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Section 12
INFOR$–Internal Format Table Interface
Routines
The INFOR interface routines read the INFOR table into memory, search through the
table for specific information, retrieve information from the INFOR table, and dynamically
assign internal use names to files.
The INFOR routines can be included in the calling program as relocatable elements or
can be referenced from one of the SYSLIB common banks by either the I$BJ or the Auto
Switch method. For a complete description of these calling methods see Section 3.
Appendix E includes a list of the SYSLIB common bank names and the routines included
in them.
Internal format (INFOR) refers to the data format used to pass information from the
processor call statement to a program when it is called as a processor instead of being
called by an @XQT command. The difference between calling a program as a processor
and calling it by an @XQT statement is how the first read instruction of the program is
executed. If the program is called by the @XQT command:
@XQT PROGRAM file.element/version
then there is nothing different about how the first read instruction is executed. It is
executed like any other read in the program. When the read instruction is encountered
the program stops and waits for data to be entered. The extra information entered on
the call line, (in this example, file.element/version,) is ignored. If the program is called as
a processor:
@PROGRAM file.element/version
then the first read receives information from the processor call statement in internal
format. More than one read command may be needed to read all the information.
When all information has been read into memory, it is refered to as the INFOR table.
A processor can accomplish this by calling the INFOR$ routine RINF$ (Read Internal
Format). Having the data from the call line placed in a table with a predefined format and
then having a common set of routines to access this table gives processors a fast and
efficient means of getting at the information they need.
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