CONTMAX

OPTION   CONTMAX=6144        * Override continuation record buffer maximum.

The CONTMAX parameter may be supplied on the OPTION card only.

The continuation record character ( \ - EBCDIC X'E0') allows long logical control statements to be constructed from multiple control records, up to a default maximum of 4096 bytes. OPTION CONTMAX=n may be used to overrule the default maximum length of a logical control statement when using continuation records.

If the CONTMAX argument is not a valid positive decimal number or the CONTMAX buffer has already been allocated due to the processing of a continuation character on an earlier control statement, then SELCOPY will terminate with the following message:

ERROR 154 INVALID CONTMAX OR ALREADY SET

Use of the continuation character and CONTMAX is most useful for processing a DB2 database which can result in the requirement for literals defining long, complicated SQL statements.