LIBFILENAME procedure

Supplies the names of information files for library procedures (R.W. Payne).

No options

Parameters

FILENAME = texts

Text in which to store the name of the backing-store file containing the help information for the Procedure Library

CONTENTS = strings

Indicates which file is required (help, localhelp, procedure, adesign, afraction, acyclic, agenerator); default help

PROCEDURE = texts

Name of the procedure for which information is required; default * assumes that it is a procedure in the GenStat rather than the local library

Description

The help information for procedures in the GenStat Procedure Library is stored in a backing-store file. Procedures such as LIBHELP and LIBINFORM open the file on the first free backing-store channel, read and print the required information, and then close the file again. For flexibility, these procedures all call LIBFILENAME to ascertain the name of the file. A help information file can also be formed, using procedure FLIBHELP, for the local procedure library. If the PROCEDURE option is set, LIBFILENAME returns the name of the first file which contains information about that procedure, looking first in the file for local library and then in that for the GenStat library. (By default a null local file is supplied with GenStat, containing no information.) Also, LIBEXAMPLE has a file containing the source code of the library procedures, and the procedures of the GenStat Design System have files containing information for the designs that can be generated. Thus, if the location of any file needs to be changed at a particular site, only LIBFILENAME needs to be modified.

Options: none. Parameters: FILENAME, CONTENTS, PROCEDURE.

Method

The procedure contains a text structure containing the various filenames, and the POSITION function of CALCULATE is used to set FILENAME to the appropriate one.

Action with RESTRICT

Any restriction on the FILENAME text will be cancelled.