Computers: Universe: The VOC File

The VOC file lies at the heart of each UniVerse account. 'VOC' is short for 'vocabulary', the idea being that every word in the UniVerse command language is stored in this file.

By changing the VOC file, therefore, you can change the UniVerse command language itself within an account. This is an extremely useful but potentially risky process, and should be treated with some care.

One interesting and simple feature of the VOC file, which demonstrates its role in defining the command language, is that by editing any VOC record and saving it under another key, you effectively create a synonym for the original key. For instance, by editing the VOC record DISPLAY, and saving it as SHOW, you have can use SHOW wherever you previously might have used DISPLAY. This applies to any VOC record: whether it is a command name, a keyword or parameter, or a file name. Indeed, if you delete the original keyword, your new synonym becomes the only way of accessing the command: but of course doing this will break any routine which used the command under its old name and is therefore not recommended.

The previous sections describing the editor should have acclimatised you to editing VOC records. It described the process of creating a new VOC record, looking something like this:

ED VOC FLUFFY
New record.

----: I
0001= PA Rather silly example of a paragraph
0002= DISPLAY You have just entered the command 'FLUFFY'.
0003= DISPLAY This is not a terribly useful command.
0004= DISPLAY All it does is display this message.
0005= (Hit ENTER)
----: FILE
"FLUFFY" filed in file "VOC".

At the time, the main purpose was to explain the editor, so the notes merely touched on the meaning of these lines. In this section, they will be examined far more closely.

The first line is particularly important. It determines what the 'type' or purpose of each VOC record. In this case, the type is PA, short for 'paragraph'. Here, it is followed by a description or comment on the purpose of the VOC record. This too is common to the structure of all VOC records: after the type specifier on the first line, a comment or description may appear to document the VOC record for those who edit it in the future.

The meaning of the lines beyond the first depends on the type of record specified by the characters at the beginning of the first. These types are now discussed in turn.