08/23/83 Formatting Options (General Information): Formatting options control the layout of a report. A formatting option consists of a name to identify it and a value which it is set to. Examples of formatting options are "-page_width 80" and "-title_line on". Formatting options which deal with columns require an option identifier to uniquely identify the column. For example, to set the width of a column, an identifier is needed to determine which column the width should be set for. Identifiers can be given as the number of the column in the LILA selection-expression, the name of the column as defined in the open model or submodel, or a star name which is matched against the column names. Examples of formatting options with identifiers are "-width salary 10", "-folding 3 fill", and "-width ** 20". The values of format options are listed and set through the "list_format_options" and "set_format_options" requests. These requests take control arguments which are the names of the format options. For example, to find out what the current page width is, the request "list_format_options -page_width" would be given. To change the page width, the request "set_format_options -page_width 65" would be used. Classifications: The formatting options can be grouped into three classifications: general report options; general column options; and specific column options. General report options control overall characteristics of a report, such as the page width. They are given a default value when linus is first invoked, and can be changed by the user at any time. They retain their value across a complete linus session. General column options control overall characteristics of the columns, such as watching the value of certain columns to determine if a page break should be generated. They are given a default value for every new LILA selection-expression, and can be changed by the user at any time. They retain their value until the next new LILA selection-expression. Specific column options control the characteristics of one specific column, such as a column's width. They are given a default value for every new LILA selection-expression, and can be changed by the user at any time. They retain their value until the next new LILA selection-expression. These are the only formatting options which require an identifier to determine which column the particular option applies to. Active options: All specific column options are considered active at all times. General column options and general report options are considered active only when their value is different from the default value they are originally given. For example, if -page_width is always set to its default value it is not considered active. The moment that it is changed to a value different from its default it is considered active. This, for example, reduces the number of options listed when a user types the "list_format_options" request with no control arguments. The -page_width option would never be listed if it was set to its default value, unless it was specifically asked for. General report options: -delimiter -format_document_controls -hyphenation -page_footer_value -page_header_value -page_length -page_width -title_line -truncation General column options: -column_order -count -exclude -group -group_footer_trigger -group_footer_value -group_header_trigger -group_header_value -outline -page_break -row_footer_value -row_header_value -subcount -subtotal -total Specific column options: -alignment -editing -folding -separator -title -width ----------------------------------------------------------- Historical Background This edition of the Multics software materials and documentation is provided and donated to Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Group BULL including BULL HN Information Systems Inc. as a contribution to computer science knowledge. This donation is made also to give evidence of the common contributions of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Laboratories, General Electric, Honeywell Information Systems Inc., Honeywell BULL Inc., Groupe BULL and BULL HN Information Systems Inc. to the development of this operating system. Multics development was initiated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Project MAC (1963-1970), renamed the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in the mid 1970s, under the leadership of Professor Fernando Jose Corbato. Users consider that Multics provided the best software architecture for managing computer hardware properly and for executing programs. Many subsequent operating systems incorporated Multics principles. Multics was distributed in 1975 to 2000 by Group Bull in Europe , and in the U.S. by Bull HN Information Systems Inc., as successor in interest by change in name only to Honeywell Bull Inc. and Honeywell Information Systems Inc. . ----------------------------------------------------------- Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute these programs and their documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,provided that the below copyright notice and historical background appear in all copies and that both the copyright notice and historical background and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the names of MIT, HIS, BULL or BULL HN not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the programs without specific prior written permission. Copyright 1972 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Honeywell Information Systems Inc. Copyright 2006 by BULL HN Information Systems Inc. Copyright 2006 by Bull SAS All Rights Reserved