Command Details

All translators share a common command set, although because of inherent differences in the data sources being retrieved, each extends this command set to cope with its own translator-specific features.

Concepts

The command interface is based on the tried and tested SQL concept of:

• define a data source   (open command)

• issue a query   (select command)

• fetch the data   (objfetch command)

This approach, with extensions to the select command for different translators, is applied to all translators.

Syntax

Command text is based on the <verb> <parameters> system, where case is ignored for commands and keywords.

Command parameters can be quoted where necessary, and for most commands comma or white space separators are permitted.

Commands may start with a leading *. This is stripped off by the translator.

Blank lines and comment lines (those beginning with a #) are ignored.