[301,063] account contents CLONE command language system CLONE is a multi-user interpretive command language system for RSX11M V3.2 which enables user written tasks to be executed under a control program stored in a file or entered in 'immediate mode' at the terminal. CLONE was initially developed for the control of programs in medical image processing, but is of use in all applications where automatic or semi-automatic control of programs can save time and increase reliability. CLONE has a high-level block structured syntax which is readily accepted by novice users but which provides a full range of language capabilities and thus permits sophisticated programming. CLONE (and other similar command languages) give the following advantages: 1. Less operator intervention is required in a process controlled by CLONE thus the probability of error is greatly reduced. 2. CLONE may be used to group all the questions for an operation at one point. This means that the operator does not need to remain by the terminal during long processing operations and may perform other tasks. 3. CLONE enables a precise sequence of operations to be defined. Thus a protocol may be executed many times in exactly the same manner. This enables experiments to be performed more exactly, provides a written record of previous protocols and provides a formal method of defining a protocol. Unlike system orientated command languages (indirect MCR in RSX), CLONE is designed to communicate with all programs in an applications package. This requires that all programs which are to take advantage of CLONE use a special set of utility routines for terminal input. These routines are described fully in the document: VAL TERMINAL I/O PACKAGE; they provide a general purpose terminal interface for applications tasks whether they use CLONE or not. The VAL package appears on the Fall 81 SIG tape in [301,62]. See README.2ND for CLONE installation details. Dave Plummer Division of Biophysics, Department of Radiology UCLA Center for the Health Sciences 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los angeles, CA 90024 USA. (213) 825 8113