Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!NIU!A01JRN1 From: A01JRN1@NIU.BITNET (815 John Naples 753-1875) Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main Subject: An arcane MVS question Message-ID: Date: 2 Feb 90 04:25:00 GMT Sender: IBM Mainframe Discussion list Reply-To: IBM Mainframe Discussion list Lines: 14 Approved: NETNEWS@PSUVM Gateway Comments: To: IBM mainframe Group An arcane question about MVS replies: In many places the operating system (MVS) or a utility is unsure if it should proceed or not, and so it issues a request to the console asking the operator whether or not it should proceed. The obvious response to me would be "Y" or "YES" to indicate it is okay to proceed, and "N" or "NO" to indicate the contrary. But, in many cases the acceptable responses are "U" (for yes) and "M" (for no). Does anyone know why this is the case? The only (rather silly) answer I could propose is that U/M are adjacent to Y/N on the keyboard. But I cannot accept that answer. John Naples Northern Illinois University A01JRN1@NIU