HP TACL Operating instructions

Tandem Computers Incorporated
System Software Library
TACL
Programming
Guide
Abstract This manual describes the Tandem Advanced Command Language (TACL) and provides information and
examples for creating TACL programs.
Part Number 107365
Edition Second
Published December 1994
Product Version TACL D30
Release ID D30.00
Supported Releases This manual supports D30.00 and all subsequent releases until otherwise indicated in a new edition.

Ordering Information For manual ordering information: domestic U.S. customers, call 1-800-243-6886; international customers, contact your
local sales representative.
Document Disclaimer Information contained in a manual is subject to change without notice. Please check with your authorized Tandem
representative to make sure you have the most recent information.
Export Statement Export of the information contained in this manual may require authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Examples Examples and sample programs are for illustration only and may not be suited for your particular purpose. Tandem does
not warrant, guarantee, or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of any examples or sample
programs in any documentation. You should verify the applicability of any example or sample program before placing the
software into productive use.
U.S. Government
Customers FOR U.S. GOVERNMENT CUSTOMERS REGARDING THIS DOCUMENTATION AND THE ASSOCIATED SOFTWARE:
These notices shall be marked on any reproduction of this data, in whole or in part.
NOTICE: Notwithstanding any other lease or license that may pertain to, or accompany the delivery of, this computer
software, the rights of the Government regarding its use, reproduction and disclosure are as set forth in Section 52.227-19
of the FARS Computer Software-Restricted Rights clause.
RESTRICTED RIGHTS NOTICE: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to the restrictions as set
forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 52.227-7013.
RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth
in paragraph (b)(3)(B) of the rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause in DAR 7-104.9(a). This computer
software is submitted with “restricted rights.” Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to the restrictions as set forth in
NASA FAR SUP 18-52 227-79 (April 1985) “Commercial Computer Software — Restricted Rights (April 1985).” If the
contract contains the Clause at 18-52 227-74 “Rights in Data General” then the “Alternate III” clause applies.
U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights — Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract.
Unpublished — All rights reserved under the Copyright Laws of the United States.
Document History Edition Part Number Product Version Earliest Supported Release Published
First 085797 TACL C20 N/A November 1992
Update 086700 TACL D10 N/A February 1993
Second 107365 TACL D30 D30.00 December 1994
New editions incorporate any updates issued since the previous edition.
A plus sign (+) after a release ID indicates that this manual describes function added to the base release,
either by an interim product modification (IPM) or by a new product version on a .99 site update tape (SUT).

New and Changed Information
105919 Tandem Computers Incorporated iii
This is the second edition of the TACL Programming Guide . This edition documents
the following new TACL features:
A new built-in function, #SETCONFIGURATION, sets the TACL flags that can
change the behavior of TACL for a specified TACL image or configure the
currently running TACL process.
A new built-in function, #XLOGON, implements the LOGON command.
The LOGON command, #CHANGEUSER built-in function, and #XLOGON built-
in function support the Safeguard authentication dialog.
The STATUS command and #XSTATUS built-in function display new process
type information.
CLASS DEFAULT DEFINEs have eight new optional attributes for
internationalization support.

New and Changed Information
iv 105919 Tandem Computers Incorporated
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Contents
107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated v
About This Manual xi
Notation Conventions xv
Section 1 An Overview of TACL
Running the Examples in This Manual 1-1
Style Conventions 1-2
Exceptions to the Style Conventions 1-3
Conventions Specific to This Manual 1-3
Section 2 Developing TACL Programs
Choosing a Type of Variable 2-1
Defining Program Structure 2-2
Using Flow Control Functions 2-2
Nesting TACL Code 2-7
Saving Levels of Variables 2-8
Exiting From Programs 2-9
Processing Character Data 2-9
Line and Character 2-10
Global Editing Commands 2-13
Additional Data Manipulation Capabilities 2-16
Data Types 2-17
Accessing Time Data 2-17
Timestamp Formats 2-17
Retrieving a Timestamp 2-18
Converting a Timestamp 2-19
Accessing Terminals 2-24
Defining Function Keys 2-24
Sending Escape Sequences to a Terminal 2-25
Changing the TACL Prompt 2-29
Implementing Menus 2-30
Debugging TACL Programs 2-32
Enabling the TACL Debugger 2-32
Debugger Commands 2-32
A Sample Debugging Session 2-33

Contents
vi 107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Section 3 Developing TACL Routines
Processing Arguments 3-1
How #ARGUMENT Works 3-3
Using #ARGUMENT 3-4
Examining the Contents of Arguments 3-9
Parsing Arguments for a Caller 3-11
Returning Results 3-15
Calling a Routine Recursively 3-16
Exiting From a Routine 3-17
Writing an Exception Handler 3-18
Types of Exception Handlers 3-19
Constructing an Exception Handler 3-19
Creating a Release Exception Handler 3-20
Creating a Keep Exception Handler 3-24
Combining Keep and Release Handlers 3-30
Section 4 Accessing Files
#REQUESTER Operation 4-1
Requesting Waited Reads 4-2
Requesting Nowaited Reads 4-4
Requesting Waited Writes 4-6
Requesting Nowaited Writes 4-8
Copying Records Between Files 4-10
Comparing Files 4-12
Listing a File 4-16
Section 5 Initiating and Communicating With Processes
Initiating a Process 5-2
Using RUN and #NEWPROCESS Options 5-2
Sending Information at Initiation Time 5-3
Communicating With a Process 5-4
Using the INLINE Facility 5-6
Using INV and OUTV 5-14
Using $RECEIVE 5-21
Using #SERVER 5-29
Using Define Process 5-31

Contents
107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated vii
Processing Completion Information 5-32
Processing NetBatch Jobs and Completion Codes 5-32
Monitoring Job Status
ENQUIRY 5-35
Section 6 Running TACL as a Server
Running a TACL Process as a Server 6-1
Starting TACL as a Server Process 6-1
Sending Requests to a TACL Server 6-2
Directing Output From TACL 6-4
Running TACL Code as a Server 6-5
Constructing a TACL Server 6-5
Using TACL as a Pathway Server 6-6
Section 7 Using Programmatic Interfaces
Overview of SPI and EMS 7-1
Using SPI 7-4
Defining an SPI Buffer 7-5
Using SPI Functions 7-9
Using EMS 7-12
Communicating With EMS 7-12
Generating an EMS Event 7-13
Section 8 Example of a System Management Program
Monitoring System Operation 8-1
Section 9 Syntax Summary
TACL Commands and Functions 9-1
Built-In Functions and Variables 9-6
STRUCT Declarations 9-14
#SET Summary 9-15
#DELTA Command Summary 9-16
Appendix A Supplemental Information for D-Series Systems
Glossary Glossary–1

Contents
viii 107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Index Index–1
Figures Figure 2-1. Performing Tasks Within a Loop 2-2
Figure 2-2. Performing a Bubble Sort With Nested #LOOP Statements 2-3
Figure 2-3. Deleting Files in a Subvolume 2-5
Figure 2-4. Processing Macro Arguments 2-8
Figure 2-5. Extracting a Volume Name from a Variable 2-12
Figure 2-6. Retrieving Disk Names From DSAP 2-15
Figure 2-7. Relationships Between System Timestamps and TACL
Functions 2-20
Figure 2-8. Relationships Between #FILEINFO Timestamps and TACL
Functions 2-21
Figure 2-9. Computing the Current Day 2-22
Figure 2-10. Converting Timestamps 2-23
Figure 2-11. Sending Special Characters to a Screen 2-25
Figure 2-12. Displaying a Screen of Text 2-27
Figure 2-13. Locking a Terminal 2-28
Figure 2-14. Displaying a Menu 2-30
Figure 2-15. Starting TEDIT From TACL 2-34
Figure 3-1. Processing Arguments 3-5
Figure 3-2. Returning Characters From a Routine 3-9
Figure 3-3. Returning a Set of Characters From a Variable 3-10
Figure 3-4. Searching for Text 3-10
Figure 3-5. Counting Characters in a Variable 3-11
Figure 3-6. Moving Text Between Variables 3-11
Figure 3-7. Assigning Values to Arguments 3-12
Figure 3-8. Sending Arguments to a Parsing Program 3-14
Figure 3-9. Converting Timestamps 3-15
Figure 3-10. Processing Arguments 3-16
Figure 3-11. Processing File Name Arguments 3-17
Figure 3-12. Sample Release Handler Template 3-20
Figure 3-13. Sample Release Handler 3-21
Figure 3-14. Returning Information From a Release Handler 3-22
Figure 3-15. Sample Keep Exception Handler 3-25

Contents
107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated ix
Figure 3-16. Sample Command Shell 3-27
Figure 3-17. Using Nested Keep and Release Handlers (Page 1 of 2) 3-31
Figure 4-1 Performing a Waited Read 4-3
Figure 4-2 Performing a Nowaited Read 4-5
Figure 4-3 Reading From a Terminal and Performing a Waited Write 4-7
Figure 4-4 Reading From a Terminal and Performing a Nowaited
Write 4-9
Figure 4-5 Copying Records From One File to Another File 4-10
Figure 4-6 Comparing Two Files 4-13
Figure 4-7 Listing a File 4-16
Figure 4-8 TACLLIST Output 4-20
Figure 5-1 Communicating With FUP 5-8
Figure 5-2 Building a Script 5-8
Figure 5-3 Retrieving Output from FUP 5-10
Figure 5-4 Omitting Terminal Output 5-11
Figure 5-5 Deleting PERUSE Jobs 5-12
Figure 5-6 Retrieving the TACL IN File Name 5-15
Figure 5-7 Communicating With FUP Using INV and OUTV 5-17
Figure 5-8 Directing FUP Output to a Log File 5-18
Figure 5-9 Displaying PERUSE Jobs 5-19
Figure 5-10 Sending Messages to a Terminal 5-22
Figure 5-11 Creating CMON Messages 5-25
Figure 5-12 Communicating With FUP Using #SERVER 5-30
Figure 5-13 Checking Completion Codes 5-33
Figure 5-14 Retrieving TACL Output 5-36
Figure 6-1 Starting and Sending Requests to a TACL Server 6-2
Figure 6-2 Running a TACL Program as a Server 6-7
Figure 6-3 Screen COBOL Code That Accesses a TACL Server 6-9
Figure 6-4 Configuring the Pathway Environment 6-11
Figure 7-1 Comparing Two Subsystem IDs 7-9
Figure 7-2 Displaying the EMS Log 7-10
Figure 7-3 Generating an EMS Event 7-13
Figure 8-1 Monitoring System Status 8-2

Contents
x107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated
Tables Table 2-1. Built-In Functions That Edit Variables by Line 2-10
Table 2-2. Global Editing Commands 2-13
Table 2-3. Data Manipulation Functions 2-16
Table 2-4. Timestamp Conversion Functions 2-19
Table 2-5. _DEBUGGER Command Syntax 2-32
Table 3-1. Functions That Support Arguments 3-3
Table 3-2. Functions That Support Exception Handlers 3-19
Table 3-3. Differences Between Keep and Release Exception
Handlers 3-20
Table 4-1 Functions Used With #REQUESTER 4-2
Table 5-1 RUN and #NEWPROCESS Communication Options 5-2
Table 5-2 INLINE Commands and Variables 5-6
Table 5-3 Variables and Commands for INLINE Display 5-9
Table 5-4 Functions and Options Used With INV and OUTV 5-15
Table 5-5 Functions to Use With $RECEIVE 5-21
Table 6-1 Functions That Support Interprocess Communication 6-2
Table 7-1 TACL Functions That Support SPI 7-4
Table 7-2 SPI Token Data Types 7-6
Table 7-3 Functions That Support EMS 7-12