PS TEXT FORMAT Reference Manual

Introduction to TFORM
11387 Tandem Computers Incorporated 3–67
When LETTER has processed the last set of data in the list file, TFORM
stops. (If you omit the EXIT command in the RUN command line, TFORM
enters the interactive mode at this point and gives you a “?” prompt. You
can then enter the EXIT command or a control-Y to end the TFORM run.)
The syntax for the list file template block is displayed below
< address-var > [ pattern ]
[ < salutation-var > ]
[ < var > ]
.
.
.
block-separator
address-var
is a variable name that identifies each line in the address section of a
data block. The first line in the address will be in address-var1 , and
so on. You can use these variables in the body of your letter (the body
file). The angle brackets are required.
pattern
is one or more characters (not in quotes, unless you intend to use quotes
wherever the pattern appears) that signals the end of the address
section of a block. Exactly one space separates the pattern from the
closing angle bracket of the address variable identifier. The pattern
characters must be different from the block separator. If you omit it,
LETTER views a blank line in the file as separating address data from
other data.
salutation-var
is a variable name that holds the first item in the data block following
the address section, presumably the name to be used in the salutation.
If you don’t want a customized salutation, omit it from the template
block. The angle brackets are required.