multi line command to ABC backup client from a DCL script

[Ray Kosovich]

We have a single VMS system that we support and no full time VMS Administrator so excuse me if I am asking a dumb question.
We use ABC backup client interfacing to IBM’s TIVOLI storage Manager to control all the backups for the system. The DCL script was supplied by ABC and has been working OK for some time.

The script generates the required ABC commands and runs them from the ABC command line interface. However a recent change has introduced a bug where the script generates a command that is longer than 256 characters so we end up with the following error
%DCL-W-TKNOVF, command element is too long - shorten.

I've tried to break the command into 2 lines within the DCL script and am now generating something like this :

$ abc_command_line_1 -
$ command_line_2

Whilst this works perfectly when I manually run it from the OS prompt (where I get a _$ prompt after the first command line is entered and then enter the second line), if I run it within the script I get
%DCL-W-MAXPARM, too many parameters - reenter command with fewer parameters.

It appears to me that either ABC or DCL is not recognizing the fact that the command is spread across 2 lines in the script.

Is there any trick I need to do to get this to happen and have ABC recognize the multi-line command ??

Thanks

[Ian Miller.]

Try without the 2nd $

$ abc_command_line_1 -
command_line_2

[John Gillings]

Ray,

As Ian has pointed out, the correct syntax for a continuation line is without a leading "$".

> script generates a command that is
>longer than 256 characters so we end
>up with the following error
>%DCL-W-TKNOVF, command element is too long - shorten.

You don't say what version you're running, but I assume it's fairly old.

Recent versions of OpenVMS have extended DCL which accepts longer command lines and command elements. Although there is some EDCL in V7.3-2, tokens larger than 256 characters are in V8.2 or later, with the latest DCL & UPDATE patches.