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# ##### # # # # ###### ##### # # # # # # # ##### ##### # ####### # # # # # # # # # # # ##### ###### # You can get part of the following documentation by invoking the program with the switches -v, -h, or -H . See README.TXT for more information. ----------------------------------- -v ------------------------------------ ASET v1.0 -- Advanced SET command Copr (c) 1992,1993 Richard Breuer. ASET is freeware. No warranties. This is ASET/2 v1.0 - renamed to ASET (from RUTILS 4). Author: Richard Breuer Brunssumstrasse 6 5100 Aachen (after Jul 1, 1993: 52074 Aachen) Germany Europe Phone: +49/241/85605 Fax: +49/241/8021329 Email: ricki@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Preferred!) ----------------------------------- -h ------------------------------------ ASET v1.0 -- Advanced SET command Copr (c) 1992,1993 Richard Breuer. ASET is freeware. No warranties. Usage: ASET [-ef:hHnprv*] [target {=|:=} expression] Options (Combined options are not allowed; -e and -f are mutually exclusive): -e Set the ERRORLEVEL according to the result -f[file] Read a list of statements from file rather than the command line; if file is omitted, standard input is read -h Display this help screen -H Display another help screen with notes and examples -n Do not SET anything (if not -e, -n implies -p) -p Print the result on stdout (default is quiet operation) -r Repeat the assignment on stdout (default is quiet operation) -v Display version info and information about the author -* Display internal information (for debugging purposes) ----------------------------------- -H ------------------------------------ ASET v1.0 -- Advanced SET command Copr (c) 1992,1993 Richard Breuer. ASET is freeware. No warranties. Notes: ASET is a powerful tool for batch files. Refer to the manual or the quick reference for details about each function. Please note that ASET, unlike the other RUTILS programs, does not accept combined options, ie. -en is not allowed. You must use -e -n instead. Examples: ASET BUF = BUFFERS Assigns the value of the BUFFERS directive in CONFIG.SYS to the shell variable BUF. Use %BUF% to access the value in your batch file. ASET /fDEFAULT.SET Reads DEFAULT.SET and sets the environment variables appropriately. The file is expected to contain lines like "A := SIN(3*4-11)+COS(SIN(1))" or "B = FEXPAND('.')". ASET X:=SIN(%Y%)+%Z%*COS(%Y%) /* assign X the result of a formula */ ASET -n -f /* read assignments from stdin */ ASET -e -n X:=BUFFERS gt 20 /* ERRORLEVEL 1, if condition holds */ ASET -p PWD=DIR /* assign PWD the current directory */ CMDGEN | ASET -f /* process CMDGEN's output */ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 Introduction ---------------- ASET/2 is an improved version of RUTILS 3.0's ASET command. I added an expression parser which allows the construction of infix expressions as in normal arithmetic expressions, like 1+2*3. It follows the standard operator precedences. The following documentation covers the following topics: 0 Introduction 1 Using ASET 2 Caveats and workarounds 3 The parser 4 The type concept in ASET 5 Intrinsic operators 6 Functions 7 Overview over ASETs functions 7.1 Alphabetic list of ASETs functions 7.2 List of ASETs functions, sorted by categories 8 Documentation of ASETs functions 9 Details 9.1 Evaluation Errors 9.2 Internal data representation 9.3 Further notes 1 Using ASET -------------- ASET is designed as a utility to enhance DOS batch files, as well as kind of a desktop calculator. Besides, it can help to install and configure your software. There are two modes of operation: Command line operation: This is the default mode, which is used whenever ASET is started without the /f switch. Some examples for command line mode are ASET LIB='C:\LIB' ASET SORT=DOSPATH('SORT.EXE') ASET RESULT=sin(%PHI%)+%X%*COS(%PHI%) One disadvantage of this mode is that DOS must load ASET into memory whenever it is invoked. This may become slow because of its size. One way to avoid this, is the file operation mode (ASET will have to be loaded only once for an arbitrary number of assignment operations). Look below for the useful -r option. File operation: This mode is used if ASET is invoked with the /f switch. It then reads its input from a file, not from the command line. This file is expected to contains lines like the above. There can be an arbitrary number of these lines. Empty lines or lines starting with '#' are treated as comment lines, and ignored. Lines longer than 255 characters are truncated. If you use /f without an argument, ASET reads commands from the standard input. Examples: ASET /fMYINST.CMD CMDGEN | ASET /f /n ASET /n /f In the first example, ASET will read its commands from MYINST.CMD. This gives you a nice possibilty to store several configuration settings in different files, and let ASET execute one of them according to your installment needs. In the second example, CMDGEN is expected to write ASET commands on standard output. ASET will then read these commands and execute them. The third example shows how ASET can be used as a calculator. It reads commands from the keyboard until you input Ctrl/Z. This behaviour is due to the empty filename parameter of the /f switch. See below for the /n switch. Besides the /f option which switches between command line and file mode, there are some other options: -e Normally, ASET sets a shell variable to a value which is calculated in a certain formula. It then finishes operation. -e lets ASET set the ERRORLEVEL in addition to the shell variable. The ERRORLEVEL can only be set to values 0..255. This makes it necessary to make some assumptions: - if the result is not a number, the ERRORLEVEL is set to the ASCII code of the first character. Consider a result 'Auto'. ERRORLEVEL would be set to 65 in this case. - if the result is empty, ERRORLEVEL is set to 0. - if the result is a negative number, 'abs' is applied to the number and... - if the number is greater than 255, number is set to 255 and... - ERRORLEVEL is set to the number. Note that -e makes it impossible to determine whether ASET has been invoked with -h, -H, or -v (in these cases the ERRORLEVEL is set to 1) or if a runtime error occurred (in which case it is set to 255). The -e switch can be a powerful enhancement to your batch files. Consider the following batch file: REM REM Check if there's enough memory for the installation REM ASET -e -n DUMMY := DISKFREE('C:') gt 1000000 IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO OKAY ECHO Installation Error ... The above ASET command will compute the free bytes on drive C: and check if the value is larger than 1 Megabyte. If this is so, DUMMY is assigned the value 1 (for boolean TRUE), otherwise 0 (boolean FALSE). The switch -e makes ASET set the ERRORLEVEL accordingly, ie. in this case that ERRORLEVEL will be 1. You may wonder why I built in the -e facility, because it would also have been possible to write REM REM Check if there's enough memory for the installation REM ASET DUMMY := DISKFREE('C:') gt 1000000 IF %DUMMY%==1 GOTO OKAY ECHO Installation Error ... The problem with this is, however, that you assign a new shell variable which may cause problems, (a) because you cannot be sure that the name of the variable has already been used in the current environment (which will result in a loss of the previous value) and, (b) if you invoke the above batch file in a subshell, there is likely no more space in the system environment table for a new variable. -e is the solution to both problems. -n ASET will not modify the environment. It only calculates the result and displays it, if -e is not specified. If -e is specified together with -n, nothing is displayed (unless you force it with -p, of course). -n is useful if you want to use ASET as a calculator only or if you want ASET to set the ERRORLEVEL without modifying any environment variables. -p ASET will show the result on standard output in addition to modifying the environment. -r ASET will repeat the assignment on standard output before actually executing it. This eases debugging in file mode. 2 Caveats and workarounds --------------------------- Please note that ASET does not accept combined options. If you want to specify eg. both -e and -n (which means, that ASET does ONLY set the ERRORLEVEL), you must invoke "ASET -e -n", not "ASET -en". The reason for this behaviour is the fact that ASET parses the command line two times, first for options and arguments, then for the command to be processed. Between these two phases, ASET removes the options from the command line (and it's much easier to remove single options than combined ones...). The above parsing algorithm shows another possible problem of ASET. Consider an assignment ASET A := -* which should assign the string "-*" to A. The reality is different, however. You know, what happens, don't you? -* is treated as an option (debug mode). After setting debug=true, -* is removed from the command line and ASET A := remains, which will remove A from the list of environment variables. To avoid this, you should always obey the following rule: +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | ALL STRING VALUES PASSED TO ASET SHOULD BE QUOTED USING ' | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ According to this rule, you should better invoke ASET like ASET A := '-*' which will do what you (hopefully :-)) want. Quoting strings avoids another possible trap. Non-quoted strings are checked against a table which contains all of ASETs function names, like SIN, COS, or whatever. Consider the following situation in a batch file: ASET A := fdir(fexpand('.')) ASET B := 'D:\MYDIR' + %A% The first assignment assigns A the name of the current directory without the full path. The second assignment is supposed to assign B the value "D:\MYDIR\dirname", with dirname being the above result. This will normally be ok, but there are about 150 cases in which it will fail, namely whenever dirname is one of ASETs function names, eg. SIN or COS. In these cases ASET will try to evaluate the function, and in this case fail because of missing arguments. Therefore, keeping the 'golden rule' in mind, the correct way is: ASET A := fdir(fexpand('.')) ASET B := 'D:\MYDIR' + '%A%' 3 The parser -------------- ASET uses Lex and Yacc for Turbo Pascal (Version 2.0 by Albert Graef) to scan and parse the input. It's hard to describe the details of the parser in other words than lex's and yacc's :-). Therefore I simply include the specifications here for anybody who is interested in the details. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- special [-+*/%(),!<>=^'] str0 [^-+*/%(),!<>=^' \t\n]+ str1 '[^'\n]*' %% ^#.* ; ":=" return(T_ASSIGN); "**" return(ord('^')); "div" return(ord(T_DIV)); "mod" return(ord('%')); "and" return(T_AND); "or" return(T_OR); "nand" return(T_NAND); "nor" return(T_NOR); "xor" return(T_XOR); "not" return(T_NOT); "!=" return(T_NE); "==" return(ord('=')); "ne" return(T_NE); "eq" return(ord('=')); "lt" return(ord('<')); "gt" return(ord('>')); "le" return(T_LE); "ge" return(T_GE); ^{str0} begin { the first value will never be treated as a function, because it is always the target of an assignment } Passign(yylval.strg,yytext); return(T_VALUE) end; {str0} begin if (lookup(yytext,yylval.func)) then return(T_FUNCTION) else begin Passign(yylval.strg,yytext); return(T_VALUE) end end; {str1} begin Passign(yylval.strg,copy(yytext,2,yyleng-2)); return(T_VALUE) end; [ \t]+ ; {special} return(ord(yytext[1])); \n return(ord(yytext[1])); %% --------------------------------------------------------------------------- %union { case boolean of false: (func: integer); true: (strg: Pstrg); } %token <strg> T_VALUE %type <strg> expr %type <strg> optexpr %token <func> T_FUNCTION %token T_ASSIGN %left T_AND T_OR T_NAND T_NOR T_XOR %left '=' T_NE '<' T_LE '>' T_GE %left '+' '-' %left '^' '*' '/' '%' T_DIV %right T_UMINUS T_UNOT %token T_NOT %% input : /* empty */ | T_VALUE assop expr | T_VALUE assop | T_VALUE | error ; assop : T_ASSIGN | '=' ; expr : expr '+' expr | expr '-' expr | expr '*' expr | expr '/' expr | expr '%' expr | expr '^' expr | expr T_DIV expr | expr '=' expr | expr '<' expr | expr '>' expr | expr T_NE expr | expr T_LE expr | expr T_GE expr | expr T_AND expr | expr T_OR expr | expr T_NAND expr | expr T_NOR expr | expr T_XOR expr | '(' expr ')' | T_NOT expr %prec T_UNOT | '-' expr %prec T_UMINUS | T_VALUE | T_VALUE T_VALUE | T_FUNCTION optpars ; optpars : /* empty */ | '(' parlist ')' ; parlist : optexpr | parlist "," optexpr ; optexpr : /* empty */ | expr ; %% --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 The type concept in ASET ---------------------------- ASET has a variable built-in type concept. It is based on the fact that each value can be interpreted in different ways, according to the underlying basic data types. There are four basic data types, with the given semantics: String Each value is a string Real Some strings are real numbers Integer Some reals are integers Boolean Some integers are booleans Consider some examples: 'Auto' is a string, no real, no integer, no boolean '1.4e-1' is a string, a real, no integer, no boolean '100' is a string, a real, an integer, no boolean '1' is a string, a real, an integer, a boolean (true) '' is a string, no real, no integer, no boolean The definition of valid reals and integers is the usual one. Note that they are always unsigned, because the - is treated as an operator (unary -). The definition of boolean values is: 0 represents the value false 1 represents the value true Now we head towards an extension of this type concept: Consider the value '1.4e-1' again. We can interpret this value as an integer by applying the function 'round' to it, which makes it an integer 0. In a similar way we define each integer to be a boolean value by applying the function 'signum', which means: boolean is false, if integer is zero, and true, if integer is not zero. Let's return to our example and show all possible interpretations: String value Real Integer Boolean 'Auto' 0.0 0 false '1.4e-1' 0.14 0 false '100' 100.0 100 true '1' 1.0 1 true '' 0.0 0 false '0.5' 0.5 1 true The last entry shows the effect of the 'round' function which returns the nearest integer and, if the number lies between two integers, takes the larger one. ASET will automagically choose the strongest lossless representation for the results of operations. That means, that the result of '0.5'+'0.5' is inter- preted as '1', ie. an integer value, not '1.0', a real value. 5 Intrinsic operators ----------------------- The following operators are built-in (I will call them 'intrinsic' from now on in contrast to the 'functions'). They are discussed in detail now. + The + operator adds its arguments, if they are real numbers. If at least one string takes part in the operation, a con- catenation is performed. Some examples 1+1 2 1.5+1 2.5 1+'a' '1a' 'abc'+'def' 'abcdef' 'a '+' b' 'a b' '+'+'+' ++ - The - operator subtracts its arguments, if they are real numbers. If at least one string takes part in the operation, a replacement is performed. If the statement is s1-s2, all occurences of s2 in s1 are removed. Some examples: 1-1 0 1.5-1 0.5 1-'a' 1 'abc aba'-a 'bc b' '-'-'-' '' * This operator multiplies its arguments, if they are numbers, otherwise '?' is returned. Some examples: 1*1 1 1.5*2.5 3.75 1*'a' ? 'abc'*' ' ? / divides the arguments, if they are both numbers. If one of the arguments is not a number, or if the second number is zero, '?' is returned. Examples: 1/1 1 1.5/2.5 0.6 1/'a' ? 'abc'/' ' ? div performs an integer division of the arguments. If one of them is not a number or the second argument is zero, '?' is returned. Note that reals are rounded according to ASETs type concept. 1 div 1 1 10 div 3 3 10.5 div 3.1 3 (= 11 div 3) 10.5 div 3.5 2 (= 11 div 4) 100a div 100 ? 'ab' div ' ' ? mod, % apply the mod function to the arguments. If one of them is not a number or the second argument is zero, '?' is returned. Note that reals are rounded according to ASETs type concept. The '%' character is interpreted as a shell variable reference in most DOS versions. Therefore you must use '%%' (or div, of course) there. Some examples: 1%1 0 10 mod 3 1 10.5 mod 3.1 2 (= 11 mod 3) 10.5%3.5 3 (= 11 mod 4) 100a%100 ? 'ab'%' ' ? ^, ** raise the first argument to the power of the second. These operators determine whether the exponent is integer or not and choose the most efficient algorithm for the computation. They return '?' if at least one non-real is involved or an error occurs. An error occurs if the exponent is not an integer and the first argument is less than zero. Examples: 2^3 8 2.5^2 6.25 9**0.5 3 -1^2 1 -1^2.5 ? a^1 ? abc^' ' ? eq, =, == test if the arguments are equal. The equality is checked in a different way for the different data types. If both arguments are integers, the numbers are checked. If both are reals, the numbers are checked using a built-in constant EPS (whose value is returned by the generic function EPS). The check which is performed, is "abs(r1-r2)<EPS", ie. the so-called absolute error is checked. For strings the check is about literal equality (each character must correspond). The return value is boolean, ie. 1, if true, 0, if false. Some examples: 9==09 1 (integers) '9'=='09' 1 (still integers) 'a'=='A' 0 (case is relevent) 'a bc'='a bc' 1 (of course) 1.2 eq 1.3 0 (EPS is not THAT big) 1.2 eq 1.20000001 1 (big enough for this) ne, != The opposite of eq, making the same assumptions. Examples: 9!=09 0 '9'!='09' 0 'a'!='A' 1 'a bc'!='a bc' 0 1.2 ne 1.3 1 1.2 ne 1.20000001 0 lt, gt, le, ge Self explanatory. and, or, nand, nor, xor are the logical operators. Their meaning is defined in two different ways, depending on the type of the arguments. If both are boolean, the result is computed as if the values true and false took part in the operation. If both are integer (which includes one integer and one boolean), the arguments are processed bitwise. Real numbers and strings result in '?'. Some examples: 1 and 1 1 (boolean) 1 and 2 0 (integer) 1 and 3 1 (integer) a and 1 ? 1.2 and 0 ? 6 Functions ------------- ASET has a lot of built-in functions whose syntax is always function(arg1,arg2,...) or, in the cases of missing arguments, simply function Examples for function calls are ASET A = min(-100,3,10) # A = -100 ASET A = int(-3.4) # A = -3 ASET A = sin(pi) # A = 0; note the 2 function sin, pi ASET A = pi # A = 3.141593 ASET A = line(1,'FOO.DAT') # A = <line 1 of FOO.DAT> ASET A = getstr(10) # A = <you must input a string> The next part of the documentation is generated automatically. It might therefore be boring to read it :-) I recommend you use mainly the quick reference, because the examples give a good overview, I believe. Refer to the last section, "Details", if you wonder how the functions work internally (that section is _not_ generated automatically). 7 Overview over ASETs functions ================================= 7.1 Alphabetic list of ASETs functions ---------------------------------------- abs acos acosd aif arccos arccosd arcsin arcsind arctan arctand args arithif asc asin asind atan atand bootdrive bootdrv buffers char chr concat copy cos cosd cosh count country date day dayofyear delete device dfree dir diskfree disksize dospath dosver doy dsize e envcnt envcount envused eps even exp fac fattr fcbsx fcbsy fdate fdir fdrive fexpand fext fileattr filedate filedir filedrive fileext filename filenamex filepath files filesize filetime fname fnamex fpath frac fsize ftime fullpath getkey getline getnum getnumber getstr getstring hour if instr int isdir key label lastdrive lastdrv leap leapyear left leftstr len length line ln locase log lower max memfree mid min minute month monthn monthname nth ntharg odd ord pi pick pickarg pos quote ramfree random right rightstr rnd round second sgn shell sign sin sind sinh sqr sqrt stackx stacky suball subst substall substone tan tand tanh time tmpname today trunc type unique unquote upcase upper volume wday wdayn wdayname words year 7.2 List of ASETs functions, sorted by categories --------------------------------------------------- Math functions: abs acos acosd arccos arccosd arcsin arcsind arctan arctand asin asind atan atand cos cosd cosh e eps even exp fac frac int ln log odd pi random rnd round sgn sign sin sind sinh sqr sqrt tan tand tanh trunc Functions returning information about files and disks: dfree dir diskfree disksize dospath dsize fattr fdate fdir fdrive fexpand fext fileattr filedate filedir filedrive fileext filename filenamex filepath filesize filetime fname fnamex fpath fsize ftime fullpath isdir label tmpname unique volume Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS: buffers country device fcbsx fcbsy files lastdrive lastdrv shell stackx stacky String handling: asc char chr concat copy count delete instr left leftstr len length locase lower mid nth ord pick pos quote right rightstr suball subst substall substone unquote upcase upper words User and file interaction functions: getkey getline getnum getnumber getstr getstring key line Time/date handling: date day dayofyear doy hour leap leapyear minute month monthn monthname second time today wday wdayn wdayname year Miscellanous functions: aif args arithif bootdrive bootdrv dosver envcnt envcount envused if max memfree min ntharg pickarg ramfree type 8 Documentation of ASETs functions ==================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABS - Calculates the absolute value ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ABS(-5.56) X=5.56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AIF - Arithmetic IF, returns arg2, if arg1<0, returns arg3, if arg1=0, returns arg4 else ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 4, Real String String String Result type: String Aliases : ARITHIF See also : IF Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := AIF(0.5,'a','b','c') X=c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCCOS - Computes the radiant arcus cosinus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Aliases : ACOS See also : ARCCOSD ACOSD Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARCCOS(0.5) X=1.047198 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCCOSD - Computes the degree arcus cosinus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Aliases : ACOSD See also : ARCCOS ACOS Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARCCOSD(0.5) X=60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCSIN - Computes the radiant arcus sinus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Aliases : ASIN See also : ARCSIND ASIND Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARCSIN(0.5) X=0.523599 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCSIND - Computes the degree arcus sinus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Aliases : ASIND See also : ARCSIN ASIN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARCSIND(0.5) X=30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCTAN - Computes the radiant arcus tangens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Aliases : ATAN See also : ARCTAND ATAND Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARCTAN(0.5) X=0.463648 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCTAND - Computes the degree arcus tangens ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Aliases : ATAND See also : ARCTAN ATAN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARCTAND(0.5) X=26.565051 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARGS - Returns the number of arguments in a list ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 64, String Result type: Integer See also : WORDS Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ARGS(2,'Ricki',1.4) X=3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOTDRV - Determines from which drive the system was booted, needs DOS 4++ ('?' on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: String Aliases : BOOTDRIVE Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := BOOTDRV X=C: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BUFFERS - Returns BUFFERS or HIBUFFERS from CONFIG.SYS (15 on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := BUFFERS X=20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHR - Returns the character with the given ASCII code (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Integer Result type: String Aliases : CHAR See also : ORD Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := CHR(65) X=A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONCAT - Returns the concatenation of the arguments ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 1 to 64, String Result type: String Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := CONCAT(1,1,'a') X=11a ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPY - Returns a substring of a string (arguments are: string,start,length) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 3, String Integer Integer Result type: String Aliases : MID See also : DELETE Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := COPY('ABCDE',3,2) X=CD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COS - Computes the radiant cosinus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : COSD Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := COS(3.1415926535) X=-1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COSD - Computes the degree cosinus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : COS Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := COSD(90) X=0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COSH - Computes the cosinus hyperbolicus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := COSH(1) X=1.543081 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COUNTRY - Returns the country code from CONFIG.SYS (001 on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := COUNTRY X=049 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE - Returns the current date in the form MM/DD/YYYY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: String Aliases : TODAY Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := DATE X='06/21/1992' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAY - Determines the day in a month for a given date (default is today) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := DAY('12/04/1992') X=4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DELETE - Deletes a substring from a string (arguments are: string,start,length) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 3, String Integer Integer Result type: String See also : COPY Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := DELETE('ABCDE',3,2) X=ABE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEVICE - Returns the number of the line in CONFIG.SYS which contains the line 'DEVICE='argument (0 if none) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := DEVICE('VDISK.SYS') X=5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DFREE - Returns the free bytes on a the current drive (default is the current drive) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : DISKFREE Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := DFREE('C:') X=2654322 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIR - Returns the current directory on a drive (default is the current drive) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := DIR('A:') X=A:\ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOSPATH - Locates a file in PATH and returns its full path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := DOSPATH('SORT.EXE') X=C:\DOS\SORT.EXE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOSVER - Returns the DOS version ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: String Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := DOSVER X=3.30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOY - Returns the day in a year for a given date (default is today) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: Integer Aliases : DAYOFYEAR Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := DOY() X=135 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DSIZE - Returns the capacity of a drive (default is the current drive) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : DISKSIZE Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := DSIZE('B:') X=1457664 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E - The Euler constant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := E X=2.718282 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVCNT - Determines the number of shell variables set (the current one has no effect) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Aliases : ENVCOUNT Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ENVCNT X=10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVUSED - Determines the number of bytes used by shell vars (the current one has no effect) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ENVUSED X=876 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EPS - Returns the constant EPS, which ASET uses to classify two real numbers as equal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := EPS X=0.00001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVEN - Determines whether the argument is an even integer number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Integer Result type: Boolean See also : ODD Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := EVEN(2) X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXP - Computes the exp function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : LN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := EXP(1) X=2.718282 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAC - Compute the faculty function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Integer Result type: Integer Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := FAC(5) X=120 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FATTR - Returns a string representing the attributes of a file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILEATTR Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FATTR('C:\IBMBIO.COM') X=rhsa ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FCBSX - Returns the number of contemporary open files from CONFIG.SYS (4 on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := FCBSX X=4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FCBSY - Returns the minimum number of kept-open files from CONFIG.SYS (0 on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := FCBSY X=0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDATE - Returns the last modification date of a file (MM/DD/YYYY) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILEDATE Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FDATE('A.EXE') X=06/21/1992 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDIR - Returns the name of the deepest directory in a path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILEDIR Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FDIR('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=BIN ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FDRIVE - Extracts the drive specification from a path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILEDRIVE Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FDRIVE('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=A: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEXPAND - Returns the full path to a file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FULLPATH Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FEXPAND('README.TXT') X=C:\PROGS\ASET\README ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEXT - Extracts the extension from a path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILEEXT Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FEXT('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=.BAT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILES - Returns the maximum number of file handles from CONFIG.SYS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := FILES X=20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FNAME - Extracts the name from a path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILENAME See also : FNAMEX Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FNAME('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FNAMEX - Extracts name+extension from a path ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILENAMEX See also : FNAME FEXT Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FNAMEX('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=B.BAT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FPATH - Extracts the directory specification from a path (default is the current directory) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILEPATH Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FPATH('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=A:\BIN\ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FRAC - Returns the fractional part of a real number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : INT TRUNC Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := FRAC(5.56) X=0.56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FSIZE - Returns the size of a file in bytes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: Integer Aliases : FILESIZE Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FSIZE('A:\BIN\B.BAT') X=807 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FTIME - Returns the last modification date of a file in the format HH:MM.SS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: String Aliases : FILETIME Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := FTIME('A.EXE') X=12:10.01 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GETKEY - Asks you to press a key from a given key set w/o echo (the default key set is all possible keys) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : KEY Category : User and file interaction functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := GETKEY('YyNn') X=Y ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GETNUM - Asks you to input a real number (arguments are: maxlen,default,row,col) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 4, Integer Real Integer Integer Result type: Real Aliases : GETNUMBER Category : User and file interaction functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := GETNUM(3,0,1,1) X=123 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GETSTR - Asks you to input a string (arguments are: maxlen,default,row,col) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 4, Integer String Integer Integer Result type: String Aliases : GETSTRING Category : User and file interaction functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := GETSTR(3,'AB',1,1) X=ABC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOUR - Returns the system hour ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer See also : MINUTE SECOND Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := HOUR X=12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IF - Condition IF, returns arg2, if arg1=1, else returns arg3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 3, Boolean String String Result type: String See also : ARITHIF AIF Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := IF(1 gt 0,'a','b') X=a ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTR - Returns the position of a substring in a string (arguments are: string,pattern) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 2, String String Result type: Integer See also : POS Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := INSTR('ABCDE','C') X=3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT - Returns the integer part of a real number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Integer Aliases : TRUNC See also : FRAC ROUND Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := INT(-4.9) X=-4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISDIR - Returns if the argument is an existing directory (result is 0 or 1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: Boolean Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := ISDIR('C:\BIN') X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LABEL - Returns the label of a disk (default is disk in the current drive) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : VOLUME Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := LABEL('A:') X=DISK001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LASTDRV - Returns the LASTDRIVE from CONFIG.SYS (E on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: String Aliases : LASTDRIVE Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := LASTDRV X=E ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEAP - Determines whether a year is a leapyear (default is the current year) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, Integer Result type: Boolean Aliases : LEAPYEAR Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := LEAP(1992) X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEFT - Extracts the leftmost part of a str (arguments are: string,length) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 2, String Integer Result type: String Aliases : LEFTSTR See also : RIGHT Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := LEFT('ABCDE',2) X=AB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEN - Returns the length of a string in characters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: Integer Aliases : LENGTH Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := LEN('ABCD') X=4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LINE - Returns the argument1-th line from the file with the name argument2 (default line is 1, default file is standard input) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 2, Integer String Result type: String Aliases : GETLINE Category : User and file interaction functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := LINE(1,'CONFIG.SYS') X=FILES=30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LN - Computes the natural logarithm function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : EXP LOG Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := LN(2.718282) X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOCASE - Converts a string to lowercase ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : LOWER See also : UPCASE UPPER Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := LOCASE('AbCdE') X=abcde ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOG - Computes the logarithm of the second argument to the base of the first argument ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 2, Real Real Result type: Real See also : LN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := LOG(10,100) X=2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAX - Returns the maximum entry from a numeric or string list ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 1 to 64, String Result type: String See also : MIN Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := MAX(1,'A',2) X=A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIN - Returns the minimum entry from a numeric or string list ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 1 to 64, String Result type: String See also : MAX Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := MIN(1,'A',2) X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MINUTE - Returns the system minute ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer See also : HOUR SECOND Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := MINUTE X=44 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MONTH - Returns the month in the year for a given date (default is today) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := MONTH('12/04/1992') X=12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MONTHN - Returns the name of a month for a given date (default is today; argument1 is an optional language (one of American, German), default is American) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 2, String String Result type: String Aliases : MONTHNAME Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := MONTHN('12/04/1992') X=December ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NTH - Picks the n-th word of a string ('' on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 2, Integer String Result type: String Aliases : PICK See also : NTHARG PICKARG Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := NTH(2,'A B C') X=B ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NTHARG - Picks the n-th argument of a list ('' on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 2 to 64, Integer String Result type: String Aliases : PICKARG See also : NTH PICK Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := NTHARG(2,'A B','AB','ABC') X=AB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ODD - Determines whether the argument is an odd integer number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Integer Result type: Boolean See also : EVEN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ODD(2) X=0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORD - Returns the code of the first character in the argument (0, if the argument is '') ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, String Result type: Integer Aliases : ASC See also : CHR CHAR Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := ORD(Auto) X=65 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PI - The constant pi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := PI X=3.141593 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POS - Returns the position of a substring in a string (arguments are: pattern,string) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 2, String String Result type: Integer See also : INSTR Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := POS('C','ABCDE') X=3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUOTE - Put a string in quotes (') (returns one single quote ('), if called without arguments) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String See also : UNQUOTE Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := QUOTE(a'b'c) X='a''b''c' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RAMFREE - Determines the amount of free RAM memory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Aliases : MEMFREE Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := RAMFREE X=300848 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RANDOM - Returns a random number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, Integer Result type: Real Aliases : RND Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := RANDOM(100) X=67 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RIGHT - Returns the rightmost part of a string (arguments are: string,length) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 2, String Integer Result type: String Aliases : RIGHTSTR See also : LEFT Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := RIGHT('ABCDE',2) X=DE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROUND - Returns the value rounded to the next integer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Integer See also : INT TRUNC Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := ROUND(-1.5) X=-2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECOND - Returns the system second ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer See also : HOUR MINUTE Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := SECOND X=56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHELL - Returns the SHELL from CONFIG.SYS without additional parameters and switches (?:\COMMAND.COM on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: String Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := SHELL X=C:\4DOS\4DOS.COM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIGN - Returns the sign of a number (-1, 0, or 1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Integer Aliases : SGN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := SIGN(-1234.5) X=-1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIN - Computes the radiant sinus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : SIND Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := SIN(3.141593) X=0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIND - Computes the degree sinus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : SIN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := SIND(90) X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SINH - Computes the sinus hyperbolicus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := SINH(1) X=1.175201 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SQR - Computes the square function (argument raised to the power of 2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := SQR(2.5) X=6.25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SQRT - Computes the square root function (argument raised to the power of 0.5) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := SQRT(2) X=1.414214 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STACKX - Returns the number of stack frames from CONFIG.SYS (9 on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := STACKX X=9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STACKY - Returns the size of the stack frame from CONFIG.SYS (128 on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: Integer Category : Functions accessing CONFIG.SYS Example: C:> ASET -p X := STACKY X=128 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBALL - Replaces all substrings in a string (arguments are: from,to,string) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 3, String String String Result type: String Aliases : SUBSTALL See also : SUBST Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := SUBALL('BC','_','ABC.BCD') X=A_._D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBST - Replaces a substring once in a string (arguments are: from,to,string) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 3, String String String Result type: String Aliases : SUBSTONE See also : SUBALL Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := SUBST('BC','_','ABC.BCD') X=A_.BCD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAN - Computes the radiant tangens function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : TAND Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := TAN(3.141593) X=0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAND - Computes the degree tangens function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real See also : TAN Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := TAND(45) X=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TANH - Computes the tangens hyperbolicus function ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): 1, Real Result type: Real Category : Math functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := TANH(1) X=0.761594 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TIME - Returns the current time in the form HH:MM.SS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): None Result type: String Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := TIME X=12:21.12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TYPE - Returns the type of the argument (result is one of Boolean, Integer, Real, String, or Null) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Category : Miscellanous functions Example: C:> ASET -p X := TYPE(1) X=Boolean ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIQUE - Returns a unique (ie. non-existing) filename for a directory (default is the current directory) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : TMPNAME Category : Functions returning information about files and disks Example: C:> ASET -p X := UNIQUE('C:\TMP') X=C:\TMP\14533457.TMP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNQUOTE - Remove one level of quotes (') from a string ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String See also : QUOTE Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := UNQUOTE(QUOTE+'abc'+QUOTE) X=abc ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPCASE - Converts a string to uppercase ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: String Aliases : UPPER See also : LOCASE LOWER Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := UPCASE('AbCdE') X=ABCDE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WDAY - Returns the day of a week for a given date (default is today), 1=Sunday...7=Saturday (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: Integer See also : WDAYN Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := WDAY() X=6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WDAYN - Returns the name of a weekday for a given date (default is today; argument1 is an optional language (one of American, German), default is American) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 2, String Result type: String Aliases : WDAYNAME See also : WDAY Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := WDAYN('12/04/1992') X=Friday ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORDS - Returns the number of words in the arguments (words are separated by SPACEs or TABs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 64, String Result type: Integer Aliases : COUNT Category : String handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := WORDS('a b ','cde') X=3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YEAR - Returns the year of a given date (default is today) (? on error) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argument(s): from 0 to 1, String Result type: Integer Category : Time/date handling Example: C:> ASET -p X := YEAR('12/04/1992') X=1992 9 Details =========== This section will give you some details about the implementation of ASETs functions. If you have further questions, feel free to contact me. 9.1 Evaluation errors ----------------------- Some functions are not defined for all possible values. Consider the function ARCCOS. It is defined only, if the argument is in the interval (-1.0,1.0). All those restricted functions will return '?' if you invoke them with an illegal argument. In detail these functions are (their aliases have the same restrictions, of course): Name Restriction Category --------------------------------------------------------------- ARCCOS(x) -1 <= x <= 1 Math ARCCOSD(x) -1 <= y <= 1 ARCSIN(x) -1 <= x <= 1 ARCSIND(x) -1 <= x <= 1 LN(x) x > 0 LOG(x,y) x,y > 0 and y <> 1 SQRT(x) x >= 0 TAN(x) x <> (2k+1)*pi/2 TAND(x) x <> (2k+1)*90 DIR(drive) Drive readable Files and Disks DFREE(drive) Drive readable DSIZE(drive) Drive readable LABEL(drive) Drive readable DOSPATH(fn) File exists FATTR(fn) File exists FDATE(fn) File exists FSIZE(fn) File exists FTIME(fn) File exists FDIR(fn) File exists FDRIVE(fn) File exists FPATH(fn) File exists FEXT(fn) File exists FNAME(fn) File exists FNAMEX(fn) File exists UNIQUE(dir) Dir exists CHR(n) 0 <= n <= 255 Strings COPY(s,m,n) m>0, n>-1 DELETE(s,m,n) m>0, n>-1 GETNUM(ml,df,r,c) ml,r,c>0 Interaction GETSTR(ml,df,r,c) ml,r,c>0 GETLINE(n,fn) File & line exists DAY(date) Valid date Date and time MONTH(date) Valid date YEAR(date) Valid date DOY(date) Valid date WDAY(date) Valid date MONTHN(date) Valid date WDAYN(date) Valid date BOOTDRV DOS 4++ Miscellanous 9.2 Internal data representation ---------------------------------- The following table shows which data types are internally used. This knowledge may be helpful in the case of the mathematic functions. Some of them are potential victims of arithmetic overflow. This is NOT CHECKED by ASET! The function FAC, eg., will only return correct results for arguments less than 13. Type | Range | Size | Digits ----------+------------------------+-----------+-------- String | | 255 chars | Integer |-2147483648..2147483647 | 32 bits | Real | 2.9e-39..1.7e38 | 6 bits | 6 Boolean | (integers 0 and 1) | 32 bits | 9.3 Further notes ------------------- This section contains further information about certain functions or function groups. FAC works for negative values, also. FAC(n) is defined as n(n-1)(n-2)...1 for positive, and n(n+1)(n+2)...-1 for negative integers. FAC(0) is 1, as usual. RANDOM If you invoke RANDOM without arguments, ie. something like ASET A=RANDOM it will return a real value in the interval [0.0,1.0]. If you invoke it with an integer number n as parameter, as in ASET A=RANDOM(1000) several cases are possible: n <= 0 RANDOM always returns zero 0 < n < 65536 RANDOM returns a pseudo random number in the integer interval [0,65534] n > 65535 RANDOM works as if RANDOM(65535) were invoked DIR,DFREE,DSIZE,LABEL do all accept a drive specification as their argument. They are implemented in a rather tolerant way. Each of them accepts not only arguments like 'a', 'B', or 'C:', but also paths, like 'E:\FOO\SILLY.DAT'. UNIQUE generates a non-existing filename for a given directory. The name does have the format dddddddd.TMP where each d is a randomly chosen decimal digit. That means that 61524212.TMP is one possible unique name. After one name is created, UNIQUE checks if it already exists (by trying to open it for reading). If it fails, the name is ok. Otherwise the procedure is repeated. If UNIQUE fails to generate a non-existing file name 10 times, it aborts and returns '?'. BUFFERS,COUNTRY,DEVICE,FCBX,FCBY,FILES,LASTDRIVE,SHELL,STACKY,STACKY read CONFIG.SYS, as you probably already know. The question is, how they find it. First they determine the boot drive by a DOS operation. This requires DOS 4.0 or above. If they fail to find CONFIG.SYS there (eg. because DOS 3.3 is used), they give 'C:\CONFIG.SYS' a try (because most systems boot from C:). If this also fails, they abort and return a default value, which is as follows (from my DOS 3.30 manual): BUFFERS 15 <if memory>521k, which is assumed> COUNTRY 001 DEVICE <returns 0 if failure or device not found> FCBX 4 FCBY 0 FILES 8 LASTDRIVE E SHELL <see below> STACKY 9 STACKY 128 SHELL This function is treated separately to explain its algorithm. SHELL does first, as any other CONFIG.SYS function, try to locate a SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS (see above for details). If it fails, it determines the boot drive (which needs DOS 4.0 or above). If it succeeds, 'd:\COMMAND.COM' is returned (with d being the boot drive), otherwise '?:\COMMAND.COM' is returned. CONCAT You might ask yourself, why this function is implemented where the '+' operator performs the same task. The answer is that '+' cannot be used to concat string which represent numbers. In this special case the arguments are interpreted as numbers and ADDED, not concatenated! CONCAT however does interpret its aruments never as numbers. GETKEY can also read function keys, because they are passed to ASET as _two_ keystrokes, ascii 0 + ascii <code>. GETKEY simply ignores the 0, because it cannot belong to the key set, and interprets <code> as if it had been entered alone. This implies, that you can install GETKEY so that it can react on function keys, using the following replacements: Key Char after #0 Code of char -------------------------------------------- F1 ; 59 F2 < 60 * F3 = 61 F4 > 62 * F5 ? 63 F6 @ 64 F7 A 65 F8 B 66 F9 C 67 F10 D 68 LEFT K 75 RIGHT M 77 UP H 72 DOWN P 80 PAGE UP I 73 PAGE DOWN Q 81 INS R 82 DEL S 83 POS 1 G 71 END O 79 There's a problem with the two codes marked with '*', because the chars '>' and '<' are interpreted by DOS. You will be able to use these only if your shell has a possibility to pass them to programs. Example: The following call ASET A = GETKEY('KMHPIQ') does not only accept they keys K,M,H,P,I, and Q themselves, but also the cursor keys and PageUp and PageDown. GETSTRING,GETNUMBER These functions understand the following control keys: Cursor Left Back one character Cursor Right Forward one character Delete Delete character under the cursor End Goto the last character Pos 1 Goto the first character Ins Toggle insert (default) and overwrite mode Return Terminate input Ctrl/H (Backspace) Delete character before the cursor Ctrl/Y Delete the whole string and start again LINE This function returns a line from standard input or a certain file. It returns '?' if the line does not exist in the file. DAY,MONTH,YEAR,DOY,WDAY,WDAYN,MONTHN do all accept a date as argument. Currently, there are these valid formats for dates: Format Example ------------------------- dd.mm.yyyy 4.12.1963 mm-dd-yyyy 12-4-1963 mm/dd/yyyy 12/4/1963 BOOTDRIVE needs DOS 4.0 or above to operate. ENVCOUNT,ENVUSED compute their results without accounting for the environment modification caused by the very call of ASET. MAX,MIN These functions use the following algorithm. In a first run they try to consider all arguments as numbers and compute their maximum/minimum. If they encounter the first non-number, they switch to string mode and rescan the arguments, looking at them as strings. RAMFREE A call to this function returns the current amount of free memory. The value has been affected by ASET before it was computed and might be affected even after the computation (if ASET has some more functions to evaluate). It is therefore to be taken as a circa value. IF,AIF The functions IF and AIF can be a powerful help if (but not only if) you use ASET in file mode, ie., if you invoke ASET with the /f option to read a file containing several assignments. IF and AIF can be used in most cases where the DOS IF statement could have been used (which is not possible in ASET files).