HP 3000 Manuals HP 3000 Manuals
PROCMON/V
by Michael A. Acks--Commercial Systems Division
PROCMON/V version A.08.03 is now available in Compatibility Mode on the
HP 3000 900 Series of computers running the MPE XL operating system.
PROCMON/V PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
PROCMON/V is a command and menu processor which provides a superset of
MPE commands, and a friendly menu driven interface between the user and
MPE. Its powerful command language may be used to control application
processing and its menu facility enables users to design custom menus to
suit their application needs. As a result, operation of the application
is simplified, since tasks can be invoked simply by selecting a menu
option. In addition to its own command set, PROCMON is capable of
executing any command accessible by the MPE command intrinsic. PROCMON
provides programmers a way to tie a whole application together, with an
environment which is consistent and easy to use.
KEY FEATURES
The key features of PROCMON/V are menu processing, command language,
procedure processing, parameter passing, substitution expressions, and
conditional expressions.
Menu Processing
The menu processing facility enables users to create and display
customized application menus. Each menu may contain up to 24 options
which may be organized in fixed or free format. Function keys may be
labeled to correspond to menu options. Unlike some menu processors,
PROCMON places no restrictions on the number of menus which may be
created.
Command Language
PROCMON supports a comprehensive command language which may be used to
control application processing. The language consists of a powerful
command set which provides many features not available within MPE. An
example is the EVALUATE command, which allows the user to perform
arithmetic operations, set parameter values and evaluate substitution
expressions. Other capabilities include conditional testing using
IF/ELSE logic and branching around groups of commands using GOTO and TAG
statements.
Procedure Processing
Frequently used lists of commands may be combined in a command file
referred to as a procedure. The procedure is then executed simply by
entering the command file name or by selecting a menu option. This
minimizes the number of keystrokes required to perform a task and
eliminates the need to memorize lists of commands. In addition,
procedure processing enables programmers to design modular applications
which are more easily maintained and debugged. A procedure may call
itself or other procedures, nesting to 255 levels.
Parameter Passing
Variable data may be passed to a procedure at run time through the use of
procedure parameters. Up to 64 parameters may be specified on the
procedure call. Users may be prompted to supply parameter values during
procedure execution. User prompts may be character mode messages
requesting input of a specific parameter, or full block mode displays
allowing multiple parameters to be entered on one screen. Default values
may be defined for parameters not supplied by the user.
Substitution Expressions
Substitution expressions allow variables to be substituted into commands
at execution time. They may also be used to substitute current session
information such as session date, time, logon group name, and user ID.
Conditional Expressions
Conditional expressions allow the user to control the execution of
procedure statements based on whether or not a specific condition is met.
Various conditions may be tested using IF/ELSE expressions. For example,
IF NOT DATA-filename BUILD filename
will build a file if it does not exist.
Character string comparisons may be performed using the relational
operators =, <, >, <=, >= and /. Conditionally executed commands may
be combined into compound statements using BEGINIF/ENDIF and
BEGINELSE/ENDELSE.