If interactive debugging is active and the option specified is a positive whole number (or an expression that evaluates to a positive whole number), that number indicates the number of debug pauses to be skipped. (See Chapter 15, Debugging Aids for further information.) However, if the option is a negative whole number (or an expression that evaluates to a negative whole number), all tracing, including debug pauses, is temporarily inhibited for the specified number of clauses. For example, TRACE -100 means that the next 100 clauses that would usually be traced are not displayed. After that, tracing resumes as before.