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The SWITCH Statement

A SWITCH statement has the form

       SWITCH alt-0, {alt-1, alt-2, alt-3...}

and MUST be labelled with a statement number.

Only statement numbers, not statements in braces, may appear as alternates in this statement.

This statement performs a function similar to that of the JUMP statement, or the assigned GO TO in FORTRAN. Instead of requiring a variable to be initialized, however, alt-0 constitutes the initial value associated with the statement itself that serves as its branch destination.

This value is subject to change by the ALTER_SWITCH statment. The list of destinations alt-1, alt-2, alt-3... contains all the values to which that value is allowed to be changed. The statement can be considered as analogous to a switch on a railroad track, which may be changed remotely to divert flow to another direction.


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