The basic elements in the Data Preparation users interface are the commands. There are three main classes of commands: the Projection commands, the Correction commands, and the Utilities. In Table 4.2 all the Data Preparation commands are listed.
Table 4.2: Data Preparation commands
The main difference between the Projection commands and the commands belonging to the other classes lies in the syntax. The special quality of the Projection commands is that they are the basic elements in the composition of command files and pipelines (Projection command files and pipelines are described in sections 4.3.2 and 4.3.3). The only limitation is, the SELECT/INTERVAL and the COUNT commands are forbidden in command files and they can be used only at the beginning of pipelines.
The Correction commands and the Utilities follow instead a MIDAS-like syntax: they are standalone commands and the parameters must be given always in the same order and must be separated by blanks and commas according to the specific input requirements.
In the following sections, the general syntax rules for all of the Data Preparation commands are given.