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                               SECTION 16

                             ERROR HANDLING



16.1 Unbound Atoms and Undefined Functions

Whenever the interpreter  encounters an atomic  form with no  binding on
                                                                   1
the push-down  list, and  whose value   contains  the atom  NOBIND,  the
interpreter  calls  the  function  faulteval.   Similarly,  faulteval is
called when a  list is encountered,  car of which is  not the name  of a
                              2
function or a function object.  The value returned by faulteval  is used
by the interpreter exactly as though it were the value of the form.

faulteval  is  defined to  print  either U.B.A.,  for  unbound  atom, or
U.D.F., for undefined  function, and then to  call break1 giving  it the
                         3
offending form as brkexp.  Once  inside the break, the user can  set the
atom, define the function, return  a specified value for the  form using
the RETURN command,  etc., or abort the  break using the ^  command.  If
the break is exited with  a value, the computation will  proceed exactly





------------------------------------------------------------------------
1
    All  atoms  are  initialized  (when they  are  created  by  the read
    program)  with their  value cells  (car of  the atom)  NOBIND, their
    function cells NIL, and their property lists (cdr of the atom) NIL.

2
    See Appendix 2 for complete description of INTERLISP interpreter.

3
    If DWIM is enabled (and  a break is going to occur),  faulteval also
    prints the offending form (in the case of a U.B.A., the parent form)
    and the name of the  function which contains the form.  For example,
    if FOO contains (CONS X FIE)  and FIE is unbound,  faulteval prints:
    U.B.A.  FIE [in  FOO]  in (CONS X FIE).  Note  that if  DWIM  is not
    enabled, the user can obtain this information after he is inside the
    break via the  IN? command.








                                  16.1


                                4
as though no error had occurred.

The decision over whether or not to induce a break depends on  the depth
of computation, and the amount of time invested in the computation.  The
actual  algorithm  is  described  in  detail  below  in  the  section on
breakcheck.   Suffice  it  to say  that  the  parameters  affecting this
decision have been adjusted  empirically so that trivial  type-in errors
do not cause breaks, but deep errors do.


16.2 Terminal Initiated Breaks

Control-H

Section 15  on the break  package described how  the user could  cause a
break when a specified function was entered.  The user can also indicate
his desire to go into a break at any time while a program is  running by
                 5
typing control-H.  At the next point a function is about to  be entered,
the function interrupt  is called instead.  interrupt  types INTERRUPTED
BEFORE followed  by the function  name, constructs an  appropriate break
expression, and then calls break1.  The user can then examine  the state
of  the computation,  and  continue by  typing  OK, GO  or  EVAL, and/or
retfrom  back to  some previous  point, exactly  as with  a  user break.
Control-H breaks are thus always "safe".  Note that control-H breaks are
not affected  by the depth  or time of  the computation.   However, they
only occur when a function is called, since it is only at this time that
the system is in a "clean"  enough state to allow the user  to interact.
Thus, if a compiled program is looping without calling any functions, or
is in  a I/O wait,  control-H will not  affect it.   Control-B, however,
will.






------------------------------------------------------------------------
4
    A similar procedure is followed whenever apply or apply*  are called
    with an undefined  function, i.e., one whose  fntyp is NIL.  In this
    case,  faultapply is  called  giving it  the function  as  its first
    argument and  the list of  arguments to the  function as  its second
    argument. The value returned by  faultapply is used as the  value of
    apply or apply*. faultapply is defined to print U.D.F. and then call
    break1  giving  it  (APPLY (QUOTE fn) QUOTE args))  as  brkexp. Once
    inside  the  break,  the  user can  define  the  function,  return a
    specified  value, etc.  If the  break is  exited with  a  value, the
    computation will  proceed exactly as  though no error  had occurred.
    faultapply is also called for undefined function calls from compiled
    code.

5
    As soon as control-H is typed, INTERLISP clears and saves  the input
    buffer, and then rings the  bell, indicating that it is now  safe to
    type ahead  to the  upcoming break.  If the  break returns  a value,
    i.e., is not aborted via  ^ or control-D, the contents of  the input
    buffer before the control-H was typed will be restored.




                                  16.2



Control-B

Control-B  is a  stronger interruption  than control-H.   It effectively
generates  an immediate  error.  This  error is  treated like  any other
error except that it always  causes a break, regardless of the  depth or
                           6
time  of  the  computation.   Thus  if  the  function  FOO   is  looping
internally, typing control-B will  cause the computation to  be stopped,
the stack unwound to the point at which FOO was called, and then cause a
break.  Note  that the internal  variables of FOO  are not  available in
this break, and similarly, FOO may have already produced some changes in
the  environment before  the  control-B was  typed.   Therefore whenever
possible, it is better to use control-H instead of control-B.


Control-E

If the user wishes to  abort a computation, without causing a  break, he
should type control-E.  Control-E  does not go through the  normal error
machinery of scanning the stack, calling breakcheck, printing a message,
etc. as described below, but simply types a carriage-return and unwinds.


16.3 Other Types of Errors

In addition to  U.B.A. and U.D.F. errors,  there are currently  28 other
error     types    in     INTERLISP,     e.g.,    P-STACK OVERFLOW, NON-
NUMERIC ARG, FILE NOT OPEN, etc.  A complete list is given later in this
section.  When  an error occurs,  the decision about  whether or  not to
break  is handled  by breakcheck  and is  the same  as with  U.B.A.  and
U.D.F. errors.  If  a break is to  occur, the exact action  that follows
depends on  the type  of error.   For example,  if a  break is  to occur
following   evaluation   of  (RPLACA NIL (ADD1 5))   (which   causes  an
ATTEMPT TO RPLAC NIL    error),    the   message    printed    will   be
(RPLACA BROKEN), brkexp will be (RPLACA U V W), U will be bound  to NIL,
V to 6, and W to NIL,  and the stack will look like the user  had broken
on rplaca himself.  Following  a NON-NUMERIC ARG error, the  system will
type IN followed by the name of the most recently entered  function, and
then (BROKEN). The system will then effectively be in a break  inside of
this function.  brkexp will be a call to ERROR so that if the user types
OK  or  EVAL or  GO,  a ?  will  be printed  and  the  break maintained.
                                                                       7
However, if the  break is exited with  a value via the  RETURN command,
the computation will proceed exactly as though no error had occurred.






------------------------------------------------------------------------
6
    However,  setting  helpflag  to NIL  will  suppress  the  break. See
    discussion of breakcheck below.

7
    Presumably  the value  will be  a number,  or the  error  will occur
    again.




                                  16.3



16.4 Breakcheck - When to Break

The decision as to whether or not to induce a break when an error occurs
                                      8
is handled by the function breakcheck.  The user can suppress  all error
breaks by setting the variable helpflag to NIL (initially set to T).  If
helpflag=T, the decision is affected by two factors: the length  of time
spent in the computation, and  the depth of the computation at  the time
              9
of the  error.  If the  time is  greater than helptime  or the  depth is
greater  than  helpdepth, breakcheck  returns  T, meaning  a  break will
occur.

Since  a  function  is  not actually  entered  until  its  arguments are
          10
evaluated,   the depth of a computation is defined to be the sum  of the
number of  function calls  plus the  number of  internal calls  to eval.
Thus      if     the      user     types      in      the     expression
[MAPC FOO (FUNCTION (LAMBDA (X) (COND ((NOT (MEMB X FIE)) (PRINT X]  for
evaluation, and FIE is not bound, at the point of the U.B.A.  FIE error,
two functions,  mapc and cond,  have been entered,  and there  are three
internal calls to eval corresponding to the evaluation of the forms
(COND ((NOT (MEMB X FIE)) (PRINT X))),      (NOT (MEMB X FIE)),      and
             11
(MEMB X FIE).   The depth is thus 5.

breakcheck begins by searching  back up the parameter stack  looking for
            12
an errorset.   At the same time, it counts the number of  internal calls
to eval.  As soon as (if) the number of calls to eval exceeds helpdepth,
breakcheck  can stop  searching  for errorset  and return  T,  since the
position of the  errorset is only  needed when a  break is not  going to



------------------------------------------------------------------------
8
    Breakcheck is  not actually  available to the  user for  advising or
    breaking since the error package is block-compiled.

9
    Except that control-B errors always break.

10
    Unless of course the function does not have its arguments evaluated,
    i.e., is an FEXPR, FEXPR*, CFEXPR, CFEXPR*, FSUBR or FSUBR*.

11
    For  complete  discussion  of the  stack  and  the  interpreter, see
    Section 12.

12
    errorsets are simply  markers on the  stack indicating how  far back
    unwinding is to take place when an error occurs, i.e.,  they segment
    the  stack into  sections such  as that  if an  error occurs  in any
    section, control returns to the point at which the last errorset was
    entered, from which  NIL is returned as  the value of  the errorset.
    See page 16.12.




                                  16.4



occur.   Otherwise,  breakcheck  continues  searching  until  either  an
                 13
errorset is found   or the top of the stack is reached.  Breakcheck then
completes  the depth  check  by counting  the number  of  function calls
between the error and  the last errorset, or  the top of the  stack.  If
the number of function calls  plus the number of calls to  eval (already
                                                                      14
counted) is greater  than or equal to  helpdepth, initially set  to 9,
breakcheck returns T.   Otherwise, it records  the position of  the last
errorset, and the value of errorset's second argument, which is  used in
deciding whether to print the error message, and returns NIL.

breakcheck next measures the length of time spent in the  computation by
subtracting  the  value of  the  variable helpclock  from  the  value of
          15
(CLOCK 2).   If  the difference is  greater than  helptime milliseconds,
initially set to 1000, then a break will occur, i.e., breakcheck returns
T,  otherwise NIL.   The variable  helpclock is  rebound to  the current
value of (CLOCK 2) for each computation typed in to lispx or to a break.

The time criterion for breaking can be suppressed by setting helptime to
NIL (or a very big number),  or by binding helpclock to NIL.   Note that
setting helpclock to NIL will  not have any effect because  helpclock is
rebound by lispx and by break.

If breakcheck is NIL,  i.e., a break is not  going to occur, then  if an
errorset was found,  NIL is returned (via  retfrom) as the value  of the
errorset,  after  first printing  the  error message  if  the errorset's
second argument  was TRUE.   If there  was no  errorset, the  message is
printed, and control returns to evalgt.  This procedure is  followed for
all types of errors.

Note that  for all error  breaks for which  a break occurs,  break1 will
clear and save the input buffer. If the break returns a value,  i.e., is
not aborted  via ^ or  control-D, the input  buffer will be  restored as
described in Section 15.


16.5 Error Types






------------------------------------------------------------------------
13
    If the second argument to the errorset is INTERNAL, the  errorset is
    ignored and  searching continues. See  discussion of  errorset, page
    16.12.

14
    Arrived at empirically, takes into account the overhead due to lispx
    or break.

15
    Whose value is number  of milliseconds of compute time.  See Section
    21.




                                  16.5



                                                                      16
There are  currently forty-plus error  types in the  INTERLISP system.
They are listed  below by error number.  The error is set  internally by
the  code that  detects the  error before  it calls  the  error handling
functions.  It is also the value returned by errorn if called subsequent
to that type of error, and  is used by errormess for printing  the error
message.

Most  error  types will  print  the offending  expression  following the
message,  e.g.,  NON-NUMERIC  ARG NIL is  very  common.   Error  type 18
(control-B) always causes a  break (unless helpflag is NIL).   All other
errors cause breaks if breakcheck returns T.


0   NONXMEM             (INTERLISP-10) reference to non-existent memory.
                        Usually indicates system is very sick.


1                       no longer used.


2   P-STACK OVERFLOW    occurs when computation is too deep, either with
                        respect to number  of function calls,  or number
                                               17
                        of  variable  bindings.   Usually  because  of a
                        non-terminating  recursive computation,  i.e., a
                        bug.


3   ILLEGAL RETURN      call to return when not inside of an interpreted
                        prog.


4   ARG NOT LIST        e.g., rplaca called on a non-list.


5                       no longer used.


6   ATTEMPT TO SET NIL  via set or setq




------------------------------------------------------------------------
16
    Some of these errors  are implementation dependent, i.e.,  appear in
    INTERLISP-10 but may not appear in other INTERLISP systems.

17
    In INTERLISP-10, the  garbage collector uses  the same stack  as the
    rest of the system, so that if a garbage collection occurs when deep
    in a computation, the stack can overflow (particularly if there is a
    lot of list  structure that is deep  in the car direction).  If this
    does happen, the garbage collector will flush the stack used  by the
    computation  in  order  that the  garbage  collection  can complete.
    Afterwards, the  error message  STACK OVERFLOW  IN GC  - COMPUTATION
    LOST is printed, followed by a reset[], i.e., return to top level.




                                  16.6



7   ATTEMPT TO RPLAC NIL
                        attempt either to  rplaca or to rplacd  NIL with
                        something other than NIL.


8   UNDEFINED OR ILLEGAL GO
                        go  when  not  inside  of  a  prog,  or   go  to
                        nonexistent label.


9   FILE WON'T OPEN     From infile or outfile, Section 14.


10  NON-NUMERIC ARG     a   numeric   function   e.g.,   iplus,  itimes,
                        igreaterp, expected a number.


11  ATOM TOO LONG       In INTERLISP-10, > 126 characters.


12  ATOM HASH TABLE FULL
                        no room for any more (new) atoms.


13  FILE NOT OPEN       from an I/O function, e.g., read, print, closef.


14  ARG NOT LITATOM     e.g., setq, put,  gettopval, etc., given  a non-
                        atomic arg.


15  TOO MANY FILES OPEN
                        > 16 including terminal.


16  END OF FILE         from  an  input  function,  e.g.,  read,  readc,
                        ratom.  Note: the file will then be closed.


17  ERROR               call to error.


18  BREAK               control-B was typed.


19  ILLEGAL STACK ARG   a stack function  expected a stack  position and
                        was given something  else.  This might  occur if
                        the arguments to a stack function  are reversed.
                        Also occurs if  user specified a  stack position
                        with a function name, and that function  was not
                        found on the stack.  See Section 12.


20  FAULT IN EVAL       artifact  of  bootstrap.   Never   occurs  after
                        faulteval has been defined as described earlier.


21  ARRAYS FULL         system will  first initiate a  GC: 1, and  if no




                                  16.7



                        array  space  is reclaimed,  will  then generate
                        this error.


22  DIRECTORY FULL      (INTERLISP-10) no new files can be created until
                        user deletes some old ones and expunges.


23  FILE NOT FOUND      file name does not  correspond to a file  in the
                        corresponding directory.  Can also occur if file
                        name is ambiguous.


24                      no longer used.


25  UNUSUAL CDR ARG LIST
                        a form ends in a non-list other than  NIL, e.g.,
                        (CONS T . 3).


26  HASH TABLE FULL     see hash link functions, Section 7.


27  ILLEGAL ARG         Catch-all error.  Currently used by putd, evala,
                        arg, funarg, allocate, rplstring, etc.


28  ARG NOT ARRAY       elt  or seta  given an  argument that  is  not a
                        pointer to the beginning of an array.


29  ILLEGAL OR IMPOSSIBLE BLOCK
                        (INTERLISP-10)  from  getblk  or   relblk.   See
                        Section 21.


30                      no longer used.


31  LISTS FULL          following  a GC:  8, if  a sufficient  amount of
                        list words have not been collected, and there is
                        no un-allocated space  left in the  system, this
                        error is generated.


32  ATTEMPT TO CHANGE ITEM OF INCORRECT TYPE
                        Before a field  of a user-data type  is changed,
                        the type of the item is first checked to be sure
                        that it is of  the expected type.  If  not, this
                        error is generated.  See section 23.


33  ILLEGAL DATA TYPE NUMBER
                        The  argument  is  not  a  valid  user-data type
                        number.  See section 23.






                                  16.8



34  DATA TYPES FULL     All   available   user-data   types   have  been
                        allocated. See section 23.


35                      no longer used.


36  TOO MANY USER INTERRUPT CHARACTERS
                        Attempt  to  enable a  user  interrupt character
                        when all 9 user channels are  currently enabled.
                        See page 16.12.


37  READ-MACRO CONTEXT ERROR
                        Occurs  when a  read is  executed from  within a
                        read-macro function and the next token is a ) or
                        a ].  See section 14.


38  ILLEGAL READTABLE   The  argument  was   expected  to  be   a  valid
                        readtable.  See section 14.


39  ILLEGAL TERMINAL TABLE
                        The argument was expected to be a valid terminal
                        table. See section 14.


40   SWAPBLOCK TOO BIG FOR BUFFER
                        (INTERLISP-10) An attempt was made to swap  in a
                        function/array  which  is  too  large   for  the
                        swapping buffer.  See setsbsize, section 3.


41                      no longer used.


42                      no longer used.


43  USER BREAK          Error  corresponding  to  "hard"  user-interrupt
                        character. See page 16.12.


In addition, many system functions, e.g., define, arglist,  advise, log,
expt, etc,  also generate  errors with  appropriate messages  by calling
error (see page 16.11) which causes an error of type 17.


Error handling by error type

Occasionally the user  may want to  treat certain error  types different
than  others, e.g.,  always  break, never  break, or  perhaps  take some
corrective  action.    This  can   be  accomplished   via  errortypelst.
errortypelst is a list of  elements of the form (n expression),  where n
is one of  the 28 error numbers.   After breakcheck has  been completed,
but before any  other action is taken,  errortypelst is searched  for an
element with the same error number as that causing the error.  If one is




                                  16.9



found, and  the evaluation  of the  corresponding expression  produces a
non-NIL  value,  the value  is  substituted for  the  offender,  and the
function causing the error is reeentered.

For this application, the following three variables may be useful:


errormess               car  is the  error number,  cadr  the "offender"
                        e.g.,     (10 NIL)    corresponds     to    NON-
                        NUMERIC ARG NIL error.


errorpos                position  of  the function  in  which  the error
                        occurred,   e.g.,  stkname[errorpos]   might  be
                        IPLUS, RPLACA, INFILE, etc.


breakchk                value of breakcheck, i.e., T means a  break will
                        occur, NIL means one will not.


For example, putting

    [10 (AND (NULL (CADR ERRORMESS))
             (SELECTQ (STKNAME ERRORPOS)
                      ((IPLUS ADD1 SUB1) 0)
                      (ITIMES 1)
                      (PROGN (SETQ BREAKCHK T) NIL]

on  errortypelst  would specify  that  whenever  a NON-NUMERIC ARG - NIL
error occurred, and the function in question was IPLUS, ADD1, or SUB1, 0
should be used  for the NIL.   If the function  was ITIMES, 1  should be
used.  Otherwise, always break.   Note that the latter case  is achieved
not by the  value returned, but by  the effect of the  evaluation, i.e.,
setting  BREAKCHK  to  T.   Similarly,  (16 (SETQ  BREAKCHK  NIL)) would
prevent END OF FILE errors from ever breaking.


printmsg                if T, means  print error message, if  NIL, don't
                        print error message, i.e., corresponds to second
                        argument  to errorset.   The user  can  force or
                        suppress  the  printing  of  error  message  for
                        various errortypes by including  on errortypelst
                        an expression which explicitly sets printmsg.


16.6 Error Functions

errorx[erxm]            is  the  entry   to  the  error   routines.   If
                        erxm=NIL,  errorn[]  is  used  to  determine the
                        error-message.   Otherwise,  seterrorn[erxm]  is
                        performed,   "setting"   the   error   type  and
                        argument.  Thus following  either errorx[(10 T)]
                        or (PLUS T),  errorn[] is (10 T).   errorx calls
                        breakcheck, and either induces a break or prints
                        the message  and unwinds  to the  last errorset.
                        Note that errorx can be called by any program to
                        intentionally  induce  an  error  of  any  type.




                                 16.10



                        However,  for  most  applications,  the function
                        error will be more useful.


error[mess1;mess2;nobreak]
                        The message that  is (will be) printed  is mess1
                        (using prin1), followed  by a space if  mess1 is
                        an  atom,  otherwise  a  carriage  return.  Then
                        mess2  is printed,  using  prin1 if  mess2  is a
                        string,       otherwise       print.       e.g.,
                        error["NON-NUMERIC ARG";T] will print

                        NON-NUMERIC ARG
                        T

                        and   error[FOO;"NOT A FUNCTION"]   will   print
                        FOO NOT A FUNCTION.   (If both  mess1  and mess2
                        are NIL, the message is simply ERROR.)

                        If nobreak=T, error prints its message  and then
                        calls     error!.     Otherwise     it     calls
                        errorx[(17 (mess1 . mess2))], i.e., generates an
                        error of type 17, in which case the  decision as
                        to whether or not  to break, and whether  or not
                        to print a message, is handled as per  any other
                        error.


help[mess1;mess2]       prints  mess1 and  mess2  a la  error,  and then
                        calls break1.  If both mess1 and mess2  are NIL,
                        HELP!  is  used  for  the  message.   help  is a
                        convenient way  to program a  default condition,
                        or to terminate some protion of a  program which
                        theoretically the computation is  never supposed
                        to reach.


        18
error![]                programmable   control-E,    i.e.,   immediately
                        returns from last errorset or resets.


reset[]                 Programmable   control-D,    i.e.,   immediately
                        returns to the top level.


errorn[]                returns information about the last error  in the
                        form (n x) where n is the error type  number and
                        x is the expression which was (would  have been)
                        printed  out  after  the  error  message.   Thus
                        following (PLUS T), errorn[] is (10 T).




------------------------------------------------------------------------
18
    Pronounced "error-bang".




                                 16.11



errormess[u]            prints message  corresponding to an  errorn that
                        yielded u.  For example, errormess[(10 T)] would
                        print
                        NON-NUMERIC ARG
                        T


errorstring[n]          returns   as   a   new   string    the   message
                        corresponding  to  an  error  of  type  n, e.g.,
                        errorstring[10]="NON-NUMERIC ARG".


             19
errorset[u;v]           performs  eval[u].   Note  that  errorset  is  a
                        lambda-type of function, and that  its arguments
                        are  evaluated  before  it  is   entered,  i.e.,
                        errorset[x] means eval is called with  the value
                        of  x.   In   most  cases,  ersetq   and  nlsetq
                        (described below) are more useful.  If  no error
                        occurs  in the  evaluation  of u,  the  value of
                        errorset is a  list containing one  element, the
                        value of  eval[u].  If an  error did  occur, the
                        value of errorset is NIL.

                        The argument  v controls  the printing  of error
                        messages if an error occurs.  If v=T,  the error
                        message is printed; if v=NIL it is not.

                        If v=INTERNAL, the  errorset is ignored  for the
                        purpose of deciding  whether or not to  break or
                        print a  message.  However,  the errorset  is in
                        effect for the purpose of flow of control, i.e.,
                        if an error occurs, this errorset returns NIL.


ersetq[ersetx]          nlambda, performs    errorset[ersetx;t],   i.e.,
                        (ERSETQ (FOO))       is       equivalent      to
                        (ERRORSET (QUOTE (FOO)) T).


nlsetq[nlsetx]          nlambda, performs errorset[nlsetx;NIL].


Interrupt characters

This  section  describes  how  the  user  can  disable  and/or  redefine
INTERLISP interrupt  characters, as well  as defining his  own interrupt
characters.  INTERLISP is initialized with 8 interrupt channels which we
shall   call:   HELP,  PRINTLEVEL,   STORAGE,   RUBOUT,   ERROR,  RESET,
OUTPUTBUFFER, and BREAK. To these are assigned  respectively, control-H,
control-P,  control-S, delete/rubout,  control-E,  control-D, control-O,



------------------------------------------------------------------------
19
    errorset is a subr, so  the names "u" and "v" don't  actually appear
    on the stack nor will they affect the evaluation.




                                 16.12



and control-B.  Each of these channels independently can be disabled, or
                       20
have  a  new  interrupt    character assigned  to  it  via  the function
interruptchar described below.  In addition, the user can enable up to 9
new interrupt  channels, and  associate with  each channel  an interrupt
character  and an  expression  to be  evaluated when  that  character is
typed.   User  interrupts can  be  either "hard"  or  "soft".   A "hard"
interrupt is like control-E or  control-D: it takes place as soon  as it
         21
is typed.   A soft interrupt is like control-H; it does not  occur until
the next function call.


interruptchar[char;typ/form;hardflg]
                        char  is  either  a  character  or   a  terminal
                                       22
                        interrupt code.

                        If   typ/form=NIL,   char   is   disabled.    If
                        typ/form=T,  the   current  state  of   char  is
                                                     23
                        returned without changing it.

                        If typ/form  is a literal  atom and the  name of
                        one of the 8 INTERLISP interrupt  channels given
                        above:    HELP,    PRINTLEVEL,     ...    BREAK.
                        interruptchar  assigns  char  to  that  channel,
                        (reenabling the channel if previously disabled).
                        Otherwise,  char  is  enabled  as  an  interrupt
                        character that when typed causes typ/form  to be
                        immediately set  to T.   If char  was previously



------------------------------------------------------------------------
20
    TENEX requires that interrupt characters be one of control-A, B, ...
    , Z, space, esc(alt-mode), rubout(delete), or break.

21
    Hard interrupts are implemented  by generating an error of  type 43,
    and retrieving the  corresponding form from the  list userinterrupts
    once inside  of errorx. Soft  interrupts are implemented  by calling
    interrupt with an appropriate third argument, and then obtaining the
    corresponding  form  from  userinterrupts.   In  either  case,  if a
    character is enabled as a user interrupt, but for some reason  it is
    not found on userinterrupts, an UNDEFINED USER INTERRUPT  error will
    be generated.

22
    The  terminal interrupt  code for  break is  0, for  esc is  27, for
    rubout/delete is 28,  and for space  is 29.  The  terminal interrupt
    codes for the control characters can be obtained with chcon1.

23
    The  current state  is  an expression  which  can be  given  back to
    interuptchar  to  restore  that  state.  This  option  is   used  in
    connection with undoing and resetform.




                                 16.13



                        defined   as   an   interrupt   character,  that
                        interpretation is disabled.

                        If typ/form is a list, char is enabled as a user
                        interrupt  character, and  typ/form is  the form
                        that  is  evaluated  when  char  is  typed.  The
                        interrupt will  be hard if  hardflg=T, otherwise
                        soft. Any  previous interpretations of  char are
                        disabled.

                        All  calls  to interruptchar  are  undoable.  In
                        addition,  the  value  of  interruptchar  is  an
                        expression    which   when    given    back   to
                        interruptchar will  restore things as  they were
                        before   the  call   to   interruptchar.   Thus,
                        interruptchar  can be  used in  conjunction with
                        resetform or resetlst (see section 5).

Note:  interruptchar[T] will  restore  all INTERLISP  channels  to their
original state, and disable all user interrupts.










































                                 16.14