Statement terminator

Use a period to terminate each DDDL statement. Assume the use of the terminating period when you read the syntax in this document. It will not be shown in syntax diagrams.

If the period is omitted, the DDDL compiler executes the statement from which the period has been omitted, issues a warning message, and flags all subsequent statements with an error message.

Note: You can establish recognition of the semicolon as an alternative end-of-statement character if you specify the SET OPTIONS clause SEMICOLON ALTERNATE END OF SENTENCE IS ON. For more information, see SET OPTIONS Statement.

Delimiters

Use one or more blanks as a delimiter. Commas, semicolons, and colons are treated as blanks.

Note: You cannot use the semicolon as a delimiter if you've defined it as a statement terminator.

Throughout this manual, commas have been included in numbers to enhance readability (for example, where the manual uses 32,767, you should use 32767).

Null strings

Use two single quotation marks with no intervening space to nullify existing values. Note, however, that comment text cannot be nullified in this manner.

Quotation marks

You must use a quotation mark (or a special character designated as the site-standard quote character) to enclose user-supplied names containing one or more embedded delimiters (blanks, commas, periods, semicolons, apostrophes, parentheses, colons, and quote characters).

Note: You cannot use the semicolon as a delimiter if you've defined it as a statement terminator.

The DDDL compiler interprets any word enclosed in quotation marks as a user-supplied value, even if the word is a DDDL keyword. For example:

add element <--- DDDL keyword

name is 'element' <--- user-supplied name

pic X(9).

The IDD installation procedure establishes the single quotation mark (') as the default quote character. However, the user can define a site-standard quote character by using the QUOTE IS clause of the SET OPTIONS statement (see SET OPTIONS Statement).

If you want to include the site-standard quote character in a user-supplied name, code that character twice. For example, assuming that the single quotation mark (') is the site-standard quote character, the name MARY'S PROGRAM must be input as 'MARY''S PROGRAM'.