TAL Programmer's Guide

TACL Commands
File Names and TACL Commands
096254 Tandem Computers Incorporated E–5
TACL DEFINE Names TACL DEFINE names:
Are not case-sensitive
Consist of 2 to 24 characters
Begin with an equals sign (=) followed by an alphabetic character
Continue with any combination of letters, digits, hyphens (-), underscores (_), and
circumflexes (^)
Some examples of valid DEFINE names are:
=A
=The_chosen_file
=Long-but-not-too-long
=The-File-of-The-Week
DEFINE names that begin with an equals sign followed by an underscore (=_) are
reserved by Tandem. For example, do not use DEFINE names such as =_DEFAULT.
Setting DEFINE
CLASS Attributes
To create a DEFINE message or set its attributes, you must set a CLASS attribute for
the DEFINE. The CLASS attributes are MAP, TAPE, SORT/SUBSORT, SPOOL, and
DEFAULTS. Each attribute has an initial setting based on whether the attribute is
required, optional, or default.
MAP DEFINE
When you log on, the default CLASS attribute is MAP, which requires a file name. A
MAP DEFINE substitutes a file name for a DEFINE name used in the source file. For
example, suppose that your current CLASS attribute is MAP and your source file
includes the DEFINE name =MULTI in a SOURCE directive:
?SOURCE =multi
Before running the compiler, you can associate file name \BRIG.$ULLX.CABLE.PORT
with =MULTI:
ADD DEFINE =multi, FILE \brig.$ullx.cable.port
During compilation, the compiler passes the DEFINE name to a system procedure,
which makes the file available to the compiler. If the system procedure cannot make
the file available, the open operation fails.
TAPE DEFINE (D-Series Systems Only)
The TAPE DEFINE lets you specify attributes for labeled magnetic tapes. For instance,
it lets you specify attributes such as block length, recording density, record format and
length, number of reels, and labeling.
SPOOL DEFINE
The SPOOL DEFINE lets you specify spooler settings or attributes, such as number of
copies, form name, location, owner, report name, and priority.