HP System Dictionary/XL SDMAIN Reference Manual (32256-90001)

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3 The System Dictionary Command
Language
Overview
The HP System Dictionary Command Language enables you to create, maintain, and report on entries in
System Dictionary through the SDMAIN program which is discussed in the previous chapter.
This chapter discusses characteristics of the command language itself, plus describes the four general
categories of commands. A description of each of these four categories is followed by a list of the commands
that you can use in that category. The four categories of commands are:
• Dictionary environment commands
• Dictionary structure commands
• Dictionary data maintenance commands
• Dictionary reporting commands
A complete description of each command is located in Chapter 4 of this manual.
The HP System Dictionary Command Language
The HP System Dictionary Command Language is a free formatted language that allows you to create,
maintain, and report on entries in HP System Dictionary. The general format of the language is:
COMMAND SUBCOMMAND OBJECT-CLAUSE;
KEYWORD-CLAUSE1; KEYWORD-CLAUSE2; ... KEYWORD-CLAUSEn.
Free formatting means that the command, subcommand, object-clause, and keyword-clause may appear on
the same line or on different lines. However, the order of these language elements is important. They are,
therefore, positional. In other words, a subcommand must follow a command, an object-clause must follow
a subcommand, and a keyword-clause must follow an object-clause. However, among themselves, keyword
clauses are non-positional. That is, you may enter them in any order, as long as they follow the object-
clause. For example, you may enter keyword-clause1 after keyword-clause2. You cannot, however,
enter them before the object-clause.
Table 3-1 shows the System Dictionary command language elements.
Table 1: System Dictionary Language Elements
Language Element Description
COMMAND The SDMAIN-defined name that specifies the action to be taken
EXAMPLE: CREATE ENTITY ship-date;ENTITY-TYPE=element.
SUBCOMMAND The SDMAIN-defined name that specifies the general target of the action.
EXAMPLE: CREATE ENTITY ship-date;ENTITY-TYPE=element.