About This Manual - HP TACL Programming Manual

About This Manual

This manual describes the Tandem Advanced Command Language (TACL) and
provides information and examples for creating TACL programs.
Audience
This manual is intended for users of TACL who are familiar with TACL commands
and built-in functions and who want to create TACL programs.
Organization
This manual contains the following sections:
Section 1, "An Overview of TACL," contains an overview of TACL features and a
description of the programming conventions used in examples.
Section 2, "Developing TACL Programs," describes topics that are common to
many TACL programs, whether they are structured as TEXT, MACRO, or
ROUTINE variables. Topics include data editing, flow of control, using time data,
accessing terminals, handling errors, and debugging TACL programs.
Section 3, "Developing TACL Routines," describes how to use TACL constructs
that are available only for routines, including the use of #ARGUMENT,
#RETURN, and #ROUTINENAME.
Section 4, "Accessing Files," provides information and examples that show how
to access files from TACL programs.
Section 5, "Initiating and Communicating With Processes," provides information
and examples that show how to start and communicate with processes from TACL
programs.
Section 6, "Running TACL as a Server," describes how to create a TACL program
that acts as a server to other processes.
Section 7, "Using Programmatic Interfaces," provides information and examples
for sending SPI and EMS messages.
Section 8, "Example of a System Management Program," contains a sample
program that monitors system status.
Section 9, "Syntax Summary," provides a syntax summary of all TACL functions.
Appendix A, "Supplemental Information for D-Series Systems," provides
information on D-series features.
Related Reading
The following paragraphs list manuals that are related to the development of TACL
programs.
Prerequisites Introductory material describing the steps involved in using TACL as a command
interpreter, as well as using it for defining function keys, writing simple macros, and
other basic purposes, is presented in the Guardian User's Guide (contains no
descriptions of TACL built-in functions and variables). You should read and
understand the first four sections of that manual before using this programming
guide.
107365 Tandem Computers Incorporated
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