  DCL and PIPE command length limits? 
 The Question is:
 
Why can't a PIPE command (after symbol and lexical expantion) be longer as 256
 characters?
Example:
$ files:=filename1.txt,filename2.txt,-
filename3.txt,filename4.txt,filename5.txt,-
flname.txt
$ write sys$output f$length(files)
$ pipe dir 'files' ; dir 'files' ; dir 'files'
%DCL-W-TKNOVF, command element is too long - shorten
 \DIR FILENAME1.TXT,FILENAME2.TXT,FILENAME3.TXT,FILENAME4.TXT,FILENAME5.TXT,FLNA
ME.TXT ; DIR FILENAME1.TXT,FILENAME2.TXT,FILENAME3.TXT,FILENAME4.TXT,FILENAME5.T
XT,FLNAME.TXT ; DIR FILENAME1.TXT,FILENAME2.TXT,FILENAME3.TXT,FILENAME4.TXT,FILE
NAME5.TXT,FLNAM
 
 
 The Answer is:
 
  There is no particular reason the command cannot be longer than circa
  256 characters, other than the internal limits present within the PIPE
  command and with DCL itself, of course.
 
