Bartels User Language - Programmer's Guide 2.5 Control Structures

This section describes the control flow constructions provided by Bartels User Language. Control flow statements specify the order in which computations are processed. According to the principles of structured programming Bartels User Language distinguishes between concatenation (sequential program element), alternation and repetition (CAR - Concatenation, Alternation, Repetition).

2.5.1 Concatenations

Statements

A statement consists of an expression (see chapter 2.4) followed by a semicolon (;), as in

tabulator = '\t' ;
distance = sqrt(a*a+b*b) ;
filename += extension = ".ddb" ;
++ary[i] ;
printf("Part %s ;\n",partname) ;

The semicolon is a statement terminator. An empty statement is encountered by

;

where the expression at the left of the semicolon is omitted. Empty statements can be used to define dependent (dummy) statements (e.g., inside loops). A statement is indicated as dependent statement, if it is context-dependent to an alternation or a repetition (see below).

Bartels User Language allows the specification of statements without side-effect as in

27+16.3;
++11;

Statements without side-effect are worthless since they neither change any variable value by assignment nor do they activate any function. I.e., User Language Compiler issues a warning message if a statement without side-effects is encountered.

Blocks

A block consists of a sequence of declarations (see chapter 2.3.2) and statements and is enclosed with braces ({ and }). I.e., the braces apply for grouping declarations and statements together into a compound statement or block, which then is syntactically equivalent to a single statement. Compound statements are most commonly used at the definition of functions or for grouping multiple dependent statements of an alternation or repetition.

2.5.2 Alternations

Alternations make decisions according to a special expression value in order to branch to the execution of corresponding dependent (compound) statements.

if- and if-else Statement

The formal syntax of the if statement is

if (expression)
      statement

where the dependent statement of the if statement is only executed if the expression value is nonzero (i.e., a value different from 0 or the empty string on string expressions). The formal syntax of the if-else statement is

if (expression)
      statement1
else
      statement2

where the if expression is evaluated, and statement1 is executed if the expression value is nonzero or else statement2 is executed if the expression value is zero. Dependent statements of an if and/or if-else statement can be if or if-else statements again, i.e., if and if-else statements can nest as in

if (expression)
      statement
else if (expression) {
      if (expression)
              statement
      }
else if (expression)
      statement
:
else
      statement

Since the else part of an if-else statement is optional, there is an ambiguity when an else is omitted from a nested if sequence. This is resolved in a way that the else is associated with the closest previous else-less if. The if and/or if-else statement can be utilized as in

string classname="SCM ";
if (bae_planddbclass()==800)
      classname+="Sheet";
else if (bae_planddbclass()==801 || bae_planddbclass()==803)
      classname+="Symbol/Label";
else if (bae_planddbclass()==802)
      classname+="Marker";
else {
      classname="***INVALID***";
      printf("No valid element loaded!\n");
      }

where the class of the currently loaded SCM element is determined and the value of the variable classname is set accordingly.

switch Statement

The switch statement is a special multi-way decision maker that tests whether an expression matches one of a number of other expressions, and branches accordingly. The formal syntax of the switch statement is

switch (expression)
      statement

Each dependent statement of the switch statement can be preceded with an arbitrary number of case labels of the form

case expression :

or

default :

The statements between the case labels are strictly dependent to the closest previous case label. The dependent statements of a case label are only executed if the value of the case expression matches the value of the switch expression. The default label specifies an arbitrary value, i.e., the statements following to the default label is always executed. case labels do not have any effect on the sequence of computing (the execution continues as if there is no case label). The break statement (see also chapter 2.5.4) can be used in a case segment to leave the switch control structure. The switch statement can be utilized as in

string classname="SCM ";
switch (bae_planddbclass()) {
      case 800 :
      classname+="Sheet";
      break;
      case 801 :
      case 803 :
      classname+="Symbol/Label";
      break;
      case 802 :
      classname+="Marker";
      break;
      default :
      classname="***INVALID***";
      printf("No valid element loaded!\n");
      }

where the class of the currently loaded SCM element is determined and the value of the variable classname is set accordingly.

2.5.3 Repetitions

Repetitions are control structures forming a loop for the repetitive computing of certain parts of a program. Each repetitive statement provides a method for testing a certain condition in order to end the processing of the loop. If a program runs into a loop, where the loop-end condition is never reached, then the control flow cannot be passed back to the caller of the program (i.e., the program runs "forever"). This is a fatal programming error, which the User Language Compiler can recognize under certain conditions.

while Statement

The formal syntax of the while statement is

while (expression)
      statement

where the dependent statement is repeated until the value of the while expression is zero (0 or empty string for string expressions). The while statement can be utilized as in

// ASCII file view
main()
{
      string fname;           // File name
      int fh;                 // File handle
      string curstr="";       // Current input string
      // Set the file error handle mode
      fseterrmode(0);
      // Print the program banner
      printf("ASCII FILE VIEWER STARTED\n");
      // Repeatedly ask for the input file name
      while (fname=askstr("File Name (press RETURN to exit) : ",40)) {
              // Open the input file
              printf("\n");
              if ((fh=fopen(fname,0))==(-1)) {
                      printf("File open failure!\n");
                      continue;
                      }
              // Get the current input string
              while (fgets(curstr,128,fh)==0)
                      // Print the current input string
                      puts(curstr);
              // Test on read errors; close the file
              if (!feof(fh) || fclose(fh))
                      // Read or close error
                      break;
              }
}

where the contents of user-selectable files are listed to the terminal. The continue statement (see also chapter 2.5.4) causes the next iteration of the while loop to begin immediately. The break statement (see also chapter 2.5.4) provides an immediate exit from the while loop.

do-while Statement

The formal syntax of the do-while statement is

do
      statement
while (expression);

where the dependent statement is repeated until the value of the do-while expression is zero (0 or empty string for string expressions). The dependent statement always is executed at least once (contrary to while).

for Statement

The formal syntax of the for statement is

for (expression1; expression2; expression3)
      statement

which is equivalent to

experession1;
while (expression2) {
      statement;
      expression3;
      }

where expression1 is evaluated, and then the dependent statement is executed and expression3 is evaluated until expression2 is zero. I.e., expression1 typically is used for initialization, expression2 applies the loop-end test and expression3 performs something like an increment. Any of the three expressions can be omitted, although the semicolons must remain. The for statement can be utilized as in

void strwords(string s)
{
      string strlist[];
      int strcount,i,j;
      char c;
      for ( strcount=0,j=0,i=0 ; c=s[i++] ; ) {
              if (c==' ' || c=='\t') {
                      if (j>0) {
                              strcount++;
                              j=0;
                              }
                      continue;
                      }
              strlist[strcount][j++]=c;
              }
      for ( i=strcount ; i>=0 ; i-- )
              printf("%s\n",strlist[i]);
}

where the function strwords separates the given string parameter into words to be stored to a list and printed in reverse order afterwards.

forall Statement

The forall statement applies for automatic sequential processing of the currently available elements of an index data type. The formal syntax of the forall statement is

forall (identifier1 of identifier2 where expression)
      statement

where identifier1 must refer to an index variable type specifying the type of the forall index to be processed; the forall statement automatically initializes and "increments" this variable. The forall loop is terminated after the last element of the index list has been processed. The of statement of the forall statement restricts access to those elements of a currently valid index element of the next higher hierarchy level; i.e., the of index must refer to an index type which allows for the processing of the forall index type. The where expression determines whether the dependent statement should be processed for the current forall index (if where expression nonzero) or not (if where expression zero). Both the of statement and the where statement are optional; thus the shortest possible form of a forall statement is

forall (identifier1)
      statement

The forall statement can be utilized as in

index L_CPART part;
index L_CPIN pin;
forall (part where part.USED) {
      forall (pin of part where pin.NET.NAME=="vcc")
              printf("Part %s, Pin %s ;\n",part.NAME,pin.NAME);

where the list of part pins connected to the net vcc is printed to the terminal. See appendix B of this manual for a description of the index variable types.

2.5.4 Program Flow Control

Besides the previously described control flow statements Bartels User Language provides some additional structures for controlling the program flow.

break Statement

The formal syntax of the break statement is

break;

The break statement must be dependent to a repetitive statement (while, do-while, for or forall) or to a switch statement (otherwise the Compiler issues an error message). The break statement provides an early exit from a repetition, just as from switch; i.e., break statements cause the innermost enclosing loop (or switch) to be exited immediately.

continue Statement

The formal syntax of the continue statement is

continue;

The continue statement must be dependent to a repetitive statement (while, do-while, for or forall), or otherwise the Compiler issues an error message. The continue statement causes the innermost enclosing loop to restart immediately at the beginning of the loop. I.e., in while and do-while loops, continue causes the end-condition to be tested immediately; in for loops, continue passes control to the execution of the "increment" statement.

Function Call and return Statement

Both the function call facilities and the return statement have been introduced already. These features are so important for controlling the program flow that they are worth a brief separate discussion at this place.

A function call is an expression which performs a jump to the first statement of the corresponding function definition. The return statement can only be used in functions; it terminates the execution of the currently active function and jumps back to the instruction immediately following to the previous function call (i.e., it passes the control flow back to the caller of the function). The general formal syntax of the return statement is

return;

or

return expression;

If the return statement does not contain any expression, then the return value of the corresponding function is undefined. Otherwise the function return value is set to the return expression, which must be compatible to the function data type (otherwise, the Compiler issues an error message). If the end of a function block is encountered, and the last statement has not been a return statement, then the Compiler automatically produces code corresponding to a valid return statement with a function-compatible default (zero) return value. The generation of a default return value is only possible for basic function data types I.e., a function definition as in

struct structname functionname() { }

causes a Compiler error message since the Bartels User Language Interpreter would encounter a memory protection fault when trying to access any of the elements of this return value.

Control Structures
© 1985-2025 Oliver Bartels F+E • Updated: 02 October 2007, 11:22 [UTC]