11.1 General Rules for Compiler Directives

This section describes general syntax rules that apply to all compiler directives. You must follow these rules precisely to properly compile your program and obtain meaningful results.

A compiler directive takes one of the following forms:

cDEC$ directive
cPAR$ directive (VAX only)

c

Is one of the following:

• The letter C (or c), an asterisk (*), or an exclamation point (!) in column 1.

• An exclamation point preceded by whitespace only.

One or more blanks or tabs must separate the tag from the directive.

A directive ends in column 72 (or column 132, if compiler option EXTEND_SOURCE is specified).

A directive cannot be continued.

If a blank common block is used in a compiler directive, it must be specified as two slashes (/ /).

See the individual sections in this chapter for any specific rules that apply to individual directives.

Examples

The following are examples of valid directives:

CDEC$ TITLE 'title'
cDEC$   TITLE 'title'
*DEC$ TITLE 'title'
!dec$ TITLE 'title'
      !dec$ TITLE 'title'

The following are examples of invalid directives:

CDEC$TITLE 'title'               ! No blank or tab follows the $
ddec$ TITLE 'title'              ! Debugging indicator (d) not allowed
#DEC$ TITLE 'title'              ! # character not allowed
  CONTINUE   !DEC$ TITLE 'title' ! Only whitespace is allowed before this tag