Sometimes I want to make some changes in a dataset, which I might regret, if the changes later on prove not to be satisfactory. Then it is nice to use the CANCEL command. Unfortunately I sometimes press F3 for END just because that is what I normally do. In these situations I learn to appreciate HSM and other kinds of backup. I told my good friend Johnny Mossin about one of these situations. He suggested another approach which I want to share with you along with another possibility.

It is possible to deactivate the implied SAVE when pressing END. Johnny's suggestion is to execute the EDIT command DEFINE END NOP. This command simply disables the END command for the current EDIT session. If you regret using DEFINE END NOP you can use DEFINE END RESET which makes END work again.

Another possibility is to use the EDIT command AUTOSAVE OFF. After executing this command you have to use the SAVE command in order to save your changes before leaving EDIT. If you have not made any changes END works as usual. AUTOSAVE OFF works for a longer duration than the current EDIT session, but for how long is determinated by a lot of factor, which I doubt anyone at IBM can tell you about. I certainly cannot. This is due to the fact that AUTOSAVE is an option in your EDIT PROFILE. When IBM invented the EDIT PROFILE they did not think very much about the implementation and we have lived with it ever since. AUTOSAVE ON reinstates normal END behaviour.

When you have seen how AUTOSAVE OFF work and you wish the same functionality for all your future EDIT sessions you have a life long task ahead of you. Unless you know some tricks I am not aware of, you will experience that AUTOSAVE suddenly is not OFF for some datasets, but works for others, just to stop working some other day. Therefore I recommend you to use either AUTOSAVE OFF or DEFINE END NOP just for the current session.