Lesser-Known SEU Commands

Published: April 12, 2006

by Ted Holt

Dear esteemed, highly skilled, and truly professional colleagues:

Even though WDSc is my development platform of choice, I have no choice but to use SEU at times. Can you say, "Yuck!"? Occasionally I even have to use SEU remotely through the Windows Telnet client. Can you say, "Double yuck!"? I feel like I'm back in the punch-card days. In any event, I have learned recently that some people make SEU harder than it has to be. Here are a few tips to reduce keystrokes. They're good for everyday use, and even better when working remotely.

Tip 1: You don't have to left-justify SEU line commands.

Line commands are the ones you key over the sequence numbers that run down the left side of the screen. (You don't have to left-justify commands on the SEU command line either, but that's beside the point.) If you're still repeatedly pressing the left-arrow key until you reach the first digit of the sequence number before typing C or M or A or whatever, stop it!

Tip 2: Use RP instead of C and B.

The RP command repeats a line. Don't type C over the first digit of the sequence number of one line and B over the first digit of the next line. Type RP anywhere in the line.

Tip 3: You can insert more than one new line at a time.

Follow the I command with a number. If the last digit of the number happens to be the same as the digit in the sequence number, key a space after the number. I frequently use the command I20 to insert 20 new lines at once, especially when editing a CL member. Any lines you don't key into do not get inserted into the member.

Tip 4: Use the X and XX commands to temporarily hide text.

This is especially helpful when you're working on a monolithic program, where something is defined or calculated in one part of the program and used many lines away. Temporarily hiding the code between the definition and calculation lets you see both parts of the program at once. This has saved me from spelling a variable name one way in one place and another way elsewhere on many occasions. Press F5 to redisplay the hidden lines.

Tip 5: Print only the parts of the source you need.

The LLP command prints part of a source member. Type LLP twice in the member--on the sequence numbers of the first and last lines to be printed. If any of the intervening lines have been hidden by the X or XX commands, they will not be printed.

If you have other SEU tips you'd like to share, please send them my way.

--Ted