PAUSE Statement

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Language Reference

PAUSE Statement

interrupts module execution

PAUSE <expression> <*>;

The inputs to the PAUSE statement are as follows:

expression: is a character matrix or quoted literal giving a message to print.
*: suppresses any messages.

The PAUSE statement stops execution of a module, saves the calling chain so that execution can resume later (by a RESUME statement), prints a pause message that you can specify, and puts you in immediate mode so you can enter more statements.

You can specify an operand in the PAUSE statement to supply a message to be printed for the pause prompt. If no operand is specified, the default message,

   paused in module XXX

is printed, where XXX is the name of the module containing the pause. If you want to suppress all messages in a PAUSE statement, use an asterisk as the operand:

   pause *;

The PAUSE statement should only be specified in modules. It generates a warning if executed in immediate mode.

When an error occurs while executing inside a module, IML automatically behaves as though a PAUSE statement was issued. PROC IML prints a note saying

   paused in module

and IML puts you in immediate mode within the module environment, where you can correct the error. You can then resume execution from the statement following the one where the error occurred by issuing a RESUME command.

IML supports pause processing of both subroutine and function modules. See also the description of the SHOW statement using the PAUSE option.

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