Before you go any further, please take the time to get a flavor of DESL.
(1) Do you really need DESL?
(2) Is your system set up to be able to host DESL?
(3) The DESL legal issues.
(4) Downloading DESL + Installation Part 1.
(5) Installation Part 2.
(6) Running DESL.
(7) DESL Modes of Execution
(8) DESL User Interface
(9) DESL Commands
(10) Command Options and Argument Lists
(11) DESL Update Chronology
(
quick1)
(1) Do you really need DESL?
Many existing tools let you deal with one data set at a time, whether you are plotting or computing new variables from existing data. DESL, too, allows a single data set at a time approach if this is what is desired. However, it also allows a single type of manipulation function to be applied to many data sets serially or in parallel and allows user-directed sequences of such manipulation functions to be applied to many data sets. Such sequences of operations, when organized properly, provide the means to control a powerful process which can be brought to bear on many data sets. The term "data sets" used here is synonomous with a data file. One data file contains one data set.
DESL is a file-oriented system. Existing files are read and, typically, new files are created. A multi-staged process, then, could read/create/read/create/etc. until a final set of data is produced.
Disk space, especially temporary disk space, is cheap and modern computers are powerful hardware platforms upon which very effective work can be carried out.
( quick2)
(2) Is your system set up to be able to host DESL?
PC : An Intel (or equivalent) Pentium with adequate memory/disk space running Windows 9X or NT is the intended host for DESL.
Unix : Various Unix platforms are also supported as DESL hosts.
The Compaq Visual Fortran compiler was used to produce all of the PC DESL code comprising DESL. The 32-bit PC platforms (386/486/Pentium) use a virtual memory scheme. Any application, therefore, having specific memory requirements will utilize some combination of working disk space and memory during execution. There are some combinations of levels of memory and/or available disk space below which DESL, or any other modern application, will not execute. Those levels cannot be determined apriori. But suffice it to say that most Pentium configurations have no problem running DESL. A basic minimum configuration is typically 32MB of memory and 40MB of working disk space.
Native Fortran compilers on the supported Ujnix platforms were used during the production of the DESL executables.
It is strongly suggested that the demonstration version of DESL be downloaded, installed and run, however, to see if your host system can successfully run DESL. A subscription version of DESL, having the same hardware requirements, will then be guaranteed to run successfully on your system.
Other optional software products mentioned within the DESL documentation are third party products that are available free of charge for use as facilitating applications. Ghostview, for displaying PostScript files, and Tcl/Tk for (future) GUI interfaces are those products. Each, at its referenced web location, discusses the respective hardware/software limitations.
( quick3)
(3) The DESL legal issues.
There are legal issues which any user or potential user of DESL must understand and agree to before using either the demonstration or subscription version of DESL. If agreement with the limitations and statements specified is not made then DESL should NOT be downloaded or used. On the password order form there is a place to indicate whether there is agreement with the stated legal issues or not.
( quick4)
(4) Downloading DESL + Installation Part 1.
If you are reading this on the ViGYAN-hosted web pages or on those pages local to your computer obtained from the ViGYAN server via a previous download of DESL you have access to :
resident on and available for downloading from the ViGYAN server.
The binary DESL self-extracting archive file deslsys.exe can be downloaded to your computer by clicking on the appropriate link.
What you are actually downloading is a single file which will be expanded into several other files required to produce a working DESL system.
On the PC, the downloaded "deslsys.exe" file is approximately 2.5MB in length. The required companion file deslpw.exe can also be downloaded by clicking on the appropriate link and must be downloaded each time the DESL self-extracting archive deslsys.exe is downloaded.
Your browser should recognize the "exe" extension of the "deslsys.exe" and the "deslpw.exe" files as one which should be saved as opposed to opended. In any event, the downloaded files should be saved on your PC. The location at which you save the files is not important at this time. In the long run it will be easiest to save the files to a location where DESL will ultimately live. We recommend C:\DESL as the resident directory.
The self-extracting archive file deslsys.exe you have downloaded, when expanded, will be seen to have contained :
The binary DESL tar file deslsun.tar, deslsolaris.tar or desliris.tar can be downloaded to your computer by clicking on the appropriate link.
What you are actually downloading is a single file which will be expanded into several other files required to produce a working DESL system.
The downloaded "deslsys.tar" file is approximately 3MB in length. The required companion file deslpw.exe can also be downloaded by clicking on the appropriate link and must be downloaded each time the DESL tar file deslsys.tar is downloaded.
In any event, the downloaded files should be saved on your system. The location at which you save the files is not important at this time. In the long run it will be easiest to save the files to a location where DESL will ultimately live. We recommend ~/desl as the resident directory.
The tar file deslsys.tar you have downloaded, when expanded, will be seen to have contained :
A 4-character code, which must be used to tie your downloaded version of DESL to a particular password, can be obtained by executing the utility deslpw.exe.
Failure to download deslpw.exe when you download the deslsys.exe or deslsys.tar will result in a situation in which you have a mismatch in the 4-character code reported by deslpw.exe and the password your DESL executable needs.
If there is a burden associated with beginning to use a new version of DESL it is that each new download will require the user to email or fax the order form to ViGYAN and be responded to with a matching password before the new version of DESL can be used.
Once the (new) password has been returned to you for the version of DESL
you had downloaded
To expand the PC self-extracting archive deslsys.exe all that has to
be done is to execute that file.
Example : deslsys.exe -dir
Be aware that wherever the file
deslsys.exe resides and is run from will be the top level of a
small directory tree comprised of the \doc
directory after the expansion has been completed.
In the directory where deslsys.exe existed there should have
been created the file : desl.exe.
In the \doc directory (under the directory
where deslsys.exe exists) there should be two files :
shddoc and makesys.exe.
Once the deslsys.exe file has been executed successfully the downloaded
files deslsys.exe" and "deslpw.exe" can be deleted.
To expand the Unix tar file deslsys.tar all that has to
be done is to execute :
Be aware that wherever the file
deslsys.tar resides and is run from will be the top level of a
small directory tree comprised of the \doc
directory after the expansion has been completed.
In the directory where deslsys.tar existed there should have
been created the file : desl.
In the \doc directory (under the directory
where deslsys.tar exists) there should be two files :
shddoc and makesys.
Once the deslsys.exe file has been executed successfully the downloaded
files deslsys.exe" and "deslpw.exe" can be deleted.
The file desl.exe (PC) or desl (Unix) is the
DESL executable. A valid password
MUST be provided as the first command to DESL. Later, a clean way of
supplying this password to DESL without having to enter it each time
the system is used will be discussed.
Two forms of the password are acceptable : the password for the
demonstration version of DESL
and the password for the unrestricted, or
subscription, version of DESL.
Both of the versions of DESL are functionally identical but
require different passwords. The demonstration version
of DESL is free and will live for approximately one month from the
time it was downloaded.
Most often, the only reason for the change
is to have the executable tagged with a different set of two
passwords - one for its "demonstration" use and the other for
its "unrestricted" use. Of course there will also be times that
a new DESL version will also contain updates and expanded capabilities
from those of a previous version. If a new version of DESL
contains any significant modifications and/or enhancements, they will
be described in the update page.
Thus, when these web pages refer to a "demonstration" version of
DESL and an "unrestricted" version of DESL, they are referring
to the use of the single downloadable DESL
executable and not the code's functionality. The supplied password
is what governs which of these two modes DESL
will be running in at any given time. The functionality of both
"versions" is identical.
The DESLPW environmental variable
is the best place to define the DESL password.
Although it is not the only way for it to be defined,
this method of definition is the cleanest way to
define the DESL password.
A caveat : If a newer version of DESL is downloaded
a new password will be effective and the DESLPW variable will have to
be also updated.
On the PC :
SET DESLPW=JuerT673DoiWoOUy
On Unix platforms :
setenv DESLPW JuerT673DoiWoOUy
There is an additional means by which the DESL password may be set.
If a file called DESLPW exists in, first, the path defined by the
DESLH Environmental variable or, second, the current directory
and the content of the first line of this file is
the 16-character DESL password, then the DESL password will be set.
It is intended that the demonstration version of DESL be downloaded
only once for the approximately 30-day trial. Early in this new
product's availability, however, this limitation may not be strictly
enforced.
The subscription version of DESL has an indefinite life span. The
required password will cause the version of DESL which was obtained
within the one-year subscription period to continue to run beyond
that period.
Future changes
in DESL will force a situation, however, in which
a previously downloaded subscription version of DESL will get more
and more out of date. It is intended that development, expanding the
capabilities of DESL, will continue indefinitely. During a
paid subscription period DESL may be downloaded as often as is
desired. Each DESL subscription version download, just as in
the case of having downloaded the demonstration version of DESL,
will have a new associated password.
If a new or renewing subscription is being ordered then some acceptable
method of payment to initiate the subscription is also required to be
faxed or emailed to ViGYAN.
Typically, a current DESL subscription user would have a working
version of DESL and desire to download a newer version.
When the new versions of deslsys.exe and deslpw.exe for the PC
or deslsys.tar and deslpw.exe for Unix systems
are downloaded
the newly downloaded deslpw.exe utility can be immediately executed
to yield a new 4-character code which can be sent to ViGYAN on an
order form to cause a password to be emailed back.
Once the new password arrives the new version of deslsys.exe
or deslsys.tar
can be run or untarred, respectively, to yield the new DESL files.
The new password can then be integrated into this system.
(
Once the files have been produced from the self-extracting archive
deslsys.exe (PC) or deslsys.tar (Unix)
and a valid password has been obtained from ViGYAN,
DESL is ready to be used.
If local web documentation is desired it must be produced by executing
the makesys utility in the doc directory. Execution of
makesys reads the scrambled file shddoc to yield a series
of HTML files also in the doc directory. The home page for
the DESL documentation is the file desl.htm in the doc
directory. It is recommended that, unless there is an outstanding
reason why you cannot do so, the documentation should exist on the local
DESL host. Access to the web-style documentation is faster
and the provision to include user notes
in the produced documentation web pages is possible as part of having a
DESL subscription. Each time a changes is needed in the local
web pages because one or more user notes has changed and/or a new version
of DESL has been downbloaded, the makesys utility can be
reexecuted to update the local web pages.
Before a smooth operation of DESL can be achieved
several
environmental
variables must be set. In fact
the setting of one particular environment variable, DESLH,
is mandatory for DESL to run successfully.
The DESLH environment variable
is defined on the PC Windows 9X platform in the
autoexec.bat file
and at the appropriate
In the PC case the line in the autoexec.bat file could
look like the following if the system was to be located in the recommended
directory called "DESL" under the root directory on the C: drive :
This example will inform the Windows system that
the desl.exe executable can be found
at
In the Unix case the line in the .cshrc or .login files could
look like the following if the system was to be located in the recommended
directory called "desl" under the root directory :
This example will inform the Unix system that
the desl executable can be found
at
The total length of the DESLH path string should be no longer than
64 characters.
The DESLPW environmental variable
is the best place to define the DESL password.
Although it is not the only way for it to be defined,
this method of definition is the cleanest way to
define the DESL password.
There is an additional means by which the DESL password may be set.
If a file called DESLPW exists in, first, the path defined by the
DESLH Environmental variable or, second, the current directory
and the content of the first line of this file is
the 16-character DESL password, then the DESL password will be set.
A caveat : If a newer version of DESL is downloaded
a new password will be effective and the DESLPW variable will have to
be also updated.
There are two other environment variables which can be optionally set.
There are two specially-named DESL input files - DESLINIT
and DESLEXIT - which can exist either in the directory where
DESL is being executed or can be pointed to by the environment
variables DESLI and DESLX, respectively.
If either of these two files does exist in the current directory AND
the respective environment variable is NOT set, then the version(s) of
DESLINIT and/or DESLEXIT in the
current directory will be used unless otherwise specifically prohibited.
These two files,
if in existence, will be used at the very beginning and very end of
a DESL session, respectively. These input files can contain
anything a normal input file can contain.
In the PC case, the lines in the autoexec.bat file needed to
set specific full path strings for these two files could look like :
SET DESLX=C:\DESL\DESLEXIT
In the Unix case, the lines in the .cshrc or .login
file needed to set specific full path strings for these two files could
look like :
setenv DESLX ~/desl/complete
Typical contents of a DESL initialization file might be :
whereas the typical contents of a DESL exit file might be :
Assuming the DESLH environment variable has been defined
properly, DESL can be executed from any location by entering
desl on the DOS/Unix command line or, in the PC case,
by selecting desl.exe from the start|run menu or by clicking
on a previously-produced shortcut icon. In these latter two cases
a MSDOS window is opened automatically.
As was stated earlier, both the
demonstration or unrestricted (subscription) versions
of DESL require an appropriate password and this
password must be used when DESL is executed.
The DESLPW environmental variable
is the best place to define the DESL password.
Although it is not the only way for it to be defined,
this method of definition is the cleanest way to
define the DESL password.
There is an additional means by which the DESL password may be set.
If a file called DESLPW exists in, first, the path defined by the
DESLH Environmental variable or, second, the current directory
and the content of the first line of this file is
the 16-character DESL password, then the DESL password will be set.
A caveat : If a newer version of DESL is downloaded
a new password will be effective and the DESLPW variable will have to
be also updated.
(
DESL can be invoked to run in one of several modes.
Example : desl
Here, following the carriage return after the desl invocation,
DESL will solicit input from the user until the user causes the
system to end.
Example : desl DESL_input1
The above file "DESL_input1" should end with the stopn command to
force the DESL session to end gracefully.
Here DESL will read all of its input from the named alternate file until
some form of the stop command is encountered.
Once DESL is begun
in the purely interactive mode, one or more input files can be used to
direct the DESL activity. (See the
input command for more details.)
Example :
Here DESL will read all of its input from the two named alternate
files and then return to the standard prompt to wait for more user
input.
Example :
where all of the DESL input is contained on the command line
itself in an up-to 128-character string which contains no
blanks. It is important to note here that whether or not
an explicit "stop" or "stop" variation is specified at the end of the
string it will be inferred; DESL will stop after using the
commands, etc in the string.
The syntax of such a string is the following :
The
example
above would have been equivalent to having specified the
following more traditional input sequence :
Regardless of the mode of the DESL invocation,
except in the case of the specification of the input in a single
string as described in (4) above, there are several
DESL settings which can be effected on the command line - i.e., before
DESL actually begins to execute.
A command line which looks like :
allows several options ( "opt1", "opt2", ...)
to be set from the command line.
** Note that if an input
file name ("fn") is specified if must be specified before
any options are specified.
The current allowable options and their meanings are :
Equivalent to "echo off", turning the DESL system echoing off.
(See the echo command.)
Equivalent to "log off", turning the DESL system logging off.
(See the log command.)
Equivalent to "autosys on", turning on the DESL "system" prefixing
capability. (See the system command.)
Equivalent to "reg set *V# val ", where "#" is a user value
register number from 1 to 10 and "val" is a real or integer
value to assign to the specified user value register.
(See the register command.)
Equivalent to "reg set *N# str ", where "#" is a user name
register number from 1 to 10 and "str" is an up-to 16-character
string to assign to the specified user name register.
(See the register command.)
DESL is an integrated command-driven system which responds to
user-supplied command words, options, and applicable option arguments.
Currently, the
user interface
is the command line (MS-DOS/Unix) interface.
In the future a GUI-based input will be
available to essentially be an optional front end for the DESL
command line interface. The command line interface will remain
available for use.
In order to accomplish a particular task, DESL needs to be
told what to do; ie, commanded to perform a certain function.
Additionally, in order to indicate to a DESL function exactly
how
to do its job, most DESL functions also require input in the form
of command modifiers, expressed as options and
option argument lists.
Taken altogether, this complete set of input directs DESL
to perform a specific operation. A series of one or more
DESL commands and associated option and option argument lists, from
DESL initialization to DESL stop, constitutes a session.
When DESL is begun, the user is at the command
prompt level; i.e., the DESL>
prompt is displayed.
At this point in a DESL session, a valid DESL
command name or abbreviation
should be entered.
DESL commands are names which invoke particular
functional units of the overall DESL system. A complete list
of all of the available DESL commands and their descriptions
and uses is given at the DESL Commands
page.
A DESL command can require
If the command requires no options (and arguments) or
requires arguments to be specified on the command line,
and these arguments are correct and sufficient, the appropriate
function immediately begins to execute.
After execution, the user is returned to the command level.
If the command does require additional options (and option
arguments) following a carriage return after the command's name
or abbreviation on a new line the system prompts the
user for these by displaying a unique prompt of the form
cmmd>,
where cmmd is the name of the command being executed.
After determining that what was specified a valid DESL
command or macro name and
the appropriate function or macro begins to execute.
After execution, the user is returned to the command level.
(
Once a command has been entered at the command level
more input may be required. This additional input is given
in the form of options and argument lists on lines following
the line on which the command name or abbreviation was specified.
In general an option/argument list is composed of name-type
strings which have special meaning to the function in
question. These special strings are called options.
Depending on the option, there may be other name or value
specifications which are also required or allowed to give full meaning,
in the current context, to the applicable option. This group
of additional input, describing or modifying the option, is
known as the argument list.
An argument list extends from its associated option up to, but not
including, the next option.
The user must enter all options and argument lists which
are pertinent to the intended operation, terminating such
input with the special option go.
DESL will not attempt to execute the applicable
function until, as a minimum, all of the required options and
arguments have been specified.
When the option and argument list is terminated with a go
the and if the input has been judged sufficient and
syntactically correct the appropriate DESL function
begins to execute.
If DESL judges there to be one or more problems with the syntax
or if the input is not sufficient, one or more messages are issued,
the command is terminated, and the user is put back to the
command prompt level.
As the user gains familiarity with DESL and as additional
functions are installed it will become more obvious that many
of the same options are applicable to more than one
command. Also, a particular option's meaning will be similar,
if not the same, in all contexts.
A discussion of all options relative to each of the commands they
can modify is presented in the DESL
Commands documentation.
In that documentation section, at the beginning of the discussion of
each DESL command, a list of required and optional
options for that command are presented.
Each option which is is required.
Each option which is not blinking is optional.
Sample Session
A sample session is presented below. The copy command is
specified along with some required and optional options and
their arguments.
Commands and options are in green font .
and option argument lists are in red font .
All other text is system prompts/responses.
desl
...Welcome to DESL ...
Enter command, abbreviation or "help" now...
DESL > copy
copy > files
r10 r11
names
test run point
copy > neofs
2 alpw gt 0
cset
2 mach lt .5
copy > newfiles
newr10 newr11
go
<< copy : save set "save0001" created >>
--->COPY : "newr10" CREATED FROM "r10".
--->COPY : "newr11" CREATED FROM "r11".
DESL > stop
...Ending DESL Version 012599
( Log file "log12321.dsl" created.)
For the PC
This file MUST be executed with the "-dir"
argument. For the Unix system
The downloadable DESL executable version will change as
a function of time.
quick5)
(5) Installation Part 2.
SET DESLI=C:\DESL\DESLINIT
setenv DESLI ~/desl/start
*
* Define the DESL password (ALWAYS the FIRST command)
* IF it is NOT defined in an environmental variable.
*
* Turn ON overstoring and set the editor to the "vi" editor
*
os on
editor vi
*
* Clean up the files "to be deleted" ...
*
cl
go
quick7)
(7) DESL Modes of Execution
input dslinput1
input dslinput2
desl FN#copy/files^run10/names^alpha^cl^cd^go/sn/
desl
copy
files run10
names alpha cl cd go
sn
desl (fn) -opt1 -opt2 ...
Example :
DESL> status
DESL> reg set *N1 = Test61
DESL>
Example(s) :
DESL> print
print> (print options and argument lists ...)
print> (print options and argument lists ...)
print> (print options and argument lists ... go)
DESL>
quick10)
(10) Command Options and Argument Lists
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