BROADCAST command: Sending a login message

Summary

Privileges: System administrator or operator
Function: Adds, changes, or removes the system login message

Syntax

BROADCAST [URGENT][text]

Where: text is the new login message. If text is not specified in the command, the current login message is removed. For an operator message, the maximum length of the login message is 90 characters (83 if URGENT is specified). For other messages, the maximum is 255 characters (247 if URGENT is specified).

Syntax notes

Multiple lines of text are specified in the form:

line1/line2.../

where the slash character (/) indicates a new line or a carriage return/line feed sequence. A line is continued by specifying any nonblank character in the column specified by the INCCC parameter.

Example

BROADCAST URGENT SYSTEM WILL BE GOING DOWN AT 5.00 P.M. TODAY

The following command prints two blank lines, followed by the specified text, followed by two more blank lines:

BROADCAST //NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IS NOW IN EFFECT//

Usage notes

If the login message is changed after a user has logged in, the message is displayed the next time that the user is at command level outside a procedure.
If URGENT is specified in the BROADCAST, the message is displayed almost immediately. (See the discussion of message timing in Broadcast: Sending a file message.)

You can delete the existing login message by issuing a BROADCAST command without text, as shown in the following example:

BROADCAST

Note:
The operator can enter a BROADCAST command in response to the outstanding reply generated by the HALT command.
Whenever a BROADCAST message is displayed during a user's session, it is preceded by the header:

UPDATED BROADCAST MESSAGE:

The message is displayed without a header when the user logs in.

Evaluating whether to issue a BROADCAST URGENT command

When you issue a BROADCAST URGENT command, the next time a logged-on user presses the Enter key the broadcast message is displayed. If the user is in an edit session, all changes to input but not yet saved with an Enter key are lost. Furthermore, all prefix areas are lost and the screen looks messy. The user can press the Clear screen to refresh the screen.

Rocket Software recommends that you do not issue a BROADCAST URGENT command, unless you have a desperate situation for which you must have your end-users get off the system as quickly as possible.