Data sent to VTAM

A program operator can use the SENDCMD macroinstruction to send VTAM® operator commands and the REPLY command to VTAM. The VTAM operator commands that can be sent are the VARY, DISPLAY, and MODIFY commands. The data that the program operator sends to VTAM is in this form:

Header	Command sent to VTAM
4 bytes	n bytes

Each VTAM command issued by the program operator has the same format and meaning as when it is entered at the system console. The VARY, DISPLAY, and MODIFY commands are described in z/OS Communications Server: SNA Operation.

The REPLY command is used to answer VTAM messages that require a reply from the program operator. It has the following format:

{REPLY or R}

reply identifier,[']text[']

reply identifier: Is the reply identification number (nn) that was received.
text: Is the reply to the VTAM message. If the actual wording of the text is supplied in the original message, it should be copied exactly in the reply. The apostrophes are optional and included only if the reply is not to be translated into uppercase characters. A blank immediately following the reply identification number indicates a null reply.

The abbreviated format of the REPLY command supported by z/OS® for the system console cannot be sent by a program operator.

Example:

  IST259I  INOP RECEIVED FOR LS3A4A1  CODE = 01
  IST619I  ID = LS3A4A1  FAILED - RECOVERY IN PROGRESS
  IST526I  ROUTE FAILED FROM  3 TO  4 - DSA   4 - NETID NETA
  IST526I  ROUTE FAILED FROM  3 TO  4 - DSA   4 - NETID NETA
  IST238I  AM GUNBIND REQ FOR ID = NCP4AA6  RCVD RECOVERY IN PROGRESS
           RU DATA-TYPE = X'03', CAUSE = X'07'
 
  IST521I  GBIND QUEUED FOR COS ISTVTCOS FROM  SSCP1A   TO NCP4AA6
  IST528I  VIRTUAL ROUTE NUMBER    0   1   2   3   4   5
  IST523I  REASON = NO ROUTES OPERATIVE
  *00 IST095A  OPTION TO DUMP NCP4AA6  AVAILABLE -
               REPLY 'YES' OR 'NO' OR 'YES,DUMPSTA=LINKSTANAME'
  *00 IST284A OPTION TO RELOAD NCP4AA6 AVAILABLE -
               REPLY 'YES' OR 'NO' OR 'YES,LOADSTA=LINKSTANAME'
r 00,yes

The informational message IST619I is followed by messages that require replies (IST095A and IST284A); VTAM assigns it a reply ID of 00 in both cases. In both cases, the reply to the message is "yes".