HLASM Language Reference

Body of a Macro Definition
Notes:
1. Any number of continuation lines is allowed. However, each continuation line
must be indicated by a non-space character in the column after the end column
on the preceding line.
2. For each continuation line, the operand field entries (symbolic parameters) must
begin in the continue column; otherwise, the whole line and any lines that
follow are considered to contain remarks.
No error diagnostic message is issued to indicate that operands are
treated as remarks in this situation. However, the FLAG(CONT) assembler
option can be specified so that the assembler issues warning messages if
it suspects an error in a continuation line.
3. The standard value for the continue column is 16 and the standard value for
the end column is 71.
4. A comma is required after each parameter except the last. If you code excess
commas between parameters, they are considered null positional parameters.
No error diagnostic message is issued.
5. One or more spaces is required between the operand and the remarks.
6. If the DBCS assembler option is specified, the continuation features outlined in
“Continuation of double-byte data” on page 16 apply to continuation in the
macro language. Extended continuation may be useful if a macro keyword
parameter contains double-byte data.
Body of a Macro Definition
The body of a macro definition contains the sequence of statements that constitutes
the working part of a macro. You can specify:
Model statements to be generated
Processing statements that, for example, can alter the content and sequence of
the statements generated or issue error messages
Comment statements, some that are generated and others that are not
Conditional assembly instructions to compute results to be displayed in the
message created by the MNOTE instruction, without causing any assembler
language statements to be generated
The statements in the body of a macro definition must appear between the macro
prototype statement and the MEND statement of the definition. The body of a
macro definition can be empty, that is, contain no statements.
Nesting Macros: You can include macro definitions in the body of a macro
definition.
Model Statements
Model statements are statements from which assembler language statements are
generated during conditional assembly. They let you determine the form of the
statements to be generated. By specifying variable symbols as points of
substitution in a model statement, you can vary the contents of the statements
Chapter 7. How to Specify Macro Definitions 247