General Conventions

The following conventions are used in this documentation:

Text
Bold text shown in this typeface is used to indicate input which must be typed at the terminal.
Text
Text shown in this typeface is used to show text output on the screen.
Bold text

Bold text in syntax descriptions represents characters that must be typed exactly as shown. For example

WHO

italic

Characters or words in this italic font indicate parameters which must be supplied by the user. For example in:

LIST  file-specifier

the parameter file-specifieris italicised to indicate that you must specify an actual file defined on your system.

Document Title
Italic text also indicates topic titles and other referenced documents. References shown in purple are hyperlinks - if clicked, they will take you to the referenced document or section.
{ }

Braces enclose options and optional parameters. For example in:

BLIST  file-specifier  item-list {(options}

  • file-specifier and item-list must be supplied

  • one or more single-letter options can be included, as defined for the command; these must be preceded by an open parenthesis, can be given in any order, and are not separated by spaces. Any number of options can be used except where specified in text.

[param | param]

Parameters in syntax descriptions shown separated by vertical lines within square brackets indicate that at least one of these parameters must be included.

For instance,

[THEN  statements | ELSE  statements]

indicates that a THEN clause or an ELSE clause (or both) must be included.

[param ‖ param]

Parameters in syntax descriptions shown separated by pairs of vertical lines within square brackets indicate that one, and only one of these parameters must be included.

For instance,

[ON ‖ OFF ‖ CLOSE]

indicates that just one of the keywords ON, OFF or CLOSE must be included.

…
In syntax descriptions, … (ellipsis) indicates that the parameters preceding can be repeated as many times as necessary.
file-specifier

The parameter file-specifier represents the following:

{file-modifier} {/account/}file-name{,data-section-name}

  • file-modifier can be DICT to specify the dictionary section of the file; the default, if DICT is omitted, is the data section. With appropriate English commands, it can also be ONLY, TAPE, or WITHIN.

  • /account/ indicates that the file is defined on another account on this database.

  • file-name is the name of the Reality file.

  • data-section-name can be used to specify a data section other than the default. In this case, DICT must be omitted.

See File-specifier for the formats of valid account, file and data section names.

Examples:
MYFILE
DICT MYFILE
MYFILE,DATA1
/MYACCOUNT/MYFILE
DICT /MYACCOUNT/MYFILE
/MYACCOUNT/MYFILE,DATA1

Note

You can also specify just /account/ (or DICT /account/), to access an account's master dictionary. For example:

/MYACCOUNT/
DICT /MYACCOUNT/

The following syntax is supported for compatibility with other MultiValue systems. It should not normally be used.

   {file-modifier} {account,}file-name{,data-section-name}

    Note that in this case, if an account name is specified, the commas are mandatory.

Examples:

MYFILE
DICT MYFILE
MYFILE,DATA1
MYACCOUNT,MYFILE,
DICT MYACCOUNT,MYFILE,
MYACCOUNT,MYFILE,DATA1
MYACCOUNT,,
DICT MYACCOUNT,,
SMALL CAPITALS
Small capitals are used for the names of keys such as RETURN.
CTRL+X
Two (or more) key names joined by a plus sign (+) indicate a combination of keys, where the first key(s) must be held down while the second (or last) is pressed. For example, CTRL+X indicates that the CTRL key must be held down while the X key is pressed.
Enter

To enter means to type text then press RETURN. For instance, 'Enter the WHO command' means type WHO, then press RETURN.

In general, the RETURN key (shown as ENTER or ¿ on some keyboards) must be used to complete all terminal input unless otherwise specified.

Press
Press single key or key combination, but do not press RETURN afterwards.
X'nn'
This denotes a hexadecimal value.
vm
Text in this font and colour combination represents a Reality system delimiter.
Windows
References to Windows include only the supported versions. Refer to the Release Information for details.