PowerBatch v1.4 Computing Systems        Registration $ 30.00
UTIL NOV90 POWERBATCH BATCH COMPILER                                       
FILES: pwrbat14.sdn

New to SDN

PowerBatch is a compiler for  batch file "type" commands.  At
the present time there are  35 PowerBatch commands which will
work only in a PowerBatch source  file (they will not execute
in a standard DOS batch  file).  Any valid executable command
(.EXE &  .COM) as well as  any of the DOS  intrinsic commands
are  valid  within  a  PowerBatch source  file  and  will  be
"compiled".  These .EXE, .COM and DOS intrinsic commands will
be executed via a shell and  the PowerBatch .EXE program will
continue execution with the next compiled statement following
the shelled  command.  There  are two  main modules  supplied
with PowerBatch; 1)POWERMAK.EXE and 2)SMLMODEL.MDL.  PowerMak
reads,  parses  the  source file,  and  compiles  the  source
extracting  routines   from  SmlModel.    The  result   is  a
completely  standalone   .EXE  file  that   executes  without
SmlModel or PowerMak.   The increase in speed  comes from the
use  of the  PowerBatch commands  as the  DOS and  executable
modules will not be executed any faster.  Most notable is the
increase  in   speed  dealing   with  screen   writes.   Many
capabilities are provided in  PowerBatch commands that simply
are not available with standard DOS commands.

                        Why Use PowerBatch

There  are four major reasons for using a compiled PowerBatch
program:
     1)  The resulting program will almost certainly  execute
        considerably  faster.   While it might be possible to
        construct a compiled PowerBatch program that does not
        execute faster, it would have to consist entirely  of
        pre- existing executable modules.
     2) PowerBatch  commands  provide a considerable increase
        in flexibility  and  power  over  conventional  batch
        files.
     3) PowerBatch programs cannot be changed without  making
        machine  code  modifications.   This means additional
        security for distributed batch files.
     4)  PowerBatch programs can be created quickly  for  the
        PowerBatch command set is a very high level language.

PowerBatch commands fall into 5 classes of commands;
     1) Commands  which  provide  systems information.  These
        commands provide  the  current  color  settings,  the
        current   date,  the  current  time,  check  for  the
        existance of a valid drive letter, and commands which
        check for the existance of a directory or a file.
    2)  Commands  which  control  the  flow  of   the   batch
        program.  Execute  different  portions  of  the batch
        program  based  on  existance  or  non-existance   of
        directories  or  files.   Compare the contents of one
        variable with the contents of another variable  or  a
        constant  and execute different portions of the batch
        program based on the results of the compare.
    3)  Commands which control the way text is printed on the
        screen.  Change any portion  of  the  screen  to  any
        valid  screen  color, cause a message to blink on the
        screen, or highlight a message in reverse video.
    4)  Commands which provide string manipulation.  Change a
        string to all upper case characters, or all lower case
        characters.  Extract a portion of a string such as the
        first three characters or the  last  four  characters.
        Build  a  new  string  from  two  existing  strings by
        concatenation of the two strings.
   5)  Commands which deal with screen writing and input from
       the keyboard.  These commands are the  main  power  in
       the  PowerBatch system.  Directly address any position
       on the screen and move the cursor to that position  to
       read or write text.  Automatically center a message or
       title  on any line.  Draw boxes around portions of the
       screen to enhance screen appearance.   Read  a  single
       key  from  the  keyboard, read the response to a query
       that only accepts a yes or no response, read a  string
       of  characters  from  the  keyboard  with  a specified
       maximum  length,  and  read  keys  from  the  keyboard
       automatically changing the characters to upper case.


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