Syntax


LINE

line-command

[ line-control-range ]

[ FIRST | LAST | ALL ]

[ X | NX ]

[ U | NU ]

[ TOP ]


Operands


line-command

Any standard SPFLite Edit line command. The command may be quoted or unquoted, and must be between 1 and 6 characters long. To use LINE to erase an existing line command on a line, line-command may be a blank enclosed in quotes.


If the line-command operand contains an command that overlaps the remaining syntax of LINE, the line-command must be enclosed in quotes; otherwise, quotes are optional. See discussion below.

line-control-range

The range of lines which are to be processed by the line-command operand. Line control ranges provide a powerful tool to customize the range of lines to be processed. The full syntax and allowable operands which make up a line control range are discussed in "Line Control Range Specification". Refer to that section of the documentation for details.


NOTE: the full range of line-control-range operands is available on the command line. However, using line command ranges themselves to specify the applicable line range is not allowed. There is simply too much possibility for confusion and incorrect handling between such line range specification, and the line commands being introduced by the LINE command itself.

FIRST | LAST | ALL

When the line-control-range applies to more than one line, this keyword decides which line(s) are affected. If omitted, ALL eligible lines are affected. 


When the line-control range applies to only a single line, such as a line-label like .ABC or a pseudo line-label like .123, only that line is affected, regardless of which of these keywords, if any, are specified.

X | NX

Specifies a subset of the line range to be processed. X requests only excluded lines are to be processed, NX requests only non-excluded lines are to be processed. If neither X or NX are specified, all lines in the range will be processed.

U | NU

Specifies a subset of the line range to be processed. U requests only User lines are to be processed, NU requests only non-User lines are to be processed. If neither U or NU are specified, all lines in the range will be processed.

TOP

Normally, at the completion of the command, the first, or only, line processed is highlighted (if it is on the current screen) or the screen is scrolled to the 2nd screen line (as ISPF does) if the line is not on the current screen. If TOP is coded, then the line is always positioned as the top line of the screen, regardless of its current location.


Description


The LINE primary command provides a means of applying a given Edit line-command to one or more target lines.


You can specify the target line(s) by the line-control-range, FIRST | LAST | ALL and X | NX operands. ALL is assumed if FIRST or LAST is omitted.


The operands of the LINE primary command may be specified in any order.


Note that the line-control-range and X | NX operands are both optional, but at least one of them must be specified. Otherwise, you will receive an error message, No line reference or line range specified.


For example, the LINE primary command


       LINE R .10


will repeat (duplicate) the contents of line 10, just as though you had put an R line command on line 10 and then pressed Enter.


The LINE primary command cannot be repeated by using the commands RFIND, RLOC, RLOCFIND or RCHANGE. However, the LINE primary command may be retrieved and re-executed, like any other primary command, using the RETRIEVE command.


If the line-command operand contains an command that overlaps the syntax of the LINE primary command, then the line-command operand must be quoted. This means:


    • To put an X line command on line 123, LINE X .123 will not work. You must use LINE 'X' .123 or LINE X1 .123 instead.


    • To put a line label .ABC on line 123, LINE .ABC .123 will not work. You must use LINE '.ABC' .123 instead.


    • To put a line tag :ABC on line 123, LINE :ABC .123 will not work. You must use LINE ':ABC' .123 instead.


See Working with the LINE Primary Command for more information on using this feature.

 

Limitations of T/TT line command and LINE primary command


The T/TT line command can be used by the LINE primary command, to apply T/TT to one or more lines. However, when T is applied to more than one line, each individual T is applied to each line one at a time. The way that T/TT operates, only a single, contiguous block of highlighted data may exist as any given time,  So, if you attempted to issue a command like LINE T .11 .13 ALL, only line 13 will be highlighted. If you try to manually highlight line 11 with a T, then line 12, then line 13, you will see how and why it works this way.

 

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