The detailed statement descriptions have a uniform structure:
Description of the function of the statement
Formal statement syntax
Detailed description of the operands
Description of the statement's special characteristics and limitations as well as notes on its use
Examples
Every statement description starts with a general description of the function of the statement. This is immediately followed by a formal description of the statement's syntax in the following form:
Operation | Operands | Modes |
Operation | Operands | |
The Operation field contains the name of the statement written out in full and the maximum permitted abbreviation of the application name is highlighted in semibold type. In the case of all the statements which have to be introduced with the statement symbol in L mode or which may be introduced by the statement symbol in F mode or at the subroutine interface, the default statement symbol @ is also specified. In the case of statements which may not be introduced by the statement symbol, it is omitted. In the case of a very few statements, two possible statement names are specified. It is possible to use either of these. Any other special characteristics which have to be taken into account when using the statement name or one of its abbreviations are explained in the following text section of the statement description.
The Operands field contains a formal syntactic description of the operands permitted for the statement as if they were specified directly in a statement line. This also corresponds to the syntax that must be observed when operand specification is made by means of a string
variable when the statement is to be called with indirect operand specification. Otherwise, there is no discussion of indirect operand specification itself in the statement descriptions (see section “Statement syntax”). However, if indirect operand specification is prohibited then this is mentioned in the text section of the statement description.
The naming of variable operands also identifies the operand type and thus describes the syntax of the values that can be used for it. For a description of all the operand types, see the section “Operand syntax”.
The Modes field lists the EDT operating modes in which the statement may be used. The following specifications are possible:
F mode | The statement may be used in F mode. If the field does not contain any |
L mode | The statement may be used in L mode and consequently also in |
@PROC | The statement is only permitted in procedures. It is not possible to use them |
The formal description of the statement syntax is followed by a detailed description of the individual operands, usually in the order in which they occur. The description presents not only the function of the operand in question but also any special semantic considerations relating to the operands, the default values if operands are omitted and interactions between operands. However, the syntax of variable operands is not described. This can be found in the section “Operand syntax”.
The operand description is usually followed by a text section in which further special characteristics and restrictions relating to the current statement are explained. This section also contains any special comments concerning use.
Most of the statement descriptions end with one or more examples which again demonstrate the special characteristics of the statement. Unless indicated otherwise, all the examples assume the EDT default settings.