Gamma Reference
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Gamma Reference

Table of Contents
Symbols and Literals
Data Types and Predicates — testing for data types.
undefined_p, undefined_symbol_p — test for undefined types and symbols.
Literals — defined for integers, reals, strings, and symbols.
Predefined Symbols — a table.
Reserved Words — a table.
t — a logically true value.
nil — the logically false value.
gamma, phgamma — start Gamma and Gamma/Photon from the shell prompt.
Operators
Operator Precedence and Associativity — a table.
Arithmetic Operators — (+, -, *, /, %)
Assignment Operators — (=, :=, ::=)
Binary Operator Shorthands — (+=, -=, *=, /=, %=, &=, ^=, <<=, >>=)
Bitwise Operators — (<<, >>, ~ , &, |, ^)
Class Operators — (., ..)
Comparison Operators — (!=, <, <=, ==, >, >=)
Evaluation Order Operators — , ( )
Increment and Decrement Operators — (++, --)
Logical Operators — (!, &&, ||)
Quote Operators — (#, `, @)
Symbol Character Operators — (\, $)
Ternary Operator — ( ? : )
Statements
class — defines a class.
condition — tests conditions.
for — checks a condition and performs a statement.
function — creates a new function.
if — conditionally evaluates statements.
local — allows for implementing local variables within functions.
method — defines a method for a given class.
progn, prog1 — group several statements into one expression.
protect unwind — evaluates protected code, despite errors.
switch — tests arguments with conditions.
try catch — catches errors in the body code.
while — iterates, evaluating a statement.
with — traverses an array or list performing a statement.
Core Functions
call — calls a class method for a given instance.
class_add_cvar — adds new class variables.
class_add_ivar — adds an instance variable to a class.
class_name — gives the name of the class.
class_of — gives the class definition of a given instance.
defclass — is the function equivalent of the class statement.
defmacro, defmacroe — are the Lisp equivalents of the macro function.
defun, defune, — are the function equivalents of the function statement.
defmethod — is the function equivalent of the method statement.
defvar — defines a global variable with an initial value.
destroy — destroys a class instance.
eq, equal — compare for identity and equivalence.
error — redirects the interpreter.
eval — evaluates an argument.
eval_list — evaluates each element of a list.
eval_string — evaluates a string.
force, forceq, forceqq — assign a value to a symbol, forcing the evaluation of change functions for the symbol.
funcall — provides compatibility with other Lisp dialects.
function_args — lists the arguments of a function.
function_body — gives the body of a user-defined function.
function_name — gives the name of a function.
getprop — returns a property value for a symbol.
has_cvar — queries for the existence of a class variable.
has_ivar — queries for the existence of an instance variable.
instance_vars — finds all the instance variables of a class or instance.
is_class_member — checks if an instance or class is a member of a class.
ivar_type — returns the type of a given instance variable.
macro — helps generate custom functions.
new — creates a new instance of a class.
parent_class — returns the closest parent (base) of a class or instance.
print_stack — prints a Gamma stack.
properties — should never be used.
quote, backquote — correspond to Quote Operators.
require, load — load files.
set, setq, setqq — assign a value to a symbol.
setprop — sets a property value for a symbol.
setprops — lists the most recent property value settings.
trap_error — traps errors in the body code.
unwind_protect — ensures code will be evaluated, despite errors in the body code.
whence — gives input information.
Lists and Arrays
append — concatenates several lists into a single new list.
aref — returns an array expression at a given index.
array — constructs an array.
array_split — partitions a list or array into multiple lists or arrays.
array_to_list — converts an array to a list.
aset — sets an array element to a value at a given index.
assoc, assoc_equal — search an association list for a sublist.
bsearch — searches an array or list for a element.
car, cdr, and others — return specific elements of a list.
cons — constructs a cons cell.
copy — makes a copy of the top list level of a list.
copy_tree — copies the entire tree structure and elements of a list.
delete — removes an element from an array.
difference — constructs a list of the differences between two lists.
find, find_equal — search a list using the eq and equal functions.
insert — inserts an array value at a given position.
intersection — constructs a list of all the elements found in both of two lists.
length — counts the number of elements in a list or array.
list, listq — create lists.
list_to_array — converts a list to an array.
make_array — creates an empty array.
nappend — appends one or more lists, destructively modifying them.
nremove — removes list items, destructively altering the list.
nreplace, nreplace_equal — replace elements in a list.
nth_car, nth_cdr — iteratively apply the car and cdr functions to a list.
remove — removes list items without altering the list.
reverse — reverses the order of list elements.
rplaca, rplacd — replace the car and cdr of a list.
shorten_array — reduces or expands the size of an array.
sort — sorts a list or array, destructively modifying the order.
union — constructs a list containing all the elements of two lists.
Strings and Buffers
bdelete — deletes a number of bytes from a buffer.
binsert — inserts a value into a buffer.
buffer — constructs a buffer.
buffer_to_string — converts a buffer to a string.
format, formatl — generates a formatted string.
make_buffer — creates a new, empty buffer.
open_string — allows a string to be used as a file.
parse_string — parses an input string.
raw_memory — tells the amount of memory in use.
shell_match — compares string text to a pattern.
shorten_buffer — reduces the size of a buffer.
strchr, strrchr — search a string for an individual character.
strcmp, stricmp — compare strings.
string — constructs a string.
stringc — constructs a string in Lisp-readable form,
string_file_buffer — queries a string file for its internal buffer.
string_split — breaks a string into individual words.
string_to_buffer — creates a buffer object from a string.
strcvt — converts the Windows character set of a string.
strlen — counts the number of characters in a string.
strncmp, strnicmp — compare two strings and return a numeric result.
strrev — reverses the order of characters in a string.
strstr — finds the location of a given substring.
substr — returns a substring for a given location.
tolower — converts upper case letters to lower case.
toupper — converts lower case letters to upper case.
Data Type Conversion
bin — converts numbers into binary form.
char — generates an ASCII character from a number.
char_val — generates a character's numeric value.
dec — converts numbers into base-10 form.
hex — converts numbers into hexadecimal form.
int — converts to integer form.
number, numberl — attempt to convert an expression to a number.
oct — converts numbers into octal form.
symbol — constructs a symbol from a string.
Math
acos, asin, atan, atan2 — perform trigonometric arc functions.
and, not, or — are the same as the corresponding Logical Operators.
band, bnot, bor, bxor — perform bitwise operations.
ceil — rounds a real number up to the next integer.
cfand, cfor — perform and and or functions with confidence factors.
conf, set_conf — query and set confidence factors.
cos, sin, tan — perform trigonometric functions.
div — divides, giving an integer result.
exp — calculates an exponent of the logarithmic base (e).
floor — rounds a real number down to its integer value.
log, log10, logn — calculate logarithms.
isnan — identifies invalid or illegal numbers.
isinf — determines if a number is infinite.
neg — negates.
pow — raises a base to the power of an exponent.
random — generates random numbers from 0 to 1.
round — rounds a real number up or down to the nearest integer.
set_random — starts random at a different initial number.
sqr — finds the square of a number.
sqrt — finds the square root of a number.
Input/Output
close — closes an open file.
fd_close — closes a file identified by a file descriptor.
fd_data_function — attaches a write-activated callback to a file.
fd_eof_function — attaches an eof-activated callback to a file.
fd_open — opens a file or device and assigns it a file descriptor.
fd_read — reads a buffer or string from a file identified by a file descriptor.
fd_to_file — creates a file pointer from a descriptor.
fd_write — writes a buffer or string to a file identified by a file descriptor.
fileno — creates a file descriptor from a pointer.
ioctl — performs control functions on a file descriptor.
open — attempts to open a file.
pipe — creates a pipe.
princ, print, pretty_princ, pretty_print — write to the standard output file.
pty, ptytio — run programs in a pseudo-tty.
read — reads a Lisp expression from a file.
read_char, read_double, read_float, read_long, read_short — read the next character, double, float, long or short value in binary representation from the input file.
read_eval_file — reads a file, evaluating and counting expressions.
read_line — reads a single line of text.
read_n_chars — reads and stores characters.
read_until — reads characters, constructing a string as it goes.
seek — sets the file position for reading or writing.
ser_setup — sets parameters for a serial port device.
tell — indicates file position.
terpri — prints a newline to an open file.
unread_char — attempts to replace a character to a file for subsequent reading.
write, writec, pretty_write, pretty_writec — write an expression to a file.
write_n_chars — writes characters from a buffer to a file.
File System
absolute_path — returns the absolute path of the given file.
access — checks a file for various permissions.
basename — gives the base of a filename.
cd — changes the working directory.
chars_waiting — checks for characters waiting to be read on a file.
directory — returns the contents of a directory.
dirname — returns the directory path of a file.
drain — modifies end-of-file detection.
file_date — gives the file modification date.
file_size — gives the file size.
flush — flushes any pending output on a file or string.
getcwd — gets the current working directory.
is_busy — determines if a file is busy.
is_dir — determines if a file is a directory.
is_file — determines if a file exists.
is_readable — determines if a file is readable.
is_writable — determines if a file is writable.
mkdir — creates a new sub-directory.
path_node — gives the node number of a path in a QNX 2 path definition.
rename — renames a file.
root_path — strips the final file or directory name from a path.
tmpfile — generates temporary output file names.
unbuffer_file — causes a file to be treated as unbuffered on both input and output.
unlink — deletes a file.
OS APIs
atexit — evaluates code before exiting a program.
block_signal, unblock_signal — delimit signal blocking.
errno — detects and numbers errors.
exec — executes a program.
exit_program — terminates the interpreter.
fork — duplicates a process.
getenv — retrieves the value of an environment variable.
gethostname — gets the computer's host name.
getnid — returns the local node number.
getpid — returns the program ID.
getsockopt, setsockopt — get and set a socket option.
kill — sends a signal to a process.
nanosleep — pauses the interpreter for seconds and nanoseconds.
setenv — sets an environment variable for the current process.
shm_open — opens shared memory objects.
shm_unlink — removes shared memory objects.
signal — defines an expression to be evaluated at an OS generated signal.
sleep, usleep — suspend execution.
strerror — retrieves an error message.
system — treats its argument as a system command.
tcp_accept — forks a new TCP socket on the server side to accept a new connection.
tcp_connect — creates a client-side TCP socket connection.
tcp_listen — creates a server-side TCP socket connection.
wait — waits for process exit status.
Dynamic Loading
AutoLoad — allows for run-time symbol lookup.
autoload_undefined_symbol — checks undefined symbols for AutoLoad.
AutoMapFunction — maps a C function to a Gamma function.
ClearAutoLoad — removes all AutoLoad rules.
dlclose — closes an open dynamic library.
dlerror — reports errors in dl functions.
dlfunc — reserved for future use.
DllLoad — loads dynamic libraries.
dlmethod — reserved for future use.
NoAutoLoad — removes selected AutoLoad rules.
dlopen — loads a dynamic library from a file.
Profiling and Debugging
allocated_cells — gives the number of allocated and free cells.
eval_count — counts evaluations made since a program started.
free_cells — returns the number of available memory cells.
function_calls — tells how often a function was called during profiling.
function_runtime — gives the time a function has run during profiling.
gc — runs the garbage collector.
gc_blocksize — for internal use only.
gc_enable — for internal use only.
gc_newblock — for internal use only.
gc_trace — controls the tracing of garbage collection.
profile — collects statistics on function usage and run time.
set_autotrace — is reserved for future use.
set_breakpoint — is reserved for future use.
time — gives command execution times.
trace, notrace — turn tracing on or off.
Miscellaneous
apropos — finds all defined symbols in the current interpreter environment.
create_state, enter_state, exit_state — are part of the SCADALisp exception-driven state machine mechanism.
gensym — generates a unique symbol.
modules — is obsolete, and returns nothing of value.
stack — lists all functions called so far.
IPC
add_hook — hooks a function to an event.
close_task — closes a task opened by locate_task.
_destroy_task — should never be used.
init_async_ipc — requests queue information from a task.
init_ipc — sets up necessary data structures for IPC.
isend — sends a synchronous message and doesn't wait for the result.
locate_task — finds and connects to tasks by name.
locate_task_id — finds and connects to tasks by task ID and network node.
name_attach — attaches a name to a task.
nserve_query — puts information from nserve into an array.
remove_hook — removes a hooked function.
run_hooks — runs a hooked function.
send — transmits expressions for evaluation.
send_async — transmits expressions asynchronously.
send_string — transmits strings for evaluation.
send_string_async — transmits a string asynchronously.
taskdied, taskstarted — internal functions that call another function when a task starts or stops.
task_info — gets information from a task descriptor.
Events and Callbacks
add_set_function — sets an expression to be evaluated when a given symbol changes value.
flush_events — handles all pending events, then exits.
next_event, next_event_nb — wait for an event and call the event handling function.
remove_set_function — removes a set function from a symbol.
when_set_fns — returns all functions set for a symbol.
Time, Date, and Timers
after — a timer that initiates an action after a period of time.
at — a timer that initiates an action at a given time, or regularly.
block_timers, unblock_timers — block and unblock timer firing.
cancel — removes a timer from the set of pending timers.
clock, nanoclock — get the OS time.
date — gets the OS date and time; translates seconds into dates.
date_of — is obsolete, see date
every — a timer that initiates an action every number of seconds.
gmtime — transforms Unix time to UTC time and date in ASCII format.
Iso8601ToUnixTime — converts from ISO 8601 time to Unix time.
localtime — transforms Unix time to local time and date in ASCII format.
mktime — converts the ASCII date and time data in a tm class to Unix time.
timer_is_proxy — controls timer handling in Gamma.
UnixTimeToIso8601 — converts from Unix time to ISO 8601.
Cogent DataHub
add_exception_function, add_echo_function — assign functions for exceptions or echoes on a point.
lock_point — locks or unlocks points.
point_locked — indicates if a point is locked.
point_nanoseconds — gives the nanoseconds from point_seconds that a point value changed.
point_seconds — gives the time the point value changed.
point_security — gives the security level of a point.
read_existing_point, read_point — retrieve points.
register_all_points — registers an application to receive exceptions for all points.
register_exception — not yet documented.
register_point, register_existing_point — register an application to receive exceptions for a single point.
remove_echo_function — removes an echo function from a symbol.
remove_exception_function — removes an exception function from a symbol.
secure_point — alters the security level on a point.
set_domain — sets the default domain for future calls.
set_security — changes the security level for the current process.
unregister_point — stops echo and exception message sending.
when_echo_fns, when_exception_fns — indicate the functions for echos or exceptions on a point.
write_existing_point, write_point — write point values.
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