Aggregate - Create and Store a Data Aggregate

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Aggregate command is used to combine multiple V4 points into a single aggregate entity and store that entity in an area designated for Aggregates or in an area with bindings. An aggregate is similar to a traditional database record in that multiple fields (or points) are stored (referenced) by a single key (point). The AggVal module is used to extract individual points from an aggregate created by any of the aggregate commands.

The FAggregate (Fixed-length-Aggregate) command is identical to Aggregate except it may only be used when each aggregate results in the same structure. This is usually the case except when alpha points are included in the aggregate. Unless each of the alpha points is the same length, aggregates containing strings cannot be used with the FAggregate command (the Column parameters FixedLength and FWidth may be used to ensure fixed length alpha fields.) The benefit of the FAggregate command over Aggregate is that the internal structure of the aggregate is stored once, not with each individual aggregate. This, obviously, can result in a tremendous performance boost - both in disk space used and access times.

The BFAggregate (Blocked-Fixed-length-Aggregate) is one step beyond the FAggregate in that not only are all the aggregates fixed length, but it is assumed that the aggregates are loaded in ascending key order. With this assumption, V4 is able to block or group-together many aggregates into a single keyed record. Again there is a tremendous performance boost by doing this. Note that the AggRef point type can be used with the BFAggregate command to ensure that points are generated in ascending order.

Aggregates are integrated with V4 Tables. The contents of a Table can be easily included within an aggregate by specifying the table name enclosed in cross hatches ('#'). All columns of the table will be included in the aggregate except those marked with the Ignore option. See the Table command for more information and an example.

In most cases the values in a given aggegate position are all of the same dimension. It is possible, with Tables, to have more than one dimension in a single position. When this is done, the AggVal module must specify all possible dimensions. Again, see the Table command for more details.

There are certain classes of data that are continuously being created. Sales data is a good example- each day new sales data is created but sales from prior days never changes. In many database systems, this type of data has to be consider one set or the user of the data has to take special care to scan multiple datasets.

With the V4 AggRef point, system designers can load historical information once into one area and then keep a much smaller, current area up to date with recent information. When these areas are concurrently open in V4, the runtime system will automatically see all of the points in all of the areas.

For instance consider two areas- SalesHis, which is updated once a quarter with all wanted sales history and another area, SalesCur, which is updated daily with current sales history. Both areas use the following dimension as the storage point for the aggregates-

Then with the following example-

The reference to SlsHis.. would include all points in SlsHis and SlsCur.

Examples

In this example, four points are stored in a aggregate record referenced by the point 'Cus*'.

Area - Open/Create a V4 Area

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Area command creates or accesses an existing V4 area. The access keyword determines the type of access. One of the following is permitted.

The file specification (area) may be a keyword or a quoted string. If it is a keyword then it is assumed to be a file with extension '.v4a' in the current directory. A file enclosed in quotes may be any valid file path specification as allowed by the host operating system. Note that logicals are permitted and are supported on all operating systems. The following table lists other Area options.

Multiple areas can be concurrently accessed within a V4 process. No two areas may have the same Hierarchy number however. This number is used to indicate the parent-child relationships among concurrent areas. Areas with higher numbers are parents to those with lower numbers. This ordering is critical for the synchronization of area dictionaries. All Dictionary dimension entries within an area are stored as numeric values. As an area is being created, source words are converted to numeric values by searching the current area dictionaries. The ordering is from highest hierarchy number to lowest.

Dictionary synchronization problems can occur in V4 applications containing multiple areas, especially with multiple aggregate areas. Once an area is created in the context of a parent area, its dictionary entries are set. If the parent is recreated at a later time, its dictionary entries may change which could invalidate the entries in the child area. There are two ways to circumvent this problem. The first is to rebuild all V4 areas. This method is reliable but can be very costly from a systems resource standpoint.

The other solution is with V4 dictionary areas. A dictionary area is a standalone area containing just dictionary entries. Once a dictionary entry is created, all subsequent area builds should reference this area. Common entries remain constant and thus child areas and aggregates do not have to be reconstructed each time a parent area is rebuilt.

The OnError option is used to force V4 to evaluate commands within another file if errors occur while attempting to load the specified area(s). Typically, the loading of areas is used to initialize the V4 runtime environment so that if errors occur there is no environment and hence any type of error recovery is difficult. The OnError include file can be then read in to initialize a new (safe) environment and presumably return a reasonable error condition.

The Area command with no arguments is permitted. No action is taken.

Examples

This example creates a new area 'data.v4a' as an aggregate. The FastAdd option prevents the creation of an index. After all records have been added, the area is closed and the index created.

BFAggregate - Create and Store a Blocked Fixed Data Aggregate

Usage

Parameters

Description

See the Aggregate command for a discussion of this and other aggregate-related commands.

Bind - Bind Intersection to a Value

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Bind family of commands binds an intersection to a value. The Bind command takes the value point, as is, and binds it to isct. EBind differs in that if value is itself an intersection, EBind will first evaluate it and bind the evaluated result to isct. (The Bind command is equivalent to the BindQQ primitive, the EBind command is equivalent to the BindQE primitive.)

A weighting factor may be specified as part of the bind command. If given it must be enclosed in parentheses. The factor may be prefaced with a + or - indicating a plus or minus off the calculated weight to be assigned. Or the factor may be a plain number indicating the specific weighting factor.

Be sure to see the section on BindEval for a discussion on when a bind may not be a bind.

Examples

The first example binds an intersection to an intersection. The effect is that the MgrName of any customer is found by evaluating the name of the manager of the salesrep for that customer. The second binding is for a particular customer (the one in the context). The EBind is going to evaluate the 'name of the manager of the salesrep for the customer' and bind the result to [MgrName customer].

CAggregate - Create and Store a Data Aggregate

Usage

Parameters

Description

The CAggregate command is used to create a 'constant' value for all aggregates in an area. A typical example would be a sales history aggregate where each record in an are was from a given month. Rather than duplicate the month value for every record in the aggregate, one CAggregate command could be given. CAggregate values are retrieved with the AggVal primitive by specifying the aggregate key and dimension, but no index.

Examples

Clipboard - Copy File to Client Clipboard

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command simply copies the specified file to the clipboard associated with the currently running V4 process. The command has no effect on systems that do not support a clipboard.

Examples

Column - Define a Table Column

Usage

Parameters

Description

A Column command is used to define each column in a table.

Both the Point and Expression options define a value for the column. The column value is NOT to be taken from any input source file (via Include). A column with the Point option is assumed to be included in any aggregates created as part of the table processing. A column with the Expression option is not included in aggregate output. For this reason, columns with the Point option are included in #tablename# expansion within one of the Aggregate commands.

It is possible to partition columns in a single table into multiple sub-groups. This may be usefull for moving information from one table into several different aggregates and/or perform different processing on different groups of columns. Each column may be tagged with a mask consisting of integers from 1 to 32. A column with no mask is assumed to have all 32 entries tagged. The column groups may be referenced with the #tablename# construct. For example #dataTable:3# would reference all of the columns in dataTable tagged with Mask:3.

Example 17 - Output of Single Table to Two Aggregates

Examples

Context - Update or Examine the Context

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Context command is used to manipulate the current context-

Examples

The first example adds the point corresponding to the date 31-Dec-95 to the current context. The second example creates a new point on the Cus dimension and adds it to the current context. An ambiguous condition arises when a number contains embedded commas. It could either be multiple numbers (normal V4 syntax when Multiple is declared on a dimension or it could be one number with commas being used to delimit groups of a thousand (normal for currency). V4 resolves this by looking at the dimension declaration. If Multiple was given then V4 assumes that commas delimit mulitple numbers. If the Multiple was not given then the commas are removed and a single number is parsed. Leading currency characters are also removed.

The example below shows the output of a Context Examine command. The values in parentheses are for debugging purposes and have no end-user meaning.

Debug - V4 Debugging Command

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is used to set, remove, and manipulate breakpoints. Setting a breakpoint is a two step process. The first step is identifying the source file containing the V4 code to be debugged. This is done with the 'Debug Source' command and makes a particular file active for debugging. The second step is to set breakpoints at one or more lines within the active file. This is achieved with the 'Debug Break' command. The Break option has many sub-options for controlling when a breakpoint is entered and what actions are taken when entered. Multiple sub-options may be entered on a single line. The default options for a breakpoint are 'Evaluations Location' (display evaluations and current location).

Examples

Dimension - Declare a new Dimension

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Dimension command is used to create a new dimension. If the Locally keyword is given in place of a dimension type then the dimension is assumed to exist and attributes for the dimension are temporarily modified. The dimension name and type are mandatory, one or more options, listed below may also be given.

The Acceptor and Displayer options are used when the specification and/or display of a dimension point does not directly match how the point is to be represented. For example many systems internally use numeric parameters yet accept and display keywords instead of the internal codes.

Dimensions with these attributes cause V4 to evaluate bindings whenever a point on the dimension is input or output. The format of these bindings is

where dim is the dimension, adpoint is an optional point given by the ADPoint option. See also the Include? option for the V4 module. This option is useful for displaying the location within an include file of an acceptor error.

The DisplayerTrace option is similar except it applies to formatting of points in debugging traces, error messages and context dumps.

The following example defines the ProgId dimension (for Program-Identifier). The points on the dimension are numeric, yet the user format is yyyyp where yyyy is a year and pp is program name, usually S for spring or F for fall. Additionally CURRENT can be used to default to the current program.

Example 18 - A Dimension Acceptor and Displayer

Example 19 - Local Dimensions

This attribute is used to control how the backslash character is interpreted on strings (Alpha and BigText) coming in through the Context ADV command.

The AutoContext attribute can be used to indirectly specify how a point is to be 'valued' during the evaluation of an intersection if that point is not currently defined in the context. For example, if the Customer dimension has been defined as-

and the following binding has been made-

and if we are in the context of (Order:543210 Date:4/15/93 Item:123) and attempt to match (through an evaluation)-

then it would appear that no match can be made because we do not have any point in the Customer dimension in the current context. However, V4 will automatically attempt to evaluate

and use the result as the value for the Customer dimension for this match. This would match the binding above, re-evaluate to determined the billto customer for the current order and if it equaled Customer:5678 permit the match to succeed.

Points referenced on dimensions marked with the AutoIsct option can be automatically evaluated without the use of bounding brackets. The following is an example-

Binding numbers are an important aspect of a large V4 environment. These numbers control how a binding is to be stored. During a binding, V4 scans all points in the binding intersection from left to right and tracks the first dimension with the highest binding number. This becomes the dimension used as the primary 'key' for storing the binding. For this reason, all dimensions with a binding number must be stored as a number- Integer, Dictionary, Time, etc. Alpha, foreign, data elements, etc. cannot have binding numbers.

V4 assumes, for most dimensions, that all possible points already EXist for that dimension and that any point on that dimension can be referenced. Any point on the Int (integer) dimension can be referenced as a integer literal, any point on the Alpha dimension can be referenced as a quoted string. Dimensions of type Dictionary are different. Points on these dimensions correspond to specific points. V4 can create these points as they are referenced or with the NoAutoCreate option, force the user to declare all points with the Point command.

The PointCreate dimension option enables another level of control by declaring how points are to be created. If PointCreate Point is given, then all points on the dimension must be done with the Point command. If PointCreate New is given then points are created with the dim:{new} construct. Each reference to dim:{new} creates a new, unique point for that dimension. In both cases, the use of PointCreate, causes V4 to create an internal list of all created points for that dimension so that the dim.. construct can be used to reference all points on that dimension.

The BindEval option is used to control how bindings are created on a dimension. In most cases, V4 makes all the decisions on how to represent a store a binding. With this option, when a binding is to be done on the dimension, V4 evaluates an intersection that contains all of the points in the binding intersection plus a new point of Value:bindval where bindval is the value point of the dimension. The EXample below shows how a binding on the GL dimension can be converted to another binding.

The DotDotToList option is used to map from dim.. to a list of points when that list might not be explicitly given or when that list may vary. The example below demonstrates the definition of the Year dimension which corresponds to the years that a fictional company has been in business. The DotDotToList binding defines the years as being from 1990 to the present and the Acceptor function ensures that only years within that time span are referenced.

The Value option enables two types of dimension reference that would not normally be allowed. If 'Value List' is given then the following two dimension references are possible: 'dimension:( list of points )' and 'dimension:[ list of points ]'. The former is parsed and converted to [UV4:ValuesList Dim:dimension (list)] and the latter to [UV4:ValueList Dim:dimension (list)] (compare UV4:ValuesList to UV4:ValueList). If the 'Value Tree' option is given then the following two types of references are possible: 'dimension:( logical expression )' and 'dimension:[ logical expression ]'. These are parsed and converted to [UV4:ValuesList Dim:dimension Int:treeId] and [UV4:ValueList Dim:dimension Int:treeId] where Int:treeId points to the top node a V4 Tree structure.

If the list of points or logical expression consists of a single intersection or module and is prefaced with a back quote ('`') then that intersection/module is is inserted into the resulting binding. At runtime the evaluation must return either a list or integer corresponding to a tree node.

The purpose of this option is to allow the referencing of a set of points on a dimension without explicitly specifying how those points are to be determined. By writing handlers to V4 areas, SQL databases or other data sources, one can use a consistent expression to refer to data (points) from many sources of data.

Dump - Dumps out Bindings Containing Dimension or Matching Pattern

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command searches all currently active areas for bindings containing a point on dim or bindings containing the point(s) contained within pattern.

If a '> file' is specified then all output is sent to the file, not the user's console. The '>' construct specifies that a new file is to be created. The '>>' construct specifies that a new file is to be created if it does not already exist, otherwise append to the end of the existing file.

Examples

Echo - Echo Text to Controlling Window

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Echo command simply echos or outputs its argument points to the controlling window.

Examples

Element - Define a V4IS Structure Element

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Element command is used to define elements within a V4IS structure. These definitions are then used by the V4ISVal module to access and interpret data within V4IS records. The following two macros are recommended for defining elements. The V3 compiler will output macro calls adhering to this format-

Examples

Example 20 - V3 Commands / Structure and Resulting V4 Macros

End - End a Section of V4 Source

Usage

Description

The End command is used to end multiline V4 source sections such as If statements and Tables.

Examples

Error - Generate Error Message

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Error command generates a V4 error with the text message.

Examples

Evaluate - Evaluate an Intersection

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Evaluate command evaluates the given intersection. The result of the evaluation is not displayed on the user's console. The '=' command also evaluates an intersection and then displays the result on the user's console.

If a '> file' is specified then any output generated in the evaluation is sent to the file, not the user's console. The '>' construct specifies that a new file is to be created. The '>>' construct specifies that a new file is to be created if it does not already exist, otherwise append to the end of the existing file. The output stream is named UV4:EvalStream.

Examples

The first example evaluates the Name of a customer. The returned name is output (shown underlined). The second example evaluates a balance sheet and directs the output to the file bs.rpt.

Exit - Exit from V4

Usage

Description

The Exit command simply exits from V4 to the host operating system-

Examples

Example 21 - Processing Summary

The first line shows the total wall-clock time and cpu time spent in V4. The second line shows the total number of lines (command) scanned. This includes lines within macros. The token count is the total number of symbols, commands, literals, etc. scanned. The Bind line shows the total number of bindings added. The Isct line is the number of intersections evaluated. The value I/O count is the number of separate I/O's needed to get 'big' values. and the percentage of cache hits is the reflects percentage of values obtained in a runtime cache (larger is better). The Ctx line shows the number of context calls, the number of I/Os to support, and the number of context cache hits. The Slams count represents the number of fast point replacements into the context (slams are very fast and the more the merrier).

The Cnbl insertions count is the number of context value cache insertions and the hits represents the number of cache hits on those insertions (the larger the hits is to the insertions the better). The XDict line shows number of External dictionary lookups and percentage found in the cache. The RAgg line is the number of aggregate value lookups. The percentage should be close to 100% showing that blocking and buffering within the Aggregate structure is operating properly. If aggregates are written then a WAgg line will show the number of logical writes as well as the number of actual writes to the underlying V4IS file system.

The next two lines (Wall and CPU) average the wall clock time and cpu time over the number of intersections. While there is no average time to perform an intersection, rates of over one million per second can be achieved with a fast cpu. The last line shows the number of errors detected.

FAggregate - Create and Store a Data Aggregate

Usage

Parameters

Description

See the Aggregate command for a discussion of this and other aggregate-related commands.

#if - Conditional Processing

Usage

Parameters

Description

Conditional inclusion/compilation of V4 is achieved with this set of pre-processing directives.

The #if1 statement is a one line command that can be used if the conditional command is a single line. The conditions to test are:

Examples

The first line of the macro is an #if1 statement. If the intersection is not defined then perform the Bind command to bind it to an empty list. The following #if-#else-#end tests to see if Arg2 has been defined or not and issues the appropriate Bind commands.

The next example demonstrates the use of the Dimension option-

Include - Read V4 Commands (Data) from File

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Include command causes the V4 interpreter to take all the commands in the specified file and execute them. The lines of input are not normally echoed, but this can be controlled with the 'Set Echo' command.

If no file extension is given then '.v4b' is tried. If the lookup fails then '.v4c' is tried. If the latter succeeds then the file is assumed to be compressed and is automatically expanded (see the section on xv4 commands).

A filter option may be specified to preprocess all input lines. When a filter intersection is specified V4 process the input as follows. First the input line is added to the context as a Dim:Alpha point. Then the filter point is evaluated. If the resulting value is an Alpha or BigText point then that point is used as the current input line. If the value is Logical:True then the current Alpha* point is used. If the value is Logical:False then the line is skipped and processing continues with the next input line. If the result is the point UV4:Retry then the line is re-processed (this may be useful for altering the context and then rereading the line). If the result is a List then each point in the list is read as the next input line before resuming input from the main input stream.

Examples

This example defines a macro to read in inventory data. The Include command reads the file 'inventory.data'. The first line of the file is skipped (Header). The data file is assumed to have four columns- Id, Desc, Qty, and Price.

The example below defines a set of V4 tables and macros to parse an XML file. V4 handles XML files somewhat differently then rows of data. V4 attempts to match each <xxx>...</xxx> entry with a column in the current table. If no match is found then it attempts to match it with a table name. If a match occurs then that table becomes the current (nested) table. If two macros are defined for a table, the first is invoked when a nested table is entered and the second macro is invoked when then nested table is exited. The syntactic parsing of column elements is similar to that of non-XML tables.

Example 22 - V4 Tables to Parse XML File

Below is a sample XML file that would be parsed by the above tables and macros. The command to start the parsing would be of the form-

Example 23 - XML File to Parse

#include - Read V4 Commands from File

Usage

Parameters

Description

The #include directive causes the V4 interpreter to read the contents of the specified file. The lines of input are not normally echoed, but this can be controlled with the 'Set Echo' command.

If no file extension is given then '.v4b' is tried. If the lookup fails then '.v4c' is tried. If the latter succeeds then the file is assumed to be compressed and is automatically expanded (see the section on xv4 commands).

The #include directive is similar to the V4 Include command. It does not support all the options of the command but since it is not a command it can be used within the definition of a binding.

Examples

Loop - Enumerate through List of Values

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Loop command is used primarily to enumerate through all columns in a table. For each iteration, the following parameters are set- #c# is set to the current column name, #q# is identical to #c# excpet that the name is enclosed in quotes, #d# is set to the dimension name of the column, #i# is set to the index or position of the colum in the table (1 for the first column), #m# is set to the Column Missing option (or empty string if none), and #x# for the description of the column.

The second form of Loop is to simply enumerate through a range of integer values.

Examples

Pattern - Save Binding as a Pattern

Usage

Parameters

Description

A pattern is defined and accessed much like a normal intersection. There are differences however. First is that the order of the points in pisct is important. An evaluating intersection must have points in the same order to match. The second difference is that the pisct can contain more than one point of the same dimension.

When a pattern is 'matched' any points in the pattern that are ranges are not entered into the context as those dimensions but rather with the shell dimensions P1, P2, ..., Pn where n is the number of non-explicit points.

Examples

Point - Define a Point on a Dimension

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command adds points to a dimension. If a dimension is declared with the 'NoAutoCreate' option then this must be used to create points. If the dimension has been declared with 'PointCreate Point' then each point added with the Point command is added to an internal list for that dimension. All of the points defined for the dimension may be referenced with 'dimension..' or List(Dim:dimension).

If a value is the name of a column in an active table then its value is used, not the literal value/column name.

Examples

Recognize - Define Recognition Pattern for V4 Parser

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command defines a recognition pattern for the V4 interpreter. Any V4 keyword or string (enclosed in single quotes, NOT double quotes) may be potentially recognized and substituted. This may be used to automatically recognize points on a particular dimension, convert keywords to function references, or reformat complex points to standard V4 formats.

Examples

Set Aggregate - Sets the Default Aggregate for Output

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is used to define the default output aggregate when multiple aggregates has been open for update. See the Id option of the Area command.

Examples

Set Ajax Errors - Defines error return mask for error handling back to AJAX web site

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command defines an error-message pattern when V4 is called from the web via AJAX. When the pattern is defined, the normal processing of the EchoE / EchoW / EchoA modules is altered. Instead of the standard error message, the pattern is used to format another message (typically in JSON format).

Examples

Set AJAX JSON - Defines a Pattern for Returning JSON Formatted Results Back to a Web Application

Usage

Parameters

Description

Normally, V4 outputs with each Echo module call. A web function calling V4 and expecting a JSON result will require some sort of wrapper around the output to conform to JSON standards. This can be easily done with this command. After issuing this command, all V4 output is buffered internally into a single string. When the evaluation is complete, the string is merged with the given jsonpattern and the resulting string is then output.

Set Argument - Sets the Value of Current Macro Argument

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is used to set/change the value of a macro argument.

Examples

Set BindContext - For Automatic Inclusion of Points within Bindings

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is to be used automatically include one or more points in bindings without having to explicitly give the points.

Examples

Set Duplicates - Controls Handling of Duplicate Dictionary and External Points

Usage

Description

This command is used to control the handling of duplicate dictionary and external dictionary points. The default is to output a warning. The Ignore option can be used to disable all messages. The Error option generates a V4 error when a duplicate is encountered.

Set Echo - Controls Echo of Include Lines from File

Usage

Parameters

Description

The HTML option causes V4 to embed html span segments separating V4 prompts from V4 input from V4 output. Each span segment is given a class: 'v4prompt' for prompts, 'v4input' for input into V4, and 'v4output' for all output generated by V4. This is a useful option when V4 is being run for the purposes of documentation.

Examples

In this example, all lines after the first Set Echo would be echoed up to the Include command. Lines read from that file would not be echoed because the counter would be decremented to 0. Lines after the Include command would be echoed however.

Set EchoS - Control Format of EchoS() Output

Usage

Parameters

Description

The EchoS module outputs in a format that is interpreted by spreadsheet clients. It is not a text file readable by the user. When debugging it is often useful to be able to see the results before sending them to a spreadsheet. This command can be used to temporarily change all EchoS module calls to EchoT without having to actually change V4 code. The EchoS module supports many more features (i.e. tagged arguments) than EchoT, therefore the EchoT module ignores any tagged arguments it does not normally handle.

Set Errors - Controls handling of V4 Errors and Messages

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command controls various aspects of error handling within V4. The Output option forces errors to a specific file (as opposed to stdout). The URLonError option specifies a target web address to be followed after a web error. The Compiling and Interpreting options control the type of error message that is output. The Compiling option only outputs the error and location. The Interpreting option outputs the error, location, and V4 context/environment at the time of the error. The None option resets the internal V4 error count.

Examples

Set Input - Controls the Format of V4 Input (Include) Files

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is used to set the format of subsequent V4 input. It is necessary when reading UTF8 files that are not encoded with the UTF8 prefix (codepage 65001).

Examples

Set Logical - Defines a Logical Device/Path

Usage

Parameters

Description

Logical devices are a convenient way of altering file paths without having to change detailed code.

The use of the equal sign between the logical device name and path is optional.

Examples

Set MacroBind - Controls Macro Storage

Usage

Parameters

Description

This option is used to control how macros are stored in a V4 area. The intersection mask, isctmask, should contain an asterisk '*' which is replaced with the name of the current macro. The point is evaluated and the integer value associated with the point is used as a unique key to store the macro in the 'BigText' format. The intersection and value are bind'ed together and the binding area selected is also used to store the actual macro. Note that when the Set MassUpdate option is set, macro values are cached within the V4 runtime to provide faster processing.

Examples

This example gives the standard macro setup found in v4kernel.inc. The dimension Macro is declared with PointCreate New. The MacroBind mask includes the current macro name ('*') as well as a point to use to store the macro. The MacroCall mask is the same and is used to retrieve a macro value.

Set MacroSave - Enables saving of macro definitions within V4 area

Usage

Description

Normally macros are defined and used at compile time. Macro definitions are lost when a V4 process terminates. This option may be enabled to force V4 to save all subsequent macro definitions within the current writeable V4 area. These macros may then be referenced at a later time (in another process) without having to read in the actual source file definitions.

A point is added to the Dim:UMacro dimension for each defined macro when this option is enabled. 'UMacro..' may be used to enumerate through all defined macros. The actual text definition of a macro may be obtained through the intersection [UMacro:macroname UV4:Definition].

Set MassUpdates - Enables Mass Update Mode

Usage

Parameters

Description

The use of this command tells the V4 environment that many bindings are coming down the pike and to optimize for this scenario. It is assumed that evaluations, other than to process the bindings, are not going to be performed. This option triggers the following:

Enables the internal caching of macro values.

Disables the updating of context points with the addition of each new binding. This may cause some valid evaluations to fail, thus the use of this command is urged only for loading areas with bindings and aggregates.

Inhibits the rewriting of certain summary structures with each binding. These structures are held internally and written out with the final Area Close command.

Set MaxAllowedErrors - Sets Maximum Allowed Errors before Abort

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command sets an internal counter which is decremented with each V4 error detected. When the counter hits zero, V4 terminates processing and exits. The initial setting for this parameter is currently set to 100, meaning that after 100 processing errors, V4 will abort.

Set MaxPointOutput - Sets Maximum Characters When Displaying a Point

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command sets the maximum number of characters to display in a point. This is useful for points such as lists and intersections that may require a large number of characters to display. The default is 100 characters. Points that are truncated end with "..."

Note that this is an approximate maximum. V4 might go over this limit as it will not truncate a point within a point to limit the outer point to the exact number of characters.

Examples

Set Output - Controls the Format of V4 Output Files

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is used to set the format of subsequent V4 output where the output format is not explicitly declared (for example the '>' construct within the Evaluate command). Options within the Output module can be used to override this command for a given output stream.

The UTF16, UTF16be, UTF16le, and UTF8 options all create files with a BOM at the beginning of the file. Web pages in UTF-8 format should use the UTF8nh option but include '' within the header section of the page.

Examples

Set Parameter - Assigns Value to Macro Parameter

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is usually used with macro calls to save one or more pieces of information between macro calls. Up to 26 different parameters may be set, one for each letter of the alphabet. The parameter values are referenced by enclosing the letter in cross-hatches (example #S#). Both alphanumeric and numeric parameters are supported.

The use of the plus-equal adds the value into the parameter. Numeric parameters can also be automatically incremented using the '#x+#' construct. Each reference of this form automatically increments the parameter value by one. This is useful in defining sequential V4IS and Aggregate fields (see second example below).

Parameters may also be set in the command line starting V4. See the '-rp' option in V4 Startup Switches and Options.

Examples

The HEADER macro saves the first argument as the #D# parameter. Subsequent BODY macro calls reference the parameter, in this case SUB. The parameter D will remain as SUB until another HEADER macro is invoked.

The second example, below, demonstrates the use of the auto-incrementing feature-

Set PointMax - Sets Maximum Number of Points in Tally()

Usage

Parameters

Description

The PointMax set command is a debugging tool to limit the number of points scanned in a tally operation. This command may be repetitively used to set different maximums for different Tally's.

Examples

Set QParameter - Assigns Quoted Value to Macro Parameter

Usage

Parameters

Description

This command is usually used with macro calls to save one or more pieces of information between macro calls. Up to 26 different parameters may be set, one for each letter of the alphabet. This command is similar to the Set Parameter command except that the value is enclosed within double qoutes.

Quoted parameters may also be set in the command line starting V4. See the '-rp' option in V4 Startup Switches and Options.

Examples

Set Section - Sets Section(s) to Load (same as -rs startup)

Usage

Description

This command defines the V4 source code sections to be loaded or executed. It is identical to the '-rs' startup option. If the command is given with no arguments then any previous sections are cleared.

Set TableSave - Enables Saving of Table/Column Definitions within a V4 Area

Usage

Description

Normally table and column definitions are defined only throughout the process that reads the table definition. This command forces V4 to save all subsequent table/column definitions in the current writeable V4 area. Future V4 processes may reference the tables by opening the V4 area. Re-reading the actual table defintions from the source file are unnecessary.

A point is added to the Dim:UTable dimension for each defined table when this option is enabled. 'UTable..' may be used to enumerate through all defined tables. The actual text definition of a table may be obtained through the intersection [UTable:tablename UV4:Definition].

Set Trace - Controls Various Debugging/Trace Features

Usage

Parameters

Description

The various trace options are listing below. This command normally overrides any previous settings. You may preface the options below with a plus (+) or minus (-) to incrementally set/reset particular options.

Examples

Structure - Define a V4IS Structure

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Structure command is used with the Element command to define V4IS structures and fields (elements) for use by the V4ISVal module.

Examples

This puts a trace on the progress of each Tally and enters the interactive debugging mode on failed intersections.

#switch - Conditional Processing II

Usage

Parameters

Description

The #switch directive evaluates the svalue argument and then compares it against the multiple #case:cvalue options. When a match is found then the V4 source code between the #case and the following #case is compiled. All other code within the scope of the #switch-#end block is skipped.

If no cvalue matches the svalue and an #else is found at the end then the code between the #else and #end is compiled.

The #mcase option is similar to the #case except that multiple #mcase sections can be matched and the associated source code compiled.

Examples

Table - Define a Dataset

Usage

Parameters

Description

The Table command is used to start the definition of a new table. It must be followed by one or more Column commands. The table definition is terminated with the EndTable or End command. The optional Macro argument is used to associate a macro with each row of the table (i.e. the macro is invoked for each row). The optional Header argument can be used to skip one or more lines at the beginning of table. The values in a row are assumed to be separated with tabs (Tab) or commas (CSV). Fixed format (fixed width) columns are also permitted and are specified with the Column commands.

The Prefix and Suffix command options are used to add/append a fixed string to each column name. This can be useful when creating a table with elements that all match elements of another table or record but need to be somehow distinguished from the originals. Note that if the dimension for a column is specifified with an asterisk ('*') then the column name given (without a prefix/suffix) is used.

Examples