HP 3000 Manuals

HP SYSTEM DICTIONARY XL UTILITIES-Part 2 SDDBC

System Dictionary Command Language 

The general format of the System Dictionary Command Language for SDDBC
is:

 *  a command

 *  one or more keyword clauses (if required)

The System Dictionary Command Language is free formatted, which means the
command and keyword clauses may appear on the same or different lines.
Commands and keyword clauses are considered to be phrases and the order
of these phrases is important.  The command must precede the keyword
clauses, but the keyword clauses are non-positional.  This means that
among themselves, keyword clauses may be entered in any order, thus
relieving the user from having to follow any particular sequence.  For
example, it does not matter if keyword-clause1 is entered before or after
keyword-clause2.

Phrases 

command             SDDBC-defined name which specifies the action to be
                    taken

keyword clause      A qualifying value.  A keyword followed by an equal
                    sign (=), followed by a keyword value list.  A
                    keyword is an SDDBC-defined name.  A keyword value
                    list is zero or more values separated by commas.
                    Values are user-defined names.  Keyword clauses are
                    separated by semicolons.

Punctuation Characters 

CHARACTER           DESCRIPTION

.                   Command terminator.  The period is used to signify
                    the end of a string of characters denoting a command.
                    It is optional for the one word commands:  COMMENT,
                    CREATE, EXIT, HELP, REDO, RESET, SHOW.

,                   Separates items in a list.  The comma is used to
                    separate values in a keyword value list.

;                   Separates keyword clauses.  If there are two or more
                    keyword clauses, there must be semicolons between
                    them.

=                   Specifies a keyword and a keyword value list pair.
                    For example, DICTIONARY = sysdic

(                   Used with the CONTROL keyword clause to specify the
                    beginning of a keyword value list.

)                   Used with the CONTROL keyword clause to specify the
                    end of a keyword value list.

"                   Used around character string values (use two "to
                    represent an embedded " in the string).  Optional
                    around passwords as long as the value can be accepted
                    as a valid name to the System Dictionary (i.e., no
                    punctuation or invalid characters embedded);
                    otherwise, it is required.

[[   ]]             Blanks must be used to separate a command and its
                    keyword clauses.  Any number of blanks may appear
                    between any name and any punctuation character.

[[RETURN]]          Treated the same as a blank.  Wherever a blank is
                    legal, a [[RETURN]] is legal.  (Except within a
                    quoted scope password.)

MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation