Hi ,

I can think several different ways :

1- open a msg file and call intrinsic 'fcontrol' for time out.
   do an fread and check the condition code for time out or
   success.

2- If this is an interactive program then open the $stdin
   and do the above.

3- use intrinsic 'hpcicommand' and issue a command 'input d;wait=seconds;
   prompt...
   if the intrinsic fails then time out occurred , ( most simple of all)

4- call intrinsic hpcigetvar and issue a command
   to get 'finfo('xfile','eof') if eof = 0 then fail.

5- In most cases you can use COBOL file operations without calling intrinsics
   fopen and fread  and use intrinsic 'fcontrol' on COBOL file name.


Michael Abootorab







Greg writes:

Having tried to keep my COBOL as portable as possible, and having never
really learned to use intrinsic, I have now been asked to CALL
INTRINSICs, and have a newbie question (not that other questions
weren't). I want something that will time out and return success or
failure, much like an FREAD will. I am looking at FWRITE and IOWAIT, and
possibly FDEVICECONTROL, but feel rather lost. Any help, off list or on,
would be welcome.