Modes of Program Input and Output

[ Running ALADDIN ] [ Modes of Input ] [ Leaving ALADDIN ]

RUNNING ALADDIN

ALADDIN's command line arguments are setup in a very flexible way.

The program can be started by typing ALADDIN, the name of the executable program, followed by zero or more command line arguments. A list of ALADDIN command options can be obtained by typing either

    ALADDIN 

by itself, or

    ALADDIN  -h

MODES OF INPUT

Two modes of operation are supported:

Input from the Keyboard

    ALADDIN -[ks]

Input from a File

    ALADDIN -[sf]   

Command options have the following meaning:

• The flag -f indicates input from a file (it must be accompanied by a filename).
  
  
• The flag -k indicates input from the keyboard. When input is generated via the keyboard, a input history file will be generated and named as inputfile.std . In the likely event of mistyping or a syntax error, you can continue type in inputfile.std .
  
  
• The -s flag causes the input to be scanned for syntax errors without actually executing the program.

The command ALADDIN must be accompanied by either the -f flag, or the -k flag. The -s flag is optional. Command line options can be typed in arbitrary sequences.

Recommendation : For anything other than the most basic problem, we recommend that you prepare your problem descriptions in an input file. For example, the command

    ALADDIN -f input-highway-bridge >! output-highway-bridge

will instruct ALADDIN to read blocks of statements from a file called input-highway-bridge and redirect the program output to a file called output-highway-bridge.

Use of an input file will allow for the incremental solution to a problem.

LEAVING ALADDIN

The command to exit from ALADDIN is

   quit;

Don't forget the semicolon.