Eloquence Language Manual

4 Data Variables and Data handling

Eloquence programs are used to process data for a great variety of applications, such as company payrolls, order processing, budgeting, and accounting. Each application has its own requirements for the data it uses. Some programs work with numeric data while others use only alphabetic. Some programs perform calculations requiring many digits of precision while others need less accuracy. Using the versatile Eloquence programming language, you can specify both the data types and the required precision (or you may simply let the program default to the standard data types).

The following data-handling statements are introduced in this chapter:

STANDARD, FIXED and FLOAT
Set the format for displayed and printed numbers.
LET
Assigns values to variables.
COM and DIM
Reserve memory space for variables to be used and specify
bounds for arrays.
REDIM
Changes the working bounds for an existing array.
DINTEGER,
INTEGER, SHORT and REAL
Reserve memory space, specify bounds for arrays and
specify precision for selected variables.
TYPE
Specify user defined types.
OPTION BASE
Sets the default lower bound for arrays.
DATA
Specify a list of data values (DATA) and
READ
assign the values to variables in a program (READ).
RESTORE
RESTORE resets a data pointer to the start of the Data list.
INPUT
Requests and accepts data input from the keyboard.
LINPUT
Requests and assigns data to a string variable from the keyboard.
ENTER and LENTER
Input data from the display and assign values to variables
without suspending execution.
ACCEPT
Accepts data input from the keyboard without displaying it on the screen.
EDIT
Allows changing the current value of a string variable from the keyboard.
XPACK/XUNPACK
This statements provide a convenient way to transfer string and numeric data to and from a string variable.
Chapter contents:

Types and Forms of Variables
Variable Names
String Variables
Numeric Variables
User defined Types
Declaring and Dimensioning Variables
Redimensioning an Array
Assigning Values to Variables
Eloquence keyboard handling
XPACK, XUNPACK statements
Memory Consumption

Eloquence Language Manual - 19 DEC 2002