Using Natural

This documentation introduces you to the usage of Natural in a UNIX environment.

The instructions and methods described in this documentation relate to the default standards as delivered with the original Natural software. They are not a comprehensive description of all features provided by Natural. For a full description of all options and functions, refer to the corresponding Natural documentation.

The layout of the example screens provided in this documentation and the behavior of Natural described here can differ from your results. For example, a command or message line may appear in a different screen position, or the execution of a Natural command may be protected by security control. The default settings in your environment depend on the system parameters set by your Natural administrator.

This documentation is organized under the following headings:

Invoking and Terminating a Natural Session How to start and end a Natural session.
Natural Main Menu A description of the main menu. Information on the programming modes supported by Natural. An overview of the menus available from the main menu.
Using Natural Libraries How to create a library and how to log on to a library and display its contents.
Commonly Used System Commands An overview of the system commands used to create and modify source code, store and delete objects, and execute programs.
Miscellaneous Information How to invoke help on error messages. Brief information on the Natural editors and on debugging. How to use asterisk notation.
Rules and Naming Conventions Natural-specific rules and naming conventions for objects, libraries and user-defined variables.