Data Definition Language (DDL) Reference Manual

DDL Compiler Commands
Data Definition Language (DDL) Reference Manual—529431-004
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NCLCONSTANT
!
purges the contents of NCL-source-file before opening it, if it exists. If
NCL-source-file does not exist, the exclamation point has no effect.
Without the exclamation point, the DDL compiler appends the new NCL source
code statements to the end of NCL-source-file.
NONCLCONSTANT
closes any open NCL source code file and stops translating DDL constant
definitions to NCL source code statements.
When NCLCONSTANT is in effect, The DDL compiler translates only DDL Constant
objects. DDL record, definition, token type, token code, and token map objects are not
translated. The DDL compiler issues a warning message when attempting to output a
nonconstant in NCL.
A DDL constant name can have up to 30 ASCII characters. As a result, the maximum
number of characters for an NCL constant name generated by the DDL compiler is 30.
The value of a DDL string constant can be from 1 to 130 ASCII characters, not
including the beginning and ending quotation; therefore, the NCL value for a string
generated by the DDL compiler can have up to 130 ASCII characters. The legal range
of values for numeric constants depends on the TYPE clause specified in the
statement CONSTANT on page 4-1.
The DDL compiler replaces any hyphen (-) in a DDL Constant name with an
underscore (_) before writing the name to the NCL source code file.
All NCL constant names generated by the DDL compiler appear in uppercase
characters.
The specified NCL source code file must be an EDIT file. If the source code file exists
but is not an EDIT file, the DDL compiler issues an error message, does not open the
file, and does not output any NCL source.
Only one NCL source code file can be open at a time. If you specify the
NCLCONSTANT command when you already have an NCL source code file open, the
DDL compiler closes the current source code file before opening the new source code
file.
If the NCL source code file already exists and you omit the exclamation point, the DDL
compiler appends the Constant objects to the end of the original contents of the file.
The DDL compiler does not replace any existing objects.
The DDL compiler can translate DDL Constant objects specified in an OUTPUT
statement only if the dictionary containing these objects is open.