the target via its job number), then you can set it to -1 to indicate all jobs.

If mapped as a string (i.e. to specify the target via its job name), then you can set it to "ALL" to indicate all jobs.

string  (String)  [in]

is the text message (one line) to send.

options  [in]

may be set to 0 (normal, i.e. display the message wherever the cursor happens to be on the target terminal), 1 (top status line), or 2 (bottom status line).

status

if specified, will return 0 if the message was successfully sent.

When sending to all jobs, the return value of STATUS takes on a new meaning. With one job, a return STATUS of 0 means success. But when sending to all jobs, STATUS returns the number of jobs to which the message was sent.

Comments

Under UNIX, there are security limitations on who can send messages. See the discussion on File Ownership and Privileges and ITC for more details.

Under Windows, there are no privilege issues but there may be a delay of several seconds before the message is delivered. See the IJCFREQ system parameter.

History

2006 January, A-Shell 4.9.950:  Enhanced to allow sending a message to all other jobs.