What The "RUN" Command Does

Let's suppose that you've just written a SiMPLE program (we'll call it MYPROG) and now you want to run it. When you type RUN on the command line, a series of things begin to happen. First, your source file (MYPROG.TXT) is read by a Translator (which converts all your program's source statements into C++ statements), and the results are output to another text file (MYPROG.CPP). This new text file (MYPROG.CPP) is then passed to the C++ Compiler which produces an object file (MYPROG.OBJ) which contains binary machine code. Finally, the Linker is invoked (which links your program's object file together with all of the other object files that are needed in the SiMPLE libraries and the C++ libraries). The result is an executable file (MYPROG.EXE) which then gets executed.

However there may be times when you don't want all of these processes to be automatically performed for you. (For example, you might want to simply generate MYPROG.EXE without executing it.) SiMPLE therefore provides you with the option of manually performing only the Translator and Compiler steps of the RUN operation. If you type:

              COMPILE MYPROG

on the command line, only the MYPROG.CPP and MYPROG.OBJ files will be generated. (At this point, if you're curious about what your program looks like in C++, simply type EDIT MYPROG.CPP on the command line.) Next, typing:

              LINK MYPROG

on the command line will link the MYPROG.OBJ object file with all of the other required object files in the libraries and produce the MYPROG.EXE file. And finally, you can simply type:

              MYPROG

on the command line to execute the program, if you so choose.