The features described in this topic are obsolete
and should not be used in new IDL code.

SKIPF

This routine is obsolete and should not be used in new IDL code.

The SKIPF procedure skips records or files on the designated magnetic tape unit. SKIPF is available only under VMS. If two parameters are supplied, files are skipped. If three parameters are present, individual records are skipped.

The number of files or records actually skipped is stored in the system variable !ERR. Note that when skipping records, the operation terminates immediately when the end of a file is encountered. See the description of the magnetic tape routines in "VMS-Specific Information" in Chapter 8 of Application Programming.

Syntax

SKIPF, Unit, Files

or

SKIPF, Unit, Records, R

Arguments

Unit

The magnetic tape unit to rewind. Unit must be a number between 0 and 9, and should not be confused with the standard file Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs).

Files

The number of files to be skipped. Skipping is in the forward direction if the second parameter is positive, otherwise files are skipped backwards.

Records

The number of records to be skipped. Skipping is in the forward direction if the second parameter is positive, otherwise records are skipped backwards.

R

If this argument is present, records are skipped, otherwise files are skipped. The value of R is never examined. Its presence serves only to indicate that records are to be skipped.