General Rules for English Sentences
Entering a Sentence
The sentence is entered at the TCL prompt (:) or the select prompt (>) in an account which contains a pointer to the file referenced (unless the account on which the file is defined is included in the file-specifier - see General Conventions). The select prompt is displayed if an item list has just been supplied by a command such as SELECT or GET-LIST.
The sentence is entered on one 'logical' line, and is generally completed when you press return (but see Line Continuation below).
The sentence must start with an English command that is defined in the Master Dictionary (or in the user's command file path) followed by a space. The sentence must contain a file name. Unless otherwise stated, each element must be followed by one or more spaces.
Line Continuation
When you are typing characters in response to the TCL prompt, the system allows you to enter up to 240 characters before it performs an automatic linefeed. However, you can extend a line by entering the line continuation characters.
To enter the continuation sequence hold down the ctrl key and press the underscore key (_), which may require you to hold down the shift key also. Follow this combination immediately with the return key.
Procedure
-
Before the end of the 240 characters, enter
CTRL+_
then press return.
- Type the next part of the sentence. If a space is required at this point, be sure to press the space bar either before or after Step 1. If more than another 240 characters are required, repeat Step 1.
- At the completion of the sentence, press RETURN.
Example
Because the following sentence might have exceeded 240 characters, the line continuation sequence (CTRL+_ and RETURN) was used to break the sentence into two parts.
:LIST GUESTS WITH BILL-CODE "15" AND WITH EACH BILL-CODE # "2" BREAK-ON LAST-NAME TOTAL BILL-TOTAL CTRL+_ RETURN:GRAND-TOTAL "AMOUNT DUE 'U'"DET-SUPP HDR-SUPP RETURN
Case Sensitivity
The case of the elements used in an English sentence is affected by the following:
-
If the account is case-sensitive and the command name is not found in the MD, all elements not enclosed in quotation marks are converted to upper case (see Case Sensitivity at TCL for details).
-
If the account MD is case-insensitive, the case of the command name is ignored.
-
If data case insensitive mode is selected, case is ignored when comparing attribute values.
-
If the file specified in the English sentence has case-insensitive item-ids:
-
The case of item-ids in selection criteria is ignored.
-
When sorting by item-id, the case of item-ids is ignored.
-
See Case Sensitivity for details of how to select the different case-insensitive options.
Action by the System
When the sentence is completed the system checks that the command is validly defined. If it is, the system checks the file name and the syntax of the sentence. If an invalid command or file name is entered, if the syntax is incorrect, or if limitations have been exceeded, the system displays an error message.
Generating English Reports
You can display English reports at the terminal or send them to the printer by using the LIST or SORT command (and some other commands). The default output device is the terminal. Reports are sent to a printer (or other currently-assigned spooler device) by adding LPTR or option P.
Columnar or Non-columnar Format
If the report will fit within the page width of the output device (as defined by the terminal type assigned via the SSM command, or overridden by the TERM command), it is output as a series of columns. However, if the report would require more than the current page width to be output in columns, it is output as a series of lines (this is known as 'non-columnar format').
Paging of Reports
If the report is displayed at the terminal and extends over more than one screen, press RETURN to view the next screen.
To exit the report before the last screen is displayed, press CTRL+E.
Reserved Words and Symbols
The following words and symbols have special significance in an English sentence and must be used as described in this section. These words and symbols are defined in each Master Dictionary (MD) and you should not change their definitions in any way.
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! # { } & < <= = =< => > >= A AFTER AN AND ANY ARE BEFORE BETWEEN BREAK-ON BSELECT BY BY-DSND BY-EXP BY-EXP-DSND CAPTION CHECK-SUM COL-HDR-SUPP COUNT DATA DBL-SPC DET-SUPP DICT |
EACH EDELETE EQ ESEARCH EESEARCH EVERY FILE FOOTING FOR GE GRAND-TOTAL GT HASH-TEST HDR-SUPP HEADER HEADING ID I-DUMP ID-SUPP IF IN ISTAT ITEMS LE LIST LIST-ITEM LIST-LABEL LPTR LT NAME NE NI-SUPP NMBR NO |
NOPAGE NOT OF ONLY OR PAGE PG REFORMAT S-DUMP SELECT SORT SORT-ITEM SORT-LABEL SREFORMAT SSEARCH SSELECT ST-DUMP STAT SUBVALUE SUM SUPP TCL-SUPP T-DUMP T-LOAD TAPE THE TOTAL USING VALUE WITH WITHIN WITHOUT |