DELAY.REX

This the DELAY.REX REXX program which emulates the delay BIF function as implemented by the PC/REXX and Personal REXX interpreters.

This REXX program (below) will work with most REXXes:

CMS REXX
PC/REXX (see note)
Personal REXX (see note)
REGINA REXX
ROO REXX
R4 REXX
TSO REXX
(Microsoft) DOS
(Microsoft) Windows
any system that supports the PING command

in conjunction with the following program (either external or imbedded).

Note: when PC/REXX or Personal REXX are used, those REXXes already have a built-in function (BIF), so the delay subroutine (below) will never be executed, but the REXX DELAY BIF will be used instead.

This REXX program only uses whole seconds (fractional seconds are ignored).

REXX

<lang rexx> select

 when !cms     then @cpsleep   n    "SEC"        /*Is this  CMS?      Use   CP SLEEP.  */
 when !tso     then call sleep n                 /*Is this  TSO?      Use   SLEEP cmd. */
 when !regina  then do                           /*Is this Regina?                     */
                    if nFrac=n  then call sleep n                     /*whole seconds? */
                                else call beep 32767, nFrac * 1000    /*uses fraction. */
                                                 /* [↑]  sound MAY be heard, faint tic.*/
                    end
 when !dos     then @ping  @pingArgs             /*Is this  DOS?    Use  PING  command.*/
 otherwise          nop                          /*don't know what this environment is.*/
 end   /*select*/

return 0 /*return a zero value (if a function).*/

halt: return 1 /*return a zero value (if a function).*/

/*══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════*/ !all: !!=!;!=space(!);upper !;call !fid;!nt=right(!var('OS'),2)=='NT';!cls=word('CLS VMFCLEAR CLRSCREEN',1+!cms+!tso*2);if arg(1)\==1 then return 0;if wordpos(!,'? ?SAMPLES ?AUTHOR ?FLOW')==0 then return 0;!call=']$H';call '$H' !fn !;!call=;return 1 !cal: if symbol('!CALL')\=="VAR" then !call=; return !call !env: !env='ENVIRONMENT'; if !sys=='MSDOS' | !brexx | !r4 | !roo then !env='SYSTEM'; if !os2 then !env='OS2'!env; !ebcdic=3=='f3'x; if !crx then !env='DOS'; return !fid: parse upper source !sys !fun !fid . 1 . . !fn !ft !fm .; call !sys; if !dos then do; _=lastpos('\',!fn); !fm=left(!fn,_); !fn=substr(!fn,_+1); parse var !fn !fn '.' !ft; end; return word(0 !fn !ft !fm, 1+('0'arg(1))) !rex: parse upper version !ver !vernum !verdate .; !brexx='BY'==!vernum; !kexx='KEXX'==!ver; !pcrexx='REXX/PERSONAL'==!ver | 'REXX/PC'==!ver; !r4='REXX-R4'==!ver; !regina='REXX-REGINA'==left(!ver,11); !roo='REXX-ROO'==!ver; call !env; return !sys: !cms=!sys=='CMS'; !os2=!sys=='OS2'; !tso=!sys=='TSO' | !sys=='MVS'; !vse=!sys=='VSE'; !dos=pos('DOS',!sys)\==0 | pos('WIN',!sys)\==0 | !sys=='CMD'; !crx=left(!sys,6)=='DOSCRX'; call !rex; return !var: call !fid; if !kexx then return space( dosenv( arg(1) ) ); return space( value( arg(1), , !env) ) er: parse arg _1,_2; call '$ERR' "14"p(_1) p(word(_1, 2) !fid(1)) _2; if _1<0 then return _1; exit result p: return word( arg(1), 1) halt: call er .1 isNum: return datatype( arg(1), 'N') noValue: !sigl=sigl; call er 17, !fid(2) !fid(3) !sigl condition('D') sourceline(!sigl) syntax: !sigl=sigl; call er 13, !fid(2) !fid(3) !sigl !cal() condition('D') sourceline(!sigl)</lang>

Coding note: the !xxx subroutines (above) deal mostly with determining what version of REXX is being invoked and what operating system is being used; and based on that information, appropriate flags (variables) are set. This is an example of a robust boilerplate code checking for various versions of REXX and operating systems, and it also defines additional flags not used within this particular program.

Programming note: The subroutine $ERR isn't included here; so here is the gist of the error messages:

er 59 too many arguments specified for the ─── DELAY ─── command.
er 53 argument ─── xxx ─── isn't numeric for the option ─── delay-seconds ─── for the ─── DELAY ─── command.