⎕FCREATE Create a new component file

The ⎕FCREATE function creates a new component file, and leaves it tied. The syntax is:

      FILENAME ⎕FCREATE TIENO

FILENAME is a character vector specifying the name of the file to create. The name may be specified in either of two ways. If the name contains a directory-separator character (: / or \), it is treated as a full host path name, and you need to specify the file extension explicitly, usually .aqf. Otherwise it is treated as basic file name only, optionally preceded by a volume number 0 to 9, separated by one or more spaces from the name. In the latter case, the file is created in the directory 0 to 9 specified (the actual path is set using the preferences dialog or ⎕MOUNT), and the file extension .aqf is added automatically.

TIENO is an arbitrary non-zero integer to be used in subsequent read/write operations to identify the file (the tie is exclusive). The tie number must not currently be in use to tie another file. Alternatively, you can provide a tie number of 0, in which case APLX automatically allocates the next available unused tie number, and returns it as the explicit result of the function.

For example, suppose APLX is running on a Windows machine and the ⎕MOUNT table is set (either under program control or using the Preferences dialog) so that library 0 is in c:\temp and library 1 is in m:\budget\current:

      2 30↑⎕MOUNT ''
c:\temp
m:\budget\current

You could create a new file called RUN3 in c:\temp as follows (no directory separator character appears in the name, so it is taken as a simple file name in library 0):

      'RUN3' ⎕FCREATE 2

(Using a left argument of '0 RUN3' would be equivalent). The file is created, and then exclusive-tied on tie number 2, so you can write to it immediately:

      ⎕FNUMS
2
      ⎕TS ⎕FWRITE 2

The full operating-system path would be c:\temp\RUN3.aqf.

In this second example, the user has specified 0 as the tie number, so APLX allocates and returns the next available tie number. The file is created in library 1, so the full operating-system path would be m:\budget\current\RUN4.aqf:

      '1 RUN4' ⎕FCREATE 0
3
      ⎕FNUMS
2 3

In this third example, a full path name has been supplied, with an explicit tie number of 8, so we now have three files tied:

      'c:\temp\RUN4.aqf' ⎕FCREATE 8
      ⎕FNUMS
2 3 8
      ⎕FNAMES
RUN3
1 RUN4
C:\TEMP\RUN4.aqf

(Under Linux or AIX, the full path name might be something like /usr/tmp/RUN4.aqf. Under MacOS, it might be something like Macintosh HD:temp:RUN4.aqf).

Note that, if you specify a full file name, you can use any file extension (or none). However, we recommend that you always use .aqf for APLX ⎕Fxxx component files. If you do not use the .aqf extension, your component files will not show up in ⎕FLIB, and you will not be able to access them using the library-relative syntax.

Special considerations for Client-Server implementations of APLX

In Client-Server implementations of APLX, the front-end which implements the user-interface (the "Client") runs on one machine, and the APLX interpreter itself (the "Server") can run on a different machine. The two parts of the application communicate via a TCP/IP network. Typically, the Client will be the APLX front-end built as a 32-bit Windows application running on a desktop PC, and the Server will be a 64-bit APLX64 interpreter running on a 64-bit Linux or Windows server.

In such systems, you can specify whether the file should be accessed on the Client or the Server machine. You do this by preceding the file name with either an Up Arrow ↑ to indicate that the file should be accessed on the Client, or a Down Arrow ↓ to indicate that it should be accessed on the Server. If you do not specify, the default is that the access takes place on the Client. This is true either if you specify the full path name in the ⎕FCREATE call, or via the ⎕MOUNT table.

Mixing 32-bit and 64-bit Component Files

If you are running both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of APLX, then it is possible to share component files between the two architectures, but there are some special points you should be aware of. See the introduction to the ⎕Fxxx Component File System for details.