Table of Contents

CONSTANTS & VARIABLES

PPL allows user defined constants in the following formats:

$#.##

A MONEY constant (dollar sign followed by optional dollars followed by decimal point followed by cents; # = 0-9)

#h

An INTEGER hexadecimal constant (# = 0-9 & A-F)

#d

An INTEGER decimal constant (# = 0-9)

#o

An INTEGER octal constant (# = 0-7)

#b

An INTEGER binary constant (# = 0-1)

#

An INTEGER constant (# = 0-9)

"X"

A STRING constant (X = any displayable text)

@X##

An INTEGER @X constant (# = 0-9 & A-F)

Predefined Constants

PPL predefines the following constants:

AUTO = 2000h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (automatically press enter after 10 seconds of no user input)

BELL = 800h

Parameter passed to DISPTEXT statement (sound a bell when prompt displayed)

CRC_FILE - CRC_STR

These constants were added to avoid confusion when telling the function CRC32 what it is taking the CRC of. CRCFILE tells CRC32 to calculate the CRC of the file contained within the string argument. CRCSTR tells CRC32 to calculate the CRC of the string argument itself. CRCFILE has a value of 1 (TRUE) CRCSTR has a value of 0 (FALSE)

CUR_USER = 0

Parameter passed to CURUSER()

DEFS = 0

Parameter passed to various statements for default values

ECHODOTS = 1h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (echo dots instead of user input)

ERASELINE = 20h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (erase the current line when user presses enter)

FALSE = 0

BOOLEAN FALSE value

FCL = 2

Value passed to STARTDISP to force line counting display

FIELDLEN = 2h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (displays parenthesis to show input field width if ANSI enabled)

FNS = 1

Value passed to STARTDISP to force non-stop display

F_EXP = 2h

Expired subscription access allowed flag for CONFFLAG and CONFUNFLAG

F_MW = 10h

Mail waiting flag for CONFFLAG and CONFUNFLAG

F_REG = 1h

Registered access allowed flag for CONFFLAG and CONFUNFLAG

F_SEL = 4h

Conference selected flag for CONFFLAG and CONFUNFLAG

F_SYS = 8h

Conference SysOp access flag for CONFFLAG and CONFUNFLAG

GRAPH = 1h

Parameter passed to DISPFILE statement to search for graphics specific files

GUIDE = 4h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (displays parenthesis above current line if FIELDLEN used and ANSI not enabled

HIGHASCII = 1000h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (allow high ascii characters, regardless of current valid character set, if disable high ascii filter set to yes)

LANG = 4h

Parameter passed to DISPFILE statement to search for language specific files

LFAFTER = 100h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR, PROMPTSTR and DISPTEXT statements (send an extra line feed after user presses enter)

LFBEFORE = 80h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR, PROMPTSTR and DISPTEXT statements (send an extra line feed before prompt display)

LOGIT = 8000h

Parameter passed to DISPTEXT statement (log text to callers log)

LOGITLEFT = 10000h

Parameter passed to DISPTEXT statement (log text to callers log, forcing left justification)

NC = 0

Value passed to STARTDISP to not change display mode

NEWLINE = 40h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR, PROMPTSTR and DISPTEXT statements (send a line feed after user presses enter)

NOCLEAR = 400h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (don't clear field at first keypress regardless of ANSI)

NO_USER = -1

Parameter passed to CURUSER()

O_RD = 0

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to open a file in read only mode

O_RW = 2

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to open a file in read and write mode

O_WR = 1

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to open a file in write only mode

SEC = 2h

Parameter passed to DISPFILE statement to search for security specific files

STACKED = 10h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (allow semi-colons and spaces in addition to valid character set passed)

S_DB = 3h

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to deny read and write (both) access from other processes

S_DN = 0h

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to allow read and write (deny none) access from other processes

S_DR = 1h

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to deny read access from other processes

S_DW = 2h

Parameter passed to FCREATE/FOPEN/FAPPEND to deny write access from other processes

TRUE = 1

BOOLEAN TRUE value

UPCASE = 8h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (force user input to upper case)

WORDWRAP = 200h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (if user hits end of line, save the text at the end of the line for future use)

YESNO = 4000h

Parameter passed to INPUTSTR and PROMPTSTR statements (Only allow international yes/no responses)

NO_USER = -1

Return by GetUser - variables are currently undefined

CUR_USER = 0

Return by GetUser - User variables are for the current user

Predefined variables

PPL predefines the following variables for user record access:

BOOLEAN U_CLS

Clear screen between messages status

BOOLEAN U_DEF79

79 column message editor default

BOOLEAN U_EXPERT

Users current expert status

BOOLEAN U_FSE

Users full screen editor default

BOOLEAN U_FSEP

Prompt for full screen editor status

BOOLEAN U_LONGHDR

6 line vs 4 line message header status

BOOLEAN U_SCROLL

Scroll multi-screen message status

DATE U_EXPDATE

The users subscription expiration date

DATE U_PWDEXP

The date that the users password expires and must be changed

INTEGER U_EXPSEC

The users expired security level

INTEGER U_PAGELEN

The users page length

INTEGER U_SEC

The users security level

STK_LIMIT

This constant was added so the PPL programmer could determine how close they are getting to the stack limit when using recursion.

STRING U_ADDR(5)

The users address information (if the SysOp has enabled address recording)

0 = First street line  
1 = Second street line  
2 = City  
3 = State  
4 = Zip  
5 = Country  

STRING U_ALIAS

The users alias (if the SysOp has enabled alias use)

STRING U_BDPHONE

The users business/data phone number

STRING U_CITY

The users city/state information

STRING U_CMNT1

The users comment field

STRING U_CMNT2

The SysOps comment field

STRING U_HVPHONE

The users home/voice phone number

STRING U_NOTES(4)

Notes about the user (if the SysOp has enabled the note capability)

Subscripts 0-4 hold lines 1-5

STRING U_PWD

The users password

STRING U_TRANS

The users default transfer protocol

STRING U_VER

The users verification string (if the SysOp has enabled user verification)

See also: Predefined Constants


Tags: ppl constant variable