From:	MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 22-JUL-1992 11:15:45.46
To:	INFO-VAX@KL.SRI.COM
CC:	
Subj:	re: wait for event flag halts ast deliver [DCL write without newline]

	CS19241593T@LUST2.LATROBE.EDU.AU (Bernard Leach) asks:
	|>
	|>Ok for a real question:
	|>Is there a simple method for outputting to the terminal using DCL
	|>without appending a linefeed?

	Paul Winalski answers:
	Call a program that does the output for you.  There isn't any direct
	way to override the default carriage control of the DCL WRITE
	statement.

Paul, I'm afraid your VMS Hacker's License will have to be returned for
regrooving. :-)  While what you say about WRITE is technically true, there
is a classic hack for accomplishing the final goal:

	$ READ/PROMPT="string to write"/TIMEOUT=0/ERROR=NEXT SYS$COMMAND DUMMY
	$NEXT:

This does have the side-effect of discarding (well, placing in DUMMY) one line
of type-ahead, so it's not a complete solution - writing the program is the
clearly the right way to go.  But there are many cases in which it's "good
enough" (especially if the command file will eventually read the input, in
which case it can tell from $STATUS whether a timeout occured, and if not
simply use the value read in to DUMMY.)
							-- Jerry