----------  System Variables  ----------

Empress has the following system variables, all of which may be set by
the user:

@ifdef UNIX
Path Variables         Function
@endif
@ifdef VMS
Filespec Variables     Function
@endif

MSHELPPATH             Directory for Empress help files

Empress 4GL            Function

MSAPFMDB               M-Builder system database
MSCOMPILEFORMS         Flag for including/excluding forms in compiles
MSSCFLUSHTYPEAHEAD     Flag to disable typeahead
MSSCPRINTSCREEN        Command to print screen
MSTERMDB               Terminal information database
@ifdef VMS || DOS
TERM                   Terminal type in use
@endif VMS DOS

M-Writer               Function

MSMWNULLOK             Suppress error on printing null
MSPAGELENGTH           Default page length for reports
MSPAGEWIDTH            Default page width for reports

General                Function

MSDATEPIC              Default date picture for reports and data entry
MSDOLLAR               Default format for dollar data types
@ifdef UNIX || VMS
MSEDITOR               Editor used by ".zz" command in Interactive Interface
                       and the system editor invoked by M-Builder
@endif UNIX VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSEDITOR               Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
MSFILESOPEN            Max. # of files that will be opened by Empress
MSKEEPNONPRINTCHAR     Flag for handling non-printing characters
MSLINECONT             String used to continue lines
MSNULLVALUE            String to replace null values
@ifdef UNIX
MSPAGER                System program for paging Query Language command output
@endif UNIX
@ifdef VMS
MSPAGER                Not used in VMS
@endif VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSPAGER                Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
MSPERMS                Access permissions for Empress output files
@ifdef UNIX
MSPRINTER              System program used to send output to a printer
@endif UNIX
@ifdef VMS
MSPRINTER              Not used in VMS
@endif VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSPRINTER              Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
@ifdef UNIX
MSSHELL                UNIX shell for shell escapes
@endif UNIX
@ifdef VMS
MSSHELL                Not used in VMS
@endif VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSSHELL                Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
@ifdef UNIX || VMS
MSSORTBYPASS           Flag to skip locked records during sorting
@endif UNIX VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSSORTBYPASS           Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
@ifdef UNIX || DOS
MSSORTSPACE            Byte limit on space used during sorting
@endif UNIX DOS
@ifdef VMS
MSSORTSPACE            Not used in VMS
@endif VMS
MSTMPDIR               Directory where temporary files are created
MSTMPPFX               Prefix used for temporary files
MSTRANSCOMMENT         Comment on transactions
@ifdef UNIX || VMS
MSTRANSTABLELOCK       Forces table-level locking in transactions
MSTRANSWARMPROTECT     Flag to protect transactions from warm restart
@endif UNIX VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSTRANSTABLELOCK       Not used in DOS
MSTRANSWARMPROTECT     Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
MSVALSEP               String to separate attribute values in dump files
@ifdef UNIX
MSVMSGLOBALBUFFER      Not used in UNIX
@endif UNIX
@ifdef VMS
MSVMSGLOBALBUFFER      Sets the VMS RMS global buffer count
@endif VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSVMSGLOBALBUFFER      Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
MSWRAPMARGIN           Controls line breaks and wrapping

Locking                Function

@ifdef UNIX || VMS
MSEXCLRETRY            # of retries for exclusive access to lock file
MSEXCLSLEEP            Interval between retries for exclusive lock access
MSIAEXCLRETRY          # of excl. access retries for Interactive Interface
MSIAEXCLSLEEP          Excl. access retry interval for Interactive Interface
MSIALOCKRETRY          # of lock retries for Interactive Interface
MSIALOCKSLEEP          Lock retry interval for Interactive Interface
MSINDEXRETRY           # of retries to lock an index
MSINDEXSLEEP           Interval between retries to lock an index
MSLOCKRETRY            # of retries to actually make a lock entry
MSLOCKSLEEP            Interval between retries to actually make a lock entry
@endif UNIX VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSEXCLRETRY            Not used in DOS
MSEXCLSLEEP            Not used in DOS
MSIAEXCLRETRY          Not used in DOS
MSIAEXCLSLEEP          Not used in DOS
MSIALOCKRETRY          Not used in DOS
MSIALOCKSLEEP          Not used in DOS
MSINDEXRETRY           Not used in DOS
MSINDEXSLEEP           Not used in DOS
MSLOCKRETRY            Not used in DOS
MSLOCKSLEEP            Not used in DOS
@endif DOS

Query Language         Function

@ifdef UNIX
MSQLAUTOPAGE           All command output is sent to a paging program
@endif UNIX
@ifdef VMS
MSQLAUTOPAGE           Not used in VMS
@endif VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSQLAUTOPAGE           Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
MSQLCMDSAVE            Number of commands saved by history mechanism
MSQLCOUNT              Flag to display #records selected, updated, deleted
MSQLECHO               Controls commands echoing
@ifdef UNIX
MSQLOLDFCREATE         Indicates Empress-style dumpfile for table creation
@endif UNIX
@ifdef VMS
MSQLOLDFCREATE         Not used in VMS
@endif VMS
@ifdef DOS
MSQLOLDFCREATE         Not used in DOS
@endif DOS
MSQLONELINE            Indicates that a newline terminates a command
MSQLPROMPT1            Primary Empress prompt
MSQLPROMPT2            Secondary Empress prompt
MSQLTRANSACTION        Each command is a transaction and may be cancelled
MSQLVARCHARS           Characters used in Empress variable notation

Select Formatting      Function

MSQLGCHARWIDTH         Column width for non-parametric character values
MSQLGDATEWIDTH         Column width for non-parametric date values
MSQLGDECIMALWIDTH      Column width for non-parametric decimal values
MSQLGFLOATWIDTH        Column width for non-parametric float values
MSQLGINTEGERWIDTH      Column width for non-parametric integer values
MSQLSELKEEPDUPLICATE   Flag to keep duplicate group values
MSQLSELBOX             Puts a box around the output
MSQLSELCOLSEP          Column separator
MSQLSELGROUPCOLCROSS   Group separator crossing column
MSQLSELGROUPSEP        Group separator
MSQLSELGRPFCTCOLCROSS  Group function separator crossing column
MSQLSELGRPFCTEQ        Group function equal sign
MSQLSELGRPFCTSEP       Group function separator
MSQLSELHEAD            Flag to print/suppress headers
MSQLSELHEADCOLCROSS    Heading crossing column
MSQLSELHEADSEP         Separates headers from rows
MSQLSELROWCOLCROSS     Row crossing column
MSQLSELROWSEP          Row separator
MSQLSELTRUNCATE        Flag to truncate long lines

Debugging              Function

MSDEBUG                Flag for debugging (internal use only)

For further information, enter:

        help set;
        help variables;
