| Chapters:
 1: Introduction
 2: Simple example
 3: Invocation
 4: Finer Control
 5: X-Y Plots
 6: Contour Plots
 7: Image Plots
 8: Examples
 9: Gri Commands
 10: Programming
 11: Environment
 12: Emacs Mode
 13: History
 14: Installation
 15: Gri Bugs
 16: Test Suite
 17: Gri in Press
 18: Acknowledgments
 19: License
 
 Indices:
 Concepts
 Commands
 Variables
 
 | 10.11.3: Simple example of a new commandTo make a new command called `Show The Time' insert the following
into your `~/.grirc' resource file or into your command-file
somewhere near the top, or at least before you use the command.
 
| 
`Show The Time'
New command to show the time of day.
{
  show "\.time."
}
 |  
EXPLANATION:
 
  
The name of the new command is enclosed in angled single-quote marks.
The words of the new command should begin with upper-case letters to
prevent a name clash with a present or future built-in Gri command.
Formatting convention: Make sure that the entire definition
string, from the opening angled quote to the ending angled quote,
appears on one line.  Otherwise Gri will give an error like
 
| 
ERROR: Can't extract syntax for new command
 |  
Following the name line, you may optionally insert any number of lines
which will become the `help' information for the new command.  See
the file `gri.cmd' for the recommended stylistic conventions in
writing help information (see Invoking Gri). If your `help' text
includes an example that uses an opening brace (`{') you must
escape the brace with a backslash, e.g. (`\{').
Following the help lines, if they exist, the body of the new command is
given, sandwiched between a starting line containing an opening brace
(`{') as the only nonwhite character, and an ending line
containing a closing brace (`}') as the only nonwhite character.
Any valid Gri commands may be used in the body of the new command.  It
is acceptable to use other new commands in the body. Recursion is also
allowed -- a new command is allowed to call itself (although there is a
limit on nesting, of perhaps a thousand or so; this varies with the
version of Gri).  Formatting convention: It is usual, but not
necessary, to use an indentation level of 2 spaces in the body of the
new command. 
The new command is invoked by `Show The Time'.  Help for the
command is found by `help Show The Time' or `help Show'. 
 |