When creating and running ESL applications, you usually don't have to think about the underlying operating system, since the ESL language is designed to run consistently on all platforms. In spite of this there are certain platform-specific considerations you should be aware of when writing, compiling, and running your applications.
For each ESL program that is required, you simply need to create a text file containing ESL statements.
The extension of this text file must always be .EAL but can be created using any text editor. The ESL package is supplied with a program text editor ESL Edit. This utility has been written in the ESL Language and is designed so that it understands the format of ESL statements, allowing immediate navigation to the routines within an ESL application's source code. ESL Edit also provides access to all the other ESL supplied utilities, plus the ability to compile and run applications without leaving the ESL Edit environment.
When an .EAL file is complete, you must compile it using the ESL compiler (EParse.exe). If you are using ESL Edit, this can be performed by using the Compile menu option.
When you compile an ESL program, the ESL for Windows production compiler transforms the .EAL program statements into a binary representation contained in a file with the extension .WEB.
The .WEB file is then ready to be executed by the ESL runtime software (EslRun.exe). If you are using ESL Edit, this can be performed by using the Run menu option.
One way to compile and run ESL programs is to double click the .eal or the .web when viewing the files with windows explorer. More options are available if you right click the files. You can also specify the following directives when you create a command file or short-cut to compile or run your application. However; if you have a large number of ESL applications to compile, would recommend a batch or command file. There is a sample command file in Appendix C, which can be tailored, as needed.
Parameters are passed using the configuration file or by using compiler directives and runtime directives. Each directive, except the data initialization (i.e. "-d"), is designed to be only specified once. If duplicate directives are specified, the last occurrence will be used. With only the limitation of available memory, any number of data initialization directives may be used.
