This section describes tutor operations for users with ASCII ("dumb") displays. Tutor mode assists the user in specifying the parameters and the parameter qualifiers for a proc. Tutor mode is entered when:
There are two types of tutor:
The tutor commands "SCREEN" and "NOSCREEN" switch between the two forms of tutor.
There are three types of tutor display:
In screen tutor, the user is presented with the first page of a (possibly) multi-page display showing information on each parameter of the selected proc or each qualifier of the selected parameter. For each parameter/qualifier, the tutor display presents the following items:
An example of a tutor parameter screen is shown in Figure 3.4-1. An example of a tutor qualifier screen is shown in Figure 3.4-2.
The "current value" of a parameter/qualifier--the value displayed on the screen--is established in one of the following ways:
The tutor commands allow the user to scroll between pages of the tutor display, switch between qualifier and parameter displays, update a parameter/qualifier value, request detailed information for a parameter/qualifier, save parameter and qualifier values on disk, restore parameter and qualifier values from disk, and activate the proc. The commands are described in Table 3.4-1. (The notation parm/qual" indicates parallel commands available in parameter and tutor qualifier displays, with either "parm" or "qual" applicable.)
Tutor: proc "XPTEST", library "SYSSUSER: [JOE]" Pg 1+ Demonstration of XP Subroutine Package parm description value ---- ----------- ----- FILE File name of image to test. "IMAGE 15" |THIS PARAMETER HAS QUALIFIERS| THRESHLD Probability threshold 2. 45983E-04 Enter: parm=value,HELP,PAGE,SELECT,SHOW,RUN,EXIT,SAVE,RESTORE; RETURN to page. ? |
Tutor/Qualifiers: parameter "FILE", proc "XPTEST" Pg 1. qual description value ---- ----------- ----- WINDOW Pixel window: pixell, pixel2, 0 (1) line1, line2 511 (2) 0 (3) 511 (4) FORMAT Format of the file: BIL or BSQ "BSQ" Enter: qual=value, HELP, PAGE, SHOW, ACCEPT; RETURN to page. ? |
Tutor Parameter/Qualifier User Options
|
The following rules apply to tutor commands:
See Section 3.2.1 for rules on entering acceptable parameter/qualifier values.
If the "parm(i)/qual(i)=value" form is used and if all or some of the values before the i-th value have not yet been set, the values not yet set are set to zero or the empty string, depending on the type of the variable.
Parameter/qualifier values for KEYWORD parameters/qualifiers may not be entered using the flag character (') syntax.
The "+" adjacent to the page number in the upper-right corner of the tutor display indicates that there are more pages in the display; if the character in that position is a period, there are no more pages.
Tutor commands may be abbreviated by truncating characters, e.g., "SH" is equivalent to "SHOW". Parameter/qualifier names may be similarly abbreviated provided that uniqueness is maintained, e.g., "WINDOW" may be abbreviated "WI" if no other parameter/qualifier for the proc/parameter starts with "WI".
Case is not significant for tutor mode command names and parameter/qualifier names, e.g., "window" is equivalent to "WINDOW".
The RUN command activates the proc. When the proc terminates, TAE returns to a menu or to command mode as appropriate. When returning to a menu, the menu displayed is, in most cases, the menu from which the proc was selected. It is possible, however, for a proc to force a different menu.
After typing the "RUN" command, the user may terminate the proc prematurely by using the host-dependent "attention sequence" to gain TAE's attention and responding with "ABORT" to the TAE prompt. This proc interrupt capability is described in Section 3.2.6. After the abort, TAE places the user in command mode or menu mode, depending upon the mode from which tutor was initiated.
The SAVE and RESTORE commands provide for collections of parameter sets. SAVE can be used at any time in tutor parameter display. The command causes the current parameter and qualifier values to be saved on disk. The parameters and qualifiers may be subsequently restored in a future (or the same) tutor session.
Unlike the RUN command, SAVE does not require that all mandatory parameters and qualifiers have values. The SAVE command does not change current values. If the filename is omitted from the SAVE command, the parameter set, which includes parameters with their qualifiers, is saved using the current proc name as the file name.
The RESTORE command sets current tutor values from the named disk file. If the file name is omitted from the command, TAE assumes that the parameter set file name is the current proc name.
When a proc is activated from tutor mode, an implicit "SAVE LAST" command is executed. Thus, in tutor mode, the "RESTORE LAST" command retrieves the most recent parameter set. This feature is especially useful in the case where a number of values are specified for a proc and the proc terminates prematurely because one of the values is unacceptable.
The HELP commands place TAE in help mode. (See Section 3.6 for operations in help mode.)
This feature gives the user the ability to view the complete list of acceptable strings for a chosen parameter, and to select the string to be used as the parameter's value. The following are requirements for using "select" mode:
A user enters tutor-select mode from the normal tutor mode by typing the command: "select p", where "p" is the name of a string parameter whose value is to be set. Alternatively, the user may highlight a parameter for selection by using the arrow keys. Tutor-select mode for the highlighted parameter may be entered by clearing the prepared command from the screen ( CTRL-U ) and typing the command: "select", without parameter name.
Suppose, for example, that the user had entered tutor mode for a PROC named "SATPROC" which has a parameter "SATNAME". If the user types the command: "select satname", the screen shown in Figure 3.4-3 will be displayed.
Commands in tutor select mode are provided to position to an item on the list; to get help on tutor select operation or on the last error message; to return to the main tutor screen using the selected value; and to return to the main tutor screen without setting a value. The operations are described in Table 3.4-2.
Tutor/Select: parameter "SATNAME", proc "SATPROC" Name of satellite. Selection List ------------------------ ATS-3 ATS-6 GOES-1 GOES-2 GOES-3 TIROS-N Viking-1 Viking-2 LandSat-1 LandSat-2 SeaSat NAVSTAR OSCAR-10 GEOS Pioneer-1O Enter= ?, up-arrow, down-arrow, SEARCH, HELP, ACCEPT, EXIT ? |
Tutor Select Operations
|
The following additional notes apply to tutor select:
Qualifier tutor can only be entered through parameter tutor by entering QUALIFY followed by a parameter name. Tutor then displays a page of qualifiers for the selected parameter. Operations for altering the values in qualifier tutor are the same as those for parameter tutor. Other operations such as, RUN, EXIT, SAVE or RESTORE are not allowed in qualifier tutor; the only method for leaving the qualifier display is through the ACCEPT command.
When a multi-valued parameter has more values than can fit on one tutor screen, only one full screen is shown. Tutor maintains a window on the elements of the parameter. Unless a particular element is referenced (either via "parm(i) =" or "SHOW parm(i)"), the display window initially includes the first element. The contents of this window can be moved using the SHOW command.
For example, if the parameter named RCTABLE has 30 values, the 25th value will not appear on the initial tutor screen. Typing "RCTABLE(25)=32" causes TAE to set RCTABLE(25) to 32 and scroll the tutor display so that RCTABLE(25) is shown. If this is followed by "SHOW RCTABLE(12)" TAE scrolls the tutor display so that RCTABLE(12) is shown.
As described in Section 2.4.5, a proc may have subcommands. To initiate tutor for such a proc (or command) the proc name must be followed immediately by a hyphen and the subcommand name.
Example:
TAE> TUTOR TAPE-COPY
If tutor mode is entered, only the parameters associated with the specified subcommand are displayed.
If the subcommand name is not specified and there is no default subcommand, tutor mode begins with a "subcommand" display, showing a description of each of the proc's subcommands. The tutor user selects a subcommand from the display and TAE begins a normal tutor session for the parameter set associated with the subcommand.
If there is a default subcommand, the tutor subcommand display may be explicitly requested using "TUTOR proc-".
Figure 3.4-4 is an example of a page from a tutor subcommand display. Table 3.4-3 is a description of the user options for tutor subcommand displays.
SAMPLE TUTOR SUBCOMMAND DISPLAY
|
TUTOR SUBCOMMAND USER OPTIONS
|
For certain CRT terminals, tutor responses typed by the user may be edited before execution. In addition, existing parameter values may be retrieved for editing. Under the VAX/VMS implementation of TAE, VT100 and VT100-compatible terminals have this feature. To set up terminals for arrow keys for UNIX, see Appendix A.2.2 "Note".
The tutor editor is similar to the command editor (Section 3.2.5), but special features exist to take advantage of the tutor display. When TAE prompts for a tutor mode response, the following special keys may be used to edit a tutor command:
In addition to the basic keys above, the GOLD key (labelled "PF1" on many terminals) may precede a special key to "exaggerate" the meaning as follows:
If the current cursor position is to the left of a "=" character, the characters between the cursor position and the beginning of the line are deleted.
When the up and down arrows are used, TAE highlights the current value on the tutor display if the terminal supports highlighting. (Under VAX/VMS implementations of TAE, special VMS DCL commands may be required in order to enable highlighting; see Appendix A of the "TAE Command Language (TCL) Programmer's Manual" for DCL commands.)
Noscreen is a special form of tutor that does not require a CRT terminal. Noscreen tutor exists for the following situations:
When tutor mode is activated, the noscreen form is used if any of the following are true:
Operation of noscreen tutor is similar to screen tutor; the differences are as follows:
Example of a noscreen tutor session:
TAE>TUTOR XPTEST Parameters Requested: FILE, and THRESHLD. Parameters with Defined Qualifiers: FILE. TAE-XPTEST>LIST FILE = "IMAGE15" |THIS PARAMETER HAS QUALIFIERS| THRESHLD = 2.45983 TAE-XPTEST>QUAL FILE 'FILE' Parameter Qualifiers Requested: WINDOW, and FORMAT. TAE-XPTEST>LIST WINDOW=no value FORMAT="BSQ" TAE-XPTEST>WINDOW = (0, 511, 0, 511) TAE-XPTEST>LIST WINDOW WINDOW= (0, 511, 0, 511) TAE-XPTEST>ACCEPT TAE-XPTEST>RUN
After a proc has been initiated, the proc may use tutor mode to interactively solicit additional parameters from a user. This feature is called "dynamic tutor". (Note that a user may be presented with a tutor screen even though "TUTOR" was never typed.)
The collection of parameters that participate in a dynamic tutor session may be the same collection used to initiate the proc, a subset of the original collection, or an entirely different collection.
All normal tutor mode commands are available in dynamic tutor. The EXIT and RUN commands have a slightly different meaning: EXIT means to terminate the proc and RUN means to continue execution of the proc with the newly specified values.
A special dynamic tutor command, the HOLD command allows a user to enter dynamic tutor for a given job (using REPLY), then decide to continue execution of the job at a later time. See Section 2.7.1.1 for detailed discussion on dynamic tutor for asynchronous jobs.
Dynamic tutor starts in the tutor form indicated by the global variable $DYNTUT, which is initially set to "NOSCREEN". $DYNTUT may be set to "SCREEN" using LET $DYNTUT="SCREEN". Once in dynamic tutor mode, the user may switch form by entering the SCREEN or NOSCREEN command.
Compressed tutor is a more compact form of TAE's traditional tutor display: with compressed tutor, the line spacing between parameters is omitted, allowing up to 18 scalar parameters on a 24-line display. Compressed tutor may be requested "per-PDF" or "session-wide":
let $tutopt = "compress"
(Note that the $TUTOPT global is a nullable vector, so to remove the global compress request, set the variable to the null value, i.e., "let $tutopt = --".)
The traditional tutor display -- where space lines are used liberally to separate parameters -- is still available because (a) many users are accustomed to the old style, (b) much application documentation is committed to the old style, and (c) some installations find the old display more attractive than the compressed display.
Note that you may force a string parameter to fit on one line of a tutor screen (compressed or standard) by declaring the maximum string length to be 24. Thus, the parameter defined by:
parm x type=(string,24)
fits on one line, whereas the parameter defined by:
parm x type=string
requires six lines to handle the default maximum length of 132.