Marks the beginning of an input stream for a command or program.

Format

DECK

Description

The DECK command marks the data that follows it as input for a command or program. The DECK command can be used only after a request to execute a command or program that requires input data.

In command procedures, this command is required when the first nonblank character in any data record in the input stream is a dollar sign. Also in command procedures, the DECK command must be preceded by a dollar sign; the dollar sign must be in the first character position (column 1) of the input record.

The DECK command defines an end-of-file (EOF) indicator only for a single data stream. Using the DECK command enables you to place data records beginning with dollar signs in the input stream. You can place one or more sets of data in the input stream following a DECK command, if each is terminated by an EOF indicator.

After an EOF indicator specified with the /DOLLARS qualifier is encountered, the EOF indicator is reset to the default, that is, to any record beginning with a dollar sign. The default is also reset if an actual EOF indicator occurs for the current command level.

Qualifier

/DOLLARS[=string]

Sets the EOF indicator to the specified string of 1 to 15 characters. Specify a string if the input data contains one or more records beginning with the string $EOD. Enclose the string in quotation marks (" ") if it contains literal lowercase letters, multiple blanks, or tabs. If you do not specify /DOLLARS or if you specify /DOLLARS without specifying a string, you must use the EOD command to signal the end-of-file (EOF).

Examples

In this example, the Fortran and LINK commands compile and link program A. When the program is run, any data the program reads from the logical device SYS$INPUT is read from the command stream. The DECK command indicates that the input stream can contain dollar signs in column 1 of the record. The EOD command signals end-of-file (EOF) for the data.

#2

The CREATE command in this example creates the command procedure file TEST.COM from lines entered into the input stream. The DECK/DOLLARS command indicates that the percent sign (%) is the EOF indicator for the CREATE command. This allows the string $EOD to be read as an input record, signaling the end of the input for the RUN command.