07-309r1 To: J3 From: Stan Whitlock Subject: Inquire by unit inconsistencies Date: 2007 November 15 NUMBER: F03/0106 TITLE: inquire by unit inconsistencies KEYWORDS: inquire, unit, not connected DEFECT TYPE: Erratum STATUS: J3 consideration in progress QUESTION: There are many things that can be inquired about, such as ACTION or READ, that are purely file or connection properties. In some cases, such as ACTION, the specifier description includes "If there is no connection [the result is] the value UNDEFINED" or similar words. In other cases, such as READ, there seems to be a tacit assumption that there is a file connected to the unit. The descriptions refer to "the file" and don't specify a result if there is no connection. In most cases, there is a phrase like "if the processor is unable to determine if the file ... [the result is] {UNDEFINED, UNKNOWN, -1, etc.}". Question 1) Are the inquire specifiers DIRECT, ENCODING, FORMATTED, NAMED, NEXTREC, NUMBER, POS, READ, READWRITE, SEQUENTIAL, SIZE, STREAM, UNFORMATTED, and WRITE allowed in an INQUIRE by unit when there is no file connected to the unit? Question 2) If so, should the descriptions for the above specifiers be clarified by adding phrases such as "if there is no file specified or connected" to the "UNKNOWN" result descriptions? ANSWER: Question 1) Yes. In an inquiry by unit, the specifiers have little meaning when there is no file connected to the unit. However, the standard should specify the results. Question 2) Yes, edits are supplied below. Note: 9.9.1.15 NAMED= [213:10] needs no edit; the value will be false if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file EDITS: 9.9.1.8 DIRECT= At [212:15], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.9 ENCODING= At [212:21], after "file" insert "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.12 FORMATTED= At [212:36], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.16 NEXTREC= At [213:16], after "connection" insert "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.17 NUMBER= At [213:21+], insert "If the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file, the value is the unit specified by UNIT=." 9.9.1.21 POS= At [214:20], after "conditions" insert "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.23 READ= At [215:2], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.24 READWRITE= At [215:7], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.27 SEQUENTIAL= At [215:26], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.29 SIZE= At [215:34], after "determined" insert "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.30 STREAM= At [216:5], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.31 UNFORMATTED= At [216:10], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" 9.9.1.32 WRITE= At [216:15], add to the end of the last sentence "or if the unit specified by UNIT= is not connected to a file" SUBMITTED BY: Dick Hendrickson HISTORY: 07-309 m182 F03/0106 Submitted 07-309r1 m182 Answer based on 07-310