ICL 1900 Series George 3 Operating System Commands

ANSWER (AN)

Function

Gives the answer to a QUESTION command and sets this as the current display of the specified job.

Format

  1. ANSWER user name,job name,text (for use by the operator)

  2. ANSWER text (for use by the MOP user after break-in)

  3. ANSWER job number,text

Forbidden contexts

  1. USER

  2. NOT BREAK-IN

  3. USER

Execution

A check is made that the named job or the job that has been broken in is waiting in a QUESTION command. Provided that it is, the message

    ANSWER: text

is sent to the monitoring file system (DISPLAY category) and the text is set up as the current display of the job.

If the preceeding question was output on the operator's console, but the answer is provided by the MOP user (after breaking in), the message

    user name, job name ANSWER: text

is sent to the operator's console.

ANSWER does not terminate the break-in, so a user who has issued an ANSWER command must give a CONTINUE command to proceed with his job from the command after QUESTION. The QUESTION command is not completed until either the operator has issued an ANSWER, or the user has issued an ANSWER and terminated the break-in. Note that if the user breaks in, he will receive the message BROKEN IN BEFORE QUESTION, because the QUESTION command has not yet been completed.

Examples

ANSWER :FRED,EDITJOB,*CR0 IS READY *CR0 IS READY is set as the current display of :FRED's job EDITJOB
ANSWER (EDITFILE,*TP0) (EDITFILE,*TP0) is set as the current display of the job from which the ANSWER command was issued (during break-in)

Notes

  1. If both the operator and the MOP user attempt to answer a question, one of them will receive a command error message indicating that the job has not asked a question.

  2. The operator may issue an ANSWER command after the MOP user in question has broken in.

  3. The timing of the resetting of the current display is undefined. The display can be assumed to be reset only when the job has been restarted and the next command has been reached.

  4. The ANSWER command can be from a cluster console only in response to a question directed to that console by routing parameter 1 or 3 in the QUESTION command.

Error Messages

JOB HAS NOT ASKED A QUESTION
NO SUCH JOB
z IS NOT A CORRECTLY FORMED NAME
USER NAME/JOB NAME PARAMETER MISSING
ONLY ONE PARAMETER ALLOWED
YOU MAY NOT ANSWER FROM THIS CONSOLE