Using PUTGET to Put a Message Out to the Terminal and Obtain a Line of Input in Response

Use the PUTGET macro instruction to put messages out to the terminal and to obtain a response to those messages. A message to the user at the terminal which requires a response is called a conversational message. There are two types of conversational messages:

Mode messages: These messages tell the user at the terminal which processing mode is active so the user can enter a response applicable to that processing mode. Examples of mode messages are the READY message sent to the terminal by the terminal monitor program to indicate that it expects a command to be entered, and the command name, such as EDIT or TEST, sent by a Command Processor to indicate that it is ready to accept a subcommand name.
Prompt messages: These messages prompt the user at the terminal to enter parameters required by the program in control, or to reenter those parameters which were previously entered incorrectly.

When you issue a PUTGET macro instruction, the PUTGET service routine obtains a line of input from either:

The terminal or the REXX data stack
An in-storage list (including a command procedure)

PUTGET determines the source of input from the top element of the input stack unless you have specified the TERM or ATTN operands on the PUTGET macro instruction.

The input line returned by the PUTGET service routine can come from the terminal or an in-storage list, or from the REXX data stack; PUTGET determines the source of input from the top element of the input stack unless you have specified the TERM or ATTN operands in the PUTGET macro instruction.

PUTGET, like PUTLINE and GETLINE, has many parameters. The parameters are passed to the PUTGET service routine according to the operands you code in the list and the execute forms of the PUTGET macro instruction.

This topic describes:

The list and execute forms of the PUTGET macro instruction
Building the PUTGET parameter block
Types and formats of the output line
Passing the message lines to PUTGET
PUTGET processing
Input line format - the input buffer
Return codes from PUTGET