SIMSCRIPT II.5 Programming Language

3. Input/Output Concepts
3.1 Introduction
This chapter introduces some additional control structures provided by SIMSCRIPT II.5, and then
describes in detail the full input and output formatting facilities available in the language.
3.2 A Search Capability
It is often necessary to search among a number of variable values for one satisfying some stated
condition. The find statement provides a means of specifying some such condition and is used, in
conjunction with a for control phrase, to search a group of values for the first value meeting the
specification. The statement:
for I = 1 to N,
with X(I) * Y(I) greater than LIMIT,
find BIG = the first I
is a compound statement composed of a qualified for phrase and a find statement. The for
phrase steps the variable I through the sequence of values 1 ,2, ..., N,; the with phrase specifies
that only those values of I for which X(I) * Y(I) is greater than LIMIT are eligible for consideration;
the find statement specifies that the repetition is to terminate as soon as such a value
is found, assigning this value to the designated variable, BIG. The words the and first are optional
after the equal sign. The statements:
find BIG = the first I
find BIG = first I
find BIG = I
are equivalent, and illustrate alternate forms of the basic find statement:
find variable = arithmetic expression
Any variable, subscripted or otherwise, may be designated. When the first index value is found for
which the logical expression in the for phrase is true, the arithmetic expression is evaluated and
assigned to the variable. Thus, in the above example the value of the expression I is assigned to the
variable BIG when a value of I is found for which X(I) * Y(I) is greater than LIMIT. As the
search is always terminated at the first suitable value encountered, a backward-iterating for phrase
may be used to find the last such value in a group.
A special form of the if statement may be used in conjunction with the find statement. This
provides for alternative actions to be selected based on the outcome of the search. An if statement
appended to a find statement may test for success or otherwise using the logical conditions:
if found
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