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                  HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE


                                  MIC

                       MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS


                       USER'S GUIDE - EDITION 2.6



                               JUNE 1975


         This guide reflects features of version 5(35) of MIC.

                               Release 2.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 1
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


                                CONTENTS


        1.              Introduction.

        2.              Introducing a MIC Command.

        3.              Constructing MIC Macro Command Files.

        4.              Commands derived from DECsystem-10
                        Multi-programming Batch.

            4.1             GOTO/BACKTO Command. 
            4.2             ERROR/NOERROR Command. 
            4.3             IF Command. 
            4.4             OPERATOR/NOOPERATOR Command.
            4.5             SILENCE/REVIVE Command.
            4.6             PLEASE Command.

        5.              LET Command.  

            5.1             Byte Subscripting for String
                            Expressions.
            5.2             Multiple LET Statements.
            5.3             Parameters in Outer Processes.

        6.              Extensions to the IF Command.

            6.1             Parameters in Outer Processes.

        7.              Simple Interaction with MIC.

            7.1             OPERATOR/NOOPERATOR command.
            7.2             MIC RESPONSE Command.

        8.              MIC Control Commands.

            8.1             MIC ABORT Command
            8.2             MIC CANCEL Command
            8.3             MIC BREAK Command.
            8.4             MIC PROCEED Command.
            8.5             MIC EXIT Command.

        9.              System Parameters.

            9.1             Parameter Substitution.
            9.2             GETTABS.

        10.             LET Extensions.

            10.1            Use of System Parameters
            10.2            Use of System Parameters in arithmetic
                            assignments.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 2
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


        11.             Non Procedural calls to MIC
                        (WHENEVER/ON Command.)

            11.1            Multiple WHENEVER/ON commands.

        12.             MIC SET Command.

            12.1            COLUMN1.
            12.2            CONTROL.
            12.3            PARAMETERS.
            12.4            SPECIALS.
            12.5            FINMATCH.
            12.6            Multiple SET Commands.


                                 Index


        APPENDIX A.     Examples of MIC commands.

        APPENDIX B.     Command Summary.

        APPENDIX C.     Syntax of Integer and String Expressions.

        APPENDIX D.     Error Messages.

                            Index of Error Codes.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 3
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


                mACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS


 1) Introduction


        Standard DECsystem 10 software provides a powerful  but  complex
        command interface.  Novice terminal users lose much time through
        an unforgiving  command  decoder  and  the  expert  resents  the
        verbosity  of  the  average  command string.Although the concise
        command language (C.C.L)  does  allow  many  simplifications  to
        system commands,new commands may not readily be defined.

                With MIC a user may  create  a  new  command  simply  by
        writing  any  desired sequence of monitor and user mode commands
        in a disk file.  To cause the command  to  be  obeyed  the  user
        types  to  monitor  the  filename  preceded by the command word
        "DO " .

e.g.  
        If the file DTASAV.MIC contains the text-

 .R PIP
 *DTAX:/X/B=FRED.TXT
 *^C
 .DIR DTAX:

        The user could obey the command file thus-

 .DO DTASAV
 .R PIP
 *DTAX:/X/B=FRED.TXT
 *^C
 .DIR DTAX:

                In this sequence of commands only  the  first  line  the
        "MIC command" was typed by the user.  If the user often required
        this sequence of commands the  command  macro  DTASAV.MIC  would
        save a considerable amount of typing.

        To allow more generalised  commands  to  be  constructed  a  MIC
        command may have parameters:

        The command macro DTASAV.MIC would be made more  useful  if  the
        file contained the text-

 .R PIP
 *DTA'A:/X/B='B
 *^C
 .DIR DTA'A:
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 4
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


               The rules for parameter substitution are simple.  When 'A
        is  encountered  in  the  command  file  the  first parameter is
        substituted.The first parameter  in  the  macro  DTASAV  is  the
        dectape  number,the  second  parameter  is  the  file name to be
        transferred.
               Up to 26 user parameters are allowed ('A to 'Z).
        To write the file PETE.MAC to DTA3 the command would be-

 .DO DTASAV 3,PETE.MAC 

        The parameters to a MIC command are separated by  commas.   (See
        also section 2.)


        The command file may be of any size and is typed by MIC line  by
        line  exactly  as  if the user had typed it.MIC will only type a
        line when the job requires input.  To stop MIC typein  the  user
        must type control C.

        Using the above information a  user  can  easily  make  his  own
        commands.  Additonal facilities in MIC are provided to allow-

                1.  Parameters to be manipulated during  the  processing
                    of a MIC command.

                2.  Conditonal branching within the command macro.

                3.  Detecting and processing error conditons
        Note
                MIC command files may themselves contain  MIC  commands.
        In  this  case  the  "nested  processes"  each  have  their  own
        parameters but inner processes may access the parameters  in  an
        outer process.  This is described later.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 5
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


2) Introducing a MIC command 

        To cause MIC macro command file to be obeyed a  monitor  command
        of the following form is used-

.DO <Standard device-file specification> <parameter list>

               The first argument  to  the  "DO"  command  specifies  the
        command file to be obeyed, in the form DEV:FILENAME.EXT[PPN].
                If the user does not specify where the command  file  is
        held,  his  own  area is searched first followed by the system's
        device.
                The default extension for the MACRO file is "MIC".   The
        full default filespec is DSK:MIC.MIC in the users own area.
               The parameter list follows after  a  separator  character
        (space or tab).Parameters are separated by commas.  All brackets
        in  the  parameter  list  must  match.A  comma  between  matched
        brackets  does  not separate parameters.  Outer matching < and >
        brackets are removed before the parameter is substituted

e.g.

.DO C[105,13] TWO 

        MIC macro file is C.MIC in area [105,13].
        'A would substitute as TWO.  

.DO C A[105,13],3 

        MIC macro file is "C.MIC" on the user's own area or "SYS".
        'A would substitute as A[105,13].
        'B would sustitute as 3.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 6
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


3).  Constructing MIC macro command files

               A MIC file may contain any ASCII  text  with  or  without
        line numbers.  

                As in batch control files some  characters  are  treated
        specially as the file is processed.  

        Character       Position                Meaning

            .           At start of line        Remaining text  on  this
                                                line  may  only be typed
                                                to monitor.

            *           At start of line        Remaining text  on  this
                                                line may only be typed
                                                as program input.

            =           At start of line        Suppress carriage return
                                                at the end of this line.
                                                Useful    for    command
                                                macros   containing  DDT
                                                and TECO commands

           !  or ;      At start of line        Treat    line    as    a
                                                comment.Line   is  still
                                                displayed  on  the  user
                                                Teletype  but  not typed
                                                to   the   job.     ("!"
                                                overrides        silence
                                                condition ";" does not )

           ^X           any                     Convert character "X" to
                                                control X before
                                                it is typed.

           'A           any                     substitute parameter A


        If a special character is to be treated  literally  it  must  be
        repeated .

 e.g.

        ''A will be typed as  'A  and  not  cause  the  substitution  of
        parameter A.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 7
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


4).  Commands derived from DECsystem-10 multi-program batch 
4.1) GOTO/BACKTO command


               As with batch control files a MIC command file  may  have
        some lines labelled.
               Using the  MIC  monitor  commands  GOTO  and  BACKTO  the
        sequential processing of the MIC command may be interrupted.
               The argument to the GOTO/BACKTO command is an  identifier
        of  one to six alphanumeric characters which is used to indicate
        the label in the MIC command file where processing is to resume.

                The appropriate labels in the command file are delimited
        by ::  and must be at the start of a line.

 e.g.
FRED::.DIRECT

    n.b.        That, if, when MIC is searching a command file  for  the
        first  occurence of the required label, it comes across a "%FIN"
        label, this will  satisfy  the  search  and  processing  of  the
        command file will be resumed at that point.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 8
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


4.2) ERROR/NOERROR command


               As the MIC command file is processed an error may  occur.
        Often  a message is displayed on the user Teletype preceded by a
        question mark (?) Character.  
               By using the error command the  user  may  specify  which
        character  is  to be treated as denoting an error condition when
        it is displayed at the start of a line.
                The argument to the error command is  any  single  ASCII
        printing character.

e.g.

.ERROR %
.ERROR ?  

                If no argument is supplied  to  an  ".ERROR"  command  a
        question mark (?) is assumed.
               The command NOERROR is used to turn off error checking.

        If an error is detected MIC  will  check  if  the  next  monitor
        command  is an IF command.If this is so processing will continue
        there,otherwise the command file is searched for  a  %FIN  or  a
        %CERR before typein is resumed.If this fails MIC will display on
        the users Teletype

[ABORT ON ERROR] 

        and stop processing the MIC command file.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                  Page 9
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


4.3) IF command


                The IF  command  is  used  to  conditionally  process  a
        monitor command.

 e.g.

  .IF (ERROR) .GOTO EER5
  .IF (NOERROR) .DO UPDATE 13

        The monitor command is obeyed  if  the  specified  condition  is
        true.   The  alternatives  MIC  provides  for  the ERROR/NOERROR
        conditional are discussed later.


                Unlike DECsystem-10 batch  the  monitor  level  commands
        IF,ERROR,NOERROR,GOTO,BACKTO  when obeyed in a MIC macro command
        file actually run the program MIC

        A batch control file called JOB1.CTL could be  executed  at  the
        users Teletype using the command-

.DO JOB1.CTL 

                Users who wish to use MIC in this way  should  note  the
        default  error  status  when  a  MIC  command is executed at the
        Teletype is "NOERROR".




 4.4) OPERATOR Command.

                The Batch command "OPERATOR" is also used  in  MIC,  its
        operation is described in section 7.1 .
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 10
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


4.5) SILENCE/REVIVE Command


                These commands are used to suppress typeout on the  user
        Teletype throughout an uninteresting sequence of commands.
                Another monitor level command may be placed on the  same
        line as a SILENCE or REVIVE command.
 e.g.

     .REVIVE .DIR


                This has the useful effect of reviving  the  tty  output
        after the "DIR" command has been typed.  Thus the user sees only
        the output from the command not the command itself.

        N.B.

                A whole command file may be  automatically  silenced  if
        the  file  is  given  the  protection  code  <2??>.  This may be
        overridden in the command file by the ".REVIVE" command.


4.6) PLEASE command 


                Unlike  DECsystem-10  batch  this  command  is  used  to
        communicate  with  the initiator of the MIC command.The argument
        is  displayed  on  the   user   Teletype   regardless   of   the
        SILENCE/REVIVE switch.
               If the please command is terminated  by  an  altmode  MIC
        typein  proceeds  normally  otherwise  typein  is suspended by a
        [BREAK] until the user types ^P or  a  MIC  PROCEED  command  to
        proceed and [PROCEED] is displayed.  

e.g.

.PLEASE LOAD DECTAPE 345
.PLEASE THANKS$ 


                                  ::::


                In fact all  batch  pseudo-commands  are  legal  monitor
        commands  when  obeyed from a MIC command file.  MIC extends the
        batch command format (SEE SECTION 6) and  provides  several  new
        commands.   Users  unfamiliar with DECsystem-10 batch facilities
        should read DECsystem-10 BEGINNERS GUIDE TO MULTI-PROGRAM  BATCH
        for a fuller description of the batch comands.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 11
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


5).  LET command


        The general form of the MIC monitor command "LET" is-

.LET <parameter name>=<expression>

        Integer or string expressions may be used.

        Users parameters to MIC command macro files are held within  MIC
        as ASCII strings.
        During the execution of a MIC  command  macro  the  LET  monitor
        command may be used to change any of the parameters (A thro' Z).
e.g.  

.LET C="THIS IS THE NEW PARAMETER C" 

        After this command 'C in the MIC command file  would  cause  the
        substitution of the text-

THIS IS THE NEW PARAMETER C 

        In fact "THIS IS THE NEW PARAMETER C" is the simplest form of  a
        string expression.A more complicated command sequence could be-

.DO TEST FRED,BAK
.LET Z=$A+"."+$B+"[105,113]" 

        Dollar A ($A) is used as a reference to the string parameter A.
        Plus (+) is a simple concatenation operator.
        After the let command the parameter z would  substitute  as  the
        text-

FRED.BAK[105,113]

    Note:-
        In LET statements which  include  a  carriage  return/line  feed
        within the string quotes MIC will display a "--" at the start of
        the new line.


        Simple integer expressions are allowed in the LET command- 

e.g.

.LET B=3+C*3^D-4/(A+B) 

        In this example A B and C are used as references to the value of
        the parameters when read as integers.If any referenced parameter
        may not be read as an integer an error will result.The operators
        + * / - ^ have the usual meaning and precedence.  Round brackets
        may be used to alter the usual precedence
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 12
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


5.1) Byte subscripting for string expressions 

        Often in the  LET  command  it  is  required  to  construct  new
        parameters.   The  simple string expression has been extended to
        provide powerful character subscripting facilities.
        The format for a simple subscripted string expression is-

$A.[<First subscript>,<second subscript>]

        Here A may be A-Z .The first subscript is used  to  specify  the
        first  parameter  in character <A> to be used in the subscripted
        string.The  second  subscript  specifies  the  length   of   the
        constructed   string.Consider  parameter  <A>  to  be  a  string
        numbered as follows-














                  FIG 1 Character string N bytes long

        If the second subscript is omitted the length of the constructed
        string defaults to one character.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 13
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 e.g.

        If the parameter A contained the text ABCDEF

                Command                 result after command

                .LET B=$A.[1]                   A
                .LET B=$A.[2]                   B
                .LET B=$A.[-1]                  F
                .LET B=$A.[99]                  <null>

        If the first  subscript  is  out  of  range  a  null  string  is
        constructed.  Extending the previous example for two subscripts

                .LET B=$A.[1,2]                 AB
                .LET B=$A.[3,2]                 CD

        Subscripts themselves may be string expresions-

                .LET B=$A.["AB","F"]            CDE

        This construction means copy the string in parameter  A  between
        the text AB and F to parameter B.

        Repeated subscripts are allowed-

                .LET B="DSK:FILE.EXT[105,113]"
                .LET B=$B.[":","."].[1,"["]     FILE 

        This construction means truncate the object string in  parameter
        B  after the character ":" at the character "." Or the character
        "[".


5.2) Multiple LET Statements.

                Several  LET  assignments  may  follow  the  one   "LET"
        statement by terminating every assignment except the last , by a
        comma.

 e.g.

 .LET A=1+2,C=$B.[1,2],D=C+"ABCDE"
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 14
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


        5.3) Parameters in Outer Processes.

                Parameters in an outer MIC process may be referenced  in
        the  inner  process  by  following  the  parameter  by  a  digit
        corresponding to the process level  -  the  current  process  is
        regarded  as  being  level  0  ,the first surrounding process is
        level 1 and so on.

        Thus:-


 .LET B=C1 

        sets B equal to the contents of the parameter  C  of  the  first
        enclosing process.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 15
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 6) Extensions to the IF command

        Using the LET command complicated MIC command parameters may  be
        broken down.The conditional expression in the MIC IF command may
        be used to make more generalised comparisons.  Using  relational
        operators strings or integers may be compared.

        Relational operator             meaning

        >                               Greater than
        >=                              Greater than or equal
        =                               Equal
        #                               Not equal
        <=                              Less than or equal
        <                               Less than

        String  comparison  occurs  from  left  to   right.Corresponding
        characters  are  extracted  from  the constructed strings and if
        they are not  the  same  or  either  string  is  exhausted,  the
        relational operator is applied to the two characters using their
        ASCII value.   String  expressions  may  not  be  compared  with
        arithmetic.
        A conditional expression containing a syntax error has the value
        FALSE.  If the error trapping feature has been enabled using the
        ERROR command the ERROR and NOERROR conditional can be  used  to
        alter command processing appropriately.

        If the conditional expression is true MIC will  pass  characters
        after the first character "." on the right of the conditional to
        the monitor.  If the conditional is false ,  remaining  commands
        on the if line are ignored.

e.g.  

.IF (A>B) .GOTO LABEL
.IF ($A="TRUE") .BACKTO TRUE
.IF (ERROR) .GOTO FIX

        N.B.  In the first example parameters A and B must contain  text
        which  may  be  read  as  an integer.$A is used to reference the
        contents of parameter A as a string.


 6.1) Parameters in Outer Processes.

                Parameters in outer processes may be referred to in "IF"
        statements by the method described in section 5.3 .
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 16
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


7) Simple interaction with MIC.  

                A MIC command is obeyed as if the the user had typed the
        same  text  on  the  Teletype-"type ahead" is not allowed.  Some
        characters have a special meaning if typed by the  user  as  the
        MIC command is obeyed.

        As MIC commands may be nested control A is  used  to  abort  the
        current MIC process and return to the level above.  
               Control C will cancel all MIC processess the user has  in
        progress.An appropriate message is displayed on the Teletype.

               To allow limited user intervention control B will suspend
        MIC  typein and display [BREAK].The MIC process may be continued
        by the user typing a  PROCEED  command  or  a  control  P.   The
        message [PROCEED] will then be displayed.  
                Note that while a process is suspended a user  may  type
        MIC   commands   on   the   teletype  as  well  as  any  monitor
        commands.This implies that the MIC control functions have  their
        usual  effect, and , for example, using a control C to exit from
        "PIP" will cancel the suspended MIC process.



7.1) OPERATOR/NOOPERATOR commands.  

                Similar to the ERROR command the OPERATOR command  takes
        as  its  argument  one ASCII printing character to be treated as
        introducing a line  requiring  user  attention.If  the  operator
        character is seen output in column 1,MIC will suspend typein and
        display [BREAK].  The user may supply  typein  as  required  and
        type  control  P  (PROCEED)  to  continue processing the command
        file.  During a BREAK the operator character may be output again
        in  column  one  to PROCEED automatically, AND [PROCEED] will be
        displayed.  

e.g.

.OPERATOR N
.RUN TEST
NOW TYPE IN YOUR NAME = [BREAK]CYRIL
NICE ONE CYRIL
.[PROCEED]GOTO IT

        The operator features  are  only  available  after  an  OPERATOR
        command.   The default character to the operator command is "?".
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 17
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 7.2) MIC RESPONSE COMMAND 

        Often it is  required  to  inspect  text  displayed  by  program
        particularly  when  it denotes an error.The MIC response command
        allows characters displayed after an error character  in  column
        one  to  be  placed  in a named parameter.  The format for a MIC
        response command is-

.MIC RESPONSE <parameter name>(<number of characters required>)

e.g.

MIC RESPONSE A(21)

        If the error feature  has  been  enabled  up  to  79  characters
        following  the  error  character  will  be  placed  in the named
        parameter.The command is used to reserve space for the  response
        and  the  parameter is filled with spaces.  When an error occurs
        the text on the error line  is  copied  character  by  character
        until  a  null character is encountered in the reserved space or
        in the error text.Any remaining space is removed from the  named
        parameter.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 18
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


8).  MIC CONTROL COMMANDS


 8.1) MIC ABORT Command 

                Format

        .MIC ABORT 

                MIC aborts current process as  if  the  user  had  typed
        control A and the message [ABORT] is displayed.  




8.2) MIC CANCEL command 

                Format

        .MIC CANCEL 

                MIC cancels all pending MIC commands as if control C was
        typed and the message [CANCEL] is displayed.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 19
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 8.3) MIC BREAK command 

                Format

        .MIC BREAK

        MIC suspends typein until -
        -operator character displayed 
        -control P typed 
        -MIC proceed command 


        and the message [BREAK] is displayed.  This command has the same
        effect as the user typing control B.  


8.4) MIC PROCEED Command 

        Format

.MIC PROCEED

        MIC resumes typein if a process has been suspended by a [BREAK],
        and the message [PROCEED] is displayed.  The user typing control
        P has the same effect.  




 8.5).  MIC EXIT Command 

                Format

 .MIC EXIT 

                MIC cancels but no message is displayed.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 20
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 9).  System Parameters 


 9.1) Parameter Substitution

        A construction of the form '<sytem parameter name> allows access
        to various system parameters.
        e.g.
                '<job> is replaced by the user's job number.

                the full set of system parameters is:-

                system parameter name           substitutes as


                PPN                             [PROJECT,PROGRAMMER] 

                TTY                             LINE NUMBER 

                JOB                             JOB NUMBER 

                PROJECT                         PROJECT NUMBER 

                PROGRAMMER                      PROGRAMMER NUMBER 

                GETTAB(<table>,<index>,<radix>) 
                                                entry in GETTAB table in
                                                the appropriate radix


                Thus the following :-

 !  MY PPN IS '<PPN>
 !  MY TTY IS TTY'<TTY>
 !  THIS JOB IS JOB NUMBER '<JOB>

         Would result in :-

 MY PPN IS [2250,7]
 MY TTY IS TTY21
 THIS JOB IS JOB NUMBER 10
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 21
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 9.2) GETTABS 

                The three parameters of a GETTAB are:-

        Table   
                        The table number  in  decimal  of  the  required
        GETTAB table.  The default is table 0.

        Item    
                        The index to the entry in the table.  This index
        is  in  decimal,and  the default value is the user's job number.
        Note that as in the GETTAB UUO -1  may  be  used  to  imply  the
        user's job number.

        Radix
                        This is an integer from the following set  which
        is used to decode the entry in the GETTAB table.

                RADIX           MEANING

                   1            BINARY  (DEFAULT SETTING )
                   2            ASCII
                   3            SIXBIT
                   4            DECIMAL
                   5            OCTAL
                   6            PPN -GIVES "[PROJECT,PROGRAMMER]"
                   7            TIME IN HH:MM:SS


               As an example of the use of GETTABS.

 !'<GETTAB(25,-1,3)>'<GETTAB(26,-1,3)>

               would cause the user's "USERNAME" to be output.

        Note:-

               Constructions of the form

 !'<GETTAB(25,'<JOB>,3>

        are acceptable. As is:-

 !'<GETTAB(25,'A,3)>

        where A is a parameter

                In a similar manner to the GETTAB UUO -1 may be used
        instead of the user's job number as the GETTAB index.
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 22
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 10).  LET Extensions.


 10.1) Use of System Parameters

               The LET command has been  extended  from  that  described
        earlier  to  allow  the  user  access  to  the system parameters
        described in section 9.  By  using  the  LET  statement  with  a
        system  parameter on the right hand side a user may use the byte
        subscripting features of MIC  to  abstract  the  portions  of  a
        system parameter that he requires.

 .LET B=$JOB 

               This statement  will  store  the  user's  job  number  in
        parameter B.

        Similarly,

 .LET B=$PROJECT 

        will place the user's project number in parameter B.

               Concatenation of system parameters is allowed,

        e.g.

 .LET B="["+$PROJECT+","+$PROGRAMMER+"]"

               may be used to obtain the PPN of a MIC user.


        Byte subscription of system parameters is allowed,

 .LET B=$PROJECT.[-1] 

               would give  the  rightmost  digit  of  a  user's  project
        number.


 10.2) Use of System Parameters in arithmetic assignments
                System  parameters  may  also  be  used  on   arithmetic
        assignments,  however,  as  all except "JOB" and "GETTAB" return
        only octal numbers it is  not  normally  a  sensible  operation,
        except with "JOB" AND "GETTAB"

 e.g.

 .LET A=JOB+2
         or
 .LET A=GETTAB(1,2,4)+JOB-3
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 23
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


11).  Non Procedural Calls To MIC 


                Simple user interaction with MIC has been  described  in
        section  7,  but  often  the  MIC  action, on detecting an error
        condition or one of the special control  functions  is  not  the
        required action.
                A WHENEVER/ON command may therefore be  used  to  change
        the default action.


                The format of this command is:-

 .WHENEVER <EVENT>:<ACTION>
        or
 .ON <EVENT>:<ACTION>


        (NOTE:  ON and WHENEVER are synonymous)


                The effect of this command is to specify  that  whenever
        the  <EVENT>  occurs,  the  specified <ACTION> will be performed
        rather than the normal default action.


 e.g.

 .WHENEVER BREAK:GOTO FRED 

                This sets up the user's MIC process so that whenever  he
        types  control  B,  or  a  MIC BREAK occurs the process will not
        BREAK but rather will obey the GOTO FRED command.


                The valid events are:-


                CANCEL  or control C typed by the user

                ABORT   or control A typed by the user

                BREAK   or control B typed by the user

                PROCEED or control P typed by the user

        and

                ERROR
                OPERATOR
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 24
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


        and the valid actions are:-


                CANCEL
                ABORT
                BREAK
                ERROR
                OPERATOR
                PROCEED
                ERROR
                GOTO <LABEL>
                BACKTO <LABEL>


                The user should note that if ERROR trapping is enabled
 e.g.

 .ON ERROR:ABORT

                MIC does not check the next line for an  "IF"  statement
        or a "%" label, the ABORT is obeyed immediately.


 11.1) Multiple WHENEVER/ON Commands.


                Several default actions  may  be  changed  in  the  same
        command by seperating the individual arguments by commas, thus:-

 .ON ERROR:ABORT,CANCEL:BREAK

        or

 .WHENEVER CANCEL:GOTO FRED,ABORT:GOTO BILL 
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 25
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 12) MIC SET command

                This family of commands is used  to  change  the  action
        "MIC" performs upon certain conditions.

                The format of the command is:-

 .MIC SET <NO> <ACTION>

 e.g.

 .MIC SET NO PARAMETERS

                This causes MIC to perform  no  parameter  substitutions
        upon detecting a " ' " character in the input file.

 i.e.

         'A will "substitute" as 'A

         To restore parameter substitution use:-

 .MIC SET PARAMETERS

         The MIC SET commands currently available are:-


 12.1) COLUMN1.

 .MIC SET NO COLUMN1

                MIC regards no characters in column one  of  the  user's
        command file as being special characters (see section 3.).

        Default is:-

 .MIC SET COLUMN1


 12.2) CONTROL CHARACTERS.

 .MIC SET NO CONTROL

                MIC does not cause "^X" to substitute as control X.

        Default is-

 .MIC SET CONTROL
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                                 Page 26
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


 12.3) PARAMETERS.

 .MIC SET NO PARAMETERS

                MIC does not perform parameter substitution on detecting
        a "'" character.

        Default is:-

 .MIC SET PARAMETERS


 12.4) SPECIAL CHARACTERS.

        .MIC SET NO SPECIALS

                This performs the combined functions of the above  three
        commands.

        Default is:-

 .MIC SET SPECIALS


 12.5) FINMATCH

 .MIC SET NO FINMATCH

        If this command is obeyed MIC will not regard an  occurrence  of
        "%FIN" as satisfying a search for a label (cf.  section 4.1).

        Default is:-

 .MIC SET FINMATCH


 12.6) Multiple SET Commands.


                Several SET functions  may  be  performed  in  the  same
        command by seperating each of the functions by a comma, thus:-

 .MIC SET NO PARAMETERS,CONTROLS,NO FINMATCH
MIC - MACRO INTERPRETED COMMANDS                           Page Index-27
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE. 1975


                                     INDEX.




        !(exclamation) . . . . . . . . . 6

        %CERR  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
        %FIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 to 8

        *(asterisk)  . . . . . . . . . . 6

        .(dot) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

        :: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

        ;(semi-colon)  . . . . . . . . . 6

        =(equals)  . . . . . . . . . . . 6

        ?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 16

        ABORT  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        ABORT Command  . . . . . . . . . 18
        Actions  . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

        BACKTO command . . . . . . . . . 7
        BATCH commands . . . . . . . . . 7
        BREAK Command  . . . . . . . . . 19
        Byte subscripting  . . . . . . . 12

        CANCEL Command . . . . . . . . . 18
        COLUMN ONE.  . . . . . . . . . . 25
        COLUMN1. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
        Command File . . . . . . . . . . 5 to 6
        Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
        Concatenation  . . . . . . . . . 11
        CONTROL  . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
        Control A  . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18
        Control B  . . . . . . . . . . . 19
        Control C  . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        Control Characters . . . . . . . 6, 25
        Control Commands . . . . . . . . 18
        Control P  . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 16, 19

        ERROR  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
        Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
        Exit command . . . . . . . . . . 19
        Expression-string  . . . . . . . 11
        Expressions-integer  . . . . . . 11

        FINMATCH . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

        GETTAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        GETTAB radix . . . . . . . . . . 21
        GOTO command . . . . . . . . . . 7

        IF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 15
        IF command . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 15
        IF extensions  . . . . . . . . . 15
        Interactions . . . . . . . . . . 16

        JOB  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

        Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
        LET command  . . . . . . . . . . 11, 22
        LET extensions . . . . . . . . . 22
        Line Numbers . . . . . . . . . . 6

        MIC ABORT  . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        MIC CANCEL . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        MIC RESPONSE . . . . . . . . . . 17
        MIC SET  . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
        Multiple LET Statements. . . . . 13
        Multiple ON Commands.  . . . . . 24
        Multiple SET Commands. . . . . . 26
        Multiple WHENEVER Commands.  . . 24

        NOERROR  . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
        Non Procedural Calls . . . . . . 23
        NOOPERATOR . . . . . . . . . . . 16

        ON command . . . . . . . . . . . 23
        Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
        Operator Character . . . . . . . 16, 19
        OPERATOR command.  . . . . . . . 9
        Outer Processes  . . . . . . . . 14

        Parameter Substitution . . . . . 6, 20, 26
        PARAMETERS . . . . . . . . . . . 26
        Parameters in Outer Processes. . 14 to 15
        PLEASE COMMAND . . . . . . . . . 10
        PPN  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        PROCEED Command  . . . . . . . . 10
        Proceed Command  . . . . . . . . 19
        PROGRAMMER . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        PROJECT  . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        Protection codes . . . . . . . . 10

        Response . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
        REVIVE command . . . . . . . . . 10

        Silence  . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
        SILENCE command  . . . . . . . . 10
        SILENCE(protection code) . . . . 10
        Special Characters . . . . . . . 6, 26
        SPECIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
        String-comparisons . . . . . . . 15
        System Parameters  . . . . . . . 20

        TTY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
        WHENEVER command . . . . . . . . 23

        [ABORT ON ERROR] . . . . . . . . 8
        [ABORT]  . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        [BREAK]  . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 16, 19
        [CANCEL] . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        [PROCEED]  . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 16, 19

        ^P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
        ^B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
        ^P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
        ^C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        ^A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
        ^P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
        ^C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
        ^A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
        ^P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10











                              APPENDIX A

                        EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS



Asterisks indicate the scope of a macro command in these examples only.


  .;EXAMPLE 1
  .;A MIC DEMO - A SIMPLE MACRO COMMAND TO COMPILE POP2
  .;LIBRARY FILES
  .
  .TYPE SYS:POP2.MIC
  POP2
  COMPILE(LIBRARY([LIB 'A]))


  .; A TYPICAL CALL OF THE POP2 MIC MACRO COMMAND.
  .DO POP2  KALAH
                                 ******

  .POP2

  CSL POP2 V.26


  SETPOP
  : COMPILE(LIBRARY([LIB KALAH]));


  TO ENTER PROGRAM TYPE KALAH

  : ^C
                                 ******
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-2
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .;AGAIN WITH A DIFFERENT PARAMETER.
  .DO POP2  ABSYS
                                 ******

  .POP2


  CSL POP2 V.26


  SETPOP
  : COMPILE(LIBRARY([LIB ABSYS]));
  : ^C

                                 ******
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-3
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .;EXAMPLE 2
  .;A MIC DEMO OF GOTO COMMANDS.
  .;A MIC MACRO WHICH WILL OBEY ONLY SELECTED PARTS OF A FILE
  .;(USEFUL IF DISK SPACE IS LIMITED.)
  .;(SEVERAL COMMANDS COULD BE KEPT IN ONE FILE)
  .;
  .TYPE X.MIC


  .GOTO 'A
  COMP::
  ;A MACRO TO COMPILE FILES COULD BE HERE.
  .GOTO END
  DATA::
  ;A MIC MACRO TO SET UP DATA
  .GOTO END
  DEMO::
  ;PARAMETERS ARE
  ;A="'A"
  ;B="'B"
  ;C="'C"
  END::
  .;ALL COMMANDS FINISH HERE
  .;
  .;A TYPICAL CALL OF THE X MACRO COULD BE
  .;
  .DO X COMP
                                 ******
  .
  .GOTO COMP

  .
  .;A MACRO TO COMPILE FILES COULD BE HERE.
  .GOTO END

  .
  .;ALL COMMANDS FINISH HERE

                                 ******
  .
  .;ANOTHER TYPICAL CALL
  .DO X DEMO,FIRST PARAMETER,2ND,NO 3
                                 ******

  .
  .GOTO DEMO
  .
  .;PARAMETERS ARE
  .;A="DEMO"
  .;B="FIRST PARAMETER
  .;C="2ND"
  .
  .;ALL COMMANDS FINISH HERE
                                 ******
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-4
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .;EXAMPLE 3
  .;A MIC DEMO OF ERROR COMMAND
  .;A MACRO TO COMPARE TWO FILES AND DELETE DSK COPY IF THEY
  .;ARE THE SAME
  .
  .TYPE CHECK.MIC

  .ERROR ?
  .R FILCOM
  *TTY:/Q='A.'B
  .DELETE 'A

  .
  .;A TYPICAL CALL - CHECK IF DSK:C.MIC IS A COPY OF SYS:C.MIC
  .DO CHECK C.MIC,SYS:
                                 ******

  .
  .ERROR ?

  .R FILCOM

  *TTY:/Q=C.MIC,SYS:

  NO DIFFERENCES ENCOUNTERED

  *^C

  .DELETE C.MIC
  FILES DELETED
  C.MIC
  01 BLOCKS FREED

                                 ******

  .;CREATE AN INCORRECT COPY OF C.MIC WITH PIP.
  .R PIP

  *C.MIC=TTY:
  WRONG FILE
  ^Z
  *^C
  .;AND USE C.MIC TO CHECK IT
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-5
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .DO CHECK C.MIC,SYS:
                                 ******

  .
  .ERROR ?
  .R FILCOM

  *TTY:/Q=C.MIC,SYS:
  FILE 1) DSK:C.MIC     CREATED: 1349  21-JAN-1975
  FILE 2) SYS:C.MIC     CREATED: 1202  03-OCT-1974

  ?FILES ARE DIFFERENT

  *[ABORT ON ERROR]
  ^C
                                 ******

  .;MIC ABORTS
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-6
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .;EXAMPLE 4
  .;A MIC DEMO OR IF ERROR
  .;AN IMPROVEMENT ON EXAMPLE 3
  .;COMPARE TWO FILES AND DELETE DSK COPY IF FILES ARE THE
  .;SAME, OTHERWISE COPY AGAIN.
  .
  .TYPE CHECK.MIC
  .ERROR
  CHECK::.R FILCOM
        *TTY:/Q='A,'B
        .IF (NOERROR) .GOTO END
        .R PIP
        *'B/B/X='A
        .BACKTO CHECK
  END:: .;FILE 'A TRANSFERRED SUCCESSFULLY TO 'B


  .;A TYPICAL  CALL - CHECK FRED.SAV ON SYS: IS SAME AS
  .;DSK VERSION
  .
  .DO CHECK FRED.SAV,SYS:
                                 ******

  .ERROR
  .SKIP 1
  .R FILCOM

  *TTY:/Q=FRED.SAV,SYS:
  FILE 1) DSK:FRED.SAV  CREATED: 1359 21-JAN-1975
  FILE 2) SYS:FRED.SAV  CREATED: 1910 21-JAN-1975

  ?FILES ARE DIFFERENT

  *^C
  .IF (NOERROR) .GOTO END
  .R PIP

  *SYS:/B/X=FRED.SAV
  *^C
  .BACKTO CHECK

  .
  .R FILCOM

  *TTY:/Q=FRED.SAV,SYS:

  NO DIFFERENCES ENCOUNTERED

  *^C

  .IF (NOERROR) .GOTO END
  .
  .;FILE FRED.SAV SUCCESSFULLY TRANSFERRED TO SYS:
                                 ******
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-7
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .;EXAMPLE 5
  .;A MIC DEMO OF THE LET COMMAND
  .;ILLUSTRATED DISTINCTION BETWEEN $A AND  A
  .
  .TYPE LET.MIC
  .LET Z=A+B+C
  ;A+B+C='Z
  .LET Z=$A+$B+$C
  ;CONCATENATED STRING PARAMETERS ARE 'Z
  .LET X="'A"+"'B"+"'C"
  ;BUT CONCATENATION AFTER SUBSTITUTION HAS THE SAME EFFECT
  ;BUT (") QUOTES ARE REQUIRED FOR STRING LITERALS.
  ;'X
  .
  .;USING NUMBERS AS PARAMETERS.
  .
  .DO LET 4,5,6
                                 ******
  .
  .LET Z=A+B+C
  .;A+B+C=15
  .LET Z=$A+$B+$C
  .;CONCATENATED STRING PARAMETERS ARE 456.
  .LET X="4"+"5"+"6"
  .;CONCATENATION AFTER SUBSTITUTION HAS THE SAME EFFECT
  .;BUT (") QUOTES ARE REQUIRED FOR STRING LITERALS
  .;456
  .
                                 ******
  .
  .;ANOTHER EXAMPLE WITH NON-NUMERIC PARAMETERS.
  .
  .DO LET FIRST,<,,,>,THIRD
                                 ******
  .LET Z=A+B+C
  ?PARAMETER  A "FIRST" IS NOT A NUMBER
  .;A+B+C=
  .LET Z=$A+$B+$C
  .;CONCATENATED STRING PARAMETERS ARE FIRST,,,THIRD
  .LET Z="FIRST"+",,,"+"THIRD"
  .;CONCATENATION AFTER SUBSTITUTION HAS THE SAME EFFECT.
  .;BUT (") QUOTES ARE REQUIRED FOR STRING LITERALS.
  .;FIRST,,,THIRD
  .
                                 ******
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-8
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .DO LET ,[1,2],5
                                 ******
  .
  .LET Z=A+B+C
  ?PARAMETER A IS NULL
  .;A+B+C=
  .LET Z=$A+$B+$C
  .;CONCATENATED STRING PARAMETERS ARE [1,2]5
  .LET X=""+"[1,2]"+"5"
  .;CONCATENATION AFTER SUBSTITUTION HAS THE SAME EFFECT
  .;BUT (") QUOTES ARE REQUIRED FOR STRING LITERALS
  .;[1,2]5
  .
  .;NOTE SECOND PARAMETER CONTAINS A COMMA BETWEEN MATCHED BRACKETS
EXAMPLES OF MIC COMMANDS                                         Page A-9
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975 


  .;EXAMPLE 6
  .;A COMPLICATED MIC MACRO COMMAND TO ASSEMBLE MACRO FILES
  .TYPE C.MIC
  .IF ($A.[1,"/H"]=$A).GOTO KNEW
  .REVIVE
  ; COMPILES MACRO FILES
  ;
  ; USE THUS:-
  ;
  ; /C <STANDARD DEVICE FILE-SPEC>/SWITCHES
  ;
  ; SWITCHES MAY BE
  ;
  ;  /L TO DO A LOAD AS WELL
  ;  /CN TO PRODUCE  N COPIES
  ;  /H TO TYPE THIS TEXT
  ;
  ;'A
  KNEW::.ERROR
  .LET B=$A.[1,"."].[1,"["].[1,"/"]
  .LET C=$A.["/C","/"]
  .LET D=$A.[1,"/"]
  .IF ($B.[":"] "") .LET B=$B.[":",6]
  .IF ($A.[1,"/L"] $A) .LET G="MIC ABORT"
  .REVIVE .R MACRO
  *'B,'B/C='D
  .R CREF
  *DSK:'B'B
  .Q 'B.LST/COPIES:'C
  .'G
  .R LINK
  *'B/GO
  .
  .;A TYPICAL CALL WOULD BE (ASSUMING FILE PROTECTION OF 255
  .DO C FRED.MAC/C3
                                 ******
  *FRED,FRED/C=FRED.MAC

  NO ERRORS DETECTED
  PROGRAM BREAK IS 000001
  2K CORE USED
  *^C

  .R CREF
  *DSK:FRED=FRED
  [CRFEXC 1K CORE]
  *^C
  .Q FRED.LST/COPIES:3
  TOTAL OF 3 BLOCKS IN LPT REQUEST
  .MIC ABORT
  .[ABORT]
  .
  .;NOTE USE OF AUTOMATIC SILENCE TO SUPPRESS UNINTERESTING
  .;PARTS OF THE FILE











                              APPENDIX B

                            COMMAND SUMMARY





 .DO FRED ABC,<DEF,I>,[105,113]
                    MIC will type on the user's  behalf  from  the  file
                    SYS:FRED.MIC  (OR DSK:FRED.MIC) substituting ABC for
                    /A,DEF,1 FOR 'B AND [105,113] FOR 'C.

 .LET X="DEF"
                    MIC will  substitute  further  references  in  macro
                    command file to X('X) as def.

 .IF (ERROR) .GOTO LAB
                    If the previously  typed  command  caused  an  Error
                    condition  MIC  will continue processing the command
                    file at LAB::.

 .BACKTO LAB2
                    MIC will unconditionally continue  processing  after
                    the first occurence in the command file of the label
                    LAB2::.

 .SILENCE
                    Suppress I/O to the teletype.

 .REVIVE
                    Restore I/O to the teletype.

 .ERROR ?
                    Treat  ?   in  column  1  as  indicating  an   error
                    condition.

 .NOERROR
                    Disable error checking.

 .OPERATOR #
                    Treat # as indicating an OPERATOR condition.
COMMAND SUMMARY                                                 Page B-2
	HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


 .NOOPERATOR
                    Disable OPERATOR checking.

 .MIC ABORT
                    Abort current process.

 .MIC BREAK
                    Suspend current process.

 .MIC CANCEL
                    Stop all processes.

 .MIC EXIT
                    Stop running MIC.

 .MIC SET NO PARAMETERS
                    Suppress parameter substitutions.

 .ON ERROR:ABORT
                    CAUSE MIC to [ABORT] if an error is detected.











                              APPENDIX C

                SYNTAX OF INTEGER AND STRING EXPRESSIONS



                          Integer Expressions.


                The operator +,*,and - have the conventional meaning.The
        character  /  is  used for divide and ^ for exponentiation.  the
        evaluation  of  an  expression  is  from  left  to  right   with
        precedence for the following operators.

                       ^                first
                       */               second
                       +-               third

                Matching round brackets  may  be  used  to  arrange  the
        desired  order of execution of operations.  The monadic operator
        - is allowed but the monadic + is not  allowed,  since  unsigned
        integers are assumed positive.

 EXAMPLES

                -2*(3+2-1)^5*(6/2+2)        is legal

                +2                          is not legal

                2+(-3*(4*(6+1)))            is legal
SYNTAX OF INTEGER AND STRING EXPRESSIONS                        Page C-2
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


                      SYNTAX - Integer Expression.

    <DIGIT>::= 0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

    <INTEGER>::=<DIGIT>/<Any-number-of-digits>

    <PARAMETER>::=A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/Q/R/S/T/U/
                V/W/X/Y/Z

    <NUMERIC-TERM>::=<PARAMETER>/<INTEGER>/<INTEGER-EXPRESSION>
                   /<SYSTEM-PARAMETER>

    <INTEGER-EXPRESSION>::=-<NUMERIC-TERM>/<NUMERIC-TERM>
                        <NUMERIC-TERM>/<OPERATOR><NUMERIC-TERM>

    <OPERATOR>::= +/-/*/"/"/^

                To allow references to be made to parameters in an outer
        process a qualifier is allowed to the parameter name.

    e.g.        If a MIC command is nested three deep A3  would  be  the
            parameter  A  in  the  outer  process.   This extension also
            applies to string parameters ($A3).
                On the left hand side of LET assignment  statements  the
            qualifier may be used to return parameters to an outer level
            MACRO command.

    e.g.

         .LET A1="TEXT"
SYNTAX OF INTEGER AND STRING EXPRESSIONS                        Page C-3
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


                      SYNTAX - String Expressions.

            <STRING>::=<any-ASCII-text>

            <STRING-expression>::="<string>"/$<subscripted-string>/
                                  $<system-parameter>

            <expression>::=<string-expression>/<integer-expression>

            <subscripted-string>::=<string-expression>.[<expression>]/
                              
            <string-expression>.[<expression>,<expression>]

                To allow the character quote (") to  be  used  within  a
        text  string  a  single  quote  (")  will be substituted for any
        double quote ("") encountered within a string expression.











                              APPENDIX D

                            ERROR MESSAGES.



    D.1) Error Messages - DO  command

 ?MIC NOT RUNNING PLEASE TRY AGAIN
                        Operator has not initialized MIC.

 ?ERROR IN DEVICE FILE SPECIFICATION
                        Command file specification is not of the general
                        form DSK:FILE.EXT[105,113].

 ?CANNOT INIT DEVICE 
                        The   device   used   in   the   command    file
                        specification is not available.

 ?CANNOT OPEN FILE.
                        The command file could not be found.

 ?TOO MANY CHARACTERS IN ARGUMENT
                        Users   argument   string   is    longer    than
                        approximately 500 characters.


    D.2) Error messages - GOTO and BACKTO commands.

 ?NO ARGUMENT FOR LABEL
                        The command did not specify a label.

 ?CANNOT FIND LABEL
                        The specified label could not be  found  in  the
                        command file.
ERROR MESSAGES.                                                 Page D-2
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


    D.3) Error Messages - LET Command.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - ILLEGAL CHAR.  AFTER LET
                        SPACE OR TAB MUST FOLLOW LET.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - PARAMETER OUT OF RANGE
                        Reference to parameter must be A - Z .

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - NO ASSIGNMENT ( OR = MISSING)
                        Assignment must be of the general form
                        LET A3
                        or
                        LET A=3

 ?PARAMETER SPACE EXHAUSTED
                        MIC has no room to store new argument
                        (character space = 500 )

 ?NOT RUNNING MIC
                        User used a MIC command when not running MIC.


    D.4) Error Messages - IF Command.


 ?SYNTAX ERROR - ILLEGALL CHARACTER AFTER IF.
                        Space or tab must follow IF

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - NO CONDITIONAL
                        Contents of brackets 0n an IF clause was  not  a
                        legal conditional expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - UNKNOWN CONDITIONAL OPERATOR
                        Relational operator  in  conditional  expression
                        was not >,<,>=,#,=,or <= .

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - MISMATCH OF TYPES.
                        Attempt to compare  integer  expression  with  a
                        string expression.
ERROR MESSAGES.                                                 Page D-3
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


    D.5) Error Messages - LET and IF Commands.


 ?SYNTAX ERROR - STRING SUBSCRIPT ILLEGAL.
                        Subscript in error in string expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - ILLEGAL CHARACTER.
                        Character not allowed in integer expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - OPERATOR MISSING BETWEEN NO.  AND (.
                        Illegal construction of  the  form  345(  in  an
                        integer expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - OPERATOR MISSING BETWEEN ) AND NO.
                        Illegal construction of  the  form  )345  in  an
                        integer expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - NUMBER MISSING BETWEEN BRACKETS.
                        Illegal construction of  the  form  (  )  in  an
                        integer expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - NUMBER MISSING BETWEEN TWO OPERATORS
                        Illegal construction in integer expression.

 ?SYNTAX ERROR - BRACKETS MISMATCH.
                        Integer expression incorrectly bracketed.



    D.6) Error Messages - System Parameters facillity.


 ?(SYMERR) ERROR IN FUNCTION CALL.
                        Some  unspecified  error  has   occurred,usually
                        invalid syntax.

 ?(SYMER2) ERROR RETURN TAKEN BY GETTAB UUO     .
                        The GETTAB UUO has taken the error  return,  see
                        monitor calls book.

 ?(SYMER3) UNKNOWN FUNCTION
                        Attempt to use an unknown system parameter.

 ?(SYMER4) ILLEGAL ARGUMENT FORMAT TO FUNCTION CALL.

                        An argument is in error
                        e.g.  an invalid RADIX in a GETTAB.

    The following occur only in parameter substitutions.

 ?(SYMERM) NESTED GETTABS NOT ALLOWED.
                        Attempt to evade a system restriction.
ERROR MESSAGES.                                                 Page D-4
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


    D.7) Error Messages - Command File Processing.


 ?PARAMETER NUMBER OUT OF RANGE.
                        Attempt to substitute parameter not in range  'A
                        through 'Z.

 ?CANNOT NEST PARAMETER CALLS THIS DEEP.
                        Actual parameter contains parameter calls nested
                        to greater than 8 levels.

 ?MACRO FILE NOT FOUND.
                        MIC command file has  been  deleted  during  the
                        running of the MACRO.



    D.8) Error Messages - ON or WHENEVER Command.


 ?(WHNER1) NOT AN EVENT
                        Attempt to specify an invalid <event>

 ?(WHNER2) ILLEGAL FORMAT IN WHENEVER OR ON COMMAND.
                        MIC cannot make sense of the command.

 ?(WHNER3) NO ARGUMENT IN WHENEVER OR ON COMMAND.
                        A command of the form
                        .ON <event>:
                        has been given.

 ?(WHNER4) ARGUMENT IS NOT A PARAMETER IN WHENEVER OR ON COMMAND 
                        A command of the form
                        .ON <event>:<action> <parameter>
                        had an invalid parameter.



    D.9) ERROR MESSAGES - MIC SET Command


 ?(SETRNG) UNKNOWN ARG.  TO SET COMMAND.
                        An invalid 'MIC SET' command has been used.
ERROR MESSAGES.                                             Page Index-5
HATFIELD POLYTECHNIC COMPUTER CENTRE - JUNE 1975


                                          ERROR CODES.




                        SETRNG . . . . . . . . . D-4
                        SYMER2 . . . . . . . . . D-3
                        SYMER3 . . . . . . . . . D-3
                        SYMER4 . . . . . . . . . D-3
                        SYMERM . . . . . . . . . D-3
                        SYMERR . . . . . . . . . D-3

                        WHNER1 . . . . . . . . . D-4
                        WHNER2 . . . . . . . . . D-4
                        WHNER3 . . . . . . . . . D-4
                        WHNER4 . . . . . . . . . D-4