# THE LIFELINES PROGRAMMING SUBSYSTEM AND REPORT GENERATOR

Thomas T.
Wetmore
IV
LifeLines Version &llversion;

## Report Programming Manual

### Introduction

The LifeLines programming subsystem lets you produce reports in any style or layout. You may generate files in troff, Postscript, TeX, SGML or any other ASCII-based format, for further text processing and printing. You access the report generator by choosing the r command from the main menu. You may also use the programming subsystem to create query and other processing programs that write their results directly upon the screen. For example, there is a LifeLines program that computes the relationship between any two persons in a database.

Each LifeLines program is written in the LifeLines programming language, and the programs are stored in normal files. When you direct LifeLines to run a program, it asks you for the name of the program file, asks you where you want the program's output written, and then runs the program.

### Tutorial Ahnentafel report

For example, say you want LifeLines to generate an ahnentafel. Such a report might look like:

#### Example of ahnentafel report

    1. Thomas Trask WETMORE IV
    b. 18 December 1949, New London, Connecticut
    2. Thomas Trask WETMORE III
    b. 15 October 1925, New London, Connecticut
    3. Joan Marie HANCOCK
    b. 6 June 1928, New London, Connecticut
    4. Thomas Trask WETMORE Jr
    b. 5 May 1896, New London, Connecticut
    d. 8 November 1970, New London, Connecticut
    5. Vivian Genevieve BROWN
    b. 5 April 1896, Mondovi, Wisconsin
    6. Richard James HANCOCK
    b. 18 August 1904, New London, Connecticut
    d. 24 December 1976, Waterford, Connecticut
    7. Muriel Armstrong SMITH
    b. 28 October 1905, New Haven, Connecticut
    8. Thomas Trask WETMORE Sr
    b. 13 March 1866, St. Mary's Bay, Nova Scotia
    d. 17 February 1947, New London, Connecticut
    9. Margaret Ellen KANEEN
    b. 27 October 1859, Liverpool, England
    d. 10 May 1900, New London, Connecticut
    ... lots more

Here is a LifeLines program that generates this report:

#### Example of ahnentafel report script

    /*
     * @progname        ahnentafel_tutorial.ll
     * @version         1.0
     * @author          Wetmore
     * @category        sample
     * @output          text
     * @description
     *
     * Generate an ahnentafel chart for the selected person (tutorial sample).
     */

    proc main ()
      {
        getindi(indi)
        list(ilist)
        list(alist)
        enqueue(ilist, indi)
        enqueue(alist, 1)
        while (indi, dequeue(ilist)) {
          set(ahnen, dequeue(alist))
          d(ahnen) ". " name(indi) nl()
          if (e, birth(indi)) { " b. " long(e) nl() }
          if (e, death(indi)) { " d. " long(e) nl() }
          if (par, father(indi)) {
            enqueue(ilist, par)
            enqueue(alist, mul(2,ahnen))
          }
          if (par,mother(indi)) {
            enqueue(ilist, par)
            enqueue(alist, add(1,mul(2,ahnen)))
          }
        }
      }

Say this program is in the file `ahnentafel_tutorial`. When you choose the r option from the main menu, LifeLines asks:

    What is the name of the report program?
    enter string:

You enter ``ahnentafel_tutorial``. Since the program generates a report, LifeLines asks where to write that report:

    What is the name of the output file?
    enter file name:

You enter a file name, say ``my.ahnen``. LifeLines reads the program ahnen, executes the program, and writes the report output to `my.ahnen`. LifeLines reports any syntax or run-time errors found while trying to run the program.

A LifeLines program is made up of procedures and functions; every program must contain at least one procedure named `main`. The `main` procedure runs first; it may call other procedures, functions and built-in functions. In the ahnentafel example there is only one procedure.

In the example program, there are some comments at the top, to tell the reader a bit about the program. The comments run from `/*` to `*/`, and are not necessary (but are suggested).

A procedure body is a sequence of statements. In the example program, the first five statements are:

    getindi(indi)
    list(ilist)
    list(alist)
    enqueue(ilist, indi)
    enqueue(alist, 1)

The first statement calls the `getindi` (get individual) built-in function, which causes LifeLines to ask you to identify a person using the zip browse style of identification:

    Identify person for interpreted report
    enter name:

After you identify a person, he or she is assigned to the variable `indi`. The next two statements declare two list variables, `ilist` and `alist`. Lists hold sequences of things; there are operations for placing things on lists, taking things off, and iterating through the list elements. In the example, `ilist` holds a list of ancestors, in ahnentafel order, who have not yet been reported on, and `alist` holds their respective ahnentafel numbers.

The next two statements call the `enqueue` function, adding the first members to both lists. The person identified by the `getindi` function is made the first member of `ilist`, and the number one, this person's ahnentafel number, is made the first member of `alist`.

The rest of the program is:

    while (indi, dequeue(ilist)) {
      set(ahnen, dequeue(alist))
      d(ahnen) ". " name(indi) nl()
      if (e, birth(indi)) { " b. " long(e) nl() }
      if (e, death(indi)) { " d. " long(e) nl() }
      if (par, father(indi)) {
        enqueue(ilist, par)
        enqueue(alist, mul(2,ahnen))
      }
      if (par, mother(indi)) {
        enqueue(ilist, par)
       enqueue(alist, add(1,mul(2,ahnen)))
      }
    }

This is a loop that iteratively removes persons and their ahnentafel numbers from the two lists, and then prints their names and birth and death information. If the persons have parents in the database, their parents and their parents' ahnentafel numbers are then put at the ends of the lists. The loop iterates until the list is empty.

The loop is a while loop statement. The line:

    while (indi, dequeue(ilist)) {

removes (via `dequeue`) a person from `ilist`, and assigns the person to variable `indi`. As long as there are persons on `ilist`, another iteration of the loop follows.

The statement:

    set(ahnen, dequeue(alist))

is an assignment statement. The second argument is evaluated; its value is assigned to the first argument, which must be a variable. Here the next number in `alist` is removed and assigned to variable `ahnen`. This is the ahnentafel number of the person just removed from `ilist`.

The line:

    d(ahnen) ". " name(indi) nl()

contains four expression statements; when expressions are used as statements, their values, if any, are treated as strings and written directly to the report output file. The `d` function converts its integer argument to a numeric string. The ". " is a literal (constant) string value. The `name` function returns the default form of a person's name. The `nl` function returns a string containing the newline character.

The next two lines:

    if (e, birth(indi)) { " b. " long(e) nl() }
    if (e, death(indi)) { " d. " long(e) nl() }

write out basic birth and death information about a person. These lines are if statements. The second argument in the conditional is evaluated and assigned to the first argument, which must be a variable. The first if statement calls the birth function, returning the first birth event in a person's record. If the event exists it is assigned to variable `e`, and the body (the items between the curly brackets) of the if statement is executed. The body consists of three expression statements: a literal, and calls to the `long` and `nl` functions. `Long` takes an `event` and returns the values of the first DATE and PLAC lines in the event.

Finally in the program is:

    if (par, father(indi)) {
    enqueue(ilist,par)
    enqueue(alist,mul(2,ahnen))
    }
    if (par,mother(indi)) {
    enqueue(ilist,par)
    enqueue(alist,add(1,mul(2,ahnen)))
    }

These lines add the father and mother of the current person, if either or both are in the database, to `ilist`. They also compute and add the parents' ahnentafel numbers to `alist`. A father's ahnentafel number is twice that of his child. A mother's ahnentafel number is twice that of her child plus one. These values are computed with the `mul` and `add` functions.

### Template for creating new reports

The following is a good template to use when creating a new report from scratch.

    /*
     * @progname reportname
     * @version Version Number.
     * @author report author and possible email address
     * @category ????
     * @output Format of Report Output
     * @description The following paragraph is used to populate index.html.
     *
     * This report .... (Note, the text in the 1st paragraph following the @keyword
     * lines is used as a description in the automatically generated index.html
     * file. The text following the @description is not used for this purpose.)
     * The description lines can be written with or without the *'s on the left
     * they will be removed when generating index.html.
     *
     * Additional descriptive text
    */

    proc main()
    {

    }

## LIFELINES PROGRAMMING REFERENCE

LifeLines programs are stored in files you edit with a screen editor. Programs are not edited from within the LifeLines program; edit them as you would any text file. The programs may be stored in any directories; they do not have to be kept in or associated with LifeLines databases. You may set the `LLPROGRAMS` shell variable to hold a list of directories that LifeLines will use to automatically search for programs when you request program execution.

### Procedures and Functions

A LifeLines program is made up of one or more procedures and functions. A procedure has format:

    proc name(params) { statements }

Name is the name of the procedure, params is an optional list of parameters separated by commas, and statements is a list of statements that make up the procedure body. Report generation begins with the first statement in the procedure named `main`. Procedures may call other procedures and functions. Procedures are called with the call statement described below.When a procedure is called, the statements making up its body are executed.

A function has format:

    func name(params) { statements }

Name, params and statements are defined as in procedures. Functions may call other procedures and functions. When a function is called the statements that make it up are executed. A function differs from a procedure by returning a value to the procedure or function that calls it. Values are returned by the return statement, described below. Recursive functions are allowed. A function is called by invoking it in an expression.

Function and procedure parameters are passed by value except for list, set and table types which are passed by reference. Redeclaration of a parameter instantiates a new variable of the stated or implied type. The previous instance continues to exist in the scope of the caller.

### Comments

You may comment your LifeLines programs using the following notation:

    /*...comment text including any characters except */... */

These comments may be inserted anywhere in the program file.

You should put in some report header comments, because they will provide useful text for your report when it is included in the report list seen by the user who uses the lifelines pick report menu function. Report header comments are some specific comments at the top of the report, with keywords preceded by @ signs. The following is an illustration of report header comments, with explanations inside them:

    /*
    * @progname The name of the report without the
    extension. This shows in the pick report option.
    * @version Version Number of the report. This
    is stored here and not in the report name.
    * @author Name of the author of this report
    and email address if he/she desires.
    * @category ????
    * @output Modifies Database | text | HTML |
    GEDCOM | RTF | XML | PostScript | etc.
    * @description The first paragraph after this is
    used to generate the description in the index.html.

    This report ....
    */

Comments begin with a `/*` and end with a `*/`. Comments may appear on lines of their own or on lines that have program constructs. Comments may span many lines. Comments may not be nested.

### Statements

There are a number of statement types. The simplest is an expression statement, an expression that is not part of any other statement or expression. Expressions are defined more fully below. An expression statement is evaluated, and if its value is non-null (non-zero), it is assumed to be a string, and written to the program output file. If its value is null, nothing is written to the output file. For example, the expression

    name(indi)

, where indi is a person, returns the person's name and writes it to the output file. On the other hand, the expression

    set(n, nspouses(indi))

assigns the variable `n` the number of spouses that person `indi` has, but since `set` returns null, nothing is written to the output file.

The programming language includes if statements, while statements and procedure call statements, with the following formats:

    if ([varb,] expr) { statements }
                   [ elsif ([varb], expr) { statements } ]*
                        [ else { statements } ]

    while ([varb,] expr ) { statements }

    call name(args)

Square brackets indicate optional parts of the statement syntax. An if statement is executed by first evaluating the conditional expression in the if clause. If non-zero, the statements in the if clause are evaluated, and the rest of the if statement, if any, is ignored. If the value is zero, and there is an elsif clause following, the conditional in the elsif clause is evaluated, and if non-zero, the statements in that clause are executed. Conditionals are evaluated until one of them is non-zero, or until there are no more. If no conditional is non-zero, and if the if statement ends with an else clause, the statements in the else clause are executed. There are two forms of conditional expressions. If the conditional is a single expression, it is simply evaluated. If the conditional is a variable followed by an expression, the expression is evaluated and its value is assigned to the variable.

Note that if treats null strings as false, but empty strings as true. This has the benefit that

    if (birth(indi))

will return true if there is a BIRT record, even if it is empty, but will return false if there is no BIRT record at all.

The while statement provides a looping mechanism. The conditional is evaluated, and if non-zero, the body of the loop is executed. After each iteration the expression is reevaluated; as long as it remains non-zero, the loop is repeated.

The call statement provides procedure calls. Name must match one of the procedures defined in the report program. Args is a list of argument expressions separated by commas. Recursion is allowed. When a call is executed, the values of its arguments are evaluated and used to initialize the procedure's parameters. The procedure is then executed. When the procedure completes, execution resumes with the first item after the call.

The following report language statements are commonly encountered only near the top of a report:

    char_encoding(string)

    require(string)

    option(string)

    include(string)

    global(varb)

The char_encoding statement specifies what character encoding scheme is used by the report, so that the report processor can correctly interpret bytes not in ASCII (e.g., accented letters). An example specifying a character encoding common in Western Europe:

    char_encoding("ISO-8859-1")

The option statement allows the report writer to specify options. The only option currently available is "explicitvars", which causes any use of variables not previously declared or set to be reported as a parsing error. The require statement allows the report writer to specify that this report needs a version of the report interpreter no older than that specified. The include statement includes the contents of another file into the current file; its `string` expression is the name of another LifeLines program file. It is described in more detail below. The global statement must be used outside the scope of any procedure or function; it declares a `variable` to have global scope. The `variable` is initialized to 0.

The report language also includes the following statements, which mimic some common programming languages:

    set(varb, expr)

    continue()

    break()

    return([expr])

The set statement is the assignment statement; the `expression` is evaluated, and its value is assigned to the `variable`. The continue statement jumps to the bottom of the current loop, but does not leave the loop. The break statement breaks out of the most closely nested loop. The return statement returns from the current procedure or function. Procedures have return statements without expressions; functions have return statements with expressions. None of these statements return a value, so none has a direct effect on program output.

### Expressions

There are four types of expressions: literals, numbers, variables and built-in or user defined function calls.

A literal is any string enclosed in double quotes; its value is itself. A number is any integer or floating point constant; its value is itself. A variable is a named location that can be assigned different values during program execution. The value of a variable is the last value assigned to it. Variables do not have fixed type; at different times in a program, the same variable may be assigned data of completely different types. An identifier followed by comma-separated list of expressions enclosed in parentheses, is either a call to a built-in function or a call to a user-defined function.

### Include Feature

The LifeLines programming language provides an include feature. Using this feature one LifeLines program can refer to other LifeLines programs. This feature is provided by the include statement:

    include(string)

where string is a quoted string that is the name of another LifeLines program file. When an include statement is encountered, the program that it refers to is read at that point, exactly as if the contents of included file had been in the body of the original file at that point. This allows you to create LifeLines program library files that can be used by many programs. Included files may in turn contain include statements, and so on to any depth. LifeLines will use the `LLPROGRAMS` shell variable, if set, to search for the include files. Each file included with a include statement is only read once. If multiple include statements are encountered that include the same file, only the first statement has any effect.

The only main procedure actually executed is the one in the report the user chose. main procedures in other reports which are included do not get run. This allows a module intended to be included in other programs to have a main procedure for test purposes. If multiple functions or procedures with the same name are included (other than the name main) a runtime error is generated and the program is not run.

### Built-in Functions

There is a long list of built-in functions, and this list will continue to grow for some time. The first subsection below describes the value types used in LifeLines programs; these are the types of variables, function parameters and function return values. In the remaining sections the built-in functions are separated into logical categories and described.

### Value Types

ANY

  union of all types

BOOL

  boolean (0 represents false; anything else represents true)

EVENT

  event; reference to substructure of nodes in a GEDCOM record (reference)

FAM

  family; reference to a GEDCOM FAM record (reference)

FLOAT

  floating point number (may be used anywhere an INT may be used)

INDI

  person; reference to a GEDCOM INDI record (reference)

INT

  integer (on most systems a 32-bit signed value)

LIST

  arbitrary length list of any values (reference)

NODE

  GEDCOM node; reference to a line in a GEDCOM tree/record (reference)

NUMBER

  union of all arithmetic types (INT and FLOAT)

SET

  a collection of persons each with a value (see person sets below).

STRING

  text string

TABLE

  keyed look-up table (reference)

VOID

  type with no values

In the summaries of built-in functions below, each function is shown with its argument types and its return type. The types are from the preceding list. Sometimes an argument to a built-in function must be a variable; when this is so its type is given as `XXX_V`, where XXX is one of the types above. The built-ins do not check the types of their arguments. Variables can hold values of any type, though at any one time they will hold values of only one type. Note that EVENT is a subtype of NODE, and BOOL is a subtype of INT. Built-ins with type VOID actually return null (zero) values.

Reference types (denoted above in parentheses) obey "pointer semantics", which is to say that assigning one to another variable results in both variables pointing at the same data (no copy is made). Therefore, if you pass a string to a function which changes the string, the caller does not see the change, because a string is not a reference type. On the other hand, if you pass a table to a function which alters the table, the caller does see the change, because a table is a reference type.

### Iterators

The report generator provides a number of iterator statements for looping through genealogical and other types of data. For example, the children statement iterates through the children of a family, the spouses statement iterates through the spouses of a person, and the families statement iterates through the families that a person is a spouse or parent in.

Usually the first argument to the iterator is an expression that evaluates to an individual or a family. The other arguments of the iterator are variable names that are set with values for each iteration. The last argument is often a variable name used as a counter. It starts with the value of one and is increased by one for each iteration of the loop. After completion of the iteration, these variables have the value null.

    children(afam,indi,cnt) { commands }

For example, the first argument to children is the family that the iterator will operate on. This iterator will execute the block of commands for each child in the specified family. The second argument is set to each child in the family in the order they are listed in the family and the third argument is the loop counter which starts at one and is incremented by one each time the the block of commands is executed. The two variables indi and cnt will have the value null after the iteration has completed.

All the iterators are described in more detail later in the section where their definition occurs.

### Arithmetic and Logic Functions

    NUMBER add
    NUMBER,
    NUMBER
    ...

  addition - two to 32 arguments

    NUMBER sub
    NUMBER,
    NUMBER

  subtraction

    NUMBER mul
    NUMBER,
    NUMBER
    ...

  multiplication - two to 32 arguments

    NUMBER div
    NUMBER,
    NUMBER

  division

    INT mod
    INT,
    INT

  modulus (remainder)

    NUMBER exp
    NUMBER,
    INT

  exponentiation

    NUMBER neg
    NUMBER

  negation

    FLOAT float
    INT

  convert int to float

    INT int
    FLOAT

  convert float to int

    VOID incr
    NUMBER,NUMBER

  increment variable by second argument (or by 1 if no second argument)

    VOID decr
    NUMBER,NUMBER

  decrement variable by second argument (or by 1 if no second argument)

    BOOL and
    BOOL,
    BOOL
    ...

  logical and - two to 32 arguments

    BOOL or
    BOOL,
    BOOL
    ...

  logical or - two to 32 arguments

    BOOL not
    BOOL

  logical not

    BOOL eq
    ANY,
    ANY

  equality (not strings)

    BOOL ne
    ANY,
    ANY

  non-equality

    BOOL lt
    ANY,
    ANY

  less than

    BOOL gt
    ANY,
    ANY

  greater than

    BOOL le
    ANY,
    ANY

  less than or equal

    BOOL ge
    ANY,
    ANY

  greater than or equal

`Add`, `sub`, `mul` and `div` do normal arithmetic of integer or floating values. If any operand is float, the result is float. Functions `add` and `mul` can have two to 32 arguments; the sum or product of the full set of arguments is computed. Functions `sub` and `div` have two arguments each; `sub` subtracts its second argument from its first, and `div` divides its first argument by its second. The `mod` function returns the remainder after dividing the first parameter by the second. If the second argument to `div` or `mod` is zero, these functions return 0 and generate a run time error. `Exp` performs integer exponentiation. `Neg` negates its argument. The functions `float` and `int` can be used to explicitly convert a value to float or int where needed.

`Incr` and `decr` increment by one and decrement by one, respectively, the value of a variable. The argument to both functions must be a variable. These functions take an optional second argument which is the amount to increment or decrement the variable by.

`And` and `or` do logical operations. Both functions take two to 32 arguments. All arguments are and'ed or or'ed together, respectively. The arguments are evaluated from left to right, but only up to the point where the final value of the function becomes known. `Not` does the logical not operation.

`Eq`, `ne`, `lt`, `le`, `gt` and `ge` evaluate the six ordering relationships between two integers.

### Trigonometric and Spherical Calculations

    FLOAT sin
    FLOAT

  compute sine of argument in degrees

    FLOAT cos
    FLOAT

  compute cosine of argument in degrees

    FLOAT tan
    FLOAT

  compute tangent of argument in degrees

    FLOAT arcsin
    FLOAT

  compute inverse sine of argument

    FLOAT arccos
    FLOAT

  compute inverse cosine of argument

    FLOAT arctan
    FLOAT

  compute inverse tangent of argument

    VOID dms2deg
    INT degree,
    INT minute,
    INT second,
    FLOAT_V decimal

  convert (degree, minute, second) to decimal degrees

    void deg2dms
    FLOAT decimal,
    INT_V degree,
    INT_V minute,
    INT_V second

  convert decimal degrees to (degree, minute, second)

    FLOAT spdist
    FLOAT lat0,
    FLOAT long0,
    FLOAT lat1,
    FLOAT long1

  compute distance between two locations

The trigonometric functions specify angles using degrees. The functions `deg2dms` and `dms2deg` are provided to convert between (degree,minute,second) notation and decimal degree representations for angles.

`spdist` estimates the distance between two spherical coordinates. The arguments provided are, in order, first latitude, first longitude, second latitude, second longitude. The result is in kilometers.

### Person Functions

    STRING name
    INDI,
    BOOL

  default name of

    STRING fullname
    INDI,
    BOOL,
    BOOL,
    INT

  many name forms of

    STRING surname
    INDI

  surname of

    STRING givens
    INDI

  given names of

    STRING trimname
    INDI,
    INT

  trimmed name of

    EVENT birth
    INDI

  first birth event of

    EVENT death
    INDI

  first death event of

    EVENT burial
    INDI

  first burial event of

    INDI father
    INDI

  first father of

    INDI mother
    INDI

  first mother of

    INDI nextsib
    INDI

  next (younger) sibling of

    INDI prevsib
    INDI

  previous (older) sibling of

    STRING sex
    INDI

  sex of

    BOOL male
    INDI

  male predicate

    BOOL female
    INDI

  female predicate

    STRING pn
    INDI,
    INT

  pronoun referring to

    INT nspouses
    INDI

  number of spouses of

    INT nfamilies
    INDI

  number of families (as spouse/parent) of

    FAM parents
    INDI

  first parents' family of

    STRING title
    INDI

  first title of

    STRING key
    INDI|FAM,
    BOOL

  internal key of (work for families also)

    STRING soundex
    INDI

  SOUNDEX code of

    NODE inode
    INDI

  root GEDCOM node of

    NODE root
    INDI

  root GEDCOM node of

    INDI indi
    STRING

  find person with key value

    INDI firstindi

  first person in database in key order

    INDI lastindi

  last person in database in key order

    INDI nextindi
    INDI

  next person in database in key order

    INDI previndi
    INDI

  previous person in database in key order

    spouses (INDI, INDI_V, FAM_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all spouses of

    families (INDI, FAM_V, INDI_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all families (as spouse) of

    forindi (INDI_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all persons in database

    mothers (INDI, INDI_V, FAM_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all female parents of a person

    fathers (INDI, INDI_V, FAM_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all male parents of a person

    Parents (INDI, FAM, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all familes a person is a child of

These functions take a person as a parameter and return information about him or her.

`Name` returns the default name of a person; this is the name found on the first 1 NAME line in the person's record; the slashes are removed and the surname is made all capitals; `name` can take an optional second parameter - if it is true the function acts as described above; if false, the surname is kept exactly as it is in the record.

`Fullname` returns the name of a person in a variety of formats. If the second parameter is true the surname is shown in upper case; otherwise the surname is as in the record. If the third parameter is true the parts of the name are shown in the order as found in the record; otherwise the surname is given first, followed by a comma, followed by the other name parts. The fourth parameter specifies the maximum length field that can be used to show the name; various conversions occur if it is necessary to shorten the name to fit this length.

`Surname` returns the surname of the person, as found in the first 1 NAME line; the slashes are removed. `Givens` returns the given names of the person in the same order and format as found in the first 1 NAME line of the record. `Trimname` returns the default name of the person trimmed to the maximum character length given in the second variable.

`Birth`, `death`, and `burial` return the first birth, death, and burial event in the person's record, respectively. An event is a level 1 GEDCOM node. If there is no matching event these functions return null.

`Father`, `mother`, `nextsib` and `prevsib` return the father, mother, next younger sibling and next older sibling of the person, respectively. If the person has more than one father (mother) the `father` (`mother`) function returns the first one. These functions return null if there is no person in the role.

`Sex` returns the person's sex as the string M if the person is male, F if the person is female, or U if the sex of the person is not known. `Male` and `female` return true if the person is male or female, respectively, or false if not.

`Pn` generates pronouns, useful when generating English text; the second parameter selects the type of pronoun:

0 | He/She
1 | he/she
2 | His/Her
3 | his/her
4 | him/her

`Nspouses` returns the number of spouses the person has in the database, and `nfamilies` returns the number of families the person is a parent/spouse in; these two values are not necessarily the same. `Parents` returns the first family that the person is a child in.

`Title` returns the value of the first 1 TITL line in the record. `Key` returns the key value of a person or family; it there is a second parameter and it is non-null, the leading `I` or `F` will be stripped. `Soundex` returns the Soundex code of the person.

`Root` and `Inode` return the root node of the person's GEDCOM node tree. Note that an INDI value is not a NODE value. If you want to process the nodes within a person node tree, you must first use the `root` or `inode` function to get the root of the person node tree. `Root` and `inode` are synonyms.

`Indi` returns the person who's key is passed as an argument; if no person has the key `indi` returns null. INDI keys are accepted either as Innn or @Innn@.

`Firstindi`, `nextindi` and `previndi` allow you to iterate through all persons in the database. `Firstindi` returns the first person in the database in key order. `Nextindi` returns the next person after the argument person in key order. `Previndi` returns the previous person before the argument person in key order.

`Spouses` is an iterator that loops through each spouse a person has. The first argument is a person. The second argument is a person variable that iterates through the first person's spouses. The third argument is a family variable that iterates through the families the person and each spouse are in. The fourth argument is an integer variable that counts the iterations. The spouses iterator skips any family that has no spouse, whereas the families iterator does not.

`Families` is an iterator that loops through the families a person was a spouse/parent in. The first argument is a person. The second argument is a family variable that iterates through the families the first person was a spouse/parent in. The third argument iterates through the spouses from the families; if there is no spouse in a particular family, the variable is set to null for that iteration. The fourth argument is an integer variable that counts the iterations.

`Families` and `Spouses` behave the same except for one situation. If the person is a spouse in a family that only has one spouse identified, that family does not show up with the `spouses` iterator, but it does show up with the `families` iterator. One caution, this situation causes the 3rd argument of the `families` iterator to be set to null. You must check for this.

`Forindi` is an iterator that loops through every person in the database in ascending key order. Its first parameter is a variable that iterates through the persons; its second parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the persons starting at one.

`mothers` is an iterator that loops through every female parent of the specified individual. Its first parameter is a person; its third parameter is a family variable that iterates through the familes that the person is a child in; its second parameter is a person variable that is the female parent associated with the family in the third parameter; The fourth parameter is a variable that counts the families returned starting at one.

`Parents` is an iterator that loops through every family that a person is a child in. Note: This iterator's name begins with a capital P. There is another function of the same name that begins with a lower case p. Its first parameter is a person; its second parameter is a family variable that iterates through the familes that the person is a child in; and the third parameter is a variable that counts the families returned starting at one.

`Forindi` is an iterator that loops through every person in the database in ascending key order. Its first parameter is a variable that iterates through the persons; its second parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the persons starting at one.

`fathers` and `mothers` are iterators that loop through each family the specified individual is in returns each father or mother found. If a non-traditional family is processed, there will be separate iterations for each father or mother found.

### Family Functions

    EVENT marriage
    FAM

  first marriage event of

    INDI husband
    FAM

  first husband/father of

    INDI wife
    FAM

  first wife/mother of

    INT nchildren
    FAM

  number of children in

    INDI firstchild
    FAM

  first child of

    INDI lastchild
    FAM

  last child of

    STRING key
    FAM|INDI,
    BOOL

  internal key of (works for persons also)

    NODE fnode
    FAM

  root GEDCOM node of

    NODE root
    FAM

  root GEDCOM node of

    FAM fam
    STRING

  find family from key

    FAM firstfam

  first family in database in key order

    FAM lastfam

  last family in database in key order

    FAM nextfam
    FAM

  next family in database in key order

    FAM prevfam
    FAM

  previous family in database in key order

    children (FAM, INDI_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through children of family

    spouses (FAM, INDI_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all husbands and wives of a family

    forfam (FAM_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all families in database

These functions take a family as an argument and return information about it.

`Marriage` returns the first marriage event found in the family record, if any; it returns null if there is no marriage event.

`Husband` returns the first husband/father of the family, if any; and `wife` returns the first wife/mother of the family, if any. Each returns null if the requested person is not in the family.

`Nchildren` returns the number of children in the family.

`Firstchild` and `lastchild` return the first child and last child in a family, respectively.

`Key` was described in the section on person functions.

`Root` and `fnode` return the root node of a family GEDCOM node tree. Note that a FAM value is not a NODE value. If you want to process the nodes within a family node tree, you must first use `root` or `fnode` function to get the root of the family node tree. `Root` and `fnode` are synonyms.

`Fam` returns the family who's key is passed as an argument; if no family has the key `fam` returns null. Family keys are accepted either as Fnnn or @Fnnn@.

`Firstfam`, `nextfam` and `prevfam` allow you to iterate through all families in the database. `Firstfam` returns the first family in the database in key order. `Nextfam` returns the next family after the argument family in key order. `Prevfam` returns the previous family before the argument family in key order.

`Children` is an iterator that loops through the children in a family. Its first parameter is a family expression; its second parameter is a variable that iterates through each child; its third parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the children starting at one. These two variables may be used within the loop body.

`spouses` is an iterator that loops through all the husbands and wives of a family. Its first parameter is a family expression; its second parameter is a variable that iterates through each parent; its third parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the parents starting at one. These two variables may be used within the loop body.

`Forfam` is an iterator that loops through every family in the database in ascending key order. Its first parameter is a variable that iterates through the families; its second parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the families starting at one.

### Other types of records

    forsour (NODE_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all sources in database

    foreven (NODE_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all EVEN nodes in database

    forothr (NODE_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all other (notes, etc.) nodes in database

`forsour` is an iterator that loops through all the Source nodes in the database. Its first argument is the SOUR record and its second parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the sources elements starting at one. `foreven` is an iterator that loops through all the Event nodes in the database. Its first argument is the EVEN record and its second parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the events elements starting at one. `forothr` is an iterator that loops through all the Other nodes in the database. Its first argument is the record (NOTE, etc.) and its second parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the nodes starting at one.

### List Functions

    VOID list
    LIST_V

  declare a list

    VOID clear
    LIST

  clear a list

    BOOL empty
    LIST

  check if list is empty

    INT length
    LIST

  length of list

    VOID enqueue
    LIST,
    ANY

  enqueue element on list

    ANY dequeue
    LIST

  dequeue and return element from list

    VOID requeue
    LIST,
    ANY

  requeue an element on list

    VOID push
    LIST,
    ANY

  push element on list

    ANY pop
    LIST

  pop and return element from list

    VOID setel
    LIST,
    INT,
    ANY

  array element assignment

    ANY getel
    LIST,
    INT

  array element selection

    BOOL inlist
    LIST,
    ANY

  is second argument in list.

    VOID sort
    LIST,
    LIST

  sort list elements

    VOID rsort
    LIST,
    LIST

  reverse sort list elements

    LIST dup
    LIST

  duplicate a list

    forlist (LIST, ANY_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all elements of list

LifeLines provides general purpose lists that can be accessed as queues, stacks or arrays. A list must be declared with the `list` function before it can be used. Redeclaring an existing variable with the `list` clears it and restores it to being an empty list. If the argument to list() is the name of a parameter to the current routine, the reference to the calling routines list is removed and a new list is created.

A list can have any number of elements. `Empty` returns true if the list has no elements and false otherwise. `Length` returns the length of the list. The only parameter to both is a list. The following diagram indicates how the various access functions for a list interact:

`Enqueue`, `dequeue` and `requeue` provide queue access to a list. `Enqueue` adds an element to the back of a queue, `dequeue` removes and returns the element from the front of a queue, and `requeue` adds an element to the front of a queue. The first parameter to all three is a list, and the second parameter to `enqueue` and `requeue` is the value to be added to the queue and can be any value.

`Push` and `pop` provide stack access to a list. `Push` pushes an element on the stack, and `pop` removes and returns the most recently pushed element from the stack. The first parameter to both is a list, and the second parameter to `push` is the value to be pushed on the stack and can be of any type.

`Setel` and `getel` provide array access to a list. `Setel` sets a value of an array element, and `getel` returns the value of an array element. The first parameter to both is a list; the second parameter to both is an integer index into the array; and the third parameter to `setel` is the value to assign to the array element and can be of any type. Array elements are indexed starting at one. Unassigned elements are assumed to be null (0). Arrays automatically grow in size to accommodate the largest index value that is used. Passing 0 references the last element at the other end from 1, and -1 the one before it, etc.

`inlist` compares the second argument with each element in the list. If it finds a match `inlist` returns true.

`sort` and `rsort` sort a list, using the elements of the second array to determine the new order. Both lists are reordered, so essentially both are sorted using the sort order of the second argument. (If only one argument is given, it is sorted on its own elements.) rsort sorts in order reverse of sort. The order that sort produces places the smallest element at position 1, and the largest element at the end of the list, such that `dequeue` will remove the smallest element.

`dup` creates a copy of a list. If b is a list, the function `set`(a,b) makes the variable a a reference to the list b. If you want to make a new list, you must use `set`(a,`dup`(b)).

`Forlist` is an iterator that loops through the element in a list. Its first parameter is a LIST expression; its second parameter is a variable that iterates through the list elements; and its third parameter is an integer counter variable that counts the list elements starting at one.

### Table Functions

    VOID table
    TABLE_V

  declare a table

    VOID insert
    TABLE,
    STRING,
    ANY

  insert entry in table

    ANY lookup
    TABLE,
    STRING

  lookup and return entry from table

    INT length
    TABLE

  size of the table

    BOOL empty
    TABLE

  check if table is empty

These functions provide general purpose, keyed tables. A table must be declared with the `table` function before it can be used.

`Insert` adds an object and its key to a table. Its first parameter is a table; the second parameter is the object's key; and the third parameter is the object itself. The key must be a string and the object can be any value. If there already is an object in the table with that key, the old object is replaced with the new.

`Lookup` retrieves an object from a table. Its first parameter is a table, and the second parameter is the object's key. The function returns the object with that key from the table; if there is no such object, null is returned. `length` returns the number of elements in the table.

### GEDCOM Node Functions

    STRING xref
    NODE

  cross reference index of

    STRING tag
    NODE

  tag of

    STRING value
    NODE

  value of

    NODE parent
    NODE

  parent node of

    NODE child
    NODE

  first child of

    NODE sibling
    NODE

  next sibling of

    NODE savenode
    NODE

  copy a node structure

    INT level
    NODE

  level of a node

    fornodes (NODE, NODE_V) { commands }

  loop through child nodes

    fornotes (NODE, STRING_V) { commands }

  loop through notes on a node

    traverse (NODE, NODE_V, INT_V) { commands }

  loop through all descendent nodes

These functions provide access to the components of a GEDCOM node. All take a GEDCOM node as their only parameter, and each returns a different value associated with the node.

`Xref` returns the cross reference index of the node, if any; `tag` returns the tag of the node; and `value` returns the value of the node, if any. If there is no cross reference, `xref` returns null; if there is no value, value returns null.

`Parent` returns the parent node of the node, if any; `child` returns the first child node of the node, if any; and `sibling` returns the next sibling node of the node, if any. Whenever there is no such related node, these functions return null. These three functions allow simple navigation through a GEDCOM node tree.

`Savenode` makes a copy of the node, and the substructure of nodes below the node, that is passed to it. Beware: the memory used to make the copy is never returned to the system.

The `level` function returns the level of the node.

`Fornodes` is an iterator that loops through the child nodes of a GEDCOM node. Its first argument is a node expression, and its second parameter is a variable that iterates through each direct child node of the first node.

`Fornotes` is an iterator that loops through the NOTE nodes of a GEDCOM node. Its first argument is a node expression, and its second parameter is a variable that returns the value of the NOTE. The value includes processed sub CONC and CONT records.

`Traverse` is an iterator providing a general method for traversing GEDCOM trees. Its first parameter is a node expression; its second parameter is a variable that iterates over every node under the first node in a top down, left to right manner; and its third parameter is a variable that is set to the level of the current node in the iteration.

### Event and Date Functions

    STRING date
    EVENT

  date of, value of first DATE line

    STRING place
    EVENT

  place of, value of first PLAC line

    STRING year
    EVENT

  year or, 1st string of 3-4 digits in 1st DATE line

    STRING long
    EVENT

  date and place, values of 1st DATE and PLAC lines

    STRING short
    EVENT

  date and place of, abbreviated from

    EVENT gettoday

  returns the `event' of the current date

    VOID dayformat
    INT

  set day format for stddate calls

    VOID monthformat
    INT

  set month format for stddate calls

    VOID yearformat
    INT

  set year format for stddate calls

    VOID eraformat
    INT

  set era format for stddate calls

    VOID dateformat
    INT

  set date format for stddate calls

    VOID datepic
    STRING

  set custom date format for stddate calls

    STRING stddate
    EVENT|STRING

  date of, in current format

    VOID complexformat
    INT

  set complex date format

    VOID complexpic
    INT,
    STRING

  set custom complex date picture string

    STRING complexdate
    EVENT|STRING

  date of, in current complex format

These functions extract information about the dates and places of events.

`Date` returns the value of the first DATE line in an event, a node in a GEDCOM record tree. `Date` finds the first DATE line one level deeper than the event node. `Place` returns the value of the first PLAC line in an event. `Year` returns the first three or four digit number in the value of the first DATE line in an event; this number is assumed to be the year of the event.

`Long` returns the verbatim values of the first DATE and PLAC lines in an event, concatenated together and separated by a comma. `Short` abbreviates information from the first DATE and PLAC lines, concatenates the shortened information together with a comma separator and returns it. An abbreviated date is its year; an abbreviated place is the last component in the value, further abbreviated if the component has an entry in the place abbreviation table.

`Gettoday` creates an event that has today's date in the DATE line.

The next seven functions are used to format dates in a variety of ways. `Dayformat`, `monthformat`, `yearformat`, `eraformat`, and `dateformat` select style options for formatting the day, month, year, era, and overall date structure; `stddate` returns dates in the selected style. `datepic` allows specifying a custom pattern that overrides the date format selected with `dateformat`. The string supplied specifies the placement of the day, month and year in the string with %d, %m and %y. A null argument disables the overrided format. The argument to `stddate` is normally an event and the date is extracted from the event and formatted. If the argument is a date string it is converted using the current date formats.

The next three functions provide for more complex formatting of dates. Taking into account the abt, est, cal, bef, aft, fr and to qualifiers on GEDCOM dates. `complexformat` selects the format to use. The format effects only the complex picture, not the format of the date itself. The function `complexpic` can be used to specify a custom picture string for any or all of the 9 custom format strings. The custom string can be canceled by passing a null for the string. When a custom picture string is provided it overrides both the abbreviated and full word picture strings. `complexdate` formats the date similarly to `stddate`, but with the addition of the complex date format string selected.

The day format codes passed to `dayformat` are:

0 | leave space before single digit days
1 | use leading 0 before single digit days
2 | no space or leading 0 before single digit days

The month format codes passed to `monthformat` are:

0 | number with space before single digit months
1 | number with leading zero before single digit months
2 | number with no space or zero before single digit months
3 | upper case abbreviation (eg, JAN, FEB) (localized)
4 | capitalized abbreviation (eg, Jan, Feb) (localized)
5 | upper case full word (eg, JANUARY, FEBRUARY) (localized)
6 | capitalized full word (eg, January, February) (localized)
7 | lower case abbreviation (eg, jan, feb) (localized)
8 | lower case full word (eg, january, february) (localized)
9 | upper case abbreviation in English per GEDCOM (eg, JAN, FEB)
10 | lower case roman letter (eg, i, ii)
11 | upper case roman letter (eg, I, II)

The year format codes passed to `yearformat` are:

0 | use leading spaces before years with less than four digits
1 | use leading 0 before years with less than four digits
2 | no space or leading 0 before years

The era format codes passed to `eraformat` are:

0 | no AD/BC markers
1 | trailing B.C. if appropriate
2 | trailing A.D. or B.C.
11 | trailing BC if appropriate
12 | trailing AD or BC
21 | trailing B.C.E. if appropriate
22 | trailing C.E. or B.C.E.
31 | trailing BC if appropriate
32 | trailing CE or BCE

The full date formats passed to `stddate` are:

0 | da mo yr
1 | mo da, yr
2 | mo/da/yr
3 | da/mo/yr
4 | mo-da-yr
5 | da-mo-yr
6 | modayr
7 | damoyr
8 | yr mo da
9 | yr/mo/da
10 | yr-mo-da
11 | yrmoda
12 | yr (year only, omitting all else)
13 | da/mo yr
14 | (As in GEDCOM)

The complex date formats selected by the `complexformat` and used by `complexdate` are:

| Mode | Example
3 | use abbreviations in uppercase | ABT 1 JAN 2002
4 | use abbreviations in titlecase | Abt 1 JAN 2002
5 | use uppercased full words | ABOUT 1 JAN 2002
6 | use titlecased full words | About 1 JAN 2002
7 | use abbreviations in lowercase | abt 1 JAN 2002
8 | use lowercase full words | about 1 JAN 2002

The complex date string pictures that can be overridden with the `complexpic` are:

| Abbreviation | Full word
0 | abt %1 | about %1
1 | est %1 | estimated %1
2 | cal %1 | calculated %1
3 | bef %1 | before %1
4 | aft %1 | after %1
5 | bet %1 and %2 | between %1 and %2
6 | fr %1 | from %1
7 | to %1 | to %1
8 | fr %1 to %2 | from %1 to $2

### Value Extraction Functions

    VOID extractdate
    NODE,
    INT_V,
    INT_V,
    INT_V

  extract a date

    VOID extractnames
    NODE,
    LIST_V,
    INT_V,
    INT_V

  extract a name

    VOID extractplaces
    NODE,
    LIST_V,
    INT_V

  extract a place

    VOID extracttokens
    STRING,
    LIST_V,
    INT_V,
    STRING

  extract tokens

    VOID extractdatestr
    VARB,
    VARB,
    VARB,
    VARB,
    VARB,
    STRING

  extract date from string

Value extraction functions read the values of certain lines and return those values in extracted form.

`Extractdate` extracts date values from either an event node or DATE node. The first parameter must be a node; if its tag is DATE, the date is extracted from the value of that node; if its tag is not DATE, the date is extracted from the first DATE line one level below the argument node. The remaining three arguments are variables. The first is assigned the integer value of the extracted day; the second is assigned the integer value of the extracted month; and the third is assigned the integer value of the extracted year.

`Extractnames` extracts name components from a NAME line. Its first argument is either an INDI or a NAME node. If it is a NAME line, the components are extracted from the value of that node; if it is an INDI line, the components are extracted from the value of the first NAME line in the person record. The second argument is a list that will hold the extracted components. The third argument is an integer variable that is set to the number of extracted components. The fourth argument is a variable that is set to the index (starting at one) of the surname component; the `/` characters are removed from around the surname component. If there is no surname this argument variable is set to zero.

`Extractplaces` extracts place components from a PLAC node. The first argument is a node; if its tag is PLAC, the places are extracted from the value of the node; if its tag is not PLAC, places are extracted from the first PLAC line one level below the argument node. The second parameter is a list that will hold the extracted components. The third argument is an integer variable that is set to the number of extracted components. Place components are defined by the comma-separated portions of the PLAC value; leading and trailing white space is removed from the components, while all internal white space is retained.

`Extracttokens` extracts tokens from a string and places them in a list. The first argument is the string to extract tokens from. The second argument is the list to hold the tokens. The third argument is an integer variable that is set to the number of tokens extracted. The fourth parameter is the string of delimiter characters that `extracttokens` uses to break the input string into tokens.

`extractdatestr` extracts date values from a . STRING. It is intended for internal verification of date extraction code. The remaining five arguments are variables. The second is assigned the integer value of the extracted day; the third is assigned the integer value of the extracted month; and the fourth is assigned the integer value of the extracted year.

### User Interaction Functions

    VOID getindi
    INDI_V,
    STRING

  identify person through user interface

    VOID getindiset
    SET_V,
    STRING

  identify set of persons through user interface

    VOID getfam
    FAM_V

  identify family through user interface

    VOID getint
    INT_V,
    STRING

  get integer through user interface

    VOID getstr
    STRING_V,
    STRING

  get string through user interface

    INDI choosechild
    INDI|FAM

  select child of person/family through user interface

    FAM choosefam
    INDI

  select family person is in as spouse

    INDI chooseindi
    SET

  select person from set of persons

    INDI choosespouse
    INDI

  select spouse of person

    SET choosesubset
    SET

  select a subset of persons from set of persons

    INT menuchoose
    LIST,
    STRING

  select from a list of options

These functions interact with the user to get information needed by the program.

`Getindi` asks the user to identify a person. The first argument is a variable that is set to the person. The second is an optional string to use as a prompt. `Getindiset` asks the user to identify a set of persons. `Getfam` asks the user identify a family. `Getint` and `getstr` ask the user enter an integer and string, respectively.

`Choosechild` asks the user select a child of a family or person; its single argument is a person or family; it return the child. `Choosefam` has the user select a family that a person is in as a spouse; its argument is a person; it returns the family. `Chooseindi` has the user select one person from a set of persons; its argument in a set of persons; it returns the chosen person. `Choosespouse` has the user select a spouse of a person; its argument is a person; it returns the chosen spouse. `Choosesubset` has the user select a subset of persons from a set of persons; its argument is the chosen subset.

`Menuchoose` allows the user to select from an arbitrary menu. The first argument is a list of strings making up the items in the menu; the second, optional argument is a prompt string for the menu; `menuchoose` returns the integer index of the item selected by the user; if the user doesn't select an item, zero is returned.

### String Functions

    STRING lower
    STRING

  convert to lower case

    STRING upper
    STRING

  convert to upper case

    STRING capitalize
    STRING

  capitalize first letter

    STRING titlecase
    STRING

  capitalize first letter of each word

    STRING trim
    STRING,
    INT

  trim to length

    STRING rjustify
    STRING,
    INT

  right justify in field

    STRING concat
    STRING,
    STRING
    ...

  catenate two strings

    STRING strconcat
    STRING,
    STRING
    ...

  catenate two strings

    INT strlen
    STRING

  number of characters in string

    STRING substring(
    STRING,
    INT,
    INT

  substring function

    INT index
    STRING,
    STRING,
    INT

  index function

    STRING d
    INT

  number as decimal string

    STRING f
    FLOAT,
    INT

  number as floating point string

    STRING card
    INT

  number in cardinal form (`one, two, ...`)

    STRING ord
    INT

  number in ordinal form (`first, second, ...`)

    STRING alpha
    INT

  convert number to Latin letter (`a, b, ...`)

    STRING roman
    INT

  number in Roman numeral form (`i, ii, ...`)

    STRING strsoundex
    STRING

  find SOUNDEX value of arbitrary string

    INT strtoint
    STRING

  convert numeric string to integer

    INT atoi
    STRING

  convert numeric string to integer

    INT strcmp
    STRING,
    STRING

  general string compare

    BOOL eqstr
    STRING,
    STRING

  compare strings for equality

    BOOL nestr
    STRING,
    STRING

  compare strings for inequality

These functions provide string handling. Prior to version 3.0.6, many of them used an approach to memory management chosen for absolute minimal memory footprint. A function using this approach constructed its output string in its own string buffer, reusing that buffer each time it was called. When a function using this approach returned a string value it returned its buffer. In consequence the strings returned by these functions were to be either used or saved before the function was called again.

`Lower` and `upper` convert the letters in their arguments to lower or upper case, respectively. `Capitalize` converts the first character of the argument, if it is a letter, to upper case. `Lower` and `upper` historically used the buffer return method; `capitalize` operates on and returns its argument. `titlecase` converts the first letter of each word if it is a letter, to upper case and all other characters to lower case.

`Trim` shortens a string to the length specified by the second parameter. If the string is already of that length or shorter the string is not changed. `Rjustify` right justifies a string into another string of the length specified by the second parameter. If the original string is shorter than the justified string, blanks are inserted to the left of the original string; if the string is longer than the justified string, the original string is truncated on the right. `Trim` historically used the buffer return method; `rjustify` creates and returns a new string.

`Concat` and `strconcat` catenate strings and return the result. They are identical functions. They may take two to 32 string arguments; null arguments are allowed. The arguments are concatenated together into a single, newly allocated string, which is returned.

`Strlen` returns the length of the string argument.

`Substring` returns a substring of the first argument string. The second and third arguments are the indices of the first and last characters in the argument string to use to form the substring. The indexes are relative one. `Substring` historically used the buffer return method.

`Index` returns the character index of the nth occurrence of a substring within a string. The index is the relative one character offset to the beginning of the substring. The first argument is the string; the second argument is the substring; and the third argument is the occurrence number.

`D`, `card`, `ord`, `alpha` and `roman` convert integers to strings. `D` converts an integer to a numeric string; `card` converts an integer to a cardinal number string (eg, `one, two, three`); `ord` converts an integer to an ordinal number (eg, `first, second, third`); `alpha` converts an integer to a letter (eg, `a, b, c`); and `roman` converts an integer to a Roman numeral (eg, `i, ii, iii`).

The `f` function converts a float to a string. The optional second argument specifies the precision of the output. The default precision is 2.

`Strsoundex` converts an arbitrary string to a SOUNDEX value. Non-ASCII text characters are ignored in the string.

`Strtoint` converts a numeric string to an integer. `Atoi` is identical to `strtoint`.

`Strcmp` compares two strings and returns an integer that is less than zero, equal to zero, or greater than zero, if, respectively, the first string is lexicographically less than, equal to, or greater than the second string. `Eqstr` and `nestr` return whether two strings are equal or not equal, respectively. `Strcmp`, `Eqstr`, and `nestr` all treat null strings as empty strings, which is to say they pretend that a null string is actually "". This means that all null and empty strings compare as equal.

### Output Mode Functions

    VOID linemode

  use line output mode

    VOID pagemode
    INT,
    INT

  use page output mode with given page size

    VOID col
    INT

  position to column in output

    INT getcol

  get current column in output

    VOID row
    INT

  position to row in output

    VOID pos
    INT,
    INT

  position to (row, col) coordinate in output

    VOID pageout

  output page buffer

    STRING nl

  newline character

    STRING sp

  space character

    STRING qt

  double quote character

    VOID newfile
    STRING,
    BOOL

  send program output to this file

    STRING outfile

  return name of current program output file

    VOID copyfile
    STRING

  copy file contents to program output file

    BOOLEAN test
    STRING
    STRING

  tests for characteristics of a file

    VOID print
    STRING,
    STRING
    ...

  print string to standard output window

Reports can be generated in two modes, line mode and page mode. `Linemode` selects line mode and `pagemode` selects page mode; line mode is the default. The first parameter to `pagemode` is the number of rows per page; the second parameter is the number of columns per page. When in the line mode report output is written directly to the output file as the program runs, line by line. When in page mode output is buffered into pages which are written to the output file when `pageout` is called. Page mode is useful for generating charts (eg, pedigree charts or box charts) where it is convenient to compute the two-dimensional location of output.

`Col` positions output to the given column. If the current column is greater than the argument, col positions output to the given column on the next line. `Col` works in both modes. `Getcol` returns the current column in the output.

`Row` positions output to the first character in the given row; `row` can only be used in page mode.

`Pos` positions output to a specified row and column coordinate; the first argument specifies the row, and the second specifies the column. `Pos` can only be used in page mode.

`Nl` write a new line character to the output file; `sp` writes a space character to the output file; and `qt` writes a quote character to the output file. Note that `\n` and `\'` can be used within string values to represent the newline and double quote characters.

`Newfile` specifies the name of the report output file. Its first argument is the file's name; its second argument is an append flag - if its value is non-zero the report appends to this file; if its value is zero the report overwrites the contents of the file. `Newfile` can be called many times; this allows a single report program to generate many report output files during one execution. Programs are not required to use `newfile`; if it is not used then LifeLines automatically asks for the name of the report output file.

`Outfile` returns the name of the current report output file.

`Copyfile` copies the contents of a file to the report output file; its argument is a string whose value is the name of a file; if the file name is not absolute nor relative, then the `LLPROGRAMS` environment variable, if set, will be used to search for the file; the file is opened and its contents copied to the report output file.

`Test` will check for a specified property of the specified file. The first argument is the property, the second argument is the filename. Supported properties are: r - file is readable w - file is writeable x - file is executable s - file has non-zero size z - file has zero size e - file exists f - check if argument is a file d - check if argument is a directory

The return value is TRUE or FALSE, depending on whether the file had the specified property or not.

`Print` prints its argument string to the standard output window; `print` may have one to 32 arguments.

### Person Set Functions and GEDCOM Extraction

    VOID indiset
    SET_V

  declare a set variable

    VOID addtoset
    SET,
    INDI,
    ANY

  add a person to a set

    VOID deletefromset
    SET,
    INDI,
    BOOL

  remove a person from a set

    INT length
    SET

  size of a set

    SET union
    SET,
    SET

  union of two sets

    SET intersect
    SET,
    SET

  intersection of two sets

    SET difference
    SET,
    SET

  difference of two sets

    SET parentset
    SET

  set of all parents

    SET childset
    SET

  set of all children

    SET spouseset
    SET

  set of all spouses

    SET siblingset
    SET

  set of all siblings

    SET ancestorset
    SET

  set of all ancestors

    SET descendentset
    SET

  set of all descendents

    SET descendantset
    SET

  same as descendentset; spelling

    SET uniqueset
    SET

  remove duplicates from set

    VOID namesort
    SET

  sort indiset by name

    VOID keysort
    SET

  sort indiset by key values

    VOID valuesort
    SET

  sort indiset by auxiliary values

    VOID genindiset
    STRING,
    SET

  generate indiset from GEDCOM name string

    BOOL inset
    SET,
    INDI

  true if the Individual is in the set.

    forindiset( SET, INDI_V, ANY_V, INT_V ) { commands }

  loop through all persons in person set

These functions allow you to manipulate person sets. A person set is a potentially large set of persons; each person may have an arbitrary value associated with him/her. A person set must be declared with the `indiset` function before it can be used.

`Addtoset` adds a person to a set. The first argument is the set; the second argument is the person; and the third argument may be any value. The same person may be added to a set more than once, each time with a different value. `Deletefromset` removes a person from a set. The first argument is the set; the second argument is the person; if the third parameter is true all of the person's entries are removed from the set; if false only the first entry is removed. `Length` returns the number of persons in a person set.

`Union`, `intersect` and `difference` return the set union, set intersection and set difference, respectively, of two person sets. Each functions takes two person sets as arguments and returns a third person set. The functions actually modify their argument sets, both reordering them into canonical key order and removing any duplicates (these operations are necessary to easily implement these types of set functions).

`Parentset`, `childset`, `spouseset` and `siblingset` return the set of all parents, set of all children, set of all spouses and set of all siblings, respectively, of the set of persons in their argument. In all cases there is no change to the argument person set.

`Ancestorset` returns the set all ancestors of all persons in the argument set. `Descendentset` returns the set of all descendents of all persons in the argument set. `Descendantset` is the same as `descendentset`; it allows an alternate spelling.

`Uniqueset` sorts a person set by key value and then removes all entries with duplicate keys; the input set is modified and returned.

`Namesort`, `keysort` and `valuesort` sort a set of persons by name, by key and by associated value, respectively.

Each person in a person set has an associated value. When a person is added to a set with `addtoset`, the value is explicitly assigned. When new sets are created by other functions, a number of rules are used to associate values with persons as they are added to the new sets. For `parentset`, `childset` and `spouseset` the values are copied from the first input set person that causes the new person to be added to the set. For `union`, `intersect` and `difference`, the values are copied from the values in the first input set, except in the case of `union`, when persons are taken from the second set alone, in which case the values come from there. For `ancestorset` and `descendantset` the value is set to the number of generations the new person is away from the first person in the input set that the new person is related to. If the new person is related to more than one person in the input set, the value is set for the nearest relationship; that is, the value is as low as possible. `Valuesort` sorts a person set by the values of these auxiliary values.

`Genindiset` generates the set of persons that matches a string whose value is a name in GEDCOM format. `Genindiset` uses the same algorithm that matches names entered at the browse prompt or by the user interaction `getindiset` function.

`Inset` returns true if the the specified individual is in the SET.

`Forindiset` is an iterator that loops through each person in an indiset. The first parameter is an indiset. The second parameter is a variable that iterates through each person in the set. The third parameter iterates through the values associated with the persons. The fourth parameter is an integer variable that counts the iterations.

### Record Update Functions

    NODE createnode
    STRING,
    STRING

  create a GEDCOM node

    VOID addnode
    NODE,
    NODE,
    NODE

  add a node to a GEDCOM tree

    VOID detachnode
    NODE

  delete a node from a GEDCOM tree

    VOID writeindi
    INDI

  write a person back to the database

    VOID writefam
    FAM

  write a family back to the database

These functions allow you to modify an internal GEDCOM node tree.

`Createnode` creates a GEDCOM node; the two arguments are tag and value strings, respectively; the value string can be null. `Addnode` adds a node to a node tree. The first argument is the new node; the second is the node in the tree that becomes the parent of the new node; the third is the node in the tree that becomes the previous sibling of the new node; this argument is null if the new node is to become the first child of the parent. `Detachnode` removes a node from a node tree. `writeindi` writes an individual record back to the database, and `writefam` writes a family record back to the database, allowing the report to make permanent changes to the database.

The node functions only change data in memory; there is no effect on the database until and unless `writeindi` or `writefam` are called.

### Record Linking Functions

    BOOL reference
    STRING

  determine if string is a cross reference

    NODE dereference
    STRING

  reference cross reference or key to node tree

These functions allow you to recognize values that are cross references and to read the records they refer to. `Reference` returns true if its string argument is a cross reference value, that is, the internal key of one of the records in the database. `Dereference` returns the node tree of the record referred to by its cross-reference string argument.

### Miscellaneous Functions

    VOID lock
    INDI|FAM

  lock a person or family in memory

    VOID unlock
    INDI|FAM

  unlock a person or family from memory

    STRING database

  return name of current database

    STRING program

  return name of current program

    STRING version

  return version of LifeLines program

    VOID system
    STRING

  execute string as a UNIX shell command

    INT heapused

  amount of heap used for windows

    STRING getproperty
    STRING

  extract system or user property. Function available after v3.0.5.

    STRING setlocale
    STRING

  set the locale

    STRING bytecode
    STRING,
    STRING

  encode a string in a codeset

    STRING convertcode
    STRING,
    STRING,
    STRING

  convert string from one codeset to another

    VOID debug
    BOOLEAN

  set interperter debug mode

    STRING pvalue
    ANY

  dump information about a pvalue

    VOID free
    ANY

  free space associated with a variable

`Lock` and `unlock` are used to lock a person or family into RAM memory, and to unlock a person or family from RAM memory, respectively.

`Database` returns the name of the current database, useful in titling reports. `program` returns the name of the current report program. `Version` returns the version of the running LifeLines program, eg, `&llversion;`.

`System` executes its string argument as a UNIX (or MS-Windows as appropriate) shell command, by invoking the system shell. This will not occur if the user has chosen to disallow report system calls (via the DenySystemCalls user option).

The `heapused` function returns the amount of system heap that is in use at the time. This is implemented only on windows.

The `getproperty` function extracts system or user properties. Properties are named group.subgroup.property, group.property or even property. The keys are available at the moment can be found in the ll-userguide under System and User Properties.

The `setlocale` function sets the locale and returns the previous setting of locale.

The `bytecode` function converts the supplied string with escape codes to the current codeset from the internal codeset or from the codeset specified by the optional second parameter if specified. A escaped code is a dollar sign ($) followed by 2 hex characters, e.g. $C1.

The `convertcode` function converts a string to another codeset. In the two argument form, the second argument is the destination codeset, and the source codeset is the internal codeset. In the 3 argument form, the second argument is the source codeset and the third argument is the destination codeset. (See the section of the LifeLines User Guide on codeset conversions.) For example, if your internal codeset is UTF-8, and the report codeset is UTF-8, the following code,

           "<p>\n"
           convertcode(str,"UTF-8//html")

writes the first line of output as it is written, but will apply the html sub-conversion to all the characters in the string str. The special html codes, like the less than or greater than, will be escaped when printing the second string, but not when printing the first string.

The `debug` function turns on or off programming debugging. When enabled gobs of information is printed as a LifeLines program is run. This can be useful to figure out why a program is not behaving as expected.

The `pvalue` function returns a string that represents the contents of a variable in the interpreter. This is present for debug purposes.

The function `free` deallocates space associated with the variable provided as argument 1. Care must be taken when free is used in a function on a variable which is a parameter to the function. free will not effect the variable in the calling program.

### Deprecated Functions

The `baptism` finds christening (CHR) events. The types of events desired to be found, depend on the nature of the report being written. It is recommended that custom access routines be used instead of `baptism`.

    EVENT baptism
    INDI

  first baptism event of

  If you want a routine that returns the first event for an individual that is a baptism, LDS baptism, Christening or Adult Christening, the following routine can be used.

      func get_baptism(indi) {
          fornodes(indi,node) {
              if (index(" BAPM BAPL CHR CHRA ",upper(tag(node)),1)) {
                  return(node)
              }
      	return(0)
          }
      }

  If you want to search for additional events or fewer events you can modify the string in the index call acccordingly. Likewise, if you want the to prioritize the results, finding a christening event if one exists, else finding a baptism event if one exists, then finding an LDS baptism event, and finally a christening event, the following function is suggested.

      /* get_baptism(indi) returns a baptism event if found
         events CHR, BAPM, BAPL, and CHRA are considered, in that order
      */
      func get_baptism(indi, prefs)
      {
          set(chr, 0)
          set(bapm, 0)
          set(bapl, 0)
          set(chra, 0)
          fornodes(indi,node)
          {
      	if (and(eq(upper(tag(node)), "CHR"), not(chr)) { set(chr, node) }
      	if (and(eq(upper(tag(node)), "BAPM"), not(bapm)) { set(bapm, node) }
      	if (and(eq(upper(tag(node)), "BAPL"), not(bapl)) { set(bapl, node) }
      	if (and(eq(upper(tag(node)), "CHRA"), not(chra)) { set(chra, node) }
          }
          if (chr) { return(chr) }
          if (bapm) { return(bapm) }
          if (bapl) { return(bapl) }
          return(chra)
      }

The functionality of the following three functions, `getindimsg`, `getintmsg` and `getstrmsg` is now available using the optional parameter of `getindi`, `getint` and `getstr`. These functions should no longer be used as they will be removed from a future version of Lifelines.

    VOID getindimsg
    INDI_V,
    STRING

  identify person through user interface

    VOID getintmsg
    INT_V,
    STRING

  get integer through user interface

    VOID getstrmsg
    STRING_V,
    STRING

  get string through user interface

Three functions are available for to generate GEDCOM format output to the report output file of all persons in the argument person set. These functions do not in most cases generate consistent and usable output. This can be done with a program, but it is suggested that these routines are probably not what you really wanted.

`Gengedcom` output contains a person record for each person in the set, and all the family records that link at least two of the persons in the set together. This function is provided for backward compatibility. Source, Event and Other(X) record pointers are output unmodified, but none of their records are output - this yields an inconsistent output.

`Gengedcomweak` output does not contain Source, Event or Other(X) record pointers or their records. `Gengedcomstrong` includes the Source, Event and Other(X) record pointers and all top-level nodes referenced by them.

    VOID gengedcom
    SET

  generate GEDCOM file from person set

    VOID gengedcomweak
    SET

  generate GEDCOM file from person set

    VOID gengedcomstrong
    SET

  generate GEDCOM file from person set

By the release of version 3.0.6, all string values are local copies, and the `save` and `strsave` functions should be entirely unnecessary. `Save` is present only for compatibility reasons. Previously it duplicated its argument (to prevent strings from becoming stale; this is not currently necessary (and this function no longer does anything). `Strsave` is the same function as `save`.

    STRING save
    STRING

  save and return copy of string

    STRING strsave
    STRING

  same as save function

Use `detachnode` instead of `deletenode`.

    VOID deletenode
    NODE

  delete a node from a GEDCOM tree

In releases after version 3.0.39, the `length` function accepts an argument of type list, set or table. the `lengthset` function is no longer needed.

    INT lengthset
    SET

  size of a set