RIGAL/rigdm218/HELP.TXT

=== PROGRAMMING IN RIGAL ===
        Short guide
      by Vadim Engelson
    Last revision 29-May-92

1.  RIGAL LEXIC
===============
LETTER is [A..Z,a..z,_,{,},`,|,~,Chr(128)..Chr(255)]
SYMBOL is LETTER or [0..9]
Variables are $ SYMBOLS, Rules are # SYMBOLS
Identifiers are  LETTER SYMBOLS
Numbers are from 0 to 2**31-1
Comments - after -- in string
Character strings are  ' ANY_CHARACTERS '
    To use single quote - write twice : ''
Including files - (no inside #rule text)
    %INCLUDE  filename with extension
    (no anything more till the end of this line)
(!) ALL RIGAL KEYWORDS MUST BE WRITTEN IN UPPERCASE (CAPITAL
      LETTERS)
      (load - wrong , LOAD - right)
(!) Rules, identifiers, variables in UPPERCASE & LOWERCASE
     are different
      ( $SOMETHING <> $something )
    and using here Chr(128)-Chr(255) not recommeded

2.  LEXIC OF BUILT-IN SCANNER
=============================
 We have built-in scanner to read text file and transform
it to the list of atoms.
 Using:
    $E:=#CALL_PAS(35 'filename');
    (35 is built-in function number)

"SYMBOL" "LETTER" - same as in Rigal lexic.
Identifiers are  LETTER SYMBOLS
   but { and } are not allowed !
Numbers are from 0 to   2147483647  ( 2**31-1 )
                 $0 to $7FFFffff
                 #0 to #2147483647
Comments are (*  *) or {  }
One-character elements include  # & ! ? ^ @
Character strings are  ' ANY_CHARACTERS '
    To use single quote - write twice : ''
(!) ALL KEYWORDS may be WRITTEN IN any case ,but
     they are capitalized automatically.

3.OTHER SUBROUTINES
===================
   The scanners and special subroutines are called in the form
  #CALL_PAS ( <number>   <parameters  ...>  )
    1.  If the first parameter  is given, the option writes it  on
the  screen.  The  option  waits  for  the  user's  answer (Pascal
READLN(STRING) executes).  When the  user presses  ENTER key,  the
option returns the atom containing the string.
     $E:=#CALL_PAS(1 'Enter Y or N ');
     IF $E ->
        IF ($E=Y)OR($E=y)-> $REZ:=T;BREAK;FI;
        IF ($E=N)OR($E=n)-> $REZ:=NULL;BREAK;FI;
     FI;
   12.  Parameter  is  any  object. Object is printed out to the
PRINT  file  using  pseudo  graphic  characters of extended ASCII
code.
   Tree                  List
  ÄÄÄÂÄname::         ÄÄÄÄÒÄname::
     ÃÄarc1-el1           ÇÄel1
     ÀÄarc2-el2           ÓÄel2
   13.  Parameter  is  any  object. Object is printed out to the
screen using pseudo graphic characters of extended ASCII code.
   16.  Parameter  must  be existing file name. All the lines of
the  file  are  read  and appended to the list of atoms (one atom
corresponds to one line).
   35. The first parameter must be file name. The atoms are read
from  file.