VMS Help WAIT  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    Places a process into a wait state for the specified amount of
    time. The WAIT command is used in a command procedure to delay
    processing of either the procedure itself or a set of commands in
    the procedure.

    Format

      WAIT  delta-time

1 - Parameter

 delta-time

    Specifies a delta time interval in the following format. (A delta
    time is an offset from the current time to a time in the future.)

    hour:minute:second.hundredth

    The fields on the format line indicate the following:

    hour       Specifies an integer in the range 0 to 23.
    minute     Specifies an integer in the range 0 to 59.
    second     Specifies an integer in the range 0 to 59.
    hundredth  Specifies an integer in the range 0 to 99.

    The colons (:)  and period (.) are required delimiters; also, the
    delta time must begin with the number of hours and not a colon.
    Note that the days field, usually included in the delta time
    format, must be omitted here.

    For more information on specifying delta time values, refer
    to the OpenVMS User's Manual or the online help topic DCL_Tips
    (subtopic Date_Time).

    Note that if you enter the WAIT command interactively, you are
    not prompted for a time value; however, in order for the command
    to have any effect, you must supply a time value.

2 - Example

  $ LOOP:
  $ RUN KUDOS
  $ WAIT 00:10
  $ GOTO LOOP

      In this example, the command procedure executes the program
      image KUDOS. After the RUN command executes the program,
      the WAIT command delays execution of the GOTO command for 10
      minutes. Note that 00 is specified for the number of hours,
      because the time specification cannot begin with a colon.
      After 10 minutes, the GOTO command executes, and the procedure
      transfers control to the label LOOP and executes the program
      KUDOS again. The procedure loops until it is interrupted or
      terminated.

      If the procedure is executed interactively, terminate it by
      pressing Ctrl/C or Ctrl/Y and by entering the STOP command
      or another DCL command that runs a new image in the process.
      If the procedure is executed in a batch job, enter the
      DELETE/ENTRY command to terminate it.