There are four ways to specify options for CONVERT and its friends. If an option is encountered by one command and it has no meaning to that command (but it does to one of the other CONVERT commands), it is ignored. If the option specified is meaningless or conflicts with another on the same line, an error message is printed and processing halts.
The method used to specify the "specialized options" for JRN, JPRINT and/or JPUNCH is unimportant, since once this type is specified it overrides all subsequent declarations of the same or conflicting options. In all other option specifications, the method is important. The options specified in the command line's option field are construed to be the default options in effect for every input and selected file. Options given on dollar control lines, but not within a SELEct option argument, apply to the input file containing the control card. In this way the options given on a control card cannot affect succeeding files.
Options specified by themselves on control cards override any previous options set for the file containing the cards.
In some cases, it is desirable to tailor options to a specific file and there is no way to place a dollar control card in the file. In this case, options may be placed in the parenthesized field that follows the file descriptor. This method only affects the file immediately preceding the parentheses.
Copyright © 1996, Thinkage Ltd.