Statements Grouped by Function

This document provides an overview of Natural statements grouped by function.

Notes:

  1. Certain statements can be used both in structured mode and in reporting mode, while others can be used in reporting mode only. See Natural Programming Modes in the Programming Guide.
  2. The statements DLOGOFF, DLOGON, SHOW, IMPORT and EXPORT are only available when Entire DB is installed. For a description, see the Entire DB documentation.

Database Access and Update

The following types of statements are available:

Natural DML Statements

The following Natural data manipulation language (DML) statements are used to access and manipulate information contained in a database.

READ Reads a database file in physical or logical sequence of records.
FIND Selects records from a database file based on user-specified criteria.
HISTOGRAM Reads the values of a database field.
GET Reads a record with a given ISN (internal sequence number) or RNO (record number).
GET SAME Re-reads the record currently being processed.
ACCEPT/REJECT Accepts/reject records based on user-specified criteria.
PASSW Provides password for access to a password-protected file.
LIMIT Limits the number of executions of a READ, FIND or HISTOGRAM processing loop.
STORE Adds a new record to the database.
UPDATE Updates a record in the database.
DELETE Deletes a record from the database.
END TRANSACTION Indicates the end of a logical transaction.
BACKOUT TRANSACTION Backs out a partially completed logical transaction.
GET TRANSACTION DATA Reads transaction data stored with a previous END TRANSACTION statement.
RETRY Attempts to re-read a record which is in hold status for another user.
AT START OF DATA Specifies statements to be performed when the first of a set of records is processed in a processing loop.
AT END OF DATA Specifies statements to be performed after the last of a set of records has been processed in a processing loop.
AT BREAK Specifies statements to be performed when the value of a control field changes (break processing).
BEFORE BREAK PROCESSING Specifies statements to be performed before performing break processing.
PERFORM BREAK PROCESSING Immediately invokes break processing.

Natural SQL Statements

In addition to the Natural DML statements, Natural also provides SQL statements for use in Natural programs that manipulate data on an SQL database.

The following Natural SQL statements are available:

CALLDBPROC Invokes a stored procedure of the SQL database system to which Natural is connected.
COMMIT Indicates the end of a logical transaction and releases all data locked during the transaction. All data modifications are committed and made permanent.
DELETE Deletes either rows in a table without using a cursor ("searched" DELETE) or rows in a table to which a cursor is positioned ("positioned" DELETE).
INSERT Adds one or more new rows to a table.
PROCESS SQL Issues SQL statements to the underlying database.
READ RESULT SET Reads a result set which was created by a stored procedure that was invoked by a previous CALLDBPROC statement.
ROLLBACK Undoes all database modifications made since the beginning of the last recovery unit.
SELECT Supports both the cursor-oriented selection that is used to retrieve an arbitrary number of rows and the non-cursor selection (singleton SELECT) that retrieves at most one single row.
UPDATE Performs an update operation on either rows in a table without using a cursor ("searched" UPDATE) or columns in a row to which a cursor is positioned ("positioned" UPDATE).

Arithmetic and Data Movement Operations

The following statements are used for arithmetic and data movement operations:

COMPUTE Performs arithmetic operations or assigns values to fields.
ADD Adds two or more operands.
SUBTRACT Subtracts one or more operands from another operand.
MULTIPLY Multiplies two or more operands.
DIVIDE Divides one operand into another.
EXAMINE TRANSLATE Translates the characters contained in a field into upper-case or lower-case, or into other characters.
MOVE Moves the value of an operand to one or more fields.
MOVE ALL Moves multiple occurrences of a value to another field.
COMPRESS Concatenates the value of two or more fields into a single field.
SEPARATE Separates the content of a field into two or more fields.
EXAMINE Scans a field for a specific value and replaces it, and/or counts how often it occurs.
RESET Sets the value of a field to zero (if numeric) or blank (if alphanumeric), or to its initial value.

Loop Execution

The following statements are related to the execution of processing loops:

ESCAPE Stops the execution of a processing loop.
FOR Initiates a processing loop and controls the number of times the loop is to be processed.
REPEAT Initiates a processing loop (and terminates it based on a specified condition).
SORT Sorts records.

Creation of Output Reports

The following statements are used for the creation of output reports:

FORMAT Specifies output parameter settings.
DISPLAY Specifies fields to be output in column form.
WRITE / PRINT Specifies fields to be output in non-column form.
WRITE TITLE Specifies text to be output at the top of each page of a report.
WRITE TRAILER Specifies text to be output at the bottom of each page of a report.
AT TOP OF PAGE Specifies processing to be performed when a new output page is started.
AT END OF PAGE Specifies processing to be performed when the end of an output page is reached.
SKIP Generates one or more blank lines in a report.
EJECT Causes a page advance without titles or headings.
NEWPAGE Causes a page advance with titles and headings.
SUSPEND IDENTICAL SUPPRESS Suspends identical suppression for a single record.
DEFINE PRINTER Allocates a report to a logical output destination.
CLOSE PRINTER Closes a printer.

Screen Generation for Interactive Processing

The following statements are used to create data screens (maps) for the purpose of interactive processing of data:

INPUT Creates a formatted screen (map) for data display/ entry.
REINPUT Re-executes an INPUT statement (if invalid data were entered in response to the previous INPUT statement).
DEFINE WINDOW Specifies the size, position and attributes of a window.
SET WINDOW Activates and de-activates a window.
PROCESS PAGE Creates a data mapping to a web rich GUI screen.
PROCESS PAGE USING Performs rich GUI I/O processing using an adapter object generated from a page layout.
PROCESS PAGE UPDATE Re-executes a PROCESS PAGE statement.
PROCESS PAGE MODAL Initiates a processing block and controls the lifetime of a rich GUI window.

Processing of Logical Conditions

The following statements are used to control the execution of statements based on conditions detected during the execution of a Natural program:

IF Performs statements depending on a logical condition.
IF SELECTION Verifies that in a sequence of alphanumeric fields one and only one contains a value.
DECIDE FOR Performs statements depending on logical conditions.
DECIDE ON Performs statements depending on the contents of a variable.

Invoking Programs and Routines

The following statements are used in conjunction with the execution of programs and routines:

CALL Invokes a non-Natural program from a Natural program.
CALLNAT Invokes a Natural subprogram.
CALL FILE Invokes a non-Natural program to read a record from a non-Adabas file.
CALL LOOP Generates a processing loop containing a call to a non-Natural program.
DEFINE SUBROUTINE Defines a Natural subroutine.
ESCAPE Stops the execution of a routine.
FETCH Invokes a Natural program.
PERFORM Invokes a Natural subroutine.
PROCESS COMMAND Invokes a command processor.
RUN Compiles and executes a source program.

Functions

The following Natural statements are used to create functions:

DEFINE FUNCTION Creates functions which can be called instead of operands in Natural statements. Functions are defined in Natural objects of type function.
DEFINE PROTOTYPE Specifies the properties to be used for a function call.
Function Call Used to call Natural objects of type function.

Program and Session Termination

The following Natural statements are used to terminate the execution of an application or to terminate the Natural session.

STOP Terminates the execution of an application.
TERMINATE Terminates the Natural session.

Control of Work Files

The following Natural statements are used to read/write data to a physical sequential (non-Adabas) work file:

WRITE WORK FILE Writes data to a work file.
READ WORK FILE Reads data from a work file.
CLOSE WORK FILE Closes a work file.
DEFINE WORK FILE Assigns a file name to a work file.

Component Based Programming

The following Natural statements are used in conjunction with component based programming:

DEFINE CLASS Specifies a class from within a Natural class module.
CREATE OBJECT Creates an object (also known as an instance) of a given class.
SEND METHOD Invokes a method of an object.
INTERFACE Defines an interface (a collection of methods and properties) for a certain feature of a class.
METHOD Assigns a subprogram as the implementation of a method, outside an interface definition.
PROPERTY Assigns an object data variable as the implementation to a property, outside an interface definition.

Event-Driven Programming

The following Natural statements are used for event-driven programming:

OPEN DIALOG Opens a dialog.
CLOSE DIALOG Closes a dialog.
SEND EVENT Triggers a user-defined event.
PROCESS GUI Performs a standard procedure in an event-driven application.

Memory Management Control for Dynamic Variables or X-Arrays

EXPAND Expands the allocated memory of dynamic variables to a given size or expands the number of occurrences of X-arrays.
REDUCE Reduces the size of a dynamic variable or the number of occurrences of X-arrays.
RESIZE Adjusts the size of a dynamic variableor the number of occurrences of X-arrays.

Natural Remote Procedure Call

OPEN CONVERSATION Allows the RPC Client to open a conversation and specify the remote subprograms to be included in the conversation.
CLOSE CONVERSATION Allows the client to close conversations. You can close the current conversation, another open conversation, or all open conversations.
DEFINE DATA CONTEXT Defines variables known as context variables, which are meant to be available to multiple remote subprograms within one conversation, without having to explicitly pass the variables as parameters with the corresponding CALLNAT statements.

See also the section Natural Statements Involved in the Natural RPC (Remote Procedure Call) documentation.

Internet and XML

PARSE Allows you to parse XML documents from a Natural program.
REQUEST DOCUMENT Allows you to access an external system.

Miscellaneous

DEFINE DATA Defines the data elements which are to be used in a Natural program or routine.
END Indicates the end of the source code of a Natural program or routine.
INCLUDE Incorporates Natural copycode at compilation.
ON ERROR Intercepts runtime errors which would otherwise result in a Natural error message, followed by the termination of the Natural program.
PROCESS REPORTER Enables communication with the Natural reporter from within a program, instructing the reporter to perform a particular action.
RELEASE Deletes the contents of the Natural stack; releases sets of ISN sets retained via a FIND statement; releases Natural global variables.
SET CONTROL Performs a Natural terminal command from within a Natural program.
SET KEY Assigns functions to terminal keys.
SET GLOBALS Sets values for session parameters.
SET TIME Establishes a point-in-time reference for a *TIMD system variable.
STACK Places data and/or commands into the Natural stack.

Reporting Mode Statements

The following statements are for reporting mode only:

LOOP Closes a processing loop.
DO/DOEND Specify a group of statements to be executed based on a logical condition.
OBTAIN Causes one or more fields to be read from a file.
REDEFINE Redefines a field.

The following statements can be used both in structured mode and in reporting mode, however, the statement structure and, with some of them, the functionality is different:

AT START OF DATA Specifies statements to be performed when the first of a set of records is processed in a processing loop.
AT END OF DATA Specifies statements to be performed after the last of a set of records has been processed in a processing loop.
AT BREAK Specifies statements to be performed when the value of a control field changes (break processing).
AT TOP OF PAGE Specifies processing to be performed when a new output page is started.
AT END OF PAGE Specifies processing to be performed when the end of an output page is reached.
BEFORE BREAK PROCESSING Specifies statements to be performed before performing break processing.
CALL LOOP Generates a processing loop containing a call to a non-Natural program.
CALL FILE Invokes a non-Natural program to read a record from a non-Adabas file.
COMPUTE Performs arithmetic operations or assigns values to fields.
DEFINE SUBROUTINE Defines a Natural subroutine.
ESCAPE Stops the execution of a processing loop.
FIND Selects records from a database file based on user-specified criteria.
GET SAME Re-reads the record currently being processed.
HISTOGRAM Reads the values of a database field.
IF Performs statements depending on a logical condition.
IF SELECTION Verifies that in a sequence of alphanumeric fields one and only one contains a value.
ON ERROR Intercepts runtime errors which would otherwise result in a Natural error message, followed by the termination of the Natural program.
READ Reads a database file in physical or logical sequence of records.
READ WORK FILE Reads data from a work file.
REPEAT Initiates a processing loop (and terminates it based on a specified condition).
SORT Sorts records.
STORE Adds a new record to the database.
UPDATE Updates a record in the database.