PMDF System Manager's Guide
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37.8.4 Statements

The if...then...else... statements in the recipe language are akin to those of the C programming language.

Braces can be used to group statements.

A loop construct is available, with the syntax: 


loop { 
      ... 
      exitif (expression); 
      ... 
     }
A loop can contain zero or more exitif statements.

Assignment statements are akin to those of the C programming language.

The # character indicates that the rest of a line is a comment.

Template statements require a more detailed discussion, provided in Section 37.8.4.1.

37.8.4.1 Template Statements

A template...endtemplate statement is a multiline statement, essentially providing a "picture" of the directory output. Template statements consist of one directory attribute assignment per line. The format is: 


template 
output-attribute-name-1:  value-1
output-attribute-name-2:  value-2
     .           .
     .           .
     .           .
endtemplate;
where typically value-1, value-2, etc., will consist of some combination or function of the input directory attributes.

To simply insert the value of a directory attribute, enclose the directory attribute name in single quotes: 


output-attribute-name: 'input-attribute-name'

In a cook recipe, the purpose is to describe how to construct "canonical" attributes from the input "foreign" or "raw" attributes. So the template statement for a cook recipe will consist of assigning values obtained from "raw" attributes to "canonical" attributes. That is, the left hand side of each template line, the output-attribute-name-n portion, will be the name of a "canonical" attribute, and the right hand side of each template name, the value-n portion, will be a "raw" directory attribute or some function of such "raw" attributes.

In a serve recipe, the purpose is to describe how to convert "canonical" attributes back into a foreign directory's native "raw" attributes. So the template statement for a serve recipe will consist of assigning values obtained from "canonical" attributes to "raw" attributes. That is, the left hand side of each template line, the output-attribute-name-n portion, will be the name of a "raw" attribute, and the right hand side of each template name, the value-n portion, will be a "canonical" attribute or some function of such "canonical" attributes.

Note that there is a special purpose attribute which can be placed in an entry via a template, the ignore_for attribute. This attribute takes a directory name as its value; the entire entry in which the attribute appears will be ignored (omitted) when performing differencing with the specified directory. Multiple ignore_for attributes can be specified in an entry, in which case the entry will be ignored when differencing with any of the specified directories. Figure 37-4 shows an example of an entry for "Invisible Person" which is to be ignored when performing differencing with directory "Dir2".

Figure 37-4 Ignoring an Entry

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