System META Commands

Meta commands that are replaced using the >SYSTEM meta command.

COPY

COPY <oldfile,newfile>

Copies a file. This overrides any operating system level COPY command. If you want to use your operating system version of the copy, use >SYSTEM COPY.

DELETE

DELETE <filename>

Deletes a file. This overrides any operating system level DELETE command. See also >PURGE. If you want to use your operating system’s version of the delete command, use >SYSTEM DELETE.

DO_SLEEPING

The command >DO_SLEEPING will cause Survox processes other than the study server to pause 1 second every so often to allow the study server to have a bigger slice of the CPU pie.  This can be used in conjunction with the “nice” command settings (see cshrc.exam in the Survox control directory) to guarantee that the study server is not affected by other Survox processes that are running.  Put this command in the INITIAL file (in the Survox control directory) to assure that it happens for all non-study server related Survox processes.

You can increase the pause time by saying “>DO_SLEEPING=#” where the “#” is the number of seconds to pause every second.

ECHO

ECHO <text>

Echoes text from a spec file back to the console. You could insert messages at various points in your specs so that when you execute them with PREPARE or Mentor, you’ll know how far the program has run. This is particularly useful when your run results are being sent to a disk file and you would like to have an indication of how far the program has progressed. This overrides the operating system’s >ECHO commands. Use >SYSTEM echo for the operating system version of the command.

EXAMPLE:

>ECHO Finished with section 1.

RENAME

RENAME file1, file2

Renames a file. This overrides any operating system level RENAME command.

SYSTEM

SYSTEM <command>

Allows you to specify system commands (such as DIR) in your spec file. A META command specified without >SYSTEM will be checked first as a Survox meta command. The program prints a warning if the command violates Survox syntax before passing it to the operating system. This is the default. Suppress the warning by saying >-SYSTEM.

Operating system commands may vary from system to system, but you can call any operating system level command or program by first specifying a “SYSTEM.”  Operating system commands can be called from within the program. These include TYPE, DIR, LISTF, TREE, MD, RD and program calls. (See your operating system command guide for more information.)

Distinguish between a Survox META command and an operating system command of the same name (like ECHO) by saying >ECHO or >SYSTEM ECHO respectively. Or, you can use >SYS !, which prevents any non-Survox meta commands from being passed to the operating system.

EXAMPLE:

>SYSTEM DIR *.TR 

You can put this command in the Survox INITIAL file (\cfmc\control\initial in DOS and UNIX) so that it will be in effect whenever a Survox program is loaded.

NOTE: The META commands COPY, DELETE, PURGE, and RENAME will work across operating systems (DOS, UNIX). These are Survox META commands and should not have “SYSTEM” specified before them. These can be used in Survent in Debug or View mode. To use the operating system’s version of these commands, enter “>SYSTEM <command>”