Use FileAlter to alter the attributes of a file.
FileAlter may also be entered as FileAlt[er], AlterFile, AltFile, or Alt[er].
FileAlter supports BIM and workstation files. It does not support PDS and VSE files.
Optional Operands
FILE is the BIM or workstation file to be altered.
Default: last referenced file.
ALLOW [Support provided for workstation files only.] specifies whether text updates are allowed during an Edit session of this file. The SessionAlter command may be used to alter this attribute after the Edit session is created, thus allowing text updates. ALLOW, as specified here, merely provides the initial setting for the session. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow updates. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow updates.
ALLOWAFT specifies whether the ALLOW attribute (see above) is to be set off during Save operations (see the SessionSave and SessionFile commands) against this file. ALLOWAFT provides a mechanism to cause an Edit ession to revert to a protected state (i.e., ALLOW attribute = off) after a Save operation. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to cause the ALLOW attribute to be unaffected by Save operations, "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to cause the ALLOW attribute to be set off by Save operations, and "T[oggle]" to toggle the setting.
ALLOWADD [Support provided for workstation files only.] specifies whether new lines can be created during an Edit session of this file. The SessionAlter command may be used to alter this attribute after the Edit session is created, thus allowing new lines to be created. ALLOWADD, as specified here, merely provides the initial setting for the session. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow line additions. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow line additions.
ALLOWADD may also be entered as ALLOWA[DD].
ALLOWDEL [Support provided for workstation files only.] specifies whether original session lines can be deleted during an Edit session of this file. Note that deletion of new lines is always allowed. ALLOWDEL controls whether lines that exist at the start of the session can be deleted. The SessionAlter command may be used to alter this attribute after the Edit session is created, thus allowing original session lines to be deleted. ALLOWDEL, as specified here, merely provides the initial setting for the session. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow line deletions. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow line deletions.
ALLOWDEL may also be entered as ALLOWD[EL].
ALLOWUPD [Support provided for workstation files only.] specifies whether original session lines can be modified. Note that modification of new lines is always allowed. ALLOWUPD controls whether lines that exist at the start of the session can be modified. The SessionAlter command may be used to alter this attribute after the Edit session is created, thus allowing original session lines to be modified. ALLOWUPD, as specified here, merely provides the initial setting for the session. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to allow line modifications. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" to disallow line modifications.
ALLOWUPD may also be entered as ALLOWU[UP].
ATTR is an attribute with site defined usage. ATTR, along with TYPE (see below), is often used to supply information to a generalized compile procedure (see the FileCompile command) about the type of compile to perform. ATTR can be up to 8 characters in length.
AUDIT specifies whether auditing is to occur for the file. You cannot alter AUDIT while a file is in a checkout relationship. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to start file auditing. Specify "Off" or "N[o]" to stop file auditing and clear any current audit trail.
For BIM files, if the host predefined variable MMPAUCTL has been set to 1, only the System Administrator can alter AUDIT=OFF.
CASE Specify "U" if characters typed into an Edit session in lower case are to be translated to upper case. Specify "M" otherwise. Compare EditUpperChar and EditUpperLine commands. command.
CHECK [Support provided for BIM files only.] specifies whether file is under checkout/checkin control. You cannot alter CHECK while a file is part of a checkout relationship. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" if editing can be done only on a checked out copy. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" if file can be edited directly.
FINDCOL specifies a default search column to be used by the Find, FindFirst, FindUp, NotFind, and NotFindUp commands.
INDCTL To be defined.
INDCOL [Support provided for workstation files only.] specifies the indent column. The indent column is where the cursor is positioned by a EditNewLine or CursReturn command.
LIBDEF is an attribute with site-defined usage. LIBDEF is often used to supply information about source or destination libraries to a generalized compile procedure (see the FileCompile command). LIBDEF can be up to 8 characters in length.
MAXCOL [Support provided for workstation files only.] specifies the highest column number (i.e., the maximum line length) allowed for the file. MAXCOL must be specified as a number from 1 through 32752.
For BIM files, MAXCOL is always assumed to be 253.
NULLS specifies whether the trailing blanks on a line are replaced with nulls when displaying the file on a 3270 terminal. This operand is normally not of concern to BIM-EDIT/XP users.
QUEUE [Support provided for workstation files only.] is an On/Off flag that is always set on when a file is saved. It is often used to determine which files need to be compiled. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" to set this attribute on explicitly. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" otherwise.
QUEUE may also be entered as QUE[UE].
SEQ specifies a column range where the EditResequence command places sequence numbers. Enter it in the format xxx-yyy where xxx and yyy are numbers between 1 and the MAXCOL value. For example, to place sequence numbers in columns 73 through 80, specify SEQ as 73-80. The SEQ range cannot be wider than 8 columns. Specify a null value (""), "Of[f]", of "N[o]" to set sequence numbering off.
STAMP Specifies whether file stamping is to occur for the file. You cannot alter STAMP while a file is part of a checkout relationship. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" if file stamping is desired. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" otherwise.
For BIM files, if the host predefined variable MMPSPCTL has been set to 1, only the System Administrator can alter STAMP=OFF.
TCOL specifies a list of columns used for tabbing. Up to 12 tab settings may be specified. They are entered in the format cc-cc-cc.
TITLE specifies a comment about or description of the file. TITLE can be up to 40 characters in length.
TYPE specifies a file type. For program source files, TYPE is typically used by a generalized compile procedure (see the FileCompile command) to determine which compiler to invoke. TYPE can be altered to anything but is typically one of the selections described in the FileDefine command. Altering TYPE does not change the contents or other attributes of the file.
USER is purely documentary. It can be set to any value -- typically the value is used to determine ownership when culling junk files from the directory. It can be up to 8 characters.
VERSCTL [Supported for workstation files only.] Specifies whether BIM-EDIT/XP is to maintain version files of this file in the version directory. See Version Control for additional information. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" if version files are to be maintained. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" otherwise.
Version control of BIM files is accomplished through either the BIM-EDIT archive facility or through a customized checkin/checkout facility. Consult host BIM-EDIT documentation.
WRAP [Supported for workstation files and BIM files (BIM-EDIT release 5.1A and above) only. Other file types can still use the Word-wrap feature, but may have to use SessionAlter to activate the feature. BIM files with TYPE=TEXT for which the WRAP value has not been specified are created with Word-wrap on.] specifies if Word-wrap mode is to be active for Edit sessions of this file. Specify "On" or "Y[es]" if Word-wrap is to be active for Edit sessions. Specify "Of[f]" or "N[o]" otherwise.
ZONE specifies a column range in which edit and search commands process.
For a more detailed discussion of file attributes, see the FileDefine command.
If no optional operands are specified, FileAlter will create a window that shows the existing attributes of the file. The attribute values can then be changed by overtyping.
When an Edit or List session of a file is created, the file's attributes become the session's attributes. Altering a file's attributes after a Edit or List session of the file is created has no effect on that session. If you want to affect the attributes of an existing session, use the SessionAlter command.
If you alter the attributes of a slave file in a checkout relationship, the changes are lost when the check in is done.
FileAlter sets the last referenced file.
When Valid
For BIM files, the user must have DEF level access for the FILE directory.
Return Codes
OK Successful.
CK File is part of a checkout relationship.
NF File not found.
SC Inadequate access level.
Procedure Notes
FileAlter sets the TXM variables to the attributes of FILE.
Examples
Alter title for workstation file ESAP030.C:
=> alt esap030.c,title='on-line vendor activity'
For BIM file RMAP050 in directory 3982, alter the type and case:
=> alt 3982.rmap050,type=cobol,case=u
Set tabs for BIM file SYREXIO:
=> alt syrexio,tcol=8-16-20-24-40-78