PS TEXT FORMAT Reference Manual

Escape Sequences
11387 Tandem Computers Incorporated 4-9
Indirection Escape
Sequence
The keyword VALUE (possibly abbreviated) followed by a left parenthesis
(or just a left parenthesis immediately following the trigger) identifies an
indirection, or value substitution, escape sequence. Following any of these
is an expression to be evaluated, then another trigger and a closing right
parenthesis. It looks like this:
\VALUE ( exp \)
or simply:
\( exp \)
The indirection escape sequence works by evaluating the expression
enclosed within it, converting the expression to a string, and representing
that value in itself (which is why it can also be referred to as a value
substitution escape sequence).
Unlike rendition control escape sequences, the indirection escape sequence
can't have another escape sequence nested in it (although it can be nested
inside another). The expression can be of any type, but it must fit on one
line; you can't continue it onto a second input line. Since it converts
numeric entities to string types, it is useful when you require a string in an
expression. Even more importantly, it lets you embed an expression in a
line of text to make TFORM print something computed on the spot. For
example, assume you have the following line in your file:
Dear \(first_name\),
TFORM prints the actual current value of the expression first_name
(presumably read in from a name-and-address file) in place of the
indirection escape sequence.