pTAL Reference Manual (H06.03+)

HP pTAL Reference Manual—523746-005
1-1
1 Introduction to pTAL
pTAL is based on the HP Transaction Application Language (TAL). You can compile
pTAL source code with either the pTAL or EpTAL compiler.
Topics:
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pTAL and TAL Compatibility on page 1-1
•
EpTAL, pTAL, and TAL Compilers on page 1-2
•
pTAL Applications on page 1-3
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pTAL Features on page 1-4
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System Services on page 1-6
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System Procedures on page 1-7
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pTAL and the CRE on page 1-7
pTAL and TAL Compatibility
The pTAL and TAL languages are the same except that TAL supports constructs that
depend on characteristics of the underlying TNS architecture, while pTAL (with a few
exceptions) does not depend on the underlying TNS/R architecture or TNS/E
architecture. For example, pTAL code cannot:
•
Access a caller’s stack marker
•
Use CODE statements to execute instructions
•
Build parameter masks for calls to variable or EXTENSIBLE procedures
Because pTAL uses few machine-dependent constructs, it works efficiently with the
system hardware to provide optimal object program performance and is more portable
than TAL.
Most pTAL and TAL declarations and executable statements have the same syntax
and semantics. Minor semantic differences might affect your programs; for these
differences, you must change your source code.
To accommodate migration from TAL to pTAL, pTAL retains some of TAL’s operability.
For information about pTAL and TAL differences, see:
•
pTAL Conversion Guide
•
pTAL Guidelines for TAL Programmers