NET/MASTER Network Control Language (NCL) Reference Manual

Multiple Variable Assignment Using ASSIGN
Verb Syntax and Variable Access Methods
11–22 106126 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Assigning Values Using
Prefixes and Suffixes
There are four keywords that rely on matching and not matching variable prefixes and
suffixes to update a set of target variables. These keywords are:
GENERIC
OVERLAY
MERGE
BYNAME
These keywords can be used only when the qualifier to the OPT keyword is VALUE
and when the variable specification of both source and target variables is in the form:
&[ variable ] *
The asterisk (*) acts as a wildcard in this context. It suffixes the &[ variable ]
specification. Accordingly, the &[ variable ] is called a variable prefix.
Table 11-1 summarizes the function of the keywords. This table shows the source and
target variables affected by each of the keywords. The function of each keyword is
discussed in detail in the subsections that follow.
Table 11-1. Function of GENERIC, OVERLAY, MERGE, and BYNAME
Variables Affected
Keyword
Target Only, No
Source
Source Only, No
Target
Matching Target and Source
GENERIC Deletes Creates Updates
OVERLAY N.A. Creates Updates
MERGE N.A. Creates N.A.
BYNAME N.A. N.A. Updates
Target Only, No Source: refers to the case in which there are target variables with no matching
source variables.
Source Only, No Target: refers to the case in which there are source variables with no matching
target variables.
Matching Target and Source: refers to the case in which there are matching target and source
variables.
Deletes: keyword deletes target variables.
Creates: keyword creates new target variables when target variables do not exist.
Updates: keyword updates target variables when target and source variables match.
N.A.: keyword does not affect target variables.