START

Initiate Task

This directive initializes a task and allocates memory for its execution.

Syntax

START pages [,ERR=line-ref|,ERC=error-code] [,BNK=bank-num]
[,program-name] [,task-id]

pages

is a positive integer specifying the number of 256-byte contiguous pieces of memory to assign to this task.

line-ref

is the program line number or label to branch to if this directive produces an error.

error-code

is a programmer-defined error code. Valid values are positive or negative whole numbers.

bank-num

is the integer number of the memory bank. The only valid value is 1.

program-name

is any string of 8 characters or fewer naming the program to LOAD and RUN once the task has been allocated memory.

task-id

is any string specifying the name to be given to the task or ghost task.

Remarks

The amount of memory used by a task is limited by a parameter in the CNF line of the IPLINPUT environment configuration file and the pages parameter is ignored although required for syntax purposes (see the chapter on System Files in the Thoroughbred Basic Customization and Tuning Guide). If an attempt is made to START a task that is not a ghost task, an ERR=17 or ERR=41 results.

This directive can be used to begin a ghost task.

If an attempt is made to issue a START directive specifying your own task-ID, an ERR=0 results.

If an attempt is made to START a task in a bank that is not configured for more tasks, an ERR=33 results.

If an attempt is made to START a task in bank 0 or a negative bank-num, an ERR=41 results.

Examples

START 1, ERR=01000, "**", "G0"

starts a ghost task named G0, runs the Utility Menu program “**”, and branches to program line 01000 if an error is produced by this directive.

From the Thoroughbred Basic Language Reference, Volume III: R–Z, version 8.9.1. Open this page in the PDF