TGAL Manual

1 Understanding TGAL
060865 Tandem Computers Incorporated 1–1
What is TGAL? TGAL is a simple text formatter. You can print your file without using any TGAL
commands, or you can select any of the 40 TGAL commands described in this manual
to format your EDIT file. You use TGAL as a tool to tailor your text, designing an
individualized and well-formatted document.
TGAL is easy to use. As a text formatter, TGAL does not think on its own. You are in
command. You decide how you want your page to look, you enter the corresponding
commands, and you send it to the printer.
TGAL helps you. If you make a mistake entering a TGAL command, TGAL prints an
error message on a separate page.
TGAL is flexible. You can customize TGAL commands and defaults by building your
own TGAL program to match your specifications.
TGAL produces a paper copy from an EDIT file, as illustrated below.
TGAL
EDIT
File
How Does
TGAL Work?
When TGAL processes an EDIT file, it reads each line of the file, looking in the first
column for a trigger character. This trigger character signals TGAL that the remainder
of the line which follows that trigger character is a command line and not a text line.
The default trigger character for TGAL is a backslash (\), but you can change this
character to any character except a quotation mark or blank.
You must enter TGAL commands on lines separate from text lines. You can enter
more than one TGAL command on a line by separating the commands with a
semicolon. You can enter TGAL commands in uppercase letters or in lowercase
letters. Look at the example EDIT file on page 1-3 to see where TGAL commands are
positioned in an EDIT file.