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SETTERM

Language element:	function
Category:	terminal-access
OpenVMS specifics:	All aspects are host-specific

characteristic-name

is the name of the terminal characteristic to be modified. The argument can be a character variable, a character literal enclosed in double quotation marks, or another character expression.

new-value

is the new setting for the characteristic.

Details

The SETTERM function modifies a terminal characteristic from within the SAS System. The SETTERM function can be called from either the DATA step or an SCL program. This function eliminates the need to use an X command or statement to modify your terminal characteristics.

The return value is a numeric status code, which is the previous setting of the characteristic, before the characteristic is changed by the function call.

Characteristic values that are Boolean (on or off) are returned as 1 or 0. Characteristic values that have integer values, such as page size, are returned as the function value.

If an error occurs during the execution of the SETTERM function, the result returned is negative. Some common error return codes include the following:

-20	represents the OpenVMS symbolic name SS$_BADPARAM, which means that the characteristic name is not valid or was specified ambiguously.
-2313	represents the OpenVMS symbolic name, SS$_NOSUCHDEV, which means the current SYS$OUTPUT device is not a terminal device, or does not exist.

The characteristics that can be set with the SETTERM function are the same as those that can be returned by the GETTERM function, and they are listed in Terminal Characteristics.

Terminal Characteristics

Characteristic		Explanation
ALTTYPEAHEAD		Alternate typeahead buffer enabled
ANSICRT		Device is an ANSI CRT
APPLICATION		Keypad is in application mode
AUTOBAUD		Automatic baud rate detection is enabled
AVO		Terminal has advanced video option
BLOCK		Terminal is in block transfer mode
BROADCAST		Terminal accepts broadcast messages
BROADCASTMBX		Broadcast messages sent via mailbox
DECCRT		Terminal is a DEC CRT (VT100 or later)
DECCRT2		Terminal is a DEC CRT (VT200 or later)
DIALUP		Terminal is on a dialup line
DISCONNECT		Terminal disconnects when hangup occurs
DMA		Terminal uses asynchronous DMA
DRCS		Terminal has soft character font set
ECHO		Terminal input is echoed
EDIT		Terminal has editing capabilities
EDITING		Terminal line editing is enabled
EIGHTBIT		Terminal accepts 8-bit escape codes
ESCAPE		Terminal validates escape sequences
FALLBACK		Output is transformed by TFF
FORMFEED		Terminal has mechanical form feed
HALFDUPLEX		Terminal is in half-duplex mode
HANGUP		Modem is hung up when terminal logs out
HOSTSYNC		Host system is synchronized to terminal
INSERT		Default mode is insert instead of overstrike
LINESIZE		Sets terminal line size
LOCALECHO		Command line read operations are echoed
LOWER		Terminal accepts lowercase characters
MAILBOX		Terminal does not use associated mailbox
MODEM		Terminal is connected via a modem
MODHANGUP		Modify hangup behavior
PAGESIZE		Sets terminal page size
PASSTHROUGH		Pass all characters unmodified/examined
PRINTER		Device has a printer port
READSYNC		Read synchronization is enabled
REGIS		Device supports graphics
REMOTE		Terminal is on a dialup line
SCOPE		Terminal is a video display device
SECURE		Device is on secure communication line
SIXEL		Device supports graphics
SYSPASSWORD		System password required at login
TAB		Terminal has mechanical tab
TTSYNC		Terminal is synchronized to host system
TYPEAHEAD		Terminal accepts unsolicited input
WRAPCR/LF		Inserted for line wrap
XON		XON/XOFF handshaking used

Example

In the following example, the purpose of the DATA step is to turn off broadcast messages, and to force the terminal line width to be 80 characters. The old settings for these values are stored in macro variables so that they can be reset easily at a later time:

data _null_;
   old_bc=setterm("broadcast",0);
   old_ls=setterm("linesize",80);
   call symput("saved_bc",put(old_bc,best.));
   call symput("saved_ls",put(old_ls,best.));
run;

• Function: GETTERM

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