COMPILE.DICT, CD

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The COMPILE.DICT command (synonym CD) is used to compile A, C, I and S-type records in dictionaries.

 

 

Format

 

COMPILE.DICT file.name {Itype.name} ... {NO.QUERY} {NO.PAGE}

 

COMPILE.DICT ALL {NO.PAGE}

 

COMPILE.DICT LOCAL {NO.PAGE}

 

where

 

file.nameis the name of the file containing the I-types to be compiled

 

Itype.nameis the name of the record to be compiled. Multiple names may be given in a single use of the command. If omitted, all A, C, I and S-type records in the dictionary are compiled unless the default select list is active, in which case that list is used.

 

NO.QUERYsuppresses the confirmation prompt if a select list is used.

 

NO.PAGEsuppresses pagination of output to the screen.

 

 

The COMPILE.DICT ALL and COMPILE LOCAL formats provide an easy way to compile all items in multiple files. The ALL keyword processes the dictionaries of all files referenced by F-type VOC entries. The LOCAL keyword restricts this to files that do not have a directory separator in the dictionary pathname.

 

A, C, I and S-type records may also be compiled using MODIFY and are automatically compiled by all query processor commands if necessary.

 

The main need for the COMPILE.DICT command is where the expression in one dictionary item uses the value of another. Because nested expressions are handled by a compile time substitution rather than a run time call, a change to the second expression requires the dictionary item that uses it to be recompiled. The automatic compilation performed by the query processor will not detect this need. In general, it is recommended that all dictionary items are recompiled whenever a modification is made to an expression that may be used by another dictionary item.