$STATUS

$STATUS is a global symbol automatically defined by OpenVMS that contains the condition code of the most recently executed command. Applications programs can set the value of the global symbol $STATUS by including a parameter value to the EXIT command. The system uses the value of $STATUS to determine which message, if any, to display and whether to continue execution at the next higher command level. The value of the lowest three bits in $STATUS is placed in the global symbol $SEVERITY.