HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
Information Management Series HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Reference Manual Vol. 1 For MPE/iX Systems HP Part No. 30601-64202 Edition E0592 Printed in U.S.A.
(c) 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992 by HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY Printed November 6, 1997 NOTICE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. | | | | HEWLETT-PACKARD PROVIDES THIS MATERIAL "AS IS" AND MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, | | EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF | | MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. HEWLETT-PACKARD SHALL NOT BE | | LIABLE FOR ERRORS CONTAINED HEREIN OR FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN | | CONNECTION WITH THE FURNISHING, PERFORMANCE OR USE OF THIS MATERIAL WHETHER BASED ON | | WARRANTY, CONTRACT, OR OTHER LEGAL THEORY. | | | | Hewlett-Packard assumes no responsibility for the use or reliability of its software | | on equipment that is not furnished by Hewlett-Packard. | | | | This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. All | | rights are reserved. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced or | | translated to another language without the prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard | | Company. | | SWT/SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY CENTER | | 8000 FOOTHILLS BOULEVARD | | ROSEVILLE, CA 95678, U.S.A. | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Printing History New editions of this manual incorporate all material updated since the previous edition. Listed below are the editions of this manual and their dates of publication. First Edition September 1988 Second Edition September 1989 Third Edition February 1990 Fourth Edition May 1992 Preface MPE/iX MPE/iX, Multiprogramming Executive with Integrated POSIX, is the latest in a series of forward-compatible operating systems for the HP 3000 line of computers. In HP documentation and in talking with other HP 3000 users you will encounter references to MPE XL. All programs written for MPE XL will run without change under MPE/iX. You can continue to use MPE XL system documentation, although it may not refer to features added to the operating system to support POSIX (for example, hierarchical directories). Finally, you may encounter references to MPE V, which is the operating system for the HP 3000s not based on the PA-RISC (precision architecture-reduced instruction set computing) architecture. MPE V software can be run on the PA-RISC (Series 900) HP 3000s in what is known as compatibility mode. About This Manual This manual is a comprehensive reference manual for application developers who are using HP ALLBASE/4GL on HP 3000 computer systems running under the MPE-XL operating system. It provides a detailed description of the features and the use of the HP ALLBASE/4GL developer application. It does not describe the procedures and techniques for designing HP ALLBASE/4GL applications, nor does it attempt to describe the basic data processing concepts required for designing and implementing HP ALLBASE/4GL applications. The manual assumes you are familiar with the basic concepts and terminology of HP ALLBASE/4GL. Before you attempt to use this manual, read the HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Self-Paced Training Guide. Refer to the HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Administration Manual for details of the administrator application. Manual Structure This manual is divided into two volumes containing 14 chapters and 6 appendixes, a glossary, and an index. Volume 1 contains chapters 1 to 10, and volume 2 contains chapters 11 to 14, the appendixes, and the glossary. Both volumes contain a comprehensive index. Chapters 1 and 2 provide an overview of the structure of HP ALLBASE/4GL and the use of HP ALLBASE/4GL menus and screens. Chapter 3 describes the rules for naming and referencing items in HP ALLBASE/4GL. Chapters 4 through 13 are reference chapters that provide a comprehensive description of the facilities of the HP ALLBASE/4GL developer. Chapter 14 outlines the procedures for generating and testing applications. The appendixes contain a system collating sequence table, a table of ASCII values, a list of file manager errors, details about using HP ALLBASE/4GL versions, details of the MPE-XL environment for HP ALLBASE/4GL, a list of limits in HP ALLBASE/4GL, and information about application portability. The glossary defines the meaning of some terms that are specific to HP ALLBASE/4GL. A quick reference guide is included as a separately bound supplement to this manual. Related Publications In addition to this manual, the following manuals are part of the HP ALLBASE/4GL developer documentation set: * The HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Self-Paced Training Guide. * The HP ALLBASE/4GL Developer Administration Manual. Conventions The syntax conventions used in this manual are summarized below. Notation Description COMMAND In syntax statements, command names are shown in bold UPPERCASE letters. *ARGUMENT Command arguments are prefixed with the symbol * and are shown in UPPERCASE letters. Italics Words in Italics in syntax statements denote a parameter that you must replace with a suitable name. For example: FILE *CLOSE file_name [ ] In syntax statements, square brackets enclose elements that are optional. Several elements stacked inside square brackets means that you may select any one of these elements. For example: [A] You can select A, B, or neither. [B] { } In syntax statements, braces enclose elements that you must include in the command. Several elements stacked inside braces means that you must choose one of the elements. For example: {A} {B} You must select A or B or C. {C} _ When necessary for clarity, the symbol _ is used in syntax expressions to indicate a required blank or an exact number of blanks. underlining When necessary for clarity, underlining indicates user input. For example: MPE/iX: hello name.account shading Shaded text represents inverse video text on the terminal screen. The symbol indicates a key on the terminal keyboard. For example, Return indicates the carriage return key. ... In syntax expressions, an ellipsis indicates that the preceding element may be repeated.