1.$ COUNT = 57 $ REPORT = F$FAO("NUMBER OF FORMS = !SL",COUNT) $ SHOW SYMBOL REPORT REPORT = "NUMBER OF FORMS = 57" In this command procedure, the FAO directive !SL is used in a control string to convert the number equated to the symbol COUNT to a character string. The converted string is inserted into the control string. Note that COUNT is assigned an integer value of 57. The F$FAO function returns the ASCII string, "NUMBER OF FORMS = 57", and assigns the string to the symbol REPORT. 2.$ A = "ERR" $ B = "IS" $ C = "HUM" $ D = "AN" $ PHRASE = F$FAO("TO !3(AS)",A,B,C+D) $ SHOW SYMBOL PHRASE $ PHRASE = "TO ERRISHUMAN" In this command procedure, the !AS directive is used to insert the values assigned to the symbols A, B, C, and D into the control string. Because the specified repeat count for the !AS directive is 3, F$FAO looks for three arguments. The arguments in this example include the symbol A ("ERR"), the symbol B ("IS"), and the expression C+D ("HUMAN"). Note that the values of these string arguments are concatenated to form the string "ERRISHUMAN". 3.$ A = "ERR" $ B = "IS" $ C = "HUMAN" $ PHRASE = F$FAO("TO !#(#AS)",3,6,A,B,C) $ SHOW SYMBOL PHRASE $ PHRASE = "TO ERR IS HUMAN " In this command procedure, the F$FAO function is used with the !AS directive to format a character string. The first number sign (#) represents the repeat count given by the first argument, 3. The second number sign represents the field size given by the second argument, 6. The next three arguments (A,B,C) provide the strings that are placed into the control string each time the !AS directive is repeated. Each argument string is output to a field having a length of 6 characters. Because each string is less than 6 characters, each field is left-justified and padded with blank spaces. The resulting string is assigned to the symbol PHRASE. 4.$ OFFSPRING = 1 $ REPORT = F$FAO- ("There !0UL!1%Cis!%Eare!%F !-!UL !-!0UL!1%Cchild!%Echildren!%F here",OFFSPRING) $ SHOW SYMBOL REPORT $ REPORT ="There is 1 child here" In this command procedure, the !0UL directive evaluates the argument OFFSPRING but does not insert the value in the output string. The !n%C directive inserts the character string "is" into the output string because its value and the value of the argument OFFSPRING match. The directives !-!UL evaluate the argument a second time so that the correct character string can be inserted in the proper place in the output string. The !%F directive marks the end of each plurals statement. The F$FAO function returns the ASCII string "There is 1 child here" and assigns the string to the symbol REPORT.