TACL Reference Manual

Lexical Elements
HP NonStop TACL Reference Manual—429513-018
2-3
Metacharacters
Table 2-1 lists TACL metacharacters.
Square Brackets ([ ])
You can use square brackets in several ways:
•
To extend a logical line past the physical line limit. If you enclose more than one
line within a pair of square brackets, the brackets mark the beginning and ending
of the logical line. You can extend the line to a maximum of 239 characters.
•
To define an enclosure that contains a label and one or more TACL statements.
Enclosures can be used in #CASE, #DEF, #IF, and #LOOP built-in functions. For
more information about enclosures and labels, see Function Calls on page 5-1.
•
To specify that TACL expand a variable name to the contents of the variable.
When TACL expands a variable name, it replaces the variable name with the
contents of the variable. To expand the variable, enclose the name of the variable
in square brackets. For information about variables, see Section 4, Variables.
If the variable contains text, TACL replaces the bracketed variable name with the
text stored in the variable. For example, if the variable var1 contains the integer 3,
Table 2-1. TACL Metacharacters
Character(s) Name Description
[ ] Square
brackets
Causes TACL to expand the enclosed text
For additional information, see Square Brackets ([ ])
on
page 2-3.
== Double
equal signs
Specifies a comment from the equal signs to the end of the
line
For additional information, see Comments
on page 2-10.
{ } Pairs of
braces
Specifies a label; used in #CASE, #DEF, #IF, and #LOOP
functions
For example, |THEN| and |ELSE| are labels. For more
information about enclosures and labels, see Function Calls
on page 5-1.
| | Pair of
vertical
lines
Specifies a label; used in #CASE, #DEF, #IF, and #LOOP
functions
For example, |THEN| and |ELSE| are labels. For more
information about enclosures and labels, see Function Calls
on page 5-1.
~ Tilde Changes the interpretation of the next character (or in the
case of double equal signs two characters)
For additional information, see Tilde (~)
on page 2-5.