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ESL Documentation

ESL provides support for using structures in your ESL programs. A structure is a named compound variable composed of one or more named fields, which can be of different ESL data types. An ESL structure is similar to a C structure or COBOL record.

 

Structures provide a convenient way of grouping variables under one name in your ESL program. You can use a structure to pass several arguments to an ESL subroutine at once.

 

You can also use structures to define variables that are stored in formats used by other languages, and to pass data to and from external subroutines and functions. See "Exchanging Structures with External Routines" for complete information on using structures with external subroutines and functions.

 

A structure type can contain nested structures or arrays. Structures can be nested up to 25 levels. The overall size of a structure must be less than 2Gbytes.

 

A field in a structure is basically the same as a regular ESL variable. It holds a value, and you can change its value during execution. You can use a field just like a regular integer, float, or string variable, with some exceptions. See Structure Field Reference in the Reference Guide for information on where you can and cannot use fields.

 

Creating a Structure

Defining a Structure Type

Arrays Within Structures

Nested Structures

Structure Nesting and Size

Declaring Structure Variables

Array of Structures

Referencing Fields

Passing a Structure to a Subroutine

Example