Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
Programming Interfaces

OUTPUT TO and the default stream

A stream is a path for data movement. In this case, a stream is a path for output to a named destination. Every Progress procedure has one unnamed default output stream that writes data to the screen. The OUTPUT TO statement is your tool for redirecting the default stream to another destination. Once you use OUTPUT TO to change the output destination in a procedure, the output goes to that destination until you close it with the OUTPUT CLOSE statement, or until you name a new output destination.

This is a partial syntax for the OUTPUT TO statement:

Syntax

OUTPUT [ STREAM stream ] TO { PRINTER | opsys-file | opsys-device } [ PAGED ]

Here is a partial syntax for the OUTPUT CLOSE statement:

Syntax

OUTPUT [ STREAM stream ] CLOSE

Table 7–2 describes the OUTPUT statement syntax components.

Table 7–2: OUTPUT statement options 

Component	Description
STREAM	Specifies a named output stream. Omit this syntax when using the default stream.
PRINTER	Specifies the default printer as set by your environment.
opsys-file	Specifies a legal file name enclosed in quotes for a text file.
opsys-device	Specifies a legal device name from your environment enclosed in quotes.
PAGED	Directs Progress to break the output into pages. Progress sends a page break control character after every 56 lines. Without this option, Progress sends output in a continuos stream. This option is most often used with printed reports, especially where you want to use page headers and footers (covered later).