Syntax rules

Follow these rules when you code SMP/E commands:

SMP/E input is case-sensitive. Use uppercase letters to enter all SMP/E keywords. Enter operands in the same case as the intended operand values. Enter the text within a comment in any case you prefer.
Start each command on a new logical 80-byte record.
For SMP/E commands, enter the command name first, followed by any operands.
Note: Except for these restrictions, SMP/E commands can begin and end anywhere up to and including column 72.
You can code optional information in any order, except where noted in the syntax and operand descriptions.
Separate operands and their values with a blank or comma.
Note: Although the syntax diagrams show only commas when indicating the allowable separator characters for repeating values, one or more blank characters may be used instead to separate repeating values.
You can continue a command on more than one line. SMP/E assumes a command is continued if it did not find a period (.) before column 73.
Note: If an operand's value must span multiple lines and that value is delimited by quotation marks, the value should extend up to and including column 72 and restart on column 1 of the next line. Put a quotation mark before the value and another after the value, but do not add extra quotation marks where the value spans lines. Blanks within the quoted value are considered to be part of the value, including any blanks at the beginning of a continuation line.
Start comments with “/*” and end them with “*/”. The first “*/” encountered after the initial “/*” will end the comment. A comment can appear anywhere within or after a command, but should not start before a command, nor begin in column 1. (When “/*” starts in column 1, it indicates the end of an input data set.) A comment after the ending period must start on the same line as the period. You cannot specify any additional operands or comments after that final comment. For example, you can code a comment like this:
```
SET      BDY(MVSTST1)      . /* Comment after period
                               continued on subsequent
                               records is okay.        */
```
However, you should not code a comment like this:
```
SET      BDY(MVSTST1)  .    /* Comment after period okay */
                            /* but this comment will give a
                               syntax error */
```
This causes a syntax error at the start of the second comment after the period.
Comments can be in single-byte characters (such as English alphanumeric characters) or in double-byte characters (such as Kanji).
For a parameter that allows or requires the use of quotation marks as part of the parameter's value, the parameter value should extend up to and including column 72 and restart on column 1 of the next line. No intervening quotation marks are needed. Intervening blanks will be incorporated into the value.
End each command with a period.
SMP/E completes processing for one command before it starts processing the next one.
SMP/E ignores columns 73 through 80. If data, such as a period, is specified beyond column 72, SMP/E ignores it and indicates an error in the command after the one containing that data.