Execution

Vortex scripts are specified in the URL to the texis CGI program (see below), or as an argument if run from the command line (here). In either case, the script is first compiled to an internal form, which is written out to a file with the same name and a .vsc extension.

The P-code (.vsc) file is run on each invocation, which is much faster than re-interpreting the script every time. Subsequent invocations will automatically recompile the script if its source is changed. Any errors encountered during compile or execution are printed out, with the script name and line number if applicable. The errors are also logged to the vortex.log file (see here for the format). These errors may be trapped and handled by the script during execution with a putmsg function.

Script execution starts with the function given in the URL. If no function is specified in the URL, then the value of the CGI variable cmd (section 1.4.1) is used. If neither is given or is an invalid or PRIVATE/EXPORT function, execution defaults to the main function.