REXX could care less about the syntax because it's not a REXX command. It's just a string being passed to the environment, which in this case is XEDIT. XEDIT is the one that will evaluate it for correct syntax. Usage note 2 for the EXTRACT command explains what happens when the incorrect syntax is encountered.
Put a TRACE I in the macro and you'll see the RC=5 from the EXTRACT. Put a SAY EXTRACT.1 after the EXTRACT and you'll see the invalid string displayed. Brian Nielsen On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:32:13 -0800, Schuh, Richard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >EXTRACT should never see the light of day unless this is correct REXX syntax. So far I have found nothing to suggest that it is correct syntax, but I may be missing something. Try substituting some other character for the period and the syntax check does fail. It is the REXX that is in question, not the EXTRACT. > > > > -----Original Message----- >From: VM/ESA and z/VM Discussions [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Nielsen >Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 9:23 AM >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: REXX Syntax > >On Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:01:42 -0800, Schuh, Richard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>I was browsing an XEDIT macro written in REXX and noticed a statement >that looked like this: >> >>'EXTRACT some values to extract' /* A COMMENT */ . >> >>The period appears to be an accident caused by its being to the right of >the display when the statement was edited. >> >>For some reason, the period following the comment is not flagged as a >syntax error. The EXTRACT works as an error free statement. If I compile >the macro, the compiler also passes the statement without error. Replacing >the period with a question mark or any other special character that I have >tried does cause an error. Is this working properly? Is there something in >the specification that makes the period a legitimate part of the syntax? >>======================================================================== > >When you do this EXTRACT is actually getting a RC=5 to flag the incorrect >argument. Arguments before the incorrect argument are processed, those >after it are not. EXTRACT.1 will be set to the invalid string. See usage >note 2 for the EXTRACT command. > >Brian Nielsen
