DGL Statement Reference : PARAMETER

PARAMETER

Description
Declares variables and values within a template.
There are template parameters for the entire template and procedure parameters for procedures. Template parameters are variables whose value can be changed interactively when the template is executed.
You can declare template parameters only in the initiation section. The keyword PARAMETER appears only once in the declaration section, before the data-type assignments for parameters. Each data-type statement can be followed by as many identifiers of the same type as you want to define. For example:

PARAMETER STRING activity_name, state_name, event_name;

As many type statements as desired can follow the PARAMETER keyword. For example:

PARAMETER
STRING activity_name;
FLOAT a:=3.243;

Template parameters cannot hold a Statemate element, although it is legal for a procedure parameter to be of this type. Procedure parameters are In/Out parameters.
Value assignments for parameter statements are optional and are allowed only for template parameters. If it is assigned, it represents the default value of the parameter at the first generation of a particular document. The value can only be a literal constant, not a constant identifier or an expression.
Note:
Avoid changing template parameters within the template. In addition to being confusing, there might be inconsistent results when parameters are changed within segments.
Syntax
PARAMETER
type identifier [:= value][, identifier [:= value],...];
[type identifier [:= value],...]
.
.
.
Parameters
 
The name of the parameter. The maximum length of the identifier is 16 characters. If you specify more than 16 characters, the name is truncated.

 

Example
PARAMETER
STRING statechart_name;
INTEGER page_width := 80;
See Also