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Using Packages

Packages are included into the body of a program via the Use statement. The syntax of the Use statement is:

Use {package-name}

Where:

  • {package-name} is the file name of the package file that will be included.

The Use statement is a compiler directive instructing the compiler to merge the source code of the package file into the program at the point where the Use statement occurs. Source code packages can also contain Use statements. The compiler keeps track of each package that is used and will ignore a Use statement if the package has already been included once.

DataFlex also has a #INCLUDE compiler directive for merging external source packages. The difference is that the #INCLUDE command can be used to merge in multiple copies of the same package file. Refer to the DataFlex Language Reference for more information on the #INCLUDE compiler directive.