Command Reference

General rules

1. Keywords in commands are shown in uppercase to indicate their constant nature; they may be entered in any (or mixed) case.
2. Square brackets indicate optional keywords or values; a vertical ‘or bar’ (‘|’) indicates that a choice of one or more keywords should be made.
3. A value following a keyword (such as the file name on the MACRO command, etc.) may be specified as a quoted token, which allows it to contain embedded blanks.
   A quoted token is one which begins with a delimiter which is a single or double quote character. Such a token is then only ended by a matching quote or by the end of the command. A quote which matches the starting quote may be included inside a quoted operand by doubling up the quote; in this case it does not end the token.
   The content of the quoted token (after the delimiters have been removed and any doubled delimiter quotes have been reduced to a single instance) forms the value of the token which is then used as if it were a single word.
   For example: macro "c:\program files\pmglobe\sample"
4. Angles may be specified in degrees in decimal form, such as -30 or +45.5, where for latitude and longitude negative implies south of the equator or west of Greenwich respectively. The more usual format is also allowed (for example: 52°30’10E) – details are given below.
   In this document, the character ‘°’ is the degree character, encoded in Windows as 176 (decimal) or ’B0’x (hexadecimal). This character can usually be entered by holding down the Alt key while typing 176 on the numeric keypad.
   Angles returned by QUERY or EXTRACT will always be in decimal form.
5. Times are specified and returned in seconds (with an optional sign for relative times).
6. Colours may be entered in any case, and (with valid alternative spellings in parentheses) must be one of: White, Gray (Grey), Black, Red, Green, Blue, Pink (Magenta), Cyan (Turquoise), Yellow, DarkRed, DarkGreen, DarkBlue, Purple (DarkPink, DarkMagenta), DarkCyan (DarkTurquoise), or Brown. PaleGray (PaleGrey) is also allowed, for the globe background colour only.
   A QUERY or EXTRACT will return the first shown name for each colour, in uppercase.
7. The keyword CENTRE may also be spelled as CENTER, and COLOUR as (or within) a keyword may be spelled COLOR.
8. It is recommended that long-running macros (especially those that use the WAIT command) use the SET TITLE command to change the window title to indicate that the macro is running. The title should be restored to its previous value if halted. Good macros will also allow for asynchronous alteration of viewpoint, etc., should the user interact with PMGlobe while the macro is running.
9. Graphics (drawn with the GLINE command) are shown above any grid lines, and underneath any markers, clocks, and marks. Any tracks (drawn using the Distance Calculator, or using the TRACK option on graphics commands) are drawn immediately above any graphics.
10. The return code from a command (accessible using the variable rc in a Rexx macro) is 0 for a successful completion, positive if some error in the command was found, or negative if the command failed (e.g., insufficient memory).

Formats allowed for specifying degrees

If the degree value is specifying a latitude or longitude, then it may be followed by one of the characters N, S, E, W (in either case), as appropriate. The default is N (North) for latitude and E (East) for longitude. A leading minus sign is allowed in either format, and negates the direction implied by any N, E, S, or W. A leading plus sign is also allowed; it has no effect.

No blanks are allowed. The seconds, or seconds and minutes, may be omitted, as may insignificant leading zeros. The syntax is therefore one of:

  [+|-][d]d[o[m]m[’[s]s["]]][x]
  [+|-][d]d[.[[d]d]d][x]

Examples (all specifying a negative angle of 12 degrees 30 minutes):

  12°30’S       -12°30         12°30W        -12.5
  12°30’0"S     -12°30’00N    -12.500E        12o30s