Character |
Meaning |
Use |
SPACE |
Blank |
Throughout ESL |
A-Z |
Uppercase letters |
Throughout ESL |
a-z |
Lowercase letters |
Throughout ESL |
0-9 |
Digits |
Throughout ESL |
= |
Equal sign |
Relational operator |
+ |
Plus sign |
Arithmetic operator |
- |
Minus sign |
Arithmetic operator |
* |
Multiplication sign |
Arithmetic operator |
/ |
Division sign |
Arithmetic operator |
\ |
Backslash |
Escape character |
( |
Left parenthesis |
Required in expressions |
) |
Right parenthesis |
Required in expressions |
[ |
Left bracket |
Required in arrays |
] |
Right bracket |
Required in arrays |
# |
Pound sign |
Comment character |
, |
Comma |
Separator |
. |
Decimal point |
Floating point values |
< |
Less than |
Relational operator |
> |
Greater than |
Relational operator |
" |
Quotation mark |
String delimiter |
__ |
Underscore |
Allowed in identifiers |
: |
Colon |
Separator in pattern statements |
All characters
|
String values |
|
Description
ESL statements can appear in free format, where the specific format of words in a line, or lines on a page, is not significant. Wherever a space can appear in a program, you can specify multiple spaces, or you can skip to a new line. The only exceptions to this rule are within string literals or comments.
