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The Initialization File

The main menu of the Captive Account includes a function EDT_INITFILE, which allows you to define symbols beforehand, and have them stored in a kind of login file for ARCQUERY. Such an initialization file can be used to store symbols that you may want to use repeatedly with ARCQUERY; in fact, you can setup your own version of the command language in this way.

The initialization file is executed on startup of ARCQUERY, and all symbols defined on it are available throughout. In order to assemble or modify your initialization file, terminate ARCQUERY with EXIT/SAVE (if you are in it, that is), and use the EDT or TPU function, which will put you in one of the VAX editors, and, on first-time use, will create the file automatically (you have no control over its name).

Symbols defined in the initialization file have to be specified according to the DCL protocol, i.e. each line has to start with a dollar, ` $' sign. Thus, in order to define the symbol SYM1 as given above, you enter:

$SYM1 = "posi=(12:10:32.29,39:24:29.60, 4.2 arcmin)"

After processing by ARCQUERY (on startup), the symbol will be known as `SYM1', and ARCQUERY will tell you that it has created the symbol.

You exit the editor with EX (or QUIT if you want to abort).