Prompting
All AS/400 commands can be prompted directly from the command line or within CL program source by typing the command and pressing the F4 function key. An OS/400 command can also be prompted by typing a ? before the command. (This is useful in an interactive program which cues a command string, having already filled in some values.)
The system will then present a screen with the set of parameters that the program accepts/requires (required parameters are usually highlighted).
Required parameters are listed first, and parameters with system-supplied default values are listed last of all. To see all parameters, press F10. If any one choice requires further selections, those are cued as you select that value for that parameter, by appearing onscreen.
Prompting is further enhanced to allow the programmer to find what values are valid for each parameter. To do this during prompting the user would move the cursor to the parameter field in question and press F4 again. The system would then display a screen describing the type of input required and an available list of allowable values.
To enter a longer name, or extend the list to allow you to enter extra values, type a plus sign instead of a value. (As when listing names of objects to be saved or restored.)
Read more about this topic: AS/400 Control Language
Famous quotes containing the word prompting:
“Man is the only one that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat, and in short he can do nothing at the prompting of nature only, but weep.”
—Pliny The Elder (23–79)