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

  1. Before the end of the 240 characters, enter

    CTRL+_

    then press return.

  2. 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.
  3. 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:

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.

!

#

{

}

&

<

<=

=

=<

=>

>

>=

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