Considerations

The PRINTLINE command is not processed if the PRINTLINE command is spaced over, for example, when multiple line spacing causes certain PRINTLINE commands to be bypassed.

If the input-record carriage-control field specifies a double space before print (for example), and a CONDITION command is specified for the spaced line, the CONDITION is ignored (never checked). Because the OTHERWISE subcommand is part of a CONDITION command, the OTHERWISE subcommand is also ignored.

This can be confusing. You might expect an OTHERWISE condition to be true if all other conditions have failed. In fact, the OTHERWISE condition can be true if it is associated with a PRINTLINE command that is actually processed. See the following diagram for an example of this. This assumes ANSI carriage controls have been specified for this print file. ANSI carriage control ‘0’ means space two lines before printing.

The fifth input record contains data (character 5 in the sixth position) that would normally satisfy the condition specified on the fifth PRINTLINE command. However, the character 0 in the carriage control field of input record 4 causes the fifth PRINTLINE command to be ignored. The fifth input record is processed by the sixth PRINTLINE command; therefore, the condition is not satisfied.