/INPUT=filespec
Specifies an input file containing one or more DCL commands to
be executed by the spawned subprocess. The file type defaults
to .COM. The asterisk (*) and the percent sign (%) wildcard
characters are not allowed in the file specification. Once
processing of the input file is complete, the subprocess is
terminated. If both a command string and the /INPUT qualifier
are specified, the specified command string executes before
additional commands are obtained from the /INPUT qualifier.
If neither is specified, SYS$INPUT is assumed (in which case a
SPAWN/NOWAIT command is aborted if Ctrl/Y is pressed to abort
something running in your parent process).
You cannot explicitly specify non-record-oriented, process-
permanent files (NRO PPFs) with the /INPUT qualifier. The system
displays an error message when it encounters such a file as the
value for the /INPUT qualifier.
Note that when NRO PPFs are used as implicit input (that is, the
/INPUT qualifier is not specified and SYS$INPUT is a NRO PPF),
the SPAWN command can succeed, as shown in the following table:
Process Type SYS$INPUT Implicit Input
Interactive NRO PPF SYS$COMMAND
Noninteractive NRO PPF Null device
Any Any other SYS$INPUT
If SYS$INPUT is a terminal, it cannot have an associated terminal
mailbox.