Enform Plus Reference Manual

Commands

Enform Plus Reference Manual—422684-001

6-7

?COMPILE Command

The ?COMPILE command compiles a query and stores it in a physical file. The syntax

of the ?COMPILE command is:

edit-filename

is the name of the Edit-format file containing the Enform Plus query.

( section-name , ... )

is a list of the names of the section(s) within an Edit-format file. The list must be

enclosed within parentheses.

compiled-physical-filename

is the name of the physical file to contain the compiled query.

The ?COMPILE command compiles a query. The Enform Plus internal table becomes

part of the compiled query file. If physical-filename existed before compilation,

the old version is purged and a new physical file is created. If errors are produced during

a compilation attempt, the original compiled query file is not affected at all.

The ?COMPILE command compiles only one LIST or FIND statement. If your Edit-

format file contains more than one LIST or FIND statement, Enform Plus compiles the

first LIST or FIND statement to the compiled query file. Enform Plus does not compile

any statements or commands following the first LIST or FIND statement; instead

Enform Plus continues processing, executing the statements and commands as they are

encountered in the Edit-format file.

When the LIST or FIND statement of the query is written to the compiled query file,

most of the commands, options, and other statements that provide environmental

information are stored in the internal table. The internal table is then saved in the

compiled query file.

Enform Plus assigns a file code of 888 to the compiled query file. Enform Plus creates

this code to identify the physical file as a stored query produced by Enform Plus.

A query called by a host-language program must be compiled first. Other queries do not

need to be compiled before run time; however, there are some advantages to creating a

compiled query file. The compiled query file protects the query from being inadvertently

changed. Less processing time is required when the compiled query file is saved and

reused for subsequent runs.

?COMPILE edit-filename [ ( section-name , ... ) ]

TO compiled-physical-filename