Saving commands

Sometimes you might want to execute a command, or a series of commands, under CECI, repeatedly. One technique for doing this is to create a temporary storage queue containing the commands. You then alternate reading the command from the queue and executing it.

CECI provides shortcuts both for creating the queue and for executing commands from it. To create the queue:
  1. Start a CECI session.
  2. Enter the first (or next) command you want to save on the command line, put &DFHC in the NAME field in the status line, and press ENTER. This action causes the typical syntax check, and it also stores your command as the value of &DFHC, which is the first of those three variables that CECI always defines for you. If you select the variables display, you see that &DFHC is the value of your command.
  3. After the syntax is correct but before execution (on the about to execute command screen), change the command line to &DFHW and press ENTER. This causes CECI to use the value of &DFHW for the command to be executed. &DFHW is the second of the variables CECI supplies, and it contains a command to write the contents of variable &DFHC (that is, your command) to the temporary storage queue named CItttt, where tttt is the name of your terminal and two blanks precede the letters CI.
  4. Execute this WRITEQ command (through the command execution complete screen). This stores your command on the queue.
  5. If you want to save more than one command, repeat steps 2 to 4 for each.
When you want to execute the saved commands from the list, do the following:
  1. Enter &DFHR on the command line and press ENTER. &DFHR is the last of the CECI-supplied variables, and it contains a command to read the queue that was written earlier. Execute this command; it brings the first (next) of the commands you saved into the variable &DFHC.
  2. Then enter &DFHC on the command line and press ENTER. CECI replaces the command line with the value of &DFHC, which is your command. Press ENTER to execute your command.
  3. Repeat these two steps, alternating &DFHR and &DFHC on the command line, until you have executed all the commands you saved.

You can vary this procedure to suit your needs. For example, you can skip commands in the sequence by skipping step (2). You can change the options of the saved command before executing it in the same way as a command entered normally.

If you want to repeat execution of the saved sequence, you need to specify the option ITEM(1) on the first execution of the READQ command, in order to reposition your read to the beginning of the queue.